by Kal Spriggs
“Yeah,” she said. She squeezed past me and stopped, waiting as I pulled out my towel and soap. “Good luck, tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” I told her, you too.”
As she walked off, I wish that I could have talked to her about it all, freely. Then again, I doubted it would have made a difference.
***
Standing there, waiting for the door to open, I felt remarkably calm.
“I still can barely believe that we made it this far,” Osmund shook his head. “Who would have guessed, right?” He let out a tense breath, “Sorry they took me down last round, it won’t happen this time.”
“It’s fine,” I assured him. “We made it here, that’s the important part.”
“Yeah, at this point, as long as we don’t do something horrible or dishonorable, we’re set,” Sanjaya said with a relieved voice. “I mean, final round? Just about any of the Houses might make us an offer of patronage! Pretty good for some low-born gutter-scum!”
“Sanjaya, the way you eat at the formal dinners, they’ll probably revoke that after a week,” Osmund chuckled.
Sanjaya considered that, “True enough.”
I ignored their byplay. I had come up with something of a plan, but I wasn’t sure if it would work or not and I felt doubt gnaw at me. So much was up to chance and if anything didn’t go the way I hoped, then we were toast.
“Team Twelve from Jade Flight,” the door opened, “Entrant Vars, Entrant Sanjaya, and Entrant Osmund.”
“Here we go,” I led the way forward and we looked out. Tangun’s Gate hung above us. Of to our left and right, I could see other platforms. Jonna’s team was on the far right. Kiyu’s team lay to my left. An enemy team was to my immediate right. The other two enemy teams were on the far side, out of my sight, but where Jonna and Kiyu’s teams would be able to engage them.
“When it starts,” I told Sanjaya and Osmund, “Focus fire on the platform on our right. We take them down and this gets much easier.”
“No problem,” Sanjaya chuckled.
“Long live the Emperor!” The announcer called out.
As one, we knelt, “Long live the Emperor!”
“Entrants, you may begin!”
As one, my team turned and opened up on the opposing team on our right. The three of them had tried to shoot at both Jonna’s team and mine, but with enemies on both sides, the three of them went down pretty quickly. Jonna’s team lost one member, though.
“Move out,” I told them. We had to move fast.
The other two opposing teams weren’t slackers. They ran through their obstacles fast. Kiyu and Jonna’s teams occasionally traded fire with them, but if either of them paused to effectively aim, they risked falling further and further behind. That wasn’t to say that the enemy wasn’t shooting back, either. I saw one of Kiyu’s people fall, struck by enemy fire and tumbling into the open void. Now it was eight against six.
Neither of those teams could engage mine, so we were making the best time. Within only a few minutes we were lifting the gates and then we started up the ladder. The two enemy teams were getting to that point as well. We were running out of time. Everything relied on Jade Flight taking the center chamber first.
I got to the top of the ladder and I didn’t wait on Osmund or Sanjaya to reach the top behind me. I ran full tilt towards the central chamber. At this point, the twists were semi-familiar and I ended up sprinting through the doorway just as the first of the enemy team was coming in. I opened fire, shooting from the hip as I dove into cover behind a column.
I hit one of them and the other two from that team fell back. I heard the sound of footsteps and Osmund emerged from the doorway, just in time to catch a couple of light pulses from the enemy he clattered to the ground, his exosuit jerking a bit in response to the electric jolts.
Sanjaya came through more cautiously, firing at the enemy and he and I took them under fire together, downing one more. Elsewhere inside the Gate, I heard gunfire, the bark of the TBA-Ts relatively light compared to the roar of the real ones.
With the odd curving walls of the inside of the Gate, my suit was having a hard time locating the shooters.
The gunfire rose to a crescendo, though and I caught movement from a doorway near Sanjaya. I saw him lift his TBA-T to fire and I lunged across the floor, knocking his training rifle aside just as he fired. The light pulses went harmlessly wide as Kiyu backed through the doorway, firing back the way she’d come.
“One enemy left over here,” she told me. I didn’t know if she even noticed that Sanjaya had nearly shot her in the back by mistake. Or maybe she saw but knew that I had her back.
“One on the far side of the chamber,” I told her.
Our comms were set to only work on our internal team network, so I couldn’t message Jonna to find out where she was. “The rest of your team?”
“Bahn lost outside, Dores fell in here,” Kiyu told me.
Three of us, maybe more if Jonna is still up, we can still do this. “We need to flank our two opponents—”
I didn’t finish before I heard gunfire from elsewhere in the Gate. A moment later, Jonna walked out into the center of the room. “Two opponents down, I think it’s only Jade Flight at this point.”
I stood up, giving Sanjaya a hand to his feet. Four of us. “Defensive positions?” I asked.
This was it, this was the final engagement. We had made it to the end. We were going to face last year’s top six
I had made my decision and whether my gamble worked or not, I was going to have to live with the consequences.
***
Chapter 25: I Make My Choice
Jonna moved over to the side while Sanjaya positioned to cover her flank. Kiyu and I moved to clear her field of fire and take up observation on the rest of the central chamber. There were five portals in the floor, I noticed. They were new and they looked sort of like doors designed to retract.
“Prince Ladon wasn’t seated next to his father,” I said to Kiyu.
“He probably suited up, just in case,” she nodded.
“Do you think he can beat us?” I asked.
She snorted, “I could beat him on my worst day. No, the danger is how they come at us. I think—”
She didn’t have time to finish.
Five of the portals slid back and lifts rose out of the floor. A fifteen Kavach Mark V’s came out of those four lifts, the teams on them firing in all directions. I opened up, tagging two of the nearest while Kiyu took down another three. One of them hit her in the arm, though, and she swore as her TBA-T fell from her fingers. Sanjaya gave a shout, whipping fire through the room, but I saw him go down, hit three or four times. I took down another two of the enemy team, and Jonna must have downed another pair of them, but they were firing back and I saw her collapse as they hit her in the legs. But she downed the very last of them with a burst of fire.
I didn’t hesitate. I dropped my TBA-T, scooped up Kiyu’s, and sprinted for where the last portal stood. As I ran forward, it slid open and the last three from the final enemy team rose up out of the lift shaft.
I was almost on top of them and I fired from the hip, striking the two on either side before they had a chance to swing their weapons around and I threw Kiyu’s rifle away as I covered the last few meters.
The one in the center had brought his rifle up, but I swung my arm up, batting it high and then ripping it out of his hands as I dodged past him. I leveled the gun, taking aim and firing. One burst went over his shoulder and right into Kiyu’s torso and head. The second burst went the other way, at where Jonna had been starting to push herself up and she collapsed without a sound.
Then, even as the last suit stood frozen, I dropped to one knee, popped open my helmet, and offered up the rifle, “My lord, I am your loyal servant.”
Prince Ladon took the rifle from me and popped open his helmet. He stared at me, not moving for a long moment. “You downed them with my rifle?”
“Yes, my Lord,” I told him, not ri
sing.
“I get credit for the kills,” he mused. “You didn’t use yours, so no one would know you betrayed Jade Flight.” His voice was incredulous.
I spoke, hoping that he wasn’t familiar enough with the real Vars to notice a difference in my voice, “Neither of them can be certain of what they saw in the fight. The weapon used will show you took them down. One of them will likely finish highest. But you remain the best, my Lord.”
He began to smile, “Very well played, Vars. And this, I presume is an offer? To be my inside man, close to both of my enemies? Ready to strike should I request it?”
“It is what I’ve worked for all year, my Lord, an opportunity to prove I could be of use to you,” I lied. “Jerral was weak and dumb. I can serve you so much better.”
“He was a brute… a loyal brute, though,” Prince Ladon hefted his rifle and stared at me, almost as if he were reconsidering all this. “But perhaps my choice of him was hasty. And you’ve removed him in such a way that I needn’t worry about any backlash if I had abandoned him voluntarily.”
He walked away from me and went to where Kiyu lay. I knew from painful experience that the voltage from the “kill” shots didn’t really knock someone unconscious, they just scrambled your ability to think and take action.
Prince Ladon kicked his downed cousin, an impact hard enough to drive her against the wall. “Traitor,” he muttered.
He came back to me. “Very well, Vars. I accept your service. Stay close to my cousin, and Hayden, too, for that matter. Be my eyes and ears. I will arrange for your path to be cleared, for choice assignments to come your way… quietly, of course.” He gave a smirk, “When the time comes, when the moment is opportune, you will be my hidden blade and neither of them will see me coming.”
“Of course, my Lord,” I lied, bowing my head down. “There’s just one last thing to do, then.” I gestured at the rifle in his hands and closed my helmet.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Prince Ladon smirked. He closed his helmet and brought his TBA-T up.
He could have shot me in the chest. The shocks from the electrodes there were less painful and they didn’t mess you up as much.
Prince Ladon aimed it right at my head and fired twice. As I dropped twitching to the ground, I had one last thought. What a hocking jerk.
***
“Jade Flight emerges victorious, with top three team rankings,” Dekkas Richardson announced. We were all in the barracks bay at that point and we’d all figured that was how it would wind up, but this was the official announcement.
The whole bay erupted in cheers. Richardson raised a hand, “Please, listen. Taking first, we have Entrant Drakkan.” There were more cheers and applause.
“Taking second, we have Entrant Hayden’s team,” More cheers and applause followed.
“Lastly, in third, we have Entrant Vars.” Richardson’s voice might have shifted ever-so-slightly to disapproval, but I couldn’t tell for certain. He’s a hard man to read.
“Congratulations to all of you. It is always my honor and pleasure to sponsor Jade Flight. This year, with your performance, I am truly honored to have been your sponsor and I look forward to seeing what all of you accomplish here at the Institute.” He gave us a nod. “I will see all of you at the end of year honors and awards.”
He turned around and left, his short, grizzled frame seeming to take up more space than the big enlisted instructors who moved out of his way and then followed him out.
Jonna was seated on her bunk, still holding her head. “Ugh, I think my electrodes were improperly calibrated, my head is still pounding.”
“That’s unfortunate,” I told her, not entirely sympathetic. It probably wasn’t nice of me, but then again, it would have been hypocritical seeing as I’d hacked her suit and dialed up the electrode setting to make sure that I scrambled her good when I hit her. I didn’t want her remembering who’d shot her, after all.
I’d done the same to Kiyu, who was still laying on her bunk, a damp wash-cloth over her eyes. She had waved a hand at the cheers, but hadn’t moved much more than that. Then again, I’d seen the huge welt across her side from where her cousin had kicked her. She probably hurt a lot from that.
“I still can’t believe how close we came, only for that sibhal to get all three of us,” She sighed. “I thought you had him.”
“Sorry,” I told her. “But things worked out, right?”
“Yeah, second place,” she sniffed. “By a few seconds difference. I still don’t know if I agree with how they marked those last few kills. I saw you charge at Prince Ladon’s team, I thought you hit his buddies, but they credited Kiyu, that was enough to push her over the top.”
“Funny how that worked out,” I nodded. I knew that I’d downed the pair of them, but I’d used Kiyu’s weapon to do it and as I’d hoped, that had put her at the top. The more confusing things were for everyone there at the end, the better. Because I’d made a deal with the devil and I didn’t want my friends to know.
Not that I intended to betray them, of course. But I couldn’t let Prince Ladon realize that, or else I’d have a target back on my back and talk of purges and military coups would be back on the table. No, it was best if Prince Ladon and Crown Prince Abrasax thought that Vars was their perfectly placed mole.
Jonna sighed, “Well, I’m going to get some rest. I’m beat and my head is still pounding. I’ll see you later, for the awards ceremony.”
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it,” I told her.
“Any thoughts on what you are going to do during our summer leave?” Jonna asked.
“How long do we have?” I asked absently.
“About a month. I was… well, I was planning on returning to my House. If you’d like…”
“I might take you up on that offer,” I said it a bit more abruptly than I intended. It was the thought of going home, I supposed. I hadn’t given up on going home, but I didn’t think it was very likely to happen any time soon. Shadow had checked in with me earlier and she’d confirmed that there was still a prohibition on ships traveling to and from Century.
Even if I hacked my implant and used that to slip through spaceport security, I’d need to get to a planet where I could board another ship headed home. And by leaving, I might well cause the instability that I’d feared. How would the Prince react to me disappearing? I somehow doubted that he’d shrug it off, and if it looked like I’d deserted, he would probably take it out on Kiyu and Jonna.
I had to stay. Maybe in the process I could shift things a bit. If I could have some influence on Prince Ladon and maybe through him, on his father, maybe I could focus their attention elsewhere, away from Century.
At least I know Century is safe. Crown Prince Abrasax has been too busy worrying about internal issues to focus on my homeworld.
Even as I thought that, I received a summons on my implant. It seemed that Institor Dyer wanted to speak to me. This was the conversation that I’d been dreading.
I stood up, walking through the bay doors and out onto the parade ground. For once, it wasn’t raining and there was even a bit of sunlight coming in through the hazy clouds above. I almost wanted to wait outside, to take my time and enjoy it, but I knew better than to keep the Imperial Intelligence officer waiting on me.
He’d called me to his office. It was my first time stepping foot inside. I had pictured some kind of elaborate room, with displays showing monitor feeds throughout the spire. I had imagined trophies from defeated foes and plaques of thanks from prior assignments, all resting on a big, ornate desk.
Instead, it was a cramped office. He sat in a battered, comfortable-looking chair that rested behind a small metal desk covered in deep stacks of reports. His window looked out on a corridor with a wall only a couple meters away.
He was drinking small sips of an amber liquid from a glass and he didn’t rise as I came inside. “Yes, yes, have a seat.”
I sat across from the desk, feeling a bit out of place. He didn’t talk for a
minute, he was reading through reports on his desk, pausing now and then to take sips of his drink.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, I spoke, “You wanted to see me, sir?”
“I just wanted to congratulate you,” he told me. “Quite well played, at the end. The bit with using Prince Ladon’s rifle, very well played.”
My eyes went wide, “I thought there were no recordings of the central chamber, sir.”
“There aren’t any official ones, but do you really think that Intelligence wouldn’t have a few eyes in place?” He shook his head. “You took my basic idea and ran with it. I’m impressed. My job offer is still on the table, of course.”
“I want to command a ship, sir,” I told him.
“Command,” Dyer snorted. “Command is this pinnacle, this guiding beacon that those with ambition have. Ship’s captains, admirals, generals… they all want that power and most of them will do anything for it.”
He waved a hand at his stacks of papers. “This is power. Knowledge is power. I would wager that I have reports on this desk that could destroy an admiral, strip a ship’s commander of their rank. If I used that knowledge right, I could defeat a fleet without firing a single shot.”
I didn’t really care about that, but I knew better than to tell him that.
“Power must be exercised for good, though. And there’s all too many who want that power who don’t use it right. I get tired of that. Tired of these reports, tired of hearing of losses and defeats where there didn’t need to be any,” he pointed at a stack and then lifted a heavy folder. “This one, for instance. Century, a planet you’ve visited, right?”
I felt my stomach lurch. “Yes, yes I have.”
“Not much resources to speak of, a ridiculously large militia for their economy, but made up of obsolete vessels. They made themselves a hard target that no one wanted to throw the resources at them that it would take to crack those defenses.” He shook his head, “Crown Prince Abrasax got his heart set on adding the planet to the Empire, anyway. But I forget myself, you were were involved so you must know what happened?”
