Chapter Six

  Bridge of Galneus

  Talas anticipated each arrival, gazing into the star-speckled abyss as another colossal titan joined the Faehalion, entwining titanic forms with its kin. However,on this day, the King lamented his absence as the tenth Levantikar merged into the divine construction. Housed in a tomb of debris, smoke, and death, the Pirate Lords engaged in personal tragedies of loss. In a solemn circle, they surrounded Maldreska's lifeless body. Over many hours, they repelled the Snapdragon attack, oblivious that their ranks had been infiltrated. What appeared on the surface to be crew was, in fact, a conglomeration of antagonistic elements. Of course, Snapdragon made up the majority, their anchor-emblazoned capes fluttering like great wings as they poured through the hull breach in their thousands. During a congregation of such a scale, subterfuge lingered as a stray possibility. A concern, they assumed, Maldreska had accounted for.

  Carnage unfolded on a scale not witnessed since the great breech seven years prior. Talas had been made aware that the Seethe's forces had grown in number and that attack swelled in probability. Convinced of his superior position, he failed to heed the warnings. Gathered in such numbers as they were, the notion of mass infiltration seemed absurd, and he had paid for it with the life of a Lord.

  Tragic as losing their dear sister Maldreska was, the still-breathing Lords were more disturbed by how her life had ended. Leading the assault was the famed Captain Tanda, and it was he who dealt the killing blow. For the revenge he was to enact, he selected an instrument of death familiar to all pirate-kind. A rifle of immense proportion, recovered from pirate possession and placed into the hands of a Naval captain once again. Sheathed amongst a phalanx of lance-wielding soldiers, Tanda orchestrated the perfect shot. With the heavy stock tucked beneath his arm, he pulled the trigger. His barrel sizzled as a bright blade of plasma erupted from the chamber, striking Maldreska and ending her reign of terror. For a moment, the fighting ceased. All present, loyalists and marauders alike, watched as Maldreska's head vanished from her body, leaving behind an extravagant corpse to decorate her coffin. Talas burst from a sea of emerald smoke, slamming the pages of his tome and beckoning his hordes to avenge their fallen sister. With his words glowing in their hearts, the defeat of Snapdragon was the work of minutes. A captured Captain Tanda was thrown before Talas along with two other men.

  "Caught 'em, sneakin' around the orbitals above Golgotha, my King. No idea ow' long they'd been there." Sweat poured from the lanky pirate as he explained, words catching in his throat. Tanda started to chuckle, blood seeping from his nose and forehead.

  "Care to let us in on the joke, Captain?" Talas inquired, raising a hand to lower the weapons of his Lords, their desire for blood unsated.

  "After today, you will known as the King of Fools. Our battle was lost, but a war was won." Said Tanda, presenting his bloodstained teeth to the Lords in a mocking grin.

  Tanda's head hit the floor with a wet thud, and Talas sheathed his cutlass. Khan, standing less than a foot from his King, had not seen the blade leave his side. One of the two men flanking Tanda screamed, his fear desperate like a drowning beast. The other soiled himself before passing out in the expanding pool of blood fleeing Tanda's body.

  "You will have the opportunity to keep your head on your shoulders. What were you doing aboard my orbital tower? Who do you work for?" Talas knelt to ask his questions, the piercing green of his eyes eating into his victim's mind, prying truth from reticent lips.

  "Sheng-Vei." The man stammered, his throat still raw from the scream. Talas stood with haste and turned to Khan with a severe stare.

  "The guards on Golgotha, on screen now," Said Talas, marching his Lords through the debris-stricken underbelly and into a relatively undamaged docking bay. Khan cycled through frequencies on the communications panel in an attempt to hail the squad stationed on Golgotha. Each channel returned nothing but static. The Lords looked to one another for a hint of what had occurred, troubled by Talas’ bleak stare.

  "My King, there is no response," said Khan. He was unfamiliar with relaying bad news to Talas and was well aware that his King was unfamiliar with receiving it.

  "My brothers and sisters. Something has been stolen from us in our moment of celebration. Something irreplaceable. Return it to me, and your reward will be beyond measure."

  "What do we seek, my King?" Malig slithered to the forefront, never one to miss an opportunity for glory. Talas took a moment. So preoccupied with the future, he had let his past sneak up. Though this time, he would not be the one betrayed.

  "Naiiobe Zaiede."

  With Talas' orders, the Pirate Lords set out on their voyage. Sheng-Vei was not an unfamiliar name. A man of vast wealth and influence, he had gifted Volka with many connections that, in turn, led to the retrieval of keystones. His prices were steep and conditions rigid, but with the results he produced, the Cybel twins were willing to compromise. Despite his past usefulness, this was a new era, and Sheng-Vei had overstepped his bounds, taking something that he would live to regret.

  Malig wallowed on the bridge of the Bassalark. He and Kaligan were both left uneasy by Maldreska's death. Despite the immense capability of their King, her life was forfeit. Either he lacked inclination or ability, both terrifying prospects. Each Lord pledged their souls to Atlazar in exchange for eternal life, though, at least for Maldreska, existence remained transient. Malig shuddered. He had almost given his life in pursuing Talas' precious Awakened, assuming that if slayed, he would return from the grave to exact his revenge. After Maldreska, he was less inclined to throw himself into the line of fire.

  The Bassalark hissed as molten torches patched up hull fractures and system wounds. She had taken a beating in the Seethe and he was glad that Neraka and Noctei would be assisting him on this mission. Sheng-Vei could be anywhere by now. The orbital towers on Golgotha had lost his escape vessel after it went to pulse. Knowing the hunter, he would have set a roundabout trajectory to throw off any stragglers. The Seethe offered refuge to hunters that no other place in the galaxy could, but Malig would flay the cosmos to his mark.

  The Arachnaris and Insidia cut through the void with a haunted grace, both Lords eager to be the first to claim Talas' prize. Malig knew the strength of their hatred had grown over the years, and with a few tactical nudges, he was confident he could push them over the edge. Here, deep in enemy territory, would it be so unbelievable if one or both of the Dreadnoughts fell to enemy combatants? After all, they were surrounded by traps, ambushes, spacial anomalies, and, above all other dangers, the Awakened. Malig had witnessed their power — receiving life-threatening injuries on each occasion — acutely aware of the devastation they wrought.

  "Oh well." He said, bringing a vial of crimson wine to his lips. "They had a good run."

  The Gallowmare overflowed with raucous laughter. Kaligan and his crew had delivered once again, putting them in even higher favor with their King. The Pirate Lord raised a metal tankard filled with a potent mixture of Shimmersene and liquor, which his crew commonly referred to as 'Ruuch,' named after the sound they made when they drank it.

  "My brothers! Our King has given us another glorious opportunity to prove we are his true champions. I will settle for nothing else than absolute victory!" He downed the broth in his tankard and cast it to the ground.

  "Latia has been paying her dues, so refrain from harming the locals. Unless completely necessary, of course." His words summoned a chorus of laughter, the men eager for another battle. The Awakened proved to be quite the challenge, and the idea of going up against the legendary Naiiobe Zaiede and the Hunter King himself was too intoxicating to contain.

  "We have received a communication from Galneus, my Lord." Said one of the technicians, stumbling into the group of celebrating pirates.

  "Golgotha is no more." stabbed through its jubilant heart, joy bled from the atmosphere.

  "What of the boy? And, that thing?" Kaligan asked, keeping the identity of Golgotha's third occupant hidden from his men.

  "Unknown, Lord Kaligan. There was only one survivor from the ambush, and he mentioned nothing about any boy. Four hunters: human, Accran, Ngangrul, and Mnar. The only other was the escapee, Zaiede, my Lord."

  Kaligan mulled over the image of Soran in his mind. An ache filled his metallic arms as he remembered churning the giant cogs, sealing the boy inside the Sarchogoroth, and abandoning him to his fate. For seven cycles he had kept the memory buried and, to his surprise, its resurgence was unpleasant.

  "Arrival is imminent, Lord Kaligan." The chief-navigator pulled up an enhanced Holo-image of their destination, and for some unknown reason, Kaligan knew he was in the right place. He returned to his throne. The cables sprang to life, diving into the flesh sockets of his legs and torso, ready to deliver a steam of diesel-infused fluids to his enhanced physique.

  "I hear the sky-plates are lovely this time of year. Men, prepare for landing. Do try to take them alive this time."