Kara knew that the pair she was after would be
alone so she didn’t bother dropping down through the trees to identify them or
use her Ikrid to get a mental fingerprint. Flying on, she passed by several
other groups and singular individuals, finding only one pair amongst them, but
when she dropped down underneath the jungle canopy she discovered it was the
wrong duo…and not even Archons at that, just a very fit couple of commandos.
Kara flew back up above the trees and searched on,
reminding herself to mentally look before heading down again on an assumption.
Eventually she found another pair 18 kilometers out and relatively isolated,
already headed back on the trail. She didn’t bother to try and get a feel for
them telepathically, breaking her own rule given that she was sure it was them
this time, and dropped down to the trail a good 600 meters ahead of them. There
she waited, arms crossed over her chest as her armor retracted back down into
the clear jewel on her left wrist.
Kara sent out a short telepathic ‘hi’ when they got
close so they wouldn’t run over her, for they were moving at decent speed and
the trail was anything but straight. She felt them slow a bit before they
rounded the thick tree trunk ahead and came into view, with Karen almost
skidding to a stop a meter and a half ahead of Travis who mimicked her sudden
deceleration.
“Where the hell did you come from?” he asked the mage.
“Nice to see you too,” she responded with a genuine
smile, looking at both of them in all their sweaty glory. In one sense they
were peers, even beyond her when you took into account their battlemeld
psionics, but in other ways they were still her two little younglings and she
was proud they’d advanced their way up to the striker ranks by now, and well
eclipsing their former classmates, most of whom were still rangers and
acolytes.
“Trouble?” Karen wondered, walking up beside Travis
and gently brushing elbows with him as they filled up the narrow trail. They
often did that, making physical contact where others would leave at least a few
inches gap, and Kara assumed it was a side effect of the battlemeld, for they
kept themselves linked together virtually round the clock in addition to their
own lesser, but unique twin link that they’d had since birth, or whenever it
had actually formed.
The honorary trailblazer shook her head. “Just passing
through enroute to Pagaliss , but I don’t have much
time, otherwise I wouldn’t have interrupted you two out here. I only got word
of the invasion a little while ago and if I don’t hurry I might miss the beginning,
and I figure that’s where I might be able to make the biggest difference.”
“More than on the ground? I doubt that,” Travis
commented.
Kara inclined her head slightly to the right, as if
she was studying him, or perhaps his stupidity. “My personal warship kill count
is now up to 87, and that includes two lizard assault pillars.”
“I thought those were sneak missions, not during
battle.”
“Which is why I want to get there before the shooting
starts,” Kara pointed out.
“At least you got an invite to the party,” Karen said,
disgruntled. Of all the Archons being rounded up for this mission from across
the ADZ, she and her brother and their unique skills had not been included in
the battle planning…nor much else over the last century aside from small missions
that usually saw them doing some sort of short term or solo work. Nothing truly
befitting their skillset.
“And now you’ve got yours,” Kara commented, seeing
both their eyebrows raise a tick, also in unison. “What, you thought I’d waste
time just to drop in and say hi?”
“Did they want us, or you?”
“I am one of ‘they,’ and you’re wasting time. Get your
asses back to the showers and get cleaned up. I want us out of this system and
on our way ASAP.”
“You could just fly us back,” Travis said as Kara
stepped aside to clear the path and motioned
alone so she didn’t bother dropping down through the trees to identify them or
use her Ikrid to get a mental fingerprint. Flying on, she passed by several
other groups and singular individuals, finding only one pair amongst them, but
when she dropped down underneath the jungle canopy she discovered it was the
wrong duo…and not even Archons at that, just a very fit couple of commandos.
Kara flew back up above the trees and searched on,
reminding herself to mentally look before heading down again on an assumption.
Eventually she found another pair 18 kilometers out and relatively isolated,
already headed back on the trail. She didn’t bother to try and get a feel for
them telepathically, breaking her own rule given that she was sure it was them
this time, and dropped down to the trail a good 600 meters ahead of them. There
she waited, arms crossed over her chest as her armor retracted back down into
the clear jewel on her left wrist.
Kara sent out a short telepathic ‘hi’ when they got
close so they wouldn’t run over her, for they were moving at decent speed and
the trail was anything but straight. She felt them slow a bit before they
rounded the thick tree trunk ahead and came into view, with Karen almost
skidding to a stop a meter and a half ahead of Travis who mimicked her sudden
deceleration.
“Where the hell did you come from?” he asked the mage.
“Nice to see you too,” she responded with a genuine
smile, looking at both of them in all their sweaty glory. In one sense they
were peers, even beyond her when you took into account their battlemeld
psionics, but in other ways they were still her two little younglings and she
was proud they’d advanced their way up to the striker ranks by now, and well
eclipsing their former classmates, most of whom were still rangers and
acolytes.
“Trouble?” Karen wondered, walking up beside Travis
and gently brushing elbows with him as they filled up the narrow trail. They
often did that, making physical contact where others would leave at least a few
inches gap, and Kara assumed it was a side effect of the battlemeld, for they
kept themselves linked together virtually round the clock in addition to their
own lesser, but unique twin link that they’d had since birth, or whenever it
had actually formed.
The honorary trailblazer shook her head. “Just passing
through enroute to Pagaliss , but I don’t have much
time, otherwise I wouldn’t have interrupted you two out here. I only got word
of the invasion a little while ago and if I don’t hurry I might miss the beginning,
and I figure that’s where I might be able to make the biggest difference.”
“More than on the ground? I doubt that,” Travis
commented.
Kara inclined her head slightly to the right, as if
she was studying him, or perhaps his stupidity. “My personal warship kill count
is now up to 87, and that includes two lizard assault pillars.”
“I thought those were sneak missions, not during
battle.”
“Which is why I want to get there before the shooting
starts,” Kara pointed out.
“At least you got an invite to the party,” Karen said,
disgruntled. Of all the Archons being rounded up for this mission from across
the ADZ, she and her brother and their unique skills had not been included in
the battle planning…nor much else over the last century aside from small missions
that usually saw them doing some sort of short term or solo work. Nothing truly
befitting their skillset.
“And now you’ve got yours,” Kara commented, seeing
both their eyebrows raise a tick, also in unison. “What, you thought I’d waste
time just to drop in and say hi?”
“Did they want us, or you?”
“I am one of ‘they,’ and you’re wasting time. Get your
asses back to the showers and get cleaned up. I want us out of this system and
on our way ASAP.”
“You could just fly us back,” Travis said as Kara
stepped aside to clear the path and motioned
Similar Books
