Chapter 42: 42: Backup

I shot her a grin, that green glint in her eyes told me everything that I needed to know. She had found something on the old Clan Pren servers, and hopefully it was going to lead us straight to what we wanted to know - where Pax and Akash were, and how to get them out.

"It took a bit of doing, some jumping through servers to pick up the trail, but in the end… Yeah, I managed to find something," She said. "I think… and I can't be sure until we actually go there… but I'm pretty sure I have the location of the Clan Pren headquarters."

My heart started beating faster and faster. I had been hoping for something big, but the actual location of Pren's hideout? That was a surprising twist of fate.

"Where are they based, then?" I asked, "And is it somewhere that we're going to be able to get to?"

"It's not something we're going to be able to do alone," she shook her head. "We're going to need to go back to base for this, get authorisation for backup."

I didn't like it. Squadron Leader Belana had said that he wanted me to deal with the situation by any means possible, but going back for backup felt far too much like giving up. At the same time, that Null Space Invader spider hybrid had completely kicked my ass, and there was no telling how many of those they would have on command. If I had to fight two or more of those at once, even without the added burden of looking after another person on my back, there was no telling how the fight would actually end up going.

"Yeah… you're right. This isn't something the three of us are going to be able to do alone. We're going to need reinforcements on this one. Besides, the Squadron Leader is going to want to know about the creature that we encountered here even if we weren't going back for extra forces," I said, resigned to the fact.

"In that case, we should make haste. We do not know what state we will find our companions in when we eventually make it to them. Every second wasted is another that they may perish," Yr'Arl chimed in.

He was right. As we began the walk back to the headquarters of the Guard I couldn't help but wonder how Akash and Pax were doing. I hoped the tree was doing okay. I'd almost started to miss the big guy's jabs at my humanity.

The walk back through to the Guard HQ felt quicker than the walk to the warehouses, but in that time all I could think about was Rin. We had forced her to come along with us to the warehouses when really there was no point in her coming along at all. Fal had been there before, she had known where it was already. Why had I felt the need to drag the girl along with us?

If I hadn't, she'd still be alive right now.

Instead, her ripped up remains had been splattered across the room that she had been tortured in for years.

I was never going to let something like that happen to someone who was under my protection ever again. I refused. Point blank. It was never going to happen again. I wouldn't let it.

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By the time we made it back to HQ my sadness had burned away to unbridled anger and rage, so much so that I wasn't going to let even Squadron Leader Belana's anti-human jibes get to me anymore.

"So, let me get this straight," He said after we had explained what had happened in the warehouse to him. "You want me to believe that some kind of Null Space Invader hybrid has been unleashed on the city, and that after it killed your primary informant, you just allowed it to get away?"

"Sir, if I may, there was no way for us to try and apprehend the creature," Fal cut in. "Not only did the thing display overwhelming power, it moved at incredible speed. It had made its way out of the hole in the wall before Jacob or Yr'Arl could do anything to try and stop it."

The squadron leader took his classic chin on steepled fingers position, a position that I was slowly coming to hate seeing. It meant he was thinking. Likely thinking about whether he could actually authorize a larger task force for us to lead our assault with.

"And what of your data gathering trip, did you find anything actionable to use against Clan Pren, or was the fatality of your one and only lead without any worth at all?" he asked.

It was all I could do not to leap forward and grab him by the throat. He hadn't been there. He didn't get to speak about Rin like that.

"I think I've managed to uncover the location of Clan Pren's primary hideout, sir," Fal said.

The Squadron Leader's eyes widened at that piece of news. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting to be offered that chance. I was sure that, if he managed to be leading the group that took down the infamous Clan Pren, there would be quite a few accolades in it for him.

"Go on," Belana said, regaining his composure quickly.

"After trawling through their servers, I was able to find references to an underwater base, located on the surface of the planet way below the ocean's surface. Hidden from the tidal forces of the moons above, and protected from the crushing pressures below by the manna shield of Prespian City by being located close enough to the leg of the superstructure."

For a moment it seemed as if the Squadron Leader was a total loss for words. It seemed ridiculous, that was something even I had to admit. But Fal seemed certain, and so far her instincts hadn't managed to be wrong.

"In that case… I suppose we'll have to authorise a raiding party."

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