October 25, 2111
James Stone
I woke up restrained in a chair. Around my ankles and wrists were veridium and shield-based power cuffs, designed to keep me glued to the seat. Pain hit me like a truck, and I could feel everything throbbing like a fast heartbeat. All the same, I could barely gather my vision as my ears rang like the vibrations of clinging metal. I tried twisting my wrists and ankles from the restraints, but it wouldn't give; my flesh would only impale itself against the restraints the further I pushed. I slowed my breath and relaxed my senses, ready to face whatever the situation might be.
After my vision returned, I could see I was still in the station. "You've awoken sooner than I predicted." Malcolm Richardson sat up from the rails.
"What did you do with the rest of my squad?" I asked, struggling to get out of the restraints.
"In the next room. Once Erryn and Narrisa are accounted for, we'll be on our way back to the Tempest of Titans. There, you will face trial."
My body screamed at my brain. I felt like I was on fire. The multiple lacerations around my body made it hard to concentrate. "You should have killed me. I will get out of this, and when I do, not even largest, thickest wall is going to stop me from saving Landis. I must finish my mission. Do you catch my drift?"
He steamed over to me and howled with a voice as sharp as knives. "No, James, I don't understand your drift. What is it with your desire to save one person at the potential cost of all your soldiers? What if you or your teammates gets captured? Worse yet, what if someone dies?"
"Then he or she would die for their family. But, hah, you wouldn't know such a feeling. All you hunters do is sit around until you're ordered to hunt fellow comrades. Soldiers like me - like my family - put our lives on the line every mission, and your only purpose is to interfere with that," I sneered. "Life must be simple for someone who follows blind leadership. Only do what you're told, and everything is bright the next morning, right?"
"It's called loyalty. You're not a soldier, James! When a true soldier is told to kill, he kills. He doesn't question why. He doesn't mourn the fallen. He fulfills his role, then moves on to the next. You should have moved on, James. Now I have to deal with you."
"That philosophy only lets you shift the blame to someone else. It's an excuse not to take responsibility for your actions. At this point, this far, we don't stop! We don't go back! We're at war, and retreat means we lose… we lose Landis! Is that what you want?"
"Of course not! She was my wife!" Malcolm blurted out before he realized what he'd said. He took a deep breath. "Bringing Clover back has crossed my mind. But a soldier's orders outweigh his emotions every time."
I was dumbfounded. "What kind of game are you playing? Landis said her husband died."
He snickered, and a tear formed in his eye. "Is that what she said? She always was harsh."
"Landis said she was young and dumb when she married her husband. She told me she joined the war because it was exciting, saying her marriage died when her husband didn't support her decisions," I claimed, trying to get to the bottom of this.
"Clover would say that. You see, James, she joined the war for revenge, not excitement. There's no doubt in my mind she believed she was fighting for a cause. Then again, she never really could tell herself the truth after what happened."
"Go on," I pushed for answers.
"Before the war, I was a simple soldier. But as a soldier, you sometimes have to cross the stars to go away for missions. I never used to be scared of battle even though others were. The first time I was scared was on the trip home. I'd been married for a year by then, and I knew I had a daughter waiting for me at home. I, ah... I missed her birth, and it sucked, to put it lightly. On the trip back, I just kept thinking God was going to pull the rug out from under me. After what I'd seen, what I'd been through, it just seemed like the only possibility. But the star ship landed safely, and despite my gut feelings, I took the long way home. I wanted more time to think about what I should say. Then the car stopped and I was outside our house. We lived outside the jurisdiction of the ARW while we waited for our home back on Earth to be built. I walked through the door. Clover was inside but had no idea… hah, no idea I was home. I walked into the kitchen, and there she was preparing milk for our little one. Finally, she turned and saw me. The bottle hit the ground, tears fell from her eyes. Shivf, I was worse. Here she was holding me up, squeezing me so tight, I thought I was going to bust a rib. Hah, I was a rubber-faced clown; cried so much. That's real, James. That's real. Next thing you know, she pulled me into our daughter's room to see her for the first time. There she was in a crib; flower-patterned clothes and a blanket covering her. I could have sworn my daughter smiled at me in her sleep." At that point, Malcolm couldn't contain himself. He let the tears fall. "You ju-just can't even understand it. How does something that beautiful come from me? I-I wanted to hold her, but I was scared. Clover begged me to, but I just couldn't. Then it hit me, all at once. In that moment, I felt how tired I was… so… so damn tired. You… you ever been that kind of tired, James?"
Malcolm looked at my face. He knew I understood. "Yeah," I answered. Hell, I was that kind of tired at that moment.
"So you understand, I just couldn't do anything. All the things, I… hah, I couldn't take my wife to bed. Too tired even to drink a damn beer. But Clover… she looked at me. She begged me to hold my daughter." Malcolm paused for a moment to wipe away his tears. "I should have done it. She begged. God, she begged. I said no. Daddy's too tired, understand?" At that point, I felt a tear drop down my cheek. "I told Clover I'd hold our daughter the next morning. I promised her. I, ah… I never thought that for my daughter there was never going to be a tomorrow. The next hour - God, that fraken hour - I held my daughter's lifeless body in my arms! She was… my baby girl was only three weeks old. It was the day the dytircs made their first attack in this war, and my home was collateral damage. That day was the last day I'd ever see Clover the same and the last time she ever saw me the same. We changed; she joined the military and I the hunters. We both dealt with our daughter's loss in our own ways."
Using my shoulder, I wiped away my tears. "I didn't know."
"How could you know, James? Understand this, James: You don't ever want to experience losing the people you love and care for like that. Come back with me. Don't risk losing your squad."
"I can't do that. We're family, and we'll do anything to save each other," I said softly.
"Then you leave me no choice!" Malcolm put on his helmet and picked up another shock grenade from the table.
From the very depths of hell, I heard, "Come outside, with your guns above your heads! We have the whole place surrounded and a lot to talk about!" The voice was outside the control station. It was Steion's. "You have three minutes, or your beloved captain will die!"
"Damn! Steion is here! How did he--" I paused and pieced together everything: The fragile enemies guarding the station; Malcolm's arrival. "You're a dumbass. Let me guess, you used listening devices to piece together our beautifully crafted plan to raid this station. That's how you knew where we were."
"Correct." Malcolm wasn't sure what he'd done wrong.
"Did you leave it on?"
"Yes."
"You can't leave on those devices when the enemy has signal detectors all over these forsaken lands. This is their home system, for Christ's sake. Did they never teach you standard military procedure, or did you forget that while trying to ruin my day?!" I shouted. Malcolm didn't know how to respond. "Look, you have to release me. I can rattle the ol' noggin and figure a way out of this."
Malcolm just stared at me. "James, remember how I said Clover and I had different responses to the day our daughter died?"
"I do, why?"
Embarrassment reddened his face. "I haven't been able to face dytircs since that day. Each time I see one, flashes from that day render me petrified."
"Well, your mistake gave us no choice! This fear of yours is waiting outside the door. Now, you can either let it control you, or you can grab it by the ball sack and face it head on! So choose, and while you're at it, unlock the damn restraints!" I cursed and shook around in the chair.
Malcolm stared at me. "I-I can't. You're my mission. I have to bring you in."
"Listen to me, and listen closer than you ever have. If you don't, we die… you die! You sat there, and you told me not to risk losing my squad. Well, Malcolm, you're about to lose yours."
"How do I know you won't turn your back on me the moment you get the chance?"
I smiled. "Hell, you already know the answer to that. Malcolm, you're a detective…hell, one of the top. At this point, you know the only way you can get me back is to let me go and kill Steion."
He nodded and unlocked the restraints. "What do we do?"
Thinking for a second, I asked, "Is everyone in the building?"
His eyes brightened. "No, Brad is on his way to secure Erryn's ship. He hasn't reported back yet."
"Contact him!"
Over the intercom, Malcolm said, "Brad, status report."
He reported back, "I jus' finished restrainin' da maelkii bitch here."
"Look, I have a light bulb hanging over my head. But you have to tell Brad to follow my words," I instructed.
"Brad, there's been a setback. Follow Stone's instructions." Malcolm swept over channel access to my cyberwatch.
Once I had access to the channel, I contacted Brad. "Brad. I got a real mission for you."
I told Brad the plan. Although my plan wasn't full, it was something. Brad was just going to have to figure out the rest on his own.
"I love some sweep n' creep." Brad beamed with excitement after hearing the plan.
"Ground warfare is Brad's specialty. He's ranked number one on the ARW's list of most dangerous ground troopers," Malcolm assured me.
I looked at Malcolm. "Holy hell," I said before contacting Erryn and feeding her the pieces of the plan in which she played a part.
"Copy that, sweetie."
"Sweetie?" Malcolm raised an eyebrow.
"It's a long, stupid story. Don't get your mind in the trash." I sighed. "Now, we're going to do what Steion says at the moment. I have an idea, and it's going to require some Hail Mary luck. I just hope Steion knows his traditions."
After everyone's restraints were removed, I led the way outside, with my guns over my head. Steion was at the helm of dozens of dytircs and a few honor guards. Fighting sure wasn't on the table.
"Line up so I can see each of your faces," Steion commanded.
Our squad lined up and knelt in the wet mud as rain poured on our backs. We set our weapons down, and the bonies took them. Landis was slouched over at Steion's knees. She was badly beaten. Her cyberwatch was missing, and she struggled to stay up. She spotted Malcolm and mustered enough strength to smile.
Landis used the last of her strength and yelled, "Artifacts, tell Kalvin they--"
Steion pulled the trigger, sending two shots to the back of her skull. Landis fell instantly.
"NO!" I screamed, slamming my hands to the wet mud. Tears formed, but the rain storm hid them.
"You dick! I'm going to kill you!" Malcolm hollered in anger.
For an agonizing few seconds, each member of my squad broke. Just like that, our mission was a bust as a family member was smote before our very eyes. She was gone.
Captain Clover Landis was gone.
"Wonderful. Now I have your attention," Steion howled with a cynical laugh. "Unfortunately for what's-her-name here, we'd more than made use of her."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" I screamed in anguish.
Steion shivered in anticipation. "I love it when tempers flare and tensions are high. It really brings out the fun in our conversation. What do you think, James?" Steion walked in front of me. I spat at him, but he teleported behind me and kicked me down. "Get up!" he snarled. I did as he said, and he kicked me back down. He then translocated back in front of me. "Don't try that again, James, or I'll put another one of your soldiers down." He walked down our ranks before asking, "Now, which one of you is the leader here?"
Nobody spoke. Steion continued down the line, looking at each one of us. He passed everyone before returning to me. I looked him directly in the eyes with pure hatred. I tried to come off as strong as possible, despite my body's weakened state.
"You sure have spirit. If I were to make a guess, I'd say you were in charge, James?"
"You're damn right!"
He studied me with piercing eyes. "I'm going to need you for later. You see, I'm going to put that spirit of yours to the test, James. What do you say… let's play a game?" I didn't respond, so Steion continued. "You see, whatever you do… no matter what, you do not come into my place of birth and treat me like the villain. I'm not! Even a moron would understand that." He looked around our group. "Listen up! Let me explain something to you… all of you. When my warriors tell me we have a group of ARW soldiers planning to raid our prison… possibly killing many of us in the process, I think… terrorists!"
I interrupted him, "It's a war, dumbass."
He snickered. "War. That's where we're similar. Two men on two different sides. It is said you can't stop a war. War only ceases for a moment in time when one side has an advantage. Would you say I have the advantage, James?"
"For now." I looked him straight in the eye, imagining his death.
He looked away and strolled through the ranks again. He then stopped at Malcolm, who kept his eyes glued to the mud. He shivered and trembled, and not because of the cold rain. I could tell he was struggling with his phobias.
Steion crouched down and sniffed. "I can smell the fear on this one. Cowards don't deserve to live." He put the plasma handgun to Malcolm's head. "I wonder how many shots the shields can take before I can kill you."
"Try and find out." Malcolm lifted his head. He trembled, but I could see him fighting to look the warlord in the eye.
Somewhat impressed, Steion stood back up. "That's more like it!" He patted Malcolm on the shoulder. "Now I'm going to kill one of you tonight! And--"
Valiic interrupted, "You already did!"
Steion laughed. "That was a mere appetizer of what's to come! You see, she had nothing to do with this. You guys had balls to come here; she was forced. And now you're going to pay for it! James, this is where I need you. You make the decision. Who's it gonna be? Who do you want me to kill?" He strolled around, looking at each of our faces. "On second thought, I want to make this shivf last." Now in front of Shadow-Walker, Steion asked, "How did you guys get here?"
"We hired someone to drop us off," Shadow-Walker half-lied.
Unsure whether to believe him or not, Steion pressed, "And where is that someone now?"
"Gone. We paid them to take us here, that's all," he lied again.
"Either you're a good liar, or you're telling the truth. No matter. Hand me his weapon," Steion instructed his honor guards. Inspecting the weapon, he teased, "My, my… you have created yourself a beauty. I always wanted a custom weapon for myself. Oh well, I might just settle for yours."
Next in line, Steion looked down at Valiic. "Would you like to know what I think of your species?" Valiic just looked around at us in unease. Suddenly, Steion teleported behind him. "The weakest areas on a maelkii are the neck and lower back, right?" He slammed the butt of Shadow-Walker's scout rifle against Valiic's lower back. Valiic winced and groaned in pain. Steion teleported back in front of him. "That's what I think! Your species pretends to be warriors, yet you fight for morals… a false sense of honor. Dytircs are proud! We fight for power, like a true warrior should. Maelkii are nothing but wannabes." Steion spat at Valiic's knee.
He walked around, stopping at Uslar. "You look like you have something in your eye. Here, let me get that!" He knocked Uslar face down in the sludge. "Now, don't give me that look again!"
Finally, Steion arrived at Vaalima. "And you… wait… are you with him?" He pointed to Valiic. She shook her head no. "Are you sure? I distinctly remember hearing my warriors say something about children, and you and him are the only two here that could make that happen." There was silence. "No matter, I sent some warriors to find and deal with them," he said with a laugh.
"NO! You dirty, arrogant prick." I stumbled up and tried to tackle Steion.
He soon put me down in the mud and snarled almost like a vicious animal. "Get back in line!" His lackeys forced me back to my spot. Once I was back in line, he continued. "Don't any of you do that again! I will shut that down fast!" He gazed over us. "I get it. It's an emotional moment, so I'll give you that. The first one is free, but if anyone else gets off that mud, I will feed your eyeballs to the ludens here!" Steion walked up to me, looking pleased with himself. "Sucks, doesn't it? The moment you realize you can't do a damn thing. It's time to decide, James. Who's it gonna be? Who am I gonna kill?" He continued to walk around, waiting for an answer. "Come on, we don't have all day! It can be him," he pointed at Uslar, "or her," he pointed to Vaalima.
"Me!" I answered and thus began my plan.
All the dytircs surrounding us began whispering amongst themselves. Steion's expression shifted from enjoyment to choleric. In rage, he kicked at the mud before marching back to me, yelling, "Either you're simply brave, or you've heard some of our old traditions. Whatever the case, it won't matter. Stand up and step over there."
My wounds had started to heal, but I was still in intense pain. Using my hands, I forced myself up. Every joint was stiff, and every muscle ached. I made it to the area he instructed. The crowd of dytircs formed a circle around me, giving my squad mates just enough room to see me.
Steion spoke. "James has opted to sacrifice himself for his comrades. He's earned himself honor and therefore has earned the chance to defend it. Set by our ancestors of the past, we'll continue their tradition and uphold a Duel of Honor. Who would like to face him?"
In the front, a tall, muscled boney stepped forward. "I will earn my honor by defeating a worthy foe in this Duel of Honor."
Steion bawled, "Now, get them both knives!" From the crowd, someone tossed me a knife. My opponent pulled out his own custom knife. Cheers and hollering ensued as my opponent lunged at me.
Stepping to the side, I dodged his first swipe. Quick to recover, he swiped at me again. This time, I blocked it with my knife and jabbed him in the side. Relief took over. I was happy to be hitting flesh instead of power armor like before.
"AWW!" he howled in pain.
Stepping back, he was shocked at my strength. Luckily for him, I was in pain and therefore didn't end it with that blow. He soon lunged again, this time trying to shank me in the gut. I shoved his arm away and kicked him backwards, then spun my knife around, catching the blade and tossing it. It pierced my opponent right in his heart. His blood oozed out of the wound, and his body splattered in the wet mud.
Furious, Steion walked over and kicked the dead dytirc's body before blustering at me, "You may have bought you and your comrades some time, but it won't matter! Every one of you are going to the forlorn until only one is left!" He tossed Shadow-Walker's scout rifle to one of the guards. "Put that in the armory with the rest." He then instructed his honor guards, "Take them!"