The teknopod surrounding him burst, and the fluid drained away into the ground. Gunnar pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head to try and make himself wake up faster. There has got to be a better way to wake up than this, Gunnar thought to himself.

If Darkon heard that thought, he didn't respond.

Get dressed, Gunnar. I have a mission for you.

Gunnar quickly did as he had been ordered.

What's the mission? Gunnar asked, after having gotten dressed in another of the outfits that he had brought along.

I have managed to make contact with our errant warrior, Slade. He is very strong-willed. And he seems to be well protected, Darkon paused, but whether he was gathering his thoughts or just fuming Gunnar couldn't tell. Slade has also allied himself with a creature that I hadn't thought we would ever encounter again.

What kind of creature is that? Gunnar asked.

That information is not relevant to your mission, Darkon said shortly. I simply require you to bring Slade back to us.

Gunnar sighed, he should have known that he wouldn't get any real information out of Darkon. So, where is Slade staying?

I saw a large wooden structure when I looked through his eyes. With the speed that Slade was traveling, I was not able to see much more of the structure than the details I have just informed you of, Darkon admitted grudgingly. The structure is approximately five and a half miles northeast of this location.

Gunnar nodded, not saying anything else. He knew that there was no way for him to safely refuse this kind of mission, and Gunnar had firsthand experience with what Darkon did to those who displeased him.

I'll get right on it, sir.

With those last words, Gunnar turned and walked out of the base. It went almost exactly the same way that his earlier trip out of there, with the vines forming stairs and only getting out of Gunnar's way when he was about to run into them. Stepping out into the bright sunlight again was something Gunnar enjoyed immensely, having felt trapped inside the darkness of the Radam base.

So at least there's a little bit of an upside to being sent out on a retrieval mission like this. With that thought to comfort himself with, Gunnar turned northeast, and set off to see what he could find.