7: Identity

"We are here" Fang turned to Creed, who was busy gleaming at the alien crowd, "so... what now?"

"uhm… yeah.. Wait.. hold on… give me a sec!" Creed flustered, hovered his fingers over his watch. "I do have an address."

"Cool! I'll get a cab or something…" Fang replied, and rushed to leave until Creed grabbed him by his shoulder.

He said, "Thanks… for helping me out."

Fang looked into his eyes for a second. His smile turned upside down, and his face got painted with a horrendous expression. His throat made a horrifying gurgling sound, as if it was going to burst.

~blergh

"Jesus Christ! How are you so cringe…" His first response was a disgusted scoff, "Stop that… or I'm gonna puke on your crotch!"

"Shut up, you dipshit. I'm serio—"

"Listen, dude… it's all good!" Fang interrupted him, "Visiting an alien planet could be a bit overwhelming the first few times! I've been there, so I know. Also, Jake told me about your sassy adventure at the party. He couldn't come, so I had to come, anyway."

~Tch

"... that four eyed bastard!"

"Drop the attitude, you jackass! I know it's been over 4 months since that incident. Besides, it's your fault that you made such a giant mess on that cruise and now we both have to look out for you. We just wanna help."

"I'm not a baby… jeez!"

"Baby… NO... A hot-headed idiot who puts his head inside a lion's den… YES."

~Tch

Creed's eyes rolled at his snarky face,

"Just relax! It's no big deal. And we are doing this until the dust settles… Moreover, we also have been friends since the weird night of that beast's ascension. Keeping a watch over a fellow cadet's back is just healthy comradery."

"Comradery! Fellow cadets! It's funny coming from a guy who didn't even spend one month inside the camp."

"Come on, man! You know I was participating in that competiti—"

"Alright, fine… " Creed interrupted, "I won't rub it anymore!"

"Great!" Fang grinned as he bumped his fist to his chest before rushing away. "Now let me get a cab so that we can get over with your ridiculous witch hunt!".

After that, Fang didn't take much time to find a cap to Sector UC-65. After that, they simply followed the location with the help of a digital copy of a map. Soon, they came across a shabby series of workshops.

Several other small workshops surrounded with Darthar workers engaged in their own business. The sound of metal being cut down, sharpened and brutally hammered, was coming from all sides. The air was brimming with a whiff of oil and rust.

The entire place looked like some kind of workers colony or large-scale smith hub. Both Creed and Fand frowned as they noticed the exterior of the building. These Darthar's were working diligently without batting an eye at two newcomers.

Almost immediately, Fang peeked at the hologram over Creed's watch to confirm if they were at the right location.

"Hmm… is this where we are supposed to meet him?"

"Seems like it. That's what the navigator says…"

"What's his name again?"

"Rolin! He owns one of these workshops somewhere around here…"

"I see!" Fang nodded and rushed towards a random Darthar, "Well, since we can't properly distinguish their facial features, we have to ask around… "

Creed followed Fang's lead. He was still ‌flustered by this new environment. Fang, however, without hesitation, rushed towards the workers and asked them upfront about this Rolin guy.

Soon they realized ‌Rolin was quite famous here. One of the Darthar immediately led them towards his working quarters, which seemed almost like a garage with closed gates.

The Darthar who led them here knocked on the closed metallic drapes. The knock made the sound of metal clanking halt and they heard the sound of approaching footsteps from behind the metallic drapes.

The drapes soon rolled upwards, and they saw a 6-feet tall figure gazing at them without a flinching. He held the handle of a giant metallic cutter, which looked quite intimidating. Soon bearded cheekbones moved.

"Which one of you is Creed?"

"It's me, sir!" Creed replied. "We are here to meet Rolin!"

"Yeah! I know… That one you're looking for is standing in front of you… let's talk inside."

The other Darthar bid a nod and strolled back to his own workplace without any comment. Creed eyed the leaving guy subtly, but didn't say anything.

Soon, Fang noticed ‌Rolin had invited him inside his garage, so he elbowed Creed to head inside. However, he just stood there with an indecipherable frown. Creed's feet jammed. He didn't take a step inside.

"Hugh notified you would be coming to see me—"

Rolin casually led the way inside his garage, but in the next second, he felt something weird. He turned around and noticed that Creed and Fang were still standing at the door.

"Why are you standing outside?" Rolin asked,

Instead of answering his question, Creed's finger hastily hovered over his quantum watch. It's as if he was trying to browse through a random folder. Fang noticed this awkward behavior and mumbled,

"What happened, dude? He told us to come inside…"

"No! Just wait… " Creed halted Fang by grabbing him by his bicep. "Something's not right here!"

The next second, a portrait popped up over Creed's eyes. He gazed at the hologram for a fraction of a second and said,

"I'm sorry. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"What?" Rolin replied with a dull voice, "What do you mean?"

"You are not Rolin… Creed's eyes turned dull. "Who the hell are you?"