(One hour later...)

Somehow, we managed to get back to my ship without leaving a heavy body count in our wake. After we got off the train we had originally rode on a few hours ago, I only had to gun down a handful of spaceport guards who tried to stop me. When it became apparent that my crew and I were armed to the teeth, no one else decided to bother us. I was tired of this planet anyway...

Once we were on board the Ravager, I went straight to the cockpit of my ship and got ready to depart.

"Um, Cylus?" I heard Alexander inquire, "What should we do about the bodies...?"

Oh right. Forgot about those. "Throw them out the airlock when we're in space."

"Got it. I'll get Ralph and Damien to help me."

I grunted in response and fired up my engines. A few moments later, Boreas entered the cockpit and stood between me and Alannah.

"Hmm...yep, looks like I was right," he mused as he worked on the nav computer, "The Lar'jeno system's about three hours away. Might as well head over there while we still can."

I nodded in understanding and began the slow ascent off the landing pad. "Here's hoping we can get out of here before we have spitfires breathing down our backs."

"Eh, I trust you and Ali to keep everyone alive," Boreas responded as he inputted the coordinates to Valeryx VII into the nav computer, "Have fun up here, you two."

I chuckled to myself. "We will. Make sure my son doesn't get sucked into space."

"Aye-aye captain."

After my partner left, I focused on the trip ahead. At this point, we were back in the canyon, and I made sure we stuck to the shadows. Before I knew it, I found an exit wide enough for my ship, and we were soaring up into the beautiful aquamarine sky in no time at all.

Once the pitch darkness of space surrounded us, I engaged my ship's auto-pilot and relaxed. It was then I heard Alannah hum to herself, and I turned to regard her.

"Everything okay?" I prompted her, taking my helmet off and setting it down on the floor beside me.

My wife also had her helmet off, so I was able to see the thoughtful expression on her face.

"Um...something might be wrong," she finally stated, her brow creased with concern, "I'm late."

"Late? On what?" I prompted her, only to blink in surprise when she lightly hit my shoulder.

"On my period, you dingus," she elaborated, rolling her eyes as she sighed, "I dunno, maybe it's due to stress–heaven knows we've all been thoroughly stressed out lately, so that's my best guess. Sorry, I usually try to take care of this stuff so we won't have to worry about it later, but I noticed a few days ago that...yeah, I was late."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"I didn't want you to worry," Alannah replied, "It's probably nothing, but can we possibly stop by a medical clinic on Valeryx VII just to be sure?"

"I see no problem with that," I said, taking her hand in mine, "I know we both would be open to having a child and growing our family, now...is not a good time to do that."

"I know," she breathed, leaning back in her seat, "While this may be nothing, it could be something–and that scares me."

"Likewise. For now, don't worry about it–let's focus on reaching Valeryx VII and figuring out where Vallen and General Maximilian are located."

"For all we know, the fucker isn't named Vallen," Alannah pointed out, "Remember how that admin responded to your questions? She seemed genuinely confused. Moreover, Maximilian merely stated he had Djarek's heir and said nothing more on the issue."

"You have a good point," I murmured, stroking my chin in thought, "No matter. We may have to crack a few skulls, but I'm sure we'll find something out one way or another."

"Yeah...Hopefully."

After that, we fell silent and studied the vast expanse of space before us. I still held on to Alannah's hand, and I didn't let go until we got close to the Lar'jeno system.

"Looks like we've almost arrived at our destination," I mused, letting go of my wife's hand and turning off the Ravager's auto-pilot, "I'm just glad we'll have our armor to cover us."

"I concur," Boreas chimed in as footsteps could be heard, "As far as I know, Valeryx VII is not a planet of sunshine and rainbows. In a rather ironic twist, it's full of clouds and endless rain. I remember learning a little about this planet, and woo boy, is it something else. For one, it's another in a long line of city-planets that have sprung up across the stars. However, the main distinguishing quality is that roughly half the planet is submerged underwater while the other half is thoroughly drenched."

"Why half the planet?" Alannah inquired.

"Rumor has it an experimental explosive detonated on this part of the planet–Valeryx VII has been regarded as one of the best munitions and weapons manufacturers in this sector, hence why a bitter civil war is being waged as we speak. Anyway, the weapon went boom, and everyone on this half of the planet was drowned."

"Holy shit..." I breathed, "That's rather...unfortunate."

"Tell me about it. Valeryx VII is another shining example of what the UTF does to the planets under its control," Boreas replied, sighing to himself, "At any rate, Go toward the northern hemisphere–that's where the intact-half of the mega city is located."

"Got it."

Boreas loosed a soft sigh and shook his head in disbelief. "The locales we frequent...why the hell can't we track targets on a fucking beach resort planet and not a sodden hunk of rock that's half-underwater?"

"Because no respectable person would be found on Valeryx VII," I replied, "It's a manufacturing planet–no one who's sent there is wanting to go sight seeing."

"You're not wrong there."

Thirty minutes later, our destination finally came into view.

"We...shouldn't be able to see storm clouds from outer space, right?" Alannah prompted me in a small voice, "Right?"

"More often than not, we wouldn't be able to," I replied, "However, I have a feeling things will be different."

"Different how?"

"Valeryx VII is a mess–it's a few steps away from being a dead planet like Pyrrhici. Raging storms, slowly rising sea levels, and a populace that's hostile toward one another are all contributing to this planet's demise. I just hope we'll find what we're looking for and get out in as little time as possible."

"Agreed..." my wife grumbled.

Entering Valeryx VII's atmosphere was...a shitshow: turbulent winds slammed against my vessel, and I had to fight to maintain control.

"If you aren't already, hold onto something," I growled into my commset, "We're coming in hot."

We continued our plunge through the heavens for several more nail-biting moments before I managed to regain control of my ship. As we leveled out and resumed our descent at a shallower angle, I breathed a shaky sigh of relief.

"Sweet mother of god," Alannah breathed, "I was about to ask why we didn't receive a welcoming gift from a few patrol ships, but I don't think that question needs to be asked..."

I grunted in response, too occupied with maintaining the brittle control I had over my ship to offer up a genuine response.

"Sorry," I gritted out, "Not tryin to ignore you."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I know Valeryx VII puts Sylkiir V to shame–I'd rather take a joyride back home than on this hellhole."

In that instant, a resounding boom could be heard, followed my my ship pitching to the side.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" My wife shrieked, curling up in a ball, "WHAT WAS THAT?"

"That, mijn sintel, was a bolt of lightning," I breathed, studying the broiling storm that raged around us, "We need to land now."

And so I focused purely on reaching the dark city that sat before us. I could hardly make out any distinguishing details of this settlement, but frequent flashes of lighting displayed...overarching decrepitude.

"I...think I see other ships nearby," Alannah pointed out, only to jump in her seat when a bolt of lightning flashed before us, "Fuck me..."

"Take it you don't like lightning?"

"I...to be honest, I've never seen a storm so...intense," she admitted, "I know, I know: it's silly that I'm spooked by a simple storm."

"For one, this is no simple storm. No planet with a normal weather system has storms this ferocious. Also, being scared is not 'silly.' For the longest time, I was afraid of the dark and what it represented. With time, I got over my fear, but I still remember nights when I would wake up screaming."

"That's horrible..." Alannah breathed.

"All of that is behind me now," I assured her, "For now, let's hope we can find what we're looking for and skip town before all this rain drives us insane."

"Yeah, no kidding..."

It took an ungodly amount of time, but I finally managed to sight an unkempt airfield and touched down between two squat shuttles.

"Alright, my friends," I stated as I rose from my seat, "Get geared up–and make sure you put your armor on tightly. When we leave my ship, prepare to get soaked."

"Thanks for the warning, asswipe," Boreas grumbled, "I'll have to find Damien a spare helmet since he doesn't have one, so give me a moment."

"Alright."

By the time we entered the cargo hold, everyone was already set to leave: Alexander flashed me a thumbs up, and I couldn't help but chuckle. As usual, Boreas and Raphael were in their infiltrator suits.

"Damn Boreas, no need to remind us you're white," Alex commented.

"Wh–fuck off, you cheeky cunt!"

"Hey, you were the one who dyed your armor white. At least Raphael will blend in–he kept his suit the original midnight blue color."

"Don't question my fashion choices!"

"Alright you two," I snapped, cutting my son and best friend off, "We have a job to do, so get your heads out of your asses!"

With stifled grumbles, they quit their shit and turned their attention toward tending to their weapons. Five minutes later, I decided we were ready to head out.

"Make sure you have the night vision of your helmets turned on," I told everyone as we approached the back hatch of the Ravager, "The low visibility will be our worst enemy during our stay on Valeryx VII, so don't stumble around in the dark."

Once I received an answer from everyone, the back hatch opened and the boarding ramp deployed. The instant I stepped outside, I was barraged by heavy rain. The rest of my crew grunted in surprise, and muffled swearing could be heard as we continued moving onward.

No one tried to stop us as we made our way across the rain-covered pad and toward what appeared to be a street. However, judging from the potholes that could be seen, I would've guessed it was a miniature river valley.

"Holy shit..." Alannah breathed, staying close to my side as we continued walking, "When's the last time someone decided to pave the streets?"

"Far too long," Boreas grumbled, "Alright, what's our plan, Cylus? Are we gonna do the sneaky-sneaks and stalk around this awful city?"

In that moment, I spotted a rather rough-looking UTF soldier walking down a street running horizontal to the one we were currently on.

"Nope–that'd take too much time," I growled, prowling toward the sodden bastard, "Hang back–I'm going to corner this fucker and see who he works for. We know nothing about the two officials interlocked in a bitter feud, so what better way to learn than to corner and question one of the locals?"

"Good point. Just don't kill the poor bloke straight away," my partner told me.

A sadistic grin lit up my expression. "No promises."

I continued following my target down the beaten up street before getting close enough to tap them on the shoulder. After that, I quickly retreated to a nearby alleyway and watched as the soldier turned around sharply.

"Who's there?" they shouted, "Show yourself!"

I made sure the lights of my helmet were on, and I snickered to myself when the Federation schmuck cursed to themselves.

"Must be another Aranagor. Those fuckers don't seem to stay away..." they hissed, creeping into the alley after me, "I'll make this quick."

When they got close enough, I cut the lights to the eyeholes of my helm.

"What the–?"

My target cut off with a ragged scream when I shot their thigh. In quick succession, I approached them and threw their helmet off so they couldn't call in backup.

The soldier, who turned out to be a young adult male, whimpered while trying to put some distance between us. I fired off a warning shot by his right arm, which did the trick.

"Wh-What do you want?" the poor bastard stammered.

Approaching the youth and crouching before them, I cleared my throat. "Answers. Give me what I want, and I may spare you."

"Okay–Okay, I can do that. What do you want to know?"

"Firstly, who are the two Federation officials currently fighting each other?"

"O-Oh, the two remaining council members? Their names are Russel Moran and Juliana Palmer."

"What happened to the other council members?"

"They were...murdered. Councilman Moran and Councilwoman Palmer were the ones who came out on top."

"Who do you swear allegiance to?"

"Why does that–?"

"Answer my question."

"I-I swear my allegiance to Councilman Moran."

I nodded to myself. "Take me to him."

"Wh-What?"

"Did I stutter?" I prompted him, drawing my handgun from its holster, "Take me to your boss now."

"O-Okay–Okay. Please, don't shoot me–I have a wife–I can't die."

"Calm your tits, kid. Just do what I want, and you'll see your wife again."

"Okay," he breathed, pushing himself to his feet, "Follow me."