by T. A. White
It was like trying to suck an ocean through a straw in a second, only to have the straw collapse under the stress.
A tear ran down her cheek as she clawed at her inhibitor. If she could just get it off.
"Kira, I forgive you." A roguish grin split Raider's face. "For real this time."
There was no time to stop him as he broke cover, standing tall. His expression was carefree, as if the danger never even registered.
Confused, Niland stopped his advance.
"My father always told me arrogance will destroy even the most powerful of men." Raider took a long look at Niland's companions. "I hate to admit that man got anything right. It really burns my ass, you understand?"
Niland ignored the question as he drew his blade.
Raider heaved a sigh. "Like really bad. To the point I want to dig out my brain so I don't have to think about it."
Niland cocked his head. "You talk too much."
Raider winked at him. "I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a reason for that."
The blood drained out of Niland's face as he sucked in a breath to warn his fellow oshota.
Too late.
Red sniped from the shadows, cutting one of the oshota in half despite the protection of his synth armor.
Finn dropped into their midst.
Raider let out a battle cry, barreling forward.
Kira dug her nails into the flesh of her palms, sheer willpower the only thing keeping her in place. The hardest thing in this world had never been the pain and suffering she'd survived; it was watching someone else sacrifice themselves in her stead.
It was something so anathema to the core of who she was that it felt like her soul was being torn asunder to stand by and do nothing.
It wasn't the first time she'd experienced this.
She'd been here many times before. The mission took precedence—every time.
Only, unlike then, there were no orders, and the objective was personal.
Don't spit on their sacrifice, Kira told herself.
It took a considerable amount of discipline to force herself to slink away like the basest of cowards, bypassing the fierce battle and using the containers as cover.
Kira reached the edge of the shipping yard when she stopped abruptly, staring at the man blocking her path.
"I don't suppose you'd let me call in my favor," Kira tried as Lorcan stepped out of the shadows.
Even as she spoke, she knew the chances of that happening were zero. His presence here said he had already made peace with the idea of betraying his own people. No amount of personal honor would affect that.
Kira's weight shifted as she prepared to attack.
She never got the chance. A whip of ki split the air, too fast for her to even react.
She didn't even have time to brace for the inevitable pain.
A sharp bark of agony came from behind her.
Lorcan's stare was enigmatic even as mirth tugged at his lips. "Consider us even."
"Only if you don't hurt Finn or Raider," she said.
She could already tell Lorcan was different from these others. That whip of ki had come too fast for her to dodge. If he'd wanted to, he could have ended her right then and there.
"You should hurry, or you'll be too late."
Kira couldn't move, an unknown pressure making it hard to breathe.
"I wish you luck," he whispered, his passage revealing several bodies strewn behind him, all wearing the synth armor of House Remie.
She bit her lip and whirled.
The shipping yard was empty. Lorcan gone.
The only thing remaining that pointed to the fact he’d once been there was the body of the Tuann who'd tried to attack her from behind.
His eyes stared unseeing up at the ceiling, the edges of the gaping wound on in chest still glowing from the heat of the whip.
A clatter to her right made Kira look up.
Elise stared at her in surprise, Jin held in her hands.
"Elise," Kira started.
Elise’s eyes dropped to the body of a Tuann from House Remie where it lay dead at Kira's feet. Her eyes widened and she spun, darting away.
"Stop, Elise!" Kira shouted, before rolling her eyes at herself.
Like the woman would listen in this kind of situation. Kira certainly wouldn't.
With a muttered curse and a glance in Finn and Raider's direction, Kira gave chase. Sometimes there was no choice but to trust in your companions.
This right here was why she'd tried so hard not to get anyone else wrapped up in this business.
These kinds of decisions were the sort to haunt you later. She hated the idea of sacrificing anyone, yet here she was doing exactly that.
Kira gritted her teeth and reached for more speed.
Elise rounded a shipping container, Kira fast on her heels.
Elise fled through a small gap before leaping onto the top of another pallet. Kira grimly followed.
Abruptly, they burst onto the docks.
To their left, a cavernous opening led into space, the battle being fought outside visible.
A walkway extended as far the eye could see, ramps branching off it leading to the ships nestled on either side.
Kira sprinted after Elise. If Elise made it to her ship, it was game over.
Kira narrowed the gap between them.
Just a little bit more.
Now.
Kira leapt, tackling Elise hard enough that she lost her grip on Jin.
They hit the ground hard and rolled. The walkway disappearing under them.
They fell, coming apart.
Kira hit the deck on her side, the landing knocking the breath out of her. Pain spread through her as she blinked at the ten-foot drop above her.
The belly of a ship blocked her view of the ceiling.
They’d rolled off the walkway and landed in one of the berths.
She lifted her head, seeing the landing gear of the ship.
With a groan, she flipped onto her stomach. From the quickly growing pain, Kira knew the boost Alexander had given her was wearing off.
She needed to finish this before it was entirely gone.
Elise was in the middle of crawling back onto the walkway as Kira forced herself to her feet.
She leapt, snagging the edge of walkway and pulling herself up as Elise stood.
Kira snapped out a kick, sending Elise sprawling.
"You've never beaten me in a foot race," Kira told her. "What made you think that had changed?"
Elise crab-walked away from Kira.
The bittersweet pull of regret mixed with love and guilt was gone. Kira felt dead inside as Elise pulled herself to standing, watching Kira warily.
Kira should have felt hurt with the way the woman she'd once considered a sister was looking at her—like she was a venomous snake.
Instead, she felt nothing but emptiness.
Elise yanked a knife from her boot.
Kira reached out, merciless as she grabbed Elise's hand and twisted. "Don't play with me, Elise. You know I'll win."
There was a crack as Kira broke Elise's wrist.
She watched dispassionately as Elise fell to her knees with a cry. Her head sagged, her hair covering her face as she cradled her wrist.
"That's always been your problem, Nixxy." Elise raised her head and glared at Kira through her hair. "You're sentimental. It makes you do stupid things—like fall into simple traps."
Elise raised her other hand, hitting a button on the palm-sized device that she’d kept concealed until now.
Agony stole the breath in Kira's lungs as she doubled over.
Elise rose. "How stupid of you. Did you really think it was chance you stumbled onto me here?"
Kira was too preoccupied with the pain to respond. White hot, it hollowed out her insides, leaving behind nothing but ash.
A scream ripped from her.
"Poor, poor Kira. You fought so hard only to fail in the end."
Kira moa
ned as strange runes materialized on the skin of her arms as if an invisible hand wrote them. A pale purple-blue light emanated from them.
She covered one with a hand, fear coating her throat.
Primus.
Her primus was trying to rise.
"I see you understand what is happening." Elise held the device up to admire. "Nifty little toy, isn't it? Something the masters developed. I’m told a forced shift to primus is quite painful."
Kira curled in on herself, trying to force her primus down. There were too many civilians around, and no one to help her contain the damage if she let it out.
Right now, she couldn't sense any rationality in her other half. Just pain and fury.
It would slaughter anything and everything in its rampage. Not just the enemy but allies too.
Elise knelt and petted Kira's head. "Look at you trying so hard."
The primus bashed itself against an invisible barrier. Every failure to escape resulting in further madness.
"I'll let you in on a little secret." Elise reached down to touch the inhibitor Kira still wore. "Repressing the primus leads to insanity followed by an extremely agonizing death. But don't worry, Nixxy. Our masters won't let it get that far."
Elise stood. “My orders were to start a war between any of the three races.”
Kira struggled to think as her very body started rebelling against her.
“Your little stunt during the semifinals may have saved the life of the Tuann emperor’s son and the niece of the Haldeel royal. You may even have delayed the war we’d planned to start between them—for now.” Elise lifted a foot and pressed it against Kira’s hand, pushing down.
Kira barely felt the pressure, too preoccupied keeping her primus and ki from rioting.
“That’s okay though. The Tsavitee have plenty of backup plans. As we speak, the androids the humans brought are launching an all-out assault against the Haldeel. Do you think the Haldeel will keep a race who betrays them around?” Elise’s grin was menacing. “I don’t.”
Kira shivered, holding in her scream as her skin attempted to split apart.
“The Consortium’s alliance with the Haldeel will fall. The deaths of your Curs on Rothchild only delayed the inevitable. Soon, things will go back to the way they were.”
“What do they want?” Kira managed to force out.
Elise’s looked down at her with a detached expression. “What else? Total domination.”
“Cliché,” Kira gritted out.
“Yeah. I will say they're quite curious as to how you managed to create a soul bound that retained its sanity. They have so many plans for the two of you.”
Elise's smile was the last thing Kira saw as her consciousness faded.
*
Graydon grabbed an android's arm, ripping it away from its body and tossing it to the side. Next, he stabbed upward with his en-blade.
It entered beneath the android's jaw, spearing into the "brain".
Sparks flew, but the light in its eyes didn't die. Graydon channeled his ki into the blade, ripping it out as the android blew apart.
Mist rose from its body, dissipating in the next second.
Graydon's lip curled at the pathetic creature.
It seemed the Tsavitee's masters knew no limits, trespassing into the realm of life and death.
This was the reason for the Tuann's hatred of them. This was why the Tuann had strict rules when it came to artificial intelligences and why they didn't trust humans.
Binding an unwilling soul to such an existence could result in a powerful army at the mercy of their creator's will, but it was also dangerous and abhorrent.
There were going to be consequences because of this attack.
The Consortium thought they were restricted before; they had no idea how merciless the Tuann could really be.
It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for the emperor to decide to wipe them out because of this—or at the very least knock them back into an age where space exploration was nothing but a dream.
It had happened before to those the Tuann perceived a threat.
Torvald dropped the body of a Tsavitee lower form at Graydon's feet. Horns jutted from the creature’s forehead and it had an underbite that exposed inch-long fangs meant for ripping the flesh of its enemy from their bones.
Torvald stepped over the creature with a look of distaste. "This has grown quite tedious."
In answer, Graydon buried his blade in the chest of a Tsavitee who had thought to take advantage of Graydon's distraction by attacking his back.
Blood spewed as Graydon yanked his blade out. The Tsavitee dropped to its knees, falling face first on the ground.
"Agreed," Graydon said, taking a moment to observe the battle.
The stench of blood and smoke clogged the air.
Around them, his oshota continued to fight, the humans providing cover where they could.
Finn's presence flooded Graydon's mind.
"Report," Graydon ordered.
"We’re betrayed. House Remie has joined the enemy. I don’t know how many other Houses have followed their lead."
Grief and resignation touched Torvald’s face. There could only be one fate for such a House—complete annihilation.
It was a step the Tuann didn’t often contemplate, saved for the most egregious of transgressions.
For a House to ally with the enemy like this and endanger their peace with the Haldeel, they would have to deal decisively to prevent other Houses from following suit.
Neither Torvald nor Graydon relished the coming task, but they’d ensure its completion for the sake of the Tuann empire.
They’d leave no weaknesses for their old enemies to exploit.
"And Kira?"
"She's gone after the woman. We're holding the line for the moment."
“Do you need reinforcements?”
There was a grunt and a tendril of pain that Finn locked down almost as soon as it invaded the link. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Graydon told him. “Send me your location.”
Getting someone to Finn and Kira would be hard.
The fighting from the banquet had spilled into the rest of the station. Most of the civilians had already fled, leaving only Graydon’s oshota, Himoto and a few of his people, along with the Haldeel guards who’d gotten caught in the conflict.
They were holding their own, but if Graydon abandoned the line to go to Kira, there was a chance they would fall.
The primal part of him urged him to do exactly that. The only things that kept him fighting here was the oath he’d taken to the emperor and the knowledge Kira would hate him if he let others die in favor of saving her.
The solution then was to kill every single enemy between him and her.
Noting the cruel twist of Graydon’s lips, Torvald switched his grip on his en-blade. “Youngsters these days are so passionate.”
“Will you do it?” Graydon asked.
Ki swirled around Torvald, building in size and intensity until it was a massive ball. Torvald plunged his blade into the floor. Acting as a conduit, the blade channeled the ki directly into their surroundings.
Torvald’s eyes held a faint glow as he bared his teeth. “I’ve protected our immediate area.”
Graydon rolled his shoulders, opening himself to the ki inside. Without Torvald, this would have been dangerous, likely causing irreparable damage to Almaluk.
Color drained out of the world as black ki condensed around Graydon’s hands. An invisible force fought him as he pushed his hands closer together, his arms shaking from the effort.
With a roar, he sank all his strength into those last few inches.
Black ki shot out in a wave.
It snuffed out the glow of life in the androids and they dropped like puppets whose strings had been cut. The Tsavitee fared no better. The wave cleaving them in two.
Graydon fell, Amila catching him before he could hit the deck. Noor stepped toward hi
m as the rest of the humans stared in stunned disbelief. Only Jace and Himoto acted like it was nothing out of the ordinary, understandable given their close relation to Kira.
“Graydon,” Noor said, concern on his face.
“I’m fine.” Exhaustion from burning all that ki pulled on Graydon as Amila steadied him.
Distracted, none of them noticed the way Kent’s expression deadened or the foam that spilled out of his mouth until too late.
“Take cover,” Himoto yelled suddenly.
There was barely any time to react as an explosion tore Kent apart.
Amila pushed Graydon down, her body covering his. Noor moved to intercept the blast, his hastily erected ki shield crumpling like paper.
He took the brunt of the explosion as the ground rocked.
Graydon struggled up, careful to support Amila’s body as those around them started picking themselves up off the floor—those who could still move at least.
“Amila?” he asked, fearing the worst.
His oshota moaned as she shifted. “I’m alive.”
They both stilled as they caught sight of Noor’s body at the same time. The explosive device Kent had installed in his torso was effective, shredding Noor’s synth armor.
The last time Graydon had seen anything like that had been during a battle with the pirates that plagued the Tuann’s borders.
The grief and sorrow in Graydon was reflected in the face of the oshota around them.
To lose any of them was always difficult. More so when the enemy used such a cowardly tactic.
Perhaps if Graydon hadn’t drained his ki and reacted in time or if the explosion had happened a few feet further away.
Either scenario would have led to a vastly different outcome.
“Those who can move take a headcount,” Himoto ordered from where he propped himself up against the wall.
The admiral’s face was unnaturally white; blood stained the ground around him.
The two humans who’d been tasked with guarding Kent were dead, their remains scattered in several pieces.
“The rest of you, quit gawping and fortify our position,” Himoto ground out as Jace went to his side.
Himoto tried waving the other man away. Jace didn’t listen, breaking open a first aid tube containing coagulant which he sprinkled on Himoto’s wounds.
“You need to go. All of you,” Himoto told Graydon and his oshota.
