The courtyard descended into
chaos as Morrigan’s group took cover in the wreckage of the tower as more
guards and drones joined the fray.

Group three joined in the
battle, hurling sharpened stone blades as they scattered.

“We need to get to the blast
doors!” Morrigan called as she saw several of her people fall to the deadly
onslaught.

“No, no! This not working!”
she panicked internally.

Stop focusing on them! You
have enemy to kill, Apollyon snapped at her.

Morrigan ground her teeth
and stood up from behind cover to take a bullet to the shoulder. She let out a
hiss through her teeth and sent a spectral claw through the chest of the
offending guard.

An idea sparked in her head
as she used the range of her spectral claws to pull the bodies of the fallen guards
towards the shattered tower so her people could arm themselves.

Xol crushed a guard with his
hammer who tried climbing over the rubble to assault the covered prisoners. He
barked an order in the Marmuro’k language and Yekku and Qiote both squawked in response
before leaping over the stone barrier.

“What are you doing?!”
Morrigan demanded in shock only for him to point in the S’randins’ direction.

She peered over and watched
both of them weave in and out of gunfire as the closes the gap with long stone
blades at the ready. She had never known the S’randin could move so fast.

A burst of darkness expanded
in front of the prisoners to shield them as one of the Eskarii released their
magic. While another vanished from sight as the light bent around them.

Morrigan was astonished by
the strange abilities the Eskarii possessed yet was thankful their magic could
be useful in the fight.

A ball of molten plasma
splashed near Morrigan’s face which forced her to duck. She realized it came
from the guard who wielded the strange gun she saw not too long ago as she
stole a peek over her cover.

She watched as an icy knife
impale the weapon like an arrow, and the weapon explode in the guard’s hands in
a volatile burst of shrapnel and plasma, nearly vaporizing the guard.

Nora cheered wildly as she
stood atop of the tower sending blasts of cold into the mix as well as blades
of hardened ice.

Morrigan used a spectral claw
to pull the woman off the top of the fallen tower. Nora crashed into Morrigan’s
lap with a wild laugh, “this is so much fun!”

Morrigan shook her head,
“you’re mad! We need to end this and get to the dock!” she said over the gunfire.

Nora pointed upwards pulling
Morrigan’s attention. She watched as a small personal starship was streaking
away from the planet.

Morrigan cursed the Warden,
“that fucking coward, leave it to him to run!”

She did notice the gunfire
was slowing down though. She looked over the cover to find only a handful of
guards were left as they tried to retreat to the closed blast door.

“Forward!” She cried out,
seizing the opportunity as she vaulted the cover.

She pushed energy into her
legs that carried her across the field in surprising speed. She tore into the
back of a guard she caught up to with crimson claws and cut the legs off
another with a crimson blade.

By the time the invisible
Eskarii finished off the last guard, the entirety of Mine 4 was on the surface
crying and cheering in triumph.

She was exhausted despite
having more to do as she studied the control panel for the blast door. She
swore to herself as she realized it was password locked.

“Should’ve kept one of the
guards alive…” she murmured to herself.

No worries, we won’t let a
door stop us, think of it as that lock in the hanger kid. Use my power, Apollyon
pointed out.

Everyone watched as Morrigan
strut in front of blast door as she determinedly listened to Apollyon.

She focused on everything
that made her angry; the Federation, the war, the little Eskarii girl who was
murdered in front of her, Tyrus, Amaranthe and Colonel Sanders who put her
there.

The galaxy was filled with
all sorts of wrong, she seethed with a fiery hatred for it all.

She called upon Apollyon’s
destructive power and two massive spectral clawed hands appeared on each side
of her and sent them forward to dig their crackling claws into the stone at the
base of the door.

Metal groaned as she pushed
harder to lift the gate, physically straining in the effort as the gate
resisted her power’s strength. Xol watched as blood began to leak from her nose
and barked a loud order.

Xol and Hî’tet rushed to the
door and gripped the base of the door that was barely available in an effort to
help their leader. Soon, prisoners followed suit and piled against the door
trying to assist in prying it open.

Morrigan cried out as something
sheared and snapped with a thunderous crack as the resistance broke free, the
large, thick metal gate slamming into the recess it fed into.

Her prisoners cheered again
as her energy faded and she stumbled, disoriented. Luckily, Nora was next to
her to catch her.

“I got you precious, I…
Xol!” Nora said in panic when she saw the blood that had trickled from her
nose.

“Fine… I’m fine,” she said
weakly as her focus ebbed in and out.

Xol rushed over as the
prisoners swarmed into the hallway like locusts.

“I don’t know what’s wrong!
I think she used too much of her power,” Nora exclaimed as a tear streamed down
her cheek. Morrigan unsteadily reached up to touch the woman’s cheek, haphazardly
wiping the tear away.

“I'll…be okay,” Morrigan
huffed in exhaustion.

Xol gently scooped Morrigan
from Nora’s arms and cradled her like a child. His warmth was soothing to her
aching muscles. “Rrrest,” he demanded deeply as her head lulled side to side.

Nora stood and grabbed ahold
of Morrigan's hand, “we got the rest sweetie, you’ve done enough. Looks like
its my turn to play guardian,” her voice still upset, looking up at Xol.

He gave her a respectful nod
as he turned to the hall letting Nora go first.

They did not make it far
before Yekku sprinted into the hall squawking animatedly.

Morrigan did her best to
refocus her blurring vision and bobbed her head against Xol’s chest. “What did
he say…”

Xol rumbled in a groan, “no
kêşti,” he gruffed.

Even in her delirious state,
she knew that it meant there were no ships. “Right… go right, to the control…”
she ordered, lacking the energy to finish the sentence.

Xol did as she asked without
question. They watched as the prisoners ransacked every room the passed. A
brief sound of gunfire rang out which made Xol curl her against him
defensively. She put a hand on his chest though, “turrets, in the Warden’s
office.”

He huffed in irritation but
held her more loosely so she could be more comfortable as she watched the
carnage her prisoners wrought.

They entered the control
center to find dead guards on the floor, though the rest of the room was left
untouched by the prisoners who assaulted it, knowing the room was part of her
plans.

Nora directed Xol to the
main console and eyed it suspiciously. After a moment of studying the controls,
she turned to Morrigan in Xol’s arms. “This shit is too advanced for me, unless
you know how to operate it?” she inquired.

Morrigan looked over Xol’s arm
then shook her head, “find… someone has to be ex-communications,” she forced
out tiredly.

Nora pieced together what
she was trying to say and rushed towards the door. Two inmates were walking by
when she shouted at them. “Hey! Find me someone who knows communication systems,
ask around,” she ordered.

Morrigan dozed off for a
half hour before she woke up to a prisoner announcing his job complete, “I
rewired the system and bypassed the safety controls to broadcast across every
open channel in the system ma’am.”

She gave him a sleepy nod as
she tapped Xol’s arm, “set me down.”

Even though he sneered a
fanged protest, he did not argue as he gently set her down and supported her
until she could get her feet under her.

As she held herself up
against the control panel, she turned to the prisoner and nodded. “Start
broadcasting.”

ΩΩΩ

It was late when Helen
stepped out of the sound proof office to the sound of sobbing. She frowned and
followed the sound cautiously, believing she had been the last person in Yuma’s
office to finish up work.

It came from one of the empty
offices in the building as she heard it prominently though the door. Inside the
room, she found the noise to be a curled up Mo’Emori hidden in the corner
behind stacked boxes.

“Sweetie, why are you
crying?” Helen asked softly as she moved through the room.

Mo’Emori looked up with red,
tear-filled eyes at her pseudo-mother sniffling. “Mem…” she said before
shuffling to jump into Helen’s arms.

Mo’Emori cried harder as
Helen held her tightly, “what's wrong sweetie?”

The alien girl shook her
head and buried her face in her chest, “my brawder…” she cried.

Helen furrowed her brows in
confusion, “Torvil left with Jen a few hours ago hun…”

Mo’Emori pulled back and
shook her head, “No Mem… my brawder Cheronn… he was… he was killed on a mission!”
she forced out in tears before Helen pulled her tightly against her immediately.

Helen felt for the girl
though she had never met any of her other siblings. Losing a family member is
always hard for a human, she could only imagine how it affected an emotionally
charged species like the Eskarii. “I’m so sorry sweetie,” she whispered as she
kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back trying to soothe the upset
Eskarii girl.

She let the girl cry against
her until she heard both of their phones ding repeatedly with high priority
alerts.

Without moving her she dug
into her pocket and pulled the phone out to see a plain message from the CoU
central command.

All that the message
said was “Broadcast Received at 2200 hrs.'”, with an attached video.

“What the hell?” Helen asked
herself which drew Mo’Emori’s attention. She reached up and pulled the phone
down to see for herself as she forcibly stifled her crying.

Mo’Emori touched the video
and nearly choked on her gasp at what she saw. “Mori!?” she exclaimed.

Helen looked down at the
video in astonished shock, autonomously turning the volume up quickly.

The disheveled visage of
Morrigan was frozen in place. Her eyes were hollow and her face was covered in
blood, part of her messy hair sticking to her cheek. A savage depiction of
survival that broke both women’s’ hearts.

Helen’s hand trembled as she
held the phone for both of them to see as her thumb tentative hovered over the
play button.

“My name… is Morrigan Emery
Clarke. Sold as a slave by the Federation to the Viridian mining prison on
Castile V, I have led a rebellion against our master, the Warden, who has
escaped retribution like the coward he is… I am in control now. I will
relinquish your precious Viridian once I am brought Lieutenant Colonel Amaranthe
and Colonel Sanders of the Federation military… the sick bastards who put me
here. We have taken control of the anti-starship batteries, so… let’s not try
anything stupid. Once I have their blood on my hands the Viridian shall be
yours once again…”

Helen and Mo’Emori watched
as the video cut out in stunned silence. “Oh Mori…” Mo’Emori mumbled sullenly
as grief began tearing through her at the woman she saw.

“We need to get her,” Helen
said angrily with determination as she got up and stormed out of the room.

Mo’Emori blinked and wiped
her eyes before getting up and following.

She walked back into their
private office to see Helen already typing away on her laptop furiously as she had
her phone wedged between her shoulder and ear.

“I’ll have Torvil get ahold
of the Sybrydian,” Mo’Emori said pointedly as she opened her own computer, her
determination slowly matching Helen’s as she called Torvil.

“What is it my chwaeda?”
Torvil asked as he picked up. Always straight to the point.

“We found her. Mori, we
found her!” Mo’Emori said sharply.

“Really? Are you sure? Where
is the young Swyn’wyr?” Torvil fired off. She could hear Jen in the background questioning
their conversation.

She finished sending the
video file that was sent to her own phone before going back to fill out a slew
of correspondences and requests for action.

“I sent you the video. We
need the Sybrydian Torvil. Strike teams, extraction teams, make them send the Serencledd
if we have to! Do it now brawder!” she scolded him, her manic energy shifting out
of sadness and into furious, hope-filled panic.

She didn’t let Torvil reply
as she hung up so she and Helen could focus on coordinating CoU efforts into
rescuing Morrigan.

“We’ll get her Mem, we will
get our Mori back,” she stated aloud as she took a different route of Intel
distribution.

Helen dropped her own phone
on the desk, “I know sweetie! Let’s make sure we do…”

ΩΩΩ

The phone rang repeatedly as
Theodore Sanders stirred.

He looked at the caller ID
and sighed, “You have better have a damn good reason for calling me at this
hour,” he groaned angrily.

“I take it you haven’t seen
the news,” Amaranthe mused.

Sanders looked around
confused, “what in blazes are you talking about?”

Amaranthe sighed, “it seems
the girl you dropped into Castile V has a stronger spirit than you expected.
She’s taken over the mine.”

“The Clarke girl? Well shit…
just send a team there to put her down.”

“I’m afraid it's not that
simple. It seems she has implicated the Federation of slavery in a wide spread broadcast.
She's demanding we go to the mines and face her,” Amaranthe explained.

“So what? She’s just
a girl. No one’s going to believe her,” Sanders scoffed.

“I tried to warn you about
the girl. People are up in arms about the implications now. Take a look outside
your window.”

Sanders sighed angrily and
got up opening his curtains to a quiet D.C. city street. “I don’t see shit Amaranthe!”

There was a sound of glass
cracking as a bullet pierced the window. Sanders strained his breath as he
looked down at the blood pooling against is sleep shirt before collapsing to
the ground.

“Old men and their ignorance
have always been unhealthy for our glorious Federation. I warned you the girl
was dangerous, now it seems like I must pick up the pieces and fix this mess,
shame you won’t see the glory I will lead the Federation into,” Amaranthe said
in amused pride as he hung up.

All around the globe he had Black
Ops agents stationed for this moment to assassinate every ranking official and
diplomat. One by one Amaranthe received a notification every second like a
symphony of death that moved him closer and closer to the top of the
Federation.

ΩΩΩ

Morrigan was able to rest
after sending out the broadcast as she curled up with Nora in the control
center.

Nora watched her sleep as
she gently ran her fingernails through her hair with a smile.

There was a flash on the
overhead screen that zoomed in on a ship that snapped into proximity of the
planet. The ship was massive with dark gothic architecture though the control
center’s computer did not pull up any information on it.

Morrigan stirred as Nora
shook her awake, “it’s show time darling.”

She looked up at the monitor
as the proximity alarms went off, studying the massive battleship as a smaller
ship soared towards the docks on a different monitor.

“Don’t think that’s a
Federation ship,” she growled as she got up, “I swear I will shoot that ship
out of the sky.”

She rubbed her eyes as she
forced herself to look livelier. She had seen Federation starships before in
historical texts however, she tried not to assume. It wouldn’t be surprising if
they had off pattern ships roaming the galaxy.

“It’s definitely not a
pirate ship. Way too clean and well built,” Nora noted. “Guess we should greet
them and see if this is what we’re hoping for.”

Morrigan nodded and made for
the door. Xol standing alert as he watched her go to leave. They made their way
to the dock and waited within the transfer area. It was just Morrigan, Nora and
Xol as a greeting party, not risking trigger happy prisoners within the solid
glass transfer area she once walked through.

They watched as an
impressively large drop ship docked against the gate with expert mobility. The
rotating yellow lights flashing as the air pressurized in the dock lock. Xol
twitched in a predatory manner as he held his hammer at the ready, the large
stone hammer head at the ready to use as a shield in front of Morrigan.

Nora however, remained
casual and calm as she picked at the dirt underneath her nails as the dock door
started to lift.

As soon as the door lifted
high enough, two waves of soldiers clad in black armor with red and silver
trim, half of them carrying large riot shields as they made a phalanx wall on
their side of the transfer area.

Morrigan flashed her crimson
claws, her skeletal wings flaring as her anger peaked drastically.

“If they came for a fight,
I’ll bring them death!” She roared internally.

I’m as proud of you as I
could possibly be little reaper, but let’s just give this a minute though, Apollyon
observed.

She growled in irritation,
her face twisting in anger as Nora and Xol stepped forward at the approach of heavy-footed
boots. Nora even had her icy daggers out now.

The soldiers spread
far enough apart without taking their weapons off of the deadly trio. Who
stepped through the phalanx was an older man in his mid 60s dressed in a long
black hard leather trench coat lined with gold filigree and wide brim hat that
hid most of his features. Amongst the subtle ornate details of his uniform was
a badge depicting a winged skull with a vertical sword behind it, a monocle in
one of the eyes of the skull as it sat upon a red banner.

“It’s good to finally meet
you face to face Ms. Clarke,” the man said. His voice was pleasant and easy
going, enough to stagger her anger with a touch of diffused confusion.

“That all depends on whether
you brought me those two bastards or not, who are you?” she growled out.

He smiled in a way that
showed his amusement but also told her he was not what she was hoping for.

“My name is Gregor Solomon,
I am the Lord Inquisitor of the Inquisition. Though I am disappointed to tell
you I don’t have either of those men in my custody,” he said in a cocky tone.

“What?” both Nora and Morrigan
asked simultaneously. Though, Nora seemed have more of a clue of who the man
was.

“To which part my dear? What
is the Inquisition? Or was that a exclamation to my lack of upper echelon of
the Federation in my company?” he mused.

“The Inquisition… you're the
galactic police designed by the supposed Lord Inquisitor.. backed by both the
CoU and the Eskarii government and given the power to do just about anything, a
haunting myth to the pirate groups…” Nora rattled off in shock and confusion.

Solomon nodded with an
impressed expression as he took off his hat, revealing his bald head that was
highlighted by his thin grey beard. “That is the gist, though I am only the
founder of the Inquisition, it was only with the CoU and the help of the
Eskarii people I was able to establish a system that better serves the galaxy,”
he noted proudly.

Morrigan bared her teeth angrily
at the idea of police, “I will not go back in there!” she spat as she took a
step forward and unleashed her energy in the form of her iconic spectral claw.

A bright blue bubble
apparated between Solomon and the spectral claw that crashed into the blue
energy shield, Solomon unflinching and stoic.

Oh shit! Yeah… we’re boned…

Morrigan stepped back in
surprise, “how the… mage!” she growled angrily.

“That was impressive Ms.
Clarke, I must say it’s been a long time since someone almost broke through my shield…
we are not enemies though,” he noted in amusement as he took a step forward, causing
all three of them to flinch before Xol took a step forward getting closer to
blocking Morrigan with a low warning hiss.

Solomon stopped and eyed the
Kêzi’kân before him then looked between him and Morrigan connecting invisible
dots. “There is no need to worry, I'm not here to arrest any of you, or even
harm anyone. I actually come with a proposition that may serve everyone better,
including our galaxy,” he stated with a calm smile, unaffected by Xol’s threatening
demeanor.

“What offer?” Morrigan
asked, angry as she was that the interaction was not playing out how she
wanted, her curiosity was as high as ever.

He smiled in grandfatherly
respect, “I’ve read your file the CoU has on you. One your mother submitted
while she had put the word out to look for you throughout the CoU…”

“My mother!? What have you
done with her!?” she hissed as the skeletal wings from her back flared brightly
into existence.

He chuckled which brought
out more aggravation from her, “Helen Clarke is alive and well I assure you. She
defected to the CoU months after your incarceration in this… place,” he stated
with a hint of distaste for Castile V. “From what I have heard, she escaped the
Federation with the help of friends. A… well per the Federation, a treasonous
terrorist by the name of Jennifer Simmons, and an Eskarii named Torvil, it
seems they had help from his sister who works for the CoU.”

Reality smacked Morrigan in
the face as her energy faded, her face baring her surprise and disbelief as her
anger dissolved.

“Torvil’s alive?!” she gasped
in surprise as a happy sadness started to take over, her mind reeling from the
revelation about her family and friends.

Nora noticed the swift
change in Morrigan and released her own energy to move closer and place her
hand affectionately on Morrigan’s arm.

“Precious?”

Well, this is interesting, I
say we hear the old geezer out. May end up being a better deal than you think, Apollyon
chirped curiously.

“What’s your offer?”
Morrigan barked with mixed emotions as she took a step forward, placing a hand
on Xol’s arm letting him know to stand down.

Xol huffed in an animalistic
way as he shifted his hammer upright and planted the handle against the deck of
the floor, standing stoically at the ready as he scrutinized Solomon.

Solomon smiled carefully as
he stepped closer leaving a five-foot space in order not to earn the ire of
either mage woman or the Kêzi’kân who clearly wanted to tear him in half. He
waved his hand up, “stand down,” he said calmly, ordering his men to relax
which surprised the trio even more.

“As I mentioned before, I
read your file, your hatred for the Federation is an admirable quality as is
your feelings about the Eskarii and Saurian. Though, we may police everybody,
even the CoU who funds us directly, our primary function serves as protecting
everyone from the Federation,” he hammered out smoothly.

“Marmuro’k,” Morrigan said
with loose ire.

“Excuse me?”

She huffed and folded her
arms, “the Saurian race is really called Marmuro’k. They actually do not like
the name we gave them…”

Solomon smiled, “see, this
is precisely why I came to meet with you. I can see great potential in you dear
girl, you’ve even made a connection to the… Marmuro’k, which is unfounded for a
Terran. You’ve also proved to be a very unique mage which has only been hearsay
until a moment ago. We can train you to control your powers, give you knowledge
and the tools to both survive and do some real good for our galaxy… you may
even be able to get some revenge against the disgraceful Federation… what I'm
saying is, you have the makings of a great Inquisitor, Ms. Clarke, and I’m
willing to put my faith behind you to see you rise up to greatness instead of
being a single girl with a notion of vengeance.”

Well, I’ll be, aside from
the bullshit about training you, that’s a pretty good deal! Apollyon said in
surprise.

Morrigan twitched as her
emotions fought in her heart, wincing as her head began to hurt. She wanted her
vengeance so badly however, the old man before her was giving her an alternate
option, one that would require an unknown amount of sacrifice which may never
give her what she wanted, yet she may even be able to return to Earth and rejoin
her family.

Nora stepped up next to her
and placed her hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t know about you
precious, but this sounds like an awesome deal, almost too good to be true…”
she eyed the man who smiled and gave her a respectful nod.

“But, if he’s willing to
house us and feed us while letting us fuck with the Federation? I think that’s
a pretty solid deal. Besides, I’m sure if he tried double crossing us you’d
make him regret it,” she finished with a sweet giggle.

Nora’s touch helped clear
her mind as her words made her smile. She had Nora’s vote so she turned and
looked up at Xol, “what about you? What are your thoughts?”

Xol looked down at her with
his reptilian gaze before staring down Solomon again, “ez qêketî Mirina Sor,”
he rumbled stoically in a challenge.

Morrigan’s eyes went wide at
the blind devotion Xol displayed but couldn’t help snorting at the omission of
an answer.

She smiled before she turned
her attention back to Solomon, the smile fading from her face, “what of the
others? We have hundreds of prisoners who followed my rebellion…and 41 other
mines filled with prisoners.”

Solomon hummed at that fact,
thinking quickly, “we can take those who followed you, but I’m afraid we are
running out of time. My ship may be a formidable force however, if the Federation
shows up in full force, I’m afraid we would suffer if we tried emptying out
this… prison,”

Nora gasped at that, “You’d
take a bunch of prisoners?”

He chuckled at that
question, “well, we will screen everyone we can take. I’m certain most of those
who inhabit this place do not belong here, and those who do not wish to join
the Inquisition may be given the opportunity to go home or search for their own
life. How many prisoners are available right this moment?”

Nora looked at Morrigan
sadly, “319…we were hit harder than we initially thought.”

Morrigan’s filled with
heartache at the though of losing nearly 100 inmates who followed her into
battle. She knew deep down it was inevitable but that did not take the pain
away.

Solomon gave out an order to
bring down more ships, enough to take the bulk of her prisoners without even
consulting her. He was determined to leave with them whether she accepted his offer
or not.

“I just have one question…”
she said, feeling the looming question she had been wondering since she came to
Castile V.

“What’s that Ms. Clarke?”

She chewed her lip as she
looked up into his eyes, “how long… how long have I been here?”

He sighed in resignation as
he watched her expression change from pained sadness to a sadness filled with
worry of the answer, “I can’t say for certain… but from the reports I received
from the CoU, your mother has been searching for you for at least two years…”

“Two…years?” she gasped as
her knees gave out, tears streamed down her cheeks as Nora caught her in her
arms.

Solomon gave the poor girl a
moment for reality to sink in and recollect herself, but with time running
short, he requested they get a move on.

Morrigan pushed through her
emotional torrent and addressed the prisoners who followed her, explaining the
offer the Lord Inquisitor had given.

Only a handful of prisoners
turned down the opportunity to leave with them. They opted to try their luck
with the next visitors who showed up.

It hurt Morrigan to leave
anyone behind, but she understood the dangers that came with sticking around,
it was a bittersweet victory for her, so much had happened in the two years she
had been imprisoned; heartbreak, psychological torture, friendships gained and
lost, as well as losing two whole years of her life to the machinations of the
Federation. She was respectively free now though as the initial dropship took
them towards the colossal battleship looming above Castile V.