Chapter 65: Deal

Ret

That time... That was when Naso was reviewing the mechas to make sure everything was fine. Had he committed an oversight of some kind? Or maybe someone snuck in and messed with Romera? I doubted Naso would purposefully sabotage me. He was my right hand man. We had known each other for years.

But if not him, who else could it have been? I trusted my team, we were like a family. Each of us would have laid down our lives for the others. Yet, someone had tampered with my mecha. Someone had intended to kill me.

I watched as Varia carefully worked on the black box, her brow furrowed in concentration. Sarudei stood next to her brother, Night, both of them watching me with wary eyes. It was a justified caution. After all, I was a commander from the enemy forces suddenly offering my help. It must have been hard to trust me.

I felt a pang of regret. I wished things had been different. I wished we hadn't been forced to fight each other. But Yusan and his corrupt leadership had forced our hands. If he wasn't so brutal, the rebellion wouldn't have been this strong. We were all just trying to survive, to protect those we cared about.

The silence in the room was broken by Varia, "I think I got it."

We all turned towards her, the tension in the room palpable. She was holding a small screen that displayed a list of names and codes. It was the log of everyone who had accessed my mecha.

As she scrolled through the list, I watched over her shoulder, my heart pounding in my chest. Most of them were Naso. He was the one I trusted the most to work on it, after all.

"Naso," I breathed, my voice barely a whisper.

Varia looked up at me, her eyes wide. "Was Naso not supposed to have access to your mecha?"

I shook my head, my mind reeling. "No, he was. But he's... he was my right hand man."

And just like that, everything fell into place. The unexpected systems failure, the near fatal crash, the missing black box. It was Naso. He had betrayed me. He had tried to kill me.

But why? What reason could he have had? We were friends, we had fought side by side, trusted each other with our lives. And yet, he had turned against me.

I felt a wave of betrayal, but more than that, I felt a deep sense of loss. I had lost a friend, a comrade. And now, it seemed, I had an enemy. 

My gaze hardened as I looked back at the screen. Did my best friend really betray me? Maybe Yusan forced him to aid him in his assassination attempt on my life. No, if that were the case, he would've come to me. At least I would to think he would rely on me. 

I wasn't sure what to think about all of this. Only by talking to Naso, could I clear it up. If I asked Yusan, he might tell me lies. But Naso had probably left back to Titanos after our failed landing on this planet.

I needed to get a ship that could warp me back to my home universe. But Yusan was the only one on this planet with that capability.

A grim determination settled over me as I considered my options. I knew how to operate one of Yusan's warp-capable ships - I had commanded a space battleship for years. But obtaining one was the real challenge.

My eyes flicked to Sarudei. She was watching me, her expression unreadable. I knew she didn't fully trust me. But she was my best chance to obtain a ship. If anyone had the resources and the cunning to steal from Yusan, it was her.

"I need your help," I confessed, meeting her gaze. "I need to get back to my universe. I need to confront Naso."

Sarudei's surprise was evident as she responded, "And why would I help you do that?"

"If you do, I'll vouch for your world. I am friends with Queen Xilonem. She could grand Edesia greater autonomy."

Sarudei huffed. "We don't want autonomy, we want independence."

"We can't let this planet leave our empire. Doing so could trigger as cascade effect."

She smirked. "Better for us."

Night nodded.

I sighed. Why did I think that I could bargain with these people? We might've been working together, but we were still enemies.

"Is there anything else you want or need?" I asked, attempting a different approach. "Technology, resources, aid in rebuilding after the war?"

Sarudei shook her head, her expression stubborn. "We don't want your charity. We don't want your control. We want freedom."

I could see the determination in her eyes, the unyielding spirit that had led her people in this rebellion. I couldn't help but admire it, even as it frustrated me. 

"Then what can I possibly offer you?" I asked, exasperated. "What can convince you to help me?"

Sarudei was silent for a moment, her gaze thoughtful. Then, she spoke, her voice quiet but firm. "Promise me that you'll help us take down Yusan. Not just with your information or your mecha, but in person if it comes down to it. Stand with us in the fight."

"That's a given," I replied instantly. "I have a score to settle with Yusan myself."

"Good," she said, a small smile playing on her lips. "Then, we have a deal. Although, I want to be the one to finish him off."

Varia sighed. "You also seek revenge on this man?"

She nodded. "Of course. He killed my family members and best friend. I plan to make him pay, dearly."

Yusan was known for his extreme, yet effective method of taking over worlds by force. A lot of what he did wasn't entirely know to the rest of us commanders and higher up we knew his methods were unsavory. Despite that, the high ups didn't put a stop to him. His methods were far too effective in subjugating worlds for them to hurt their golden hen.

"Alright, you can land the final blow," I said. "Just be careful."

"I know. He isn't one to who can be underestimated. What you told us about his abilities made that even more clear."

It was far from ideal, but it was the best I could get given the circumstances. I had to trust Sarudei, just as she was reluctantly placing her trust in me. 

As I looked around the room at the faces of my newfound allies, I couldn't help but feel a surge of hope. We were in this together, united by a common enemy. Yusan had made powerful enemies, and his downfall was only a matter of time. 

The thought brought a grim smile to my face. Naso, Yusan, they would pay for their betrayal. And I would be there to see it happen.