November 3, 2111
Dro'Zer
A Hauler, a Wersillian transport starship, burst out of slip space into the orbit of a moon called Kuval. As expected, signs of life beeped onto the scanners. Station 9 was indeed on Kuval. Wasting no time, the Hauler entered Kuval's atmosphere toward the secret, hidden station. Using a refractive drive created by the korkyra, the ship was invisible to enemy radars.
Inside the spacious Hauler, Dro'Zer sat across in silence in the room between the cockpit and cargo bay. His thoughts were on his species and their survival, thinking over the toxic yet accepted method of command for his species. And to be honest, he wanted to burn that method to dust.
He didn't get too far into this idea before Airra strolled out of the cockpit and sat across from him on a bench not meant for comfort. These two warlords were here for just one thing: The second Quondam Key. Now was their opportunity to get acquainted before their vital mission began. A single dytirc pilot aided them in this covert operation.
Airra, the head warlord, stretched her vines and bark limbs. Each pull seemed to make a new, different crunch and rustle sound, like stepping on a fallen branch full of leaves. She was a walking tree but had the spite of a hurricane brewing under her thick skin. Her attire breathed power and prowess; designer cloth armor with a gold and gem finish, a golden forehead protector resembling a crown, and heavy plates over her waist and legs. And she even brought her short-sleeved, long white jacket that lay over her attire, closed in the front by a thin, orange rope. The jacket was decorated by gold, flame-like motifs on the edges, with the dytirc word for "indomitable" written vertically down the back. Her piercing yellow eyes, full of darkness, made Dro'Zer a bit antsy; her gaze eyeing his jumpy fingers and twitching knee. Why was she looking at him like that? Had he already made her angry on his first operation with her?
"Steion's intel was reliable for a change. I'm almost upset his death wasn't in vain." Airra giggled with heavy lungs and a threatening voice that rang with a slight delay to it.
Dro'Zer, in his wise voice, decried, "You shouldn't feel that way about your own. Steion lost his life because of this intel. Only 'cause of him, we have a chance to obtain another Quondam Key."
With his right arm bent and touching his left shoulder, Dro'Zer twirled the white-haired mane of his elbow with his finger over and over. With each twist, he rubbed against the sharp bone protruding from his elbow, a trait unique to the korkyran species. The feeling of this natural weapon brought a sense of safety to the beast, like a calm reminder.
Airra uproared with amusement. "My own, hah… I don't associate myself with any dytirc. I'm above them all. I'm a goddess, and a goddess only cares about herself and her family of gods."
"Why choose to live in such a way?"
"Dytirc females have been viewed as less superior than our male counterparts. But damn, did I prove them all wrong."
"Then use that influence for the betterment of your kind."
"What did they ever do for me to deserve such a kindness?"
"Brought you into this world," Dro'Zer pointed out.
She scoffed, "A dime a dozen. Female dytircs have evolved to produce children at an unnatural rate. It only takes a month for an infant dytirc to fully grow in its mother's womb, and twelve more years before they are full adults."
"So, that gives you a pass to do whatever you so wish?"
"Dearie, I'm leading a fraken war to victory, am I not?"
Dro'Zer combed his mane over his neck with his hand. "But are you winning in the right way?"
"If you feel so hurt by the way we do things--" Airra gave Dro'Zer a mocking frown, "--then why did your species accept our offer to join our alliance?" Her rustling voice dug for his response.
"Because your offer saved our species. If we have to help you fight a war as a means of paying off that debt, then so be it."
A grin more sinister than Dro'Zer had ever seen spread across Airra's bark lips. It touched from ear to ear. Her piercing eyes glowed a hot yellow. "You should be more excited. You beasts were bred for war. Battle flows in your blood!"
Dro'Zer's smile flipped to a frown. "You're wrong! We evolved with a thirst to overcome obstacles."
"Same thing."
Dro'Zer slammed his palm to the bench. "It's not! How I wish our species were only bred for battle. Maybe then we wouldn't be on the brink of extinction. You see, our ability to overcome obstacles led to our downfall. We destroyed our home planet ourselves. Technology - that was our first obstacle. But it changed us. Technology made life too easy. So we looked for new obstacles to overcome and found them in each other. We annihilated our home, Corkeria, and turned it into a place so unlivable that nothing but molten rock remains. What was left of my species took to space, and we've survived on a single ship ever since. When your alliance offered us a completely new planet - well, you can't fathom what an opportunity such as that meant for us."
"Dearie, the Wersillian Legion saw your species as a way to finish the war… nothing more. The truth hurts sometimes, and, hah… unfortunately for you, I'm brutally honest." Her candor was of no surprise to Dro'Zer.
He didn't so much as blink at the news. Instead, Dro'Zer half-smiled. "Airra, I knew that from the beginning. What matters to me is that you saved my species, whether it was from the good of your heart or not."
"Such a noble king you are," Airra teased.
"King," Dro'Zer repeated. "Doesn't really fit me."
"Well, it was the ruddy word you used when we first met."
"You aren't wrong. And I will continue to bear the burden of the throne for as long as my people require it of me. But king, queen - that system should be burned to the ground; thrones and all. Kings and queens govern from a throne - a system that divides - creating more obstacles." Dro'Zer started to ramble his thoughts out loud. "That system probably was a key factor in my species' downfall. And it wasn't even our system. We adopted it from the omelics. In ancient history, korkyras were brethren over everything else - families led by chieftains. And that is the system we need to go back to if we are to survive. We need to be a family led by chieftains."
Airra's eyes pierced Dro'Zer. "Dearie, you didn't make an utter word of sense."
Dro'Zer smirked. "That's fine. It will be clear later. Just know, no matter which way that topic tips, we are still with you to the end."
"Hearing that just brings so much… excitement to me." Airra shook, and her eyes flared. Her stare returned to Dro'Zer, and a venomous look sprouted over her face. "And how does the korkyran queen, Mara'Sane, feel about all of this?"
"Chieftain," Dro'Zer corrected. "We will no longer be king and queen; we will be chieftains."
"I could care less what you call yourselves outside of the job, but here you are warlords. And it is about ruddy time Mara'Sane started to act the part."
"You know that wasn't part of the agreement. My bar'won has responsibilities to my species. She must oversee our redevelopment."
"You say that word like I know what it means." Airra's piercing stare chomped at Dro'Zer.
Dro'Zer bit his upper lip and flared his eyes. "Umm, how to explain this. So in korkyran history, we have never formed mates. That proved to be a lonely life for intelligent beings such as ourselves, so we evolved an organ called a barwa. This organ compels an individual korkyra towards another korkyra to share a… a sort-of intellectual bond… that's the best way to describe it. This bond is far more intimate than a bond that mates would share. You share minds, ideas, experiences. Hah, I could even feel if Mara'Sane were in pain right now."
"Then why don't you just marry the chick, or something stupid like that?" Airra rolled her eyes.
"The bond prevents, ah… relations. The organ would send us into a pain-induced shock if we tried."
"Whatever. Sounds stupid anyway. Why would I want another person intruding on my thoughts?"
"Sometimes you don't but you soon realize having two people overcome obstacles - see, there's that word again - well, it makes them easier."
"It doesn't matter. She may not be involved as a warlord now, but she will be. I always get my way eventually."
Dro'Zer tossed his hands in the air in defeat. It seemed he couldn't say anything to change her mind on anything. Best just to let her believe what she wanted. "If you say so," Dro'Zer relented.
"Just tell your lesser half you are about to go into battle because we have landed," Airra said with a snicker after the Hauler dropped into position.
Dro'Zer got up and headed to the hatch. "She already knows. Hah, and she still despises you."
"The edgy bitch can go mope in a corner for all I care!" Airra hissed without hesitation or remorse, careless of anyone other than herself. Or so that was what Dro'Zer saw.
"I'll pass and not let her know you said that." Dro'Zer looked at Airra, who seemed to be in a trance. The vines protruding from her body quivered with anticipation, and her eyes raged with pure passion. The leaves rustled with her gradual shaking, and Dro'Zer soon caught the taste, though not as strong as hers.
"Here we are… two Warlords of Virtue together… about to take on a heavily armed hidden base by ourselves. It isn't often warlords get a chance to work together. Usually, we are scattered across the stars, leading the Wersillian Legion on different fronts. Mmm, I can already taste the fun about to begin."
Airra unleashed her maniacal laugh. It caught Dro'Zer off-guard; the hairs across his body jolted on end, and he all but jumped back. Was this fear building inside him? He was blown away by the alacrity for battle radiating from her bark and leafy skin. The thirst she had for it would put any korkyra to shame.
"Nervous?" she taunted Dro'Zer, sensing his discomfort.
Dro'Zer, like the humble chieftain he was, refused to back down from a challenge. Leading by example was one of his most important virtues as a chieftain, despite knowing his actions today would go unpronounced to his people. "Absolutely not. Our enemies won't be able to hurt me." He held out his palm, and for a second his black skin and white fur coat glowed a hot orange.
"Good," Airra said with a laugh.
Moments later, the hatch hissed open, and both Airra and Dro'Zer disembarked. The surface was squishy and smooth under Dro'Zer's coarse feet. A soft wind carried gray leaves over the marsh. The dark night and meter-high weeds hid them from the sight of the guard within a guard post less than a kilometer in the distance. Just past the guard was a reinforced hatch door, built to close out intruders from a cave entrance carved into a round, asymmetrical mountain a few stories high.
At first, the guard didn't notice the intruders, as he read the daily news from his cyberwatch. A second later, he lifted his hand to scroll down.
"He's going to see us!" Dro'Zer warned in a hushed voice.
"Who cares?" Airra sneered.
The guard jumped up from his chair and squinted his eyes. "Who goes there?" he demanded.
"Your predators," Airra mocked, eyeing the startled guard like he was prey. Her bark skin began to grow, the bark layering up to build a natural armor on her body. The guard reached for his rifle and fired straight at them, but his bullets bounced off Airra's bark skin like rubber. Each bullet that touched Dro'Zer dropped to the ground, losing all energy.
"Impossible!" the man wailed, pounding the alarm over and over.
Red lights flashed over the hatch, accompanied by an ear-piercing alarm. As Airra approached the guard, he froze in fear. She lashed out a sharp branch from her body, which pierced through his heart. He dropped where he stood.
Dro'Zer raised his eyebrows. "Well, they know we're here."
"Does it matter?" Airra angled as if to welcome any challenge.
"They can call for reinforcements."
"That's already been handled. The Hauler was equipped with a jamming device. So, they are just helpless sheep, waiting for slaughter." Airra marched up to the hatch door like she owned the place. Dro'Zer knew this station wouldn't last the night.
"Care to open it, Dro'Zer?" Airra spluttered from an intense desire to kill whatever lay beyond the doors.
"Give me a minute. I have to focus my collected energy into a single heat output. It isn't as easy as you would think."
"Doesn't matter. It gives me some time to clone," Airra lied in an attempt to hide her emotion.
As she said that, her branches began to grow another body. In seconds she had a clone, a bark-skinned replica of herself. Then two split to four, and in a few more seconds she totaled six. The only way to tell her original self from the pack was by her clothes; the clones wore leaves as clothes.
"That's a unique gift," Dro'Zer observed. She responded with a devious laugh - a laugh that, at this point, became its own character in Dro'Zer's mind. "Can you create more than six, or is that your limit?"
"Clones? No. Used to be less, but with time my powers have increased. Six copies of myself is the max I can handle at the moment."
"Your powers grew in strength?" Dro'Zer asked, surprised.
"You know what they say about a tree: It gets stronger with age." Airra smirked deviously.
"A power truly befitting you."
"Enough small talk. Hurry up with that damn door." Airra was bouncing in place, ready to explode with truculent excitement.
"That should be enough." Dro'Zer built up a massive amount of heat energy into his palm; glowing hot and bubbling. Dro'Zer could absorb and store any form of energy into his body to use at a later time. He was a walking energy converter.
Dro'Zer pressed his palm against the hatch. The metal melted away under the intense heat. In a minute's time, there was an opening large enough for them to step inside.
"After you," Airra instructed.
Dro'Zer stepped inside and was welcomed by a storm of bullets and lasers. He sat there and absorbed all the energy unleashed at him. Airra and her five clones joined him. They lashed out vines and branches into the helpless human and qwayk guards. Soon, the room became quiet with the dead, a knockoff graveyard.
Airra shivered with rife excitement. "This is what I live for! Feeling their life fade under my hands… it's intoxicating!"
Dro'Zer responded, "They died fighting - gave their lives for their cause. They should be considered heroes."
"You're too soft." Airra led the way down the metal ramp, which ended at a square, concrete floor. The size of the room was mostly hidden, due to an overhanging roof made of carved stone.
After stepping over lines of corpses, they got to the bottom of the ramp and saw the room was far more spacious than Dro'Zer had originally thought. Perched safely behind a thick window was a scientist watching the warlords with a petrified stare. In the far right corner, a reinforced door slid open, and more enemy guards poured in. In the back of the group of foes, three guards in Prototype-2 power armor jogged into view. One carried a flamethrower, and the other two had annihilators - turrets with three separate, rotating chain guns. The guards lined up and raised their weapons. "Surrender now, and we can put this incident behind us," the scientist, safely behind the window, warned the warlords over an intercom.
Airra burst into laughter. "No amount of bargaining will save you all."
"Last chance!" The scientist was clearly begging now.
Airra responded with a violent unleashing of her vines. Her clones charged into the group, and the opposition opened fire. Airra and her clones whipped vines around and eliminated man after man in seconds.
As she approached a man with power armor, she mocked, "Hah! You think power armor will save you."
The guard whipped his weapon toward her and unloaded a few thousand rounds a second at ear-shattering speeds. Her bark was torn apart as the bullets pounded her, yet her bark skin regrew almost as fast as it was shredded. Not even Dro'Zer would be able to handle that much energy that rapidly. As the man was distracted, a clone tackled him to the ground. The clone launched sharp vines at him until his shields broke, then it stabbed him in the neck. Blood splatted over the clone's vines and face. More disturbingly, the clone licked it off with a grin.
The flamethrower carrier was aiming right for Airra. "Watch out!" Dro'Zer warned Airra while ignoring the projectiles hitting him.
A liquid stream of fire engulfed Airra. Quickly, Dro'Zer jumped in front of the fire from the flamethrower and absorbed its heat energy. Dro'Zer pushed through the fire and up to the flamethrower carrier.
"Let your sacrifice be remembered by your allies."
He threw one punch, with a massive load of kinetic energy behind it. The punch landed hard enough to break through the shields and dent the veridium armor. The man cratered into the wall and died on impact. Airra's clones finished off the rest in seconds.
"Airra, are you hurt?"
Dro'Zer whipped his head around. On the concrete floor was a pile of bark on fire. Surprisingly, Airra sat behind the flames with her hands out over the fire, as if she were on a camping trip.
She looked up at Dro'Zer and laughed. "How did you survive that? The fire should've burned you alive," Dro'Zer marveled.
"I just shed the top layer of my bark skin and grew more."
"And here I thought I would have to carry us through this mission."
"You? Rarhaha, please. There is a reason I'm the head warlord and you aren't," she teased him, with a mock-baby tone.
"Point taken. Now, what should we do about the remaining guards here?"
"Break open the door, and I'll have my clones clear out the res--"
Airra was cut off as the concrete floor below them accelerated downward. She leaped into the air and pierced her vines into the wall, stopping her from falling further down. Dro'Zer waited the few seconds before the floor lowered itself into a pit of acid. The corrosive liquid only tickled as he absorbed the energy like lunch.
"When will these mutts learn to give up?!"
Airra had already climbed out of the pit, and Dro'Zer took one gigantic leap upward to reach the top. He kicked open the door, and Airra sent her clones to search the station room by room.
"Let's find the main computer systems," Airra commanded.
Dro'Zer followed Airra until they entered the main computer room. Hologram monitors covered the walls in every direction. A few hologram-projected keyboards rested beneath the monitors. In the middle of the room was the scientist from earlier, only now he'd been killed by one of Airra's clones. Airra grabbed the body by the shirt and dragged it over to the computer keyboard.
"What are you doing?" Dro'Zer asked.
"Order of Aegis computer systems are designed to fry the moment an enemy touches the keys. They're a smart group, I'll give them that."
"Then how do we break into their system?"
Airra grinned her signature devious grin, then reached down and placed her arm over the dead man's bicep. Vines as small as needles punctured the man's arm and crawled their way through his veins. The sight brought a sick feeling into Dro'Zer's stomach. Airra used her vines to gain complete control over the dead man's arm and used it to begin typing.
"How long?" Dro'Zer couldn't bear to watch this invasive act any longer.
"Just… about… now." Airra brought up a map of the station with a blinking red dot inside one of the rooms. "Hmm, that can't be right."
"What's the problem?"
"That red dot says the Quondam Key is in this room, but I sure don't see it. It's as strange as I am."
"In that case, yeah, that is odd," Dro'Zer remarked.
After he said that, Airra sat in the center of the room, and vines grew from her body. They slid and wiggled around the room in every direction. As time passed, the room became its own forest; that was Airra's way of feeling the entire room for secret doors or tunnels.
"There! Under the computer systems… far left corner!" Airra pointed. Her vines retracted.
Dro'Zer walked over and bashed them away, revealing a hidden spiral staircase. After Airra retracted all her vines, they proceeded down the stairs of wonders. As they walked down the steps, they had window views into rooms with a single relic or artifact inside; however, Airra and Dro'Zer were looking for only one in particular.
"That's it! A Quondam Key!" Airra shouted as they arrived at the second to last room.
Dro'Zer pressed his palm to the door, and it burst open. "I'll grab it."
He walked inside and picked up the key. It was triangular, with two additional lines protruding from the triangle and converging down into the center of the triangle to form an inner circle. The symbols meant nothing to Dro'Zer as he tried to read it.
Dro'Zer climbed out of the room and saw Airra carrying another artifact. "This will come in handy." She held up the device like a trophy.
"What is it?" Dro'Zer asked.
"Not sure, exactly. Some type of bomb made by the same species that made that key you're holding - the Devisors. But you know me, I love surprises."
"A bomb?! Are you sure we should carry that along?" Dro'Zer started back up the stairs. Airra followed.
"Let's just get back to our ship, dear." She refused to give him a straight answer, but her face gave it away. Dro'Zer knew she wasn't too sure herself.
As both of them headed back to the Hauler, Airra's clones rejoined them. While they walked, her clones, one by one, melded into each other before melding back into Airra.
When Airra entered the ship, she yelled at the pilot, "Take us to Garatopia, located on the planet Idor." She seated herself.
"Why Garatopia?" Dro'Zer asked as he, too, sat down and handed her the key.
She took the key and stuck it to her bark skin. It faded away into the vines and roots of her body. "Another Quondam Key is hidden there, and we have just enough fuel to get there. Oh… and I have arranged for many of your korkyran soldiers to meet us once we arrive." From the way she grinned, you'd think Airra had an alternative motive.
The Hauler lifted off the ground, and its thrusters pushed them into space. Reaching orbit, the pilot entered the coordinates into the Hauler's system. In seconds, the ship burst into slip space and was gone.