Franz led the crew outside the ship. The warehouse had several large garage doors scattered across the front of the building. They ignored the doors and instead walked to the side of the building. There, they found a smaller door for personnel. Franz knocked on the door three times with the back of his hand. He tapped his foot as he waited for someone to come to the door. Once they did, a slider at the top of the door slid open. The slider was just large enough to reveal the orange eyes of someone behind the door.

  “Closed to outsiders,” a gruff voice said with irritation. The man behind the door began to slide the slider back into place. “Leave.”

  “We are not exactly outsiders,” Franz said before the slider covered the man’s eyes. “I believe the password we were given was white scale.”

  “Ah, I see,” the voice said in realization. The man finished sliding the slider back into place, and the sound of the door unlocking could be heard.

  The man opened the door. He was bald Nublean with red skin. He had a round face covered with white stubble. While he had muscular arms, maybe even larger than Elio’s, he was otherwise out of shape. He had a large belly that stretched his black shirt and hung over his jeans. He quickly motioned his hand for everyone to get inside.

  “Everything is paid for,” the man began to explain as he walked further into the warehouse. “It just needs to be loaded on the ship. I can help out, but you’ll have to do most of it yourself. I am sure you understand that this had to be kept secret.”

  “Of course,” Franz nodded as he followed the man. “The fewer people who know, the better.”

  “Exactly, you never really know who is looking for a payday,” the man said. “I like to think I can trust my guys, but everyone could use money. Especially with the recent trade cut-offs. Everyone feels strapped for cash.”

  “Trade cut-offs?” Felice asked. “Why would there be trade cut-offs?”

  “The Imperium is trying to force our government to make a decision,” the man said dryly. “I think it is a good thing that our people are taking a stand, but many people don’t see it that way. They just see their cost of living go up. They see the effects it has on their families.”

  “Oh,” Franz was speechless. He did not realize how much their staying on the Great Trial had affected the people of Nubleas.

  “Don’t worry about it,” the man casually waved his hand. “We used to get along fine without the Imperium. Everyone just has to get used to it again. It’s better than being subservient to the people who want to destroy our culture.”

  “Still, I did not expect it to cause such damage to your people,” Franz replied. “I am very sorry for the trouble.”

  “As I said, don’t worry about it,” the man said dryly. “It is better for the long run. I am still mad that we even thought to ally with people who massacred our long-time friends.”

  “Was your alliance with the dragons that important?” Felice asked curiously. While she genuinely cared, she was also curious from a scholarly angle.

  “Yes, our cultures were deeply intertwined,” the man explained. “You’ll find there are many other cultures that were in a similar situation. Back before we joined the Imperium, we did not have a lot of advanced technology. Our people were more in tune with nature. Life was a lot simpler back then. Chancellor Atu was not satisfied with that, though. He thought that the future was in technology. So, he gave the locations of dragons to the Imperium in exchange for an alliance. Some also think that he used that chance to negotiate wealth for himself.”

  “That’s really messed up,” Tal commented. “Selling out your people just for a little wealth.”

  “And he has continued his rule as Chancellor ever since,” the man growled. “He still allows for representative elections, but he uses the backing of the Imperium to keep his power.”

  “So, you basically are living by his whims,” Franz concluded as he tightened his fist. “Those are the worst kind of people.”

  “I agree. Which is why I am helping you,” the man nodded before he came to a stop. Crates were stacked almost to the top of the warehouse. “Here we are. I sure hope you brought portable storage devices.”

  “Don’t worry. We always do,” Franz said as he pointed towards his wrist. “Is all of this for us?”

  “Yep, everything in this section is for the resistance,” the man confirmed. “Now, get moving. No one should know you are here, but I don’t want to take any risks.”

  “Of course,” Franz nodded before he turned to the group. “Let’s get started, guys.”

  The group quickly began to work. Flashes of blue light came one after another as the crates turned into blue outlines of themselves before vanishing. Franz was shocked at how quickly their storage filled up. Even with the man joining in to help them, they had to take several trips to the ship. The ship’s storage capacity was nearly filled when the last of the supplies was uploaded into it.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Once the ship was filled, Franz let out a sigh of relief. Everything seemed to go exactly as planned. Now, they just need to get off the planet and back to the Great Trial. The rest of the crew seemed to share Franz's relief as they began to board the ship.

  “Thanks for your help,” Franz said to the man as he extended his hand for a handshake. “You never told us your name, though.”

  The man took Franz’s hand and grasped it firmly. He chuckled slightly. “Oh, that’s right. I must have forgotten. My name is-“

  The man’s hand suddenly went limp in Franz’s hand. Franz looked upward to see a burning hole in the man’s forehead. His orange eyes turned cold and lifeless. The rest of his body followed his hand and went limp. Franz was now holding the man’s arm up as the rest of his body collapsed to the ground.

  Franz let go of the man before he spun around. He quickly engaged his helmet, and plates formed into a perfect shape around his head. Franz’s head darted back and forth to see the source of the attack. Before he could find the exact source, he saw a group walking towards him.

  Franz instantly recognized the group as Imperium soldiers. Not just any Imperium soldiers, they were special operatives. They wore black body suits with black plates covering their chest, shoulders, and arms. Each member of the group wore a black helmet except for one. The one without a helmet did not wear the same uniform as the others. He wore a long black coat that was buttoned down his torso. At his waist, the black coat flared out and revealed the black slacks underneath. His black hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a few strands coming down his forehead. Cold blue eyes pierced through the strands of hair in a glare towards Franz.

  Franz instantly recognized the leader of the group. He used to work with Franz in the royal guard, but must have moved to special operatives. He was Franz’s old, trusted partner and rival. His name was Hayate, and he was incredibly deadly.

  Franz quickly called the crew. “I need you guys to get out of here. We have a problem.”

  “Calling backup?” Hayate smiled. His cold eyes contrasted drastically with his smile, making the smile off-putting. “I just wanted to have a chat with an old friend.”

  “We both know that’s not true,” Franz said dryly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have killed this man.”

  “He was a traitor to the Imperium,” Hayate shrugged. “They must be dealt with accordingly.”

  “That tells me everything I need to know,” Franz drew his sword from his hip. He flicked his wrist downward, and an orange blade of light formed from the handle of his weapon.

  “So hostile,” Hayate said calmly. His words had a friendliness that disguised maliciousness. Like a snake hiding in the grass waiting to strike. “I’m not here to kill you. I just want to talk.”

  “Yeah? What do you want to talk about?” Franz shot back angrily.

  “Just an oversized lizard and his whereabouts,” Hayate replied. “He has been causing a lot of trouble.”

  “Not sure what you are talking about. I’m sorry if you misplaced something,” Franz shrugged.

  “Don’t try to play stupid with me. You can either tell me, or we can bring you into custody. In there, we will find different ways to get you to tell,” Hayate said with a grin.

  Felice, Elio, and Tal all came running out of the ship. They quickly formed around Franz and drew their weapons. Tal drew his two pistols. The pistols were made out of the same white material as Elio’s halberd. As Elio drew his halberd, Felice flicked her hand, and a whip made of green light cracked against the ground.

  “I think I’ll pick the third option. You guys leave us alone,” Franz said.

  “I can’t do that,” Hayate said. “If we can’t come to an agreement. I’ll have to use force.”

  “Then try it,” Franz said as he pointed his sword towards Hayate. “But you never could beat me in a duel.”

  “A lot has changed since then,” Hayate said as he grabbed an emitter from his belt. The black emitter was shaped like a katana’s hilt with a golden cross-shaped tsuba. Golden light flashed and formed a curved sword from the emitter.

  Hayate pointed his sword at Franz’s crew. The moment he did, the armored soldiers at his side drew emitters from their belts. Golden light formed into straight blades as they charged towards the crew. Helmets formed around the crews’ heads as they readied their weapons.

  Tal pointed both of his pistols forward and shot towards one of the charging soldiers. Red blasts of energy hit the soldier and exploded like a splash. The soldier was not slowed by the blasts, and they seemed to do no damage. He swung his sword at Tal. Tal quickly jumped backward and started to shoot at the soldier more.

  Elio met one of the soldiers as they charged towards him. His shoulder slammed into the soldier and threw him to the ground. Elio followed up by bringing his halberd down on the soldier. The soldier quickly rolled out of the way of the halberd and sprang upward to his feet. His sword flew upward towards Elio. Elio was forced to release his halberd and block the sword with the armor around his arms.

  Felice grabbed a vial from her belt and shook it violently. The liquid inside the vial started to react and bubble. Before the vial could expand from the reaction, Felice threw it at one of the soldiers. The soldier quickly twisted out of the way, and the vial exploded into green flames as it hit the ground. The soldier continued their charge and swung their sword at Felice. She spun backward out of the way of the attack and retaliated with a flick of her whip.

  Franz and Hayate were the only ones left. They each readied their swords and pointed them at each other. Seconds felt like minutes as they each tried to find an opening in the other. For a moment, Franz’s blade faltered and lowered.

  Hayate quickly capitalized on Franz’s opening. He dashed towards Franz and swung his sword in a horizontal arc. Before the attack could hit, Franz swung his sword upward to meet Hayate’s. The swing threw Hayate’s stance off balance. Franz quickly followed up with a lunge towards Hayate. Which Hayate stepped to the side of.

  “I’m shocked you fell for such an obvious bait,” Franz taunted as he backed away to reset his stance. “I thought you would be better than that.”

  “One of us had to make the first move,” Hayate replied. “I’ll also be the one to make the last.”