The meeting had been a long time coming, and Kalazan wanted to think of everything he could to prevent it from going more sideways than he knew it already would. Gib was involved too, but he was concerned with ensuring their facts were all together before involving the other three. It took the past year to do all the research, hunt down leads, read history books and more. They didn’t have a complete picture, but they had enough to get started.

  The plan was that Gib would hide out in the attunement lounge that was next to the training room while Kalazan and the others went straight there. Kalazan had disguised the meeting as an opportunity to see some new things he had bought for both the training room and his emporium, as well as eat some snacks and catch up. In reality, they were having the meeting in the training room as it had some protective barriers around the exterior so that if Jarris had a meltdown after seeing Gib there might be less collateral damage.

  While he hoped that the purpose of the meeting would outweigh old grudges, Kalazan was still unsure. There were a lot of old wounds and grudges that were going to be dug up in a matter of seconds as a surprise. Everything was ready, Gib was in position, and their three old friends had arrived; they were as prepared as they could be. Dalma led them through a different entrance to the training room, where Kalazan was ready to greet them with good food and drink.

  “My friends, it’s so good to have you here again. I have so missed us being all together everyday like in the old days.” Kalazan started.

  “Didn’t we all just have dinner like three weeks ago at Slop?” Jarris said.

  Iggy nodded his head furiously. “Yeah, Jarris was telling us about Helena actually being easier to get along with this time around.” He signed.

  “Yes, well anyway, it’s nice to have you here.”

  “K, what’s this about?” Hal chimed in.

  “What do you mean? A man can’t have his friends over for some good food and to look at some cool new toys I’ve collected?” Kalazan formed fists and talked a little faster and louder, growing frustrated that his plans had already gone sideways.

  The three old friends looked at each other and shrugged.

  “I like food,” Iggy signed.

  They made their way over to the small buffet table that Kalazan’s staff had prepared and picked through the entrees, sides, and finger foods. Their plates were piled high as they took their seats in the plush lounge chairs that had been brought in for the presentation Kalazan had prepared. Their eclectic collector host started by showing off some of the newest technology in plasma weaponry, which included projectile and melee devices alike. The team munched away at their food when the presentation took a turn.

  “Next, I’d like to show you some interesting images an associate took during an investigation that occurred on both Tulian and Radan.”

  The screen in front of them showed a still image of a few buildings in the middle of a desert on Tulian that were arranged to form some kind of compound. The next pictures were zoomed in from a very high altitude and showed a black ship that looked like a flyable box truck along with what appeared to be Leonids of varying colored fur loading it. Further images in the slideshow depicted dead Leonid corpses with unfamiliar insignia embroidered into patches on their arms. Even more, the symbols from the arms of the corpses were also found in other pictures taken of the inside walls of the buildings. The slideshow eventually made it to the underground lab and everything Gib found there, including images of the strange purple blood on the floor and the nest structure in the corner of the other.

  “You’re into some weird stuff, K.” Jarris said.

  “Yeah, I guess this is cool and all, but what does this matter?” Hall added.

  The two looked to Iggy to make sure they didn’t miss any signs from him, but he was motionless. He was pale, though, all the color having left his lips and skin.

  “Ig, are you okay?” Hal asked.

  Iggy slowly shook his head and swallowed, gulping down the reality he was finding himself in.

  “K, where did you say your associate found these again?” Iggy signed.

  “These were taken at two separate facilities, on Tulian and Radan respectively. Tiny colony planets, but in Union space nonetheless.” Kalazan replied with a tone that ensured that he knew Iggy had already caught on to the situation.

  Iggy was by far the smartest member of the team. A true bona-fide genius recognized the galaxy over. His inventions and work in alchemy led to some of the greatest discoveries in history, before he was even a Master level contractor. His battlefield expertise was largely unknown, though. The team he spent most of his life with knew he was a force to be reckoned with. The curse that Iggy was plagued with, however, was a birth defect that left him without the ability to hear. Iggy came from a life of squalor, and even though healing was available to all for little to no cost, no amount of healing magic could form the missing pieces of the auditory system that was never there to begin with. It was because of his legendary genius that the team often looked to him for confirmation of technical or academic knowledge.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “What is it, Ig?” Jarris asked, his worry beginning to grow with every moment of Iggy’s hesitation.

  “I… K, is your source credible?” Iggy was sweating; the motions of his signs were fast.

  “Yes, in fact, I asked him to join us in case you had questions for him.” Kalazan gestured to the door that led to his attunement office.

  Iggy, Hal, and Jarris turned around to find Gib Gibbin standing next to a slit in the wall where the door had just closed. Jarris slowly stood to face him, Hal watching him closely.

  “Hey guys, long time, sorry for the dramatic reveal.” Gib said nervously.

  Jarris walked toward him, his expression blank. Neither Gib nor Hal, who was closely trailing him, could read his feelings.

  “You went to the funeral?” Jarris asked, close enough for a handshake or a punch, no one could tell.

  “I did.” Gib answered, knowing he was speaking of his Sister’s funeral, one of Gib’s most important relationships in his life.

  “I wasn’t there, I couldn’t.” Jarris’ voice quivered.

  “I was there for both of us,” Gib said softly.

  Jarris took Gib in for a big hug. The human was small compared to the towering Pantheran, who was large even for his species. Jarris always had a horrible temper. He was quick to anger from early in his life, and that came through during some of the worst times in the team’s time as active contractors. There was one pivotal moment in his life, though, that both escalated his inability to control his anger and made him more empathetic at the same time . His sister had died many years ago, and he couldn’t face the pain it had caused him.

  Jarris collected himself and stepped back from his embrace with Gib. His tears of sadness dried, and his smile from seeing a long-lost friend turned into a frown of anger. The punch to his gut came with lightning speed. Gib expected the blow, but had let his guard down because of the tender way Jarris had approached him.

  “There it is. K, you wanna handle this?” Hal called out to the team’s healer.

  “I think it’s for the best that I don’t get involved here.” Kalazan looked on, peeking around Jarris’ large stature in front of him.

  “Thank you for going to her funeral, you useless sack of shit.” Jarris spat as he walked away.

  Gib was in the fetal position on the floor, holding his abdomen trying to regain his breath. Hal crouched down to pat him on the shoulder to give him some comfort, but also to deliver a message.

  “Hopefully, that’s the only one you get. Also, good to see you buddy, real long time.” Hal continued to rub his shoulder.

  Gib rolled onto his back and nodded to acknowledge Hal, though he wasn’t sure if his insides had exploded or not and was waiting for death to catch up to him. After a few more moments of nursing his pain, he got up with the help of Hal and made his way up to the screen where Kalazan was still standing.

  “So, good to see you all again. Yes, I went to these sites, and our fact base was compiled by me with some additional information filled in by K.” Gib started.

  “What tests have you run on the liquid and the bio-structure you found at the two sites?” Iggy signed quickly.

  “The blood came back as inconclusive initially. One of K’s men did some additional genetic sequence comparison and found that it is a match with Vortani. The structure, I believe, is one of their nests. Both of the specific parts of the lab where I found these samples were in a locked vault, very far underground.”

  “Vor-what?!” Hal yelled.

  “Vortani, that’s correct.” Gib finished the word for his old friend.

  Jarris and Hal looked to Iggy, who simply nodded instead of actually saying anything, which was more than enough for them. They turned back to Gib for more information.

  “The Vortani have returned, or they never left; I don’t know. I need your help to find and destroy them.” Gib stood confident, determined, hopeful that his once old friends would help him.

  “I am planning to help him, and I hoped that you three would join us, one last time.” Kalazan said, stepping forward, closer to his oldest friends.

  Iggy stood up first, with almost no hesitation. “What do I tell the team? I can’t do both this and go with them without raising suspicion.”

  “I have some ideas. My best one, I think, will be to retire from active duty but stick around and help with the custom equipment with the Stock boy. But we can work that out later. What’s important now is to know if you are with us,” Kalazan said.

  “I’ve always wanted to fight Leonids, the ‘superior species’. They’re just a cat like me.” Jarris stood up to stand with the other three. “Are you ready to run with us though Gib? We aren’t a bunch of detectives; we’re the crew that gets sent in to clear out the place before you softies get there.”

  “I may not have trained as hard, but I can still hold my own just fine.” Gib opened his coat pocket to show his pistol, that everyone knew what it was capable of. The old Arcane Operators were strong, and their powers were terrible in the sight of their enemies. But no single ability was as dominant and final as Gib’s iridescent ray.

  “Hal?” Kalazan spoke up.

  The team looked at the buff Piggan sitting in his seat with a platter of food and a thousand-yard stare. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked up at them.

  “What do I tell Peg? The kids? Dad’s off to fight a new galactic threat, foil some sinister plot for old times’ sake? We’re old, guys. What do you think is going to happen? We are going to raid Leonid bases until we kill all the Vortani they have been hiding for the last two hundred years?” Hal was talking fast, his emotions building until he stood up, unable to contain himself.

  “They killed my boy! Or did you forget? Tonk went on a mission for that stupid Senator for that stupid secret society and got himself killed.” Hal’s feelings exploded with anger, then crashed hard into sobs of sadness when remembering his dead son. He fell to his knees. Memories of Tonk crippled him mentally and physically.

  Kalazan crouched down and held out his hand to his old friend. “Help me avenge him.”