The Bloodline System

Author's Note: Do Not Unlock

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After what felt like an eternity, the officers finished their checks and exited the ship.

---ss

"When you turned me in, did you know I was carrying your child?"

Zenith staggered as if struck, his face paling. "Our child? I didn't know, Karis. I swear I didn't know."

Tears shimmered in Karis's large, teal eyes, not of sorrow but of rage. "I lost our baby, Vlaid, in a maximum-security transport. Do you understand what that means? The conditions... they were merciless. No medical care, no compassion. Our child didn't stand a chance."

Zenith looked as if he might collapse, his hands clenching into fists. "Karis, I..."

"A life for a life, Vlaid," Karis hissed, her voice rising. "You will pay dearly."

Before the situation could escalate further, Gustav stepped between them, his demeanor authoritative yet calm. "No one is paying anything until we sort out the situation with the Rion. Where is it, Karis?"

Karis turned her gaze to Gustav, her expression shifting to one of mocking amusement. She laughed, a sound that echoed eerily against the metal walls. "The Rion? Oh, it's not with me."

Gustav frowned, his patience thinning. "What do you mean by 'it's not with you'?"

Her laughter grew louder, more unhinged, as she looked around at the bewildered faces. Then, abruptly, she stopped, her expression settling into a crazed calm. "That's all you get from me."

Gustav studied her, a sense of unease growing within him. Her laughter had been too raw, too deranged. It was clear that whatever had happened to the Rion, it was a piece of this puzzle that was deeply troubling.

"Karis, this isn't a game," Gustav said firmly. "We need to know about the Rion to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. It's dangerous."

Karis's lips twisted into a sardonic smile. "Dangerous doesn't begin to cover it, pretty boy. But you'll find out soon enough on your own."

The standoff in the warehouse seemed to freeze time as everyone processed the implications of Karis's words. The stakes were clearly higher than any of them had anticipated, and with Karis unwilling to reveal more, they were left with more questions than answers.

Gustav turned back to his group, nodding for them to continue securing the area and to keep both Zenith and Karis under close watch. "We need to figure out where the Rion could be. Who she has been in contact with since she is definitely not alone in this."

In the tense atmosphere of the warehouse, where revelations and confrontations had just unraveled the complex web of their mission, the man they knew as Eyhrum, still in the periphery of the unfolding drama, stepped forward.

His movement was casual, but his intentions were anything but.

"I want to try something," he said, his voice calm yet carrying an undercurrent of urgency.

Karis's reaction was immediate and visceral.

Her eyes widened in recognition, and as she opened her mouth to speak, possibly to call out his name or issue a warning but the man moved swiftly, covering her mouth with his hand and silencing her before any name could escape her lips.

"You traitor... You will show me where the Rion is," Eyhrum whispered in her ears.

The suddenness of his action caught everyone off-guard. Gustav, Aildris, and Endric turned to watch, their suspicion instantly flaring up, but before they could react, the person they knew as Eyhrum acted.

He pulled from his pocket a small, reflective object that looked like a mirror. With a deft flick of his wrist, he tossed it onto the hard floor.

The object shattered with a sharp clang, and from the broken fragments, a blinding flash of light erupted, enveloping him and Karis.

In an instant, both figures vanished, leaving behind only the twinkling shards of the broken mirror and a room full of stunned allies.

"What just happened?!" Aildris exclaimed, his voice echoing off the walls of the now-quiet warehouse.

"Where did they go?" Endric added, moving towards the spot where the two had stood, as if he might find some clue in the fragments that remained.

Before anyone could process the situation fully, the sound of heavy boots filled the air, and a squad of armored Triton guards stormed into the warehouse, their weapons drawn and faces set in grim determination.

The leader of the squad, an alien with a humanoid physique and glowing eyes with the insignia of a high-ranking officer, stepped forward.

"I'm Officer Eyhrum," he announced, scanning the room and taking stock of the situation.

This declaration caused a ripple of confusion among Gustav's group. Endric turned to Gustav, his expression a mix of disbelief and frustration. "What? That's Officer Eyhrum? Then who the hell was—"

Gustav slightly raised a hand to silence him, his face betraying none of the surprise that the others felt. "Our 'Eyhrum' was an imposter," he said simply.

"You knew about the fake Eyhrum?" Aildris inquired.

Gustav nodded, his gaze steady as he looked at each of them; "Yes, I had my suspicions. Yesterday, I met with a guard named Sael who brought me to the real Officer Eyhrum. It was then we devised a plan to see what this imposter was really up to." He voiced while his mind reeled back to yesterday's events.

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"We need to act quickly," Eyhrum stated. "He could compromise our retrieval operation. What do you propose, Gustav?"

Gustav leaned over the table, his mind clear. "While this is no longer officially any business of mine, I don't like people thinking they've successfully played me for a fool."

A smirk appeared on his face as he spoke with a cold tone.

"Let's set a trap. He believes he's successfully fooled my team, he'll likely make a move tomorrow, meanwhile we'll pretend to not to see it coming. Or rather I will..."

Eyhrum nodded, appreciating the strategy. "And we'll be ready to intercept him when he makes his move."

"No. He has to believe that his move worked. When he does make his move, we'll let him leave with a false sense of success," Gustav stated.

"I have a feeling we'll meet Karis tomorrow. If this plays out as planned, everything will be revealed and the Rion as well as your prisoner with be retrieved with added bonus," Gustav added.

"But what if he gets away?" Officer Eyhrum was a bit skeptical about the whole thing.

"He won't," Gustav stated confidently.

The plan was swiftly put into motion, with details hashed out and roles assigned. Triton operatives wouldn't be showing up until afterwards but they'll lurk around the vicinity.

This would ensure that Thalos still makes his move without being spooked.

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Falco, leaning against a nearby crate, crossed his arms. "So, this was like a sting operation? You expected him to make a move?"

"Exactly," Gustav confirmed. "We needed to know his endgame without alerting him that we were onto him."

Ria, who had been quietly processing the events, chimed in, "And all this time, we were just waiting to see when he'd reveal his hand. Clever. But how did you ensure he wouldn't just disappear with Karis without a trace?"

Gustav's lips curled into a slight smile at Ria's astute question. "Tracking him conventionally wouldn't work."

Aildris raised an eyebrow. "Did you put some kind of tracker on him?"

Shaking his head, Gustav explained, "No, a traditional tracker would have been useless given his abilities. Thalos moves between a certain type of dimension that blocks such attempts. Instead, I used a more personal method. His life sign is imprinted into my God Eyes."

"Life Signs?" Endric echoed with a surprised expression.

"You can see life Signs?"

Falco and Ria were clueless about what this meant but Endric and Aildris seemed to be well aware.

This was an ability Gustav acquired years back but they had no idea. Aildris and Endeic felt it made sense now since Gustav was able to link them and pinpoint their locations back in Planet Ozious. He never did tell them the details but now they had come to a realization.

"You mean you can sense where he is now?" Aildris inquired.

"Yes," Gustav replied. "Once I activate Life Signs tracking, I will be able to tell wherever he is... feel his presence and even see through him."

Falco whistled softly, impressed. "That's intense. So, you can actually feel him? Like, physically?"

"It's more like a persistent echo of his life force," Gustav elaborated. "I can tell you exactly what he's doing and see his environment through him. I can also feel the direction and distance enough to track him down again."

The group digested this information, the weight of Gustav's words sinking in. It reminded them once more of just how powerful Gustav was but also made them internally question why he didn't use it when Falco and Angy got taken.

"So, what's the next step?" Aildris asked, looking around at the rest of the group.

"Thalos, the person we've been calling 'Eyhrum,' wasn't just impersonating an officer; he was one of the fake guards that infiltrated the transport vessel to help Karis escape."

Endric leaned forward, his interest piqued. "So he was working with her from the inside? What's their endgame?"

"He was..." Gustav confirmed, his eyes scanning his group, ensuring he had their full attention.