Adjucanis: Barracks
It was the night of a new cycle when Adjucanis crept out of the barracks.
Clouds tracked overhead, a faint gray against the starlight-dotted sky. The city shone with a dull, blue-tinted light as the Warden quietly sprinted from shadow to shadow, seeking shelter from any prying eyes or patrols as he zigzagged to the easterly gate. The clack of Guarphaord claws and talons against the pavement pursued Adjucanis through the streets and alleys. With no moon to follow overhead, he was unsure how much time passed before he found himself crouched behind a shuttered fruit stand, staring at the four guards posted at the gate. They seemed extraordinarily alert tonight, as their ears twitched in the weak breeze, and they continually adjusted their grips on their whips and cannons.
The hot breath on his neck was a total shock.
"You're never going to get through there unseen."
Years of training kept Adjucanis from shouting, turning, and slashing his claws against the interloper's face. He recognized the voice: Avalroth.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing? You've been scurrying through the streets like a fresh cadet coming back from the pub," she said, her voice soft in Adjucanis' ear. "You wouldn't know stealth if it danced on a harpsichord, kicked you in the head, and sang ‘I’m the stealthiest Warden in all of Sareste.’”
"Go away."
"I can't do that, I'm afraid. You've aroused my curiosity and I intend to get satisfaction for it."
Adjucanis finally turned around and saw the smug expression on Avalroth’s face he expected. Her carefully trimmed eyebrows arched in amusement, and her whiskers twitched with anticipation. He'd seen the same look when they ambushed a Maroe encampment the month before.
"I need to get through the gate.”
"That I assumed. Why?"
"That is my business."
"I may want to help you and make it my business if I know what it is."
"I don't need your help."
"You think a flaming sack of dung just happened to land in the middle of that last patrol when they were poking around your dumpster? You must give me some credit."
Adjucanis frowned. His claws ticked against his palm as he considered that.
"I have sworn to extinguish the Titan of Ephraa," he said.
Avalroth's eyes widened, glinting in what little light came from the dark heavens. She waited a moment, seemingly studying him as she leaned in closer. Finally, she sighed.
"You're serious."
"Yes."
"I would have thought you'd seen enough of that thing back in Ephraa," she said, slumping back against the cold metal wall. "How do you intend to kill it?"
Adjucanis returned his gaze to the four guards. Avalroth leaned forward, waiting for an answer.
"You don't have a plan, do you?"
The other Guarphaord stayed silent. Avalroth pushed his shoulder, quietly demanding an answer.
“Now is the time for leaving, not for questions,” he said.
"Are you that determined to kill yourself?"
Adjucanis turned, fixing Avalroth in place with a glare as sharp as his claws.
"That monster cannot be allowed to burn so brightly on this planet. It is evil. It must be extinguished before others are killed."
With another sigh, Avalroth bent forward into a crouch. She waved her hand back down the dark alley. "Follow me, then, if you're so set on this fool’s adventure. You won't make it far in the desert on foot."
Avalroth led Adjucanis through a network of alleys and narrow roads he never knew existed. They slunk through the piles of dust and refuse most glowing embers of Filistion never saw, and by the time they arrived at the speeder-pool, he knew it would be days before his fur was clean again.
"See that speeder over there? The one on the far left?"
Adjucanis followed her pointed finger, and spotted a small, single-rider speeder propped up against a stack of crates.
“They think it's broken, but it's not. I rewired the ignition so only I could start it," Avalroth said, her voice filling with the joy of sharing a secret and showing off her skills. "It's the fastest one here, because Saffericious reworked the drive core and upped the inertia dampers. Still hasn't figured out what I did to the ignition, though."
Sharp, bright teeth flashed in the night as Avalroth smiled.
"Anyway. Here's the key. Take my speeder. It'll get you out of here fast enough to slip the patrols—and lose the titan if you come to your senses."
She pressed a small, cold piece of metal into Adjucanis' palm. Her touch was quick, fleeting, and when Adjucanis turned to object, she was gone.
"I must learn how she does that," he muttered to himself.
Adjucanis managed to reach the modified speeder without alerting the few techs working the nightfall shift. Straddling the machine, he slid the custom key home and turned.
The engine came to life, bellowing and snarling like a trapped tiger. It reverberated off the hard, gilded buildings of Filistion and reached the ears of every patrol in the sector.
Somewhere, Adjucanis knew, Avalroth was laughing at him.
Shouts came from the techs, directing the first patrol on the scene. The Wardens sprinted across the courtyard, the medics among them already conjuring a bright, clear light over Adjucanis. Twisting the throttle, Adjucanis felt the speeder shudder so violently it seemed ready to tear itself apart, and then it shot forward so fast the air tore at his eyes.
He fought the controls as viciously as he did Izugross in their many battles. For all his tampering, Saffericious did not improve the air brakes or increase steering power to match what the drive core could do. Adjucanis didn’t so much steer the speeder through corners as vaguely aim it and hope he didn’t ricochet off a pillar. Before he had full control of the crazed machine, three patrols were in hot pursuit, and searchlights from the city's walls tracked the streets with pools of illumination. He knew the gates would have slammed shut by this point, triggered by the general alarm. Somewhere, his own phalanx of Wardens were streaming out of their barracks, grabbing their whips and sprinting for their stations. His time was running short.
Sliding through a wide turn, Adjucanis found himself on Amigen's Boulevard, the wide, straight street running down Filistion's North-South axis. He pinned the throttle, reaching new heights of eye-watering speed, and prayed for inspiration.
The golden wall rose, growing taller every second as Adjucanis rocketed down the boulevard. Through aching, squinted eyes he could see the small shapes of a patrol—no, a phalanx—gathered before the southerly gate. He couldn’t barrel through them. At these speeds he couldn’t maneuver. The gate was closed.
Inspiration came to him: over the wall.
Adjucanis Bent time. Although the speedometer said 147, the speeder was moving no faster than a purposeful walk. He dismounted, sprinting toward the phalanx of Wardens, who may have been encased in ice for as slowly as they moved.
Claws glowing, Adjucanis sliced at the air. Trails of emerald Augmented hex began floating behind him. He kept at it, ignoring the glacially slow pace of his comrades running toward him, and hearing the hollow, low-pitched, drawn-out growl from the approaching speeder.
He built a mesh of hex slashes, leaping, flipping, and twisting to finish his work. It had to be enough. He was out of time.
Chest burning as he sprinted back to the speeder, which was listing slightly to one side as it began to realize it had no rider, Adjucanis threw his legs over it and clutched the controls.
He made it just in time.
Bent time ended, and the speeder’s howl boxed his ears like a mace. It bucked, wove, and Adjucanis fought to straighten its course in time to meet his makeshift ramp. The emerald hex held under the tremendous speed, and the speeder blasted into the air. The ground fell away, and the wall seemed to lean forward for him, urging the Guarphaord to sail over it.
Then it seemed to lean back, falling into place.
Adjucanis began falling too.
Gritting his teeth, he fired the inertia damper.
To his comrades below, it was as if a skyburst bomb detonated directly above them. Air pressure tore at their skin and fur. The roar ruined their ears. The sheer force stunned them all. Windows shattered and dust engulfed the entire phalanx.
When it cleared, and they looked up, the sky held only a thin, fading line of purple light arcing over the wall’s ramparts.
As the Wardens stared at the sky in a sense of wonder, Adjucanis now stared at the approaching hard earth with an equal sense of horror. The drive core glowed a vibrant violet as he charged the dampers for another blast. When the Sareste-bound comet seemed ready to crater the unyielding, hard-packed sands outside Filistion’s walls, Adjucanis fired the damper.
"Amigen, let me stay amongst the glowing embers of this land," Adjucanis shouted over the speeder’s scream and explosion of air.
His frantic prayer was answered. The blast spun the speeder through four full rotations as it skidded away from the city. Sand, sky, walls, and the horizon blended together while Adjucanis wrestled for control. He jammed his claws down, leaving calligraphic swirls of Augmented hex behind him as the speeder shuddered to a stop.
Control reasserted, Adjucanis did not look back at the now-awake city he had once served so faithfully. He leaned forward, chest against the speeder's control panel, and gave it full throttle. The Titan of Ephraa did not look back on what it left in its wake. Neither would he.