by Skyler Grant
"I already know the basics of fighting very well," Mara said.
"But you don't know magical fighting, which is the point here. The first thing you need to decide upon is your combat style. There are two main approaches. Leave your runes exposed as I do. Your magic is stronger, but some could make the argument you're coming kind of undressed to the fight," Kalisa said, turning and making a spectacle of her runes.
"I do appreciate the view," Quinn said.
"Please, I'm quite certain you can't be undersexed,” Mara told him, before saying to Kalisa, “Your previous apprentice was fully armored."
"That’s the other approach. Runed and enhanced armor. Your magic is weaker, but you don't need it as much. The Emperor chose this fighting style. It works better for Order mages, as mine does for Chaos mages, but there is cross over," Kalisa said with a nod to Mara.
"Do I have to go as skimpy as you are? I only have a rune on one leg, could I armor the other?" Jinx asked.
"You can do that," Kalisa said cheerfully. "Obviously it gets less possible as you grow in power."
"What if a rune is ... uh ... poorly placed?"
"I'd rather live than have my modesty, and I'm not going without my power. It hasn't been the case for me, but if you decide you're going with my style, you'll have to make your own choices."
"Why did you say your style favors Chaos magic?"
Kalisa shrugged and took a fighting stance. "Hit me."
Jinx was by no means a close-combat expert, but she had been training since coming aboard. The punch she threw was nimbly avoided.
"Not challenging enough. Mara, get in here," Kalisa said.
Mara didn’t so much as rise from her seat as leap, a sweep of her leg lashing with blinding speed.
Kalisa stepped over it, angling her head to avoid another punch from Jinx.
The two continued to throw punches and kicks, Jinx a touch crudely and Mara with speed and skill. Not a one landed.
It wasn't that Kalisa was impossibly fast, not exactly, she was just always where they weren't. It seemed she was on the verge of catastrophe, and yet catastrophe never came.
"Have I made my point?" Kalisa asked.
Jinx stopped her assault. Mara tried for another thirty seconds before finally pulling back and looking frustrated.
"Old war reports didn't show anything like this," Mara said.
"During the war we Unshackled didn't have a five-rune among us and we barely had a grasp on our powers. We've learned. A Chaos mage will use the unpredictability of combat to their advantage. They will be where your punches and bullets aren't," Kalisa said, breathless. The quick combat had winded her some.
"So, what do I do?" Jinx asked.
"This is a bit of speculation. Part of why I agreed to become your Master was to see what you were really capable of. The Emperor didn't need to avoid blows. Order enhances strength, durability, even of your own flesh," Kalisa said, walking around Jinx. "A lot of our training is going to be me punching you until you learn to take it."
"Well that just sounds, terrible," Jinx said with a grimace. "What about the baby?"
"Your magic will instinctively be working to defend it, even more than the rest of you. Still, to be safe, I'll just be punching you in this face," Kalisa said dryly.
"An Order mage really doesn't have much to gain from your half-naked approach," Maya said.
"Don't they? The same magic that enhanced armor can enhance flesh, but on a sustained basis. I truly believe my style might work the best for either school."
"But Order mages can probably make armor stronger than one of you could. So the armored approach makes more sense for us than you, but the over-exposed thing might be the best for either," Jinx said.
Kalisa gave her a wry smile. "Right. Although I'm guessing on that last bit. Like I said, I don't really know what you can do. Fortunately I am very smart."
"I've already got the stupid Queen of Thieves outfit. It might look ridiculous, but I guess I'm learning your approach," Jinx said.
"Good," Kalisa said, and her foot lashed out to kick Jinx in the face. There was the sound of crunching bone and Jinx cried out as she fell backwards with a spray of blood.
"Heal yourself. It isn't enough to bring up your power when you think you’re in danger. That way lies death," Kalisa said.
Quinn moved over to Jinx's side but she waved him off, wiping blood away from her mouth as she got back to her feet. The bleeding had already stopped. With her abilities in mending she had gotten quite used to healing.
"No. This is on me. I need to learn how to do this," Jinx said.
"Fine," Quinn said, moving back to take his seat beside Mara.
"Good," Kalisa said again, resuming her movements, circling around Jinx. "Where a Chaos mage will strike fast and strike often you will strike once. Where a Chaos mage thrives on the unpredictable excitement, for you combat must be a thing of order, of beauty and control."
"I can probably teach her those styles better than you can," Mara said.
Kalisa glanced at Mara and nodded. "Probably. Every Chaos mage fights differently, we have no schools of combat, but rather it is about mastering our individual tempo. You will teach her the steps, but I shall teach her to dance."
"But what ..." Jinx said, not getting any further. It was a series of punches this time, fierce savage blows that sent her dropping with a pained whimper to the floor.
"Heal yourself and we'll go again. You are afraid, uncertain. A Chaos mage thrives on uncertainty, but for you it is death," Kalisa said, sweeping Jinx's legs out from under her as she tried to rise again, sending her once more crashing to the floor.
Quinn felt himself tensing up and Mara rested a hand on his arm.
"She's doing the right thing," Mara said.
"This is acceptable in your world?" Quinn asked.
"You've never had any formal combat training. Magic or no, she has to be pushed to find out what she is really capable of," Mara said.
Jinx shakily rose to her feet again.
"How can I not be uncertain when I don't know what I'm doing?" Jinx asked.
"Logical, but I don't care. If you are not certain that you can take my punch, you will not. If you are not certain of who you are, you will be weak. Despite those marks you are weak, but you will not remain that way," Kalisa said.
Kalisa again moved at Jinx, but this time she didn't content herself with a few blows. What she delivered was less a training punch than a beat down, the sort that loosened teeth and gave concussion.
Mara's hand remained on Quinn's arm. It took almost all he could not to spring to her defense.
When Kalisa was done she backed away and stood there, her arms folded.
Jinx pushed herself to her feet once more, her features already flawless again apart from the blood that covered them. Blood from wounds already healed, damage already mended.
"Again," Jinx said.
"I can hurt you all day. I will hurt you all day. I'll hurt you tomorrow and the day after. I will beat you bloody until you stop letting me. For you this is a choice. You bear two marks upon your flesh and there is no mundane punch that can bring you down unless you allow it," Kalisa said.
"You think I want this?" Jinx asked, now angry.
"I think that you still believe that you remain the young girl you were before you gained those marks. The girl who didn't kill Ilinar. The girl who didn't purify the pool of evolution. You are not," Kalisa said, delivering a roundhouse kick that spent Jinx flying, bouncing as she hit the mat.
"You two may go. Basic lesson delivered. I need to hit my apprentice until she believes me," Kalisa said.
Mara guided Quinn out of the room to the sounds of fists hitting flesh.
5
"I am not happy about this," Quinn said, shoulders tense as he walked along with Mara.
"Right. Date night time. We'll watch a holo," Mara said.
"You want to have a date now?"
"There a better time?" Mara asked, tugging o
n Quinn's arm to lead the way. For all that the Centauri now had a common bedroom, what used to be Quinn's quarters, everyone also maintained a private space.
Mara's was both plush and practical. A computer that rivaled any other on the ship, screens on every wall along with several holographic projectors. A small bed played host to overstuffed pillows and sheets that looked like they must have cost a small fortune.
"I've never been in here," Quinn said, looking around. "If you're trying to not look like a spy I think you botched it."
Mara took a seat on the bed, dexterous fingers tapping at nearby keys. A holographic display flickered into being, a display of mountains set behind a large body of water.
"I'm not undercover here. You all know what I am, more or less," Mara said with a half-smile.
They didn't, of course. Mara kept her secrets. Part of the agreement bringing her into the family had been that she be allowed to keep those secrets. It was a strange feeling to love someone, and you didn't truly know them.
Quinn hopped onto the bed beside her, one arm slipping around her back and pulling her against him. "So, what holo did you have in mind?"
"Spy Amok: Infinite Skies?"
"Really?" Quinn asked. "Do all spies love spy stuff as much as you do?"
Mara laughed, a bit sheepish, and pulled a pillow behind her back as she got comfortable. "I mean we do, but that isn't it. When you get used to living a life that is fictional watching something about anything else feels false."
"It has to be weird. This, us," Quinn said. Their family dynamic was one that he still had trouble coming to terms with, and he'd brought enough of his own baggage along with him.
Mara tapped away on the keyboard, the lights darkened and the holo began to play. It was a big-budget release, and not that old. A daring spy in service to the Emperor and the Imperium. Recent events already made it feel hopelessly dated.
"You have no idea. I've played the woman in love more than once, it was fun. But the thing about a cover identity is that in the end you’re always going to walk away from it," Mara said, shifting over to snuggle against Quinn.
"You never meant it? I can't believe it’s that easy, that you've never gotten your wires crossed," Quinn said.
Mara didn’t answer straight away. "Teronicus Kinook. Officially a trader of medicines and foodstuffs to Rim colonies. Secretly a trader in magical artifacts. I was under cover for almost two years as his assistant. Longer than I should have been."
This was rare. It wasn't just the emotional vulnerability of what Mara was saying, it was talking about one of her past identities at all—a past job, and for her that was an even more profound sign of trust.
"You were lovers?" Quinn asked.
On the holo the spy team had seemingly all just been killed off, only for the twist to reveal that they were actually impostors.
"Didn't start out that way, but he saved my life. Magic, it is unreliable and dangerous. There was a sphere that triggered, shorted out my implants, paralyzed me and wound up setting the whole warehouse on fire. Teronicus counted heads and realized I was still in there, and ran in to save me," Mara said quietly, and let out a low sigh.
It didn't surprise Quinn. It often seemed to surprise people, when bad guys did the right thing or when the good guys turned bad. Quinn had seen enough wicked heroes and noble villains to last him a lifetime.
"And you fell—and fell hard. What happened?" Quinn asked.
"Officially he is missing. Fell overboard off his private yacht and his body was never recovered. Unofficially he's buried in an underwater cavern off the coast of Faro where he found the greatest prize of his career," Mara said, and this time Quinn could hear the difference in her tone. The hint of unsteadiness.
This wasn't like her at all. What had become a minor aberration was becoming an alarming one.
Quinn kept one arm around her, seeking out one of her hands with his other, clasping it tightly. "I might be a right bastard for saying so, but I don't think it’s your love that’s driving you to such distress. Not you."
Mara was quiet again. "I broke the rules, Quinn. When I let Jinx feed her magic into me I broke the rules. Yes, it’s been tried before, but not with an agent. Not with somebody who has as much in their heads as I have in mine."
"There are a lot of shades of rule-breaking and we've done most of them," Quinn said.
"If they don't kill me, it will be because of all of you. Because they want to keep a pair of eyes—even compromised eyes—on you. I don't know if you realize just how valuable, how dangerous, this ship of ours has become," Mara said.
On the holo, the bad guys appeared to have killed the Emperor. But, of course, it was just a fake emperor. Now the spies were closing in on the real prey.
"You've never been this open with me before. What is going on?"
Mara laughed, a pained, almost desperate sound. "You can figure that out. What has changed in me?"
There was only one real answer that Quinn knew, and Mara had already mentioned it.
"Magic," Quinn said.
"With genetic manipulation you can make a human smarter, faster, stronger than any naturally born. With the right implants you can increase their capabilities still more. You can make a powerful human, but how do you keep it in control?" Mara asked, staring at the holo.
Quinn could think of only one answer there as well. It was the same thing that gave Tourmaline absolute power over Tamara.
"Your implants," Quinn said.
"My implants. My currently barely functioning implants, because magic interferes. The funny thing is I am not disloyal. My implants haven’t been keeping me a slave to terrible people with terrible aims. I fully believe in the cause as much as I ever have, but now I could betray it," Mara said, her last words sounding almost of defeat.
"You say they might let you stay with us, but you don't expect it, do you? You think you are soon to die," Quinn said.
"Probably. I don't see what choice they have. I've too dangerous now, especially near all of you. I think with great sadness and perfect efficiency they'll kill me off, and offer you a replacement," Mara said, squeezing Quinn's hand.
"You know we won't let that happen."
"Quinn, if it does, I need you to promise me that you will do the right thing. That you won't seek vengeance, that you'll accept my replacement. I can't ask you to make her a part of the family but ... try," Mara said.
"No," Quinn said, shaking his head. "I love you. I'd give you almost anything you wanted, but this? Bit too much of an ask."
"My people are good people. This family is rushing towards some unknown fate at full run. Magic has you in its grip and while I have confidence in you to do good ... the potential for harm is immense," Mara said, staring him down. "I don't care if they gun me down in front of you. I don't care if they leave me on a stake to die. If I am not here you will need one of my sisters."
"Then stay alive," Quinn said, not backing down as he met her gaze. "Because I am not welcoming your killers aboard this ship. If we are that important, if having one of you here is that critical? Convince them it’s got to be you, and if not, when they come for you then you’d damned-well better win."
Mara laughed, but again it wasn't a happy sort of sound. "I thought you'd say that. I had to try. I'm ... not at full power. My implants are barely usable. While I know the magic is in me, so far I haven't found a way to make it do anything."
"Maybe we should have Kalisa spend a few hours beating you almost to death," Quinn said, wincing at the thought.
"Believe me, if I thought it would help, I would. If you've given your final answer I'll work on staying alive then, whatever the cost," Mara said, strangely forlorn about it.
Quinn couldn't feel bad about it. Once you accepted it was okay for you to die, you had one foot in the grave. Quinn had lost one wife and it nearly destroyed him. He wasn't going to lose another.
6
They were in a conference room aboard the Imperium Battleship Beidhander. The
flagship of the third fleet, it had remained loyal to Empress Joline, along with a dozen other naval ships.
There weren't many of the family present, most stayed aboard the Centauri Bliss. Tamara, Jinx, Quinn and Mara were there and only Mara looked like she belonged. The perfectly pressed black slacks and white blouse she'd decided to wear weren't regulation military, but she didn’t look like the other civilians aboard. Tamara had gone Core formal, Quinn went in a duster and light armor, while Jinx was in full Queen of Thieves getup that showed off her runes.
All the others present were dressed in military uniforms, even the nobles.
Tamara handed over a long black case to Joline who cracked it open to reveal the Imperial Scepter. "You've confirmed the authenticity?"
"Dela says it is the real thing. The head has been recently modified, but even that officially. It bears the imprint of Albrecht Shin, Imperial Armorer," Tamara said.
"Excellent," Joline said with a trace of satisfaction before her tone turned frosty. "Now what is not so excellent. You killed him."
"We gave him a chance to step back. He didn't," Quinn said.
Joline turned her glare on him, but after a moment gave a curt nod. "Fine. Things went bad during an operation. I don't like it and this complicates things, but we can go on."
It was a nice thing about working with a professional and a military woman. Some clients would rage if things went wrong on a job. Joline might be displeased, but she went with it and paid her bills.
"How badly does this complicate things?" Tamara asked.
"Have a seat. We're getting to that. Maia, take over," Joline said, gesturing to one of the uniformed women standing behind her.
Maia stepped forward, a serious-faced young woman, and she brought up a holographic display.
"There are currently over seventeen claimants to the throne, but at this point only six can truly be considered credible threats. Without a shakeup the others hold no more than three worlds and have limited naval power," Maia said.
Joline didn't actually command any worlds at the present time. It was something Quinn sure wasn't going to bring up, and he didn't think anybody else in the room would either.
