I, Propitiator: "Chapter 6"

Chapter 6

When one truly loves, they become willing to sacrifice everything, even their own life, for the one whom they love.

Daedalus paced outside the house, waiting for me to finish getting ready for the night. We were going swing dancing at the local dancing studio. My sympathetic side had convinced Mom that it was necessary to make it up to Daedalus for ditching him at the theater by letting him take me out dancing. Not eager for argument, she allowed me to go. Upon entering the car, Daedalus waved good bye to my mom and we were off. Along the way to the dance studio, we passed a black sedan. For a moment it appeared that Kanda was in that car, yet there wasn’t time to confirm. If my eyes didn’t deceive me, she was in the passenger seat, perhaps being coerced into doing whatever she was doing. Not wanting to loose the opportunity, yet also not wanting to alert Daedalus, reason dictated that the best course of action was to telepathically inform Oliver of everything and continue to the dance as if nothing happened.

Lieutenant Avner and Lieutenant Tam were training together, getting ready for the next competition. However, when Lieutenant Avner heard my telepathic message, he excused himself and went to Captain Dalton. When he found his commanding officer, he requested, “Sir, please allow me to return to Terra Lapsa, a friend of mine has gone missing and my sister has just reported that she thought she saw my friend but was unable to pursue the matter due to Terran presence.”

Captain Dalton did not look pleased with the request, however his words still held a sense that he might allow it, “You are aware that this tournament is the opportunity of a lifetime?”

“Yes, that has crossed my mind, sir.”

Captain Dalton hesitated, but finally said, “Very well then, you may go, but know that this will be on record, open for review by the judges.”

Oliver nodded and then darted down the hallway to get to the space-dinghy. When he got back to the safe house, he parked the ship and got on his bike, riding out to the place Kanda, or at least someone who looked like her, had been spotted. Throughout this process, Mom appeared to be quite confused over what all the fuss was, yet helped out by hiding the space-dinghy so Oliver wouldn’t have to spend extra time doing so. Upon his arrival, Oliver got off his bike and then while standing on the sidewalk, telepathically reached out, ‘Kanda! Where are you?’

Nearly a minute later, he heard her response, ‘In a dark room, we passed a Mobil gas station on the way here. Beyond that my memory fails to recall anything…’

Oliver pulled out his phone, given to him by the Ies, and traced the telepathic location. Confirming that it was near a gas station, he rode off in that direction, tipir in hand. Eventually he arrived at an abandoned lot. Getting off his bike, he walked through the property until he found a strange hatch that looked like it had been recently used. Finding it locked, he sliced it open with his tipir and lowered himself in. The moment he landed on the ground, Kakios cackled, “You really came for her?!? How stupid are you?”

“To me, the words of the Prime I bring life, but for some foolishness is all they can hear.”

At these words, the tipir leapt at Kakios. He did nothing as the tipir went through him; Oliver realized it was merely a hologram. The hologram then said, “Well I’ll tell you that she is here… somewhere, the trick is finding her exact location, before my pet finds one of you.”

“Your pet?”

The hologram faded out, but then as Oliver headed down a corridor, a loud roar was heard throughout the complex. Oliver decided that since he knew not where Kanda was, but at least knew the general direction the “pet” was, he’d move away from it. What he didn’t realize was that there were actually two of these monsters in this underground maze.

Captain Lee and Ensign Kasana got into the A.R.S. Lightning, a speeder that was assigned to the A.R.S. Zoelight. Having heard of more trouble arising at the Neptunian Outpost, the Prime I decided to send them to investigate and lend a hand if necessary. The A.R.S. Lightning got its name for two reasons. The obvious one was that it was literally the fastest resistance ship of its time; second, it possessed something called the trineon-thermal cannon. This new weapon was supposedly capable of destroying the outer hull of multiple ships at a time by heating the metals to their melting point. The biggest issue was that the weapon was hard to control… its shots moved like lightning, scattering all around in zigzag formations. The A.R.S. Zoelight was equipped with a repulsor field, specifically engineered for the new weapon, but this cannon still couldn’t be fired well if there were other resistance ships nearby.

As they drew near to the outpost, Captain Lee radioed their central tower, “This is Captain Lee of the A.R.S. Zoelight, requesting permission to dock a speeder.”

“Please wait a few minutes, sir; we’re finishing up our toxin sweep,” replied the flight control manager.

Captain Lee sighed, “Very well.”

Suddenly, a resistance ship shot out of the docking bay and nearly grazed the side of the A.R.S. Lightning, well below regulation distance. Captain Lee sent a transmission:

::: This is Captain Lee of the A.R.S. Zoelight, for what reason did you just break regulation code 470? :::

There was a long pause, then a transmission started to be received but then the ship started to shake as if there was an earthquake. Captain Lee commanded, “Draw your energy staff; we’ve been boarded by 15’s!”

Now for your information, 15’s are an alien race comprised of whitish-gold goo. They possess the ability to live inside inanimate objects, like Cyafs for technology, but the real power of a 15 is that they can generate a nuclear fireball that they can telepathically command to target enemies. This makes them the most feared soldier in the Arashad Regime. Fortunately, there are not many of them as a result of a plague that swept through their race a few years ago. Nevertheless, the fact that there was one on the A.R.S. Zoelight now, meant that it had come from the other ship. Meaning the Neptunian Outpost was probably overrun by the regime.

Lieutenant Avner used his tipir to illuminate the entire cavern that he had stumbled into. It seemed to be the normal resting place of the monster, whatever it was. He looked through the bedding and surmised that it was probably a Centarian Serpent.  The Arashad Regime was renowned for feeding people to these terrifying creatures. The average Centarian Serpent had a circumference of about 300 ft and its breath held traces halothane, thus making it difficult to fight these creatures since most would fall asleep in the process of attempting to destroy them. Oliver kept walking through as the cry of the beast resonated through the maze yet again. He reached another cavern and found a giant snake laying there, its head was in another tunnel, so the room was not filled with the lethal gas. Then looking behind him, he saw the head of Centarian Serpent coming toward him. Certainly it couldn’t be that large of the monster… could it? He wondered… However, not wanting to die, he decided that it would be best to run. So he bolted down another hallway, running from the frightening creature with all his might. Kanda telepathically reached out, ‘Where are you, Oliver?’

Oliver stopped momentarily then remembered he was being chased as he responded, ‘In the maze, running from this thing that should never be brought to Terra Lapsa!’

This little communication may have been enough for her to feel like he would save her or for her to feel like all hope was lost, whatever her reason was, Kanda said no more. For Oliver however, this also allowed him to get a better idea of where she was in the maze, so he altered course in hopes to find her sooner. Climbing up a ledge, Oliver made a dangerous mistake; he inhaled as the chasing snake exhaled. Feeling drowsy, Oliver stated, almost defiantly, “If the Prime I wills me to live, nothing shall destroy me!”

Suddenly, the tipir blinded the serpent and dealt a severe blow to its head while pushing him the rest of the way up. This maneuver allowed him to get away and the monster was dazed too much to pursue for the time being. Yet all too soon, as he had gotten enough normal air and was running at full speed again, he saw the head of Centarian Serpent chasing him again! Then it occurred to him… There were two of them in here… So he stated, “Let the serpent’s head be crushed.”

The tipir repeated its previous maneuver, but instead of pushing him up a ledge, it simply accelerated his run for a moment. About half an hour later, he found Kanda, crying in a corner. He knelt down and lifted her to her feet. When she realized it was my brother, they embraced. However, as the situation held significant urgency, they ran for the exit that he had entered from. Yet before they had traveled for more than five minutes, a snake’s head cut them off. Kanda’s heart sank because when they turned to try another route: another serpent blocked their path from behind.

“The light of all else fades in the light of the Prime I!” Captain Lee shouted.

As a result of this, the fireball coming from the 15 intruder was vaporized before it dealt any damage. The 15 turned back into goo and slid right next to Captain Lee and formed a bough of goo to knock the captain off his feet. However, Captain Lee flipped forward, grabbing his tipir and slicing behind him to attempt to injure the 15. However, the 15 simply sunk into the floor to dodge the attack and then came out of the control panel, shorting out the flight controls. With greater agitation, the captain stated, “Even if everyone else deserts me, the Prime I will remain faithful. His words will comfort me and defend me.”

The tipir then illuminated the cavity of the ship and formed a shield around the two resistance members. The 15 then started to fire an array of nuclear fireballs in attempt to break the shield. Captain Lee then commanded Ensign Kasana, “Activate the teleporter and set it to move you to some place in the outpost where you can hide.”

She faded out as if she had done so, yet it struck him as odd that she made no verbal response to tell him whether or not she had heard him. Reasoning that this was just part of her abnormal behavior, he simply ignored the matter and turned his attention back to the assailing 15. “The grace of the Ies is enough to prevail against all else.”

This happened to be Captain Lee’s trademark maneuver. In a whirl of blinding light, the shield and tipir formed a tight spiral around Captain Lee as he charged straight for the 15. As he tackled the 15, Captain Lee dealt heavy damage just on contact alone. Yet this particular 15 was resistant to Captain Lee’s energy source for his tipir, which meant this attack was not as effective as it normally was. The 15 then turned the tables on Captain Lee: they were both taking damage by grappling on the floor.