Chapter 7: A Prima Vista

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

A few days of training and relative tranquility passed. I was finally noticing something improving within my stance and my stamina, both departments being what I had been mostly working on during this time, and I've finally started to understand how magic works.

Light Magic was perhaps the easiest one to understand considering that it was the first one I managed to call upon. The energy is… complicated to explain in simple words, but the gist is that I would end up with a decent boost and an advantage over any enemy using Dark Magic or Chaos Magic.

The second and perhaps more difficult element to start training with was Fire. While Carmesi made it appear like an easy feat to make use during a fight, the unruly nature of this Magic was not something I had been prepared for.

Not only was its power difficult to regulate and control, but it was also easy for me to get irritated while using it. My early inability to make use of Fire Magic was something that Carmie saw as a reason to gloat over me, but only for so long until I started  throwing fireballs out of my palms.

My aim sucked, and the flames' density was still work in progress, but it was still a couple of steps in the right direction.

Addie was also shifting her attention to refining her own magic, mentioning how it could turn surprisingly useful if she somehow was deprived of her bow and arrows. The girl might be a professional bowgirl, but she was far from being able to handle herself in a close-encounter situation with an opponent faster than her.

A certain Fox Prime discovered this during a simple spar, and while Carmie had many reasons to be smug around the Queen, she decided against doing so, for now. In fact, the one she decided to bestow with an unquestionable amount of gloating over… was me.

Irritating as usual, she seemed to have grown accustomed to the pet name I've bestowed her. More than enough to actually shrug the usual frustration off whenever I tried to use it against her during a fight.

To be fair, I should've expected for her to just grow a thicker skin about it and roll with it for the sake of depriving me of that advantage, but I was still impressed by how quickly all of this happened.

Speaking of the former Imperial Captain, the young woman was more than happy to learn that she hadn't really mastered the full potential of her Crest. Not only did that open the door to seeing her become a stronger training buddy, but it offered the chance of seeing her capacity to harm the Empire increase in the long-run. Which were both good news in the grand scheme of things.

Still, while we were blessed with these positive novelties, there was still an obstacle that existed between us and our objective.

Tundar was a planet stuck in a perpetual storm of ice and cold, it was inhabitable and considered ideal just for the harsh conditions of housing a large prison on its surface.

The problem with infiltrating the place?

The facility was furnished with a powerful detection array and had a powerful energy field that would activate at the first hint of an attack or prison break from the outside.

The follow up issue?

There was a massive ship floating above Tundar's surface, right above the area where the prison was located.

It was surprising to find something this big assigned to deal with the simple task of sending in prisoners, but it was Carmie that confirmed my worries that this wasn't merely a cargo-ship full of criminals to leave in that frozen hell.

“That's- That's General Minos' flagship," The Fox Prime commented loudly, her face almost slamming on the glass of the frontal section of the cockpit as she recognized this.

“Your former superior?"

Nodding, she gritted her teeth at this development. “He is the one behind the last five campaigns against the royal family's loyalists."

“I've never heard of him before-"

“That's because he never took pride in the victories he scored against your family," Carmesi interjected, turning to stare at the young Queen before approaching the strategic board. “He would always leave the glory to one of his subordinates since he never cared for any of that. He believes in the Emperor, and he considers his work to be a more than enough reward to fight for him."

“Sounds like a fanatic," I pointed out quietly.

“That's what I thought at first, but then I learned he is just a bookish Bull Prime with minor anger issues," The girl commented with some irritation. “He is a rule-stickler, so much that I could tell he already saw me unfit from the first day I started to work under his command."

“Why would he be here of all places?" I questioned with a frown. “Shouldn't he be… leading some fleet away from this quadrant?"

The Fox Prime hesitated about this, actually thinking over the subject instead of throwing out the first suggestion her mind offered.

Ultimately that question was answered by someone else, much to the relief of everyone's relief.

“Boss, I just finished decrypting a couple of messages exchanged between the ship and the prison," Archie quipped with a tiny smile. “They are not here for us. The messages speak of loading a quantity of something from within the prison to the flagship, and I think it's the 'Agápi'."

“Do they have any defense set up right now?" Adela inquired and the Spirit replied with a quick 'negative'.

Humming, I approached the frontal section of the cockpit as I stared at the small blue connection made of energy between the ship and the facility.

“Archie, is that an Orbital Elevator?" I inquired while aiming a finger at the curious detail. The Nanozell Spirit floated to reach a closer position and… he nodded.

“It is, boss."

I hummed again, this time drawing the attention of the two Primes within the room.

“What is he thinking?" Carmesi asked quietly to the fellow woman, and the Coyote Prime sighed.

“Something incredibly dumb but effective."

Frowning, I turned to the young queen with a betrayed look. “It's not… that dumb."

“Just explain."

Gah, is this what happens after I gave her permission to come by for some sleep together after that first night? I swear, she sure knows how to be a prick from time to time… There is mostly nothing wrong with my plans.

“While the ID Carmie's destroyed ship had isn't usable for obvious reasons, Archie and I came up with a small plan that would work well with the current situation," I replied with a small smile. “It was something that we developed after he showed me how he can easily copy someone's voice and mannerism after listening to a couple of registrations."

“And?" The Fox Prime inquired impatiently.

“And we managed to find someone that is known to make irregular visits to the prison from the database you gave us. An important doctor that has absolute authority over any operations happening in Tundar. Well beyond what this 'General' holds."

“But how would that work out?"

“The Doctor is known to… send some infected specimens from outside Tundar to test the effects of the 'Agápi' on those," Archie replied for me. “There is a quarantine code established to prevent the spread of any virus or infection whenever this situation happens, and that would force anyone inside the ship to offer a clear path to the orbital elevator and… right to the source of the substance inside the prison."

Adela frowned at this, her arms crossing close to her chest. “Isn't that a little bit… easy?"

“Not entirely, especially since those quarantines only offer a small amount of time to get inside and grab the specimen inside the facility before having the ship removed from the hangar to decontaminate the ship," I explained with an uneasy tone. “Once inside the prison, we will only have a short window of opportunity to find the Love Crest, deactivate the Detection Array and the Shield Generator, and then wait for Archie to pick us up."

“We can do it. Most of the prisons look the same with how they are built so..." Carmesi agreed quietly, turning to Addie with eyes filled with interest over this dangerous plan.

The Queen groaned, facepalming at the situation. “To think I expected for you to be less suicidal with the planning."

“Your Highness, I think we can all agree we are strong enough to pull this off," Carmesi smugly teased, smiling at the scowl popping from the Coyote Prime at the clear provocation.

“Fine, but you better be serious with the fighting. No gloating, no lingering with our enemies."

“I will not," The fellow woman accepted with a brighter grin. “And I hope you can keep up with us."

And… that was a curious conclusion to that exchange. Are they competing about this mission? Why? And to what end?

These questions were there to stay unanswered much to my growing confusion as the next step of the plan was… starting the plan at once.

Opening communications with the flagship was fairly easy, and Archie managed to copy flawlessly the voice of the individual he was impersonating as the individuals assigned to the exchange seemed to take his request as true. We were soon provided with one of the numerous hangars on the ship's sides.

It took twenty excruciating minutes of silence to see all the landing procedure completed, and we quickly bailed out from the entrance we had been near to the moment Archie gave us the signal to move.

I only paused for a moment to study the dark-red metal used to make the entirety of the ship. The hangar reminded me a lot of those shown in the Star Wars movies, yet the ships in there were all set in a parking spot by the corner of the massive room.

But I didn't spend too long within the area as we were running on a tight schedule. With Archie providing me with directions, I led the small group around the empty hallways of the ship, glad to see that the plan was working so smoothly for us.

Five minutes went by like this, with utter quiet and irritating tension, and we eventually arrived at our destination.

The large room was as vacant as the path that we had just finished to go through, but the terminals in there were already set to allow us a safe arrival to the planetside. We carefully walked toward the large light-blue circle in the middle of the room, the detail reminding me way too much about a certain level from the first Halo.

“Archie, we're here," I announced through the earpiece I was wearing. “We will go full radio-silence until we complete all objectives. You should warm up the engines already."

The spirit sighed through the other side. “Already done that and more, boss. I will see you in a short while then!"

I turned to stare at the two Primes, both giving me a firm nod as the device started to activate and… we were shifted on Tundar's surface, precisely within the area that had the purpose of receiving anyone arriving through the Orbital elevator.

Stopping for a moment to get a grip over myself at the unnatural action, I looked around at the desolate room and… sighed. This sure was going to be a rather difficult quest, but one that we were going to accomplish.

I knew we could.

And thus, without further ado, we started to delve deeper into the Belly of the Beast, unaware that things weren't going to be easy for us as initially planned.

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~Different POV~

“I suppose she hasn't been giving you much trouble," Minos muttered quietly, admiring the view offered by the warden's office over the prisoners at work.

While it was true that sending them out to the cold would just be detrimental, the simple task of having them recover precious minerals from the specimen of rocks some machines had recovered from outside was something that still made them productive and busy from plotting against the administration.

Plus it offered the Empire a small influx of precious metals to refine and then turn into expensive objects for the Emperor to add to his ever-growing treasury.

The warden, an old Narakhan that had very little marks over his face, regaled him with a nervous but polite nod.

“She is as inquisitive as usual, but also tame enough to not press for too much," The elder admitted. “I've long understood that worrying too much about her interest in books would just make me appear too paranoid and brash."

“And you're not," The Bull Prime admitted with a respectful tone. “This facility's production has only improved ever since you took over."

“Kind words from a good General as you, sir," The warden nodded happily.

“Only the truth. You have yet to fail the Emperor, and I doubt you will with how well your career has turned out to be."

The exchange was mere courtesy considering how frequently the Crest of Earth visited the establishment, but maybe there was a sense of genuineness within his words.

The warden had worked his way of success from mere grunt to the current position he held. The man was… a fine soldier, but a gifted administrator that served the Empire best as the regular authority of this facility.

This prison was considered one of the most productive within the Empire's reach, and it wasn't just for the 'Agápi'. Ores of various kinds were found within the depths of the planet, making it a valuable element to the Imperial economy.

While war products dominated the internal market unopposed, the rich resources used to fuel the civilian industry favored a stable society that didn't profit from forcing people into the army.

It would've been problematic for the Empire as a whole if the entire workforce shifted to the army rather than occupying the essential jobs of administration, bureaucracy, and justice.

The Emperor was powerful, but he was no slave to its people and would never consider taking direct control of any of the sectors he had established with his reign.

It was important for everyone to do their duties, and not just on the frontlines, but also in the factories and the government buildings in the planets under Imperial jurisdiction.

Before he could continue with these thoughts, their private conversation was interrupted by loud footsteps before the door opened to a pair of officers.

“G-General Minos, Lord Warden," The cadets saluted, and the Bull Prime merely sighed.

“At ease."

“Sir- we got a message from the flagship. Doctor Sichaínomai is visiting and… the quarantine code just entered into effect."

The Earth Crest tensed, his red eyes finally turning to glance at the nervous duo.

“So suddenly? I would've expected him to leave some sort of notice before coming after what happened last time," Minos commented with a confused tone. “I suppose you've verified if it was truly him or-"

“The communication section of your ship confirmed it was him, sir. The voice was his and there were some distinct traits of his known accent and mannerism that were noted by the technicians."

…

That should've been enough to confirm the integrity of the visit, yet the Bull Prime knew that something felt off about this development.

While the doctor was known to make sudden visits from time to time, the promise the researcher had almost proclaimed of giving a warning of a few days before visiting that he had given last time… made it feel like there was something much more than it seemed.

Plus, he couldn't help but feel suspicious after learning that the Royal force were now searching from the Crests. By all means, this shouldn't have been possible considering how tight the security is within the prison, and there was no way they knew about the location of the Love Crest.

It would be absurd, but then again Carmesi was seen exchanging messages with officers that were known to have looked around in the wrong places for the wrong reasons.

The chances of the traitorous captain knowing the real purpose of this location were… pretty unpleasant to consider.

Yet that inner struggle hardly fitted with his reputation, and Minos knew that there was just one way to see if he was just being paranoid or not.

“Warden, I would like to see the camera footage on the path provided to Doctor Sichaínomai's group," The General asked with a calm tone. “Quickly so."

The old man nodded, taking a seat by his desk as he started to work through his personal terminal and… numerous holographic windows opened in front of Minos.

Eyes widening in surprise, he managed to hold himself from gawking as he looked through the footage and saw three individuals swiftly through the facility, never stopping through their quick-paced rush around the prison.

He could recognize Princess Adela, the traitorous Carmesi… but he found himself struggling in remembering what kind of creature or person was leading the tiny squad.

It was bipedal, just like Narakhans and Primes but… without fur.

How interesting.

“S-Sir, they are moving fast," One of the rookies spoke up again, and the General blinked as he regarded them both with an annoyed look.

“Then take measures to stop them. Isolate the Primes off from… that curious fellow spearheading this intrusion," He ordered calmly. “And make sure to not use lethal force."

The Princess and the rebellious officer would surely make good bargaining chips to the ever-soft Queen Rehema. And that would be enough to draw the final chapter of that annoying rebellion.

And now, let's see what kind of being is the one that is currently leading this futile expedition.

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Left and right. Left and right.

This pattern was starting to get me sick beyond relief. Sure, I wasn't going to complain over the fact that this path was created through some computer-based equation, but I was going to lament the fact it was decided to have a blasted machine to give us this zig-zagged route.

Huffing quietly, I could feel some of the adrenaline already vanishing after encountering no resistance along the way. And while it was expected for us to not find anyone along the way this early on within this mission, I was slowly starting to crave for a fight.

Fire Magic, no. Bad Fire Magic.

I doubted my thoughts could reach something that didn't have a consciousness, but it served as a distraction from being reminded of how boring and quiet this whole experience has been this early on.

It didn't help that I soon found myself handling quite the atrocious behavior that Carmie could've mustered out of this already nerve-grating predicament.

“Are we there yet?"

“No."

The young woman hummed, returning silent for some time and-

“Are we there yet?"

“He just said no," Addie replied tiredly, and I could tell that I was already suffering through this development as much as I was.

The Fox Prime merely nodded, but just as she prepared to erode our willpower by offering that blasted question for the umpteenth time, something odd happened.

“Are we the-GAH!

I heard a sudden 'bang', the kind of noise that would happen only when someone slammed their face on something sturdy and unforgiving. Like the energy barrier that suddenly appeared between me and the two Primes.

Carmesi growled against it as she slowly stood up from the floor, with her right hand nursing her hurting nose.

I grimaced over the unexpected trouble as it literally divided us in two uneven groups. Still, we were lucky enough that no one got wounded seriously with that sneak attack.

“What do we do now?" Addie asked with renewed tension, her eyes intensely demanding a quick question.

“We try to reconnect somehow. There has to be another section that will see us reuniting again," I muttered swiftly. “But beware. They have to know we are here."

Adrenaline overruled any fright or worry I had over the sudden situation, and I quickly started to make my way through the established destination. The priority was to meet up with the two young women, but I couldn't do this without knowing the exact map of the prison.

Thus I had to improvise. And I tended to improvise really hard when put under this much pressure.

Pacing quickly through the hallways, my ears twitched attentively as I carefully listened for any noise that could hint at anyone rushing to my general position.

My annoyance started to rise up the moment I saw two large beings rushing towards me from the direction I was running to.

They were donning green full-plated armors and… I really wasn't sure if I could've handled that kind of heat just yet. Which is why instead of seeking the direct confrontation, I tried to rush to one of the doors to the side-

Only for both openings to be blocked by energy barriers akin to the one that separated me from the rest of the team.

Gritting my teeth, I knew that whoever was playing with the mainframe knew how to push new 'toys' to play their games.

Sadly for them, I wasn't a good puppet.

Instead of rushing for a deadly fight with the Elite Guards, I slammed my sword on the panel that was keeping the door open. Electricity and metal exploded from the broken device, with the doors swiftly shutting down at the lack of electricity and preventing the Guards from reaching me.

I was still in a modest-size cage since the door behind me was blocked by an energy barrier too and… I wasn't planning to stay around for the owners of this facility to get their hands on me.

No, I needed to move and it had to be quick.

Looking around, my stare eventually landed on the grated opening on the lower side of the room that led to the vents.

My sword moved into action, slamming fiercely over the metallic obstacle between myself and my way out of this little trap. The barrier was quickly destroyed, and I was given the means to finally leave through the ventilation system.

Hopefully this doesn't leave me in some dumpster room that compressed all trash before burning it with acid like in Star Wars.

It wasn't a fall into oblivion the one that ensued my quick departure from the cage, but rather one that led to a section of the ventilation system that I was able to walk through by keeping crouched through the whole experience.

I wasn't given any issue with this little stunt, but I knew that the more I lingered, the more it was possible for Carmie and Addie to be cornered by the one controlling the security system.

The route through the vents was… frustrating. While it wasn't cramped and I wasn't feeling claustrophobic, I still wasn't feeling well over the emotional cocktail created by panic, dread, nervousness and fear.

I kept going despite these feelings, but my paranoia was skyrocketing the more I was detached from the rest.

Move, move, MOVE!

Impatience was also another element that was slowly influencing my pace as I really wanted to get out of this nightmare at once.

Despite my wishes to be freed from this unhappy derailment, I was forced to jump off another ledge to another lower section of the vents and… this one felt different.

There was just something about the air there that was different from the previous areas.

It just felt… filtered. Sterilized. Like in a hospital.

Knowing that my luck with the vents was turning quite miserable, I decided against trusting myself to those once more. Kicking as hard as I could against the grated obstacle that led to the nearby room, I decided to add some Fire Magic to blast the thing away instead of wasting time.

The result was a fiery explosion that left me unharmed considering that I was the user of that Magical ability. Quickly stepping out of the vents, I took a moment to look around myself and study where I was.

This place looked… cooler. As in I felt a shiver go down my spine at the sudden temperature drop I was subjected to. The walls around me also looked thicker, stronger than the ones that made up the rest of the prison and… that was a telling sign that I might have unconsciously reached one of the objectives for this little raid.

Was the Love Crest kept there?

It would've been ironic that I had found them already despite my primary mission right now being to reconnect with the rest of the group. My mind mused about the matter as I started to make my way towards one of the ends of the corridor.

What led me to pick that end to the other was the… faint fragrance of flowers. The scent oddly phased through the sturdy-looking walls that made the whole section look like a super-bunker, and I knew that this was a telling sign that I was close.

Either that, or I had somehow found a large stash of 'Agápi'.

The door wasn't automatic, but rather locked through a simple reinforced lock. I frowned at the decision to switch from something electronic, but I guess they were just afraid of doing so with the chances of being influenced by the Love Crest.

My sword easily cut through it a moment after I had coated it with Fire Magic, destroying the mechanism and allowing me to pass on the other side.

I was presented with a large bedroom with two big libraries filled with books of various kinds. The pieces of furniture, and the bed looked rather simple and… feminine.

Looking around I also spotted a strange device beside the bed, and I froze in surprise when I realized what it was.

A cryo-pod… and it was empty.

I was confused by the sight of what I thought being that kind of machine, and I found my mind besieged by questions about the predicament.

Yet, despite the growing questions inside my head, my attention was taken elsewhere as my ears caught a suave and quiet sound.

A voice- a soft one that was singing quietly and without words. The melody drew me to make a few steps to the other door that led out of the bedroom, and I carefully peeked inside the open passage to the modest garden waiting in there.

The place looked to have been taken care of properly by the owner of the bedroom, with flowers of various kinds littering the fertile dirt that was prepared to take in all kinds of plants that the lone gardener was tending to with meticulous attention and dedication.

It was in that moment that I felt my heart skip a beat or two, finally sighting the beautiful being that was so kindly tending to the patch of land.

Wearing just a long white dress with no straps, the golden belt that wrapped around her upper waist kept the cloth from falling off from her lovely figure, while a tiara with a red heart rested on her forehead. Her fur was mostly a light-brown, with some tanned spots by her face and frontal torso. Her long red-hair reached below her waist, a few flowers quipping playfully between her locks. Two dark-grey horns sprouted from the sides of her head and tilted backward. And her pink eyes were aimed with a patient and eased gaze, depriving any hints of stress I had felt before that point.

Crouching down to one knee, the Gazelle Prime was humming while she carefully moved one of the flowers to occupy another piece of the soil. And I felt like a moron for being there, completely silent and mesmerized by that sight despite the fact people I cared for were risking their lives right now.

I mustered as much courage as I could before braving through that situation. I had a duty to uphold and… I couldn't delay that any longer.

“Ah-hem."

I faked a cough, and the noise got the girl to tense up at the sudden noise. She slowly roused from her previous position, and her head turned towards me. Her eyes widened in surprise as she finally got sight of me, and her pink orbs glinted in incredible curiosity that easily tapped in child-like wonder.

Instead of studying me from afar, the Prime tip-toed towards me, pausing just as her face was mere instants from reaching mine.

“Who are you?" The question was innocent and devoid of any restraint as I felt like I had been blessed with a real angel.

I blinked, my throat tightening at the fact I found my brain burning and melting at the nerve-wracking closeness.

Still… for Addie.

“I'm Theo and… I've come to get you out of here."

She blinked, surprise growing even more as she seemed as if she had realized something more from my words.

She tilted her head to the side, smiling widely at my words. “I'm Grace and…"

She leaned closer, pressing her forehead onto mine.

“Are you a prince, Theo?"

…

What?

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AN

The Love Crest is here! And… Carmie is about to face quite the trial. Something that no matter how it ends will leave a friendship in shambles.