Chapter 80: Alliance of Convenience

Ret

After running back into the base, the place began to shake violently. The tremors were intense, as if the entire structure was on the verge of collapse. I could sense Tira's and Aiden's ki, even from here. Their energy signatures were like beacons of chaos and determination, clashing fiercely.

"I need to hurry," I muttered to myself, pushing forward. "Tira and Aiden are still fighting. I need to get them Aiden before this place comes down."

Navigating the collapsing base was treacherous. The walls groaned under the strain, and debris fell around me like lethal rain. I pressed on, my senses focused on the battle ahead. Tira's ki was a storm of fury, while Aiden's was a steady, unyielding force. Neither one was budging.

"Give up!" Tira yelled, glaring at Aiden.

"You give up!" Aiden said, digging his feet into the ground.

She snickered as she intensified her beam's output. "You remind me of the prince. Neither give up when they should!"

"Tira, stop!" I yelled. "If you continue this, your suit will overheat!"

"So, the rat has returned! Perish!" Tira shot a beam at me.

I dodged and unleashed purple Ki, but it wasn't needed as an orange barrier formed in front of me.

"Thanks," I said, glancing at Aiden.

He smiled and nodded as he kept his fingertips together. Holding his hands out, he formed several more barriers around Tira.

Aiden's barriers shimmered around Tira, forming a glowing orange prison. She snarled, her pink ki flaring violently as she blasted at the barriers, causing them to ripple and strain under the pressure.

"You think this can hold me?" Tira spat, her voice filled with contempt. "I'll break through and crush you both!"

Aiden gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead as he maintained the barriers. "Ret, we don't have much time! Do you have any ideas?"

I looked around the crumbling chamber, desperate for a solution. The control panel was our only hope. "I'm going to trigger the emergency lockdown," I said, urgency in my voice. "It might buy us enough time to escape."

Aiden nodded, his focus unwavering. "Do it. I'll hold her as long as I can."

I sprinted towards the control panel, my heart pounding in my chest. The base shook violently, debris raining down from above. I reached the panel and began working frantically, my fingers flying over the controls. Each Titanos base like this one had metal barriers. They were meant to contain explosions, or at the very least to buy people time to escape.

Tira's enraged screams echoed through the chamber as she continued to assault the barriers. "You can't keep me locked up! Titanos will prevail!"

"Just a little longer," I muttered, bypassing the damaged circuits and accessing the emergency systems. The base's structural integrity was failing rapidly; I had to act fast.

Finally, the lockdown sequence initiated. Metal barriers began to descend, sealing off sections of the base one by one. I turned back to Aiden, who was visibly straining under the effort of maintaining the barriers.

"It's now or never! We have to go!" I shouted over the chaos.

Aiden nodded, forming one last barrier to block Tira's attack before dashing towards me. Tira's eyes blazed with fury as she tried to break through the descending barriers.

"You won't escape!" she roared, her ki flaring even more intensely.

Aiden and I sprinted through the collapsing corridors, the sounds of destruction growing louder with each passing second. The metal barriers behind us clanged shut, sealing Tira inside.

As we ran, a massive explosion rocked the base, sending a shockwave through the structure. The force of the blast threw us off our feet, and I hit the ground hard. My vision became blurry.

"Ret! Are you okay?" Aiden's voice cut through the ringing in my ears.

I pushed myself up, my body aching from the impact. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. We need to keep moving."

We scrambled to our feet and continued our desperate escape. The corridors twisted and turned, each step bringing us closer to the exit. The base groaned and shuddered around us, the walls cracking and crumbling.

Finally, we burst through an emergency exit and into the open air. The fresh night air filled my lungs, and I took a moment to catch my breath. Aiden stood beside me, battered but alive. The Titanos base behind us continued to collapse, a testament to the chaos of the battle we had just endured.

"We made it," I panted, a mixture of relief and exhaustion in my voice.

"Yeah," Aiden replied, his gaze fixed on the ruins. "But this is just the beginning. Tira, if she survived, won't stop until she's crushed us completely. Same goes for the rest of the survivors."

I nodded, my determination unwavering. "Then we'll just have to hit them even harder. We can't let them win."

He snickered. "Hiesno told me you were one of them. Hearing you say stuff like this makes it kinda hard to believe it."

I crossed my arms. "Well, your friend told the truth. I am one of them." My eyes went back to the burning western half of the base. "I am merely helping you to get back at Yusan and get a spaceship that can warp me back home."

Suddenly, a flare of pink Ki emerged from the wreckage. A battered looking Tira glared at us. Her armor was now partially broken.

"Tira, you can't keep this up much longer," I said, shaking my head. "Also, have you forgotten our real goal?"

"He's right," a voice called out. It was Prince Huitlo

I turned and saw a gold mecha with a green gemstone fly over to her.

"Hey, let me go, you annoying prince!"" Tira said as her Ki flickered away.

"You can't even free yourself from my weak hold," Huitlo said, sighing.

The cockpit of his mecha opened up. He grabbed Tira whose armor was rapidly crumbling.

Aiden's eyes widened. "He... looks like me."

I nodded. "Indeed. Like Deros and Zane with Zepheria, I think you two might be counterparts."

He sighed. "Now I can relate with Zane. He seemed bummed to learn his Titanos counterpart was a hot shot commander working for the people who killed his family. It appears that mine is the brother of the queen behind this mess."

I frowned and pointed my laser to his head. "Don't speak ill of Lady Xilonem. Got it?"

Huitlo smiled. "Seems you are still on our side after all. Come on in, Ret. I'll take you and Tira back home. My big sis will be glad to see you again."

I lowered my gun. This wasn't a trap, was it? I mean, Huitlo knew me personally. But he also worked under Yusan. Granted, he was fairly independent.

Aiden formed a barrier around me. "Sorry, but I don't think I'll allow that. Also, I take back what I said earlier. You are indeed an enemy."

I sighed and shattered his barrier with a black claw made of ki. "You know, I've been holding back this whole time, right?"

He gulped.

"Go. Regroup with the others. I'll make sure to keep my end of the bargain I made with Sarudei and them."

He nodded and ran off.

Huitlo landed beside me and picked me up. He placed me into the cockpit.

I glanced at the screen and at the burning base. "Can we really return to Titanos? The ships might not have survived."

"There was none anyway," a tired Tira said, still held by the prince.

I frowned. "Then, did Yusan..."

Huitlo nodded. "Yeah, he took the armada that was on this planet to Retra. Say, why were you helping those rebels?"

"Yusan, he is a traitor. But at least he didn't head to Titanos."

"Wait, back up. A traitor?"

"Yusan has always been ambitious," Tira whispered, closing her eyes. "That's why I joined his unit, to get as much experience as possible."

"Same, but..."

I gasped as I spotted shiny pointed in our direction. Was it a hyper rifle?

"Huitlo, evasive manuveurs!"

Huitlo moved the controls rapidly, but they weren't responding.

"What's going on?"

I clenched my teeth. Damn it! Yusan must've had someone mess with his mecha! He planned to have the prince killed the same way as I would've.

The beam rushed at us, but an amber barrier surrounded us.

"Eh?" Huitlo said, blinking. "What was that?"

I looked at the ground and saw Aiden. He gave me a nod before rushing off. Why did he protect us? Was it because of my pledge to get this world its autonomy?

On the ground, I saw Sarudei rush at whoever had attacked us, while Vyran flew toward us with his mechanical wings.

Huitlo clenched his teeth as he tried to gain control. "Damn it. Those rebels are gonna kill us and this thing isn't working."

"Hold it, I don't think their intention is to kill us," I said, holding my hand up.

"It's not?"

"I made them a promise. Aiden, the boy who looks like you likely helped me so that I could keep my word. As for your mecha, I think Yusan had someone mess with it. He wanted you dead the same way he wanted me dead."

He clenched his teeth. "That rotten..."

I glanced at Vyran as he rushed toward us. A smile crossed my face. Perhaps, my alliance with him wasn't over yet. If Yusan went to Retra, I could bring Vyran, his sister, and Deros with me. We could then intercept him.

If Yusan thought he could get rid of me, he was dead wrong. Those who threatened not only me, but my friends and family would get no mercy whatsoever.