Chapter 20

Warm, sticky blood ran down the left side of Panther's head, soaking into the shoulder of his robe. The flesh around his left eye was swollen. Through his blurred vision, he saw the inside of the shuttle was a mess, the front viewport cracked and partly covered with rocks and sand. Dark figures moved around in the cabin, the low light making it difficult to see who they were, although he soon recognized the slim, body-suited figure of Jima approaching him.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the words came back as muffled. Panther's mind felt like it was trapped in a fog as he tried to process what was happening. She moved closer, her face only a few inches away from his own, but Panther needed to focus to make out the words. Eventually, the words grew sharp and clear, piercing through his subconscious.

"…I said we can't stay here. We have to move." Jima unbuckled him from the chair and dragged him to a stand, shoving a blaster rifle into his hands. "You're not ready to use your glove. I'm afraid you still need this."

Panther fumbled with the weapon, almost dropping it as he swayed on his feet. Dazedly, he stared around the cabin, taking stock of the rest of the group.

Sable clutched the silver case in one hand, a blaster in the other. Rihat unbuckled Giichi's cuffs from his hand rest, wrestling him to his feet. Giichi tried to pull away, but his strength was no match for the puma's, as Rihat buckled the cuffs back again.

Jima stepped over to the cracked front viewport. "Stand back."

She raised her gloved hand with the fingers pressed together. They melded together into a flat blade shape, similar to forms he'd done during training, but hers crackled with orange energy, the glow lighting up the cabin. Stepping forward, she stabbed the blade into the transparent acrylic glass, melting right through it. This was no mean feat, as the viewport had to stand up to the rigors of space. Yet she cut right into it as though the material were soft butter, the glass glowing orange where her weapon made contact. After a short time, she'd carved a hole big enough for them to crawl through, punching out the cut section and sending it flying away into a nearby sand dune.

Even in his dazed state, Panther watched with astonishment. She could do that with her glove too? He was so far behind her, even with a week's worth of training.

"Get moving!" Jima reached over and pulled Panther towards the window.

He almost stumbled into the helm, but threw his hands out in time. As he climbed out, his long burgundy robe trailed around him, catching on things and making it an awkward process.

The hot desert sun blinded him as he crawled through the hole, Panther holding a hand up to shield his eyes. Even so, he could see nothing but white for a few seconds, the harsh light reflecting off of the sand at him. Immediately, the cool temperature from inside the shuttle vanished, his black fur absorbing the heat at a rapid pace.

As his eyes adjusted, Panther took stock of his surroundings as he climbed to his feet. To his right, a sea of sand dunes stretched as far as he could see. To the left, craggy cliffs towered overhead. Little else surrounded the shuttle's wreck but more rocky formations along with wide expanses of sand. In the south, a large dust cloud arose, almost challenging the nearby cliffs in height. A second cloud grew in the north. Distant rumbling echoed across the sand from both directions.

That's not wind…

"Don't just stand there!"

Panther spun around, startled as Jima shouted at him.

"Get over there, you fool!" She pointed to the cliffs.

Following her finger, Panther's eyes widened, spotting something he hadn't noticed before. The weathered façade of some sort of ruin was hewn from the rock. It looked like a temple.

Rihat ran across the sand with Giichi on his back, the sand cat accomplishing little but kicking his legs in the air. Sable sprinted behind them, panic on her face as she glanced at the approaching dust clouds.

Panther followed after as best as he could. While he'd recovered his balance, his feet dug into the grit and his robe got in the way too. The long folds of burgundy almost tripped him several times. This outfit was not designed for combat. Fed up with it, he dropped his rifle, pulling out his claws and slashing at the lower folds, letting them drop to the ground.

"Hurry up!" Jima shouted.

Panther snarled. What the hell did she think he was doing?! He finished his work, picking up his rifle again.

"Panther! Look out!" Jima pointed to the sky.

Turning around, he saw a twinkle in the blue, the sun reflecting off of shiny metal. Orange laser blasts shredded the sand around him, sending up great plumes of the stuff and turning patches around him into glowing glass. He fell to the ground, the mighty roar of the fighter's engine deafening him as it swooped back up into the air. Panther hacked and coughed, his robe covered in dust and burns.

Welcome home, Panther…

Even as he was coughing, trying to get all the filth out of his lungs, a strong hand grabbed him, Jima dragging him to his feet again. She scowled at him, looking at him as if he were nothing but dead weight. He was yanked across the sand as fast as they could go, Panther almost tripping as he tried to keep pace with Jima.

He glanced off to the side, the dust clouds larger and closer. Trucks, dune buggies, and hover bikes drove at the front of the billows. Sharp cracks whipped past Panther's ears, bullets striking the ground around him and kicking up small puffs of sand.

Bullets? This is like when we fought Sentinel back on Fortuna! Does everyone from this backwater still use kinetic weapons?!

He ducked, the gunfire motivating him enough to keep pace without Jima pulling him. She held out her hand, dispersing the glove into droplets as it formed a protective bubble around them, deflecting the incoming rounds.

However, she still had time to take a shot at Panther. "Don't know what Sable sees in you…" she muttered, thinking he didn't hear her.

He was too dazed and frightened to care right now though. Ahead of them, the sand gave way to broad stone steps, leading up to the temple's front entrance. While Panther's head was still pounding from the crash, he did his best to hurry after the others, stumbling up the broad stairs to the temple's entrance, or whatever this place was.

They passed a weathered statue as they ascended. It depicted a lion, wearing regal-looking attire. Even with the stone chipped and smoothed by harsh winds and storms for what had to be centuries, it wasn't hard to tell the species. A large mane surrounded the creature's maw, the figure holding some sort of staff. Bullets whistled through the air around them, several striking the statue. One of them buried itself into the figure's left wrist, the hand falling to the ground and shattering.

They were almost inside the temple now, Panther noticing more lions carved into the columns alongside the entrance doorway.

Machine gun fire pelted the area around them, kicking up rocks and pebbles as it struck the columns. Several vehicles pulled up at the bottom of the stairs. From what glimpses Panther could catch, their enemy looked like a ramshackle mob. Much like the fighters, their trucks and buggies were held together by cobbled scrap, their weapons old, rusted, and kinetic. Outdated military fatigues caked with dust comprised their clothing, giving them an insurgent-looking image. Yet they moved with disciplined precision, as if they'd trained together for years.

Rihat waited at the doorway, his glove transformed into a projectile weapon. He fired short bursts of orange energy at the approaching vehicles, pausing for a moment to let Jima and Panther inside.

Panther collapsed to the floor, his lungs on fire. At least it was cooler in here. He glanced around the room, spotting murals painted on the nearby columns and walls. Even though they were weathered and faded from the sunlight coming in through the doorway, he noticed more lion and lioness figures everywhere, all of them dressed like royalty. He wanted to look closer, but now wasn't the time.

For the third time or so, Jima dragged his ass off the ground. "On your feet!" She screamed, shoving him behind a column.

Grunting, Panther got into cover, watching as Rihat, Sable, and Giichi hid behind a column on the other side of the stone hallway.

Bullets flew inside through the open doorway, pockmarking the stone walls. Even though Panther was disoriented, he noted how his foes were disciplined enough to keep up a relentless barrage of bullets on their positions, firing in waves so someone was always firing while the others reloaded. Kinetic weapons often had tiny magazines compared to energy weapons, making the feat even more impressive. He didn't like this. These guys knew they were coming, plus they'd planned that coordinated ambush with the fighters and ground vehicles almost flawlessly.

The amount of fire cut from outside down, but Panther picked up other sounds. A horde of the soldiers screamed outside, their footsteps on the stairs, the noise rising to deafening levels within seconds. There had to be dozens of them. Panther raised his rifle at the door, waiting for the first of them to appear.

But Jima raised her hand, motioning for him to get back behind the pillar.

"Cover your ears."

Her glove transformed into two prongs. What was that shape? He could have sworn he'd seen it before though. What was it? Then it hit him. A tuning fork. Why that? Jima focused the prongs on a support pillar next to the column's entrance. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then he noticed an almost inaudible tone, building in volume. He didn't like it, his ears curling back as he put his hands over them.

The column shook like it was in an earthquake, before it exploded outwards and sent rocky fragments flying everywhere. Without its support, the door's frame and the rocks above collapsed. A dusty explosion filled the entrance into the temple, the debris tumbling with a mighty crash. The chamber, illuminated only by the sun outside, plunged into darkness, the rumble of the falling rocks reverberating afterwards.

Panther's eyes widened. She'd destroyed the doorway with nothing but sound?

"Get settled in." Jima's gauntlet reformed around her hand back into its glove configuration. She and Rihat switched on portable flashlights attached to their harnesses. "Backup will arrive in fifteen minutes."

Panther looked at the pile of rock now sealing them inside the temple. Outside, the cries of the soldiers had gone silent, and there was an eerie silence aside from the roar of enemy fighters circling around.

"Will we be safe until then?" he asked.

"Don't drop your guard." Jima clenched her fist within her silver glove, staring at the rock wall. "The separatists are desperate, Panther. What is in the case means the end of their way of life. They will do whatever it takes to get it from us, no matter the cost. They are ready to die to make sure we don't bring it to Queen Kula."

Panther's eyes widened, staring at the newly-formed rock wall. The improvised barricade looked solid and impassable, but he knew nothing about these separatists or what they were capable of—

"Fire in the hole!"

An explosion rocked the entire room, almost causing Panther to fall to his feet. Rivers of dust rained from the ceiling, cracks traveling upwards along the rock walls.

"Get another!" Someone outside shouted. "Try it again!"

Jima shook her head, turning back to Panther. "You…take Sable and Giichi further inside the temple. Find a place to hide."

"What?"

"You're nothing but a cub, Panther." She rolled her eyes. "You won't be much help against the separatists, but being a bodyguard shouldn't be too challenging for you…or so I hope."

Thus far, Jima had done nothing but berate Panther. Even while they were training she'd acted like he was nothing but a waste of her time. A growl rose in Panther's throat. He wanted to hurt her, even though he knew he couldn't stand up to her in a fight.

Another explosion shook the chamber from outside, the separatists yelling for another explosive.

"Hurry! Go before it's too late!" Jima cried out.

Hearing the conversation, Sable rose to her feet, still holding the case in one hand and a blaster in the other, the weapon pointed at Giichi's back.

"Can you take charge of him?"

Before Panther could respond, Sable shoved Giichi straight towards him. The sand cat scowled, as if to say 'you're not really going to listen to these people are you?' Panther found himself torn, wanting to side with Giichi but at the same time knowing the others' eyes were upon him.

"Panther! We have to go!" Sable shouted at him.

Shaking his head, he nodded, taking the lead further inside the temple.

~X~

Standing outside, a female dog shivered as she watched the separatist forces pound the rock barricade with their explosives, every blast causing her to shake in her boots. Even if she was a scientist and not a soldier, she'd been in her fair share of scrapes living on Thaljista, between the hostile tribes, the bandits, the Royalists, and the pirates. Who hadn't? Even so…she'd heard stories about the Retinue. About how separatist forces had never been able to kill one, even after throwing entire squads of soldiers at them for years. About how few people returned from battles with them, despite the aforementioned numbers.

And to win this fight, I will have to get close to them for this to work…

She checked the straps on her backpack, making sure it was connected properly to the device mounted to her wrist. The pack held a device she'd spent years working on, something that could potentially neutralize the Retinue's gauntlets. Hopefully it would work. Hopefully today they could use it to kill a Retinue for the first time.

Or that's what everyone keeps telling me…

It should work in theory. They'd used the device on Nail's glove back in her lab, and the response was favorable. But his glove was copied technology.

This would be her invention's first test against the real thing, and with the warning the case was on its way to Thaljista, she'd been rushed to prepare it for battle. Now it was the only thing standing between her and joining the Retinue's many other victims… She couldn't bear a full size rifle with the pack's weight, and was instead limited to a machine pistol. The weapon felt light and insignificant in her holster compared to the weapons of those around her.

Another set of charges was planted, the combat engineer retreating behind the statue as everyone took cover.

"Fire in the hole!"

She covered her oversized, floppy ears, waiting for the sound. The engineer depressed the clacker on his detonator. Another sharp blast sent shockwaves all around them, and when the dust cleared the boulders were gone. A group of soldiers who were waiting to enter on either side rushed in, weapons up.

"Heads up, White!"

The cry startled her. Looking to the side, she eyed her handler. A bull named Tor stood over her, his shadow swallowing hers up. 'White' was the nickname she'd earned amongst these soldiers. They seemed to like nicknaming everything.

His fur was dark blue, almost black. Instead of a weapon, he held a large ballistic shield in his hand. The thing was almost as wide and tall as him, yet he wielded with ease due to his impressive size and muscles. Even barring that, he looked like he could gore someone with those huge horns of his if he wanted. Tor assured her he would stay by her side and keep her protected, but this was an enemy they'd never been able to kill before, and it was up to her of all people to stop them…

Hesitantly, she crawled to her feet, standing up behind the dune buggy they were sheltering behind, when another explosion lit up the entrance way into the temple. Except this one was not from the soldiers, but was instead an odd orange color, generated by plasma energy instead of pyrotechnics. Her eyes widened as she watched the bodies of soldiers fly back out from the shockwave.

And I'm about to go in there… Was it a good idea to announce I was working on countermeasures to the Retinue?

She could hear radio chatter, both from her own unit as well as Tor's unit next to her. "They're on the walls! They're on the walls at the back of the room! Grenadiers!"

Two soldiers with underbarrel grenade launchers on their rifles stepped forward, a soft thwump from each of them as they fired grenades into the room. Double blasts reverberated from inside the entrance chamber.

"Move up!" Tor shouted.

A new squad was running into the room, their guns up as they vanished into the darkness, fanning out once they reached the room on the other side.

"We have to go now." Tor stood up, holding up his shield to cover his front. "Are you ready?"

Hesitantly, she nodded. The bull spun his shield around, his heavy footsteps clomping on the ground as he moved upwards. White did whatever she could to stay in his shadow. As they entered the chamber they took cover behind a pillar. The soldiers had spread out around the room now, looking up in addition to left and right…something she found very unsettling. No movement could be seen above in the dancing beams of the flashlights, or the glare of the flares. Black scorch marks on the murals high above marked where the grenades had impacted, but there was no trace of the targets now.

"Room's clear!" someone called out.

White doubted that claim; she couldn't take her eyes off of the walls and ceiling. There were numerous holes and passageways high up there, big enough for a person to crawl into if they could climb there. It would be no challenge for the Retinue to do such a thing.

She knew, because the body suit Nail had was also copied Retinue technology. Through the use of a gravity-manipulation pack, the suit's user could leap great distances in a single bound, while also slowing falls before touchdown to prevent injury. The boots and gloves of the suit came equipped with synthetic setae: minuscule bristle-like structures that adhered to most surfaces. These allowed the user to scale straight up walls and ceilings, and adhesion could even be activated and deactivated at will, as the situation demanded. She'd seen Nail put the technology to work back in her labs at the Ghost Resort.

The Retinue would have the same or better tech, so they could be anywhere by now.

Tor looked down at her. "We need to move on. Deeper inside."

She turned an eye to the next passageway, a dark and twisting tube of rock walls. Glowstones were set into the ceiling behind boron-infused glass. These were rocks native to Thaljista that glowed aqua blue in the dark, providing natural lighting. For the cats who used to inhabit this place, it would have been adequate. But White, being a canine, could only see enough to not run into walls and little else. And somewhere in the dark were two deadly killers, waiting to strike from any angle, and they had the edge in sight over her.

"Are you with me?" Tor asked. "We've gotta move fast, White. I can't have you hesitating."

Her knees quaked together, and she wanted to cry, but she did what she could to keep her face hardened, looking back up at the bull. Tor was only too right about this mission. Failure today would mean enslavement or death tomorrow, for herself and everyone else she knew. She wasn't doing this for herself. She was doing it for her family. Her friends. Her nation. Or that's what she told herself, anyway. But she found it hard to remind herself of that in the midst of battle. How did soldiers deal with this, knowing their life could be forfeit at any moment?

Even so, she couldn't falter, narrowing her eyes as she nodded back.

"Good. Stay behind the group. Soon as you see one of them, use the thing on your back and put them out of commission."

Sounded simple enough, but if it didn't work, she was dead along with everyone else here.

They moved further in, the cramped passageway packing them together. Would the Retinue blow them up again like they'd done at the entrance door? Flashlights and flares were ignited, waved all around by the soldiers, not even allowing a trace of darkness to escape as they looked around. They had eyes on all angles, yet White didn't feel safe, trying to look everywhere at the same time, and always thinking one of the Retinue would be right behind her every time she turned around. Tor's shield wouldn't mean anything if they were ambushed from behind…

They entered what appeared to be some sort of library, rotting wooden shelves filling the large space. Scattered, faded scrolls and other scraps of paper littering the shelves and floors. Long since extinguished oil lamps lay sprinkled about the space, with scattered vials of ink and rotting reeds that would have been used as pens. It spoke of a long ago chapter in Thaljista's past, back when the Thaljism religion preached persecution against anyone who wasn't a cat. Who was she kidding though? That was still happening now. You'd think the cats here would have advanced past such a barbaric era, yet the archaic lessons taught within these walls persisted even today.

Creeeak…

Everyone turned to face one of the ancient bookshelves. One of the shelves teetered over, crashing against another bookshelf, sending them all tumbling over in sequence. The soldiers hurried to get out of the way, almost being crushed as they jumped to safety. A blizzard of papers flew all over the room, dancing in the air like snow.

In the middle of the blizzard, a dark shadow flashed through, sending the papers spinning in a whirlwind. White heard a sharp crack, someone crying out. Everyone spun around with their flashlights, spotting a puma in a gray body suit holding one of the soldiers. The soldier lay limp across the cat's shoulder. At first, White didn't see what was wrong, but then she noticed a sharp, silver spike extending out of the man's back, blood staining the clothing around it.

"It's him! Rihat!" the soldiers raised their weapons.

With a sickening sound, like a knife moving across flesh, the spike withdrew out of the soldier's body. Rihat grabbed the fresh corpse by the arms, spinning it around in a circle, knocking back everyone next to him. He hurled the body straight at Tor's shield. It rebounded off with a sickening smack, landing on the floor. The man's face was still frozen in shock.

Several soldiers opened fire upon Rihat, but a grid of metallic droplets formed around him, all of them deflecting the incoming fire. The ricocheting bullets struck the fluttering papers around him, blasting them into confetti. The puma hardly seemed to notice the fire he was under, as he strode towards his next victim

"Skeets! Go!" Tor screamed, shouting at a nearby deer. Unlike the riflemen, he wielded a combat shotgun.

Two others joined, him raising their own shotguns to their shoulders. Rihat hesitated, narrowing his eyes at the new weapons.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

The noise pummeled White's ears, each gun spitting out gigantic tongues of flame that—for an instant—lit up the entire cavern chamber they were in, as if they were staring into the sun. Flames engulfed the papers fluttering around, filling the air with smoke and fire. The Skeets stopped, needing to reload.

As the smoke cleared, Rihat was nowhere to be seen.

Tor took it as a victory. "They're afraid of the shotguns. The dragon's breath shells." He laughed as he watched the fire catch all over the room, lighting the wood and papers into a smoldering blaze. "A droplet shield won't protect you against fireballs, after all."

While he was grinning, White saw a second dark shape leap from the ceiling, crashing to the ground right into the midst of the shotgun unit. This time it was Jima, the snow leopard. She skewered a nearby shotgunner, kicking him off her makeshift blade and sending him crashing into a group of other soldiers, knocking them all off balance.

One of the riflemen managed to get a bead on her, opening fire with his weapon, but her glove quickly dispersed, forming that damned droplet shield around her and leaving her without a scratch.

"White! Use it!" Tor shouted at her. "Use your thing!"

My thing? She looked at her wrist unit. My device! She'd been so scared she'd forgotten she'd had it. White's hands fumbled over the keys. What had been simple and easy to do in a lab setting became near impossible, her fingers feeling fat and useless as she tried to strike the correct keys. Damn it, how did people stay so relaxed in the middle of battles like this?! The computer felt like it was running frighteningly slow, every second being like a year. At last the correct program came up.

She detected two signals within her radius: Jima's and Rihat's gloves. She smiled. The device was working! But now there was the task of disabling their gauntlets.

"Hurry White!" Tor called out, shielding her.

The two Retinue leapt about, carving up anyone who got close to her with nary any hesitation. White navigated the protocols as quickly as she could, sweat rolling down her face as she tried to input the commands, knowing more died for every mistake and delay she made. She coughed from the smoke around her, the fumes making her eyes water. Damn it! She wasn't supposed to be here! She was a scientist who worked in labs!

But then there was a ray of hope, as she noticed her program was almost finished.

Processing...84%

Processing...88%

Processing...100%

Connection has been attained. What is your request?

Fingers shaking, she went to a different window, tapping on a special program she'd designed to interface with those gloves. As soon as she did, a solid wall of text appeared underneath the question, filling her small screen. To the layman it would be indecipherable, but what it did was send a swarm of commands to the nanites in charge of the gloves' systems. The gloves would be so busy dealing with the swarm of commands they would be unable to respond to their users.

White looked up from the screen, only to see herself and Tor being stared down by Rihat. The brown puma strode towards them, his face blank, like there was nothing remarkable about what he was doing.

Tor held his shield tight, covering himself and White with it.

An amused smirk crossed Rihat's face, not even breaking his stride. A few steps away, he raised his gloved hand, pointing his fingers at the shield to form a blade...and nothing happened. The smirk vanished, Rihat stopping to examine his glove. His eyes widened, confusion and terror crossing his face for the first time.

White held her breath. Is it working?

Tor pulled his machine pistol out of his holster, moving the shield out of the way. Rihat saw the weapon, raising his glove in a defensive stance. Tor opened fire, spewing a short burst at the puma.

Rihat cried out, staggering back as he clutched a hand to the side of his torso. He drew his hand back, White noticing blood on the tip of his finger. Instead of appearing in pain, Rihat's mouth was agape in surprise, stunned his glove hadn't protected him. With a pained grunt, he leaped up into the darkness overhead, Tor emptying his magazine after him.

Jima soon followed, vanishing upwards into a dark hole herself.

Without an enemy to shoot, the guns in the room fell silent, everyone looking up at the ceiling to see if the Retinue would reappear. For a minute, no one moved.

A laugh finally broke the silence, coming from Tor himself.

"Did you see that?" Tor grinned at White. "I shot one of them! We've got them on the run!"

Stunned, White stood there in disbelief. She'd been this close to death, but her invention had worked?

Tor clapped her on the back, some of the other soldiers coming up to congratulate her. There was jubilant celebration around her, White feeling a part of the camaraderie around her even though she was a civilian hanger on. A smile came to her face. Was this what it was like to be a regular part of the military? She didn't know, as her parents wouldn't let her join when she was younger.

Then she saw the corpses around her, the smile disappearing as soon as it arrived. They'd died to buy her time to activate her device. Sure, she knew it worked now, but was this a victory? They'd only stopped the Retinue for the moment, not taken them out. She glanced up at the ceiling, looking at the hole she'd seen Jima vanish through. A pair of yellow slit eyes glowed in the darkness, staring right at her, but they withdrew into the darkness.

She knows. She knows what I did.

White wanted to call out, but her voice was caught in her throat. She was their target now, their primary threat. She would be the first to die when they attacked again, like how they went after the Skeets first once they became a threat. Her breaths came rapidly, her heart racing.

"We have to keep going."

White almost jumped out of her skin, but it was Tor, looking down on her.

Tor raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"Sh-she was looking at me…" White pointed a finger at the hole above her.

Tor glanced up as well. Looking back to her, he moved them away from the hole and into a corner where they couldn't be attacked by surprise. Putting his shield on his back, he leaned over her and put his hands on her shoulders, so if there was an attack from above she would be protected by both his body and the barrier. "Don't worry. I'm here. I told you I'd protect you. Want to know something, Fay?"

She blinked. That was the first time he'd used her real name. "W-what?"

"I'm scared too. All of us are."

She blinked, surprised.

"Courage doesn't mean a lack of fear. It means being willing to go forward even if you do have fear. Did you know that?"

Fay didn't, given as she was used to being safe back in her labs at the Ghost Resort.

"You're doing great so far. We've got the Retinue on the backfoot now. That's never happened before! Can you be brave for me, just a little longer?" Tor smiled, but it soon faded, his voice taking on a harder edge. "Because we don't have much time left. The Retinue will have called for backup by now. What's inside the case is basically a WMD. We cannot allow the Royalists to have it, at any cost. This is our final chance to stop them. Do you understand, Fay Spaniel?"

Even as her heart pounded in her chest, she gave a hesitant nod.

"All right." He gave her an approving smile. "Let's get this done!"

Moving onto the next room, they entered an old dormitory, possibly for the monks, priests, or whoever resided here. Old wooden beds and furniture lay smashed and rotting on the floor, more of the glowstones built into the ceiling with retractable covers. Scraps of old linen and paper were scattered around the floor, along with some trunks that had been wrenched open, possibly by treasure hunters.

However, the door at the far end of the room was blocked by another wall of boulders. A small sliver at the top of the door was still open though, a flashlight beam dancing around in the narrow slot.

"Is that one of ours?" Tor whispered to the deer next to him.

"No sir," he replied.

The beam hastily shut off. The sounds of a scuffle could be heard on the other side of the rock wall.

"Guys! It's me! Giichi! They have the case in here! Hurry!"

Tor's eyes lit up, a grin on his snout.

"Engineer!" Tor gestured towards the guy with the explosives. "Open 'er up!"

The engineer nodded, approaching as he armed one of his explosives. Tor took cover behind a column, planting his shield into the ground and bracing himself for extra protection. Fay crouched behind him, covering her ears and closing her eyes in anticipation.

There was a soft thump behind her, like a set of gentle footsteps on the ground. She wasn't sure if she'd heard that, since her ears were covered. Before she could turn around, she felt the snap on her holster popping open, the machine pistol there being taken out. Click. That was the safety being disengaged. Her eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen. A thunderous roar filled her ears, the shooter emptying the magazine of her own weapon into her back. It felt like someone pummeling her with rapid fire punches, sending her falling to the ground. She screamed as she lay on the ground, grasping for her back, surrounded by sparking wires and burnt plastic.

She was unaware of what happened next, only hearing muffled gunfire all around her as Tor and the soldiers opened fire at something right behind her.

A large hooved hand picked her up, Tor bringing her to her feet. "Fay!" he cried out. "Are you all right?" He moved behind her, removing her backpack and letting it fall to the floor.

She touched her back, feeling a slimy wetness. When she pulled her hands back, the tips were red with blood. Breathing hard, she looked at the backpack on the floor next to her. It was nothing but a shredded mass of metal, plastic, silicone and wires now, punched full of bullet holes made by her own weapon. But at least it had saved her life…

"Jima got behind you. I'm so sorry…" Terror crept into Tor's voice. "They can use their gloves again…" He looked around, trying to spot where they would come from next.

Someone screamed out from the other side of the room, where the combat engineer last was. As Fay turned to look, there was a thump, a body flung to the floor. It was the engineer, his form limp. Something was strapped to his chest…the bomb he was about to plant. Everyone looked up. Rihat was standing by the blocked off passageway, his left hand clapped over his bullet wound. In his right, he held the detonator, fingers on the clacker. Everyone dived for cover, but it was too late. A massive explosion ripped through the entire group, sending men flying through the air. Rocks fell from the ceiling, crushing more soldiers as they all fled for their lives.

Jima and Rihat calmly and methodically moved through the chaos, leaping over the debris, cutting down the soldiers like it was nothing. They didn't even bother to move in close for kills now, using the droplets like small missiles to spear their targets in the back. Order had collapsed amongst the separatists. Some of them fired haphazardly while others ran for the nearest exit they could find in the darkness, as the Retinue picked them off one by one. This was nothing but a slaughter now.

Tor brought up his headset. "Everyone! Fall back to the entrance! Hurry!" It was wasted words though, as they didn't seem to have any effect on what his men were doing. Shaking his head, he turned to Fay as he slid his shield on his back, picking her up off the ground.

Carrying her, he backtracked through the passageways they'd used before, his flashlight waving around in the darkness. His footsteps clomped and thundered on the ground, but they could not drown out the screams and gunfire in Fay's ears. She clutched to him like her arms were a vise, her ears curling back as she listened to those horrible sounds they left behind.

Tor muttered something under his breath, though the only words she caught were swears.

Fay didn't particularly care though, feeling a chill surrounding her as they ran for the exit. Even when they rushed outside into the hot desert sun, she still felt freezing cold, unable to take her mind off of what she'd seen inside the temple.

Tor sprinted full tilt towards a waiting troop transport, Fay's view dipping up and down as they hurried across the sand. Soon they were inside, Tor gently laying her on a bench as the shuttle's rear doors closed up. He called to the onboard medic to check her back.

Though she was safe now, she looked back at the temple before the doors shut, terrified for what the future held now. Sure, she had escaped with her life, but with their failure it probably wouldn't matter now. How long would it be before the Royalists used what was in the case? Was there even any point in going back home to Kinnor at this point? Would the city even be there before long? It was like leaping from one sinking ship into another.

Meanwhile Tor was in radio communications with someone else, Fay only distantly aware of his words. "We had to pull back. Too many dead..."

There was some talk on the other end of the line.

"Oh, good." A small glimmer of hope came to his face, although he still looked tense. "Maybe the other teams will have better luck with the alternate entrances the flyboys spotted. I hope it's not too late..."

~X~

Panther didn't have any clue where they were going. He was supposed to arrive in their royal court or whatever they had on Thaljista, not be hunted through ancient ruins by soldiers. The whole situation was so bizarre and unexpected it was like he was in a dream, being herded along by his subconscious.

As he ran through the halls, he spared a glance back at Sable, the panthress herself looking scared as hell too. It was the first time he'd ever seen her look like she wasn't in control. When they'd heard all those separatists on the other side of one of those collapsed passages, she looked like she was about to collapse in terror. They'd had to move further inside with Giichi in tow, Sable constantly glancing over her shoulder as they ran.

Giichi himself looked like he was waiting for a chance to bolt, Panther needing to keep a close eye on him. He'd already tried calling out to the separatists to draw them to their location. Too bad Panther didn't have anything to make a gag with right now... He should've held onto the shreds of his robe from before.

Up ahead Panther saw natural light through a doorway. As they entered the chamber, they found themselves inside a gigantic hallway with an arched roof. Columns lined the sides, more murals of lions here carved out of the stone. The ceiling above was cracked, letting in natural sunlight.

"I can't let them get it now!" Sable clutched at the case in her arms, her tail curled around her legs. She turned to him. "Panther, if you get us out of this, you can have anything you want! Anything!"

"Don't listen to her, Panther!" Giichi snarled. "You know I'm telling the truth about her now! I can see it on your face!"

Panther took a step back on those words, covering his face to hide whatever he was showing on it from Sable.

"Shut up!" Sable pulled out her claws, razing Giichi across the face and leaving a trio of red gashes underneath his left cheek. "You are so lucky the queen won't let me kill you!"

Giichi hissed, putting one of his paws to the fresh wounds, before looking back at Panther. "She's using you Panther! She doesn't care about you!"

"Don't listen to this traitor! He's turned his back on all of Felidae by supporting Razir! If we don't make it out of this, the separatists will kill us all! You included!"

"Panther!" Giichi shouted. "I'll put in a good word for you! They want to rescue me. You help me out of this, and I'll make sure you're safe!"

"Our backup will be here in ten minutes, Panther! They'll kill all the separatists!" Fire came to her eyes, as she glared at Giichi. "Giichi and this case are going nowhere!" She shouted it with such certainty, even though a few seconds before she seemed terrified of losing the case.

Panther looked back and forth between Sable and Giichi. What should he do? Who should he listen to? He didn't doubt Sable could give him anything he wanted, especially after riding aboard the Onyx, but what about Giichi's warnings? If he had known Giichi was telling the truth earlier, would he have still gone along with her to Thaljista like this? Would he have even let Wolf hand over the case? Panther would have liked to believe he wouldn't, but he wasn't so sure if that's what he would have done.

Pebbles rustled overhead, falling to the floor next to his feet. A shadow moved past the crack in the ceiling above, blocking the light.

"Look out!" Panther shoved Sable behind a column, as bullets cracked past him. He raised his plasma rifle, shooting off several blasts back at the ceiling. He couldn't tell if he'd hit anyone, but he could hear shouts up above, frantic footsteps as the shooter moved away.

Turning around, he spotted Sable lying on the floor, one of her arms wrapped around the case in a death grip. Panther wasted no time, reaching down and pulling her up, taking the case in his other arm as they rushed into the next passageway. A muffled explosion rocked the hallway behind them, accompanied by the sound of ropes being unfurled as the soldiers descended inside.

"Jima! Rihat!" Sable cried into her wrist comm. "The separatists found another way in! They're after us! Hurry!"

As they ran, Panther's thoughts were like a hurricane, chaotic and unfocused. Why had he rescued Sable, even after what Giichi said about her? Why not turn her over to the separatists back there? Admit it. You still want her anyway. You don't want her to be taken away from you. It'd be a terrible waste, especially with Krystal being long gone. Sable's even better than Krystal in some ways. She wants you, needs you to protect her. She's said it herself. You're her champion. And she's going to reward you with riches beyond your wildest dreams. Krystal would never do those things for you…

Panther's ears curled back in frustration. Whenever he had even the smallest doubt about whether he should sleep with a woman, he always heard that smooth, warm voice in his head talk about how he should seize the opportunity. He almost always gave into the temptation within seconds, hardly ever regretting his decision afterwards. This was the first time in years, maybe even over a decade, where he still had his doubts in spite of that. It spoke volumes to him on what he really thought of Sable, deep down. Even so, that voice was hard to resist.

Giichi was still running beside them, glaring at Panther every once in a while. Why was he still following them? He could've given himself up to the separatists before.

Sable whimpered, Panther returning his attention to her. She had her hand pressed to her shoulder, some blood trickling down her arm.

"Are you all right?" Panther stopped for a moment, putting down the case so he could look at the wound.

Sable had her eyes shut, nodding as she moved so Panther could have a closer look.

She'd been clipped by one of the bullets in the shoulder, blood running through her fingers as her teeth clenched together. Poor thing; she was far too delicate for a place like this.

"You'll be fine for now." Panther smiled. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

Sable opened her eyes, returning the grin as the two stared at each other for a moment. However, the smile soon vanished, Sable looking behind Panther, a terrified look on her face as she glanced both ways along the hallway. Giichi had vanished, along with something else...

"Where is he?!" Sable screamed. "Where's the case?!"

~X~

A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys. This chapter ended up growing to 14K words, so I thought it would be best to split it into two chapters. Good news is Chapter 21 shouldn't be too far behind though :)