Sephra didn't lie when she said she had an identical spaceship. Although it was a secret that the rebels stole from the Empire, she didn't particularly feel guilty about revealing this information to the others. Later on, the rebels didn't need to steal more ships; they simply copied the design and began manufacturing them with the help of stolen factories.
She knew the interior of the ship like the back of her hand. The security systems had been slightly altered, and the guards were patrolling in different places, but none of it posed any significant challenge to her. She knew exactly where the secret passages were. She merely had to open one of them. She had a lot of time to learn which led where. There was one that went straight to the prison level, although she wasn't sure which cell Angron was in. The wall was divided into sections by regular depressions.
Sephra stopped at one of them and carefully slid the tip of her finger in. It was a very tiny button, not easy to find even for an experienced person. But when she heard the soft click, she smiled. The wall slid aside, and she hurried inside because she knew how the passage worked. It stayed open for a total of ten seconds before closing again.
It was pitch black, so Sephra felt her way forward. She didn't have any source of light, but she wasn't concerned.
One thought was constantly on her mind—the warning Solar gave her before they parted ways. "It won't be a pretty sight."
The darkness did her no favors because it slowly but surely brought forth old memories. Angron had killed those two, and everything that happened afterward...
Sephra and the pilot had been very close friends, which was why she did everything she could to help him. That's why the man had ended up on one of her teams. She wouldn't have let Angron work in a place where he could have been a problem. She knew the deep pain that resided in her friend. Even back then, it had been hard to dissuade him from suicidal thoughts.
Sephra had an almost manic desire to see Angron recover, although it was theoretically impossible.
She took a deep breath, banished all those dark thoughts from her mind, and continued moving through the darkness until something else came to her mind.
The weapon was not with her. There must be an armory down there, and Quilen most certainly kept the right weapon because he knew precisely what Angron's problem meant. He had known him for a long time as well. Sephra and the Rebel Leader had both spent some time on Shouta when they were young, and they both had a good relationship with Angron and his family. At least for a while. And not to mention that Angron's father knew everything and worked for the Leader. Quilen was well aware of what he risked when he brought the pilot on board his ship.
Her hand finally encountered a wall from the front. She felt for the button and was momentarily blinded by the small amount of light in the prison corridor. As she stepped out, she looked around and listened. Eerie silence reigned, apart from the faint, almost inaudible scream that came from somewhere in the distance.
She spent a few seconds deciding from which direction the sound came. It was from the right. The armory was in that direction, reserved for the case if someone broke out down here, and they needed to stop them.
Sephra quickly noticed that, except for Angron, there was no one else on the prison level. Quilen knew exactly what he was doing, and it was wise to bring everyone up. He probably either sent them back to work or tasked them with pursuing the Imperials, like Daron. Guards weren't needed anymore. They would be too terrified of the pilot. There wouldn't have been anyone beside him for a long time.
Even Sephra herself knew only one person more fearsome than Angron in his transformed state.
In front of the armory, she stopped and then kicked the door open with determination. She immediately found what she was looking for, picked up the weapon, and examined it. It was loaded.
Taking a deep breath, she turned and headed toward the source of the sounds. This gun couldn't kill Angron, just like any other known weapon. The pilot was practically invulnerable. They had developed a single method to stop him. The bullet in the gun could briefly block his mind if it hit the right spot. During such times, Angron would pass out, and if they weren't careful, he would quickly wake up as the same wild beast as before.
The screams occasionally subsided. Sephra felt infinite pity, as she knew exactly what was happening. Angron was conscious and could see what he had done this time. She was certain that if he hadn't transformed back into the beast, he would have eventually begun screaming from pain and despair. Even she was afraid to face what had happened, but she continued her journey, each step more difficult. Her heart beat faster and faster.
She spotted the only cell with an active energy barrier. She didn't want to look, but she had to. She approached and peered inside.
In that moment, there was silence. She could only hear sobbing. The room was soaked in blood, body parts were scattered on the floor, along with limbs and internal organs. She couldn't have told what kind of creature's remains these were if she didn't see the boy earlier.
Angron was sitting on the ground, rocking back and forth. His broken arm hung next to him, completely twisted, but he seemed not to notice it. He was in shock. He held his other hand in front of his face, attempting to cover everything from his view.
"I'm s-sorry... I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to..."
As he kept repeating that, Sephra began to blame herself. This whole thing should never have happened.
She approached the control panel and started inserting the code with a deep breath. She knew what it was. She had time to figure it out.
But now she had little time. Angron could transform at any moment.
Sephra heard the sobbing cease, replaced by low growling. The sound was getting closer, but she simply refused to look up, even as her hands trembled. She knew Angron was standing right there, with only the energy barrier, she was about to disable, separating them.
When she was about to press the final button, she looked up, right into the bloody face of her best friend. Angron was watching her. His mouth was frozen in the same bloody smile she remembered. Though he resembled a wild animal to some extent, he still had thoughts, albeit in a distorted way. He knew Sephra was preparing to release him, and he was ready to jump.
Sephra studied his face for a long time. She hadn't seen him like this in ages. Angron had always been cautious to avoid the tragedy that now seemed inevitable despite all precautions.
He raised his hand as if he wanted to touch her face but was careful not to reach the energy barrier.
"Seph... ra..."
This was a surprise. The admiral never thought Angron could recognize her even in his current state.
"I... I see. I see them. Sephra... They're here with me."
"Where?"
Angron's bloodshot eyes looked at something only he could see before he pointed to his own head with a twisted smile.
"They're in here... They're with me..."
This surprised Sephra. The monster's thought process and sense of reality were far more developed than before. He knew that what he saw wasn't real and that something was wrong with him. He could recognize others. He was no longer a mindless wild beast. If he continued to develop in this direction, he might become stronger, smarter, capable of logical and complex thinking.
This thought was horrifying.
Angron looked at Sephra again, and his expression changed. It was almost as if he were sad.
"Sephra... Help... Let me out... Please..."
Sephra reconsidered. If the monster had learned to use emotions and manipulation, this was not only horrifying but downright terrifying.
She pressed the last button, and then immediately jumped back because Angron tried to grab her. Sephra raised the gun. For a brief moment, she imagined that Angron would attack her, tear her to pieces, and then go on a killing spree, slaughtering the entire crew of the ship.
She fired twice. Both shots hit Angron in the chest. A look of surprise crossed his face, and then he collapsed.
Sephra waited for a moment before approaching her unconscious friend. She turned him onto his back. She had roughly thirty minutes to reach the exit. She slung the gun over her shoulder and hoisted Angron on her back, securing his arms over her shoulders.
As a soldier, Sephra possessed a good deal of physical strength, and she could manage the weight fairly easily. She tried not to imagine what would have happened if Angron had suddenly regained consciousness. Would he have bitten her neck or torn her arms off?
"Enough of this!" she muttered angrily to herself. She partly blamed herself for what had happened, even if she couldn't have done anything to prevent it. It was the knowledge that she hadn't noticed what was happening on Shouta that bothered her.
Sephra had thought extensively about how, despite her love for Angron, it might have been better for him to die like everyone else. It would have been a more merciful fate. She was fully aware that he sometimes had the same thoughts, as he had mentioned before. Moreover, this creature was indestructible, as no known weapon could harm him.
Just like...
Sephra pushed the thought from her mind.
She reached the exit, and as she had expected, nothing blocked her way. Quilen hadn't placed any obstacles, and she was confident that her comrades had also escaped from the hangar. Everything was going perfectly. She immediately contacted them to let them know it was time to come.
While waiting for the ship, she took a spacesuit and secured Angron in one as well, but not before she fired twice into him for safety. The timing was perfect. She heard the ship docking with the airlock. Within a minute, she hauled the pilot to the ship, placing him in the first compartment.
Only then did she speak when the three others had gathered around her.
"Everything's fine. He won't regain consciousness for a while. You didn't engage in any fighting, did you?"
Solar nodded.
"We had no choice. The hangar was completely empty, but we were spotted in one of the corridors, and they sounded the alarm. Fortunately, we were better fighters. We got blasters. And this guy? He uses that knife like a madman."
Sephra looked at Serion and nodded.
"Quilen won't be pleased. Let's go!"
Sephra rushed to the pilot's seat with Solar as the ship's crew cleared the way, while Serion and Daron carried Angron into one of the rooms and kept a vigilant watch over him.
"You can fly this thing, right?" the young woman asked with a touch of uncertainty in her voice.
Sephra grabbed the wheel.
"While I'm not as good as others, I'd feel pretty foolish as the Grand Admiral if I couldn't pilot a ship."
As expected, the crew of the starship did their best to shoot them down, but Sephra skillfully evaded the desperate shots fired at them. In a matter of minutes, they successfully escaped the danger zone, and she accelerated the ship to full speed before launching into space.
At the same time, Quilen watched from the bridge as they made their escape, then turned on his heel, ignoring the mistake, and departed with his frightened soldiers. A barely noticeable smile graced his face.
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