"You sacrificed your entire fleet just to take out a single vessel that had General Emerzon onboard. You obliterated one fighter with my leader, then you took control of Captain Gleta's forces by mutinous actions and wiped out my entirebatchof Brothers! Every Terran, Void, Star, and Cosmic…you detonated her ship, sacrificing her soldiers to take out my entire family.”
He shrugs and sways. “It was war. I did what I had to in order to win.”
“You’re disgusting.”
One of KillStar’s eyes twitches while she watches me.
“Gleta escaped,” he replies.
I grin. “No, she didn’t.”Menace caught and killed her.“You don’t remember me, do you? That’s all we are is chips on a war board, isn’t it?”
“Why should I have to remember you? I need my numbers, the forces—”
I cut him off. “Thewhyalways matters. But I guess you've never lost anything you cared about, probably because you're like every other Solcrue, manipulative and narcissistic. Space has made you forget all the beautiful emotions between hatred and lust.”
He’s getting irritated, which I like. Just like he wants to mess with my head, I have to mess with his if I want to get through this without giving him what he wants. My end will come faster, but that’s okay with me, as long as hedoesn’tget what he wants.
Captain Oreveu waves a nonchalant hand toward me. “Waste him and get me his core.”
A guard steps up to the bars and ignites a coilgun.
My ultro races. KillStar steps back like she’s never seen the weapon before.
I move closer to him. “Make it fast.”
“Sure.” The guard grins and aims through the bars at my ultromotor as the captain turns to walk away.
This is my end. No matter where I am in this cell, his gun will find a way to my ultromotor.Unless the gun isn’t pointed at me.
The moment the barrel begins to glow, I grab the gun and pull. It fires as it passes my body and punches a hole in the probe launcher built into the wall. I tug the guard into the electrified bars. He seizes. The residual electricity slows me but isn't enough to freeze my muscle pistons.
Prying the gun from his hand, I aim through the bars and fire.
KillStar’s eyes widen.
Guards rush toward us, pass her, and cluster around ruthless Captain Oreveu.
KillStar runs a hand over her middle, frowns, and looks back at the downed captain, then at me.
I should decommission her. But the gun is out of rounds. And of the two of them, the captain deserved to die far more than KillStar. As far as I can tell, she is only a pilot and a guard—a belly scale on the snake. I just cut off its head.
She turns and walks off.
“Where is she going?” one of the guards asks.
“Let the metal head go. She probably doesn’t understand death. She’s just programs and gears.”
She turns near the entrance of the prison and lifts a gun at my cell.
A guard rushes toward her. “You’ll destroy his core!”
“He’s going to destroy this ship!”
KillStar fires. A blast curls through the bars and slams me against the back wall. I fall to the floor and strain for a breath. But I don’t need air. I don’t need heat or comfort to operate. So I close my ports and make it look like I have been decommissioned.
She should’ve dialed up the blast if she wanted to kill me.
My threat level to them is neutralized for now. They have the captain to deal with. I will be left alone. As I lay still, I scan my cell, looking for a way out. It's well fortified and shows no signs of weaknesses I can exploit in my reduced operational state. I fear my only option for freedom, to ensure they don't get any information, is self-detonation.
I have enough stored power to spool up every engine, redline them, and let them run away until I overheat and combust. It sounds painful and looked like it when other Brothers did it. But to save my mate and my Brothers, if they're still out there…even if they aren’t…this seems like my best option. I can’t expect anyone to help me. We aren’t prepared for that kind of rescue mission with the BlazeStar taking everyone’s focus.And detonating will get me revenge for my batch brothers.
I'm just not ready to let go of Kelta. So I lay on the floor, pulling up recordings of her and savor her love one last time.
