Chapter 43: Observations

Within days the warriors of Furya were ready to leave for the hunt they had hoped would come for generations. With the intelligence provided by Aeron from the scant reports and rumors, the Furyan warriors launched in their newly designed warships; a fleet that was fast and deadly; fashioned after the blades favored by the warrior race. They were made from a strong, black metal that the Furyans favored for their weapons and armor, and each surface was curved into a deadly edge. The ships were as dangerous and menacing as the men and women who flew them.

Riddick and Kyra, along with the elemental Aeron, who had insisted that it was her duty to see the equalizing of the Universe or the destruction of it, led the battle group in a warship near the center of the armada.

Aeron, always watchful, considered the dynamics of this defiant army; hoping for strength, looking for weakness. She found that Riddick was reluctant to lead the Furyans. This she could understand since he had spent most of his life on his own, fighting his own battles and finding no reason to trust or follow those in authority. Now he found himself thrown into the position of authority and his character rebelled against it. She knew that he would fight for what he now believed in, and he would seek out vengeance for himself and his people against the Necromongers, but he would not command his people to follow. Instead, he let the war leaders command the warriors. At first Aeron was greatly concerned by this lack of authoritative leadership, believing that a people as unpredictable as the Furyans needed a strong leader, but soon she saw something that gave her hope and quieted her fears: As Riddick went after the Necros, the Furyan people followed. Not because they felt compelled, but because they shared the same fury against the people who had nearly destroyed them. Riddick would be the first into battle, and the Furyan people would follow, as equals, fighting for vengeance and to rid the Universe of its evil plague.

Riddick led his people by only doing what he would have done if he was alone. The Furyans chose to follow. Together they created a ruthless war band; equal, individual, deadly; each warrior following their more experienced war leader, and each war leader following the broad back and flashing goggles of their chosen Leader. The power to choose and to fight alongside their leaders made the Furyans a lethal, loyal, and united force.

Aeron had used the scant information she had gleaned from the rumors and survivor stories and calculated where the main Necromonger armada would likely strike next. In characteristic Riddick style, he made straight for the heart of the enemy to make a fast and clean mortal wound. If the Furyans could destroy the head of the Necromonger body, the other limbs would die helpless. With the Furyans behind him, Riddick flew toward the ill-fated Incendia System.

Incendia was a dark system, boasting of only one small, hot sun and four inhabitable planets whose surfaces were covered in towering volcanoes. Each planet was orbited by several moons that alone provided the wealth that poured from the system and created a powerful draw to the remote region. Hearty prospectors flocked from all across the universe to live on the unpredictable planets and mine the precious metals that were abundant near the moons' cores.

It was a dangerous existence, but nearly a billion people had made their homes on the four dark planets and there were always more visiting the system, flying the transports that took the precious ore out to the surrounding systems to be processed.

Now, unsuspecting, the system and its inhabitants were the next likely target of the Necromonger armada.

The gloomy planets were falling under another kind of darkness; the same deadly shadow that was spreading across the known Universe.

The Furyan armada finally entered the outskirts of the Incendia System. Kyra stood alone in the quarters she shared with Riddick, looking out the port hole at the galaxy spread before them. Furyan battleships could be seen flanking theirs on either side, their curved hulls jutting out sharply and impressing Kyra again with their deadly grace.

She was dressed ready for battle; loose fitting black pants with many practical pockets and a snug black tank top. Her hair was pulled back into a thick braid, and she was armed with several visible sheathed knives and two holstered energy guns, along with a couple not so visible shivs.

Her steady gaze took in the blackened planets with their glowing rivers of molten lava. Prospector ships were flying continuously between the planets and their moons, creating freeways of workers and supplies. Her thoughts drifted again to Shazza and Zeke: Both had been prospectors; neither had reached their destination.

Zeke had been the first of them all to fall on T2: Shazza had then died as she tried to run into the questionable safety of the crashed ship; Kyra still remembered the panicked warnings she had screamed at Shazza as she had jumped to her feet and sprinted forward, chased by the deadly cloud of young winged monsters, and the horror she felt as Shazza had been torn apart before her eyes. Was it possible that this had been their destination? There was no way of knowing, but Kyra somehow felt better thinking that this was, indeed, where they had been headed. She almost felt like she had completed their travels for them; as though the circle had been completed.

Lost in her thoughts she did not hear Riddick come up behind her. She jumped slightly as he laid his hands on her slim waist and turned to smile at him. Together they stood and gazed out the port hole, each lost in their own thoughts as they held on to the other.

All was silent as they hovered near the edge of the Incendia System; peace rested upon the still armada and the industrious mining communities on the dark planets. Buried just beneath that calm, however, was an alertness that each warrior shared; tension buzzed softly in the quiet halls and chambers. Every ear was tuned, listening; every eye scanned the computer screens as they passed, watching. Every Furyan warrior held their breath and waited. The war was about to begin