Chapter 11: The Hold
The towering doors of the Hold closed behind Arbus with a resounding thud as he walked over to Yome and Bridge.
They waited for him to catch up before moving forward again. Arbus noticed Yome's brief but intense stare on him before she glanced away.
Bridge's meanwhile surveyed his surroundings with bewilderment.
"Wow..." He muttered, his eyes raking over the room excitedly.
The ground floor of the Hold was a large space with glistening ceiling soaring hundreds of meters above them, vast enough for even a Gold Mornan to move freely without constraint.
The room's pristine walls reflected the lights around them, giving their surface an otherworldly glow. And this was merely the first among the hundreds of floors that comprised the colossal structure.
Arbus could feel a slight pulse coming from the walls and ceiling. He didn't have a Heart Shard or soul essence in the conventional sense like his father, so it was hard for him to distinguish what it actually was.
From Yome's surprised reaction, Arbus could tell if had something to do with Heart-shards.
He glanced around as well, his eyes sweeping over the Administrative Renegades moving about and heading up and down the transparent shafts that lined the walls.
They were a large department in the Renegade organisation that encompassed countless jobs and positions often unrelated to combat.
As a half-Tarokian, his senses were far more powerful than those of most species. He could see further than a monarch bird, smell better than a Howler, and hear better than Tabbits.
Which was why it was easy for him to notice the agitated states and expressions of the Renegades as they moved with hurried steps.
'It seems everyone here already knows what happened.' Arbus thought.
His eyelids drooped slightly as he followed Yome, who began moving again. Bridge followed along slowly as he openly gawked at the large reception counters filling the room. They were all crowded around by Renegades hailing from different species.
From the look of things, they were arguing over missions as they appeared on the digital quest board behind the attendants.
Just like the last time he'd been here, the scene reminded Arbus of the adventurer guilds in the novel stories his dad used to tell him.
There was even a section of the large room designed like a brightly lit bar and diner where the Renegades could lounge around while they waited.
According to his master Trip, the first floor of the Hold served as a Quest station, where Renegades could freely take on various missions around the star system, and sometimes beyond, as they came. This line of work was filled with mostly new stage 3 Renegades trying to earn enough merit to rank up from captain to Commander.
It doubled as a way for them to train and master their newfound strength while also earning rewards based on the missions assigned.
Arbus's ears perked up as he began overhearing whispered conversations from a group of stage 3 Renegades eating boisterously in a booth as they discussed among themselves.
Usually, it would be impossible to listen in on a conversation between two Heart Shard users at stage 2 or above. They were all capable of isolating sound around them with their powerful essence.
But while they were in the Hold, it was useless to attempt it, since their essence usage would almost immediately be negated by the Artificial Intelligence of the tower.
Going against the laws of the Hold for something like that was pointless, so most people simply resorted to whispering.
"It still feels unreal," the blue Mornan stage three muttered with a grim expression. "An entire planet... Wiped out just like that."
The only Remarta among them snarled as she took another large bite of the Taaer thigh on her plate, her tail swinging side to side above her. "Those humans, they're truly the definition of scum! Trash like them shouldn't have been allowed to exist in the first place."
The other blue Mornan's expression contorted slightly as he hurriedly chided his friend. "Hey, be careful will ya? Do you want to get cursed by that guy again? You're lucky it wasn't a serious reaction last time."
The Remarta's snarl deepened as she grimaced. "I don't even care anymore! I'm so tired of tiptoeing around these monsters. Look at what they did to such a beautiful planet."
Her lips quivered slightly. "I have a friend who traveled there to become a merchant years ago. Now he's most likely dead. And we won't even be able to find out until all the bodies are properly identified months from now!" She snapped as she slammed down on her table.
The first blue Mornan sighed as he leaned back. "It's already happened, so there's nothing we can do besides mourn the dead, recover, and grow stronger." He shook his head somberly. "I'm just thankful that the head commanders were able to stop him before he went on another rampage. My family is on the Green moon, so I'm happy he never got the chance to reach it."
Arbus's expression didn't change when he heard that the council took credit for killing Ronin. It wasn't the first time they had done something like this in order to hide the truth. They had done the same when his father had saved a Tarokian village from another human at the cost of revealing his identity.
He didn't care if he got credited for the act or not. After all, he would never be praised for it.
Listening to the stories of people that lost loved ones on that planet made his heart ache even more.
Yome eventually led Arbus and Bridge toward a adjustable booth in the diner section of the hall as she took a seat.
"Someone will be here to receive us soon." she said as she rested her arm on the table and leaned against it. "We have to wait until she comes,"
Bridge quickly sat in the seat across from her while Arbus filed in next to him.
"Can we order something!?" Bridge asked in an excited tone as he moved to pick up the menu.
"No." She said, not even sparing him a glance.
"Right... We're still on a mission," he said with a deflated expression at Yome's blatant refusal.
All three of them suddenly tensed up as they felt the eyes of multiple Renegades turn in their direction.
"Do you think that's a human or half-human?" came one of the voices of the Renegades at the lounge.
"The people escorting him don't seem that strong, so probably half-human."
"We can't know for sure until we confirm it." One of the blue Mornans said as he rose to his feet.
"If it's a human, then I want to be the one to beat him up first. Even if it's a half-human, it doesn't change anything!"
"Stop dreaming and get in line."
"Why isn't he in chains??"
"Who cares, he can't do much anyway."
The voices of the stage three Renegades around them kept rising steadily as they stood up, arguing amongst themselves on who would get to deal with Arbus. It was clear that all of them were looking for someone to relieve their anger on after the Terytl-B incident.
Yome shot to her feet in alarm as she stood in front of Arbus. "Stop right there!" She said to none of them in particular.
"Oi, Vanguard." An aTer growled as he stared down at her with a darkened expression on his left face. "Why don't you and your knight move along for a bit so we can have a chat with your prisoner."
"This isn't a prisoner! This person has been escorted here by the direct orders of the Sentinel."
"The Sentinel!?" shouted one of the veteran stage three warriors. A large white mornan with shoulder length hair. "And what exactly would he want from a half-human?" he asked skeptically.
Yome's expression fell as the the Renegades around them moved even closer. The receptionist and guards in the hall didn't seem to care much about the commotion either.
Just then, a female Remarta with glistening sapphire skin, honey-colored eyes, and flawless raven-dark hair stepped out of a lift and looked over.
"What's going on here?"
The entire room turned to face her upon hearing her voice. Her spade-tipped tail swayed hypnotically behind her as she walked toward the lounge with a frown forming on her beautiful face.