"It can't be true. Yet every time I test it, it seems legit." Asus thinks to himself actually holding the left side of his head. Before, when he would do it, he was really just holding his helmet, but now that it seemed Crystal really didn't care he was mostly mechanical he spent most of the time in the room with his helmet off. He still refused to remove his armor completely though.
It was their last day on the planet and he was still struggling to process what he had been told, but the facts were too coincidental to refute. He was glad to have met some fellow Primordial's but then he was basically told to turn against the Empire to serve the Empire. It was unfathomable to him. He looks around and makes sure they aren't leaving anything and after confirming their one travel bag was fully packed he sits on the bed and scrolls through his long distance messages. There's a soft thunk sound from behind him and he turns to see Crystal coming out of the bathroom in only a towel.
"Tch. Huh. Ma'am. Please have more tact." He sighs telling her for the umpteenth time.
"Why? It's only you after all." She retorts. He didn't know where the newfound confidence came from, but he definitely preferred it to the old princess. Having someone to argue with was pleasantly nice. Not that he was telling her that just to argue with her. He genuinely wanted her to be more that aware of her surroundings and to act in a matter that matched her status. Unfortunately for him, it didn't seem like that was her intent anymore. "Conscious of me now?" She asks teasingly when he turns back around.
"Of you? Your not even much to look at." He says dryly and due to not facing her he completely missed the killing glare she gave him.
"You say that for now. Give me like three months." She mutters to herself causing him to turn around in curiously.
"What was that ma'am?" He asks but she merely brushes it off.
"Nothing major." She says slyly making a pun of his name which he didn't, not her to surprise and if he did he didn't show it in the slightest which would probably piss her off more if it was that one.
"Anyway, ready to start heading out?" He asks, putting his hands on his knees and lifting himself up.
"Yeah." She huffs. She really hated wearing a scarf or shemagh. They were both hot and stuffy. She had asked if they could travel without it, they nowhere near the Chameleon system or anywhere close to one that would recognize her, but he killed that idea and ultimately made her feel bad about even suggesting it.
"You won't have to wear that much longer, or again anytime soon." He tells her as they begin walking out.
"Yeah whatever." She mumbles and he can raise a mechanical eyebrow in confusion. He didn't recall saying anything that would make her sour. As they made their way down the hall and into the elevator he did his best to recall what he said but, nothing he had done today was worthy enough to make her upset.
After getting to the car and greeting Big he gave up on trying to figure why her mood changed all together and went back to mulling over what to do about what he was told and how to deal with his eye and not turn on the Empire. As they made the 30 some minute flight back to the hangar they made the usual small talk with Big while also saying their farewells.
As they pull into the parking garage of the tower where the hangars were, he tells them that if they ever come back that even if he is no longer working transportation that they could still call him for a ride or a place to stay. They thank him and hop out of the car. As Crystal is waving him off Asus pings Not and his crew and lets them know they are on their way. To his surprise it turned out that Savyac actually did stop by to retrieve the "Fortune telling" souvenir he brought up a couple days ago.
"Glad you could make it." He says giving a small wave as they approach. Savyac returns the wave and greets them as well.
"Why of course. This is a once in a lifetime chance to get an item from my home world without having to return after all." Savyac says after her greeting.
"Oh wow! Are you a Primordial too? I thought all Primordial's were soldiers." Crystal says after noticing aside from the coloring and model variation, their suits were essentially the same.
"Yes. Every Primordial will enlist into the Imperial Army at age five and will serve a minimum of 15 years. After that if one so chooses to retire, then they may." Savyac explains to her and she can only "Aaah" in amazement at learning something new about the race who's charge she was currently under.
While she began to explain more about the Primordial way of life to Crystal, Asus excused himself and boarded the ship and began rummaging through the supplies for the device he had mentioned earlier. After about two minutes of searching he finally finds a half orb shaped object. He continues searching until he finds the ground piece that matched it. He then grabs both pieces and returns to the two women. "Here you go." He says interrupting Savyac who was mid-sentence in explaining Primordial law.
"Oh my, thank you so much sir. I recognize this. It'll definitely help me with my work if I'm for some reason needing to do a fortune over long distance." She says graciously taking the object from him.
"I hope your able to make use of it." He says and she nods.
"I'll most definitely try to. And as for you, don't forget about the liability I foresaw." She tells him, referring to the pain he would have in left eye. "Oh, and as always. For the Empire." She says, turning around and starting to walk away, having said all she needed to say.
"For the Empire." He says back. He didn't think she heard it but she threw up a modified two finger salute as she walked away.
"Primia is kind of harsh. Do you really begin military service at five?" Crystal asks, still amazed at this newfound knowledge.
"Yes. It's another one of the Emperor's genius ideas to make our Empire great." He answers proudly. "Anyway, it's about time we got out of here." He says, turning on his heel and begins walking up the ships ramp. She quickly begins to follow him not wanting to seem slow.
As they arrive in the cockpit he takes his place in the main seat and she takes up her usual spot in the co-pilots seat.
He immediately begins flipping all of the switches that would start the ships warm-up sequence. He could have just fired the engines up and took off like he did back on Bulla, but he saw no need to rush nor risk the blown engine that came with a failed immediate take off. After the warm-up sequence finished, he moved onto the under-belly thrusters. Once they activated, he made the call to Temple and requested takeoff.
"Thanatos to Temple. Requesting takeoff over." He says continuing to flip switches and press buttons.
"Temple to Thanatos you are cleared for takeoff in the DeltaNine Wing. Coordinates being transferred over to you now." Comes an all the familiar voice.
"Received Temple." He says uploading the coordinates to his computer. "Thanks for the stay."
"Glad to have had, hope you come again. Maybe I can tell the princess a fortune next time and we see if same gender fortunes really do fail." Savyac says just as the voice clicks in his mind on why it was so familiar. "Lowering the door for departure. And once again Major. For the Empire."
He was at an absolute loss of words as the hanger bay door rolls down so he can depart. He begins sliding the joysticks forward and the ship lurches forward and slowly begins moving.
WHACK
"OUCH, HEY!" Crystal yells angrily as he jerked the stick back causing the ship to abruptly stop making her hit her head on the turret console she had started to lower.
"My apologies ma'am. The door stopped opening; we don't have enough room to exit." He says and just as he hails the tower and ask what was happening the entire bay goes dark and red lights begin flashing followed by the blaring of Air Raid alarms. Then a command he had never hoped to hear again fills the air.
"ALL PERSONNEL IN THE TOWER, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. ALL COMBAT PERSONNEL ARE TO DEPART AND DETER ALL ENEMIE ADVANCEMENTS. ALL NON-COMBAT PERSONNEL IMMEDIATELY GO TO YOUR ASSINGED STATIONS AND STANDBY FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. I REPEAT. ALL PERSONNEL IN THE TOWER, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK."
POOM, POOM, POOM
CRACKLE CRRRACKLE
WHOOMF, WHOOMF
The sounds of anti-air combat begins to fill the building and Asus curses everything alive at the untimely timing of this attack. He looks over the ships HUD and sees that he has enough ammo for about 8 hours' worth of combat. Then another icon pops up below his chain gun.
HEAD TURRET: 6,000 AAM, 2,000 HEM
"I redact, seems we got about to 9 hours' worth." He thinks to himself with a chuckle. "You going to be able to hit anything up there?" He asks, looking over his shoulder at her.
"Oh most definitely." She says with a grin, before putting the console over her head.
"Thanatos to Temple. Saini has been good to us. You got us for 4 hours, after that we're gone." He says calling up to the tower.
"Negative. You have a priority one package. Mission completion must be made." Comes the reply.
"Fuck the mis..."
...
"Thanatos everything green on your end?" Savyac asks after a short moment of silence.
"Yeah. Fuck the mission...."
"No can do..."
"I said fuck it." He tells her forcefully and she pauses.
"Very well Thanatos. Since you insist please go to these coordinates and help provide cover for the civilians evacuation. Also, you may have to blow down the bay door. It seems like a lot of the power went out."
"WILCO. Thank you, Temple."
"No, thank you Major." She says as he signs off.