Out of nowhere, she brought up how she feels about what I do. "Are you trying to get on my nerves?" I asked. "No" She quickly replied as though to clear up a misunderstanding. She gave no response after that. I was able to notice her expression, she genuinely didn't mean anything bad by it, so I let it go.
We stayed in silence after that conversation. I kept my eyes on her, trying to read her. She sits on my seat, lightly tapping a finger on the desk as she looks around, sometimes our gazes meet and she will quickly avert them away.
After some time, she broke the silence. "You know that you can trust me, right?" She asked without looking at me. I was taken by surprise by that question and chuckles loudly. "Trust you?" I was not certain about what she meant by that but it greatly amused me. She chuckles back at me. "Yeah... I mean we're friends right?" Friends, she said. "Are we?" I looked at her and she gave out a slight sad smile. "We're comrades that's for sure" I cleared my throat. Lurza'Far paused for a second before responding back.
"Are we not more than comrades?" She asked. I was surprised a bit. She truly believes we're friends. That's not something a Loyalist should say, but there she is, pushing that belief that we are more than comrades in our ranks. She made me regret saying that. "Sure, we might have fought each other so often back then, but that's called rivalry, right? That doesn't affect our everyday interactions with each other" Wanting to get straight to the point, I immediately asked her.
"What are you trying to say, Lurza'Far?" Even though I'm well aware of what she was trying to hint at, I still demanded her to say it. "What I'm saying is..." She paused to look at me. "We've been together for so long now, Karuga. There should be some sort of big... trust between us by now, so why are you hesitating to show whatever you're hiding from me?" The situation went out on the open with her words, even she was surprised by the realization. We went silent for a few moments.
"I... uh..." I tried to think of words to reply to but couldn't muster any thought. She clearly stated just now that she was aware that I'm trying to conceal my true intentions. She sighed at my loss of words. "Whatever that is you're hiding, you can count me in, alright?" She gave me a reassuring smile. "Fine... When Ladrak comes back, I'll think of what you can do for me next" I responded. She looked disappointed in my response. She was like that for a second before closing her eyes and sighing. "What?" She looked as if she lost. "You idiot..." "Huh...?!" I heard her say that under her breath as she turns away from me.
Having no clue about her insult, I paid it no heed. I'm still puzzled about her change of approach. This could be another strategy to make me spill out the truth, I have to be careful. As I thought about that, I suddenly remembered what she said. There should be a great trust between us by now, she said... I'm sorry, Lurza'Far, but there's no way I'm risking telling you. Unlike me, your loyalty to the Lord hasn't wavered. I do trust you. But it pains me to say that I can't make myself trust you in this certain situation.
I sighed as I shake off the thought. I saw Lurza'Far notice me shake my head. "What are you thinking?" She asked out of curiosity. "Whatever that is, it must be a great burden" She was able to notice my frustration. Either it's her sharp observation, or it's me openly showing it to her. I didn't give a response.
After a while, someone knocked on the door. We both turned to look. "My Lord" Ladrak's voice called out and the door opens. He is holding a tablet as he came in. "I have the information you asked" He puts the tablet in front of him and bows, then raised his head and turns to Lurza'Far. "Lord Lurza'Far" He bowed to her. He then comes near me and reached out the tablet to me. "Common Zakana are living under the surface of this planet, My Lord. Other than the sluggish Shielder, there are no high-threat Zakana present anywhere" He explained as I analyze the contents of the tablet.
Just like he said, only common Zakana such as the Scratchers and Rangers are listed to be living on this planet. There are no higher Zakana living on this planet. "Hm... This won't do" I said. "We need more Zakana for this plan to work" I've also noticed that the count of these Zakana are not enough for chaos. The Arkulan base on the sands could deal with these Zakana without breaking a sweat.
I turned to look at Lurza'Far. I called her and she perks up, waiting for my next words. "You wanted to do something for me? Well..." I hesitated for a second, but I pushed my words. "You see... The Zakana living on this planet are not enough to cause such chaos among the Arkulans, especially since their leader Lonara Hamarya is staying in that lone base on the sands" I paused to clear my throat for a second. What I'm going to tell her is going to be huge. I was gathering every bit of my strength to try to explain it to her.
Judging by her expression, she clearly acknowledges my hesitation, but I try nonetheless. "We would need higher Zakana invading the planet" I let that out first. She was clearly surprised, and her eyes widen. "And how would you do that?!" She asked, still in surprise. "The higher Zakana are attracted to the energy of our ancient powers, right? I would like you to try something to amass them and send them to the planet, frenzied" We both stare at each other, I'm waiting for her reaction.
"I... I can, but does Lord Kantala know about this?" My silence to that question already satisfied her. "Are you trying to say that you're doing this under the Lord's knowledge?!" Her voice raised slightly. "You can tell her if you want... but It'd be good if you make it without letting her know" "That's outrageous!" She quickly rose her voice over mine. "A horde of higher Zakana traveling through space is never an unseeable thing! Any Narukh'za could see it and their presence would be reported back to, if not you, to Lord Kantala herself!" Even though she was opposing my idea, it doesn't seem like it was because I'm hiding something from the Lord.
It was such a relief to know. It made me calm a little and gather answers for her. "If you can't lure them to travel, how about warping them to Kryok directly? I'm pretty sure we've stolen plenty of those from Arkula and Krygstek" I gave her a suggestion of warping the Zakana to Kryok directly using stolen technologies. She placed a hand on her cheek, carefully thinking of something. "That could work, but I can only warp in a few amount of them, it would take a while for me to warp a great amount of them for your 'chaos' to Kryok" She paid attention to my plan, good.
"I can use my own power to do that. I can warp you as many Zakana as you want to the planet, but Lord Kantala and the other Loyalists might sense the immense energy I might leak from doing so" That's right. The First Loyalists was the most gifted warrior in the ranks of the Lord's Loyalists. Not only by rankings and recognition but by power as well. It's as if Lurza'Far became the Lord's sibling, almost matching with terrifying powers.
"Do you think there's a chance they won't notice it?" I asked, hoping for a positive answer. She raised a brow. "I can completely stop my energy from leaking, but that will put me immobilized for a day" It's unimaginable how much strength it takes for us to stop our raw ancient power from leaking out after we use them. It is a natural process for the excess energies to leak out to prevent the surrounding area to be short of its energy, otherwise, our powers will weaken, and soon completely dies out. It is the very convenient nature of this incredible power.
"I will help you recover, even if it meant making us sleep on a bed for a day. Leave the reasonings to me" I can transfer some of my energies to her, but not enough for a full recovery. Transferring energies is already a tiring thing to do, and the process of transferring also includes sacrificing some energies for the transfer to work. It will render me incapacitated for a day, but if this is for the effort of keeping my plans under the cover, I would gladly do it.
"Your reasons are better to be believable, Karuga. You're a bad liar" I was taken aback by her reply. "If you can't lie to me with a straight face, you won't be able to convince the others, I'm afraid" She shrugged. "I'll do my best" I had nothing to fight back against her so I laid my confidence to myself. I'm pretty sure she was hesitating at first, but shrugged it off and smirks at me. "Sure, Karuga. I will do it" She firmly said. "Warping a horde of higher Zakana on Kryok sound tons of fun" She added.
After some thought, I wondered if she was doing this for me or for Lord Kantala. Sure, there is trust between us, but those times are different. Right now I'm acting on my own, without Lord Kantala's orders and I'm literally asking her First Loyalist to hide my plans. She could be pretending to side with me so she can know more about it before telling the Lord. I wished I have thought about this earlier, but now it's too late. Now I can only rely on our bond... Our... friend.. ship... Whether she will turn me in or stay silent will depend on how well we have developed not only as a comrade in the ranks but as friends.
As I thought about that, I found myself staring at her. I couldn't be bothered to look away for some reason. She gave me a smile as I stare. "You don't have to worry, Karuga. I will do what I think is right" She walked and stopped before the door. "So if you do something wrong, you'll definitely get the consequences it brings" She then proceeded to leave my room, closing the door behind her.
I stared at the door, imagining her silhouette there. My plans, my desire to seek the answer I want... Are these all bad decisions? Am I truly betraying the Lord and her Empire by doing this? My entire life has been nothing but loyalty to Her name and the empire, not the slightest second would I agree to betray the trust Lord Kantala has placed upon me. So why would I worry about something that won't harm my allegiance to Her? That's right. I don't have any ill intention against Her, so I shouldn't be worried... Right?
As long as I can be true to my pledge in Her name, I can hope... that I can do this without making such big trouble for her. I wished for an answer and that's it... Even if Kirin Solana and the rest of the Arkula prove themselves that they can live with their words, I would let fate decide the future ahead of us. I chuckled, such situations started making me believe in fate... It's ridiculous.
With a friend dealt with, I compose myself to think about the next step for my plans. The day this will happen will be a very busy day. I must think from every perspective about this plan, or it could go wrong and out of control.