by Chris Fox
Bri replied. "He's fine."
"We have a bigger problem," he said, pointing to the tablet in his hand. "CP are looking for us. It's like they know what we're trying to do."
"It's part of the plan," Najima said, throwing a wobbly arm around his shoulder. "You two, I need you to get Brat and get back into the Trogan. Then, Priya, call Annapurna back at the hideout, and tell her to start the engines on the Hayagriva."
"What plan are you talking about?"
"Just do what I tell you, you two. I'm going to make this work." Bri and Priya exchanged worried looks, but with some reluctance, Priya lumbered to Brat and began lifting his heavy friend as best he could.
"What is going on, Najima? And why are you telling us to run?" Bri asked.
"Just because you all have the stupidest plans ever doesn't mean I don't think you all could do some good. Just go to the Trogan, call Anna, and be ready to drive. I'll handle the rest."
Bri wrapped her arms around Najima, and Najima did her best to return the hug with her stiff muscles. "Try to make sure Otto doesn't act this stupid ever again, please? I don't need any more Ninde thrown around by me while trying to save me from all of that," she said with a waggle of her arm toward Brat's limp body.
Bri apologized again, and hurried to help Priya with Brat's body as sirens grew louder from outside. Najima slowly made her way to the stairs and ascended them. By the time she had reached the top floor of the minaret, she had gained much of her mobility back, and exited out into the bright desert sun.
∞∞∞
"I knew you would come," Otto's gruff voice said. He was facing the staircase. "That's what I get for leaving you behind with Annapurna, I guess."
Najima stepped out into the top floor of the minaret, open to the air, with no walls. The height allowed them to look upon the entire region. The town surrounded them far below, and the the desert surrounded the town. Even from this height, she could see the tall mesas of Otto's base far in the distance. Above their heads was an assortment of equipment, eons old, completely unuseable due to lack of knowledge for ancient tools, and countless millennia of looting and vandalism. This once great marvel now stood as a lookout for a villain, who now looked upon Najima.
"Too scared to come fight me yourself?"
"I'm just waiting for the beginning of the future," Otto said somewhere between defiance and sarcasm. "Brat heard some noise downstairs - wanted to make sure it wasn’t you. I don't think he likes you much."
"I've had the same feeling about you lately," Najima replied, producing her daggers but not lighting them.
"You're too late Najima. Fighting me will do you no good." Despite Otto having his assault rifle slung over his shoulder, he produced a weapon from a holster along his leg: Najima's own pistol. He spun it gleefully on his finger. "My bomb is designed to explode on its own. Priya's not in charge this time. Fate is. And those responsible will be consumed by that fate."
"You've lost touch, Otto. These people did nothing to you!"
"The Empire destroyed everything I knew for the sake of their own greed and power. These Imperials did everything to me."
"Just because the people of this town are Imperial doesn't mean they are the ones who hurt you!"
Otto laughed, although there was no humour in his tone. "Says the Imperial girl who drew her daggers on me."
"I'm on the side of the people. Like you should be, Otto!"
"I'm on the side of freedom and justice. Nothing more."
"Killing innocents is not justice."
Otto aimed the pistol at Najima and she activated her daggers, one to each hand, taking her fighting stance. "The Empire killed my family,” Otto said. “They killed my friends, my fellow soldiers, and every dream we stood for as a nation. They murdered everyone I knew, and they did it in the name of justice. It’s about time someone shows them how justice feels."
The light came before the noise.
A bright billow of fire and smoke rose from the streets near the bazaar, and a deafening blast shook the ground. The explosion was immense, sending off the sounds of crunching metal and screams audible even from the distance they stood.
"If you killed someone's family and friends right now, what would make you any different from the Empire?"
"It doesn't matter," Otto said, lowering Najima’s pistol and turning toward the remainder of the explosion and the increasing rise of sirens around the city. "It's done. And they'll know that Otto al-Kara is a name to remember, because they will pay for what they did to Rangpur."
"They'll remember you for blowing up a city-street, and nothing more."
Otto turned toward Najima hesitantly. "What are you talking about?"
"Where are the people in the streets, Otto? Where are all the people gathering for the parade?" It somehow didn't occur to Otto that there was a problem, and he turned to look at the town. The once busy streets, the busy bazaar, were filled with rescue vehicles and authorities. But no people. No civilians, no parade. Just a small bit of fiery destruction.
"What did you do?!" he yelled, re-aiming Najima's gun.
"I met someone before I ran into your group. It was the good fortune that he was the the mayor. One of the people at your parade, that you were trying to kill," she said with a point toward the destruction. "I went the bazaar before coming here. Started screaming and pushing my way to the front of the crowd. I told them your plan, and that they needed to evacuate the parade route. Of course, they didn't believe me - they had just seen my face all over the Stream helping you steal explosives from those security cameras. The mayor was ready to have me arrested on the spot.
"Turns out helping people helped me. Many of the people in the crowd recognized me when we broke into the food stores. They shouted out, told them not to arrest me.” Najima thought of the crowd. She saw all the faces asking CP to stop. She even saw the little girl screaming from a corner of the crowd.
“CP didn't believe me until a certain woman stepped out of the crowd in my defense."
"You didn't..." Otto mumbled in disbelief.
“That woman from the alley. I knew I recognized something about her, or at least her jewelry. I delivered her necklace to her - that was the mayor’s wife. And if she didn’t recognize me from the night before, when I saved her life from you, none of them would have believed me. But right now, there was nobody near the Doyel you blew up. They all evacuated before I came here.”
“What have you done?” he said, as he looked back at the black smoke from the explosion. The sirens were growing ever louder.
"You brought this on yourself, Otto."
Najima still felt stiff from the Ninde, but had enough speed to dive aside as Otto spun around and fired several shots at her. She slung her left dagger like a boomerang at Otto, and he dove out of the way, the dagger flying off the side of the building. His sudden roll made him lose a handle on the gun long enough for Najima to race toward him, and although he pulled off another errant shot, Najima was able to kick her pistol from his hand.
But her mobility failed her as Otto used his free left hand to sling a punch straight to Najima's gut. She tumbled backwards off her balance, and had to roll away as Otto dropped his heavy boot at her. Najima was able to recover to her feet as Otto produced and cocked his rifle. She lurched out and grabbed at the center of his rifle as he held down the trigger, violent gunshots firing in the air, bullets ricocheting off the equipment above on the roof of the minaret. They struggled over the weapon until the majority of the magazine was fired, and Otto pushed the gun into Najima's face, knocking her back, and onto the ground.
Otto aimed the gun at Najima as she slung her remaining dagger at him. It caught him along the shoulder, and sent him into a fit of screaming, as he shot the remainder of his bullets wildly while the dagger slid off the side of the building. His pain allowed Najima enough time to kick his shin, and then throw her body at him, knocking him backwards with the tackle. The momentum almost sent both of them tumbling off the side of the of the minaret.
But Najima was still wobbly from the Ninde. She rolled further than Otto, could not gain her balance, and fell off the edge, before clutching the engraved outer wall of the minaret. Her feet found a footing, but it was very weak. Otto rose once more and approached her at the edge, looking down at Najima.
"You've ruined this. Now who has brought things upon themselves, Najima Dezetoiles?"
But his attention quickly changed direction as an aerial vehicle came for a pass by the minaret. It's large anti-gravity engines buzzed much louder than the average Doyel or Trogan, and it hovered around to face the minaret.
"This is Civil Protection," it called over its speakers, "Otto al-Kara, you are under arrest for acts against the Empire. Surrender immediately."
Otto recovered his rifle as he stared down at Najima struggling for a grip, the burn along his shoulder turning a bright, bloody red. "I could have done more than you know, Najima."
"There's a reason," Najima replied, still dangling from the edge of the building, "That I didn't come with CP officers. I could have told them you were here. I told them to evacuate people instead." Otto's face looked baffled as Najima finally scraped her way up the side of the minaret.
"Put down the weapon, al-Kara, or we'll be forced to shoot."
"You did it to what?” he asked her. “To help me? You expect me to run?"
Najima was out of breath, but looked up at him, desperate to cling to the side. "And live to