As the ship left the toxic atmosphere of Rantharaz, Hellion felt that he had stopped bleeding; the golden fluid was now just dripping. A black wall of platelets had formed on the part where his leg was broken. As the pain subsided, he came back to his senses, he squirmed in the wires, and he was helpless. His vision flew around trying to find something that might help him. An etching on the wall attracted his attention. It was a sigil, a mark. Dorredus recalled, it was written in Godstongue, most of Godstongue is written in the form of sigils, it expresses ideas rather than exact words, so one sigil could mean a hundred words. Aurelions were banned to learn the language, but in his years with the resistance, he had learned a bit.
"Black Butterfly"
It read. It could have also meant
"Piercing sword"
"Sailing moon"
It was pretty hard to guess what meaning was intended by the one who etched this.
That man must be from the arbiterium, this ship, that augment-suite, twin xeloyatras. Only a high-ranking official could afford that, most likely an Imperial knight. But this wasn't a ship that officials use. And neither an official would have Godstongue etched on their ship.
It only puzzled him more.
As the ship Butterfly exited Rantharaz's orbit, Vyzen stood from the control panel and stretched. He wiped off the blue liquid, the blood of Bionens he spilled from his body.
He opened a cupboard, took out a worn-out black jacket, and draped it over his body. His skin had blackened and become softer. It was as if rivers of blood flowed through the molten mountains. His helmet didn't change much.
"Taking me to the capital, Kanderis?" Hellion asked.
Vyzen turned but didn't respond.
Hellion continued in between his ragged breaths.
"I know you are loyal, but you don't know the crimes the arbiterium has committed. You saw Rantharaz? Arbiterium is why the planet is crumbling and on its path to death; they massacred the population. Only a fraction of them remain now. They enslave inferior species, and they have committed such atrocities that you can't even begin to fathom. You need to understand, we rebels are fighting for peace, freedom, and equality. If the goodwill desires, we would make an empire as great as the old dominion–"
Vyzen sighed. Hellion broke off.
"Peace is an idiot's dream." His voice hissed in his helmet, "And I am not an idiot."
Goosebumps ran over Hellion's body as he saw Vyzen's visor staring at him. Only a few hours ago, this man had mercilessly murdered his allies, and now he was here convincing him to join the resistance.
Dorredus continued, " All hope is not lost. You can still redeem yourself, lead a peaceful life without the bloodshed that is being-"
Vyzen cut him off.
"Save your words for later, Dorredus. I am not from Arbiterium."
"What? Not from arbiterium, ridiculous, then why in the seventh heaven, you wanna cut my throat? Who are you?" Aurelion said in a shaking voice, raising his voice at the last words.
"Bounty Hunter, you have a price on your head," Vyzen confirmed.
"A hunter? A mere hunter cannot capture m-me," Hellion gulped," that suite, Xeloyatras. A hunter is not strong enough to take out a dozen bionen without a scratch!"
Vyzen didn't respond. He walked to the kitchen compartment and got himself an energy drink, a filter coffee. It had a bland taste but ample nutrients for any creature. He came back and sat in his seat again, feeling the kick of netrophine in the coffee, the super caffeine, some called it.
"I have answered you enough."
Vyzen ran his fingers on the Xeloyatra strapped on his belt.
Purple shine from the Xeloyatra sent shivers down the Aurelion's body, losing all hope in his escape, he leaned on his back,
"At least tell me your name, that won't hurt, right?"
"Arthora," Vyzen mumbled and turned his face towards monitor
.
"*Ruthless*, in the Godstongue. Or is it the *unfaithful*?" Hellion chuckled not at the name but at his fate.
Vyzen went back to the control panel, voyaging toward the Belt of no return. It was an asteroid boundary of a dead zone. A cluster of dried-up star systems, far from Arbiterium's laws, it was now a haven for hunters and smugglers. This was where the Osaires Trade Union had influence, but it worked through several of its shadow organisations.
The ship faced turbulence as it surfed through the belt. A grey, monstrous platform, running across kilometers, built upon the floating asteroids, it also moved along the gravitational pull. This, this was a drifter.
Vyzen carefully landed the Butterfly on the platform. Entering its artificial biosphere.
"All personnel inside, please present your validations to our agent." A robotic voice emerged from the control panel.
Vyzen glanced at Hellion and then opened the hatch. Once outside, he hurried over to a counter.
The recipient was a Palmeard. His hands were long and attached to his chin and jaw rather than his torso. He was wearing a round-shaped goggle. He looked up, adjusting his googles, "Bounty hunter?"
Vyzen nodded, and the palmeard chuckled.
"Thought so".
Vyzen has met Dozzgle several times before. Almost every time he entered the belt.
But it was useless to remind him, as Palmeards are notorious for their short-lived memories. Also, the reason they were perfect for this job.
"Please give your assigned batch number and name."
"Arthora, B-0102," Vyzen hissed from his helm.
"Arth….ora…..um" He impatiently fidgeted through the holograms with his hanging fingers.
"I found it. Oh….., you are The Arthora," he awed, looking at Vyzen's impressive profile.
"I am in a hurry," Vyzen said.
"The purpose of your visit, Mr. Arthora?" Drozzgle said in a nonchalant tone.
"Delivering goods from Rantharaz," Vyzen replied.
After a few more moments of silence, Drozzgle typed something. And finally said,
"Permission granted, Mr. Arthora, the drift space will soon be opened for you. Thank you for your patience."
Vyzen nodded and returned to the ship.
Two massive semicircle artifacts were brought together in a distance, and when they joined, the light from their centre spread radially outwards, going at extreme speeds, it started to curve, going round and round, creating a spiral of white light strips on the purplish void.
"Drift space had been opened. Please start your warp engine and enter it. May you be guided by goodwill." The robotic voice said through the control panel.
Vyzen lined up the Butterfly, started the engine, and flew right into the spiral with full speed.
It engrossed them, Hellion felt a little dizzy by the spiral; the space around the butterfly was expanding and contracting at superluminal speeds, drifting through space.
Vyzen didn't know much science behind, he just knew that drift lanes could accelerate spacecraft to million of times faster than light by playing with the space around it.
Hellion had sat through many Drift lanes made by the arbiterium when he hadn't joined the rebellion, but he had never gone to a dead zone before; these drift lanes were not as good or functional as the government's, they were wobbly jobbly and making him feel nausea
. With a final thud, the spiral disappears, and they finally enter the star system of Yu-7002.