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A Friend among Draconians

While the parasite was, at first, still contained within the basement, it oozed up out of the sewer, owing to its liquid-like form that quickly engulfed some colonists and slaves to become their host, and it was a very dangerous action because the slaves it took were Scyllas, and owing to how strong Scyllas were, it would be disastrous if they attacked so many people at once.

Knowing that this was a colony disaster, Amhyr opened his holo-comm and set the connection to his base, the Federation.

"Agent Amhyr Rithola, code A568H, requesting direct line to my superior."

There was a brief silence before Amhyr's superior's image, a fellow draconian, appeared on the hologram.

"Amhyr? Is there something to report? Have you found the fugitive Areolian?"

"He's dead, Herthal."

"Dead? Did you kill him?"

"I don't, but Dairyu Tsukasa apparently did it."

Herthal put his hand to his scaly face, and said, "Amhyr...why is that Warrior in Alain?"

"He was apparently drawn by a bounty list, but that's not the problem here. In fact, if he's not here, I don't know if I can report this or not."

"What is going on there, Amhyr?"

"There is...an attack by the black parasite that devastated Pascoforta. I don't know what I should do in this position, but send anything you can spare to save as many colonists as possible."

"And abandon one of the biggest intergalactic revenue in that sector? Amhyr, you know I can't do that."

"You know how this place looks like, Herthal! If nothing is going to be done, there will be more casualties than what we can save!"

"If your report is right, Amhyr, that there's a big slave trade in Alain, then we can't risk having those slavers, and worse, their slaves, to wander around freely across the galaxy. All the missing aliens we catalogued since your first report turns out to be fugitives and other degenerates who wouldn't be missed. If we let them wander free, then there will be no other chance to find them in one place and--

"So you're declaring an execution to all of them?! You know better, Herthal!"

"Then do what you have to do, Amhyr. I'm not risking Federation armies and a big movement of troops to your position. You know the other reason, my friend."

The hologram abruptly shut down, and Amhyr was struck with indecision whether to follow his heart or not. Herthal was right. While the selfish action would help save many aliens in the planet, on the risk that many slaves will resume their criminal activities, it would mean breaking the intergalactic truce. The Terrans were in the middle of a 'galactic scale probation' that prohibited the deployment of a big army and development of weapons of mass destruction unless approved by the galactic Federation, which was the same with the other alien civilizations. The draconian was aware that the reason of this peace was because of the same infamous black Oriental draconian who became a bounty hunter, not a hero as he supposed to be.

Clearing his thoughts from a terrible past, Amhyr tried to find a way to warn the colonists (and slavers) of the real danger. The black parasite had started to cause more chaos than the riots, and at this point the draconian knew someone must keep everything in order.

Trying to find a mass broadcasting system (which was a norm since the war and it's illegal not to have one), Amhyr stumbled upon both Dairyu and Let, running by the crowd, while both Capisa and Atho were running towards the port, which was their ship. He had to make a choice on who to follow, and somehow, he went to both Dairyu and Let.

He flew over the crowd high enough so they couldn't reach any of his dangling limbs. When he was over Dairyu, he shouted, "Tsukasa, go to the broadcast station!"

"We aren't going to that place, Rithola!"

The reply was suprising enough for the draconian, to the point he said, "Are you trying to abandon this whole colony?!"

"Tell that to the rest of my crewmates! I'm doing something only Let can do. Just land, will you?"

Amhyr then did what the Orient said.

"The broadcast would only deal more damage than making it right, except if you are someone important or a local hero," said Dairyu. "Yet, there's something that we can do to save these colonists without destroying the planet."

"How do you propose to do that?"

"The parasites are activated by some kind of a signal emitting from somewhere in this colony. If we can get hold on that transmitter, the parasites will become passive and we can trace the signal back to its source."

"Did you say, some kind of a signal? Then that's far easier than trying to find a broadcast tower."

Amhyr then pulled out a small object, around the size of his hand, and turned it on. It quickly made a beeping sound towards their right. Amhyr then said, "As an agent, I have access to some gadgets helpful for my missions. In this case, I have this signal detector, where I can find foreign signals and decipher it. Unfortunately, this thing won't allow me to jam it, since that's not my mission here...until you came along."

"We can talk about it later. Right now, we must stop that signal before more of them come."

Trying to get through many of the aliens blocking their paths, both Let and Dairyu were desperate to get to the signal, especially Let, since he was the only one that had the knowledge to disarm it. Amhyr, on the other hand, had reached the place first, where it was full of the black creatures. Amhyr quickly drew his gun and shot at them. Surprisingly, it was far more effective than standard Issue laser gun, which prompted Amhyr to say, "You ain't got no burn marks, you got a bullet in your head."

Without waiting for any reinforcements, he quickly broke the door open and found the beacon inside. Just as he thought, for safety measures, the main conduit was behind a force-field since the beacon was running on an outdated nuclear system that had a high potential leak.

Approximately two minutes later both Let and Dairyu reached the building, and both also see the force-field. The two draconians quickly turn to Let, to which he said, "Do you have any reasons why you don't want to turn down the force-field by simply pulling some plugs?"

"Ehrmm...nuclear reactor?"

Let made a sigh. He walked towards a power conduit and said, "I don't know much about your physiology, but if you can't stand any radiation I suggest you get out of here."

"But how about you?"

Let made a smile on his Scylla dragon face. "Scyllas are born with radiation in mind. This building is radiation-insulant, so get out, now."

Both draconians reluctantly left him and closed the door behind them. Amhyr was concerned if Let was trying to be a bravado, but Dairyu put one of his hands to his shoulders and said, "Right now, the fate of this planet lies on the hands of a Scylla."

But just some seconds after he said that, the black creatures that were ravaging the colony suddenly went idle, before dispersing into black fluids. This surprised both of them, and came surprised with the fact that the door behind them was opened. They became panicked, since it would leak the radiation outside and poison aliens with no toleration to radiation at all. Instead, what they saw was Let making a smile while behind him, a force-field was erected.

"W-what the...there's no radiation. How did you...?"

"Relax, Amhyr Rithola. The whole building is a decontamination chamber that suddenly went off after I pulled the plugs. It's an easy task, which raised a question. What kind of a dahkr put a door outside without a decontamination chamber?"

"That might be a question we can ask later, but right now...maybe we can rest a while after those ordeal," said Amhyr. "Damn...months of tracking this Areolian and I come back empty-handed."

"At least you can tell your superiors that he's dead and this whole slave trade is stopped only because of the release of the bracelets. Let the Federation clean up the mess. I have some credits to claim."

Dairyu quickly ran towards the building where Amhyr used to work, with the Western Draconian making a sigh and said, "He still give a shit about his bounty?"

"I can say that he's desperate for a money," said Let.

"So, what's your plan, then, Renziletis?" asked Amhyr while they both walked towards the port. "We finished liberating the whole slave, and now you're a free Scylla. Have something in mind, like, returning to your home planet?"

"I wish I can, but...as you can see, I am a former slave, and they are not ready for their Kaf'rak to return in such a disgrace."

"Hmm...I never knew you have that kind of honor. The Scyllas I knew worked as bodyguards and bouncers, they became a harassment to many aliens for being too violent. Not to offend you, Let."

"Those Scyllas can have no honor with the civil war my planet is facing. They need a worthy Kaf'rak, not a half-machine Endragas former slave."

"I'm sorry but what is a 'Kaf'rak'?"

Let somehow stopped and turned towards Amhyr, which made the Terran uncomfortable. But he growled and said, "Kaf'rak is 'crown prince', or 'Chieftain'."

This answer caused Amhyr to exclaimed "What?!" in which the Scylla nodded. He was aghast for a moment, before saying, "You're not supposed to be the missing Kaamoreta leader that went missing 3 years ago, right?"

"I'm surprised you even know any news from my planet. Yes, I haven't formally introduce myself to you yet. You know my name as Renziletis, but I'm Renziletis Kaamoreta the Third."

"O-Oh my ancestors...I'm so honored to be in the presence of an important alien! Even if you're a chieftain, but that is equivalent to world leader!"

"I am not worthy to get the title, but if you must, just don't let anyone except you and Dairyu's crew to know that I'm the missing crown prince, if that's what you say in your language. Feel free to tell them, but not the other aliens. And, as a friend, just call me Let."

"T-thanks, but...why did you say..."

"I am planning to join up Tsukasa's crew as their shipwright. I know, that seems not look too good for a chieftain, but I can't let that Draconian to go around with a broken ship. Besides, I like being inside the engine room. He looks like he needs someone to take care of his old ship."

"Are you serious?! A chieftain becoming an engineer on a derelict starship captained by a mercenary?! Talk about a disgrace!"

"Rithola, I owed him for killing that Areolian and to help me with the bracelets. It's time for me to return the favor. It's always a Scylla's custom to return favors to those saving them, if they respected the alien or fellow Scylla. Now, I'm coming to his ship. Maybe you want to come, too."

"I appreciate the offer, but I must help some of the colonists and to give my report, now that they are gone."

"Then, when our paths cross again, I'll be a friend for you."

As Let left Amhyr, he felt very conflicted. Not only did he want to say thank you to Dairyu (albeit reluctantly), but also to the fact that a Warrior as formidable as the Black Orient would give many aliens a hard time if not monitored. Yet, despite all those mixed feelings, he still needed to know that his job is still his topmost priority.

Walking towards the deserted bar where he once worked, he went behind the bar and pulled out the freezing unit, and behind it was a hidden transmitter. With the chaos and panic, no one would care if the bartender to a jazz club was actually a Terran agent.

It went on after a push of a button, where Amhyr proceeded to put his eye position level with the eye scanner. He then put one of his scaled fingers on its scanner, and then voice recognition, to which he said, "Amhyr Rithola, Dispatch number 111 Foxtrot 4, calling for immediate connection to the Federation Embassy office, Terran admin.

There was a wait of silence, before another voice came up, saying, "Is there a reason for you to disturb my works, agent Rithola?"

"Yes. I've done the work you gave me, ambassador."

"So the slave ring's busted. Nice work, agent."

"But...there's something I must tell you. On the Alain Colony...there's the black creature attack seemingly unleashed by the Areolian."

The statement made the human ambassador said, "What?! How are you able to communicate with me?"

"We helped dispersing the problem by turning off the signal controlling them. There was a spaceship over the ionosphere but it's left."

"So, you managed to deal with the situation?"

"Actually...it's Dairyu Tsukasa who did it, with some help from allies."

"But he hasn't report to me yet."

"He is salvaging the Areolian for his bounty."

The human made a sigh. "Ah, well, I did instruct him to do as he pleased as long as he takes on his main mission seriously. I can't blame him for doing that. But, agent, your knowledge to this mission is a grave mistake you've ever done with this mission...partly because of me. But then, I'll commission you a new mission. Amhyr Rithola, I understand your deep undercover mission went well and you deserve a nice break, but right now our galaxy is in crisis, and we are short on special ops since the Warriors disbanded. So, your mission, should you accept it, is to accompany Dairyu on finding out the cause of this intergalactic outbreak. Your background as a communication expert and espionage skill is well-commended.

"Take your place on Dairyu's ship to report for me or your superiors on any ways to defeat the black creatures. We will provide you the latest espionage equipment in a space station in Sector H5. You will go to a store name Gehan's Trinkets. The code is Axman. We will provide Dairyu and his ship a better upgrade. This is a live recording from my office, and it's secure, so don't worry about any information leak. I've briefed you on the next objective. I wish you luck. Your communication device will self-destruct in 5 seconds."

Amhyr promptly put the freezer unit in place, where he heard a muffled explosion. When he felt the freezer was very hot (not for a draconian), he could see that the interior was completely bent outward. The draconian made a sigh, locked the freezer, and walked away.

Now that it was official, might as well introduce myself to them, thought Amhyr. Yet, when he was barely at the door, Dairyu was lounging beside it, saying, "What's up?"

"Nothing, just...you heard everything, right?"

Dairyu made a smile. "Amhyr, Al forgot that the Azure has outdated communication devices. Are you sure you can do it, given your background."

"I wish I can. At least, until I got my things in H5. But, I don't know about my ship. I mean, it's federation-funded, and I can't leave it docked here."

"Azure was once a Federation ship," said Dairyu while walking. "If she's the same, you just need to turn on the autopilot. The ship will lock to the nearest Federation outpost coordinate and they'll keep her for you, at least, until you've finished this job. If you want it, you gotta resign."

"Like you did?"

Dairyu made a chuckle. "Everyone got their ships when the Warrior disbanded. You know, for an undercover agent, you seem to never get any of your ships off your sights. Are you sure you're up to it?"

Amhyr didn't immediately reply. For him, this was the definitive move in his career. Not only he would be promoted, he had a chance to go around the galaxy more frequently. Yet, at the same time, inside an old ship could give him a problem, and the crew Dairyu assembled seemed more of a motley crew than official.

Despite of that, his heart was ready, and with a more definitive tone, he said, "Yeah. I'll treat you for a drink when we reach H5."

"Oh, but you're not a bartender anymore, right?"

Both made a laugh as the two draconians walked towards their ships, where they were waited by the rest of the crew. Amhyr took all that he could take into the Azure, and turned on the autopilot as Dairyu instructed. As the ship flew away to the nearest outpost, he went into the Azure, and it blasted off to space, going to their next destination.