The|MULTIVERSE

EPISODE 40: Spider Ho

Airships that resembled three-pointed silver stars filled the enormous hangar of Palantira's Ecko military fleet. The roof was a great curve of fluted alloy and flushed light, and the walls were lined with pillars of crystal and radiant alloy. The rebel's jumpship was stationed here, a scarred warrior among an imperial nest of Ecko Skypiercers that never seen a lick of war, but they will now. Palantiri soldiers swarmed the hangar, gearing up and ready to take Aol'Metrelis by storm. Their mission? Simple: liberate Kazran from the vice of Falinaar Stelleco and whatever that thing was he kept waiting under metal and asphalt.

Since when were missions ever simple?

Atop of The Juggernaut, Garik-X pulled back an armored plate and kept it exposed for his Vek pilot Kos, another bio-droid smaller than Garik, brown and blue, and a bit slim in the metal-frame department. That didn't stop him from handling the big mama that Juggernaut was beneath their knees. The jumpship took a bit of a beating during their surprise bash into Zolas Might, and the warden's return fire were mosquito bites upon its metal shell.

"Will she be able to handle the Aolguard's Chargers?"

Kos aimed his laser-shooting furbish tool into the jumpship's wired guts and mechanisms exposed like a cunning surgeon. Streaks of curt light flickered and buzzed. "She can't solar jump, but she can still get the drop on Falinaar's fools. Risky move but its stunted warp-drive compressor can make any piss their breeches. So don't you worry your head, big-guy. She's still a Juggernaut, overmaster of the skies, and not a single Charger or Riftcannon will change that."

"You know, my pal Chip here can do wonders with this big beautiful woman of yours—"

Kos and Garik just about launched off of the ship when the voice of Ricven startled them at first word. He, Fae, and Chip appeared out of nowhere. It was like they were there but not there, Chip bending inquisitively over them and their repairs like a curious child with her hands on her knees while a happy Ricven stood tall with another fresh elven herb roasting away between his fingers.

"Juggernaut can take a mean hit and give it right back at ya'," Kos told Ricven. Recovering from the shock as every bit of light from his body flashed in fear before surrendering to the confidence of Juggernaut's defenses. He returned to mending the ship. He sounded disinterested. He shouldn't be. "She's outlived the barrens and she's proved herself on the last sun."

"Upgrades don't hurt." Ricven stared into the compound of cords and gears and all of that other stuff he didn't much care for, but Chip did. He strutted off, leaving the three to make magic. "Might want to have a chat with the Chipster."

He leaped—more like glided—to the floor with Fae and he found his party mixed in with the Ecko soldiers, men and women clad in silver and white, and the quintellis with Isbri and Kanon milling close to the jumpship. The small assembly of soldiers marched off, and the quintellis' attention fell solely on Kanon.

The way Kanon looked deeply up at her could not be mistaken. What an odd couple if they ever were.

"Take heed in the path before you," Issally warned with a heartfelt voice. "If what we have learned is true..."

"Then Falinaar will realize his ultimate defeat as he falls from the foundation he thought he could ride us to Haedios with," Kanon said with fire on the tongue. "It will be I and our allies to send him straight into the jowls of the dead and any who thinks themselves capable of taking his place can get it, too."

Issally couldn't see the limit in his ire. His eyes too red, like blood-fire, a bright, passionate hue that represented the passion and determination of both his resistance and justice collectively. They weren't the eyes of evil. They were the eyes of a soldier who's seen too much strife in a short amount of time. The suffering and courage before the face of misjudgment were real inside this Aurelion.