All that was left was working out the details. It was decided that Callum, Valencia and Nita would stage the rescue using Angra Mainyu and one of the carcha mechs. The storm prison was a secret prison so there weren't any defenses to keep people out and only a skeleton crew of carcha staff augmented by significant automation. The only reason Nita had learned of the prison was because there was a dossier within the files in the compound. The Odontas had been responsible for the prison as well and the reason six mechs had been assigned to oversee Ragrun, where the assumed only danger was humans armed with pickaxes, was because they were supposed to defend the storm prison in the extremely unlikely event of an attempted prison break by an outside force. The trip to the prison and back would take about a week. They decided to leave in two days, mostly so that the three of them could get some piloting practice in before navigating the apparently treacherous storm.
While they did that, Catriona, Russell and Riley would take on the recruitment of the humans of Ragrun. Catriona would train with Russell and Cosmos to fly the smaller carcha ship and Riley would try and learn to pilot one of the mechs. As the conversation turned to that, Callum decided that he needed to broach the subject of Venus and what was necessary to pilot one of the machines. "Riley," he said after a deep breath. "Have you ever heard any whispers in your dreams? Offering you power?" As expected, Riley, Valencia and Catriona all looked at him with expressions of concern. Nita half-smiled in that world-weary way of hers. Russell merely looked at Riley with expectation.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Riley asked.
Callum took another breath and concluded there really wasn't anyway to discuss the subject without explaining it all. He began with the whispers and strange dreams, then the power that had coursed through him when Catriona had been taken and then the two meetings he'd had with Venus. He did leave out the fact that she looked exactly like his sister, describing her as a 'beautiful woman' instead. When he was finished, and the three of them were staring at him like he had gone mad, Nita interjected quickly. "As crazy as it sounds, he's not the first person to meet with a creature like that. I know of one other human who has. I've never actually met her but I have heard the whispers. The greatest carcha pilots apparently also can commune with some kind of being. They are referred to as the 'Select.'"
"That's...wow. That's a lot to take in," Riley said, brushing his hair back.
"Haven't you ever heard the whispers?" Callum asked, leaning forward.
"Have I heard some mysterious woman whispering in my dreams? No. No, I haven't."
"Well you better dig the wax out of your fucking ears if you want to pilot a mech," Russell said, angry for some reason. "How has human knowledge deteriorated so far? Nobody knows about this?"
"Well, to be fair, you are dealing with perhaps the most out of touch humans in the entire universe," Nita said. "It's not their fault. The carcha keep them here without even electricity. How are they supposed to know anything?" Russell grunted sourly.
Callum wasn't sure if that counted as defending them or not so he decided just to move on. "Venus said you have enough power to operate a mech but it won't be easy. I know you can do it, though."
"Yeah," Riley sighed. "I guess I better figure something out."
The conversation petered out. After a moment, Nita clapped her hands. "There is still some daylight left. I think I'll get some practice in. Do you two want to join me?" Callum glanced at Valencia and then they both nodded at Nita. "Great. Let's go." She left the room.
Callum lingered. Cat seemed a little quiet and distant. He squeezed her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.
She blinked and then touched his hand with her own and smiled. "I'm fine. Go on." Though he was a little reluctant, Callum left her behind and hurried to catch up with Nita, Valencia in tow. She was waiting just a little distance away.
"We've made these two rooms the changing rooms for us," she said.
"Changing rooms?"
Nita nodded. "Now that we have access to the carcha's stuff, no more piloting in the nude." She raised an eyebrow. "Unless you two are into that?"
"We are not!" Valencia snapped. She stepped forward and the door automatically shot up. A grinning Nita followed her inside.
A little bemused, Callum went into the other room. "Ah," he said, understanding what they were talking about. There were carcha pilot suits. Apparently the ones designed to let them interface with the PFC liquid without interference. He picked up one of the suits and looked at it quizzically. It's tiny. It looked like it was designed for a five year-old. Carcaha were about the same height as humans, if usually a little thinner. Did they make their children learn to pilot at such a young age? He suddenly felt sick to his stomach. 'I hope we didn't kill any kids.' That reminded him of the two dobeds he'd decided to rescue. They hadn't come up in the earlier conversation. 'I need to remember to ask about them soon.' Callum set down the pilot suit and looked for another. They were all similarly tiny. 'What the hell?' Callum shrugged. 'I suppose I'll try one.'
After seeing how small they all were, he expected it to stretch but he was still astonished at how easy it was to put on once he tried. It somehow stayed so tight to his skin that he almost felt like he was wearing nothing at all but didn't feel constricting in the least. There was a mirror in the room so Callum glanced at himself. The white, shimmering suit might as well have been painted on. Each one of his muscles was as defined as if he were nude. The only padded areas were the soles of his feet and, to his relief, the crotch region. Apparently even carcha didn't think it was appropriate to make pilot suits that did not obscure a man's bits. Callum also noticed that his hair was an absolute mess. He tried to finger comb it a little before giving up. He supposed it would be getting dunked in the orange goo soon enough anyway.
Callum exited the room to find Valencia and Nita already waiting for him. He stopped short once he caught a glimpse of them. Either there were no women's suits or the suits for carcha women did nothing to obscure their chests. The suit had molded around each one of their breasts just as perfectly as it had molded around his own muscular pectorals. Valencia was blushing heavily and had her arms crossed over her modest bosem. Nita didn't seem to care. Callum noted that she had also torn off the sleeves of her suit. He supposed that the suit did hide tattoos, if nothing else. Nita grinned at him and asked, "Enjoying the view?" Callum realized he'd been staring.
Valencia glowered at him and then asked, plaintively, "Why do these stupid suits hide the lower area but do nothing for a lady's modesty?!"
Nita chucked. "Disappointed you can't ogle his downstairs parts?"
Valencia gasped. "N-n-no!"
Nita laughed louder. "Don't get so worked up. The answer is actually pretty simple. Carcha women don't actually have tits. They wouldn't have even considered making garments that were different for men and women in the chest region. On the other hand, the males do have dicks. Two of them actually." She shuddered. "Quite an unforgettable sight, if you ever happen to get a look."
"T-t-t-two dicks!" Valencia said. "And no breasts?"
Nita shrugged. "It isn't that surprising. They are aliens, after all. Why should their reproductive organs be the same as ours? I assume they have different kinds of cunts too, seeing as how the men have two cocks and all. Never had the occasion to figure that one out, God be praised."
Valencia was reduced to incoherent noises at Nita's last comment and Callum had learned more than he ever wanted about the reproductive organs of the carcha, so he said, "We should probably get moving. There isn't much sunlight left, after all." Nita shrugged and headed out. Callum gave the still stunned Valencia a gentle push that sent her on her way. He couldn't help but sneak a glance at her backside as she walked away and flushed a little. 'Has Valencia always been this attractive?' He'd grown up with her so it felt strange to think about. Callum shook his head. 'Stay focused.' There would be time for other things if they managed to survive all this.
The next couple of days flew by. Controlling Angra Mainyu came easier to him with every moment he was inside. The mech really started to feel like an extension of his own body. There were hitches here and there but he was comfortable it would do what he wanted when he wanted. Likewise, the partnership between Valencia and him became easier, the mind-meld thing they had going on letting them anticipate what the other was going to do the instant the decision was made. The trade-off was several embarrassing moments where one or the other of their minds would wander. It was becoming disconcerting how often Valencia thought about him. Especially a certain part of him.
Nita, meanwhile, was either a prodigy or had a lot more experience with mechs than she was letting on. From that first evening, she was flying circles around Valencia and him. Despite what Russell has said, Nita seemed perfectly adept at maneuvering all aspects of her mech by herself. Nita had already taught him some self-defense and she continued the lessons from inside the cockpit. According to her, many of the same principles applied. Mechs were weak at the joints, the same as humans. Strikes were as likely to cause damage to your own mech as damage to the opponent. She gave him the basics on swordplay, though her mech's sword was a lot different than his. It was thinner and straight, with a teeth all up and down the blade that vibrated when energized. Apparently it helped them shear through things easier. Nita called it a 'sawsword.'
While the three of them trained, the other three developed a plan for recruiting amongst the populace of Ragrun. The carcha had a steady rotation of supply drops and mineral collection at the various villages. There were already a few that must be wondering where the carcha were. The only way to get food and water was from the carcha so the supply runs were necessary even without the recruitment. They all hoped that delivering the valuable supplies would cause the villagers to be receptive to their message. Catriona was making steady progress learning how to fly the small transport. He saw her flying from time to time while he practiced. Riley, on the other hand, hadn't had much luck activating the power he needed to pilot a mech. Callum hoped that he would have it down by the time they returned.
At dawn on the third day, they left. His sister crushed him in a hug and implored him to stay safe. He returned the feeling just as fervently. He hated leaving her, especially with Riley still unable to reliably activate. He couldn't think of any way she would be in real danger--in fact, he would be in a lot more--but he worried all the same. Her kidnapping had almost completely blindsided him. He hadn't thought it was really, truly possible until it actually happened. He had no choice but to go, however.
The artificial atmosphere bubble created by the carcha had a specific point designed for entering and exiting the planet. Apparently passing through the atmosphere could be a rough experience otherwise. Callum didn't really get it. Cosmos identified the point from the database in the compound and fed it to Valencia. Nita trailed behind them. Callum figured they must have hit it because the mech only shook a little as it rocketed into space. He stared at Algnen as they left Ragrun. It was so huge and colorful now. 'Beautiful.'
Once they were clear of the atmosphere, Valencia increased the speed of the mech so that it was moving as fast as possible. The PFC liquid, as well as gravity generators in the mech, were supposed to counteract the effects of the acceleration but Callum still felt the uncomfortable pressure. Once they were at top velocity, Cosmos instructed Valencia to cut the engines. There was nothing to counteract their inertia in space so Cosmos explained that they would continue to travel at that speed. At the same time, she changed the composition of the PFC liquid. It was flooded with chemicals that would put them to sleep for the next couple of days as they traveled to the moon. Cosmos assured them that all of their biological needs would be seen to. Callum wasn't a hundred percent comfortable with the idea and he knew that Valencia wasn't either. Cosmos didn't ask before she put in the chemicals, though, and Callum was asleep before he could decide whether to protest.
Callum snapped awake what felt like an instant later. If he'd had any dreams, he didn't remember them. "Announcement: we have reached the deceleration point for atmospheric entry," Cosmos said. "Please be prepared to take manual control."
"R-right," Valencia said. He could feel her nerves through the link and tried not to reinforce them with his own. 'We really made it.' Algnen dominated his vision. As big as Ragrun could feel, Algnen was mind-boggling. He was less than a dust mote in comparison.
Callum soon learned what Cosmos had meant when she warned that passing through atmospheres was normally rough. As soon as they entered Algnen's atmosphere, Angra Mainyu began to vibrate and was soon jerked this way and that seemingly at random. Callum, in control of the mech itself, could do nothing to mitigate it. He just tried not to distract Valencia as she concentrated with her whole being on getting them through. It was hard, though. All he could see were browns and yellows and reds. There was no penetrating the colors. He had no idea how Valencia even knew where they were supposed to be going. Nothing looked any different from anything else. A bright flash snapping right past the face of Angra Mainyu finally broke his discipline. "What the hell was that?!" he yelped.
"Clarification requested," Cosmos said. "What are you referring to?"
"That bright light that just passed by."
"Answer: a lightning bolt."
"What is that?" It sounded ominous.
"Explanation: an electrostatic discharge commonly found in atmospheric conditions."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Clarification--" Cosmos began.
"To us!" Callum hurriedly said. "Is it dangerous to us?"
"Speculation: there is a small possibility that a bolt of sufficient power that struck certain areas of this mech could cause damage."
That wasn't much of an answer but he could feel the pleas from Valencia to cease the conversation so that she could concentrate. Callum closed his eyes and decided just to ride it out. There was nothing to see anyway. He tried to quiet his mind as much as possible. It didn't work that well but he kept it up until he felt a wave of relief from Valencia. The mech had stopped vibrating as well. Callum opened his eyes and found that things had cleared up. They were hovering above the gray, rectangular prison. It was a lot bigger than Callum had been expecting. He glanced up and around and found that they were completely encircled by the roiling blue mass of the storm. 'Did the carcha somehow create a bubble in the storm?' He didn't feel like it could be natural. Callum glanced around again. Nita hadn't arrived yet. But she burst out of the clouds just as he began to worry.
She was in what she called a Seyllium, a carcha command mech. It was a head and shoulders taller than the other five carcha mechs and apparently had more armaments than them as well. "Nita," he said, alerting Cosmos to create a link between their two mechs. "Are you alright? Did you make it through okay?"
Nita laughed breathlessly. "That was fun. I think I want to go again."
The surge of incredulousness from Valencia made him smile. "Well, you'll get your chance pretty soon if everything goes right. Do you need some time to recover or do you want to head in now?"
"Naw, I'm good. Cranked up, in fact. Let's get going." Suiting actions to words, she flipped her mech around and burned toward the prison. Valencia gamely followed in her path.
Anxiety crept back into Callum's gut as Cosmos announced, "Alert: communication signal coming from the prison."
"Patch it in to me," Nita commanded. When she next spoke, her voice and accent completely changed. Humans spoke the carcha language with a notable accent because they didn't have the same needle-sharp teeth and ultra-thin lips of the carcha. Callum had never heard a human speak exactly like a carcha, as Nita was now doing, "Yes, this Pristi Dako Waksa Yawa," she said. That had been the main pilot of the mech she was now operating. "Of the seven hundred and eighty-first division stationed on Ragrun. Recent intelligence reports have suggested that a covert rescue operation for one or more of the prisoners of your facility is imminent. The Odontas has dispatched us as extra security until the threat has passed."
"What?!" screeched a carcha voice. "How would they even know about this place?"
"They didn't tell me," Nita said, with a hint of rebuke in her voice.
"Of course," the voice muttered. There was silence from the prison for a few moments. Callum figured they must have been studying the identification codes that they were broadcasting. Another piece of information provided by the database on Ragrun. If it worked, it should get them in the door. No signals made it in or out of the storm around the prison, which made an ideal secret prison but also meant that they had no clue what was happening in the universe. Their cover would be blown once they were inside, of course, but the hope was that they could make it inside without having to damage the integrity of the prison. "Alright. Everything checks out." A surge of elation ran through Callum at the pronouncement. "Come around the port entrance."
"Understood," Nita replied tersely.
"By the way, what the fuck is that mech you got shadowing you? I've never seen any models quite like that before."
Nita made a noise halfway between a click and a hiss. It was a peculiar noise and Callum was unsure how she made it. "Some new prototype from the fools at Elbalduh. The Odontas has a stake in the company so it got assigned for us to test." She made the noise again. Callum assumed it was a way to express derision or frustration. "An over designed piece of shit if you ask me."
The controller in the prison laughed. "Well, it certainly looks like it." Nita and the carcha continued to chat as the mechs flew around the prison and toward the bay doors. The carcha was asking about current events and Nita was answering. Callum didn't know if she actually knew what she was talking about or was completely making all of her answers up. The carcha didn't seem to be getting suspicious, either way. They drifted through the doors and, just like the database had told them, the small hangar included only two transport ships and two mechs of the same make as Nita's. A group of a half dozen carcha waited for them as well.
Valencia touched down and Callum adjusted the shoulders of the mech, bringing them in line with the carcha that were coming toward them. Ready? he silently asked Valencia. He felt reluctance from her and understood it. But she pulled the trigger. The energy cannon lanced across the hanger, burning all six carcha into nothingness.
After a moment of silence, the same carcha voice burst into Callum's ears. "What the fuck!? What the fuck did you just do?!"
"I don't know!" Nita shot back. "I have no fucking idea!" As planned, Valencia then shot a small missile out of the hip tube of the Angra Mainyu. It exploded a short distance away, bursting into an intense flash of light and overwhelming the communications in the prison with a loud buzzing sound. Even though Callum had closed his eyes in preparation, the amount of light was so bright that he was seeing spots for several minutes after the flash had receded. When he finally managed to blink enough of them away, he saw Nita's mech standing motionless. The plan had been for her to leave the mech and the hangar under the cover of the flash. If the carcha bought that the Angra Mainyu's "loss of control" had caused the problems and Nita's mech had been a casualty, it would buy her a little time at least. That was the hope. Now all Callum could do was protect the hangar against carcha intrusion while Nita did her part.