the city must have been like when his clan was prosperous and respected. He was curious and amazed, yet sorrowful at his own loss and the senseless slaughter of his people.
Eventually they reached the gate. It was massive in size; two metal gates coming together and interlocking. Apparently an automated mechanism had opened and closed it, but no power appeared to be available now.
Orin ignited his blade and sliced through the interlocking mechanism to allow the gates to swing freely. He and Tiet attempted to move them manually, but to no avail. 'Those hinges up there appear to be completely frozen,' said Ranul.
'Tiet, you take one side and I'll pull the other,' instructed Orin.
Both men stepped back enough to give the gate room to open, and then each concentrated on a respective gate mentally. Slowly they began to creak and moan as the rust and metal popped and gave way to the kinetic forces being exerted upon the hinges. The gates swung wide and stopped when the two Barudii released them. The ornate archway led to total darkness beyond. 'Ranul, are you sure somebody is living here now?' asked Orin.
'Yes. I imagine they must stay in the lower levels just in case the Vorn ever patrol way out here. Here, take this torch.'
Orin removed the old gas torch from the side of the archway entrance and depressed the fuel trigger. It ignited immediately.
'Appears to have been in recent use,' said Tiet.
Orin led the way inside the mountain. The torch gave minimal light but it was at least enough to see the path. Almost immediately the path began a downward descent into the mountain. It was wide enough and tall enough to allow many people access at once, and Tiet wondered what it must have been like to live in such a place as this. The men proceeded quietly and cautiously, with Ranul's footsteps making more noise then the other two men combined.
With a quick flash of metal, Orin's torch was decapitated and knocked from his hand. The gas burner still cast a dim light from the ground where it landed and shadows began to move about the walls. Orin and Tiet reflexively drew their blades and moved close to guard defenseless Ranul from attack. Several dark figures moved in from the shadows and slashed at the trio with blades. Tiet and Orin countered each strike while trying to keep their backs to Ranul, enclosing him.
'We're not your enemies!' shouted Ranul over the noisy clanging of swords. 'These men are Barudii warriors!'
The two figures attacking Orin backed away, but remained ready to attack. Meanwhile Tiet and one of his opponents were still exchanging blows at rapid fire pace, and seemed oblivious to the sudden cease of battle. Tiet's opponent suddenly flipped over his head. He reflexively used the same leg sweep Orin had used on him, catching the attacker as he landed.
As the figure fell back he caught himself by the hands, rebounded back to his feet and struck at Tiet again; catching him a little off guard by the recovery. Tiet rotated in with a shoulder-level wide swing of his blade to knock his opponent's blade away as he followed through with a powerful backhand to the face. The darkly clothed figure reeled back from the blow as Tiet took advantage and quickly pinned his opponent's neck against the wall under his blade.
'Surrender! Don't make me kill you!'
'Don't make me kill you,' answered a softer voice from beneath the mask.
Tiet looked down to find that his opponent held a sizable dagger to his belly. Well this is embarrassing.
'Who are you?' he mumbled as he reached up and slowly lifted the mask to reveal a Castillian woman with fiery eyes glaring at him. He quickly lifted his blade and backed away. A woman!
Orin caught the surprise on his face.
'Hmm. She nearly killed you Tiet,' said Orin without letting his amusement be too obvious. Tiet glanced back at the girl as she replaced her dagger confidently.
'We thought the Barudii were all dead,' said one of the masked attackers.
'Not quite,' replied Orin. 'Is there someone leading your people?'
'Yes. Estall is our leader. We'll take you to him.'
Orin and Ranul followed the men as they lit another nearby torch from the wall and proceeded down the path. Tiet looked at his opponent again; who was still fixed intently on him. He sheathed his blade and followed the others as the girl fell in the line behind him. How could this girl fight so well? She's not a Barudii, but she carries a Barudii blade and knows how to use it. Better keep and eye on her.
THE ion trail was growing stronger as Vale approached the mountains. At the present concentration, his mind calculated that his target must be very close now. In the distance his optics picked up an object near the base of the mountain.
His eyes focused and enhanced the image. It was a small transport craft and the ion trail led right to it. If they had abandoned the craft, then logically they were proceeding on foot into the mountains.
Relevant sites in this region displayed in his mechanical mind's eye. The only prominent one was the old Barudii city of Vaseer. It was an obvious match, correlating with the present circumstances and nature of his target.
As he approached, Vale slowed the transport and shut it down next to the other ship. It appeared abandoned. He exited his own transport and moved to the engine compartment of the other ship. He tore away the compartment lid and grabbed the fuel cell housing, ripping it from its place among the other operational components and hurling it yards away. If his prey did return, their vessel would not be an escape route for them.
He returned to the cockpit of his own ship and encoded the ignition sequence to prevent anyone stealing it, then stepped up to the rear pulse turret. The android grasped the pulse repeater cannon, pulled it free from its mount, then jumped back to the ground with it. The large cannon was nearly half his size and weighed four hundred pounds; yet he carted it away with ease.
Accessing various, known entrances and exits to Vaseer, Vale located the closest and bounded away after his prey with his pulse cannon in tow. It was approaching dawn and he planned to be inside the city before he lost the element of surprise over his targets.
AS the group came to the lowest level of Vaseer, the light suddenly greeted them with the splendor of the old city. Orin was overwhelmed by a flood of memories at the sight of it again. He remembered all of the times he had spent here with Kale Soone and the grand banquets and tournaments that had been held in Vaseer's great halls; it was still glorious to behold.
Tiet also found himself overwhelmed by the sight of the city. All of the carvings and gems and precious metals that decorated the walls and structure spoke of royalty and power. It was so distant a memory; some time around his eighth year the massacre had stripped him of his family and his people. It was in this place also that his mother had been murdered by the Horva; those horrible brutish clones of the Vorn-they feared nothing. This was the place of his dreams and nightmares.
They followed their guides down through a large open area that acted as the town square, and on through large columns hewn out of the rock into a smaller chamber. All around them people were milling about and looking on curiously. Orin noticed that almost all of them were wearing the clothing of the Barudii that had been left in the city after the massacre. It was an eerie sight to him-like his people raised from the dead.
The irrigation canals were still functioning and he could see fresh water coming in from one of the underground mountain streams. Evidently the gardens must still be in production to keep what appeared to be hundreds of people alive down here. As they came into the adjacent chamber several men were convened in a meeting. One, dressed as though he may be the leader, came toward them.
'Gentlemen, welcome to Vaseer. My name is Estall,' said the man.
How strange to be welcomed to his former home by this man who had taken possession of it only because of the absence of his people. 'I'm Orin Vale, this is Dr. Ranul K'ore and this young man is Tiet Soone.'
'Ah, then you must be the son of Kale Soone, the Barudii King,' said Estall.
'Yes. How did you know that?'
'Both of you Barudii are written of in the city's archives. We have studied your history and trained our people
