Raven Knight

Chapter 37 - Vive La Resistance

Stretching his extremities he forced the pain on his nerve endings to dissipate allowing him to gain greater movement and dexterity. With each movement, it hurt immeasurably, but with every action, the pain lessened and before long his fingers, hands and arms were moving with much more freedom.

"Performing your exercises?" a deep voice could be heard from the entrance of the room.

Jason turned his head towards Turner as his big hulking muscular figure eclipsed the doorway. "Yeah, thanks for the stun grenade!"

Turner chuckled as he entered the room, "It was the most efficient way to incapacitate the guards."

Jason frowned as he watched his friend enter "Why did you recruit Aurora? Do you know what she has lost now!?" he reacted bitterly.

Turner's large dark-skinned biceps wrapped around themselves like epic tree trunks and a small scowl flashed across his face. "First of all, I didn't recruit her, she volunteered. Second, I actively discouraged her from taking part, yet she knew the consequences and was eager to be involved."

"How did she know what we were planning?" Jason reacted.

"There's something much larger going on than you realise Scharn, something which Pendergast has been involved in for some time."

That was when the penny dropped. Aurora was aware of Operation Rebirth too. Jason had no idea what her involvement was compared to his, but he was foolish to think that only he could save the Human Confederate from itself. His arrogance had blinded him from the truth that he may be the Raven Knight, but he was not the only piece on the gaming board.

"Are you fit to get up?" Turner asked.

Jason gingerly swung his legs around, bracing himself for the sharp pains he would feel as he placed his legs on the floor. As he struggled to his feet, he could see that Turner wanted to help him, but knew it would be futile to do so.

Pushing himself against the pain and helplessness that he was feeling, Jason started to get frustrated with himself. Then at that moment, he felt like he was no longer in his body as he spoke to Turner "Can you assist me?"

Turned was as shocked as Jason as the words flowed from his mouth, but almost instantly, he reacted, pulling Jason to his feet and holding him as he took his first few steps. With each step, Jason's muscles loosened, and walking became easier. Before long he was able to proceed normally and Turner took the lead through the vessel that they walked through.

His pride may have taken a hit, but Jason couldn't deny the benefit of having his friend assist him for even a short time.

Stepping into the corridor of the vessel had caught Jason by surprise. Its smooth, rounded corridors seem to meld together as windows on one side released the expansive view of the unknown while lights ran up along the side of the walls contrasting beautifully with the darkness of space. The semi-reflective walls and ceilings with calming blue lights streaming along their edges seemed to bring an element of science fiction to Jason as he had never seen architecture like this before.

Turner could see his sense of astonishment, confounded even further when a military frigate ascended gracefully in front of the window.

Jason stopped, staring at its smooth dark hull, its graceful exterior hid its various forms of death as its gun ports were closed, but the metallic grooves were enough to show Jason that it was no standard frigate. It banked casually away from the window, almost making the need to compensate for the lack of gravity seem effortless, as small spurts of steam expelled throughout various positions on its hull.

Watching the two large housings of its FTL drives glow on either side of the main hull brought a sense of insignificance to Jason, but it also brought a profound appreciation of the engineering ingenuity that had developed what appeared to be one of the most advanced warships that he had ever seen.