STELLAR: The Dragon Rider

Chapter 14: Welcome Home

Karma and her team arrived back to headquarters. When she got there she was confronted by Nightstorm. "Can you explain to me why you wanted to handle the mission by yourself?" He asked. Karma was puzzled. Why was he asking her this? "I was thinking for the other members of the team. I knew they were tired and exhausted." Karma replied. Nightstorm could tell that she was lying. "Don't lie to me you wanted revenge didn't you, that's why you were silent throughout the flight?" Nightstorm said. Karma was silent. "Be careful not to go down that road, it can destroy even the most toughest of people." Nightstorm said before leaving.

Karma couldn't believe this. It was as if Nightstorm was ok with what they had done to Jack. You'd think he'd be on her side. Nightstorm just didn't understand. He would've done the same thing. Karma decided she would go into the training room for target practice to calm her nerves.

Meanwhile on Adrian's ship, Adrian and the Dragon Rider was discussing battle plans. "We'll need to come back to Starlight and bring in some reinforcements." Adrian stated as the Dragon Rider kept his silence. "What about the loss of Earth's resources. They made sure to wipe out our excavation team." The Rider said finally speaking. "We'll deal with that later." Adrian said as their ship approached Starlight. Home. He was coming back home, this time for real. No more hiding to keep his plan secretive. Adrian couldn't wait to bring his reinforcements with him to Earth to destroy every last one of those riders and their allies.

Back on Earth Karma was wreaking havoc on a punching bag in the training room. She had taken a break from target practice and decided to go somewhere where she could be alone. However that wasn't the only thing she had done while taking a break. She had repainted her armor. The color of her armor was now light blue. The color of her visor was golden as usual. While she was punching the punching bag she was thinking about the events that happened recently.

Suddenly Allison walked inside. "It's unimaginable isn't it, what they did to Jack?" She said interrupting Karma's train of thought. Karma then stopped punching the punching bag that now had torn holes in it. "I could've stopped them." Karma said. Allison couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Karma. It was when Karma said these four words that she knew why she had been so angry with not only her but with the Dark Riders. She had feelings for Jack. All this time she hadn't known.

Allison decided she would have to include her in her personal mission. "Look, I can help you get your vengeance, but you're going to need to trust me. Can you do that?" Karma nodded her head. They were standing face-to-face now. "Now tell me how are we going to do this." Karma said. "The Dark Riders have a base of operations back on Starlight. We're going to infiltrate it and knock down their communication tower." Allison explained hoping to persuade her. Karma was puzzled, how were they going to infiltrate one of Adrian's base of operations which contained a whole battalion, how would they even get there? "How are we even going to get past Adrian's battle cruiser, let alone get within 3 miles of their base of operations." Karma asked. She couldn't see it but Allison had a smirk on her face behind her helmet. "His cruiser isn't within our atmosphere, see while I was away at Starlight I stirred up a bit of an uprising so when Adrian gets back he'll have to deal with a rebellion there." Allison explained.

Karma thought about this for a moment. If she did do this she might get reprimanded for going on an unorthodox mission, but, if she didn't then those Dark Riders would've gotten away with hurting Jack. That was it, she wouldn't argue with herself about it anymore. This was her only opportunity to deliver a hard blow to Adrian's empire in retaliation. She would take it. "So, how are we going to infiltrate their base of operations with just the two of us?" Karma asked, curious about Allison's plan. "Who said anything about two of us, Deadbolt will be joining us on the mission." Allison said. It was with that, Karma knew the odds had now become even.

The next morning all three of them met up in the hangar bay. "Nice to know you're helping us Deadbolt." Karma said as she equipped herself with two pistols and a shock rifle. Deadbolt nodded. He then equipped himself with his two battleaxes. They seemed to be his most preferred weapon. Allison, Karma, and Deadbolt got on their vehicles and rode off. They were headed toward NASA's old headquarters. It was their only way to get to Starlight.

After about thirty minutes they arrived at NASA's old headquarters. They boarded the shuttle. Karma thought about what she was about to do. She realized that if she pulled this off she and her fellow comrades would be able to come back home. Allison started the shuttle's thrusters and they took off. Just like that, right into space. Karma was getting a glimpse of the conditions of her homeworld. It was as if something inside was telling her something as they approached Starlight. Karma knew exactly what that message was. Welcome home.