For being such a large city, and the only one in the entire desert, the spaceport in Eredhen hardly seemed impressive, especially compared to that of Siatia or even New Alexandria. It was dilapidated, with some of the metal plates dangling loosely after decades of wear and neglect, and the holes in the roof letting light in looked haphazardly cut with jagged edges. A double door in the side hung from rusted hinges yet stayed firmly attached despite the constant flow of traffic in and out. Somewhat distantly, they heard the sounds of roaring engines and saw the occasional ship come shooting out the far end a kilometer or so to their right.

‟Are you sure this is the right place?” Xaleyp asked, unable to keep the skepticism from his voice.

‟Of course it is,” Eve said, somewhat jubilantly, as she did a little spin with her arms outstretched. ‟Smell the dusty air, the smell of rusted iron, the oxidation of the engines. Doesn’t it just scream home or is it just me?”

‟My home was quite a bit different than that,” he whispered under his breath as he half smiled at her and followed her through the door.

Inside was a small lobby area of sorts, with a row of desks and kiosks for purchasing tickets to different cities around Arcadia and other planets. Lines of people stood in queues in front of each, some impatiently tapping their feet and others trying to console their crying children. They spoke in the still entirely unfamiliar Arcadian language, as he never took the time to learn it what with everyone on the crew of Lord Mattix’s barge speaking Common. At either end of the line of desks were doors leading deeper into the building. Potted plants, the only greenery Xaleyp had seen since entering the Nehruian Desert, were placed next to the rows of seating against the walls and in the middle of the room.

Eve led them across the room and through the lines of people waiting to the semicircular doors at the opposite end. They hissed open diagonally to opposite corners of the frame, revealing a narrow, somewhat arched hallway with another similar door at the opposite end, an emblem of a lion emblazoned on it.

Inside was an odd assortment of ships in a dozen different rows from small transports to larger frigates, most surrounded by a small crew talking, laughing, and watching passersby. Autonomous cargo vessels ferried people and supplies back and forth between the two ends, making the occasional stop to let them off. The odor from the engines was even stronger in the hangar despite the fact the ceiling was open, and the sweltering heat inside seemed to be magnified through the metal of the building. Large, industrial fans hung from the walls at sporadic intervals, attempting to keep the interior cool and ensure the ships didn’t overheat.

‟So, what kind of ship are we looking for again?” Eve made a show of looking either direction as if expecting a large sign telling them where to go. ‟Or did Ardus conveniently forget to tell us that part and we’re just walking right into a trap for him to get another chance at offing us?”

‟All he told me was that the robot was going to bring me here, but, seeing how you sent it away, we’re going to have to find it on our own.”

As he finished talking, another bout of dizziness and pain came to him, forcing him to clap a hand to his forehead as the memory took control.

‟We should just stay calm and wait for Ardus to pick us up, see if those ships are his sent to help extract us, maybe even help the survivors.” Mian held her hands out in what she must’ve thought was an appeasing manner but appeared more demeaning than anything.

‟Mian, what part of he might’ve been the reason that we crashed are you not understanding?” Eve’s voice echoed in the bridge, drawing the attention of a few of the survivors before they went back to whatever they were doing. She raked her fingers through her hair, nearly tearing out sections with the force she used, and slowly spun in a circle before looking back at Mian. ‟Do you really want to stick around here and find out the hard way that we cannot trust him to send anyone to rescue us?”

‟You’re wrong,” she whispered, crossing her arms and turning away from Eve to look at Xaleyp. Her eyes pleaded with him to agree with her, to trust in her faith in the Director—or rather, the Acusiont—but he didn’t know what to think.

‟Let’s split up,” Eve said, ‟head in different directions, and find our ways to Eredhen, where we can find some sort of transport off the planet to somewhere else.”

‟I am not going to the desert just in hopes of finding something when we can stay here and wait it out. Worse comes to worst, I can just go to New Alexandria and meet with the Arcadians and get them to send me back to Siatia.”

‟Then go there,” Xaleyp said, though he wasn’t sure the voice was his own. Both of the girls looked at him, surprised looks on their faces at the words that had just come out of his mouth. ‟We need to do whatever keeps us alive, and if that is going with Eve’s plan of not trusting Ardus until we know exactly what happened and what’s going on, then that’s what we have to do.”

There was a hurt look in Mian’s eyes as if she fully expected him to back her up, and she straightened up when he spoke before walking over to him. Without uttering a word, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight before walking to the edge and beginning her slow descent down the exposed framework of the wreckage. With each step she took, Xaleyp found himself wanting to yell to her and call her back, but the further she got, the less he thought she would listen.

She did not look back, and, soon, Xaleyp and Eve went too, neither saying anything and both heading in opposite directions as they set out on their journey.

Xaleyp gasped with a sharp, rattling inhale of breath as the memory returned to the recesses of his mind, and he found himself on the ground with Eve standing over him looking down with a worried expression. Towards one of the lines of ships, a few of the crew were pointing and talking in hushed tones, each of them curious.

‟Are you sure that you’re not having a okay and don’t need a hospital or anything?” she asked as she helped him stand again. ‟If you keep falling over, you might actually hurt yourself one of these times.”

‟I’m fine, Eve, I just need to get to the Starkiller and get some rest.”

As he said the words, footsteps approached them from behind, rather quicker than they would have expected, and they turned to find one of the robotic guards standing there. It looked at both of them, its piercing blue eyes scanning for a few moments, then locked onto Xaleyp.

‟Xaleyp Vah’Aris, if you would accompany me, I have been resent by Ardus Kaine to escort you to the Helios-Two Dropship for extraction to the Starkiller.”

Without waiting for an answer, its body gyrated and began walking at a brisk pace down the row of ships. Xaleyp and Eve looked at each other with half a second’s hesitation before following, unsure of what was awaiting them at the destination.

Partially hidden between two larger freighters was the comparatively tiny form of the dropship he had ridden in several times before. Its bank of engines on its back wings and in the middle were already primed and ready for takeoff as they approached. The robot guard reached up and slid the door open, gesturing for both of them to get on. The interior was dim with most of the lights being off in the back to the right, and the pilot was talking softly in the cockpit to the left. A rack of assault rifles hung on the opposite wall next to the door, waiting to be used. Xaleyp got on at once, accepting his fate, while Eve seemed to hesitate, looking at the step as if it were a hundred meter gap.

‟What are you waiting for, Eve?” Xaleyp asked, holding his hand out to her.

‟It’s just that, if I get on, there’s no going back, and if our theory was right, this might be the biggest mistake we make in our entire lives.” For the first time, Xaleyp saw a somewhat scared expression on her face, as if she were actually terrified. ‟I don’t want to be responsible for anyone, including you, getting hurt, so I’d rather just stay here and live out the rest of my life in Eredhen.”

‟Eve, I promise that whatever may happen is not your fault,” Xaleyp said, trying to force himself to smile but knowing it came out as a grimace. ‟Besides, I need you to help me with this, especially since I don’t have Mian anymore.”

‟Oh, Mian isn’t with you then?” asked a voice from the darkness. Ardus stood and stepped away from one of the seats, scrolling through different screens on a datapad in his hand as he approached. He looked up and saw Eve still standing on the ground attempting to make up her mind of getting in or not. ‟That is really too bad, seeing how she was one of my favorite and most outstanding agents, but we can make due without her. Ah, Evangeline, always a pleasure to see you, and I’m glad you survived that horrendous accident and made it here to join us today. Please, have a seat, and we will depart momentarily. Xaleyp, there’s been an interesting development with Seth Drake you may want to hear that I’ll tell you on the trip to the Starkiller. What the hell happened to your hand in the last half an hour?”

Xaleyp looked at his hand and saw it was still oozing out blood, though now it was mostly dark red where it coagulated. Before he could answer, Ardus held up a hand to stop him, shook his head, turned, and began to walk back to his seat, his eyes firmly planted on the datapad. Xaleyp, slightly perturbed, held his uninjured hand out to Eve again, who had a look of disgust on her face.

‟Now hold on one damn second,” Eve said, her voice louder than it needed to be and drawing the attention of even the pilot. Ardus spun around at once with a confused expression as he stared at her. ‟You put all of this effort into finding Xaleyp, but you’re not even going to bother trying to look for Mian? I may not be her number one fan, but I sure as hell know she deserves better than that.”

Ardus continued staring for several moments, standing there with one eyebrow cocked and saying nothing. It felt like hours passed in the few seconds the two of the spent staring at each other, neither one wanting to back down.

‟You may be right,” he finally said, speaking slowly at first then increasing speed as he went on, as if he were choosing his words very carefully. His voice was quiet and measured, which seemed to only make Eve angrier. ‟You may be right that we should look for her, as she is one of our best agents, but right now our priority lies with capturing Seth Drake and preventing him from doing more destruction on Arcadia and across the galaxy. If we find her in the course of that, then we will be sure to rescue her and ensure that she gets the aid that she deserves. However, until that time, if she has survived this long, then she can survive a little longer until such a time that we can devote those resources to finding here. For now, please get in and sit down so we can stop wasting time and get on with our mission.”

Without another word, he returned to the far side of the transport and almost threw himself into the seat, a scowl on his face. Xaleyp looked at Eve with a pleading expression and gestured with his hand to her again, which she finally took and climbed up into the transport. They took their seats across from Ardus, and straps automatically locked over their shoulders, restraining and keeping them in place. As soon as they were locked in, the robot slid the door shut, saluting as it walked away, and the engines whined as the transport lifted off the metal floor, shooting forward and flying by the other ships sitting idle. The city of Eredhen and its gleaming metal skyscrapers disappeared with a blur of motion with their ascent into the upper atmosphere.

‟Now, like I said, there’s been a development in the Seth Drake situation, namely that he’s been able to successfully infiltrate the Arcadian military and secure himself a group of three frigates currently in orbit around the planet.” Ardus held up the datapad horizontally and pressed a button on, causing a holographic display of the planet and its rings to appear in blue light, slowly rotating in place. At one side were the three frigates highlighted in red, while a carrier, presumably the Starkiller, with two cruiser support ships were in green on the opposite side. Even as they watched, the red ships were beginning a slow crawl around the planet towards the green ones. ‟We have just a few minutes before the defected Hyperion ships are within range to attack the Starkiller. My agents have determined that Seth Drake is aboard the largest of the three, and we need to make sure we take him alive.”

‟Why alive?” Xaleyp asked, gripping the bars over his shoulders with both hands. ‟What are you going to be doing with him that’s so important he needs to be alive?”

‟If we kill him now, he will be nothing more than a martyr for his cause, and it will only serve to further antagonize them and ruin relations.” Ardus said the words as if they were common sense, and, even in the dark, Xaleyp could see the man roll his eyes. ‟If we take him alive, we will be able to do so much more for the Concord and the galaxy at large.”

The transport shook slightly as it broke out of the atmosphere and streaked into orbit around Arcadia. Vortau shone brightly to the left out of the viewport, and taking up the majority of the right side was the Starkiller and its escort cruisers. Just beyond were the three Hyperion frigates as they slowly lumbered forward directly towards the carrier.