We all got into the hover-car and rode to Melna’s home without incident, no trouble with the local militia or anything. And not at all a surprise, Melna insisted for Eve and me to come in with her.

  The residential section of Wesseran was domes on top of domes surrounded by domes, looking like a bunch of muted colored igloos all cramped up and on top of each other. It seemed like some condo or apartment complex as much as it looked like a regular subdivision, spiraling main streets leading to spiraling side streets leading to small neighborhoods or collections of domes. Melna excitedly led us towards her dome-home that seemed barely three times the size of my old apartment, but when your entire race was much shorter than humans, the size was probably cozy rather than cramped.

  No idea what the little vyrane was planning, I wasn’t worried about danger as I now had superpowers, but beyond that I was accompanied by the deadliest lifeform in the universe. I was sure if Melna was up to no good and wanted to rob us or something, her and anyone else involved in such a convoluted plot would find themselves regretting every decision they’ve ever made that led them to that point.

  Once inside the vyrane home, I had to duck through doorways as the ceiling was only a couple inches above my head. It might’ve been a cozy home for a vyrane, but for me it was far too small.

  The decoration inside was all rather plain, muted modern colors with the same egg/bowl/dome shape to all the furniture. The den was a couple steps down, making it all seem like a bowl, and then the couch in the center of the den was also like a cushy bowl—a bowl within a bowl.

  Melna gestured towards the couch, “Please, have a seat. I’ll get you guys some refreshments—uh, actually, I don’t know what’s safe for you to drink.” She cocked her head to the side, “Is water okay? Do you guys drink water?”

  I laughed and shook my head, “Don’t worry about it, we’re fine. Go on and get yourself a drink or snack if you want, you probably need it after running from those soldiers all morning.”

  Melna looked a little embarrassed, but bowed gratefully, then trotted off towards her tiny kitchen.

  Once we were alone, I turned to Eve, “So, what do you think this is about?”

  Eve shrugged, draping one leg over my lap, “Who knows? Probably want our help with some local problem.” She held her finger up in warning, “If she wants us to solve their militia difficulties, I say we stay out of it; don’t want our commanders to say we’re misbehaving, right?”

  “And if it’s something else?”

  “Something to pass the time I suppose, give you an adventure you’re so eager for.” Eve said.

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “And you’re not interested in an adventure?”

  Eve shook her head, “Not with the Empire.” She pulled at her battle armor just enough to reveal her neck, to show off the collar to her inhibitor field, “Not while this is on me.”

  I couldn’t imagine how much more fun this would all be if we weren’t forced to obey the Empire. I told Eve before how it would be better if we were working as vigilantes hunting down the Predazoans, and now more than ever I agreed with that sentiment.

  “Yeah, fair enough.”

  Melna came back eating a sandwich that appeared to be wrapped in red leaves, sitting down in an egg chair opposite us, smiling all the while like she was having so much fun.

  “You wanna maybe tell us what this is about, Melna?” I asked.

  The young vyrane waved her sandwich at me, “Gotta wait until my sister gets home. In the meantime, why don’t you tell me more about your special team? And I can tell you more about Vyrane from a civilian’s perspective.”

  From there, Melna started pelting us with dozens of questions about our team and our mission—things I didn’t think a normal high schooler would be asking. She asked how our special team was summoned by the Empire, if the normal military couldn’t handle the threat themselves. She asked about the separatists and if we knew anything more about the enemy, how they’d been increasing their numbers and assimilating the vyranes. She asked what all we were supposed to do in the capital to end the war, what our plans were—what Eve and I would do specifically in the capital. Most of her questions we couldn’t answer—some we simply didn’t know, others we couldn’t tell a random civilian. In the end, we hardly told her anything, but she didn’t seem deterred, instead rather excited over hosting some special forces team members in her house.

  Then she started answering our questions, but we didn’t have nearly as many as she had; we’d been debriefed plenty at what all was happening on Vyrane, although there were a few things about civilian life I was curious about. I asked if regular life had been disrupted much, and Melna admitted it seemed like the skeleton of life was all the same, but the details had been wasted away. At least in Wesseran, there wasn’t a shortage of resources—for now. Laws were being upheld, most businesses were still open, school had taken a big hit, and it seemed like a lot of government programs had been put on hold. The resistance really was acting like the local government, providing for its citizens, while also continuing the fight against the separatists, but there really wasn’t much they could do on their own. That’s why she was so interested in our team or what the Empire could do to help; it was a known fact amongst the citizens of Vyrane there was no way the resistance by itself could end the war.

  “So really, what do you think of the separatists? What do you think started this war?” I asked plainly.

  Melna looked up at the ceiling, her face scrunched up in thought, “From what I’ve heard other people say, it started with a grab for power, some traditionalists that were unhappy about joining in with the Empire. But the way they’ve held onto their power, the way they increase their forces so easily, most people are pretty sure they’re brainwashing people—even some Imperial soldiers that came down planet-side to help.” She explained.

  Then Melna thought it was all internal. Obviously, she would never be able to guess a Predazoan was involved—no one would really, but she didn’t even think it was someone from the Empire that came to take over the planet.

  “How do you think they’re doing the brainwashing?” I pressed.

  Melna shrugged, “People say there was some crazy technological jump that can’t really be explained. I think someone in the Vyrane government made some deals under the table with pirates or Imperial defectors to get the tech to brainwash people, to so drastically increase their military might.”

  “To what end, do you have any idea?”

  Melna shook her head, “Not at all. Take over Vyrane maybe? Or just kick out the Empire—be free of it I guess. Who knows, maybe they’re just using our planet as a testing ground for their new weapons before they head out to other Imperial worlds.”

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  Even then, Melna didn’t blame the Empire, thinking it was some vyrane who was rebelling against the Empire, using its own tech against it. Made me wonder how good Imperial propaganda was to the point Melna never even thought of blaming the Empire for everything that was going on.

  “Anything else?”

  Melna looked around, then seemed to grow a little embarrassed, “Well, I’ve heard the separatists are using ghouls in their army, but that sounds like supernatural nonsense.”

  “Ghouls?”

  Melna nodded, “Yeah, like dead people come back to life.”

  From what Melna was saying, it seemed regular citizens didn’t have any idea how the assimilation worked; they thought it was either brainwashing or some other kind of manipulation. The Empire probably kept that fact secret to not cause a panic—or maybe it was the resistance keeping the truth hidden. But I had to wonder if that was doing more harm than good honestly.

  What’s that old phrase, the devil’s greatest trick was getting people to stop believing he was real? Seemed like Beta-09 was quite the devil now.

  We spent over an hour throwing questions back and forth, and Eve eventually straight-up fell asleep against me—not at all excited for this new adventure. Finally, the front door opened, and Melna jumped up to go greet her sister.

  “Alright, I got your message and left work early like you asked, what exactly is—” Melna’s sister stopped talking when she saw me and Eve in the den.

  “Uh, hello there.” I offered awkwardly.

  Melna’s sister looked young as well, barely older than Melna really. Her skin was really pale grey, almost white, with bright red hair and eyes. Her horns were quite large, spiraling up a solid foot, and quite thick, with her hair done up in messy buns to frame her large horns. She was even curvier than Melna, and with how short she was, she actually did look like a full-blown short stack, at least a foot shorter than Eve—two feet shorter than me. She was wearing some dark business suit that made her look like an office lady, but with her dark makeup, it gave her a bit of a punk flair—like the cool office chick with an attitude.

  She took off her glasses and glared at Melna, “Why the hell are there two Imperial soldiers in our house?”

  Melna gestured to us, still looking quite excited, “Ally, that’s Adam and she’s Eve, part of a special forces infiltration team.” She turned back to us, “This is my sister, Almana.”

  Eve and I got off the couch to greet Almana with polite bows, “Pleased to meet you Almana, your sister wanted us to meet you for some reason.” I offered.

  Almana glared at Melna, “I wonder why…”

  Melna waved her off, “Before you say anything, remember how I told you those militia soldiers had been harassing me and my friends and ripped us off?”

  Almana sighed and nodded, “Yeah, and I told you I would take care of it—”

  “Three cycles ago.” Melna interrupted, then continued cheerfully, “Well, not to worry, I handled it.” She gestured to us, “And they helped me when I was in a tight spot during the getaway.”

  Almana sighed again, appearing like she was beyond sick of her sister’s antics, “Mel, seriously, I’m really trying here…”

  “I don’t need you to try, I just need you to listen; I might’ve found you the big break you’ve been looking for.”

  Almana didn’t look convinced at all, but she relented anyways and gestured to the den, “Go on and have a seat, I’ll join you in a minute—after I grab a stiff drink.”

  Melna smiled victoriously, then quickly settled back in her seat while Eve and I returned to the couch. Once Almana was back with what appeared to be a very long, Long Island iced tea, she sat down on the chair beside Melna and smiled without much humor.

  “Well, I suppose I should thank you for keeping my dumb kid sister out of trouble.” She gestured her drink towards us, “But really, what brings Imperial soldiers to my home?”

  I looked at Eve, confused by the awkward meeting, then turned back to Almana, “To be honest, I’m not really sure why your sister was so insistent we come back home and meet—”

  Melna waved me off quickly, “Tell her about your team and your mission and why you’re stuck in Wesseran.”

  Again, it wasn’t like we told Melna that much; maybe they were eager for excitement or just hope, but I relayed our story once more, keeping details to a minimum, telling Almana how our special forces team was specialized in infiltration, how we crashed landed outside Wesseran and couldn’t get in contact with the resistance leader, and how there wasn’t much we could do until we got into the capital city.

  While I relayed my story, I could see Almana slowly grew more interested, and she even forgot about her alcoholic beverage as her focus remained on me.

  “And how exactly would you free up the capital? Surely that’s going to be the hardest part of the mission?” Almana asked.

  I shook my head, “Actually, once we get into the capital, victory is basically guaranteed.” I gestured to Eve, “Eve here is a heavy weapon specialist, so once she’s actually inside the repulser shielding, it’s game over for the opposition.”

  “You plan to wipe them out completely, no prisoners or anything, just complete annihilation?” Almana inquired.

  Eve nodded once, “That’s my specialty.”

  Almana grew thoughtful then, looking over at her sister, then back to us, “Then I assume that means there’s really no hope for a diplomatic resolution; whatever started this war and the separatist movement, it’s an all-or-nothing gambit at this point.”

  “Basically.” I confirmed.

  Almana looked into my eyes, like she was searching for a hidden secret in my words, “And this resistance contact you’ve been unable to connect with, what was his name?”

  I smiled awkwardly, “Sorry, but I really don’t think we should—”

  “Berron was his name; says he won’t coordinate with us after the death of his regular Imperial contact.” Eve answered for me.

  I looked at Eve, surprised she was willing to open up to this random person, but she looked at me with a level gaze, like she knew where all this was headed.

  Almana scoffed, pulling my attention back to her, “Berron’s an ass, can’t believe he wouldn’t at least meet you to verify the validity of your mission. No one’s going to win the war without taking chances.”

  Suddenly, it clicked for me too, and I realized this wasn’t just some random woman before us.

  “You’re part of the resistance.” I confirmed.

  Melna smiled and clapped her hands together, “Now he gets it.”

  Eve patted my knee affectionately, “He’s slow sometimes, but quite adorable.”

  I turned to glare at Eve, “You knew?”

  Eve rolled her shoulders in a lazy shrug, “It was a reasonable possibility.”

  I sighed and shook my head, then turned back to Almana, “So, are you willing to help us out? There’s really nothing our team can do to help your planet unless we can get into the capital.”

  Almana nodded, “Exactly, no reason to sit on resources which could prove useful when there’s nothing the resistance can do by itself. At the very least, no reason I can’t meet up with your command, confirm their legitimacy.”

  I grew hopeful for a moment, but then realized some of our other soldiers met with resistance members before, and that all went nowhere, “Could you actually help us though? We heard Berron was a resistance leader, and we believe we require some commander to get us through the secret channels leading to the capital.”

  Almana waved my concerns off quickly, “You just need someone to connect you with Ferro in Sesamna right? At least that’s who’s in charge up there.”

  My eyes grew wide as Almana name dropped exactly who we needed to meet, “Yeah, that’s it exactly.”

  Almana smiled, pleased, “I’m not a captain like Berron or Ferro, but as a lieutenant, I can at least connect you with Ferro.”

  “You would do that for us?” I asked.

  Almana held up a hand to stop me, “Provided my team can meet with your commanders, verify your authenticity, then sure, we could escort you to Sesamna to get you into the capital.”

  I couldn’t believe it, randomly helping a street rat in the alleyway of a movie theatre led to us meeting with someone in a leadership position for the resistance. It was such good luck it almost seemed impossible, but with how shit my luck had been lately, maybe I was finally due for a win.

  “That’s great, we can set it up as soon as you’re ready; when were you thinking?” I asked.

  Almana shrugged, “People dying every day during the war, the sooner the better. How’s tomorrow morning?”

  My smile grew even wider, “That’s perfect, we can contact—”

  I turned to Eve who had her communicator out, “Already on it, darling.”

  From there, we worked out a few more logistics, getting a response from Seash right away to confirm the meeting at our hotel. Everything worked out great, so we left the little dome-home in a cheerful mood, getting waved off by Almana and her wildly excited sister.

  As Eve and I rode back in the hover-car service, I had to wonder if we would be admonished for stepping outside our roles once more. But again, as we proved time after time, the mission would never succeed without me and Eve working together. Made my happy mood drain away when I realized how I was working and having incredible success for the Empire that had us bound in chains, almost made me wonder if we made the right decision—if we shouldn’t have just stayed in our lane.

  It was all well and good to think that way now, but as Almana said, people were dying every day during the war, so with that in mind, I realized we made the right call after all.