Chapter 30 Roxi
As we head for Desolation in the Deep Black, we have time to repair critical systems, including the recuperation stations for Titans.
Esthi has proven to be as capable as any CyberTech I’ve ever worked alongside.
Kelta and her family are invaluable with ship systems. Even Lenarro has shared a fair bit of knowledge he has on integration systems between pilots and AI that I didn’t know he kept inside.
But his health is failing. I have done what I can for him, along with Esthi, Relic Rebel, and Rogue Ribos.
He needs the care of someone like his cousin. And I’m pretty sure she hates his guts.
Our list of bases to infiltrate, Titans to rescue, and Solcrue to take out grows every day.
But none of our efforts will matter if we cannot stop the Solcrue from growing their empire at the same rate that we dismantle it.
We will eventually lose. So I have coordinated a set-up with Aera, and we are back on Ravenger III.
“I don’t like this at all,” Evo protests as we stand just down the hallway from Crezlith’s room.
“I won’t let him hurt her,” Obsidian replies. “He won’t even see me enter.”
Aera leans into Evo. “Just promise me you love me when I’m done, cover me in your touch, so that I can forget him again.”
Evo’s arms wrap around her in a way that shows deep affection, something that still amazes me when I see it. But now, I know what it feels like because of Obsidian.
I feared we had put humans into metal straitjackets, and they were slowly dying inside them.
But now I see they just needed to be free.
We had nothing to fear. CSP didn’t need to exist, not really.
Only a few Titans lost themselves after the worst stage: BloodCypher.
Since then, they have just been aptly named things like Craze and Psycho.
Evo and Aera share a passionate kiss that makes me shift into Obsidian’s body and look up at him.
When he peeks down at me, he grins. “You want the same, don’t you?”
“I can never get enough of you after that last session.”
Obsidian takes me by the back of the neck and draws me against his mouth with force.
A groan echoes down the hallway from the speaker of Joey’s cell.
Obsidian smiles as he kisses me again. “I like that sound, but not as much as the one you make when you take all of me.”
My pussy tenses in eager anticipation. “Don’t talk dirty like that now. You’re going to distract me from the mission.”
His lips sweep around to my neck, where he kisses me again. “Then let’s get this over with, so I can get back to working on you.”
Obsidian eases back, closes his eyes, and fragments his body, crumbling to the floor. He trails my boots as I walk to Crezlith’s room and open the door. The way our Solcrue captive is reclined and strapped so he’s staring up at the ceiling, he can’t see Obsidian float into the room.
“What do you want?” Crezlith rasps, eyes languidly sweeping around the ceiling like he’s recounting the familiar rivets in the metal panels. It’s what I used to do to keep my sanity. “More torture?”
“No. I just have one question for you.”
“I’m not telling you anything.”
“I think you’ll want to.”
“No deal.”
“No deal. Just immediate gratification.”
“Doubt it.”
I draw in a deep breath as I pull up a chair.
“I’m not going to probe your mind this time unless you make me.
So we can either do it that way, and I can drag out the information I want, or you help us, and you get something you want.
I can’t give you exactly what you want, because that’s unavailable.
But if you prove to us that you have honest and good intentions, that you wish to be just and morally a better person, then we will reward you. That is how human culture works.
“We don’t expect the impossible just because you were born. We do not expect sacrifice. We are not held together by laws but by love. And I think you know that feeling. You just didn’t know that’s what it’s called. And you definitely didn’t know how to respect it.”
Crezlith’s jaw muscles tense as he breathes out with force. “We consider love weakness. We are matched by genetic diversity potential. That is how we have become stronger than you.”
“And yet you cannot reproduce without intervention but humans can.”
“They do not want anomalies that break empire standards.”
I grab the probe and tap it mindlessly in a hand. “Don’t you?”
“Don’t I what?”
“Break empire standards because you love a human?”
Crezlith jerks in his restraints. His heart rate elevates. Veins rise in his neck.
“Don’t you say shit, Crezlith!” Joey shouts from the end of the hall. His voice barely enters the room, but Crezlith calms and listens.
“Eh, don’t mind my ex,” I tell him, making sure to emphasize the ex part. “He is a spoiled little shit who’s always had everything handed to him and doesn’t understand what it’s like to be fighting your way to the top of a broken system just to hopefully attain a sliver of power.
“It’s why he’s my ex. Doesn’t share my values or my understanding of how difficult it is to start from zero and crawl, fight, and sacrifice your way to a better position, only to have it ripped out from under your boots because someone betrayed you. Know what I mean?”
Crezlith looks over at me. “How do you know what’s happened to me?”
“I don’t. That is literally my story.”
His olive green eyes study me for a long moment.
As much as I loathe Solcrue, it is not their species that I hate.
It is not their scales or their language or their ships.
It is the empire. But not all Solcrue are empire Solcrue.
Jeris was only because he was born into it.
Sythius never was. And now we find out where Crezlith stands.
“Anyway, back to my question.”
Joey makes noise down the hall, and Evo stalks by, as planned. Joey doesn’t speak anymore. By now, he’s gushing blood from his face.
I smirk and shake my head. “Some dickheads never learn.” That’s a hint that you should, Crezlith.
Every move, every line I’ve said has all been a part of a plan to show Crezlith that he isn’t so different from us.
“Alright. I have probed your brain and have almost everything I need. I just want you to tell me one thing.”
He glowers at me.
I don’t need to know. I already found out by compiling information that we have. What I need now is to see if he’ll tell me the truth or not. “How is your empire building its fleets so fast when there aren’t that many humans left to do the work?”
“They far outnumber you.”
“I’m aware.”
“You won’t win for centuries, even if you could destroy the system.”
I nod. “But that’s not what I asked.”
“What’s my reward if I help you?”
“I’m not going to tell you that because then you’ll only tell me the truth if you think it’s worth it. This is testing your principles, Crezlith. Are you an honest person or a dishonest person? Can you handle the unknown? What are you willing to do to have a better life?”
He sucks on his split lip and looks up again.
“The empire…never really did anything for me. Just wanted more and more hours and more ore and kept giving us all empty promises of vacations and mates and a retirement aboard a mating vessel. We got tired of waiting and started taking things for ourselves because if we didn’t, we wouldn’t survive.
They string CSP along with the same tactic but almost treat them better. ”
It’s difficult to be patient, but once I have him talking openly, I have to let him or I will ruin any progress made.
Crezlith closes his eyes. “There is a plant, hidden in a dark place, not space, but still…in space. A dark nebula where the spirits make us strongest. Inside this crust of a world, and I mean a charred husk of what it once was, is a star base so big, it fills the planet’s internal void.
“We call it Sarcarra, which means Rebirth. Few go inside the world, but I have seen it. It is a mix of humans and Kilthrians. But mostly, it is droids and robots doing automated assembly of every kind of ship you could imagine. They literally used up the planet to build the plant and the robots, then they sent us out to mine every world we can. We don’t need humans or Kilthrians.
That is simply a power move to make the empire feel superior and keep the threatening species under control. ”
I set the probe back in the tray and push the cart away with my boot.
“Thank you, Crezlith. All sensors indicate you are telling the truth. Would you agree, Obsidian?”
Fracture’s dark body forms up from the floor beside Crezlith, making the Solcrue tense in fear. “I agree.”
Obsidian’s eyes flash, and the door opens. “You may have your reward now.”
Aera hesitantly steps into the room, just far enough that Crezlith can see her.
His heart rate rockets. He tries to sit up, fights his restraints, and hyperventilates. “Aera…”
Obsidian’s hackles rise in anticipation of trouble.
I press the button on the side of the chair and help Crezlith sit up better so he can see her and the damage he’s done. When his eyes fall on her scarred neck, his joy turns to horrible pain.
“Why did… That’s not… H-how did it scar so much?”
Aera stops at his feet, picking at her armor. I know she’s nervous. Aera’s a skilled pilot and a daring soldier, but with him, she has some trauma.
“Your…kind…burns me. Your saliva and even your medicine turns my blood to fire.”
“Because of your connection to Xiphos?” he asks.
Aera slides back a step. “How did you know?”
Crezlith ignores Obsidian and me. “The empire knows, Aera. Why do you think, after I captured you the first time, I wanted to keep you for myself? Because I know what they want to do to you and the others connected to that weapon.”
“What’s that?” she asks.
Crezlith opens his mouth but shakes his head.
“Toryn, tell me.”