Chapter 10 – The Colosseum's Heart
The Taksipa Hunting Arena wasn't just a stadium; it was a living engine of cruelty. Its outer shell thrummed with the power of Yellow and even occasional Purple Stones. Skodar, cloaked and careful, circled its perimeter. He observed the flow: gladiators and slaves entering through the brutal Gate of Tears, while the rich and powerful—War Masters, merchants, royalty—floated down onto terraced balconies from private hover-skiffs.
His target was the Vault of Fortune, a structure attached to the Arena where the prizes for the games were held, including the Genes Amplifier Liquid. Security here was exponentially tighter. Automated sentry turrets, genetic scanners, and guards in powered armor.
He found a weakness: the waste-disposal conduit. A vile, steaming channel that carried out the biological refuse from the Arena's medical and butchering bays. It was shielded from energy scans by the chaotic biological signatures.
Gritting his teeth, Skodar deactivated his cloak to avoid fouling it and slid into the foul stream. The Vaktari Essence within him instinctively sealed his nostrils and created a thin barrier over his skin. He was swimming in offal, but he was invisible to scanners.
The conduit emptied into a processing vat inside a dim, humid sub-level. He pulled himself out, using a trickle of energy to vaporize the worst of the filth. He was in the underbelly.
Here, the roars of the crowd above were a distant, thunderous ocean. He reactivated his cloak. The corridors here were utilitarian, lined with pipes and humming generators. Following the path of most secure doors and heaviest foot traffic, he descended.
He found the vault level. The door was a massive alloy hatch, guarded by two silent, hulking Golem-class android sentries, their single red eyes scanning constantly. A palm-and-retina scanner glowed beside the door.
Impossible to breach now.
But he observed.A guard captain arrived, followed by a nervous tech-priest of the Varikdar. The captain placed his hand and eye to the scanner. Click-hiss. The door unsealed. Inside, Skodar caught a glimpse of glowing cases on pedestals before the door sealed shut. The captain took custody of a small, heavily secured cryo-case from the priest. The Amplifier Liquid, being moved for tomorrow's event.
The priest left, mumbling about verification protocols. The captain and androids remained.
Skodar retreated. He had the location. He had seen the security. He had seen the prize. And he had seen the path the liquid would take—from this vault to the Arena's royal podium tomorrow.
He returned to the waste conduit, a plan beginning to crystallize in the darkness of his mind. It was audacious. It was suicidal.
It was the only way.