Chapter II

The Anguis sensed Longsuffering and his crew almost immediately after they first landed, all those Cycles ago. No one knows exactly how it went down, but within minutes, Longsuffering ordered a retreat back to the ship. A few combatant prometheans stayed behind to hold the Anguis, but Longsuffering ordered take-off without them. PHL3, one of Longsuffering’s most valuable combatant prometheans, was one of the few left behind. No one remembers more than that. Or so they say. 

Neop, and anyone of the Syndicate for that matter, knows little more of PHL3. Her violence and mutiny is the stuff of legend, however. Amid the chaos during the Anguis assault, PHL3 stole the doryblaster from her landing party team. Whether it was for self defence or something more sinister, no one knows. Longsuffering at that time had no choice but to evacuate the planet and save his surviving crew, leaving her, and his precious doryblaster, to perish.  

“I’ll explain everything eventually. Time is scarce. It is essential we locate PHL3 before she finds us,” Longsuffering says, his eyes darting across the terrain. Neop, catches sight of a maroon shadow on the horizon. 

“Won’t take long, Captain,” she starts, “I’ve got eyes on the cave.”