Chapter 49

***This article contains spoilers.***

## Highlights

* The team arrives at Geniya to meet Ceraden. Irillith goes to a House Valaden cruiser to call and report everything to her mother, who is delighted, but demands she acquire their schematics.
* Rachel presents her research on Irillith's DNA, showing she's psychic, and that Maliri are predisposed to be drawn to Progenitors.
* They go to New Eden and solve the kidnapping and murder of Rachel's mother, and find out the group behind it is still active.
* When the team arrives at SerpentHold, Irillith insists on joining them because she likes the idea of hunting Terrans.

## Summary

Rachel finally got through to Ceraden. Apparently Irillith had caused a mining facility he owned to report catastrophic damage, but when he arrived with a maintenance team everything was working perfectly. This was likely to lure Ceraden away while they were on Quanthos dealing with the Fulmanax (Chapter 46). Ceraden reassures John that the Fulmanax were an aggressive, hostile species.

They arrived at Geniya to meet Ceraden, and Irillith tags along. Jade volunteers to guard the ship. Irillith went to a House Valaden cruiser to call and report everything to her mother, who was delighted, but demanded Irillith acquire their schematics.

Rachel presents her research on Irillith's DNA.

* Maliri females were supposed to be physically smaller and weaker than their male counterparts, but they have been greatly and permanently enhanced by the Progenitor tampering.
* It doesn't necessarily mean that Irillith is as strong as the girls, because while Maliri females are "naturally" more physically capable than normal Terran women, but the girls don’t fit that description any more.
* Irillith is psychic. There are a number of genetic similarities between Jade, Alyssa, and Irillith, which are likely related to psychic potential. One significant difference is that Jade and Alyssa's DNA have been very carefully and meticulously manipulated to enable this psychic potential, while Irillith’s is the more the case of a genetic anomaly or mutation than by deliberate design.
* Rachel's hypothesis is that the Maliri weren’t intended to have psychic powers. The "Eldritch Bloodline" an unexpected genetic mutation from the original Maliri Matriarch, who served the Progenitor who enslaved them thousands of years ago.
* While all Maliri have triple-helix DNA, the third strand was set up to make the women physically more powerful, and breed large numbers of female soldiers for the Progenitor’s armies, hence the dramatically skewed birth ratio.
* The changes the Progenitors made to the Maliri’s third strand were likely to make them more susceptible to psychic domination, not to empower them with psychic abilities.
* The Maliri are likely predisposed to be drawn to Progenitors, finding them very attractive, and making them more obedient and compliant for domination.

Dana presents her new punisher railgun.

* It's slightly longer than the old XR75s, and was colored white like their armor.
* They are lighter due to being made from double-shaped, reinforced Maliri and etherite crystal, which is much lighter and hugely stronger.
* The fully loaded weight is about the same, as the new ammo is heavier.
* It now uses 20mm crystal-tipped rounds, double the calibre of the old railgun.
* It had a second slot for the integrated 25mm grenade launcher.
* The new crystal-forged rails built into the barrel are about 10 times more resilient than Titanium.
* Ashanath power core: the boost to Lorentz force makes the rounds hit about five times harder than before.
* Kintark heatsink: lets the weapon quickly vent out excess heat.
* Low power mode cuts power down to a fifth, useful for preventing hull damage and taking out unarmored people silently
* DNA reader built into the grip
* She also made a heavy pistol variant

Jade practices shapeshifting.

Calara begins her investigation into the high profile kidnappings on New Eden. Although information on the murder of Rachel’s mother was scarce, there were other kidnappings ending in the murder of the victims, when the families wouldn’t pay the ransom.

Alyssa practices juggling storage crates in the Cargo Bay, to try and develop more control over her telekinetic ability.

Irillith looks for the schematic server.

They arrived in the Procyon system at New Eden, a Gaia-classification planet where the rich and famous live, in order to investigate the kidnapping and murder of Rachel's mother. Irillith agrees to help only so they can leave quicker.

Calara was only able to access news reports, but kidnappers seemed extremely well informed, suggesting they had informants such as a corrupt cop.

Alysaa, Calara, Rachel, and John suit up in full body armor to make a dramatic impression on Avalon PD. At the police headquarters, people seemed to recognize him as the Lion. Detective Karen Walsh meets them, and grants them access to the data archives, which Irillith hacks. Detective Cliff Buckley was the lead detective in all the cases, but Karen Walsh informs him he now runs the department.

Buckley storms in, furious at them being granted access, and nervous when he saw what they were looking for. Irillith found bank accounts registered to Cliff Buckley, showing large transfers of funds ten years ago, and showed the relevant entries highlighted in red, confirming he was a corrupt cop. He arranged the murders of two detectives 10 years ago who suspected he was involved.

Buckley reached for his handgun, but Alyssa knocked it out if his hand using telekinesis. John got him to reveal what he knew about the New Eden Serpents: they're still active, now as a mercenary group called Armored Cobras, in the Beta Draconis system.

John gave Rachel the decision of what to do with Buckley. She said, “*He’s a cop killer. Let them deal with him.*" Alyssa waved her hand to send Buckley flying backwards.

The team arrived at the fourth planet in the Beta Draconis system called SerpentHold. Irillith insisted on joining them because she likes the idea of hunting Terrans.