Var

As if Antel wasn't enough. This is joint-written.

Niqi and Jekka returned a few hours after Dham and Shetani had. "We ran into Syrinda and her archers in the Nexus." Niqi said, taking a seat on the ground beside Shetani. "She took Jekka's warriors ahead with her, to Kahl. Said she was going to set up a camp and scout around a bit."

"Good." Shetani replied. "We'll need as much information about the planet as we can get. My powers once touched that planet, but now... I can't see what's happening."

"Hey, guys, I'm back." Ricky grinned, passing through the Nexus doorway, Fafnir in tow. "Sorry it took so long. Anybody seen dad?"

Dham shrugged. "He hasn't come back yet."

Glide appeared in a pillar of light after a few minutes, his clothing and fur soaked. "Everybody ready to head to Kahl?"

"Where's Jericho?" Niqi asked.

Glide grinned. "I sent him ahead with our newest recruit. We'll meet up with them la-" He didn't finish his sentence, his eye widening and his face becoming pale.

"Glide? What's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Shetani said. "Or... you know, something that's actually frightening."

"Shetani, I need you to check on Var..." Glide murmured.

Shetani raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Just do it." Glide replied. "Trust me."

Shetani nodded, her eyes becoming unfocused. After a few moments, she returned to reality, staring at Glide. "Humans... slavers."

"As if Antel isn't enough." Glide growled. "All of you with Varixian blood, you're coming with me to Var. We're gonna straighten this out. Niqi, Ambree, you too. The rest of you, head to Kahl and meet up with the others."

Jekka, Dham and Lujuria followed Glide's instructions, heading through the Nexus to Kahl, bringing Fafnir with them.

"Shetani, open a portal to one of the spacecraft landing pads on Var." Glide said. "And summon up a disguise; I don't know what we're going to find there, and I don't want them to see all my cards before I get a look at theirs."

Shetani conjured up a black robe, weaving a spell over the cowl to hide her face completely. With that done, she opened the portal.

 

...

 

When they arrived on Var, the group was greeted by a human in a military uniform. "What's your business on Shardona?" He asked.

"Shardona?" Glide growled. "This is Var, moron."

The human ignored him, addressing Ambree. "You should keep your pets on a leash. We wouldn't want any... 'accidents'... to happen to them."

Glide reached for Magus' hilt. "That sounded like a threat."

"It was." The human stated. "While you're here, I'm going to have to confiscate your weaponry."

Glide snarled, handing over all of his weapons. "You're lucky we're here on a diplomatic mission."

"Tell your pet to shut up." The human said, moving on to Niqi's weapons. "And don't worry about yours. Slavemasters are allowed to keep their weapons, to keep their pets in line."

Ambree raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I'm a slavemaster?"

"You're a human, traveling with these animals." The human replied, moving on to Sandy and Davis. "You too, chimeras."

"We're bards, you braindead slug." Sandy snapped. "These are instruments, not weapons."

The human didn't respond, simply slapping the young Varixian across the face. He gave a surprised yelp when Sandy's fangs sank into the side of his hand. "Your pets have gone too far! Colonel Gase will hear of this! He'll see that they're put through obedience training!"

"Hold on just a minute," Ambree interrupted, attempting to step between the two. "These are my pets. They may not be the most...well-behaved," she struggled over the words, "but they are my property. If you'll accept my apology, I'll try to keep them more...tame."

"... Of course, ma'am." The human replied. "If you'll agree not to report this incident to the colonel, I'll agree, as well."

"Our little secret," Ambree agreed, smiling.

The human stepped aside, clearing a path for the group. "If you need anything during your stay on Shardona, come back to me. I'll help if I can."

Ambree nodded once and then proceeded forward, leading the rest of them.

After they were out of hearing range, she turned to Glide. "Alright, that was pretty obviously an attempt to save our collective asses. But I've got a feeling that, with the way things are, that's not the last time any of us are going to have to lie on the spot without warning the others. We need some sort of signal to show that we really aren't betraying."

"If trust isn't enough," Glide smirked, "we are on Var. Why not use an old Varixian gesture?"

Ambree nodded. "That sounds good."

"Alright, question," Niqi interjected. "If it's Varixian, won't everyone else on the planet understand it as well?"

Glide shrugged. "It hasn't been used in about... six or seven decades. I'm willing to bet most people have forgotten it."

Niqi deliberated for a second. "Alright. As long as we don't run into any other immortals, we should be fine. What is it?"

"I'm glad you asked." Glide responded, flicking his thumb against Niqi's nose. "Just flick your thumb like so, against your weapon."

Niqi flinched and then scowled, but said nothing.

"Okay, now that that's settled, and we have a couple seconds to breathe... What are we doing here?" Ambree asked.

"We're here to boot that 'Colonel Gase' dude off of this planet." Glide stated.

Ambree glanced around at the group. "Right then, let's get on that," she replied, and then started off again.

The rest of the group followed along behind her, Glide and Ryder holding a quiet conversation in Vari as they walked.

 

...

 

Colonel Gase was a large and rather imposing man, with short black hair and eyes that seemed to burn right through to the soul. "What are these... animals... doing in my office?"

"We've come to...well...challenge the way things are on this planet," Ambree replied, struggling to put it lightly.

"You must be joking." Gase muttered. "What is this? A f*****g deep-space P.E.T.A.?"

Ambree laughed. "No, more like what you had coming from the second you decided to enslave Var."

"What do you expect to gain from this?" Gase asked. "You're a slavemaster, as well. And even if you weren't, if any of you do anything I don't like, I can just give the order to obliterate this planet."

"You what?" Ambree asked before she could stop herself. Somewhere in the background, Niqi cursed under her breath.

Gase grabbed a comm device from his belt. "Sky Dragon? This is Gase. Just checking in; that ion cannon primed?"

There was static for a few seconds, then the answer, clearly audible to everyone in the room. "Roger, colonel. Give the word and we'll fire."

Ambree gave up on acting inconspicuous. "Well, s**t. Glide, what's the backup plan?" she asked, turning to him.

Glide shrugged. "Well, it was murder, but with that ion cannon aimed at the planet? Not a good idea."

"Got any brilliant ideas off the top of your head?" Ambree asked, not hopeful.

"Just one," Glide replied, "but I don't think we should talk about it in front of Colonel Sanders there."

"Right. And I doubt he'd let us excuse ourselves to go re-plan his demise," Ambree responded.

"Oh, feel free." Gase said, waving a hand. "There's nothing you morons can do to me without the planet being turned to ash, and you can't exactly disable the Sky Dragon from down here."

Ambree turned to Gase. "Not going to argue with a free offer," she said, smiling, and then turned to walk out of the office. The others followed suit.

"Well, that didn't go well," Niqi muttered.

Ryder nodded. "Yeah. Then again, did you really expect it to?"

"I sort of hoped it would be as easy as walking in there and killing him, but that wasn't all that realistic," Niqi replied as the group crossed the threshold of the door leading outside.

"So, what's the brilliant idea?" Ambree asked.

"First of all, 'Ryder', what can we look forward to if Gase orders a Chernobyl on us?" Glide asked, flashing the smaller Varixian a grin.

Ryder shifted nervously. "Uh... conservative guess? The blast penetrates right to the planet's core, blows it to bits, and the Sky Dragon gets caught in the blast."

Glide  looked up at the sky, as if searching for the Sky Dragon. "And what about 'un-conservative'?"

"Well," Ryder murmured, "if we take into account the explosive elements and whatnot below the surface of the planet, the Sky Dragon needing to be relatively close to the planet to do its job, and the fact that Var's moon is pretty much one big mine... I'd say they fire, the blast blows up the planet, and the resulting domino effect destroys the Sky Dragon, sends the moon hurtling toward the closest planet, and destroys it by crashing into it and exploding." He paused for a moment. "And depending on which way the moon is sent, it could cause even more explosions, thus wiping out a relatively large chunk of this galaxy, if not the whole damn thing."

"He said something about us not being able to disable the Sky Dragon," Niqi added. "Was he right about that?"

"We could," Ryder sighed, "but not before they fired the ion cannon and this little corner of space gained a new sun."

"So what now?" Ambree asked.

"I say we go find some of the Varixians that haven't been enslaved." Glide suggested. "Maybe they'll be willing to help us."

"But, Nar'zun-" Ryder began, only to be cut off.

"Chill out." Glide grinned, patting the smaller Varixian on the head. "You'll be safe with me... Revan."

Shetani promptly fainted.

Reviews

[KEi]

"We're bards, you braindead slug."
ROFL.
Sweet.

"The human didn't respond, simply slapping the young Varixian across the face."
How dare?


""Well, s**t. Glide, what's the backup plan?" she asked, turning to him.

Glide shrugged. "Well, it was murder,""
LOLGlide. xD

""Revan."

Shetani promptly fainted"
Huh?
What? What am I missing here?

TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!