"Really?" Nova asked. "Just the two of us, plus Nestor? How many people are in these camps?"
"Less than a hundred total," Vessa confirmed. "The invaders haven't been grabbing whole tribes, just enough of each group to sow panic. And the population of this world is still extremely small, especially compared to a place like modern Earth. And none of the people taken are past the first stage of Advancement, so their guards aren't very strong, either. Most of them are at the second and third stages. There might be some fourth or fifth-stagers veiling themselves, but it's unlikely that more than that would be issued there. That stage of expert or Sourcebeast isn't cheap, and there's just no reason to waste them as basic prison guards."
"A fifth-stage enemy is close to my limit, but I should be able to handle them as long as there aren't too many," Nova said confidently, as she turned to look at me. "We should be able to do this."
"You should," Vessa insisted, just as confidently. "Thanks to the fact that you are both tripractitioners that have managed to make a good bit of progress in every Source, you're able to both conceal your full strength more easily, and handle opponents a stage or more beyond your primary Source."
"When should we leave?" I asked. "And, more importantly, how should we identify ourselves?"
"That is one of the things I have been considering," Vessa replied uncomfortably. "Elder Mara assured me that both of your sets of clothing are capable of disguising themselves, but your physical appearances will still make you stand out, as the people of this world have very dark skin tones. It would be almost impossible to convince them that you are from a nearby tribe."
"So we are off-world allies that were sent to rescue them and prevent foreign interference," Nova said with a nod.
"Probably." Vessa nodded reluctantly. "Although some of them may wonder just which of their trading partners found out about the plot, and chose to intervene."
"Depending on how bad their situation is, they may just be grateful to be saved and not ask too many questions," I pointed out. "And it's not like we have to explain ourselves while we're rescuing them."
"No, but if we're taking them somewhere safe, it will likely be a place where other people are going to be," Nova pointed out. "And if those other people are the former prisoners' friends and relatives, they're going to want to know who the mysterious saviors of their loved ones are. And if we don't tell them, or disappear before they arrive, we're going to turn into a local legend or something."
She was right, and I should have already realized her point.
"All true," Vessa replied. "And there's nothing we can do about it. We're going to break them out, expose their captors as much as possible, and tell them as little about our own selves as we can get away with. At this point, I'm not sure if it matters exactly what you tell them about us, as long as you don't point out that you are the crewmembers of the last surviving Soulship, which is currently floating near their planet. On that note, try not to be right in front of anyone when you teleport back to me. And you're both already nodding, which means that everything I'm saying is really, really obvious."
"Meh," Nova said with a shrug. "Should we try and disguise ourselves anyway?" she asked next, gesturing to both of our outfits. "Because 'golden angelic warrior' and 'dark-and-dashing biker knight' might leave too much of a mark to get away with, even if they already know we're from off-world."
"Yes." Vessa nodded, shifting in her bed again. "Good point. In fact, it won't work, but we're going to do what we can to mask you both. There are some spells and techniques Nova can use with her light mana, and Jasper's aspects are broad enough for him to do just about anything. It will be far from foolproof, though; just something to keep people from remembering the specific details of your faces."
With that, Vessa walked us through a handful of disguising spells, charms, and techniques. They weren't her specialty, because the Soulships never needed techniques for disguising their flesh-bodies within their ships, but we were both able to look a little taller or shorter, and make it a little harder to discern our facial features.
The odd thing was that it didn't actually work on either of us. Nova still looked exactly as she always had to me, and she said the same thing about me. But Vessa assured us that others would be affected by our disguise on at least some level, unless their vision or Source-based senses were strong enough to see through them.
We also didn't have any special disguises for Nestor, but we didn't worry about it. On account of him being a mouse.
Once that was done, Grandmother Mara showed us how to activate the disguise functions on our clothing. Qarm clothing was bright, colorful, and loose, but their armor varied from tribe to tribe, as did their weapons. To avoid implicating any one group, Vessa had us appear as if we weren't wearing any armor at all.
The final result was that we both appeared to be wearing a set of bright, loose wraps that left our arms and limbs mostly visible, and free to move about.
"Oh wow, Jas," Nova said as she looked at me. "That, uh… really shows off your arms."
"Thank you," I said, meeting the blonde woman's eyes briefly, before looking back at Vessa. Your outfit really shows off your legs, I judiciously chose not to say aloud to the beautiful friend who had grown up far too quickly around me.
"Yeah, Jas looks great," Vessa said, pointedly looking away. "I mean… moving on. I'm sending you both out as soon as you head back to the teleportation tile in the sanctuary. I'd like to teleport you near the prisoners so that you can help them all escape, but the guards will likely hunt them all down, and you'll have your hands full protecting them. So you're going to defeat their wardens instead, and then free them."
"That sounds far riskier," I replied carefully.
"It sounds that way, but it's not," Vessa replied confidently. "If anything, it's going to be less risky than clearing out areas of my ship-body. If there was a foe there in the sixth stage of Advancement, it would be another issue. I'd encourage you both to use stealth. But instead, I want you both to send these oppressors a message, that enslaving a world's population and disrupting the economy of several sectors is going to have consequences, that it will not be cheap, easy, or quick. If we can strike this local group hard enough, their sponsors may decide that enslaving and exploiting this world will cost them more than they hope to gain. And if it doesn't," Vessa added, her voice hardening. "Then we'll still be in a better position to take the fight to the next step. Protecting the night sky is what I do, Jasper. This is what I was trying to warn you of, when you rejected my plan to keep you safe."
"I did," I said, nodding to show that I understood. "And I still accept. Do you want to separate us when we go down?"
"Come again?" Vessa replied, blinking.
"Yeah, come again?" Nova added, turning to look at me.
"You say you want us to take out the guards as quickly as possible," I continued. "And you also say we're stronger than the vast majority of them. It might be best to maximize the element of surprise by having us attack from two different points. We might be able to secure the prisoners more quickly that way as well, to prevent them from being used as hostages."
"That actually isn't a bad idea," Nova said. "They actually had classes about that, when I was an officer."
That information surprised me, as I didn't expect the Glorious State to care about rescuing hostages, but Vessa was already nodding.
"That strategy has its own risks, but I agree with you two. In fact, let's have you both move to disrupt the camp, and Nestor move to secure and protect the captives, since he's quicker than you both, and surprisingly strong."
Yes-yes! The little mouse perked up. Save-save!
"Then it's settled," the ship-woman said, giving the fluffy creature a smile. "Actually, one minor thing." She closed her eyes, and a moment later, I heard a voice in my mind.
This is Vessa. Can you both hear me now?
"Yes," Nova and I said at once. Nestor let out a little squeak as well.
"Good," th
e gray woman beamed. "I'm glad I finally got that to work. Now you both should be able to communicate with me just by thinking towards me, instead of waiting for me to start mind-writing to either of you. Now, go. We've spent a lot of time talking. I'll contact you both on the other side, and give you the layout of the camp just before you teleport."
Some twenty minutes later, we were fading from one world to the next.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Within a blink, I appeared in a pleasantly warm clearing. Dense jungle surrounded me on all sides, but it was far off in the distance, with plenty of small wooden buildings dotting the landscape.
Right next to me, however, were two large, swarthy men with bulging muscles and large spears, both a head taller than myself. Their proportions were a bit off to be a normal human's.
Jotunkin, Vessa had called them, an offshoot of two distant races of human and jotun Sourcebeast breeding together. Like the eaterlings, they were their own mix of practitioner and Sourcebeast, and were a common source of labor or security for many clans, kingdoms, and interstellar businesses.
That also made the more criminal members of their race the ideal choice for hired thugs.
Vessa had already identified them to me as part of the security for the slaver camp, so there was no reason for me to wait for them to throw the first blow.
I cleared the distance between us in a flash, slamming Koram's former gauntlet into the forehead of the closest one. I had donned it earlier, along with activating all my enhancement powers, because it had a greater chance of leaving a foe unconscious instead of dead. The more breathing, but disabled bodies we left, the more chances we and the locals had of finding out just exactly who was behind this operation.
In addition to that, I had already harnessed a great deal of Source energy through life-taking, and I was worried a higher dose might have negative consequences.
My enemy was strong, but nowhere near as tough as the eaters or sott-jotun I had fought before—and I was even stronger now. The bald jotunkin didn't have time to activate any Source protection and went down immediately, eyes rolling into the back of his head.
"Who—" the other giantman started to say, raising his spear, but I had already dashed towards him, drawing my halfblade and striking at the front of his body. He parried my attack with his spear, just like I had been expecting him to. My blade forced his own weapon down and out of the way, and I followed it up with a flood-infused punch to the temple.
The force of my blow surprised me, knocking him clean off his feet and tumbling through the air. He landed some distance away, face down, limp, and clearly a bit more than just 'unconscious.'
That was only a first-stager, Jas, Vessa supplied in my mind. I don't think we'll be getting a lot of useful information from him, even if he survived your blow. You may want to start pulling your punches just a little.
I shrugged. Obtaining prisoners was a secondary objective compared to neutralizing the slavers and freeing their captives. That thought reminded me about Nestor.
All clear now, little friend, I said to the lifemouse perched on my back. Head for the innocents and protect them. When it's time, help us free them.
Yes-yes! the little mouse said back to my mind. Save-save!
He leaped from me and scampered through the grass. I moved on to where Vessa said the next foe was.
Most of the wooden shacks were empty, and I didn't want to waste time searching through them, so I ignored them and ran in a straight line toward the next patrol. Vessa's sensors revealed their position perfectly, and I was upon the next three jotunkin before they had time to do more than shout. The second had time to swing his spear at me before my punch felled him, and the third actually had time to activate a protection charm, letting him absorb my gauntlet's strike. But I grabbed his spear and yanked halfway out of his grip with my gauntlet and struck him in the temple with the flat of my halfblade.
All three down and merely unconscious this time, I messaged Vessa, pleased that I didn't actually have to write out the answer in my mind this time. Are you sure they are related to giants, though?
Distantly, Vessa replied, but after all the changes your body has gone through, you're going to be stronger than them pound for pound, Jasper, even without Source energy. But since you have Source energy—and three different types, to boot—on top of your Sourceweapons and Sourcearmor, you're fully expected to tear through them, especially since you're catching them by surprise. Otherwise, no one would waste so much resources on developing elite practitioners.
Fair enough, I replied, checking on my bonded link with my fluffy lifemouse. Nestor reached the captives quickly. He says they are all unharmed for now.
Good, the shipwoman replied. Continue to wreak havoc. Nova reports no trouble as well. In fact, she's a good bit ahead of you right now, if you two were keeping score.
As Vessa said that, a large explosion rocked out some distance away from me. Nova's clear, powerful voice sounded out next, calling all of our enemies to lay down their weapons and surrender, or face the consequences of kidnapping and lawlessness.
Wow, a couple of them actually did surrender, Vessa said admirably. Then again, she was meant to lead people to a better path. But back to you, Jasper. I want you to end a few more large groups, and then see if you can find someone in charge—preferably not too strong.
I did as directed, and my enemies fell like wheat before an ancient farming scythe.
Grandmother, I asked as I knocked the next jotunkin into the side of one of poorly constructed wooden buildings—something that was markedly different from normal Qarm architecture, according to Vessa, these men are at the same stage of essence as I am. Why exactly is it this easy for me to overpower them? What did you do to my body back then, when you saved my life?
It's hardly all my doing, young rider, she answered, as I ducked the swing of a large axe, caught its owner by the front of his hide shirt, and knocked him out with the pommel of my weapon. Your body was naturally strong when I first met you, probably the result of that bath you took with that other Beacon of the vessel saint—you know, the one she won't stop being angry about, the dragon-woman clarified in an amused tone. And your bond with my daughter's children and the sliver of immortal strength you received is helping as well. But you are right. Your soul and body has been thoroughly reborn with every Source treasure I could spare to pour into you. I had not expected it to be this thorough, she said, as I caught another foe turning to run away, and struck him in the back of the head. Before your injury with the reprobates, I had planned to just use the material to Advance you to the next stage, and give you some minor benefits along the way. But instead, my treasures have combined with you, putting your body and spirit on the same level as an artifact. She paused for a moment. Making them artifacts, in essence. You have a Sourcebody now, and a Sourcesoul. You are a fusion between construct and flesh, soul and implement.
That was surprising and disturbing news, I reflected, turning to engage more jotunkin that were responding to the recently sounded alarm. I reminded myself of Nova's words earlier, when I had become concerned over the flood dragon's words regarding my spirit, and I felt just as I did before my injury and transformation, only… better, for lack of a more appropriate word.
Understand, grandson, the dragon-woman continued, as the incoming jotunkin charged, reminding each other that their opponent was just one man. I did not do this recklessly. Reforging you was the only way to save your life. I am happy that it worked, and that the benefits exceeded my expectations. But I suspect the work of your ancestors played a large role in my ritual's success.
Grandmother, I asked as two large men tried to pincer me in an attack with Source-laced weapons. They were essence users, but they did not have any beast bonds, so their charms weren't very effective. Do you think I have an artificial soul?
No, child, the dragon part-soul said softly, as I knocked one enemy into the air with a light kick and clubbed the other unconscious with a slap of my gauntl
et. I had not known you were still worried about that. Source energy can't be necessary for having a soul, because that same energy is necessary for separating a soul from its body, like I have done. I think your potential has been carefully crafted by the sage-knights of Earth, instead of being left to a random accident of genetics. But you are no more artificial than a child birthed from a mother who did her best to conceive as carefully as possible, and ensured that she did everything possible in her pregnancy to maximize her unborn infant's potential. That brat Koram's parents probably performed more feats to maximize his Source potential than your parents could have even dreamed of, though they failed to give him anything resembling a non-punchable personality.
Thank you, Grandmother, I told the venerable woman, and meant it. Her explanation cheered me greatly. Then a blow struck my back, reminding me to pay a bit more attention to my current fight.
I turned to look at another giantblooded man holding a hammer with a flame-coated head, backing away from me in horrified disbelief. Judging by the force of his blow and the essence invested into it, this one was probably close to the striving stage of essence, and had formed a bond of some sort with a Sourcebeast—one with a fire aspect. He suddenly gritted his teeth and summoned another fireball in his free hand.
I took a moment to ensure I wasn't damaged, but the flood barrier had completely negated his fire attack, and both my armor and body had prevented the rest of the blow from doing any more than registering its presence in my mind. I should still pay more attention, I lectured myself, forming a small drop of water qi to combat his flame essence. This time, I didn't mix it with any other Sources. I just concentrated on making the best use of a single Source that I could, and unleashed the little ball of water at my current enemy.
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