Chapter 7

My eyes fluttered open and I finally regained feeling in my body. I could feel the fur on my fingers on the cool floor beneath me. The blaring alarm from the base's security defenses rang through my head once again. As I slowly sat up, I took a deep breath and looked at the familiar hallway walls. It was the same place I had been just moments ago. The feathers were no longer there, but there was still a small pool of blood underneath my hand. It wasn't a dream, I was actually back.

I scanned the area and tried to make sense of everything. Other than the alarms and blood, everything seemed normal. Am I losing my grip on reality so much that I could slip into a dream so quickly? Sighing in frustration, I shook my head and felt bile rising in my throat.

On my feet, I winced as a sharp pain shot through my stomach where there was a wound before. I realized that I was shirtless, like when I was being operated on, but now the wound was stitched up with black wire. It seemed like everything else had been patched up as well. If this wasn't a dream, how did I end up in this hallway? Why was the alarm going off?

I turned around to look behind me and gasped at the sight of gore littering the hallway from what used to be the clinical staff. I quickly got to my feet and made my way down towards the command area. I needed to find Shiinx and figure out what was happening. Something definitely wasn't right here.

When I rounded a corner, I saw someone lying on the ground: another body. As I approached, I realized it was a Sun Jin soldier dressed in assault gear with a combat knife in his chest. Without hesitation, I grabbed his rifle and continued down the hallway, finding more bodies along the way. It was clear that there had been a fight. A real attack was clearly underway, and I seemed to have missed some of it.

With my rifle ready, I cautiously proceeded around the corner, accompanied by the muffled sounds of radio chatter and footsteps. My heart raced as I prepared to face whatever lay ahead. The first thing I saw was the glint of another rifle, followed by the familiar faces of our guards. They aimed at me for a tense moment before recognizing me and lowering their weapons. Shiinx emerged from the group, her expression a mixture of relief and concern.

"Shiinx, thank Varuna." I breathed a sigh of relief as she rushed towards me.

"Forza, are you okay?" She placed a comforting hand on my arm, gripping tightly.

"I'm... good enough." I struggled to find the right words. "What's going-"

Her serious tone caught me off guard as she cut me off. "No, Forza. Are you really okay? Are you with me here?"

I furrowed my brow in confusion and tried to answer honestly. "Yeah... I mean, yeah." Admittedly I was still quite a bit fuzzy and, on an adrenalin high.

She didn't speak, but her grip on my arm tightened. The look on her face spoke volumes. After a moment, she spoke. "We were coming back for you."

I couldn't make sense of what she was saying. "Why would you need to come back for me? And why are there Sun Jin soldiers here? Did they trace us back already?"

Shiinx nodded grimly, gesturing towards one of the guards using a communications device nearby. "Yeah, they did. We've got about two dozen soldiers that airdropped in and infiltrated the lab section. It seems like they were after you."

I tried to connect the dots. "Me? Is that why I found myself in the hallway earlier?"

"In the hallway..." She trailed off and turned to face me fully, studying my face with concern etched into her features. "Forza, are you sure you're alright?"

An exasperated sigh, growing tired of being asked that question. "I... I don't know. Why do you keep asking? What happened?"

Shiinx's expression turned firm, and she gave me a stern look. "You happened, Forza," she said with her eyes darting back and forth between my own.

Confusion swept over me as I struggled to process. "I... what? I don't remember doing anything..."

She squeezed my arm again, this time with more force. "Trust me, hon. You're not okay. We'll talk about it later."

The more she spoke, the more my mind couldn't make sense of it all. How did I end up in the hallway? What had I done? It was all just a blur, a dream-like haze that I couldn't piece together. As Shiinx led our group away from the area medical area, towards the barracks. I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong with me. That somehow, in my sleepwalking state, I had done something horrible here.

“Right now, we have to get out of here and evacuate but they have specialists there that are chewing up anyone who approaches the bay.”

We picked up our pace again, the urgency clear in every step. "What kind of specialists?" I asked as we made our way through the hallways.

"The ones with close combat weapons," she responded, her voice tense. Another explosion rocked the ground, this time from a nearby section of the base.

"Damn," I muttered. "Do we head to the armory?"

She shook her head firmly. "No, we're evacuating."

"But what about those under attack at the armory?" I pressed.

She paused, her gaze hardening. "We've already told them to evacuate and group together for their safety. Not all of them are trained for combat."

I opened my mouth to argue, but she cut me off.

"And I don't want you anywhere near that area."

I let out a frustrated sigh, but before I could protest, she turned around and revealed the reason for her apprehension. "It's her," she said, her voice heavy with caution. "It's Kiara. She's leading the Sun Jin team."

My heart dropped at the name. "I can stop her," I declared determinedly.

“You can’t go out there in your condition,” Shiinx exclaimed, grabbing my arm.

“I can take her down, we can fight them off together,” I insisted, but she just shook her head in frustration.

“And then what?” she retorted. “More Sun Jin will come, overwhelming our small team. This facility wasn't meant for fortification against a hostile takeover. And with your issue...”

“Shiinx, she's...” I started to protest.

“No,” she interrupted firmly. “You're my soldier and I'm ordering you to stay away from her.”

I could see the worry in her eyes and understood why she was being so insistent. She didn't want to lose me, especially not now when we were already injured and outnumbered. But this wasn't just a matter for Asuya Co., it was a Templar matter as well. Granted I didn't know a lot about the ins and outs of Templar cultures, or their tribes, but I knew firsthand about what can happen when the Sun Jin Empire get Templar soldiers under their control.

I followed Shiinx into the cargo helicopter's side entry only moments later. The powerful wind outside was deafening as we climbed in, and I squinted my eyes against it as the hanger's lights flickered and went out. In the dimness, the only source of light was the small opening in the domed ceiling where we would exit, and the flashing lights on the helicopter itself.

"He's all set," Shiinx yelled to the pilot over the roar of the engines.

As the helicopter began to ascend, I suddenly felt a tight grip on my ankle pulling me out of my seat. I saw her, Kiara. She threw me over her shoulder and out of the aircraft. I tumbled across the metal floor, feeling the pain in my still healing abdomen until finally coming to a stop and opening my eyes.

It was her... the sound of a sudden, sharp, deafening ringing inside my mind. She was wearing Sun Jin tactical gear in shades of black and gray, looking much cleaner than when I last saw her. Strapped to her back was a sword, although thankfully not in her hand. It wasn't the same she had at the crash site, but instead a modern Sun Jin combat blade.

I could see Shiinx's shocked expression behind Kiara as the helicopter lifted off, just out of reach. She must have realized who this was and was afraid, but I refused to die in front of her.

"Get up!" Kiara barked with vocal pressure placed in each of her words. She began to run and leapt upward high into the air towards me.

By the time she landed, I had already gotten to my feet. We stood facing each other in combat-ready stances, only a few feet apart. She had a smirk on her face, surprisingly well-put-together considering her previous injuries. I supposed the same could be said for me; while my wounds were still tender, they had healed well.

“Sun Jin now, Kiara?”

“I needed the resources,” she replied. "Don't worry. They're next when this is all over."

Our gazes locked on each other. I noticed she also had a combat knife strapped across her vest, but she didn't seem eager to use it. It was probably for the best.

“For resources, huh?” An obvious thought crossed my mind. “I'm guessing they found you when they arrived at the crash site, and you led them here.”

“Yeah," she said. "They found me, but it was your carelessness that brought them here. They tracked the equipment your dead friends left behind.”

“You realize I used to be a Templar under their control? They used me for weapons research. Killing innocent people. How long do you think 'for now' will last? As soon as they're done with you, they'll turn on you too.”

She snorted slightly as she replied, “We'll see. Sounds like you were an unwilling participant.”

“Kiara, we can't let them have this strength.”

“I don't plan on giving it to them or anyone else. I'm only here because they were looking for you. They say you're a wanted man, Forza Ninetails. Like you said, you escaped. I name dropped you after they captured me and instantly sprung on this opportunity to corner you. But I don't care about any of that.”

“What do you want then, Kiara?” I had a feeling I already knew the answer. She had made it clear before.

“Our reunion, Forza. The darkness inside of us is alive; it's a single being that wants to become whole again. It's split between us and others, and it longs to rejoin and become one again. It yearns to return to Jethro... but you.” Her tone changed suddenly, from one of passion to anger. “You're so stubborn. You refuse to let it in. You keep it locked away inside your mind. It plagues you and gives you nightmares, haunts you.”

With a growl, I clenched my fists. “How would you know any of that?”

“Because he told me, Forza.”

What? My mouth fell open slightly. Did she somehow communicate with the entity inside me? Was it Jethro actually talking to her telling about who I was?

“The creatures inside us are part of the same being. They're one and the same. Why won't you accept it and let it give us unimaginable power? Together we can leave this place. We can do whatever we want. Just you and me. We can go back and destroy all those people who have hurt us. We could both kill Sun Jin Kaisara and her Empire. Or the Systems Alliance?”

At least I was right about one thing: she knew more about what was happening inside us than I did. She knew its goals. That's why I wanted to talk to her more at the crash site. I needed to know more. Of course, this time I'm not oozing blood all over.

Taking deep breaths while listening, I watched Shiinx's helicopter hover high above us, still in the hangar. She was gripping the railing and watching me. I wished she would retreat to safety; she was in danger being so close to Kiara, but if she left how would we find each other again? She'd be heading to space, and out of this system. She didn't want to leave without me.

“Kiara, I don’t accept it because I’ve seen what unimaginable power can do. I’ve been a darkness powered killing machine once before. At least with the Alliance I was killing people to save lives. Not taking them senselessly.”

“Revenge isn’t senseless. Don’t you want to kill Sun Jin Kaisara after what she did to you and all that hell she put you through?”

She really did know all about me. How? Was the thing inside of me feeding her this? “I’ll seek out my own sense of justice, and I’ll do it without the help of... some... a higher power."

Her stance shifted and a sly grin revealed her sharp Quallian cat teeth as she gripped her sword. "I'm sure I can persuade you in other ways," she taunted.

I shook my head defiantly, "I'd rather die." Dammit, where were my weapons? If only I had the armor from my nightmare, from that dark past, I could end this quickly.

"That's not what you said last time - when Skithix offered you... an escape from it all. you begged for your life," she sneered, closing her eyes and relaxing. But then her laughter echoed through the room, tinged with a sinister tone. "We are Bloodtigers, bound together. I can't wait to uncover even more of your dark, dirty secrets!"

Skithix... it had been a long time since I heard that name. An agent of Kaisara, and a shaman of the Nightfall Templar Tribe.

“Besides,” she interrupted, her voice dripping with a dark knowingness. “I knoooow", she drew the word out like a sinister chant, "...what truly keeps you from succumbing to the darkness. I know what shields you from complete and utter collapse." Her eyes bore into mine, piercing and unrelenting. "She is your only tether to sanity, and you cling to her like a helpless child when lost in tears.”

No! I shouted silently, my gaze shifting to the sky where Shiinx hovered at the helicopter's side opening. Don't fucking do this!

“What will become of your resistance if something were to happen to her? What could possibly stand in the way of your descent into all-consuming rage and despair?” Her tone, the snarl, the curl of her upper lip showing off the brutality of her fangs.

My heart raced as I pleaded desperately to Kiara inside my mind. "No!"

With a sharp snarl and twist of her body, she turned around and unleashed a rod of screaming purple energy towards the hovering helicopter. Panic set in as I watched the bolt of Templar power rushing towards her. This was not happening! It couldn't be real. It had to be a nightmare.

But reality set in as I saw Shiinx's determined expression, ready to face whatever fate awaited her. She made the split-second decision to jump out of the helicopter, taking the chance of surviving the fall rather than facing certain death in the explosion. The look on her face was one of determination. She was strong. She knew she had to take the chance. Time seemed to slow down as I sprinted towards her falling figure, my heart racing with dread.

As I pushed past Kiara, the sound of the explosion filled the air, and my eyes were met with a blinding flash of fire. The sight before me made my stomach drop - Shiinx's body tumbling through the air amidst chaos and destruction. I didn’t make it much farther than that. As I passed Kiara, the sound of a growl echoed in my ear and the shocking strike of a sudden impact against the back of my neck instantly blacked my vision and sent a ringing through my ears and a shocking pain down my spine... I collapsed, hitting the cold floor. It all went dark, and this encounter was over.