The Beast

The Beast - Part 50

Experiencing a kind gesture surprised him so much that he didn't even notice her tiny arms letting go again but when he turned around Verona was gone. He wanted to look for her but his instincts told him that it would only ruin the moment so he sat down against the nearest pillar and took the moment to enjoy what he had achieved.

He went from being a warbeast with a bomb in his chest to someone with enough power to improve lives. It was truly a good feeling. Inspired, he hoisted himself up again another pitch needed to be made and this time he needed all the patience he could bring up.

On the wall opposite to the entrance were 3 doors. The far left one was marked as Zuski's room on the map his helmet provided. The middle one was his sleeping quarters and the far right one was marked as 'storage' but he didn't believe that.

He walked up to the left looking forward to speaking to Zu again but as he clutched the handle he remembered. They had barely talked since he was ambushed by Chip. He had easily ended more than a hundred lives since then. Did that change anything? Did that change him? No, Elle was right. He got used to it like a good human.

Anyways he walked in the room with his spirit up and yet his energy was eclipsed by Zuski flipping the board, she was playing on with Kanu, at his sight. She started by shouting out a mix of 'you're back!' and 'Gabriel!' which turned into an inaudible blurt but it did get the message across. She was happy to see him again. Kanu also seemed delighted but she was able to contain her emotions. He picked up a handful of pieces on the way to them and then took a seat next to Kanu and opposite to Zu, prepared to make his pitch to her.

"Tell us everything." Zuski demanded, "The guards won't let us out and nobody has told us anything?" He gave them a confused look.

Kanu explained: "We already tried talking to the prison guards but you can only hear 'It's still complicated' so many times before giving up."

Gabriel contained a chuckle because he knew how they would react to what he was about to say: "Well, it is still complicated." An annoyed groan erupted from both of them. He gave them a second to complain before continuing: "First things first they aren't prison guards just the inner guard of the base, which now answers to me."

He didn't know what he had expected but Zu had a stare he couldn't quite interpret and Kanu punched him against the shoulder with an excited 'nice'. "The take over isn't quite complete because remains of the militia are still running free through the city and tunnels. I assume that's why the guards haven't let you out."

"But you're going to get them too, aren't you?", Zu asked.

He wanted to get to the point: "Running a base like this involves more than just killing. I need to be a politician, a mayor and a generall all at the same time. I don't know how to do any of this yet. That's why I'm here."

Kanu shot in: "Not because you want to lose some games of terret?"

"I do, really. Trust me, the past few days have been hard. I don't want to do anything other than be stomped into the ground while relaxing outside in the hall. But, and you know this is going to be a big but, somebody needs to run our new little kingdom." He meant what he said. The few nights they played and talked until falling asleep were the best he had since waking up in this cruel galaxy.

Kanu spoke up again: "Kingdom? I know very few places that had a happy ending with a King, just ask Chip how she enjoyed growing up on a Salzeisen ruled system."

He didn't like the topic had changed but killing her question would've been impolite: "I thought they were a brotherhood."

This clearly hit a nerve in Kanu because her response was louder than it needed to be: "What does a name change when their planets run on blood!" Yep, there was definitely something he didn't know about.