“You’ve interacted with Solcrue in a way most haven’t.”
Menace’s presence fills the back of my mind. I can almost feel him touching my shoulder like he’s listening in. I glance behind us and see his red eyes burning into me. He’s always back there, watching. He’s patrolled closer and closer the longer we’ve walked these tunnels as a group.
“I’m not going to hurt Poppy, Menace. Why are you always looking at me? You going to try and kill me? Fucking do it already!”
He slowly tilts his head like he isn’t sure what I’m asking.
Whatever. Creep.
“How did you survive interacting with them while maintaining your freedom?” Poppy asks, drawing my attention back to her.
I think of the captains I served and their tactics. “Being unpredictable with what strings we could pull, like setting traps and holding Solcruean officers by the balls. We’d find a way to control their most prized weapon.”
I shake my head and instantly regret it as the pressure grows more painful. “The trouble with those wild tactics is that it breeds distrust. We had to always watch our backs and ensure that any time we pulled a stunt like that, we could get out of any countermeasures they had in place.
“A grav-beam on a Solcrue ship needed an antigravity deterrent system on the hull. Shields had to be able to take a plasma pulse at close range. Engines had to be able to reignite with hypercapacitors if an EMP went off and killed spark plugs, coils, and batteries. It’s not a tactic I prefer because it provokes unpredictable behavior, requires a lot of countermeasures, and creates supply waste. Think sex-deprived Solcrue on stimulants.”
“Creates rash decisions.” Poppy steps over a boulder, picks up a strap of leather from the dirt, and ties it to her pack. Poppy saves everything useful and watches out for dropped goods from the survivors.
“We could use that to our advantage,” she says. “If they lash out, they will waste ammo trying to end us, put themselves into kill boxes, maybe even miss an obvious signal if they’re focused on searching for something else, something we put in their minds.”
“Yeah. Use Holo if you can, so he can project things. That way, we don’t risk losing actual rebels.” The straps of the packs on my shoulders are growing more painful than my headache, but I won’t complain.I won’t.
I have all my body parts. I haven’t been used as a practice mate by officers or starved and tortured for information.
My feet ache inside my boots as we walk over the uneven ground, but at least I have shoes. The women that walk ahead of us have scraps of fabric wrapped over their feet and, on rare occasions, some form of armor plating strapped to their soles.
I am lucky to be in just this amount of pain. They have to be in far more.
Poppy continues, but I’ve lost interest in the topic as I study the worn clothes and hunkered postures of the weary women.
“They might have a few factories left in operation on Earth Minor,” Shifter replies to her. “But there’s still only so much that can be manufactured at any given time.”
“I’m sure they’re going to think they have plenty of weapons,” I offer. “So if we can make them impulsive with their use, we can render their supplies limited rather quickly.”
“They’ll just push the producers for more, faster,” Shifter counters.
“There’s still a maximum output,” Poppy replies.
Shifter keeps pace two steps from us. “And time to get the supplies here. I’m just saying, you know humans and droids are going to die if they’re pushed too hard in the factories.”
“We have to be fast,” I say. “It has to be executed all at once so there’s no time or reason for reinforcements. All of our ships have to sneak out and attack together. We hit them hard and run while they get their shit together. We have to take what we want while they’re distracted, then vanish before they see where we went.”
“But what could possibly distract them from us?” Menace asks. He’s suddenly right behind Poppy and me. I didn’t hear him approach, even though I usually sense where he and every Titan are. It’s a trick even my friends Aniah and Celeste don’t know about. Only Poppy knows.
Something about Menace makes my heart race. I don’t know if I should expect an attack from him or if I should turn and run. I don’t like the vulnerability I feel around him, especially not with my growing headache.
“Solcrue are still descended from us, like your kind. What do you care about most?” I ask him, hoping he’ll provide some insight into why my vision lights up so strongly when he’s around and why my body reacts the way it does, like every inch of me is on fire.
Menace glares at me but says nothing.
“Primal urges,” Shifter remarks.
“Of course, you’d say that,” Poppy whispers condescendingly. “Let me guess: mating, power, and preservation of their species.”
I nod. “Yes, but you’re missing one. Their beliefs. They will do anything to protect their way of life. Anything that challenges them is viewed as a threat to them all, even if it isn’t a threat but a chance to grow before they’re ready.
“Fuck with their heads. That’s how you wreck an empire without getting physical.”
