Part CI: Uniting Threads
Date: Kapton 11th, 114 A.U.
“We’ve finally gotten a signal from their radios.”
“What?” Zarien asked, jerking up his head to look at Rezja.
“We have a signal from the radios of your fellow Xavier Team members and have pinpointed their general location,” Rezja said. “We caught it last night. They’re near the capitol of the ancient Sla’ad empire. I’ve already done the preparations to get a ship ready.”
“Wow,” Zarien said, taking a deep breath as he tried to catch up with everything had happened. “When am I supposed to leave?”
“In half an hour,” Rezja said. “Unless you had any reason to leave later, which I didn’t think you did. Hazael and Sereth plan on going with you.”
“Sereth wants to go with me?” Zarien raised an eyebrow.
Rezja pursed his lips. “She didn’t volunteer for the slot if that’s what you mean,” he replied. “But we need three people to go, and you’ve only worked with them.”
“Is Cortna coming?”
Rezja shook her head. “I convinced her that she’d be safe here.”
“I see,” Zarien said and he took another deep breath. “Well, as you said, there’s not much point or reason for me to stick around here much. I’ll just grab my stuff and then I’ll be off…” He thought for a moment. “Once we reunite though, do you-”
“Just use your radios more,” Rezja said, smiling. “Relay information to us through them and we can intercept them without the elves noticing. We’ve got all the details worked out; Hazael and Sereth have a more detailed game plan since they were up last night when we got the message in.”
“I see,” Zarien said. “Well, I’m ready to go.”
They had been flying for a couple hours since leaving the rebel ship. It was going to be a one to two day’s journey to the old Sla’ad capitol and so they hoped to arrive there midday at least on the 12th. Zarien looked at some of the gadgets from where he was up front with Hazael. Sereth was in the back. The two of them were still on almost-non-speaking terms following their disputes over Cortna.
"So,” Zarien finally said. “I guess that they’ve found the Arglem here?”
“They think so,” Hazael replied. “The Caves of Dragla they suspect to hold it. They separated for unknown reason and thus used walkie-talkies. They now rejoining together.”
“Strange that they’d separate,” Zarien mused. “Though I guess that if they were trying to find it, then it would make sense to split up in order to cover more ground.”
After a while, Hazael leaned over toward Zarien. “Your conflict with Sereth should end.”
Zarien bristled a bit at the notion. “Our conflict? Our conflict is not my fault.”
“Maybe,” Hazael replied. “But do you really still want the fight between you when you leave?”
Zarien pursed his lips. “I’m not the one who’s being all exclusionist and overly-protective,” he replied. “Look—I don’t like this fight any more than you do, but I’m not the one that you should be looking at here.”
Hazael sighed before turning back to the driving controls, looking at the map as Zarien glared out the window. If anyone was to be found at fault here, it was most definitely Sereth, the one who had started this whole thing. Him? He didn’t have any fault in it. None whatsoever.
“Well,” Hazael finally said in a louder voice so that Sereth could hear him. “I hope that you can reconcile enough to accomplish our mission. Rezja has many things he wants us to accomplish there. We’re fighting an empire, and so unity is imperative among our ranks. Even if you can’t be unified, maybe you can at least act like it and put a face on to inspire others. Because betrayal and uncertainty in the ranks is the one thing that will absolutely seal the deal for our alliance.”
“The spy is ready and prepared to accomplish his side of the deal,” the Watcher said. “Once we land, we’ll be all ready to take over. They’re not going to know what hit them.”
“Good,” Emperor Jaigran replied, as he moved his piece on the board in the game that he was playing against the Watcher. “Any interesting intel from him?”
“Only that which we already knew,” the Watcher replied, pondering the board. “The Xavier Team has likewise discovered that the Arglem is likely hidden in the Caves of Dragla and are currently working to recover it.”
“Bother,” Jaigran snapped. “How close are they to finding it?”
“Not close enough, from what the spy said,” the Watcher replied. “They have to break through the caves a different way because of the immense landslide that the Sla’ad used and so it ought to take them a while to get in. Besides, now that I think about it, I think it may turn out to be highly useful if they end up getting it first.”
“How so?”
“Think about it,” the Watcher replied, moving a piece. “What do you think the Sla’ad put in there? If they’re going to hide their whole treasure trove in this cave, you can bet that they’re going to protect it extremely well. I’d be shocked if they hadn’t placed a whole arsenal of traps ready to trap the unsuspecting adventurer, in their attempt to make sure that no outsiders found it. If the Xavier Team gets to it first, that only means that they get caught by the traps first. And if they’re lucky enough to get past all of them, it still matters not. There’s only one pathway out of the Caves of Dragla. Once we land, all that we’ll need to do is put a heavily armed squadron around that entrance and that’s it. They’ll be trapped like rats and will be easily exterminated. And with the traitor on our side, they won’t know what’s coming. They’re not going to know what’s coming until it’s too late.”
Date: Kapton 11th, 114 A.U.
“We’ve finally gotten a signal from their radios.”
“What?” Zarien asked, jerking up his head to look at Rezja.
“We have a signal from the radios of your fellow Xavier Team members and have pinpointed their general location,” Rezja said. “We caught it last night. They’re near the capitol of the ancient Sla’ad empire. I’ve already done the preparations to get a ship ready.”
“Wow,” Zarien said, taking a deep breath as he tried to catch up with everything had happened. “When am I supposed to leave?”
“In half an hour,” Rezja said. “Unless you had any reason to leave later, which I didn’t think you did. Hazael and Sereth plan on going with you.”
“Sereth wants to go with me?” Zarien raised an eyebrow.
Rezja pursed his lips. “She didn’t volunteer for the slot if that’s what you mean,” he replied. “But we need three people to go, and you’ve only worked with them.”
“Is Cortna coming?”
Rezja shook her head. “I convinced her that she’d be safe here.”
“I see,” Zarien said and he took another deep breath. “Well, as you said, there’s not much point or reason for me to stick around here much. I’ll just grab my stuff and then I’ll be off…” He thought for a moment. “Once we reunite though, do you-”
“Just use your radios more,” Rezja said, smiling. “Relay information to us through them and we can intercept them without the elves noticing. We’ve got all the details worked out; Hazael and Sereth have a more detailed game plan since they were up last night when we got the message in.”
“I see,” Zarien said. “Well, I’m ready to go.”
They had been flying for a couple hours since leaving the rebel ship. It was going to be a one to two day’s journey to the old Sla’ad capitol and so they hoped to arrive there midday at least on the 12th. Zarien looked at some of the gadgets from where he was up front with Hazael. Sereth was in the back. The two of them were still on almost-non-speaking terms following their disputes over Cortna.
"So,” Zarien finally said. “I guess that they’ve found the Arglem here?”
“They think so,” Hazael replied. “The Caves of Dragla they suspect to hold it. They separated for unknown reason and thus used walkie-talkies. They now rejoining together.”
“Strange that they’d separate,” Zarien mused. “Though I guess that if they were trying to find it, then it would make sense to split up in order to cover more ground.”
After a while, Hazael leaned over toward Zarien. “Your conflict with Sereth should end.”
Zarien bristled a bit at the notion. “Our conflict? Our conflict is not my fault.”
“Maybe,” Hazael replied. “But do you really still want the fight between you when you leave?”
Zarien pursed his lips. “I’m not the one who’s being all exclusionist and overly-protective,” he replied. “Look—I don’t like this fight any more than you do, but I’m not the one that you should be looking at here.”
Hazael sighed before turning back to the driving controls, looking at the map as Zarien glared out the window. If anyone was to be found at fault here, it was most definitely Sereth, the one who had started this whole thing. Him? He didn’t have any fault in it. None whatsoever.
“Well,” Hazael finally said in a louder voice so that Sereth could hear him. “I hope that you can reconcile enough to accomplish our mission. Rezja has many things he wants us to accomplish there. We’re fighting an empire, and so unity is imperative among our ranks. Even if you can’t be unified, maybe you can at least act like it and put a face on to inspire others. Because betrayal and uncertainty in the ranks is the one thing that will absolutely seal the deal for our alliance.”
“The spy is ready and prepared to accomplish his side of the deal,” the Watcher said. “Once we land, we’ll be all ready to take over. They’re not going to know what hit them.”
“Good,” Emperor Jaigran replied, as he moved his piece on the board in the game that he was playing against the Watcher. “Any interesting intel from him?”
“Only that which we already knew,” the Watcher replied, pondering the board. “The Xavier Team has likewise discovered that the Arglem is likely hidden in the Caves of Dragla and are currently working to recover it.”
“Bother,” Jaigran snapped. “How close are they to finding it?”
“Not close enough, from what the spy said,” the Watcher replied. “They have to break through the caves a different way because of the immense landslide that the Sla’ad used and so it ought to take them a while to get in. Besides, now that I think about it, I think it may turn out to be highly useful if they end up getting it first.”
“How so?”
“Think about it,” the Watcher replied, moving a piece. “What do you think the Sla’ad put in there? If they’re going to hide their whole treasure trove in this cave, you can bet that they’re going to protect it extremely well. I’d be shocked if they hadn’t placed a whole arsenal of traps ready to trap the unsuspecting adventurer, in their attempt to make sure that no outsiders found it. If the Xavier Team gets to it first, that only means that they get caught by the traps first. And if they’re lucky enough to get past all of them, it still matters not. There’s only one pathway out of the Caves of Dragla. Once we land, all that we’ll need to do is put a heavily armed squadron around that entrance and that’s it. They’ll be trapped like rats and will be easily exterminated. And with the traitor on our side, they won’t know what’s coming. They’re not going to know what’s coming until it’s too late.”
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