The Moon Fortress

Chapter 9: DEO

Clutching at the invisible ladder, Kara descended into the blackness carefully. The stranger followed her suit shortly, closing the trap door above him. Just as the door clicked locked, a lamp turned on, piercing her eye balls. Kara had to blink repeatedly until her irises were narrow enough to adjust with torrent of light, allowing her to finally see her surroundings.

Kara reached the bottom of the fixed metallic ladder and moved away so her follower could step down as well. They were standing in a narrow dusty corridor. Kara turned and inspected the tall man better in the light. He was wearing a cream, torn cloak with dark boots reaching just below his knees. Despite being indoors, he still kept his mouth cloth and goggles on, which seemed weird. Kara was about to ask who he was, when he started walking forward without a care for her. This was getting annoying now.

"Excuse me, where are we going?"

No answer.

Kara sighed and followed him in the narrow grey hallway, hoping to get more answers when they reached their destination. She hadn't even bothered asking him for his name, knowing questioning a masked man for his identity would be ridiculous, defeating the whole purpose of the mask.

The pair reached a door and he promptly entered. In the room two people were sitting behind a metallic table, facing the door. Kara noticed some computers and equipment that had seen better days. Some of the monitors were on, but she didn't spot anything special at the first glance.

The man with darker skin raised his head and watched them with an unimpressed look, while the other occupant in the room – who had lighter skin and short black hair – watched them with his wide blue eyes.

With a nod to the masked man, the dark skinned man stood up and greeted Kara.

"You must be Marley, Lexie's sister."

"How..." Kara asked, knowing the answer already.

"Lexie mentioned you will be joining us soon, but unfortunately she's missing. I'm sure you're aware of this?"

Kara swallowed hard, her throat too dry after everything that had happened in the past hour. "Yeah, she... she said she would call me and take me here... but she didn't show up and I'm worried."

"She gave you this location?"

"Yes, she gave me the location the last time I saw her, and warned to not come here until she said so. But I got worried and decided to come."

"Please sit down, we need to talk."

Kara moved to sit on an old looking chair, facing the others. Her mysterious savior was now sitting next to the third person in the room – both looking at her silently.

"Would you like a drink?" The dark skinned man offered.

"Yes, thank you."

Giving Kara a cup of unfamiliar flavored drink – which Kara had no idea what it was, but it washed her insides like nothing she had ever drank before on Daxam – he also sat down on his chair.

"I'm called the Martian. The last of my kind. I'm the director of the DEO."

"DEO?"

"Daxam's Eight Opposition"

Kara frowned. Why hadn't anyone mentioned this name in the briefings? She pushed the questions to the back of her mind and focused her attention on what the Martian was saying.

"This opposition has only recently formed. The seventh opposition was annihilated four years ago with the brutal death of its former leader, Damo. He tried to unite all the rebels on Daxam with the help of King Lar Gand, but his plans failed with the death of the king, many members were hunted down by royal guards and the remaining members ran away."