Imperial Orders

♕The Idea♕

Nexetra stared at her father, her hands quivering at her sides as they brushed against the haphazard stitches of her patchwork skirt. Yet, there was no change in Vendyr's expression- nothing to indicate that what he had just said was anything but the truth. 

"Are you absolutely sure of this?" the Djareny leader finally spoke, dreading the confirmation. 

"Yes, Nexetra," Vendyr nodded his head slowly, the wrinkles around his mellow eyes stretching as he shifted his gaze. "Though Kyr-Aa was killed by the tornado, one from his crew survived. He reports seeing the girl singlehandedly manipulate multiple pieces of the boy's defunct ship in order to save herself and his crew. Whoever she is, she has powerful telekinetic abilities, just like-" 

"Me," Nexetra finished his sentence in a choked whisper, her eyes sparkling at the thought. A smile crossed her face as she looked at the opulence that surrounded her with a newfound appreciation. 

"What's that dreamy look for?" Vendyr snapped, a scowl crossing his face at his daughter's pleasure. "This is very bad news. Pearce has found himself a powerful ally of whom we know nothing other than her identity as a mutant human Tactile." 

"I always believed I was alone in the universe," Nexetra mused, unaffected by her father's panic. "To find that I am not- that there is someone else out there who shares my pain- this is the greatest fulfillment I could ask for. It is an impractical wish, I know, but I should like to speak to her. It would not be unlike conversing with my own true nature."

"Our greatest fulfillment is the destruction of the human race!" Vendyr pronounced passionately. "Do not allow yourself to be distracted. This girl is nothing like you. She is not condemned to live forever in a cage. She does not have to live with the memory of eating those she loves. She does not-" 

"You know nothing of who I am!" Nexetra screamed. The metal Armlets clasped tightly around her wrists rattled with the effort of controlling her surging power as the heavy armchair behind her rose two inches into the air. "I refuse to be defined by my prison!" She paused, bringing her hands up in front of her face just as the chair returned to the ground with a thud. 

"Who this girl is or why she is traveling with that good-for-nothing Pearce is of no concern to me," Nexetra continued in a more measured tone. "The important thing is that she is a young telekinetic. I remember being just like her- powerful, dangerous, out of control. There is only one thing she could want- that is stability- and there is only one place she could find it." 

"She is a human," Vendyr chuckled. "She cannot know of the Temple of Ikmanon, much less how to get there." 

"She may not know...but Pearce does." Nexetra sighed deeply, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. 

"What?" Vendyr asked simply, raising his eyebrows at this new development. 

"Yes," Nexetra nodded. "It is difficult to believe, I know, but there was a time when I trusted that rogue- when I told him things people like him should never know. From the information I gave him, one with his navigational abilities should have no trouble pinpointing the exact location of the Temple." 

Vendyr frowned, folding his arms across his chest in thought until an idea finally struck him. "This is perfect! This is our chance! We have only to intercept them on the way to the Temple. It would be a party of six children against a Djareny legion- we would have them both in minutes!" 

"And be captured by the Hominan army shortly afterward," Nexetra spat. "There is nothing more conspicuous than an entire legion tramping across the galaxy to a deserted planet."

"Besides, there is no need for us to pursue them on Earth," she continued, a small smile playing on her lips. "There are others who will do that quite sufficiently."