Allison saw a fire at the edge of the road up ahead. She sped up but was forced to slam her foot on the brakes when she saw a silhouette waving their hands in her headlights. She put the truck in park and got out to see who it was. It was Officer Indijit. He had blood running down his forehead and looked dazed. He had his service weapon in his hand. Behind him was a Sal’nash warrior drone bleeding from several wounds. The fire was the officer’s cruiser. It had Sal’nash spikes in it, they had pierced the battery pack, and the gel inside had caught fire when it interacted with the toxin and oxygen. Allison looked around; She could hear more movement in the underbrush. She grabbed the officer’s arm.
“We need to go, get in.”
He got in, he was still in shock. Allison slammed her foot on the accelerator and the push bar on the front of her pickup crushed two Sal’nash drones. The pickup bounced as it ran over the corpses. She floored it and took out another drone. She was talking to herself.
“No way pods landed yet and there are no Queen’s left… unless there’s a hive.”
She swore as her pickup’s power flickered again. She hit the manual switch to shift the drive shaft to the biodiesel engine which rumbled to life. Officer Indijit was holding his head. Allison had made herself effectively immune to the Sal’nash signal. So, she couldn’t tell if there was one or not, and she couldn’t tell if the officer was just hurting because he’d hit his head, or that there was a signal. She saw a troop transport fly overhead but then it started spiraling out of control when plasma blasts hit it.
Tracer rounds lit up the night’s sky as fighters launched from the alternate-dimension twentieth century carriers engaged the Sal’nash flyers. Allison pulled her pickup off to the side of the road. The officer looked at her.
“What are you doing?”
Allison pointed at the flames lighting up the sky over the forest.
“Transport went down there. It was heading for a troop drop in Chandra Ravine. It must be the Queen’s location. Once the signal gets to full strength nothing is getting through.”
Allison opened her glove compartment and grabbed her combat knife. She pulled it out of the sheath and looked at it. His eyes went wide.
“That’s a monoedge blade, those are illegal.”
Allison glanced at him.
“Yeah, are you going to arrest me when we’re being invaded by giant man-eating sentient bugs?”
“Wait… you’re going after them in a dress with a knife?”
Allison strapped the knife’s sheath to her thigh.
“Along with your service pistol, your extra magazines, my bow, my hunting rifle and a whole lot of Sal’nash blood.”
The officer looked at her.
“I can help.”
Allison sighed.
“No, you can’t because soon that pain and blurred vision is going to turn into a paralyzing migraine, then you’ll collapse unconscious from the pain. If you’re healthy, and if someone can put a bullet in the Queen’s head in less than an hour, you’ll recover, if not, then well permanent neural degeneration is possible. Two hours you’ve got a seventy percent chance of long term survival, three hours, there is a fifty percent chance, after four hours only ten percent will likely survive and then they will require immediate nanite neural pathway regeneration. You’ve got about five or ten minutes before you’re unconscious.”
She held out her hand.
“Your pistol and your clips, please. Or I’ll just wait until you’re unconscious to take them.”
He offered up his security utility belt. Allison took it and adjusted it to fit her smaller waist. She climbed into the back of the pickup. She unlocked the weapon locker. She grabbed her collapsed Qual’sa bow that had been tuned to her enhanced strength, her hunting rifle and all the ammo for each that she could carry. She hopped down and opened the door of the pickup she said.
“I’m heading in….”
She trailed off when she saw the officer slumped with a trickle of blood coming out of his nose. She sighed and started running down into the ravine. The Goliaths from the troop transport were still trying to get out of the wreckage. Allison rushed over and started pulling at the twisted metal, adrenaline and inborn dhampir strength pushed her muscles far beyond human norms. The pilot was dead. She sighed. The Goliath’s looked to her as if looking for orders.
“Where were you headed?”
The squad leader pointed further into the ravine.
“The Ark Royal picked up energy readings at the bottom of the ravine. Also identified as the source of the Sal’nash flyers. It hasn’t taken off fully yet, they tried, they think it’s a super hive. Sent the only assault team with dampeners built into our armor, which was us.”
Allison frowned.
“You can’t go in there. Once you’re within a quarter of a kilometer of the Queen the dampeners will be overwhelmed.”
She looked at their energy weapons.
“Also, those are going to be useless if they aren’t already. I’ll go. Not that I have any authority anymore but if you want my advice, pull the heavy assault bolters out of the wreckage and try and limit the Sal’nash that get past you. There are forty thousand plus Sal’nash warrior drones on that thing and the more we kill the less that will get to New Alexandria proper.”
The squad leader nodded and motioned to his squad.
“You heard the Battlelord. Get those heavy assault bolters out of the wreckage. Get as much ammo as you can. We form a perimeter, and we kill as many as we can.”
Allison shook her head.
“I’m not the Battlelord anymore.”
The squad leader saluted her.
“Once a general, always a general. We’ll hold them while we can. Good hunting, ma’am.”
Allison saluted him back and ran further down the ravine. She skidded a few times as the slope became too steep in spots. She came to the bottom of the ravine and saw bioluminescent light coming out of the foliage ahead. She nocked an arrow in her bow and drew the bow back. She launched an arrow the arrow punched through two warrior drone’s heads. Their bodies fell to the ground. Their heads were pinned to a tree. She lept up over a tree branch, pulled her knife out and swept her knife through the leg of another drone. The monoedge severed the limb and she stabbed him in the face. She kipped up from her knees and kept running. She pulled out the service pistol and shot two more of the drones catching them in their vulnerable spots.
She slipped the pistol and knife into their respective holster and sheath. She ripped the chitin open where the bullets had left holes. She covered her hands in the Sal’nash blood and started wiping it all over her face, hair, her dress, her arms and her legs. That would take care of the Sal’nash enhanced sense of smell. The rest would test her ability to stay unseen without advanced technology. She’d learned a trick or two from Georgia Lance in the time they had spent together. The vampire seemed almost too willing to teach her the ability to conceal one’s presence. The truth be told Allison sucked at it but with it and her training in infiltration she thought she might have a chance. She was lucky because the number of Sal’nash on the super hive seemed to be far less than she had been expecting. There was maybe three or four percent of the Sal’nash that should have been present.
As Allison progressed, she realized the super hive was in a state of disrepair. Dead Sal’nash littered the corridors. It was almost like the ship had crashed, or perhaps it was the solar radiation from the star. How long had this hive been here? It didn’t matter, the Queen was obviously still alive and she would need to remedy that if they were to have a chance. After the battle five weeks ago the military cooperation between the LSR and SA collapsed. Both powers had lost a substantial portion of their fleets and were more concerned about protecting their own worlds than each other’s. If the LSR did respond to the attack it would be weeks in FTL.
She was making good time towards where she knew the Queen would be directing her forces and emitting the psionic scream that could very likely kill most of the people she loved if she didn’t end this quickly enough. She came upon a couple of normal warrior drones and pulled herself into the shadows. They seemed to sniff the air as their mandibles and antenna twitched. Either they found nothing, or the Queen had told them what they found was of no concern. Allison let them pass. She hoped the death’s she had caused on the way into the super hive would be blamed on the Goliath power armor team that was hopefully blasting Sal’nash into bug guts by now. No one really knew if the Queens were in constant contact with her drones, or if they did their thing until she redirected them. She was stymied in her direct approach to the Queen’s chamber by a group of warrior drones that blocked the entrance. The chamber spanned several floors of the super hive so she would have to find an alternate entrance.
Allison paused and pondered climbing up the inside of the egg sack then wrinkled her nose and shook her head. She reasoned one, it was a disgusting idea, and two she’d have to travel at least two more kilometers in a hostile ship while wearing what used to be a really nice prom dress, which was lacking compared to her usual armor. She sighed and launched six arrows into the wall above her. She collapsed the bow and hooked it to her borrowed belt. The climb would be challenging. The arrows wouldn’t hold her weight for long they weren’t built for non-hunting applications. She pulled her mono-edge knife out of its sheath and jumped up while holding it. She used the arrows, and various natural hand holds to scale the wall. As she reached the next level she sliced through the floor near the wall with the mono-edge knife. It took a couple of tries to get the hole big enough, but she managed it.
She pulled herself up and flopped down on her back. Her legs and arms were exhausted from the climb. Allison cursed her lack of physical training over the last five weeks. She’d gone from jogging, swimming, weight training and all other manner of exercise to nothing and she was already out of shape. While she caught her breath she looked back and saw that desiccated Sal’nash corpses littered the hall. Workers, warriors, others. She was also noticing cracks in the interior walls. The hive had obviously crashed and the drones had not been able to reach their stasis chambers. She rolled over and pushed herself up.
She exhaled slowly and looked at the damaged wall in front of her. If she was careful and took her time, she could slice pieces out and not be noticed. Her psionic barrier should be making her invisible to the Queen’s own telepathic powers. She slowly started cutting chunks out of the chamber’s wall. She looked in and the Queen did not look good. She was slumped down her massive body was only upright because of the various veins that ran through the hive to her. Her egg sac was torn off.
Allison froze when a piece of the wall fell down into the chamber. She peaked over and saw twenty of the super warrior drones lined along the wall. The piece hit one on the head and it didn’t move. None of them reacted. She squinted and now she started to see the missing flesh inside. All that remained of these once dangerous foes was the exoskeleton. The rest had long since rotted and turned to dust.
She closed her eyes and let her heart beat slow before she continued her methodical work. She was forced to grab a much larger piece when the super hive shook. The Queen shifted her head and looked around the chamber as pieces of the already damaged hull fell inside. Allison could hear the warrior drones that had been defending the chamber rushing away. The hive shook again. She reasoned that this was likely the old jets and prop planes bombing the hive. They wouldn’t be affected by the signal.
With the removal of the Queen’s defensive drones she abandoned all pretense of stealth and pushed blood vitality to her muscles to leap down without breaking something. For the first time in the history of her jumps she’d managed a superhero landing. Of course, she had no recording devices, so she and the Queen were the only two to know she’d done it.
Allison dove to the side when the Queen glared at her with her one good eye and spit out a gob of acid. Allison pulled the bow out and extended it and while on the run she pelted the Queen with arrow after arrow. The Queen spit acid glob after acid glob at Allison who just wasn’t there. Allison’s last arrow finally hit home and pierced the Queen’s eye. The Queen screeched and her body started to vibrate violently.
Allison retracted her liquid metal bow and hooked it on her borrowed tactical belt and drew her mono-edge knife again. She stalked up to the Queen who was clawing at her face. The arrows that had rained down on her were all solid liquid metal, so all the Queen managed to do was knock some loose and shove some deeper.
Allison was forced to dive to the side as the Queen’s exoskeleton exploded. A human sized figure slopped to the ground in a river of Sal’nash organs and blood. Allison’s eyes went wide when the woman stood up. The reason for her tailored bio-weapon’s failure in the last battle of the war became very apparent. The Ne’Qual’sa rubbed the slime from her face. Allison recognized the queen’s real form immediately. The same silver hair, black skin and red malignant eyes she’d seen before. It was Aryni but her body was emaciated, she had four arms. Part of her skull had been replaced by chitin.
Whatever was left of Aryni shuffled towards Allison with her arms outstretched. Allison was paralyzed with fear. Terrified that Aryni would crush her and that her body would react how it had before. The super hive had taken so much damage she doubted it would stop the force she unleashed before… she could easily take out half of New Alexandria… the Goliaths.
Aryni clutched at her dress with all four arms but she was so weak she couldn’t even lift Allison. The crushing feeling never came and Allison was just looking down into those hate filled red eyes.
“You slew my daughters and their children to the last. Now you come for me! End it! I see the hate in your eyes.”
Allison realized that whatever Aryni had become she was no longer a real threat, at least while still in the body. She shoved her away and stood over her with the mono-edge combat knife ready to end the pathetic creature’s existence. Aryni’s now raspy and alien voice disturbed the silence of the tomb-like super hive once again.
“Come Harbinger kill me! Set me free!”
Allison lifted the knife to do just that, but the words had given her pause. She remembered the many conversations with Queen Aryna. The true Aryna. So long as Aryni is trapped in her body she could no longer reach ascension again, becoming energy, nor could she try to take over another of Aryna’s special clones. The only clone left would be completely undefended from Aryni’s takeover, it was Allison’s sister Aryna. Allison knew what she had to do. She reasoned if she could do it to Lucifer she could do it to anyone. She dropped her knife and opened her mouth. Her eyes began to glow golden as she extended her fangs.
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“Not free, never free you psychopathic bitch.”
Allison lunged at the fallen abomination and sank her fangs into the neck. There was a struggle initially, but Aryni as she was had no chance against the strength of a dhampir that was now lost in the blood hunger. For some reason, perhaps pity, Allison didn’t tear out the throat, she just let Aryni’s last moments be filled with pure bliss. As the soul was ripped from Aryni’s body the remaining Sal’nash across Eden Prime collapsed to the ground or crashed from the air. Allison stood up and wiped the wrist of her ruined dress across her mouth soaking it in blue Qual’sa blood. She looked down at Aryni’s corpse.
“If I ever become so obsessed with power and revenge, that I do that to myself, I pray to the Dark Mother someone puts me out of my misery long before I become like you.”
Allison suddenly clutched the sides of her head and collapsed on her knees. She was getting flashes of death and destruction. An overwhelming sense of hatred and anger. She felt like she was reliving every single moment of Aryni’s rampage with the Sal’nash. Nothing was clear, it was just jumbled flashes. No image Allison could perceive as a whole just pieces of them. The final image she could see clearly. It zoomed into the rogue planet she had destroyed. Time reversed and it changed from a mostly dead world to a beautiful ocean covered world. Then it zoomed to Aryni sitting on a throne. A thousand Qual’sa women stood before her all kneeling. The first of them went through a disgusting looking organic door and then just darkness.
When Allison regained consciousness, she was lying face down beside Aryni’s corpse. The first thing she saw were Aryni’s dead eyes and an off putting smile on the woman’s corpse-like face. The hive shook again. Apparently, the System’s Alliance and Colonial Defense Forces were taking no more chances with the hive and were looking to obliterate it. She grabbed her combat knife and sheathed it while she started an all-out scramble to the hangar and hopefully freedom. She pushed blood vitality to her legs. When she realized, this was not going to get her out of the rain of death she used vampiric superspeed knowing it would tear her tendons and muscles apart. It was better than being disintegrated by capital ship particle beams.
She caught up with the Goliaths who were in a full retreat. She was out of blood vitality and steam. One of the Goliath’s noticed her and scooped her up. They stopped when they reached the road. Allison’s body was already starting to stitch itself back together as it absorbed the blood vitality from Aryni. She leaned on the tailgate of her truck which was still down.
The group watched as the full wrath of Eden’s defense forces descended on the super hive’s remains. The hive had formed a large escarpment topped by a beautiful forest. Now it was just blasted land leading down to the ocean sized freshwater lake. The road now had a beautiful view of the lake if you overlooked the cratered remains of a swath of forest.
Allison had caught her breath, and her body had stitched itself together. She pulled herself up into the back of her truck. She locked her bow, rifle and knife in the lockup and scooted off the back of the pickup. The officer was still recovering. She helped him out of the pickup, returned his belt and pistol then handed him off to the Goliaths.
“He’s all yours. I have some place to be.”
The lead Goliath power armor tilted his head to the side.
“You’re not going to report for a debrief.”
“No, I’m going to my goddamned summer formal before something else happens.”
The goliath’s squad leader looked Allison up and down.
“You might want to get changed… or shower or…”
Allison shook her head.
“No if this is a problem they can spray me down with a hose. I’m not going to stand my date up!”
The squad laughed as Allison pulled away in the pickup and sped off towards the school. She wasn’t surprised to see it deserted. The staff and students present for the formal had probably gone into the school’s shelter. Allison looked into the gymnasium that was all done up for the summer formal and sighed. She looked back over the colony from the vantage the school gave. The Sal’nash hadn’t made it into the colony proper so destruction was limited to where System’s Alliance craft had crashed or Sal’nash fighters had gone down.
Allison heard music start playing it was some cheesy slow dance song. Modern and the kind of thing she didn’t love she turned around hoping it was Tyler. It wasn’t. Edward was standing there in a suit that looked like he had fallen in some mud. He gave her a cheesy smile.
“Someone did all this work. We should at least get one dance out of it.”
Allison smiled and shook her head. She figured what the hell. She deserved at least one dance uninterrupted by chaos. She approached him and he put his arms around her. She put her arms around his shoulders, and they began to sway slowly. Allison spoke as they danced.
“What are you doing outside of a shelter?”
He smiled.
“Well, I thought it was just the teachers being assholes and ruining the formal. Didn’t realize it was real until I saw the explosions, by that time the shelter was sealed, and the shield was up.”
“And the mud?”
“Oh yeah, I went outside to watch. Next thing I knew I woke up in some mud.”
Allison nodded.
“Welp, that does happen in Sal’nash attacks…”
He looked at her.
“What happened to you? Did you get puked on by a giant… whatever?”
Allison shook her head.
“No, just doing something stupid.”
Edward chuckled.
“Not going to tell me, are you?”
Allison shrugged.
“Only if you answer this question first, how do you feel about strong girls?”
“You mean how do I feel about girls like you? That can look beautiful while fighting a war?”
Allison nodded.
“I’d have to say, I’m a fan. I mean if someone comes after either of us, you’ll kick their bloody asses. Sounds like a good deal to me.”
Allison blushed.
“I covered myself in blood so when I was sneaking in to assassinate the Sal’nash Queen her drones wouldn’t smell me.”
“And did you? Kill her? Is that why I’m still alive?”
Allison nodded. He grinned.
“Wow my dad would love you, if it weren’t for the fact you’re a copper.”
Allison laughed.
“No way, the UK dome still uses that word?”
He nodded. She shook her head.
“I’m not a cop. I’m technically a Special Operations Operative. I don’t go after criminals unless they send me after criminals.”
He let his hands slide lower. She didn’t stop him. She quite liked being touched by him.
“Well, that would explain why you were pretending to be ‘Allie’ since I know my dad and his friends are into some stuff.”
Allison shook her head.
“Not her, sorry, I will admit while I was at the Pleasure Dome I was actually assigned to try and find her. Apparently, she’s a vampire that told the Imperial Council to kiss her… what was it… ‘Pale dead ass’. She’s got quite a criminal enterprise and was probably using you to get close to your dad. I never did get to question you, when you were with her, did you have any black outs? Unaccounted for time? Lightheadedness that could have been due to blood loss? You probably enjoyed it if it happened, vampires have this venom in their saliva that makes humans feel really good.”
He blushed beet red. Allison smiled.
“Ah, so she did bite you. You didn’t do anything else with her did you? Drink her blood, have sex? If you did you could still be under her influence.”
He shifted his hands a bit higher.
“Say, weren’t you dating that bloke Tyler?”
Allison shook her head.
“I was but it didn’t work out. You were here with Besho, weren’t you? How is that working out? My experience with her is that she’s a heinous bitch.”
“Yes, she was my date but even if you’re covered in alien blood I’m thinking the company is better. What are you doing on Sunday?”
Allison let him dip her as the song ended.
“I’m going to the capital world of the League of Sentient Races for an internship with their council. And tomorrow, before you ask, I’m probably going to be yanked in to explain what happened to the Queen. Such is the life of a teenage Battlelord.”
She curtsied.
“Thank you for the dance. I should check on my family.”
The End of Volume 1
Epilogue:
*****
Meeting Between League of Sentient Races Councils and System’s Alliance Board.
Transcript:
President Maria: “I have called this meeting in pursuant to article two of our mutual defense pact regarding the Sal’nash, sharing data on Sal’nash operations. Please let me complete the summary before you ask questions. Our colony at Eden Prime was attacked by the Harbinger and two other heavily damaged hives. They woke a Sal’nash Queen on the surface. Battlelord Allison Wanjala was able to infiltrate the super hive and eliminate the Queen. During this encounter the battlelord was able to determine that the Queens were actually augmented Ne’Qual’sa. She interrogated the Queen before terminating her life. The Queen claimed that all of her children and their children were dead. Based on the debriefing of the battlelord we have a high confidence this information was true. We now consider the Sal’nash threat ended for good and consider the terms of our mutual defense pack concluded. We wish to continue close trade relations and will continue to offer the services of Battlelord Wanjala as a military liaison.”
Primarch Rubina: “Our military advisors have also reached the same conclusion based on our intelligence and debriefings of the battlelord. This is a glorious day. A threat to galactic peace has been ended once and for all.”
Speaker of the Councils: “The honored high councilor for the Synthlin wish to raise a point.”
High Counciler Rysta’na: “I object to a continued relationship with these warlike aliens. And if we must we cannot allow one who has been responsible for so many of our soldiers dying in a vein attack be our liaison or wear the title battlelord.”
Speaker of the Councils: “Order. Order. Order. Continued disruptions from the low council will result in your removal from this session, this is your first warning.”
President Maria: “We are more than willing to appoint a different liaison. The battlelord has expressed an interest in stepping down from her post to focus on her studies.”
Primarch Rubina: “We would prefer she remain the liaison. She has an in depth understanding of both of our respective militaries and social organization and holds rank in both militaries. The high councilor’s opinion is in the minority and his vote on the subject has already failed to succeed. The majority of our people feel that our relationship with the System’s Alliance is beneficial. We hope your people feel the same.”
High Counciler Rysta’na: “She is a war criminal. She is a pirate. She has turned my people’s technology into an abomination. She is responsible for a genocide! Fifteen Billion Sentients have died, and we celebrate her? This is an outrage! This is contrary to our constitution!”
Speaker of the Councils: “Order. Order. Order. Order. Low council, this is your second warning. High Counciler Rysta’na your vote to condemn the System’s Alliance, and the Battlelord has been brought before the council and voted down unanimously save for yourself. You are out of order for the final time. If you continue to disrespect the sanctity of this hollowed hall, I will ban you permanently. Continue at your peril.”
Speaker of the Councils: “Order. Order. Please clear the low council chambers.”
Primarch Rubina: “Esteemed board members of the System’s Alliance we apologize for this lack of decorum. The battlelord evokes a lot of strong emotions in our people.”
President Maria: “We understand. We are committed to continuing strong diplomatic ties and trade with the League of Sentient Races for as long as they are welcome. I have nothing else. We will let you go. Thank you for your time.”
-SA Board disconnects hyperwave-
Primarch Rubina: “Return the Low Council Speaker we have a vote to proceed with”
Speaker of the Councils: “Return the low council.”
Speaker of the Councils: “I remind the low council of the rules of decorum of the council chambers. If you wish to speak request the floor.”
Primarch Rubina: “We have suffered division on the high council and while all voices are important, it is the position of these councils and Synthlin people that there is no longer confidence in High Counciler Rysta’na to perform his duties as High Counciler.”
High Counciler Rysta’na: “This is preposterous! I am the one sane voice left on this council. You can’t remove me; I was placed here by my people! You are selling our glorious civilization out to the warmongers and monsters!”
Speaker of the Councils: “Please remove High Counciler Rysta’na, do not let him return. He has breached the decorum of this council far too many times already.”
Speaker of the Councils: “All in favor of stripping High Counciler Rysta’na of his title and requesting a new elected high councilor from the Synthlin, say aye.”
Speaker of the Councils: “High Council is unanimous, Synthlin Abstain. Low Council is unanimous. The vote is carried. Let it be added to the record that Rysta’na is stripped of all security clearances, rank, title and status that his position as high councilor afforded him. The seat will sit empty until such time as the Synthlin elect a new representative as a sanction for the behavior of their previous selection.”
*****
Rubina stood on the balcony of her office with her hands folded behind her back. She heard the door open and looked back to see who was entering. It was the former high councilor Rysta’na. Synthlin, encounter suits did not have facial expressions, but it didn’t take a telepath to tell that the slime mold was upset.
“You… you set me up!”
Rubina turned to look at him, but kept her clawed hands folded behind her back.
“Come in, make yourself comfortable…”
The Synthlin’s usually calm delicious voice sounded rage filled.
“You told me you would back me. That the battlelord and the System’s Alliance were a problem! That you agreed with me we had lost sight of our constitution!”
Rubina looked him up and down with disdain.
“You are a na?ve fool Rysta’na, as you have always been. Your pacifist rhetoric was fine when we weren’t threatened with annihilation by ravenous bugs. It would also ring less hollow if you weren’t supplying weapons to rebels in one of our neighbors’ civil wars. I’m not sure what they are paying you, or what they have offered you but whatever it is, it means nothing now. Your accounts are frozen, your attempts to alienate us from the System’s Alliance have failed. Nanotech bioweapons targeting humans? Good to know that even Synthlin idealists can fall from grace too. I let you believe what you wanted to believe, and you hung yourself with your own rope.”
He reached out with his encounter suit in an attempt to attack Rubina who motioned with her hand. His encounter suit collapsed. His mind would not connect with the slime tendrils which would not connect with his encounter suit.
“Blind as always. As if I didn’t know what your plan was the moment you walked into this office; Have you never noticed silver tipped scales?”
He could still speak through his encounter suit.
“I was helping an enslaved populace rise up against an unjust and cruel government so they could join us. They have no rights!”
Rubina twisted her hand and Rysta’na screamed in pain.
“Again, you are blinded by your belief in the inherent goodness of the universe. It doesn’t matter who is in charge, as long as it is stable. Your real problem is that your wholesome goodness was starting to get you sympathy votes. I couldn’t have someone so incompetent in the Primarch’s position. You’re weak, your people are weak and always have been. If you were in charge when the Sal’nash attacked we’d be bug food by now. The battlelord exists so we keep our hands clean, that’s why we let her do what she needs to do, and we don’t ask questions. The people are happier that way. We won, they don’t care how we won. Only idiots like you do. Now I’m afraid we’re done. You’re going to have been overcome with the stress of it all. Of course, a few crazies might scream conspiracy, but they’ll slowly forget you existed as you languish in a vegetative state.”
She twisted her clawed hand again and the encounter suit twitched before losing all signs of life. Rubina stepped over the lifeless encounter suit and pressed her room’s emergency comm and made herself sound concerned.
“Please, send help, Rysta’na has collapsed in my office! He’s not responding to me, and I can’t read his thoughts.”
*****
Bungle Chat log - Allison and Tyler, the day after the Summer Formal.
AlleyCat: Hey Tyler. How are you doing? Sorry about last night. I’ll try and make it up to you somehow, someday. :D
AlleyCat: Are you okay? Haven’t heard from you? *poke*
Tman2978: Sorry slept in. Can we meet? I want to talk to you before you leave for Silwra.
AlleyCat: I’ll try. I’m being dragged into a bunch of debriefs and mom wants a family dinner tonight. We can talk on the way to Silwra anyway, right?
Tman2978: That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m not going.
Tman2978: Allie? Are you there? Are you mad?
Tman2978: Allie I’ll understand if you’re md
Tman2978: *mad
Tman2978: Please just talk to me about it?
Tman2978: Did you block me?
Tman2978: Just be reasonable about this.
Tman2978: I know how angry you can get. I just want to talk about this.
Tman2978: I want to be friends still.
Tman2978: I’m serius I really want to be friends still.
Tman2978: *serious
Tman2978: It’s just you stood me up last night and that hurt. You know. And then Ari and Besho were saying how you’ll always choose everyone else before me. Like you took that call thing instead of coming with us. Like Ari and Besho are in the reserves, and they were at the dance. They didn’t go running off…
Tman2978: I know you’re really mad but like once you cool off please talk to me. I still want to be friends we were really good as friends.
Tman2978: Just say you’re okay and I’ll stop messaging.
AlleyCat: Okay, okay I’m fine, jeez I was meeting with the Board. Give me a chance to read the *#!$ing novel you sent before you get all impatient.
AlleyCat: You’re not going? Why? Why you are listening to my worst *#!$ing enemies over me? You know what, never mind. Yeah, I’m mad. I’m done with you. You know what. You *#!$ing coward. If you’re going to break my heart at least do it in *#!&ing person. Yeah, I’m going to *#!&ing choose saving lives, especially my family’s, over going to a stupid *#!&ing dance every time. Enjoy Ari and Besho you *#!&ing a$$hole. I don’t need you in my life I have enough stupid $%@^ in it already.
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Tman2978: Allie?
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To be Continued in Volume 2: The Shadow War