by Ross Winkler
Together, the reports solidified in Kavin's mind the location of the relic. The Maharatha, having stumbled upon the relic by accident, had contacted their Oniban about it. Their response was to forward the information up to the IGA diplomats who sent one of their own to retrieve it.
Kavin wanted to jump up and lead the awaiting soldiers out to battle that instant, but It didn't. The part of Kavin that had gained and kept the position of Princip for so long needed to wait. Kavin could feel when the pieces had set themselves into place, but at this moment things weren't quite set. They were still too likely to shift, too malleable. Kavin needed more before It would act, some other intel that would let It know when and where and how to strike.
Kavin's final piece of datum arrived in a rush two days later, a message sent and relayed through many trembling hands to Its desk: a new city complex had been built in a matter of hours, the walls and buildings dropped down from space, and several large transport ships with military escorts had descended from orbit not soon afterward.
Kavin opened Its com and dialed. "Brixaal, it's time."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The facilities offered by the Diviner were, by Republic standards, opulent. Each Maharatha, if they so chose, could have had their own room with space to spare for tables and chairs and chests. An attached storage room provided nutrient and power feeds for their suits; a private toilet offered luxury only the Oniban had the privilege of possessing and provided Corwin with much-needed privacy.
He hadn't had the toilets to himself since he'd been brought to the Republic, and now he reveled in the wide-open spaces, the empty stalls, and the quiet. He hummed a tune he hadn't thought of for over a decade, a small thing that his mother used to sing to help him sleep. Starting the water for the shower, Corwin took a cube of soap, pausing his song as the alien scent of flowers and anise drifted up to his nose.
His song died as the restroom door opened. His glower softened as Phae poked her head through the opening. After they left the Diviner's tent, Corwin had made himself available in case Phae wanted to talk about the example the Prehson had used, but she had only shaken her head and stomped away.
Now it seemed as if that mask had come off, shed as she removed her suit. Standing in the doorway eyes downcast, chewing at her lip, shoulders and head slouched, she looked defeated. "May … may I join you?" she asked as steam curled past on its escape through the open door.
"Yes."
She nodded her thanks, eyes still on the floor. Pulling the door closed, she stripped the second skin from her body. Corwin turned away.
Phae joined Corwin at his shower head, close enough that water deflected from her onto him, yet she was still so far, far away. Corwin reached out and pulled her into an embrace. After a moment of resistance, she gave in. She melted into his touch and laid her head back onto his chest, her arms enfolding his, wrapped around her smooth belly.
They stood in silence as the water fell onto their naked bodies. Phae wanted to talk, but not to begin, and Corwin didn't know what to say.
"Uh, are you all right?" he asked.
"I am an agent of Schism."
Corwin stifled a chuckle. "What? No."
"Everything I've known has been divisive. In the crèches I beat my competition, always, and sometimes physically."
"That's how the Republic is. That's why you're the best," Corwin said.
"I've killed. Those Quislings. We killed them."
"That's our job, Phae."
"But maybe they didn't all have to die. Maybe we could have spared more of them."
"With the amount of pain they caused, the death and suffering they've sown across this section of Republic territory? They deserved what they got." The words tasted foul in Corwin's mouth.
"The Diviner lies."
Corwin snorted. "How can someone lie about their own religion? They can make up anything they want — that's what religion's about."
"There is no Accession in life, only Schism."
"The fact that we exist is proof of Accession. Boy meets girl, sperm meets egg — you know."
"My mother never knew my father. He was adopted into the family, harvested for sperm, then traded away for a better specimen. I was born after one dispassionate meeting of genetic material in a metal box."
Oh. Corwin now understood the real meaning of this conversation, and it was not the verity of the Diviner's religion or her own doubts about killing. He kept quiet and let her continue.
"After that one moment of Accession, I was cast out of my family, abandoned at the crèche. I exist as a Niwi, only because they want to keep me around to help further the family's goals. I, I won't even have a say in my mate; they won't allow me near my children. I'll be a parasite, hanging on until I die."
"Then leave."
Phae hugged tighter. "And create more Schism? No."
"You're leaving does not cause more Schism. The actions of your family, that's what caused this. They are to blame, not you."
"Do you know what you're suggesting, Corwin?" She spun in his arms until they faced each other. "To leave my family — to become Dreng-less. It's easy for you to suggest. You don't know what it's like…"
"Enough. You are Maharatha, and by that very title you have more dreng than your whole family combined. You can be the matriarch of a whole new line — a line of Accession, if you choose."
She stared into Corwin's eyes, her own red despite the steam, and the falling water chased away any tears that might have fallen. Corwin kissed her over and again until she smiled.
"You think so?" she asked with a quiet voice.
"You will not be alone. I guarantee it."
Her hands left their places atop his shoulders, one snaking to the back of his head to twine itself into his hair, the other sliding down his stomach to massage both their groins.
She pulled Corwin in close. "You mean it."
"I do."
"Thank you," she whispered.
Later, after they had finished and Phae had hurried away to gather some food, Corwin finished his second shower of the day, once again humming. He used the cloth provided to wipe the water from his pruning body and stepped across the restroom's threshold into the cool summer night. A gust of wind rustled the trees. He shivered and stomped his feet on the hard-packed earth as he closed the door behind him.
At first they didn't know what happened. They were so secure, so sure that the aliens had everything under control, that the first explosions had stunned the four Human warriors to blank stares and inaction.
When the shouting started, low and guttural, and the crack-snap of hybrid rifles descended on the complex, dawning recognition propelled the Maharatha from their beds with weapons in hand. They were at a disadvantage; total surprise had robbed them of the precious time they needed to do anything so basic as to dress, and they stacked at the edge of the door preparing to exit, naked, into a combat zone.
Kai slid the door open only far enough for a clear view of the area. In the distance the lights of Shota's Mobile unit flared to life, small lightning bugs disturbed from their night's slumber. The fighting had not yet made it this far. For now they were in the clear.
Kai shrugged the door open, rifle snapping up to his shoulder as he scanned his line of sight for enemies. Chahal followed, covering Kai's right side and Phae followed after her, covering the left, Corwin's bare back pressed up against Phae's as he covered the rear. It was not the most effective method of moving — the preferred method to advance-cover-wait-advance more akin to the stretching and contracting of a rubber band — but they needed speed over safety.
Halfway to their destination, a vehicle rounded the far corner. In a second, Corwin identified the target, aimed, and fired a quick burst into and through the driver's side windshield. "Contact! Contact!" he shouted as the Choxen scout vehicle swerved before careening into the complex's outer wall.
Corwin reached for a grenade and cursed as his hand brushed bare skin.
They leapt into a de
ad run, and well-honed skills kept them aware of each other despite their focus on external threats. Corwin fired again and again at the scout vehicle to keep the enemy pinned down.
They slid into the relative safety of the equipment shed, the formed plasteel walls providing full but limited cover. "Get into your suits!" Corwin said as he and Phae swung around to cover both sides of the open door. Corwin's nerves were steady, though his heart raced.
Sounds of battle marched closer.
Before long Kai and Chahal took the other two Maharathas' places at the door, each still unsteady as their minds and bodies acclimated to their suits.
It struck Corwin as odd, and he smiled as he realized just how ridiculous he and Phae looked right now. They stood naked, clad only in oversized, heavily armored insect-like helmets.
He pushed those thoughts away and after a couple breaths, quieted his mind. The armor opened, and he stuffed himself inside.
Phae was struggling, her suit opening and snapping closed in quick intervals. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and it seemed to calm her enough to slide fully in. Once she was set, Corwin slapped his ammunition to the magnetized strips on his armor.
"DOWN!" Kai screamed through their com.
Chahal slammed the door closed and threw herself to the side as hundreds of chain gun rounds slammed into the outer plasteel wall. Their shelter's walls throbbed under the weight of the assault, and in places the wall splintered.
"We have to move!" Chahal said.
"We can't go anywhere, not with that gun on us!" Phae shouted back.
"Stack on the wall beside the door. Kai, get ready to throw a grenade through the opening."
Another chain gun blast forced them down onto their stomachs. As it tracked away and subsided, Corwin shouted "Now!" stood, and kicked the door. In its weakened state, the door came loose and tumbled, clods of dirt spraying up in all directions.
Kai had tracked the location of the Choxen vehicle through his helmet, and he stepped into Corwin's place. A twist of his body sent three grenades flying, and he dove forward and to the side, rolling to land on his stomach, his machine gun splayed out before him.
The Choxen tried to move, the driver punching the accelerator even as the turret gunner fixed Its sights onto Kai. Bullets flew a hair's breadth over Kai's helmet to crash into the plasteel wall behind. The Choxen driver and Its passenger escaped death — barely — as the grenades detonated. The gunner wasn't as lucky. The grenades exploded in a wash of blue-green plasma, and the rear end of the vehicle vaporized, a haggard shadow of what remained cast against the surrounding tree line.
The vehicle's cab tipped backward, grinding and puttering to a stop as twisted metal plowed troughs in the ground. The night lit again as Kai fired and shredded the two Choxen scrambling from the wreck.
"Enemies down," Kai said, climbing back to his feet.
"Up we go then," Corwin said. He led the way, first by leaping onto their room's roof, then again up onto the complex wall.
Fires crept along the tents like burning paper; a few had collapsed, spreading their flame and ash onto the priests huddled inside. The Car-karniss struggled to remove the noncombatants from harm's way, but the enemy surprise was total, and both guards and priests died by the score as Grunts rampaged.
Not everywhere did chaos reign, for in places the Car-karniss had rallied and fought with melee and rifle. The main knot of fighting worked its way towards the tent where Yerama-gar and the Śeṣanāga stayed.
"Chahal, set yourself up here." Corwin didn't wait for her to respond before he leapt from the battlements. "The rest of you with me." He realized with a small part of his mind that he wasn't shouting; in fact, his voice held little emotion. He didn't have time to ponder his robotic voice before a roaming knot of struggle engulfed him and the other two from his Void.
The Car-karniss had never before had the occasion to fight alongside Humans, and their study of them, with their lack of teeth or claws and their soft, soft skin, had made them seem weak compared to many of the other Intergalactic Alliance member races. They were wrong.
As the Humans closed range, leapfrogging between smoldering vehicles, they fired tight clusters of death at the armored Choxen soldiers. The enemy advance slowed as they hit the wall of Maharatha covering fire. The Choxen momentum ground to a stop as one of them — using her Voidmates' scanners — began to blast fist-sized holes through targets hidden behind cover.
Then the Grunts filled the gap, and still the Humans didn't die. The big one, "the giant" as they called him later in their retelling, bore the brunt of the Grunts' manic charge as he used his body as a shield and battering ram to protect the smaller two. They fought with two weapons, a pistol in one hand, sword in the other, killing Grunts and firing at any Choxen that tried to make a move from cover.
With a kick, Kai sent the last Grunt stumbling, surprise streaking through its minuscule brain, and Phae sliced it in two. The pieces landed quivering among the others. The Car-karniss rallied and took over the counterattack.
"Corwin," Chahal said through the com system, "you need to get over to the Diviner's tent. The Choxen have broken through the guards' lines."
An icon appeared on the Maharathas' HUDs to tell them which direction to take despite the intervening tents and flame. They sprinted for the Prehson's tent, avoiding when possible the battle that swirled through the complex's courtyard. When they could they struck out, tight groups of armor-piercing rounds downing Choxen, sharp blades felling Grunts.
They arrived at a flanking position to the enemies besieging Yerama-gar's tent quarters. The tent had just caught flame, and long tongues of orange licked up the side to slide across the roof. The Humanesque Choxen ran headlong into the blaze.
From the state of things, Corwin knew they were too late.
"You have eyes, Chahal?" Corwin asked as the three Maharatha sprinted to close the gap.
"Not yet. Moving to a better vantage."
"Make a hole, then in through the side of the tent," Corwin said as a mental command added another burst of speed to the suit's already strained musculature.
The few remaining Car-karniss died as the Choxen and Grunts overran them, but their victory was short-lived. From the shadows and smoke cast by the burning tents, three Maharatha charged headlong into the confused Choxen.
Kai had stowed his sword and pistol and sprayed his support gun back and forth across the enemy line. Corwin and Phae — each still holding pistol and sword — beat back any Grunts that came too close.
They roared forward, a whirlwind of death as the Humans moved around each other, sliding, leaping, ducking, to engage any who approached. From up above, Chahal emptied clip after clip into enemy soldiers that escaped her Voidmates' attentions.
Another round ricocheted from Corwin's chest and sent him stumbling; Phae grabbed him and dove into Kai, pushing the three of them forward. They toppled into and over the low wall that surrounded the Diviner's tent, landing in a heap as a grenade exploded just a few meters away, melting a section of the wall with a splash of hot plasma.
They rolled, disentangled, and landed on their feet in low crouches. That last hit was not the only injury he'd taken in their mad rush across the Choxen lines, and Corwin gasped for breath even as his suit pumped painkillers into his bloodstream. A glance at his HUD told him that Phae and Kai seemed to have fared only a little better than himself, but Phae favored a leg and blood dripped from a gash across Kai's forearm.
A Choxen ran screaming up to the wall. As Corwin oriented to the threat, Its chest exploded forward and It slumped to the ground.
"You bought yourself some time, but they're regrouping. Get moving," Chahal said.
"Copy," Corwin said, slashing a hole into the side of the tent.
Flames from the roof cast flickering shadows across the dark room, and his helmet dimmed and brightened in time with the flames. The room was a mess, every chest, bed, and set of drawers overturned and emptied onto the floor.
Th
e Groaton priest lay sprawled atop a table, guts hanging out and steaming. A four-fingered hand twitched from among a pile of clothes. With a thought Corwin highlighted the Foralli's body and assigned it to Kai to look after. Phae and Corwin advanced to cover the entrance.
"He's still alive," Kai said, "but in a bad way. Give me a minute." Kai tore a strip of cloth from the robes the Foralli lay upon and cinched it tight around the alien's leg.
"Ready."
They advanced, passing through an archway and into a dining area of some sort; plates were scattered across the floor, the furniture overturned and smashed. Three more rooms they passed through, each destroyed like the first, until they heard the guttural speech of the Choxen through the open door.
Corwin counted down from three on his fingers then flicked his wrist forward. The Maharatha slipped into the next room. Ten Choxen were tearing the place apart, searching, presumably, for the Śeṣanāga. In the center of the room, Yerama-gar lay on its side, bleeding from where its four hamstrings had been sliced. Standing before it, armored fingers thrust into its gill slits, a Choxen in dusty blue armor screamed at the top of Its in-Human lungs.
"Where is Accession NOW, you horse?" It jerked in surprise as the three Maharatha opened fire on the distracted Choxen.
Corwin had his pistol trained on the Choxen holding the Diviner. His bullets punched into the alien's armor, but it didn't seem to matter. With one massive heave, the blue-clad Choxen jerked Yerama-gar's body upward into the line of fire. Two of Corwin's rounds struck the Prehson's exposed torso. The Choxen had flung the Diviner's body at the Maharatha, but It held onto the Diviner's head.
The loud crack! of a snapping neck echoed into the tiny space.
The Maharatha ceased their fire for fear of shooting the Diviner. Kai caught the Prehson with a delicate sweep of his arms and a few steps and laid the alien onto the ground out of harm's way.