Welcome back guys! Sorry it's took me a while to get this chapter out! I wanted to make sure that I planned out the remainder of the story and get an idea before I started typing it out and sharing it with you guys.

Also shout out to Keytripper from who gave me the idea on the rescue mission. It's probably going to play out differently than you previously had mentioned to me, but I hope that you like it non the less.

Warning: Another rough chapter ahead!

Hope that you enjoy it! I can't wait for you to read what I have come up with.

At the Mothership...

Aja was thankful when the mothership was sighted. The Taguiris had managed to land their ship in the forest protected from prying eyes. Then they made their way back to the mothership. The trek seemed long though the speed of the ship would say otherwise.

She just couldn't help but worry about Krel. He had been through so much even before all this began, that it appeared he would live with this for the rest of his life. Aja only hoped that the injuries he had sustained at Area-49b before they were rescued the first time, wouldn't hinder him in anyway.

Aja was relieved when she saw Varvatos standing outside waiting for them. She all but ran to him and hugged him as hard as she could. He was family after all and a welcomed sight to see after the ordeal Aja had gone through and Krel was still going through.

"Vex!" Aja didn't want to let go of her guardian.

"Queen-in-Waiting! It's so good to see you alive!" Vex hugged her back. He was so relieved as well to find one of his charges still alive.

"Vex, this is Kosciusko and Atala. They helped us get out of Area-49b the first time," Aja turned to reveal the other two Akiridions in the room.

Vex bowed.

"Thank you for helping the royals out in their time of need," Vex stared at the other Akiridion siblings. It had been forever since he laid eyes on people from Akiridion-5 that weren't the royals. It was a blessed sight to see.

"We unfortunately have not been as helpful as we thought," Kosciusko bowed down to Vex as well, but didn't turn his gaze toward the guardian. He stayed that way, not wanting to show the shame that he felt in losing one f the royals.

"You have done amazing work, despite all that's happened," Vex placed a hand on Kosciusko's shoulders.

The elder sibling bowed his head.

"Now what are we going to do to rescue Prince Krel again?" Atala walked forward to meet their gazes.

"I've been thinking on that. If we were to go right now and try to rescue Krel, the military and Kubritz will be expecting us. But what if we were to use a distraction to help us get in?" Aja looked in between everyone in the room.

"And what do you propose this distraction be?" Aja felt Varvatos' gaze on her. She tried not to show her fear over her idea on her face.

"I was thinking, what if I were to recruit some of my human friends to be the distraction while Varvatos, you, Kosciusko, Atala and myself work on retrieving my brother?" She shrugged, hoping beyond all hope that they would agree with this plan.

"No! No way are we allowing humans to assist in this rescue mission."

"But Varvatos, how else are we to rescue Krel? Kubritz knows who I am and she most certainly knows who you are. We can't just walk in there without distracting her first."

"And what better way to do that than to utilize your connections with the local youths," Kosciusko turned and looked impressed, "I think this plan might just work."

Varvatos huffed in displeasure.

"Fine! If that's what it takes to get your brother back," Vex crossed his arms not pleased with the idea, but if it meant getting the King-in-Waiting back from the hunter and the humans, it would have to do.

"Then I'll go find Stuart and see if he can help me round them up. He's usually better at these rousing speeches than I am,"

"Be careful!" Vex called out to her as she ran inside the mothership to don her disguise. When she came back out again, she was no longer in her Akiridion form, but that of a human.

"I will!" And she was out the door.

On the Bounty Hunter's Ship...

It was like his mind was swimming up a stream of never ending sluggishness. The amount of effort it seemed to get his mind to form even one simple sentence, was monumental and Krel had no idea why.

He also couldn't remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered was when Aja had left to go warn Kosciusko and Atala about the hunter. But then, after that, it was all blank.

That is until he went to take a deep breath.

Pain erupted in his chest. It was like pins a needles with pricking him from the inside. Everything, including the standoff with the hunter, started coming back. Krel remembered hiding from Kubritz and the bounty hunter and how Aja and himself were crammed into a small compartment in the cockpit. Then Aja left, leaving him defenseless.

Cerosix then found him, yanking him by his leg and pulling him out into the open. Krel fought the monster as hard as his body would allow, but was eventually overpowered when the hunter applied pressure on his small body.

It scared him. Krel had never felt such immense power before and his already injured body didn't do much to help with that. This simultaneously caused him to panic in real life. Unsure of what was going to happen, or where he even was, it did little to quell the fears rising inside of his core.

"Looks like the prince wakes!" Kubritz. Krel didn't want to hear her voice. He honestly didn't want to hear anyone's voices unless it was a friendly, like Vex or Aja. Boy did he miss Aja right about now.

But he remained silent. Taking in what sounds he could make out.

"Come on, open your eyes. I want to see them," Kubritz was acting all sweet now, Krel thought, but he knew that it was all just a ploy to get what she wanted. She was cunning like that, just as she had been when he was captured by her the first time.

"No, I will...I will not op...open them," Krel found it odd at how hoarse his voice was. It was like he had just swallowed a cupful of some of Earth's sand and then was forced to speak.

"If you don't open them right this instant," He felt heat from an unknown object grow stronger and closer to one of his four arms. Unsure of what to do, he scrunched his face in expectation of something horrible to come.

And something horrible did come.

He realized almost too late that the device emitting the heat was a serrator. Even worse it was his serrator. It was at that moment, all sluggishness and sleepiness left his body all in one swift movement. He tried to get away, but it was like he had been immobilized.

And in a desperate attempt to get away from her, Krel hit is head hard against the restraint around his head, forcing him to open his eyes. He swiftly opened his eyes and watched Kubritz gently lay one of the ends against his shirt, burning it and eventually burning and cutting his skin.

"There you are! Welcome back to the land of the living," Krel glared at Kubritz who smiled a bone-chilling smile back at him.

"Don't think you'll get anything out of me! Not this time!" Krel gritted his teeth in frustration toward the lady. He hated her and all that she stood for. He hated her for what she did to him and Aja and for the hunter she brought to Earth.

"You know for someone in your position, I would have thought you would be more cooperative," Kubritz ducked out of Krel's line of sight, which brought fear to him.

Krel decided now would be a good time to test the restraints. He tried to sit up, but it only resulted in giving him a headache and sore arms. The restriction of his body was so tight, it started to rub sores into his wrists and ankles.

"Oh! I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Kubritz returned to his vision, "Cerosix made sure that it would be inescapable this time."

Krel continued to struggle. That's all he knew to do at this point. Without the protection of the Taguiris or his sister, he was vulnerable.

"One thing I was going to test out before you and your sister were so rudely ripped from my grasp the first time, was to see how fast you heal from injuries," Kubritz produced the serrator again and aimed for the exact same place she had previously burned Krel at, "I also want to know besides your sister, and the Taguiris, who else from your planet is here?"

And the serrator made impact on his lower right arm again. Krel felt tears well up in his eyes with the pain radiating in his chest and now in his arm. She slowly moved from arm to arm, taking great delight in Krel's misery.

"Like I said...ah! Like I said before, I will not tell you anything!" Krel was hurting too much now to fight back. Not that he could have anyway with the straps firmly in place around most of his body preventing him from moving an inch.

"Kubritz," The next person Krel didn't want to hear was the hunter Cerosix. This vile hunter walked to where he was behind him out of sight. Krel felt his body begin to shake slightly with the fear of what is to come, "We need him alive."

"Stay...stay away from me!" Krel wished he be free of straps and run away from this creature. He had tried his hardest to be brave the whole time since he woke up a few days ago in Kubritz' clutches. But as the days dragged on with no end in sight, he felt that bravery slowly but surely leave him.

"I don't think so little Prince," Cerosix reached over the back of the table and gripped Krel's shoulders. Krel tensed at the touch. It was just as unpleasant as the pressure the hunter had been exerting on him earlier, "We need the location of all of your Akiridion allies. And if you won't give us that, then well, I can't promise you'll come out of this in one piece."

Krel gulped. He wasn't about to endure this, but he couldn't give the location of his parents, Varvatos and Aja up. It was like betraying them in the worst way possible. So, he chose to remain silent instead of saying a word.

Cerosix rounded the corner, eyeing Krel's broken leg. If he could, Krel would have squirmed under his horrible glare that seemed to look into his very soul. Finally, Cerosix made his move. Which was to grab Krel's injured leg and squeeze it as tightly as he could with the restrains as they were.

And all Krel managed was a startled yelp. He wasn't expecting Cerosix to do that.

"Tell us where they are right now or else I will do far worse to your leg than what Kubritz managed to do," And the creature squeezed tighter.

Krel stayed silent though despite all the pain. Squeezing his eyes shut, he worked on not saying a word or screaming.

"Fine then if you won't talk, perhaps, we can figure things out by another method," Krel watched Cerosix as the hunter disappeared out of his sight for a few sectons before returning behind him with some sort of device in his hands. The hunter unstrapped Krel's head to place something around his neck. It was a collar of some sort with barbs that ate into Krel's neck. It also seemed alive with something, "Now listen. If you don't answer my questions or the Colonel's here, this collar will do one of two things."

Krel noticed the barbs starting to move closer and more into his neck.

"The barbs will impale your neck," then a strong electrical current shot through Krel's body. This time he had no other option but to scream out in pain, "Or you will face electrocution."

And then as fast as it came it stopped. Krel was left huffing in an attempt to catch his breath. His messed up ribs doing little to help the pain.

"I will not...tell..." And Krel didn't even finish his sentence when the electricity hit him hard again, causing every frayed nerve not already affected to be so. This was one of the first times he had ever thought this in his life, but he wished that he would fall unconscious so that he didn't have to deal with this pain any more.

"Poor choice.." The button was pressed again and the electricity was momentarily postponed.

"Why do you...why.." Krel couldn't form complete sentences due to the reaction to his body had with the residual energy of the shock.

"Why do I want to capture you and your friends so badly?" Cerosix began pacing around the platform Krel laid on, "For starters, the bounty that Morando has placed on you and your family is far greater than anything I've ever seen. That and I have always wanted to to capture an Akiridion. Always wondering what that was like as I've never experienced another being quite like you and your kind."

"But you on..only need my sister and I to complete the wishes of the bounty. Why go to such lengths as to side with her?" He did his best to point at Kubritz with his fingers, "You could have done it on your own from what I've seen."

"I sided with the Colonel because it benefitted me that she had already had you in her custody," Cerosix turned to Kubritz and smiled.

"And you and your sister would have stayed that way too, if the Taguiris hadn't interfered."

"Regardless of what happened, it only helped me in the long run," He sneered, "I discovered your location and it's only a matter of time before I find your ship too. You and your sister will be captured by the end of the week and you will be returned to Akiridion-5. There Morando will do what he wants with you."

All Krel could managed was almost like a strangled sob. He closed his eyes. The worst feeling of despair washing completely over him. Tears started falling down his face.

"Stop your crying!" And instead of the shock, it was the barbs. This time it wasn't Cerosix who pulled the trigger.

It was Colonel Kubritz.

But it didn't last long.

"Colonel Kubritz!" another officer ran into the ship.

"What is it now?" Kubritz turned to meet him.

"Sir, there seems to be a problem outside of the base!" He showed her something on a screen out of Krel's view.

"Gah...Cerosix, we have an issue outside the base. Can I trust you to not destroy him while I'm away?"

"I've got a better plan in store for him."

And as fast as the words flew out of his mouth, Krel was punched in the head again and as fast as that, Krel fell unconscious.

See! I told you it would be rough! Hope you liked it though! Please leave a review or comment! I would love to know what you thought! :)