There were more than two dozen Lakura combatants fighting beside the Vergent, and every one of them immediately stopped what they were doing to glance back at him. “For Lutetia!” They shouted in unison and pumped their fists. Then they turned their attention back to their rifles.
Tarsis offered his leg, and Talon grabbed it in order to pull himself behind the cloven half of a table being used for cover. As soon as he tucked himself behind it a blinding beam of light speared through the passage, preceding a booming crash. Some of the men nearby screeched, and when Talon looked back they were charred husks along the floor. There was a molten gash cut across a metal wall, solid, grayish rock showing through like bone beneath the flesh.
“Nice speech,” Talon said. “They’ve got Mechs with rail-guns now?”
“A ton of them. They weren’t prepared to fight in zero-G though. Yara’s defensive strategy did more damage than expected, thanks to us.” He popped his gun out from cover and unloaded toward starlight. When he had to reload he turned to Talon and gestured toward a pulse-rifle lying beside a human arm. “You gonna help out or what?”
Talon nodded. He pushed off of the wall, floated across the tunnel, and grasped it. He could hear the snap-hiss of bullets flying by him the entire time. Once he was safely behind another piece of cover he realized how short of breath he was. It wasn’t the Blue Death this time, for he hardly had to use his muscles in zero-G. The amount of oxygen in the air was dwindling.
“Mechs keep hitting us with that and they’ll cave in all the tunnels and bury us in here,” Talon shouted back to Tarsis after shooting at some shadows darting across the other end of the passage. “We won’t last long with the air this thin.”
“Long enough maybe. Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what? My com-link went down after the blast until I neared the surface.”
“They won’t block the tunnels because they want cover in them themselves. We’ve got the troops they have here surrounded. The Morastus Clan! They came out of nowhere with a rescue fleet.”
The old man and his wretched son came to their senses, Talon thought, suddenly reinvigorated. “I guess the Ceresian Pact isn’t dead after all.”
“Guess not.”
Another round of rail-gun fire sliced down the center of the tunnel. Talon yanked his head out of the way just in time. Heat emanated through his visor. It tore a hole through a portion of the defenses in the refectory, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Yara lying just beside the smoldering mark it left in its wake. She was okay, but a handful of her men couldn’t say the same, including Captain Hadris. One of her surviving officers grabbed her and pulled her back into cover.
“My brave people,” she panted into Talon’s helmet. She’d overridden the com-link of every one of her soldiers so that she could speak to them directly. Her voice was shakier than it had been earlier, and she was clearly rattled. “We have been given a second chance by one of our own.” Talon watched her gaze sweep across the room and aim in his direction. “The Morastus fleet is now prepared to retrieve us,” she continued. “Do not hesitate. Gather with those beside you and fight through the nearest docking station. They will not be able to save all of us, and to those who are left behind…we will never forget. Oxygen on. For our home! For Lutetia!”
Talon could hear all the fighters in his vicinity chant with her, and this time he did the same. A chill ran up the center of his spine.
“Let’s get off this rock,” Tarsis said and grabbed Talon by the shoulder.
“When we set off I never thought I’d agree,” Talon replied. He reached up and switched on his suit’s oxygen stores, then bent down to pick up a long shard of one of the refectory’s shattered tables. It was light as a feather, and he pulled it close to his body like a shield. Tarsis copied him, and then every one of Lakura fighters in and outside the tunnel lifted whatever they could find to do the same.
Yara and her cohort of officers speedily appeared by the entrance to the refectory. She was armed, pistol in one hand and knife in the other. “Move!”
Talon and the others pushed off whatever they could and soared through the air toward the docks. The gunfire grew louder with every second. When they emerged from the tunnel Talon grabbed onto the side of the wall and used it to sling himself even faster. There was fighting everywhere. More Ceresians floated up by the ceiling, bracing themselves against it as they fired down upon disorderly lines of Tribunal soldiers.
Bullet trails traced through the air, but Talon couldn’t join the fray. If he fired, the recoil would send him right back into the tunnels. His shield vibrated as it was hit countless times. It wouldn’t last long, but it wouldn’t have to. There was a gaping hole in the exterior of the docking station, opened up to the stars. Dozens of ships zipped across it, and one familiar one hovered nearby.
The Monarch, Talon recognized.
“Guess they took your advice!” Tarsis laughed, his voice barely audible over the din of battle.
Yeah and got caught up in this. Talon pulled his quaking shield closer and considered his next move, but as he did rail-fire from a Mech tore into the floor by his feet.
The blast flung him into the air, twisting and unable to stop until his back slammed against a wall. He ignored the pain and tried to gather his bearings. Tarsis was floating next to him, unconscious. He dropped his rifle and grabbed the Vergent’s hand. Then he attempted to locate the Mech. There were two of them coming from their flank, and walking as if there was gravity. Magnetized limbs.
A sense of dread stole over him. The Mechs lifted their massive arms and fired the chain-guns built into them without relent. High caliber rounds tore into the Ceresian ranks, and Yara would’ve been hit if her men didn’t place themselves in front of her to be torn to pieces.
Talon took up his shield and prepared to make a move when suddenly sparks shot out from one of the Mech’s legs. It toppled over and was taken by weightlessness right before its leg was sliced clean off. Then the other one lost its arm. Talon squinted through the sparks and smoke, and spotted a soldier standing there, staring directly at him. It was a Tribunal, but there was something off. The soldier wore a typical suit of white and green armor, but on the lower part of their right arm that armor was shredded to reveal only black. There was a blade sticking out from it, covered in blood.
“Run!” a female voice shouted from behind the tinted visor.
It can’t be, Talon thought. She was right there, right in front of him again. The woman who’d killed Vellish, crippled Ulson, and damned him to spend the rest of his pitiful life on a Solar-Ark. There was no doubt about it. His heart raced and his hands quaked. He went to push off toward her, but as he did he caught a glimpse Tarsis’s closed eyes and froze. Leaving him behind would be a death sentence. Tribunal soldiers were everywhere, closing in quickly with the Ceresians now retreating.
As he deliberated, Sage grabbed one of the Mech’s dismembered arms and flung it toward a pack of Tribunal soldiers shooting at Yara. It took out all of them. Then she pushed off of the ground toward another group, spiraling head first with her blade out in front of her. It burrowed into the chest of another Tribunal, and she grabbed his rifle to shoot down three more.
Talon had never seen anyone move with such speed and grace. From Tribunal soldier to Tribunal soldier she darted, floating globs of blood strung along her path like ribbons. It was all the time Yara needed to gather her men and continue toward the rift in the docks.
“Run!” Sage screamed again.
Talon looked back at Tarsis and swallowed hard. He dropped his shield, grabbed the Vergent with both arms, and pushed off to follow Yara. The opening was wide enough for all of them, and they shot out into space. A bullet grazed Talon’s leg before they were out, but lucky enough for him it didn’t pierce the armor or he would’ve been exposed.
The only sound he could hear was his own breath inside of his helmet. Scraps of metal were everywhere, dismantled fighters from both sides weaving between them. He c
ould see the distant silhouettes of Ceresian soldiers flying toward other waiting transports all around the bright string of docks wrapping Eureka. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. One of the faraway transports exploded, leaving those it was meant to save stranded.
Talon stopped staring and looked forward to where the Monarch was waiting. The ship got as close as it could. Its cargo bay was wide open and ready to catch them. He wished he could go faster and make sure that the Monarch didn’t suffer the same fate as some of the others. He closed his eyes, held his breath, and squeezed Tarsis’s hand tightly. Explosions flashed all around them.
A pair of hands came out of nowhere to grab his shoulders and pull him down. It was Captain Larana, attached to a tether and fastening the other survivors to the floor of the Monarch. Other members of her Vergent crew were helping her do the same. One by one every Lakura combatant was pulled to safety.
“Go, go, go!” Larana shouted.
The cargo bay began to close, and just before it shut completely one last person came speeding through the opening. Sage. A Vergent grabbed her and laid her down, and then the Monarch shot forward.
“Good seein’ you again, Talon Rayne,” Larana said.
Talon was too blinded by rage to respond to her. He rolled over on top of Sage. Her armor was so bloody that it was hard to tell which faction she belonged to, but the green of the Tribune was impossible to miss. He ripped her helmet off. At first he was shocked by what he saw. Her red hair was as short as his, and her pale skin was covered in grime. She was panting, but her bright, green eyes were wide open and staring at him.
“Talon? But you were sent to an Ark.”
“I escaped,” he snapped. He grabbed her by the throat, squeezed as hard as he could and roared, “I should kill you!” Rage fueled him. He couldn’t let go even if he wanted to. She didn’t fight it. He knew she could’ve used her artificial arm to rip him off and throw him clear through the hull of the Monarch, but she didn’t. She just kept staring.
Everyone else in the hangar crowded around them and watched, perplexed.
“Shut up!” he snarled. He clenched as hard as his weak muscles would allow. The battle, the war, everything faded into the background. It was because of her that he never got a chance to return and say goodbye to his daughter. The Tribune did as they had always done, but she betrayed him. She used her beauty to get him wrapped around her thumb before deceiving him. Not again. He averted his gaze and continued squeezing.
“She…Sh..She’s alive,” Sage struggled. “Eli…Elisha.”
His grip loosened just enough for someone to rip him off of her.
“Enough soldier!” Yara barked. “This traitor saved our lives, and I want to know why.”
“So did he,” a Lakura henchman spoke up. Talon immediately recognized him as the man who’d held the map on their way down into the heart of Eureka. “He’s the one who destroyed the Gravitum Generator. I saw him go down there myself.”
“He is, is he?” Yara released him and backed away, the creases on her face relaxing. She recognized him from their verbal spat earlier in the Eureka refectory. “You saved a lot of my men today, what was it?”
“Talon Rayne, and this woman is with me. She was…” He looked back at Sage and clenched his jaw. She was gasping for air, staring at Yara with a look of bewilderment. Talon knew he could hand her over to Yara and never see her again, but he wanted to deal with her himself. To put a bullet in her head the same as she’d done to Vellish. “Undercover during the battle.”
Yara placed her hand on Talon’s shoulder. “Another one of your unexpected moves?” she asked.
“I suppose so.”
Yara slapped him on the back. “Well I hope you saved some more for the next battle.” She took a step further into the hangar before she noticed Larana and her brow furrowed. “So Zaimur’s got Vergents working with him now?”
“Just us,” Larana replied. “Cap’n Larana of the Monarch, at your service.”
The ship lurched violently.
“Missile fire!” Kitt shouted frantically over the ship’s com-system. “Just missed us!”
“We’re not clear yet!” Larana said. “All of you, follow me to the cockpit. You two, carry him.” She signaled toward Tarsis’s unconscious body, and two of her crew members quietly ran over, lifted him, and rushed him out of the room.
“Alright everyone, you heard the Vergent!” Yara turned to Talon and nodded. That was when he noticed something in her expression which he didn’t think she was capable of. Something she was struggling to mask through all of her bluster. Fear. The fear of a commander who knew she was mere moments away from losing every soldier who’d chosen to follow her. Talon returned the gesture, and then she immediately turned to follow Captain Larana out of the room. A couple of her best Lakura officers trailed closely behind them.
Once he and Sage were alone, Talon walked over to a stray pulse-rifle on the floor and picked it up. He faced Sage. She was sitting up, covering her mouth with her artificial hand as she wheezed.
“Thank you for—” Sage said before Talon interrupted her.
“I didn’t lie to Yara for you,” he said as he aimed the rifle at her head. “Not so pleasant from this side is it, Agatha? Or should I say Sage? Whatever the fuck your name is.”
Sage gathered her breath and looked back into his eyes as if the gun wasn’t there. She swallowed hard. “I didn’t know.”
Talon got his finger comfortable on the rifle’s trigger. “And why should I believe you?”
“They executed them. Like animals of Ancient Earth. None of them will ever have the chance to hear the Spirit’s calling. None of them.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“They will do the same to all of you. And to her.”
“Who?!” Talon snapped. He pressed the barrel of the gun against her forehead. “Don’t you dare lie to me!”
Sage didn’t flinch. She reached up slowly and rested both hands on the side of it, as if daring him to shoot. Then she began to rise. “Elisha,” she mouthed.
Talon jumped back. His finger squeezed the trigger to the point right before it would send a bullet twisting through her skull. “Liar!”
“I am…was an Executor of the Tribune. My eyes were unknowingly theirs, but not anymore. If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have plead for your life.”
“Tell that to Vellish!”
“I had no other choice. His Eminence Benjar was…” She paused and hung her head. “I don’t ask for your forgiveness. I only want to fulfill the promise I made to you and help you see your daughter again.”
“My daughter died on Kalliope.” Talon stormed forward and aimed in the center of her forehead. “She’s dead because of your people!”
“She’s not! I’ve seen her imprisoned on the Ascendant. They’re holding her there to get to me, Talon, but she is still alive. I swear it.”
Talon’s heart felt like it was going to burst. He pushed her backward with his rifle. “You’re lying.”
Sage dropped to her knees and pressed her palms flat against the floor. She then lowered her head, showing Talon the ugly scar running up the back of her neck where her long hair used to cover. “I swear it on all of the Ancients,” she said. “I swear it on the Circuit and the Spirit itself. She is alive.”
The pulse-rifle slipped out of Talon’s hands. He too fell to his knees, tears dripping down his cheeks. She’s lying, he told himself, though he couldn’t help but hope for the opposite. If Sage was still an Executor there was little she could learn about the Ceresian war strategy from working beside a man in his position. And if she wasn’t lying, that meant Elisha really was alive—that somehow she’d escaped the fate of Kalliope.
Maybe Julius got her on a shuttle, he supposed. The thought was enough to make him smile through his tears.
“Kill me after if you have to, but let me help you first,” Sage said. “We can get her out, Talon. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”
; Talon did his best to steady his breathing. He was propped up on his fists, staring down at his own pale reflection on the metal floor; at the blue eyes which he shared with his daughter. It took all of his willpower to summon the strength to form words, and even after he did he could only manage one.
“How?” he asked.
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Progeny of Vale Page 23