"Well, not quite how I imagined it, but we got here," said Kale. Kershala looked back at Kale who was checking over the weapon he held in his hand.
"Is your shielding still active?" he asked.
"Yup, like you said it never dropped to zero so it's regenerating, seventy percent." Kale checked the readout on his arm.
"Good." Kershala's own suit sat at fifty percent integrity after the attack from that blade took so many of the nanites with it. "I do not know what to expect beyond this point. If we encounter the Scientist do not let her get within arms reach of you. If she has Jinnar's enhancements she will not feel pain. There will be nothing you can do to slow her advance. Set your weapon to the highest setting." The lift drew to a halt, but the door didn't open, Kershala looked back at Kale and his helmet retracted into the implant. Kale touched the helmet and the faceplate opened, Kershala could feel a nervousness coming from him that he had become familiar with. He leaned in and kissed him quickly hoping everything would go as they needed it to.
"I love you," Kale smiled at him and pulled away. "Just a reminder of what you're fighting for."
"I love you too." Kales helmet closed again and Kershala reformed his helmet straightening his posture. Kershala would fight with everything he had to and whomever he had to, to make sure he got to see Kale again. The door opened to a long decontamination corridor, Kershala's implant sweep revealed nothing out of the ordinary and he was becoming more and more sure that they had defeated all the guards at the lab. They walked out into the corridor and a blue light activated and steam began to flush over them from a system of dispensers suspended above them. Kershala looked back at Kale and they both took to running to make the end of the hall.
"Can you get it open?" asked Kale as they came to the doorway.
"I believe so." Kershala scanned the door with his implant everything he found said the door should be automatic. He could tell it was locked remotely from the other side, part of him had hoped that the Scientist would be there so he could deal with her but also knew that his suit wasn't ready for a fight and she would likely take more than he could handle right now. He hacked the door and in a couple of seconds the door opened. There was a flash of light and one of the consoles fell from its position at a workstation as someone was teleported from the room. There was no one else there. Kale let out a sigh of relief seemingly that they wouldn't have to deal with anymore and the two of them stepped into the room. It was a large open laboratory not as sterile as the last one but Kershala could tell this was the primary weapons research lab. Models of the different weapons the Shironians used were projected on different screens throughout the lab Kershala knew he would have to wipe all the data locally to get rid of the information. He hoped that he could find a way to destroy the facility from the room but would require the AI's help. He began scanning the consoles trying to determine the right one to use as an access point, it didn't take long, and he walked over to the unit and began accessing it.
Kale stayed close to Kershala not wanting to turn his back to the door for even a second. He gripped his rifle in his hand tightly ready for something to even move. He was anxious and could tell that Kershala was as well the twenty-minute time limit certainly wasn't helping anything. Kale couldn't help but feel frustrated that he wasn't able to relax and just enjoy the scenery. The ceiling of the lab was completely open, and Kale could see the asteroid field and the star from where they were in the current orbit. He could only assume that the material was blocking out most of the light that would otherwise be blinding to look at. He looked back at Kershala who was immersed in what he was doing. Then looked back at the door, he checked his rifle again his nerves getting the best of him in the quiet; the only sound was the hum of the power system that ran the computers.
"How much longer?" he asked.
"I have unleashed a virus into the computer, it would appear that these computers were never changed from the original Daoran computers, they have very little in depth defence once passed the first line."
"That's lucky." Kale checked his weapon again before stopping himself as he realized what he was doing. "Come on man, chill out." Suddenly the door to the lab shut and Kale looked back at Kershala. "Did you do that?"
"No, it is automatic."
"Right, right," said Kale trying again to save his nerves. "What if we just trashed the place?"
"That would not work, the database is located in the central data core." Kale suddenly felt a strange air come about the room and looked around.
"Do you feel that?" he asked.
"No." Right beside him a portal suddenly opened that Kale recognized from watching Kershala's fight in the hologram that Anubis showed him.
"Kershala look out!" Kale rolled to the side and opened fire on the portal before anything could step through it, but it didn't seem to matter. Kershala responded by diving away from the console and getting to his side. The portal closed and two more opened Kale tried to fire his rifle, but it seemed to have overheated from using the higher power setting. Two very tall creatures stepped through, their armor was unfamiliar, but their stature and look were similar to Jinnar and Kale was beginning to think the worst possible fear was about to happen. The portals closed behind them and Kershala jumped immediately at one of them letting out a sort of battle cry. The other jumped over Kershala seemingly to avoid him and come for Kale. Kale didn't let it get in arms reach of him backing off as he reached for the other weapon immediately firing at the creature. He seemed to land all of his shots, but the creature only jolted not really stopping its approach. Kale moved around a workstation trying to make sure there was something between them. He knew that if this thing was even half as strong as the Arktora was, there was nothing he could do in a hand to hand fight. Kershala had managed to get away from the other one briefly and jumped on the back of the one approaching him. It reacted reaching back with its large arms trying to grab at him. Kale watched as Kershala tucked one of the radeeko down into its armor and jumped back. The creatures back exploded, and it fell limp forward. Kale felt relief come over him as Kershala turned his attention back to the other one. At the sight of the other one dying it let out a horrid screech and came barrelling down on Kershala. Kale knew that the radeeko were limited and Kershala didn't want to use them up if he could avoid it. "What do you need from me? What can I do?" he asked in his private channel desperately wanting to be helpful.
"Get to the terminal and make sure the virus is still working." Kershala answered. Kale ran over to the machine and could see information flashing on the screen. "Activate your visor, it will translate the writings for you." Kale tapped on the side of the visor and sure enough it activated translating the information on the screen. There was a bar flashing, Kale could only assume it was the virus purging the database. "What does it say?" Kale looked back as Kershala jumped at the creature and kicked it in the chest knocking it against the wall with a crash and looked back at the screen.
"It looks like its at eighty five percent. It's still rising."
"Good." The creature had gotten to its feet and grabbed Kershala. Kale turned and shot it with his weapon staggering it long enough for Kershala to wrap himself around its arm and using his grip to break it at the joint. The creature let out a guttural cry as it fell back it was clearly less tolerant of pain then Jinnar. Kershala dropped to his feet and rolled at the creature before doing a backflip and having his feet connect with the creature's chin, throwing its head back. "I believe I am almost done with this thing." Kale looked back at the screen and it had risen to ninety-five percent. It wouldn't be long. "Kale seal your suit and switch to the breather. The virus will destroy all of the protocols the facility uses to regulate life support and regular operation." Kale did what he was told wondering what that would totally entail. He thought about all those Daoran slaves they had come across and how painful it must have been for the others to watch them as they were. Knowing what they went through was hard for Kale to even imagine. There was a crash and Kale looked to the side in time to see Kershala slammed against a console the creature raging on top of him. Kale aimed but hesitated the angle he was at he might hit Kershala.
"I don't have a clear shot!" There was suddenly a hissing sound as the virus finished wiping the database. The lights went out leaving the only source of light to be the star that shone through the window above them. Kale could feel himself begin to lift from the ground as the artificial gravity was shut off. The room also turned very cold as the atmosphere was no longer contained. Kershala kicked the creature away from him and it seemed to be unable to breath grasping for its helmet. A few seconds past and the creature stopped moving. "Now what?" Kale felt himself floating upside down and looked at Kershala who seemed to be able to stand on the ground just fine.
"Your suit has magnetic boots, tap your ankle." Kershala walked over to be standing below him and Kale did what he suggested. He ended up stuck to the ceiling of the room.
"This is a strange experience," said Kale to himself almost bothered by the fact that he didn't think to reposition himself before activating the magnets. He walked along the ceiling and then down the wall with ease. Walking with mag-boots was just about what he expected it to be.
"Anubis are you able to get us out of here? Do you have Lenari and Omall?" asked Kershala.
"Yes, Kershala we will be able to pull you from the facility shortly. Omall and Lenari are safely aboard," said Anubis.
"Kershala when you two are back come straight to the command center. Whatever you did seems to have dropped the defence grid so we should be able to make a clean get away," said Atondra. "The ships are still thirteen minutes away."
"Yes Atondra." Kale breathed a sigh of relief knowing that this mission would be over soon. He hadn't been through anything like it before. There was literally nothing in his life that he could compare it to before this. The minute passed in silence as they existed in a literal vacuum before Kale felt the teleporter activating, it was strange that he felt it on his skin even with the armor on. Before he knew it, they were standing on the teleporter pad and Ralu was looking at them from across the console. They stepped down from the pad and Kale opened his helmet as Kershala retracted his whole suit. Kershala walked ahead of him but Kale took his hand and pulled him into a kiss.
"We did it. I just wanted to celebrate." Kershala smiled at him and kept his hand in his as they left the room to head to the command center. They broke out into a jog and were there quickly. Kale stood back by the AI core and Kershala walked to stand beside Atondra.
"Jelani get us out of here. Make sure the stealth system is fully active. We don't need to draw any attention," Atondra ordered before turning to Kale and Kershala. "Welcome back I am glad to see you made it out. Did you encounter the Scientist?" Kershala shook his head.
"No, I thought she might be there, but we only caught someone teleporting out as we entered the lab."
"Damn."
"I was able to upload a virus to the database and completely wipe it, we may not have destroyed the facility like we planned but they will not be able to use it without completely reprogramming all of the equipment," Kershala smiled at Atondra. "Something we know that most of the Shironians are not very good at." Atondra laughed at Kershala's comment.
"Atondra for some reason I cannot get us into FTL the engines are not responding," explained Jelani. Kershala walked over to the station and checked the readout.
"Anubis is there anything preventing us from going to FTL?" he asked.
"I am detecting no abnormalities in the ships engine core." Anubis paused as if something was happening to it. "Kershala I am detecting a dampening field it is stopping us from forming a subspace bubble."
"The facility is offline, how is that possible?" asked Atondra.
"It is not coming from the facility; it appears to be coming from a small ship. In the vicinity. I am unable to pinpoint its location."
"Did those ships get here sooner than you thought they would?" asked Kale taking a step forward.
"No, I can still detect them."
"Anubis you must determine what is happening. We have to get out of here. Jelani start taking us away from here using the thrusters full speed. Maybe we can get out of its range." Kale could feel the tension in the room heighten he knew they didn't want to be around when the incoming ships dropped out of FTL. There was a flash of light in the corner and Kale suddenly felt arms around his upper body.
"Kershala!" he called and felt himself being pulled backwards. Kershala turned to face him just as he was pulled through a portal by someone. The last thing he saw was Kershala's face as the portal closed and two Shironian guards were suddenly holding weapons to his face he triggered his helmet to close and sat very still. A tall thin Shironian walked from behind him it had the face of a wraith and was armored in a very sleek almost cat suit that seemed to hug its thin features revealing the sharp points of its bone structure.
"I've got what I needed, let the dampening field come down so we can get out of here," it spoke in a higher-toned voice. Kale came to realize he had been kidnapped and was standing on the ship of the Scientist.
"Kale! Kale are you there!" Kershala came through on their personal channel.
"Yes." Kale spoke low hoping that his captors wouldn't hear him. "I'm on a ship it must be nearby."
"We have you Kale! I am coming!" Kale felt tears forming in his eyes and he tried to hold back his emotions, he had not been so scared in all of his life. The Daoran's feared this woman for a reason and he had a feeling he would find out if Kershala couldn't help him.
"Anubis launch your cyberwarfare suite and keep that ship here. I will teleport over to it and get him back." Kershala suited up he could feel Anubis working, but was not satisfied it was trying its hardest. "You will devote all resources to this, I am not leaving him over there. Bring the ship up on the viewer."
"Kershala I am not able to get control of the vessel to take down its barriers," said Anubis. Everyone else in the room ceased to exist as Kershala walked to the weapons console and began firing on the ship. He landed all of the hits, but it was still able to jump to FTL.
"Follow it." Kershala spoke plainly he thought his orders were clear.
"Kershala we cannot abandon the mission…" Atondra spoke.
"Follow it!" Kershala screamed with rage and fear in his voice. He hopped the console and ran to the helm of the ship; Jelani jumped out of the chair seemingly knowing what was next. Kershala stayed standing as he leaned over to use the console. "Give me control of the ship, you will NOT disobey me now!"
"Yes Kershala." The AI did what it was told and Kershala took the ship to FTL speeds chasing the ship that had taken Kale.
"Kershala are you still there? They've gone to FTL." Kershala could hear the fear in Kales voice and it only made him fight harder.
"I will not lose you Kale." Kershala pushed the Sironia to as fast as it could instantly, and he could tell from the ships sensors that they seemed to be gaining on them. "We are gaining on them. Kale hold on!" Kershala was not about to lose the only love he had ever known; Kale was now the only thing he had that resembled family.
"Kershala we can't risk the whole ship for one life," said Atondra walking to him.
"Do not try to stop me, I will not lose him!" Kershala could feel tears forming in his eyes as he began to feel desperate. The ship they were chasing seemed to suddenly pick up speed and the Sironia was already at maximum velocity. The ship began to shake, Kershala used his link with the AI to reroute power from other systems including life support and weapons. He kept the teleporters online, as he hoped to use it in his rescue attempt the whole ship began to shake, and the others put on breather masks as the life support seemed to all but stop working. "Kale, I need you to do something they continue to gain speed and we are not able to catch them like this!"
Kale heard Kershala speak and could hear the heartbreak and desperation in his voice. He swallowed back his fear and looked around the room quickly before attacking the guards upper cutting one of them and shooting the other with the weapon they failed to take from him. He took his weapon and shot the console he assumed was the helm of the ship and sparks flew from it. He fired again several times all around the room before he was tackled from behind.
"Did that work?"
"Yes Kale." Whatever Kale did, seemed to slow the ship temporarily and Kershala walked from the console switching it to autopilot. "Anubis do what you must to disable its barriers! I have to save him." Anubis used the ships weapons to fire almost endlessly, its hits landed but the barriers weren't coming down.
"Kershala are you mad boy! That is the ship of the Scientist it is bad enough she has Kale we cannot give her you as well," said Atondra.
"I do not care! I cannot let these monsters take him Atondra. He needs me!" Kershala pleaded. He watched as the Sironia's refitted weapons fired on the vessel they were chasing. Its shielding seemed to be taking the hits.
The whole ship shook but only slightly as the Sironia fired upon them, Kale could hear Kershala's side of the whole conversation he was having with his crew. He could hear him pleading and knew that Kershala wouldn't let him go voluntarily. He knew that Atondra was right, he couldn't allow Kershala to be captured and it didn't look like he was going to let him go.
"Foolish Daoran's do they want to come with us, I'm sure I can arrange that. But this one has incredible potential. I'm going to be busy for awhile as it is," the Scientist laughed.
"Kershala it's okay, you can't save me this time." Kale cried as he lay there on the floor with a weapon to the back of his head.
"No Kale, I won't leave you."
"You have to, Kershala. It doesn't sound like they're going to kill me." Kershala stood on the bridge of the ship that was now crumbling around him listening to Kale speak. "You know I love you with everything I am, and I don't have to be right with you for you to feel that."
"Kale please don't make me do this I cannot leave you with those butchers!" Kershala cried. He fell to his knees trying to pull in Kales emotions as he spoke. "I am so sorry Kale, I failed you…"
"No, you didn't, you couldn't have planned for this. You know I'll always come back." Kale's voice cracked a he spoke and Kershala felt his heart breaking all over. "Please don't get everyone on that ship killed for me, I can't bare the thought of that." The connection between them was starting to fail as the Shironian ship started to get out of range and Kales voice started to break up. "I know its going to be hard for you, but I need you to stay strong okay. I can't be there to put you back together this time."
"No Kale do not make me give up."
"I can't allow you to put yourself in danger for me; I love you too much." Kershala could hear Kale's voice cracking again as he cried. "I just need to hear you say one more thing…"
"I love you, Kale." Kershala choked on his words as he spoke, he felt a strain on the implant as he tried to maintain the connection. "I will find you. Even if I have to search the entire galaxy, I will find you."
"I know you will, and I'll be waiting. I love…" The last message ended in static and their communication was broken.
"Jelani! Drop us out of FTL!" yelled Atondra. Jelani jumped back in her chair and dropped the ship from FTL speeds and everything around them seemed to shake. Kershala fell back against the console and let out a guttural cry. Once again someone he loved had been taken from him he braced himself against the wall looking through the main viewer with tears streaking his face. He had felt so helpless. Jelani looked over at him with tears in her eyes and he couldn't tell if she was sad for him `or frightened by his actions.
"What was all of that?" asked Lenari from somewhere behind him.
"Kale has been taken, Kershala took control of the ship to attempt a rescue," Atondra explained.
"Oh no are we going after him?" asked Lenari.
"The Scientist has him…" Atondra spoke and retook her position at the command center. Lenari came around the corner and looked at Kershala as he sat against the console. Lenari's eyes asked for permission to approach and right now he was the only one Kershala would let near him. He sat down next to him and put his arms around Kershala's neck.
"I am so sorry, Kershala," he whispered. Kershala could feel nothing from Kales connection with him and he suddenly felt truly alone. Even with Lenari's arms wrapped around him.
Kale was pulled to his feet by another of the Shironian guards, one of the lizard types and was now looking at the Scientist who sat in a chair at the front of the ships command center. The console he had destroyed was the primary helm control, but they had quickly rerouted it to another part of the ship and were still able to escape the Sironia. Kale felt a strange aching in his head along with an incredible dread of loneliness, it was more intense than anything he had experienced before. He didn't take long to realize this was his connection with Kershala and now that they were so far apart it was lost.
"Well that was certainly unexpected, I like when my test subjects have lots of fight in them. Its always fun to watch it drain from their eyes after a few of my more invasive experiments," said the Scientist, "What are you exactly? My scans have never picked up anything like you before."
"Human."
"Oh yes, Jinnar was killed on your home world wasn't he. Another planet of apes. Just what the galaxy needs." Her tone was ripe with sarcasm as she spoke. "Although my scans show that your species is quite versatile in that you can be widely applicable in my research.
"What are you going to do to me?" Kale tried to sound unafraid but swallowed hard.
"Well first I'm going to take few scans to confirm my suspicions about your species. Then we must see how far the Daoran brainwashing has gone." The Scientist stood from her chair and walked over to Kale she had to bend down to look him in the eye and looked at him through his helmet. "Take him to the secondary lab and have him categorized, get him out of this ridiculous armor and have him cleansed. You must have been around them for some time, you smell just like them," she scoffed. "Sickening. See to it that he is not harmed. I need him very much alive and functional, though I can overlook a few contusions here and there." The Scientist smiled at him and turned to walk away from him, the two guards that held him took a hold of him again. Once he knew that they wouldn't kill him he saw no reason not to put up a fight.
"Let go of me!" He brought his foot down on the guard and elbowed it in the head as hard as he could. He turned to the other guard and grabbed for its weapon when he was suddenly grabbed from behind and slammed on his back. He jumped up as quick as he could and turned to see the Scientist staring at him with another couple of guards on either side of her.
"My patience grows thin," she said. "Hold him!" The two other guards rushed him and pinned him against the wall almost knocking the wind out of him. Kale struggled against their hold as she walked slowly toward him. Her hand began glowing as she approached him, she laid it on his chest, and he could feel the heat coming from it. It became painful very quickly, as it seemed to be melting the material the armor was made from to begin with.
"I won't give into you," said Kale. He continued to struggle against their grip but there was no way he could get away. He brought up his foot and kicked away her hand but all he did was make her angry she grabbed him around the neck and lifted him a full two feet off the ground keeping him pinned to the wall.
"You don't seem to understand, you do not get to choose." She brought her free hand up to his helmet and touched it, there was a flash from her hand that seemed to send some kind of electromagnetic pulse through his armor causing it to release and fall from his body. As it fell away from him, she dropped him to the ground and kicked him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him, this time he couldn't recover from it. One of the guards passed her an injection tool and she placed it to his neck, there was a hissing sound as something was released into his blood stream. "In only a few seconds he won't be able to give you anymore trouble. See to my wishes." Kale felt a pain start at the injection site and he grabbed for it but could barely move, he began to feel suddenly very stiff as he first thought that they had injected him with an anesthetic of some kind but then he realised he was able to see around him he just couldn't move. He fought as hard as he could to move his limb as the two guards picked him up, but they were numb and had fallen limp. He figured it was a neural toxin they had injected him with to stop him from being able to fight back, the pain had subsided, and he was still aware of everything they did to him.
The two guards took Kale from the command center of the ship, and down a lift. The inside of the ship itself was very different than the ships he had been on so far. The temperature and humidity were through the roof, through his euphoric state he could still feel the discomfort of the heat. It was lit mostly with a red lighting with occasional yellow lighting as he was hauled through the corridor. They had come to a large door and Kale watched one of the guards use a retinal scanner to gain access. Once inside the lighting changed to what he would expect from a sterile lab in mostly whites and blues. The guards sat him on a table on his back and began cutting off the clothing he was wearing using a laser cutter, Kale was aware of the heat next to his body but couldn't tell if they had burned him or not. Two other Shironians walked over to them and took over the procedure.
"He's been given a neural inhibitor he will not be able to resist you," said one of the guards passing him off. "She was clear, have him categorized, he is not to be harmed." The two that had taken over were dressed differently than the Shironian soldiers they had fought before, they wore body suits one was one of the lizard-type guards he had become familiar with, the other slightly humanoid in appearance. Kale assumed this was the type in the red and black armor he had once fought. The two whom had brought him down here left and the others took over. They strapped a brace around his shoulders and hooked him into a machine that lifted him up and hung him in the center of the room only about a foot off the ground.
"Let's get him cleansed first." The two of them were gone from his sight for a moment before returning with a large vat of jelly. They began rubbing it all over him, he could feel the cold from it as they touched it to his skin but as they began to rub it in it began to heat up the sensation was comparable to a hot cold cream but it was more intense. The heat was becoming unbearable but all he could do was sit there and let it happen. The humanoid ran its hands around Kales inner thighs and all over his body. "Looks like an external sexual organ, consistent with other mammalian species we've encountered. She will be pleased with that I think." The humanoid fiddled with his body for a few seconds and Kale felt like he had been violated. "I wonder how many sexes their species have." The two of them stepped clear of him and he could hear a machine activate somewhere out of sight. Something from above him dumped a cooling liquid on him, the jelly had been washed away and his skin was left feeling oddly oily almost like the liquid was still there.
"At least the smell is gone. I will go get the scanner." The machine Kale was suspended from lowered him down to be eye level with the two that were working on him and they began running an odd circular machine over his body. The lizard scanned him while the humanoid seemed to be taking notes at the console nearby. "Okay, now then. From the top." It ran the scanner around his head and face before pulling it back and taking a look at the findings. "Bone structure seems to be made up of several minerals, primarily calcium and phosphorus also reading small amounts of magnesium, sodium and bicarbonate," it spoke slowly as it read off the information. "Brain consists of a very large cerebrum and two cerebral hemispheres the outer cortex is a layer of grey matter with a core of white matter. The brain is larger than most species we've encountered out here. Particularly large for an ape species."
"That must be her interest in this species." Kale got to listen to them categorize every organ in his body over the next couple of hours adding in their own commentary also having been poked and prodded with several different tools. He was left feeling violated and he still didn't feel any better or able to move even with the passage of time. He did his best to stay awake fearing that he might miss something important to his situation. The machine shifted as the two of them walked out of sight again he could feel himself being pulled into the air. He did his best to take in the lab as he saw it overhead, he could see an area off to the side where several people were being held in a large cage before he was brought back down to a normal level. "I'll take another scan to verify that he has been disinfected and is free of health concerns before we put him in with the others. In the meantime, will you get him some garb that will fit him." The other nodded while the humanoid took another scan of his body slowly running the machine over him. It looked up at him and smiled. "Microbe free my friend, I look forward to working with you." It wasn't long before the other returned with some clothing in hand. It held up one garment then the other.
"The second one is a better fit." It passed the first one to the humanoid who walked out of view and proceeded to put the second garment on him. The clothing they placed him in was very tight fitting, he could tell it was a generic body suit they probably gave to all of their prisoners on their ship. Kale wondered aside from the Daoran's how many species they had done experiments on in this lab. "Alright take it to the holding cells." The machine lifted Kale into the air, and he was taken over to the holding area he had seen before. He was met by the same two scientists one of them held a syringe in its hand. "This will neutralize the inhibitor, but you better be good, she's a very patient person but if you test her the experiments might be more invasive." The humanoid spoke very close to his face Kale could smell its breath as it spoke to him. Kale made eye contact with it as it stuck the injector to his neck and activated it. They cut him lose from the machine holding him and let him fall to the ground, the two of them hurried from the area through the only door and it locked behind them automatically. Kale took a deep breath as the initial pain from the first injection seemed to be making its way back to him. He rolled onto his stomach and hoisted himself up on one arm and grabbed at the injection spot that seemed to be suddenly itchy. He let himself fall back to the ground not able to hold himself up anymore, he felt weak suddenly and was incredibly hungry. He lay there still on the ground trying to coax himself into getting up seemingly unable to find the strength. As he lay there, he couldn't help but start crying over the last few hours he had been violated and listened to a conversation that basically referred to him as a lab animal, now he was hungry and so weak he could barely move. In his head he felt an unexplainable ache that he couldn't explain but it only seemed to be getting worse. He managed to get himself into a fetal position and curled up into a ball cradling himself. There was movement behind him, but he didn't care, there was nothing else they could do to him that mattered. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and as someone turned him to face them. He was startled by what he saw though he wasn't really sure what he was expecting but a Turaleon was looking down on him. Its eyes were large and golden the fur on its face and hands was an orange and cream color and it was wearing the same garment they had dressed Kale in. It was like having a tiger look down at him from a tree.
"You are okay, they seemed to be very gentle with you," it said, its voice was very wise sounding and very deep. "Can you understand me?" Kale must have been staring, but he sat up and met the creatures gaze.
"Yes."
"Do not be frightened we are all of us, in a very unfortunate situation. We must not be enemies." The Turaleon stood up and pulled Kale to his feet he got a chance to look around and there were several other people standing only a few feet away. Another smaller Turaleon, two others that Kale didn't recognize and a Daoran child who was incredibly familiar. Kale stood up and walked toward the child. "That is…"
"Tenaris?" Kale finished the sentence. The child looked at him with soft eyes that seemed to hide a broken spirit. Kale knelt in front of him. "I'm sorry, I …" Kale hesitated speaking through tears. "I was with Kershala before I was captured." The child's eyes widened at the mention of Kershala's name. At first Kale hadn't been sure but became certain of it very quick. Kale rested a comforting hand on Tenaris' arm and looked at him through tears. "He's going to save us." Tenaris began to breath deeply and his eyes filled with tears. Kale opened his arms to him, and they embraced for several minutes. He knew Tenaris didn't know him, but their trusting nature let him welcome him.
"He cannot speak she has taken that from him.