them forward. Karen took off
running, with him following a step behind.
“I don’t like you that much,” Kara said as they
passed, with their conversation coming to an end. They could have continued it
telepathically and she could have ran with them, but there was really nothing
else to say at this point…plus she could feel them accelerate and start to
hammer the last section of their workout, and there was no reason to go with
them and show just how slow that actually was compared to her skill level.
Once they were gone Kara jumped up into the trees,
with her Vorch’nas spreading out to cover her body as she zipped up through the
leaves and into the sky again, keeping pace and following the pair from above
given that she didn’t have anything else to do. They were the only reason she’d
come down to the planet in the first place, and it wasn’t going to take all
that long for them to work their way across a few kilometers of jungle, no
matter how twisty these trails were.
Her Vorch’nas had more than enough power to let her
just linger in the air, lazily following from above but out of their sight. She
even went so far as to engage her Kgat ability, which was essentially a
cloaking mechanism for her mind. She couldn’t use any of her other psionics
with it active, but it essentially took her off everyone’s mental radar, with
their Ikrid unable to penetrate or even detect her shield. Likewise she
couldn’t sense them, but it made for a very useful trick for sneaking up on
people who didn’t already have their Pefbar active.
She didn’t want the twins knowing she was pacing them,
but she kept watch on them and the few others on the trails below with her
armor’s sensors, which she attuned for a narrow scan on their pair of heat
signatures, giving her more data and allowed her to ‘see’ them through the
trees. Kara could tell from their movements that they were excited, which was
another reason why she didn’t want them to know she was watching.
They pushed hard all the way back to the city, which
was when Kara left them for a bit after making mental contact and arranging a
rendezvous point. They were there with some half-full duffels slung over their
shoulders exactly 27 minutes and 13 seconds after they entered the city, which
was about 18 minutes faster than she’d expected. Though she was sure they
weren’t going to say anything, Kara knew they were aware of the gravity of the
invite she’d just extended to them.
“Took you long enough,” Kara quipped sarcastically as
she turned and walked ahead of them down the connecting tunnel to a tram
station that led to the spaceport where her dropship was waiting…or rather the
dropship that she’d arranged to have waiting, for she’d just hopped out an
airlock in orbit and came down to the planet in her armor. That was one bit of
freedom she relished, and was more than grateful that the dragon had been
arrogant enough to slap the Vorch’nas on her wrist without asking permission
first, which at the time she would have flatly denied.
“What are we going to be doing?” Karen asked after
they got situated in the dropship, with Kara sitting back in one of the seats
with her feet up on the headrest of the one ahead of her, with no one else
onboard save for the pilot.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing, and I’ll defer
to Morgan’s preference when I get there, but I expect that you two can assume a
lot of ground work after the orbital battle is completed…unless you think you
can find a gunner with lesser skills to boot.”
“The general information we got didn’t say much beyond
we’re taking back the old Calavari capitol,” Travis added. “I’m guessing your
closed files said a bit more.”
“Did you see the reconnaissance reports?”
“No,” Karen answered for them.
“Whether out of pride, spite, or some logistical
concern, the lizards have built up Varasiss more than the other former Calavari
conquests. A lot more.
running, with him following a step behind.
“I don’t like you that much,” Kara said as they
passed, with their conversation coming to an end. They could have continued it
telepathically and she could have ran with them, but there was really nothing
else to say at this point…plus she could feel them accelerate and start to
hammer the last section of their workout, and there was no reason to go with
them and show just how slow that actually was compared to her skill level.
Once they were gone Kara jumped up into the trees,
with her Vorch’nas spreading out to cover her body as she zipped up through the
leaves and into the sky again, keeping pace and following the pair from above
given that she didn’t have anything else to do. They were the only reason she’d
come down to the planet in the first place, and it wasn’t going to take all
that long for them to work their way across a few kilometers of jungle, no
matter how twisty these trails were.
Her Vorch’nas had more than enough power to let her
just linger in the air, lazily following from above but out of their sight. She
even went so far as to engage her Kgat ability, which was essentially a
cloaking mechanism for her mind. She couldn’t use any of her other psionics
with it active, but it essentially took her off everyone’s mental radar, with
their Ikrid unable to penetrate or even detect her shield. Likewise she
couldn’t sense them, but it made for a very useful trick for sneaking up on
people who didn’t already have their Pefbar active.
She didn’t want the twins knowing she was pacing them,
but she kept watch on them and the few others on the trails below with her
armor’s sensors, which she attuned for a narrow scan on their pair of heat
signatures, giving her more data and allowed her to ‘see’ them through the
trees. Kara could tell from their movements that they were excited, which was
another reason why she didn’t want them to know she was watching.
They pushed hard all the way back to the city, which
was when Kara left them for a bit after making mental contact and arranging a
rendezvous point. They were there with some half-full duffels slung over their
shoulders exactly 27 minutes and 13 seconds after they entered the city, which
was about 18 minutes faster than she’d expected. Though she was sure they
weren’t going to say anything, Kara knew they were aware of the gravity of the
invite she’d just extended to them.
“Took you long enough,” Kara quipped sarcastically as
she turned and walked ahead of them down the connecting tunnel to a tram
station that led to the spaceport where her dropship was waiting…or rather the
dropship that she’d arranged to have waiting, for she’d just hopped out an
airlock in orbit and came down to the planet in her armor. That was one bit of
freedom she relished, and was more than grateful that the dragon had been
arrogant enough to slap the Vorch’nas on her wrist without asking permission
first, which at the time she would have flatly denied.
“What are we going to be doing?” Karen asked after
they got situated in the dropship, with Kara sitting back in one of the seats
with her feet up on the headrest of the one ahead of her, with no one else
onboard save for the pilot.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing, and I’ll defer
to Morgan’s preference when I get there, but I expect that you two can assume a
lot of ground work after the orbital battle is completed…unless you think you
can find a gunner with lesser skills to boot.”
“The general information we got didn’t say much beyond
we’re taking back the old Calavari capitol,” Travis added. “I’m guessing your
closed files said a bit more.”
“Did you see the reconnaissance reports?”
“No,” Karen answered for them.
“Whether out of pride, spite, or some logistical
concern, the lizards have built up Varasiss more than the other former Calavari
conquests. A lot more.
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