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Dairyu, Amhyr, and Rose

Getting into the Heart of the Enemy

"Okay...either we are the luckiest Terrans alive, or they are waiting to ambush us. I'm not feeling right either way. I don't believe in luck, but I am rooting for the latter."

"What makes you think that?"

"What can you say about it? It's a dark metallic corridor with almost no way to move except forward and back, and they can crawl on the ceiling. Damn, I hate it when science fiction becomes real."

Dairyu just sighed. "For a space-travelling Federation Agent, you watch too many classic horror sci-fi movies."

"Don't worry, you can count on my nose," said Rose while sniffing around. "They may be black, but smell is colorful."

"Love how you say that, Rose."

"Well, thank you for the compliment, Amhyr. Stay sharp."

As she walked forward into the darkness, however, Dairyu tapped on Amhyr's shoulder. It took the draconian's attention, but he wasn't very happy about it.

"If you're not behind me I'll just shoot it. What do you want to talk about?"

"Don't try to fool me, Amhyr. I know you're flirting with Rose just now."

Amhyr suddenly felt his heart jumped. He quickly closed Dairyu's mouth while Rose said, "Is there something wrong back there? I can't hear you clearly."

"Nah, we're fine, Rose. Tell us if you found anything."

Amhyr sighed and released Dairyu, then whispered, "Since when?"

"You're staring at her far more than your supposed to be while we were talking some days ago," said Dairyu. "Just what in the world makes her attractive to you? She's a Lycan and you're a draconian. It won't gonna fit."

"Well, she...uh...she knows a lot about computing and programming, more than how a virologist supposed to know. We had a nice talk these past month and we enjoyed it a lot, but I'm not ready to start going steady with her."

"You know, you're too shy for an undercover agent. Just let me talk to her and..."

"Wait, no! Dude, being undercover is not to have any long-term feelings. This one is different, so don't spoil the mood--

"Guys, I'd appreciate it if you get your heads down!"

Both Dairyu and Amhyr reacted with Rose's warning. As they duck, they saw a giant circular saw cutting the corridor apart, almost exposing them to the open space if not for an almost invisible force field that guarded them from being decompressed.

"Are they going to destroy their own ship to kill us?!" exclaimed Amhyr.

"I think they don't about a regenerating ship."

Dairyu's statement was true. After that circular saw attack, the ship's organic components started mending themselves like a gaping wound closing up in fast forward. Rose saw this and said, "Fascinating. Exo-biology is...intriguing."

"Keep that excitement for now, Rose. It's time we put an end to this threat."

Despite of Rose's reservations that her olfactory sense was better than the two draconians, Dairyu gave her a better way, which was to read air current. Though he claimed to be doing that, though, Amhyr thought that he actually wanted the green draconian to be closer to Rose. At first, it was awkward and kind of like a date in the worst possible place, but after some times of silence, Amhyr then said, "Say, uh...are you interested in exo-biology, Rose?"

"I like learning new things whenever I get the chance, Amhyr. Say, have they perfected the biomechanical augmentation system like the one Let has? I think it's still a first stage prototype back in 2085."

"Of course they have done it. 200 years is a long time to make augmentation technology being used and accepted. Well, minus the controversies surrounding paraplegics, I'd say it's a perfected system."

"Say, Amhyr, when all this over, do you want to go to somewhere nice in Terra? My home country, Vitania, has nice countryside and quite a good food. You'll really like it, for an Erican draconian."

"I'll be glad to."

They both talked a lot many times, but they were still alert at their surroundings. Dairyu could hear that both of them slowly talked about personal things after going through the more scientific talks, and he felt satisfied about it.

On the other hand, Dairyu chose not to love someone due to the danger of his jobs, yet in particular was his hard time moving on from lost ones. It was always in his own life that he must protect those he liked the most, as not to remember Seiryu's death, or some of his clansmen. He was willing to do anything with ambiguous morality for the greater good, just like what he would do here.

Though the concept of genocide wasn't in his mind, he was willing to eliminate the Black Creatures from the face of the galaxy, despite of still wondering what happened before the recent space civilization from the red crystals. Right now, he wasn't going to be intrigued. The danger was in front of him, and it was his job as a Warrior to save the galaxy.

While he was thinking, a sudden change of air current warned him of an impending ambush from the corner. Rose also smell something and growled in defense. The black Orient moved closer to a wall corner and, while drawing his sword, extended a mirror, yet after seeing it, he sighed in relief.

"What's wrong, Dairyu?"

"Reinforcements..."

The next moment, a group of similarly armored Terran races came out from the corridor, followed by some of the special ops throughout the galaxy. The ones using blackish armor was of course, Warriors. Amhyr could also see Greyhounds and As'karans mixed in the group.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Sorry, I guess we are not ready to abandon our friend," said Jackson. "Ryu, what in the world are you thinking? Arrowhead is a strategy that killed Seiryu."

"I know, but it's the only way we can get into the ship without collateral damage, and you all jeopardized it," said Dairyu.

"Well, not quite. Anyway, we found the rest of your crew when we came in. They are exhausted and we took them to your ship. Don't worry, we'll guard that point. Right now, we split into two groups. The three of you, keep finding the main core of this ship while the rest set charges..."

"Wait, you know this ship is self-regenerating, right?"

"Of course we know that! It's up to you to destroy what menace that controls these Black Creatures. Go!"

Despite of his reservations, Dairyu could believe in Jackson's abilities. He was also one of the war's veterans and an experienced commander, though not very good in getting out of trouble during their active days.

Due to the efforts of the three of their group, they managed to get through ominous corridors without getting jumped by enemies, and they didn't find any more resistance.

But after reaching what they thought as the end of the road, the three of them tried to decide when Dairyu sensed an air current from his legs. He just got barely a time to push both Rose and Amhyr out of the way while he fell on the hole. He could soften the fall with air, but when he wanted to fly up, the hole closed up, separating him and both Amhyr and Rose. He wasn't trying to find a way back, though. Instead, he tried walking through the corridor, where he could find a light at the end of it. He hastened his pace, occasionally finding black gooey Black Creatures blocking his path; something that he didn't take seriously.

At the end of the tunnel, though, he saw the heart of the Black Creatures. It was a big black thing in a container, with eyes and other limbs. Unlike the rest of the Creatures it controlled, it had a definite form.

And it had a booming and eerie voice.

"Welcome to my control room, lesser being. I am the Master," it said, with such dignity. Then Dairyu saw that he was surrounded, with no place to go.

"You may have reached this place, but it's your time to die."