November 14, 2111
James Stone
When a storm this massive is brewing, the best way to survive it is to get the hell away from it. When Captain Wild-Heart, her squad, my squad, and I began pitching game plans, we knew we had to make a judgment call. This planet was only going to get colder and would soon be uninhabitable; so, we decided to do what any person in their right mind would do: Get the frak out of Dodge. Only, we had baggage to take care of first. Brad was put in charge of the remaining rangers, who were tasked with killing the remaining korkyran soldiers and, if they could manage, killing a warlord or two. Captain Wild-Heart, her remaining commandos, and my legionnaires had started an evacuation process. As of right now, all the living citizens of this city were being gathered and directed towards Mount Pillar. That mountain, while treacherous and dangerous to travel up, was vital to our survival. It's the only mountain peak that reaches higher than the red mist swirling in the atmosphere; simply put, it's the only way dropships can rescue our asses.
Lastly, there's me. With Mount Pillar being a few days' journey away, we had to think outside the box when it came to figuring out a way to contact the Whispering Dragon. Since none of our communication equipment could penetrate the red mist, we were fresh out of ideas on how to make contact with command. It was during that conversation I remembered the motherfraken rat who'd killed Uslar. More importantly, I remembered the technology Ghost had at his disposal. I tossed the idea into our conversations, and despite most of them thinking it was a bad one, we agreed it was our single shot at getting word to the Whispering Dragon.
So there I was, sitting in the same room where Uslar died, waiting, hoping for Ghost to show his sorry ass. I'd sent an open message through all channels in the city, instructing Ghost to come and get me at the place we'd met before. If he did show, somehow, some way I had to convince him to send out our instructional distress signal - that was, if he could even do it.
The air was still, the room hushed; the only noise was the air coming in and out of my lungs. I stared through the ravaged, shadowy room at the pool of blood - Uslar's blood. It had already begun to dry, slowly taking away the only evidence of his existence on this planet. Staring at the blood sent currents of anger through my veins. How was I going to convince Ghost to send out a signal when all I wanted to do was kill him?! For what he did, he deserved nothing less. The others tried to offer themselves up to talk to Ghost instead, but to that end, I knew he'd only come to see me.
Thump.
Ever so softly, there was a light sound behind me, as if a mouse had bumped into a wall. The sound was so soft, even a dor'o, with its cat-like hearing, would've struggled to hear it. I stood up and turned to see Ghost crouched over, with one hand touching the floor. He must have just dropped from the ceiling. He stood up and gazed at me with his unique eyes and no burn marks present.
"I can't imagine you called for a rematch," he said.
The amount of mixed feelings I had brewing inside my mind was agonizing. Staring at Ghost, I wanted to punch him square in his firm jaw and make friendly with a handshake at the same time.
Finally, I managed to put my thoughts into words. "Since our last entanglement, I've had time to fiddle around with everything that was said, and a specific moment in conversation keeps bouncing back into my thoughts--"
"Which moment?"
"The moment you asked me why I killed Steion."
"I recall."
"What I said was true, but it was only a slice of the whole truth."
"It seems, in fact, there is more to this story. Intriguing," Ghost said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes. "Look. When I was first assigned to kill Steion, it was only a mission and nothing more at the time. See, he had come out of the shadows, and the ARW wanted to jump on this rare opportunity to take a warlord off the chess board. My squad was sent, but we ran into a trap. Steion wanted us to find him, and more importantly, he wanted my captain so he could extract information from her."
"On what?"
"The location of an artifact the ARW possessed. Airra and that other warlord were successful in stealing that very same artifact from us and came to this city for another one. She came looking for my freckled ass to take this." I pulled the artifact out of my pocket.
The moment Ghost laid his eyes on it, he nearly gasped in surprise, and his eyes grew twice their size. "You must hand that to me, right now!" His sharp, demanding tone took me aback.
"Oh, no. I don't have to do jack-shivf."
Ghost paced around, annoyed. "You ignorant, un-important little man! Do you even know what that is?"
"An artifact the warlords will sacrifice an arm and leg for and the thing I'm going to keep away from their grubby hands."
"Right. The ARW lost one, and you expect me to believe you… you can protect it?!"
I cringed and shrugged awkwardly. "Uh… they have… two now."
He scoffed, "That you are aware of!"
"And what's it to you anyway?"
"Everything! That artifact in your hand is a key."
"I know that! We already figured that part out."
"Ghost, who's this muscled-up cupcake?" Another omelic man came striding through the doorway like he owned this city. He saw the key I was holding and flipped out. "Gracious mother of a jumbo-zilla! That's one of the Four Quondam Keys."
"The what?" I said.
The omelic chuckled, mocking me with his laugh and jeering smile. "You just lost a lot of style points right there. How can you hold one of the most important relics in the galaxy and not know what it is called? Wait… never mind, I don't care to hear a stupid answer at this moment."
"Turn over the hourglass for a moment. What slum did you come from?"
The omelic came up to me. "Oohhh… wow! I can feel the intensity mustering off you like a bad scent." The man took a quick look at Ghost, then back at me. "Wait, wait! Red-headed, overconfident, yet severely and tragically out of his league. I got it. You're James Stone! How are you even breathing right now? Like, you should totally be dead."
"He had help," Ghost replied.
The omelic laughed at Ghost now. "Don't tell me you lost, Ghost?! You never lose!"
"Damon Sw--"
The omelic cut off Ghost, despite his apparent annoyance. "Oh shivf! You did lose! Boy, you gotta tell me that story another time so I can tease and laugh at you. But right now, I gotta know… what's going on with Mr. Nobody here? Why aren't you stabbing him right now?"
"He has intelligence, Castle. Stop talking for a second, and we can get back to what's important."
Castle tossed up his hands. "Boy, you really know how to kill the mood sometimes. Just trying to play around with our new friend here."
"We aren't friends!" I barked at Castle.
Castle gave me a wink. "I got a feeling. Just wait a while."
Annoyed, I finally blurted out, "The keys! Can we finally get back to that? I want to know what they are!"
"Haha, the stones on this one!" Castle pointed at me, bumping Ghost with his shoulder. "Boy, you are a demanding one, aren't 'cha? What makes you think us… superior individuals, would tell a train wreck like yourself what those are? We--"
Ghost put up his hand to cut off Castle. "They are called the Four Quondam Keys and were created by the Devisors."
"Okay… and?" I replied instantly.
Ghost half-shrugged. "They were hidden away for a reason. That's all we know."
My head practically burst from anger. "That's it! You stand there, practically demanding me to give it to you, and… THAT'S IT!"
"Woo! Woo… hey now, James." Castle put up his hands to ease me down, keeping a mocking eyebrow up. "You just learned what these babies are called, and you're bitching at us?"
Ghost jumped in. "This talk is pointless. Ultimately, it means I was right about the Wersillian Legion. They're hiding information from us; more relevantly, Devisor information."
Castle stepped in. "Wait! What are they up to?"
"They have been searching and collecting those keys, Castle."
"Those conniving pieces of shivf! They went behind our backs, collecting those keys, knowing that if we found out what they were doing, our arrangements with them would turn from friendly to unfriendly in an instant. Damn, I guess it's time for a turncoat moment." Castle laughed at his own joke.
"So, what does it all mean?" I asked.
"If I knew the answer to that, I would let you know. Meanwhile, Castle, we need to round up the other knights. I think it is time we look into the Wersillian Legion, officially." Ghost glanced back at me. "James, consider that key you hold as a truce - a beacon of trust between us for the time being."
"Then it's time for us to skedaddle. Oh, and nice meeting you, James." Castle smirked at me, still taunting me.
"No! You don't get to go yet!" I shouted.
Ghost stopped in his tracks. "This is about Uslar, isn't it? That was his name, correct?"
"You're damn right, and you'd better remember that name!"
Ghost sighed. "You still want revenge. I can see it in your eyes. That and something else." He squinted. "Hmm. James, I know this isn't what you want to hear, but hear it you must: I am truly sorry for your loss. I can't bring him back, but I can offer you something else."
I ground my teeth. "Listening."
"This planet will freeze soon. I can guarantee that. I imagine you and your allies need an escape. I can offer my assistance and have my brotherhood rescue you and everyone else here. Maybe that can begin to pay the debt of Uslar's life."
I dropped my anger for the more important matter. This was the way out we needed. "Can you relay this distress beacon to my commander aboard a star cruiser called the Whispering Dragon instead?"
Castle scoffed, "What a dumb name."
"I can." Ghost took the device from my hand. Before he left, he took one more look at the key. "Take care of that for now. I will be seeing you again."
Ghost led the way out of sight, with his buddy Castle behind him. As they passed through the doorway, Castle went on about a grand entrance Ghost missed. Then they were gone.
It seemed the plan had worked, and now we must pray the Whispering Dragon will be able to follow up.