The shriek that came from the mind-bender, someone who denied the freedom of another, was grimly satisfying. The Soul Burn only needed a few moments to do its work, and after those few seconds, Enzio’s screams faded to silence.
Enemy power suit disabled, life signs flatlined. Remote transfer initiated!
The stone around me crumbled of its own accord, and I fell heavily to one knee. As I straightened up, the tortured rock of the cavern finally stabilizing as the armored dome fell open, and the misshapen, legless form of what had to be Enzio, complete with his own power suit, fell dead to the floor.
For a moment, all any of us could do was breathe. Tulip had pushed herself up to a sitting position, nursing her ribs, as Alyra’s wall faded away, the Resistance survivors gingerly picking their way out of the rubble, not sure if the fight was going to pick up again. The sparse few Quibs that had lived through the massive disruption of the cave simply fell to their knees in surrender. I kept my eyes on Plazzio, still ready to fight if my instincts had been wrong. Sure, I only had thirty seconds of dragon form left, but I’d make them count.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to. The giant man slumped a little, his head shaking slowly as he seemed to take stock of where he was, before he turned towards me, pulling his helmet off to reveal a surprisingly gentle-looking face.
“Plazzio … does not have to fight?” he asked hesitantly. Though it was obvious his body had been warped and grown by Professor Pan’s experiments, his head disproportionately small with a brow thick enough to stop a bullet, his small hazel eyes were surprisingly full of intelligence. Maybe he talked like a little child because no one had bothered to teach him any better.
“No,” I said in my most gentle growl. “You’re a free man now. You can do what you want.”
“Free …?” He said it like it was a foreign concept, but after a moment, his toothy maw split into a smile. “Plazzio is free, so Plazzio chooses peace. Does dragon-man want peace?”
Despite the pain, Tulip was looking at me with that reverent look again, and I had that uncomfortable feeling that everyone was looking at me in that same light. Still, it didn’t change what I told Plazzio, stepping forward to offer him a hand, my body shifting and shrinking back to human form in the process.
“Peace is all I want, Plazzio, for everyone.”
19
The funny part about the whole thing, the silver lining if you would rather, was that this attack on the biggest group of Resistance miners on Leonis IV was providing us with the tools we needed to win this thing. It was important to look at the positives because there was a heap of negatives that came with it thanks to the Matriarchy’s ambush, namely the lives that were lost in the subsequent battle.
After Enzio’s death, his stunted, mutated body didn’t have a burn on him despite the green-gold fire I had engulfed him in. Better still, Plazzio was eager to take my suggestion that he could show amends right away by not only returning the cave to its pristine state but closing off all access to it using his magic.
We would have to move soon. Xara knew this location on top of the fact that the air would give out without access to the main mine’s life support, but it would still give us a momentary respite, and gods, did we need it.
Introductions and story sharing would have to wait for a few minutes, as we all, soldier and miner alike, dropped into business mode. The dead were collected, the few new prisoners stripped of gear alongside the dead Quibs, and the injured triaged. Though my power suit had taken plenty of damage, I was only sore thanks to my dragon form’s protection, so I spent those moments passing out med-kits from our sled full of supplies and attending to Tulip and Alyra.
The pair sat side by side on a flat outcropping of stone, Plazzio having added the bed-like projections as an added bit of apology, I guessed. The gentle giant flopped in a lonely corner of the room, his only company being his thoughts as everyone gave him a wide berth.
“I shall be fine, my dragon,” Alyra scoffed unconvincingly as I carefully injected the smart-hypo of Quick-Juv, a tissue-rebuilding nano-medicine into her shoulder. We had all shed armor for the moment, as it was pretty hard to treat wounds with all those plates in the way. “Though … I appreciate your concern,” she admitted, her eyes widening a bit as the anesthetic effect of the shot kicked in.
Despite the tenderness in Tulip’s ribs, she kept playing Fertish touch-nurse, stroking Alyra and I gently in turn, purring despite herself. “Don’t be silly. You will be fine now that you’ve had actual medical attention.” Her tail swished as I turned my attention to her. “You should never be afraid of being honest with how bad you hurt though. You might think it makes you look strong, but it really doesn’t.”
Alyra huffed a little but looked embarrassed when I shot her a sidelong glance. Loading another dose of Quick-Juv, I added, “Tulip’s right. Besides, that kind of thing just adds a level of mistrust to the team, to our relationship, and that’s where real strength comes from.” As the ex-Matriarch seemed to mull that over, I gingerly felt out where Tulip had taken the hit. “The injury’s still fresh, so this is probably going to sting.” Putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, I smiled at her. “Ready?”
“Ready,” she said with a tight nod, clenching her jaw in preparation. When I hit the injector button, she let out a sharp hiss, followed by a low sigh of relief a moment later as the Juv did its work. “Oh, sweet relief.”
I squeezed Tulip’s shoulder once for assurance and stood, stretching my sore back. “You two ladies sit tight, rest up, I’m going to check with Quar and his boss, see if they need any more help with triage before we actually find out what the hell happened.”
“What of Plazzio?” Alyra asked, her blue eyes focusing on the giant.
I frowned a bit, rubbing my chin. “Well, as much as I don’t want to have to bring this up to him, we could really use his help. Not necessarily in battle, but just think of what his terrakinesis could help considering where we’re fighting.” I sighed. “But we need to know a bit more, find out just how much of this” – I waved my hand at the dead laid out along one wall – “he’s responsible for.”
“Regardless of that, could he not be like me? I entered into the Matriarchy willingly …” Alyra’s voice trailed off, Tulip tracing her fingers comfortingly down the younger woman’s back.
“He could be,” I said with a nod. “And I really hope he is. Heck, if he’s not, he can still make up for what he’s done.” I smiled at Alyra. “We just have to make sure. Now, let me see what’s going on and what our next move is.”
She nodded to me, and as I walked over to where the Synatan woman and Quar were talking in low tones, I was sure I heard the two ladies discussing our situation and their concerns about Clara and Turner. Those were concerns I shared, but all we could do was keep going and trust in their abilities. Pushing that down, I stepped up to the two Resistance members and cleared my throat.
“Captain Briggs,” the woman said with a business-like nod. “I’m sorry your welcome to Leonis IV was so shoddy, but that you made it at all is something of a miracle, all things considered.”
I laughed a little and nodded. “Well, people keep saying that miracles and I seem to go hand-in-hand.” I held out a hand. “Obviously, you’re Quar’s boss, but you seem to know me a lot better than I know you, Miss …?”
She glanced at the hand curiously for a moment and then took my forearm in her hand, shaking the whole thing once. I copied the gesture. When in alien mine Rome, do as the alien mining Romans. “Ferria Dain. I am sure my name was in the intelligence the Resistance gave you.”
“I wasn’t going to assume. Now that I know for sure, I can say I know a fair bit about you.” I eyed the chamber. “Looks like you guys were doing really good work here before the Matriarchy found you out.”
“It has to be those strange Quibs,” Quar offered. “They’ve never come close to finding us in the ten years we’ve been here, and then in a single day …” He shook his head sadly, his milky
eyes settling on where the sixteen remaining miners were packing supplies, treating wounds, and arming themselves.
“Xara gave us something of an ultimatum on our jump to Leonis,” I explained. “She made a boast that the High Priestess had sent her gifts to help deal with me, so I’m guessing Plazzio and Enzio were among those things.” I glanced over at Ferria. “We’ll just have to adapt. It’s looking like we might even be able to get some help out of the situation. Plazzio seems like someone we can convince to help us, as well as Kritik and maybe some of the other prisoners.”
Ferria’s crystalline lips pursed at that. “Captain, while I greatly appreciate your help and, frankly, am still coming to terms with the realization that the prophecy is coming true, I’m not sure you fully appreciate how tenuous our situation is, especially now.” Her eyes narrow slightly as she turned her attention toward the small circle of stripped-down Quibs being watched by a miner with a stolen Mandible rifle. “What I am getting at is that taking prisoners is a luxury we don’t have to resources to sustain. How can we keep sparing men to watch them and the scarce supplies we’ve been able to steal in raids from the Matriarch’s control camps to feed them?”
Quar shifted a bit uncomfortably at that, taking this as his chance to shuffle off from the conversation. As for me, I turned to face the crystal woman face on, crossing my arms over my chest. “Look, I understand where you’re coming from. You’ve had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way, like this cave? Gods, how long could this have taken you guys to carve out in secret? You’ve paid for every step towards freedom with blood, sweat, and tears. To sacrifice anything to grant these guys, your oppressors, mercy, it doesn’t make sense to you.”
“It doesn’t make sense period,” Ferria let out with more venom than I think she intended. “My husband was murdered when he wouldn’t bow to the Matriarchs, did you know that? Then these they sent their thugs, their legions, their witches,” – her eyes involuntarily shifted toward Alyra – “to slaughter my people, conquer our worlds, and then force us to do the work that made us rich and famous across the Milky Way at the point of a blaster.” She turned her gaze back on me, barely contained fury dancing in those scarily human eyes. “Does those animals sound like they are worth even one hungry stomach’s sacrifice?”
The thing was that I truly did feel for her. Though I had never suffered as much loss as she had, Clara had, and Alyra too, and I carried their memories and emotions with me everywhere. But at the same time …
“Ferria, we can’t afford to carry that vindictiveness going forward,” I urged in quiet but strong tones. “If any of these Quibs are willing to turn their arms around on their mistresses, willing to fight on the side of the Resistance, we have to give them the chance. Gunning down the defenseless, enemies or not, well, that sounds an awful lot like the Matriarchy, doesn’t it?”
I could practically hear the grinding of crystal on crystal as she pressed her lips together into a rough line. “If I were to accept your line of thinking, David Briggs, there are still logistics to consider. A guerrilla war is a long, drawn-out conflict and they will need to be fed and armed with the very instruments we have stolen from them. We can’t sustain that with the losses we have taken here, even if you factor in the supplies you brought.”
“If this were still a guerilla conflict, I’d agree that you had a point,” I mused before nodding grimly towards the dead, both Resistance and Matriarchy alike. “But I hate to say that our arrival changed everything. This has become a full-on tunnel war, Ferria, so tactically, we’re better off with more men than more supplies, especially as we’re going to have to go on the offensive.”
Her perfectly cut eyebrows raised, gold bristle hairs shining in the faint light. “Offensive? But, Captain, even if you include yourselves and the Quibs willing to turncoat, we barely have over twenty fighters, armed with decade-old weapons and salvaged power suits.” But then she stopped herself. “However, the Quibs today had enchanted, advanced model weapons. That increases our chances … and that exoframe you have might be an antique weapon of war, but it matches the industrial units we used back in Synata Minor. We’re all trained in using them, and combined with that strange giant’s earth magic, we could do some real sapping work to support an offensive.”
It was like she was talking herself into it, so I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop her. “There’s more. I’m guessing you have some way to transmit and receive messages, even off-world, or else you’d never have known we were coming. We don’t need an off-world signal, but if you can send word to the other cells …”
“Assuming they haven’t been hit as hard as we were,” Ferria interjected doubtfully.
“… we might be able to take Xara off guard by everyone going into full attack mode.” I raised a finger. “But that’s not all.”
“I hope not, Captain,” she said with a faint frown. “I want to trust in you, in the prophecy. I’ve seen the dragon with my own eyes now, but … I will be putting everything and everyone on the line here.”
I took a deep breath and gave her a thoughtful nod. “I know. And I don’t bring up this plan of action lightly. Everything is at stake here, and not just for the miners of Leonis IV. This is the first real step to the Resistance taking back the galaxy, so if we fail here, well, there won’t be a dragon, and there won’t be a Resistance. It’s all over.” Flashing a reassuring smile, I offered her my hand again. “So, what I’m trying to get at is that I wouldn’t even suggest we risk everything if I didn’t think we could do it. All I’m asking is that you take that faith you have in Draconis and put it in me.”
Ferria mulled it over for only a moment before letting out a short, hollow sigh and clasping my arm again. “Putting it that way, I can do nothing else but as you ask. If the first blow for true freedom is to be struck here on Leonis, I would be spitting on my husband’s memory if I didn’t do everything in my power to make it happen.”
“I won’t let you down.” I shook her arm, eyes casting about at the miners before settling on Tulip and Alyra, both now watching my talk with Ferria with acute interest. “I won’t let anyone down.”
“Good,” Ferria said with a nod as she pulled her hand back. “So, what is the rest of your plan? You know, the ‘that’s not all’ part?”
20
My plan would fall apart without one vital element, so I took a deep breath and put on my best smile as I walked over to Plazzio in his corner. Alyra and Tulip flanked me, with Ferria in tow right behind us. The big man looked at us with curious eyes and tilted his head towards me.
“Plazzio,” I said with as friendly of a tone as I could muster, Alyra, Tulip, and Ferria in tow, “are you doing okay, buddy?” While I thought I had a good read on the giant Quib, I still wanted to make the best approach possible. While my full plan was still in gestation, a lot of it would now rest on the magical mutant. “We’re about ready to move, and we need your help. Can you please open a path for us?”
Like our own power suits, whatever the Matriarchy outfitted these magical Quibs was of the same quality, the tears in his suit from where I had grappled with him were already repaired. As Plazzio rose, I noticed the cover of the dome Enzio had ridden in was discarded on the floor next to him. “Plazzio will open a path you ask, dragon-man. Plazzio only wants peace now.”
“And we really appreciate that,” Tulip added with a soft smile. “You really don’t like fighting, do you?”
His immense brow furrowed as he hefted his mace-like focus. “Plazzio remembers the time before Pan turned him into this.” He clapped his chest with a fist. “The Quib who was Plazzio before, he liked to fight, fight for the angel women and for the Mother.” That massive fist opened to gesture towards Alyra. “But afterward, after what Pan did to that man, Plazzio hates this now, making others hurt like Pan did to Plazzio.”
Alyra’s eyes welled up a little at the big man’s story, and Tulip took a step towards him, falling into that Fertish need to comfort. When Plazzio didn’t flinc
h, she did so, stroking his giant arm. “You poor thing,” she purred. “Don’t worry. We need your help, but we won’t ask you to fight.”
Ferria was obvious a bit more hesitant to take Plazzio at his word, but even her hard gaze wavered a bit. “I … I’m a bit hesitant to make that promise, Commander Tulip, but … I will try.” She glanced sidelong at me. “I can’t believe this, but I think you were right, Captain Briggs.”
“You will find, Mrs. Dain, that my dragon often is,” Alyra said with an uptilt of her nose, as much to hide her watery eyes as anything else, sniffing slightly. “Even those that aren’t directly enslaved by the Matriarchy are often dominated by them, their power, and their dangerous magic.”
Plazzio’s sunken eyes flashed at that. “Yes, the little angel speaks wisdom. And Plazzio will be happy to help however dragon-man asks. He freed Plazzio, and that is a debt that Plazzio will do anything to fulfill.”
I smiled a bit and clapped the giant on the arm. “I wouldn’t go that far, my friend. I’m just happy you don’t have a crazy little man taking over your brain, but I also won’t turn down the help.”
Turning as the giant collected himself, I looked over the motley little ‘army’ we had assembled. Between what supplies survived the frenzy and chaos of the battle and what we had stripped from the dead Quibs, we now had eight mostly-intact standard Quib power suits, now a rainbow of colors once their new wearers had been given a chance to play with settings. While Kritik and his fellow prisoners of war weren’t quite trusted with our few power suits yet, my little discussion with Ferria and a bit of impassioned pleading on Kritik’s part had swayed the miners to arm them from our cache of equipment from Exo’s depot.
Star Conqueror: Recompense: An Epic Space Harem Adventure Page 15
