"Lord Karuga is..." Ladrak is watching at the vision Lurza'Far has cast to watch over Karuga. They both witnessed the second Loyalist ask for help from the Arkulans. He turned to Lurza'Far. She's laying down on a bed in Karuga's room, watching Karuga with no expression. "Lord Lurza'Far... She..." Ladrak was trying to figure out the situation. He wanted to ask the first Loyalist but he knows she had no idea either.
"The Zakana, as I said, is everywhere in the sands. This outpost is not the only one that is under attack. The rest of our outposts around here are being surrounded by them" I told them and Kirin Solana was annoyed once again. "I-I think we should help those outpo-!" "What?!" Niela tried to speak but she yelled at her. "Are you nuts?! We already agreed to help here! The other outposts are none of our business anymore!" So when she agreed to help, she meant help here at this outpost? She is 'nuts'.
"Kirin, when I said help us, I meant not only here in this outpost. Your soldier speaks of helping others and you berate her like that?" Kirin Solana yelled at her young warrior when she spoke about aiding the others. It was very rude of her, even by Narukh'za's standards, I had to say that. It definitely got into her, and I saw Niela get relieved that I sided with her on her leader's yelling.
"With the portal giving us reinforcement, we can hold out. But the portal is not enough to cover the rest of our outposts. Please, go help the others, we can handle this one from here" It will take a while before we can balance the scale between the losses and reinforcement in this outpost, the sooner the help arrives on other outposts the better. Since they agreed to help, I asked them to help the other outposts instead.
"Damn it... Hey, where's your oh-so-great fleet? Why aren't they here?" She asks why my fleet hasn't arrived to help here. "We made a promise to Lonara that our fleet will not get too close to the planet" It is true that Lonara Hamarya has forbidden any Narukh'za fleet to get too close to the planet. She has set a specific distance in which we cannot go further. Have we proceed past that distance, the ceasefire will be rendered null.
"Now ain't that a bull? You had Demon Eagles the first time you met us, and there was one after we finished one of your outposts!" She was talking about the Demon Eagles that are stationed to the defense of the outposts for aerial engagement. "That is not a fleet. And some of the Eagles are assigned to one of the outposts as their aerial defense" "Argh! Whatever, let's go!" She was very irritated that I was able to respond to her questions.
"Once again, I thank you" I expressed my gratitude once more to at least lift up her mood slightly. "You're welcome!" I jolted in surprise when Sterling and Niela responded almost at the same time. They were smiling, I can feel that they were very happy to interact with me. I smiled back at them as I look at their happy faces. "Come. I will guide you out of here" I decided to help them get out of the outpost. Currently, there are still lots of Zakana swarming the outpost. And using only guns will only take time, I want them to go now.
I had no choice, I had to do it. I proceeded toward the direction where they came from. "Follow me" I asked one warrior to follow me. He would fire at any Zakana on sight. "Guard our six" Kirin quickly followed and formed up a formation behind us. While we move, the Arkulans guard our rear while we proceed ahead. Slowly but surely, we made it outside. Here we go. For the first time, they will witness the ancient power. I can think of many reactions coming from them, it amuses me just thinking about it.
I ran up ahead with haste, using my ancient power to dramatically increase my speed. I formed a sharp blade made of pure energy in my hand. Like that, I ran into my first target. I slashed the Scratcher in front of me who was very surprised by my sudden appearance. The moment the alien loses its life, I switched to another Zakana. A quick slash, then to another one, and another one, and another one... Kirin Solana and her young warriors are probably stunned right now. Just like the Zakana, they won't be able to see me at this speed. They could only see my after-image and the forming dark mist I create.
After a few seconds, I already killed several aliens. As I slash the last Zakana I can see, I turned to the Arkulans. "Kirin! Now!" I shouted to get their attention. I was right. They stand there dumbfounded. I can see their jaws hanging. That is something even Kirin Solana hasn't seen in the past. With my shout, they quickly ran on the path I have cleared. "May our combined strengths save lives of hundreds and thousands in this day!" I shouted at them as they go.
I watched them until they disappear in the distance. Then the warrior I had with me approached. "My Lord, were you sure when you've shown the Arkulans your ancient powers?" I kind of guess that will be his question. I really had no idea what to answer, but I was still able to say something. "I guess it's time for them to wake up" My answer failed to reach him. Judging what his face wears, he was still confused about it. I didn't bother to clear his thoughts and returned inside the outpost.
I rushed back to my Siszha and sat inside. Sitting there, I formed a communication with Lurza'Far. "You're awake! I'm glad!" The opposite of my tone, Lurza'Far spoke in a monotone. "Yes, I'm awake, Karuga" That tone quickly made me realize the situation. She has probably seen me talking to Kirin and showing them my powers. This was easy to think of, trying to explain it to Lurza'Far back when I was still planning this whole time, but now it's harder than I initially believed. The pressure was real. Still, I pushed myself to talk to her.
"I will return to the ship, Lurza'Far. I will give you some of my energies, then..." We will talk about this whole thing. "...I'll do whatever's next" I paused mid-sentence. That's how anxious I was. "Sure, Karuga" She acknowledged. Her unusual tone is really putting me off. I really feel guilty, like a child who broke her parents' things. "See you there" With that parting words, our communications vanished. I fired up Siszha and prepares myself to leave. "Zan, continue with the defense. Don't let the portal stop the reinforcements. I have some matters to attend" I left a word to Zan before I flew back up. Flying and evading the Ravens in the skies, I flew back to my fleet.
Up In the space, past Kryok's designated off-limit territory for Narukh'za, I hovered before my Great Bastion. In that specific window in the middle is my office. Lurza'Far and Ladrak are probably staring at me right now. I sighed deeply and proceeded to the docking area at the rear of the ship.
As I walk through the halls, I kept my ears sharp. Fortunately for me, none of them was talking about what happened down there. Or maybe they are just keen on avoiding being heard or seen gossiping. I was aware that none of my warriors will turn against me, but this is a different matter. In just a few moments I was finally in front of my door. I stared at the knob for a few seconds. I breathe in... then out.
I entered the room and closed the door behind me. There, Ladrak stands beside Lurza'Far whose lying on a bed. "I'm glad you returned safe, my Lord" Ladrak bowed to me. Apparently, he dragged a bed from the medical bay to my office. It is one of those beds. There was no time to think of how Ladrak looked like when he took this bed without anyone's help. I walked up to Lurza'Far and looked at her body. She has most of her armor off, with only lighter parts remaining to cover her body.
Her body has slightly deep cuts and burns all over, her hair is a bit messy with dust and weird goo on them, and she sounds like she's struggling to breathe air. However, she looks just fine with all that. "Are you feeling alright now?" I asked and she nods. "The higher aliens are not to be toyed with" She said that with a bit of regret. "Of course, it was not that difficult, but if I messed around even the slightest second, things could have gone wrong" She then sighed deeply.
She looked up at Ladrak. "Give me and your Lord some time alone" She ordered Ladrak to leave. "Very well, Lord Lurza'Far" He then turns to me. "I must leave in the first Loyalist's wish, my Lord. I will hear your further orders once you are done" He bows before heading towards the door to leave. With him gone, it was just me and her alone in the room, with no other people to hear our conversation.
She raised herself up halfway and moved slightly away from the edge of the bed. "Please, sit down, Karuga" For the first time, she formed a smile. Such an invitation to sit down with her. I went and sat down near her as she told me. "The alien planet was terrifying" She said while looking through the glasses. "It's as if the planet itself is alive, the ground felt like it was pulling my feet down" She chuckled slightly. I was surprised to hear about this. "The expedition never told us about this" I said. She shook her head. "No, they didn't. Maybe they were so afraid to tell about it?" She giggled slightly.
"I've also sensed a lot of energies that I was not familiar with. And they were many. They were coming from all directions, following that strong trace of our ancient power" She shook her head once more. "They put up a good fight, but I was able to prevail. Our power is far superior after all" She slightly laughed in an evil way. "I was trying to contact you earlier... But I couldn't reach you" She was probably wondering why it took me much time to make her leave that planet. I told her before she could ask. "I know, Karuga. I'm aware that you can't call me back on your own. It was foolish of me to focus solely on my battle while you wait in concern" She sighed.
"That wasn't your fault. Had the warriors finished earlier, you could have left way earlier" She sounded like she was blaming herself, so I had to say that. She gave no reply, however, I saw the corner of her mouth curve up, giving me a hint that she was smiling. "I don't like it when you blame your warriors, Karuga" She said that to me as my superior. I wasn't directly blaming my warriors, if fate has it that there was no Skybot in there, the mission wouldn't be disrupted.
"I'm more like blaming the Arkulans. They were sniffing around with their stupid Skybots and scared off my warriors" I said. "Then your warriors need harsh punishment" I agree... "They certainly do, Lurza'Far" She nods in agreement. Our conversation dies out after that. We silently stared at the purple planet. If one were to squint real tight, one could see the activities down the planet. Right now, Zakana are still rampaging across the purple dessert, and Kirin Solana is probably trying to help the other outposts to fulfill their promise of aid.