With Fal having what was basically a full-blown breakdown, my mood had been worn down sowhat.
I had been running high, both due to rescuing Pax and Akash as well as my victory against Yr'Arl in our training battle. But learning what Fal had just told , it took right back down to a hard level of focus.
Lara was a threat.
She was already making plans to move against the Guard.
In fact, she had already made major moves against the Guard, not that Belana was planning to do anything about it himself. He was more content to just sit back, relax and let us do the heavy lifting. I was more than happy to oblige.
Did I think I had the ability to properly take on a suprely powerful opponent as well as their legion of hybridized Null Space Invaders, and maybe a couple of Humans to boot? No. I didn't, not yet anyway. But I didn't have a choice. I couldn't just let Lara run rampant against the people of Prespian city.
I was going to do everything I could to stop her dead in her tracks, and even if I failed as long as I survived I'd get stronger and stronger until, eventually, I had the power to take her out.
BB cut in.
I wasn't sure if the AI was being funny or not, because to those numbers simply didn't add up. If she had that much strength and power to make sowhere between only one and five per cent of her maximum output, then how had I been able to take out the Null Space Hybrid so easily? Surely he was having on. If she had been that powerful her father was a fool not to send her out to the front lines.
BB didn't comnt on that, but I got the distinct feeling through our connection that he hadn't been joking. Maybe she had been experinting on herself just as much as she had been experinting on other alien life forms and had found so way to untap her power to levels that were unimaginable. Maybe she was from another world like .
"I shall go and purchase a round of beverages," Yr'Arl announced, breaking out of my thoughts.
"I'll take whatever you're getting, despite the chilli debacle I'm pretty sure our tastes are similar enough that I won't mind," I said, glad that soone else was picking up the tab. I had no idea what the money situation was like in this society, it was sothing I hadn't even thought about.
Yr'Arl gave a curt nod and walked over to the bar, which had beco considerably busier since the two of us had sat down at the table.
I wanted to ask about Pax, but at the sa ti, I didn't want to be insensitive.
Fal was still sobbing, and I didn't want to bring the other Lyrin up because that would probably only serve to set her off even further. But the fact of the matter was, I was worried about the other lizard-like alien. Was there a procedure for if one of their race lost their ability to connect telepathically, or was it sothing that never happened? The thought of him all alone when he needed to feel connected with people the most wrenched at my heart.
The beginnings of tears bit at the corners of my eyes and I tried futilely to blink them away.
"I I'm sorry for your loss, Fal," I said, just as unable to et her gaze as Akash had seed to be when we first entered the bar. Now I truly understood why.
"It wasn't your fault, Jacob. You fought as hard as you could," Fal replied through the sobs. "I don't bla you I bla Lara, for taking away that part of him, but I don't just bla her."
She stopped, and I looked up to et her gaze for the first ti. Her pupils were doing sothing I had never seen from a Lyrin before, one was red hot which symbolised anger while the other was such a deep shade of blue that it was almost black. She was angry, angry beyond belief, and grieving as hard as she could.
"I bla the Guard. I bla Squadron Leader Belana. I bla this entire institution for their inaction against both the Humans, no offense ant to you Jacob, and against the Null Space Invaders," She snarled, before fixing a look straight in the eye. "After the tournant tomorrow, after whatever plan it is that you're enacting, I'll be leaving the Guard, and I'll be striking out on my own."
Her next words evoked a shiver, setting in stone my path going forward. Solidifying the journey that I was going to take.
"And I want you, Akash and Yr'Arl to join ."
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