As they reached the top of the spire that loomed twenty-five feet into the sky, Zarfa pulled out a box about the size of a coffin from underneath a shelf. He cracked it open and revealed an MK-341 Gauss assault rifle complete with a military grade sniper scope.
“
No movement,
”
he commed over to Zajifa.
“
Noted,
”
he heard back in his ear.
*
*
*
*
Ghast was terrified as he realized his men were dropping to the ground dead like poisoned flies around him. Zarfa could see it on his face from his scope. It started so quickly he barely had time to respond. He didn
’
t hear a single shot fired, only the bell that was ringing to signal the attack. All according to plan
As his men were thinned out by the sniper fire, they tried running and taking cover. Those that made it to the alleyways or behind cover were cut down by the melee support troops. In less than two minutes, the perfectly executed ambush had killed his entire raiding party of thirty-eight.
Ghast stood by himself with a plasma katana in his hand. He was still taking a defensive stance as members of Legion Nine surrounded him. The bell stopped ringing and there was dead silence in the night
’
s air.
“
I
’
ll kill anyone who gets too close!
”
he shouted, trying to act tough still.
“
As if a support sniper couldn
’
t drop one between your eyes at any given moment?
”
Zajifa asked, stepping out in front of him.
“
So then why hasn
’
t it?
”
“
Don
’
t worry.
”
The timing was immaculate as the shot rang out. The bullet flew from Zarfa
’
s gun into Ghast
’
s right arm. Ghast dropped the plasm
a sword and screamed in tempestuous
agony. A second shot fired and hit his left knee. Blood sprayed onto the sand as he fell to the ground crying like newborn.
“
Being the victim isn
’
t any fun, is it?
”
Zajifa questioned as he stood next to the writhing Ghast.
“
What do you want? If you
’
re going to kill me, do it already!
”
“
And spoil the fun?
”
“
You
’
re sick.
”
“
Understood,
”
Zajifa said, clearly not responding to Ghast but rather some command that came over his com
-
link.
Zajifa began kicking Ghast in the ribs with all the strength he could muster. With each kick, Ghast rolled over more and more. Zajifa could hear the ribs cracking and finally, when he had rolled Ghast over one complete revolution, he stepped back.
“
Proceed,
”
he said as another shot rang out.
This shot aimed true for Ghast
’
s left arm. It struck exactly where the humerus attached to the radius and ulna and blew his arm apart from the elbow. His forearm and hand lay next to his face and Ghast continued to scream and whimper.
“
Understood,
”
Zajifa said as he raised his hand into the air, forming a signal with his index and ring fingers.
A member from the crowd threw Zajifa a can of medifoam and he caught it. Zajifa stepped back over to Ghast, who was screaming every form of obscenity but not saying any real words. Zajifa sprayed the foam into each of the gunshots on Ghast
’
s body then eventually on his severed arm.
He had lost a lot of blood and was beginning to lose consciousness as Zajifa knelt next to his face and greeted him with a big smile. He slowly stroked his hand across Ghast
’
s face in a gentle manner.
“
There, there, little guy. You aren
’
t going to die…yet,
”
he said as he drew back his hand and slapped Ghast as hard as he could.
“
You
’
re going to die later. As for you calling us sick… Think of those experiments you
’
ve been helping with and you still dare call us the sick ones?
”
“
I thought you were brave, fearless defenders? I thought you were above this
.
”
“
Oh, we are brave and fearless and it is our duty to defend, but part of that is making an example. Raising morale, building an army off of a victory… I hope you understand this has a purpose,
”
Zajifa said as he struck Ghast in the jaw with his fist hard enough to knock him out.
*
*
*
*
When Ghast awoke, it was daybreak. He had been tied to an obelisk that typically served as a grave marker in the middle of the city. He couldn
’
t break free even if he had his full strength. His missing arm saw to it that he couldn
’
t untie his bonds. He didn
’
t say a word as he stared Zarfa in the face.
Zarfa had been waiting for hours for him to rouse. He and about thirty thousand who came to see him executed in public. The crowd stood behind Zarfa all chanting,
“
Kill him! Kill the leader of Faraza. Kill the one who took our loved ones.
”
Zarfa realized that he was nothing more than a puppet in his father
’
s scheme, but that was a secret he could keep between himself and Sarah for the time being. Zarfa approached Ghast and stared at him silently for several minutes until the crowd finally grew silent and still.
“
You
’
ve caused us a great deal of heartache, you know?
”
Zarfa asked calmly.
“
And? So?
”
“
So I feel sorry for you.
”
“
You feel sorry for me?
”
Ghast scoffed.
“
Yes, you. I feel sorry for whatever it was that made you the way that you are. I feel sorry that you had no issue leading bands of raiders to rape, pillage, steal, murder, kidnap, and all sorts of other grotesque crimes, all in the sake of making those pathetic mutants that I slaughtered like mere defenseless sheep. I feel sorry that you placed hope in a false one. I feel sorry that you angered me. I feel sorry that you were ever born. I feel sorry…that we never had the opportunity to be friends. You know that I don
’
t enjoy killing at all? I
’
m just damn good at it. I wish we could all get along.
Someday
, I hope that is possible, yet over seven thousand years of human history seems to be against us. There are only two strongholds left in human society
,
and in both of them lies an organization seeking to conquer what is left of this pathetic planet. I
’
m going to do my part in destroying them and I hope that something finally changes.
“
I hope that the countries that have nothing, no technology to synthesize food
or no means to grow it
because we raped the earth too hard
for it to
grow, are healed and given the technology to sustain themselves. I hope that we work together to heal the earth. And I wish that instead of this being your demise, you were there to see it.
”
“
How touching, you weak, idealistic, hypocrite. You talk about how we are so different? We are the same. Why do you think Faraza did what it did? Why do you think we want to conquer what is left of this earth?
”
“
It really is a valiant attempt in such a bleak circumstance to try to get me to see things your way. To convince me that you too thought you were being noble. Yet I fail to see the nobility in any of it and I assure you that you are wasting your breath in doing so. You k
now what I pity you for the most
though?
”
“
I don
’
t care. My only wish is that I could live long enough to see your own father slit your throat, asshole.
”
“
I pity you most for the fact that the ones you afflicted will be your final executioners,
”
Zarfa said as he stepped away and disappeared into the crowd behind him.
The crowd rushed forward the second Zarfa stepped away. Nobody knew how long it took for Ghast to be killed by the ones he had s
tolen from and caused
tragedy
to
. All that anybody knew was that his body didn
’
t exist when they were done. They tore him into literal shreds with their bare hands and not a single one felt anything but justified.
Alliance
“
Zarfa called again. Seems that he sees things our way now,
”
Crimson said as she sat at a terminal near Max in the lab.
“
Oh really?
”
“
Really,
”
she said, sounding a bit annoyed.
Two weeks had passed since Zarfa had left Alexarien. Two weeks ago, Crimson labeled him as a low priority enemy that she was willing to sacrifice with her plague of nanobots. Max had insisted on figuring out a way to save Zarfa and she easily dismissed him saying that there was no chance Zarfa would see the light. Now, he had.
“
So it is probably a good thing that I was working on the development of an antibody bot to prevent Zarfa from being killed along with the rest of the Synaptix Psyker Scream army, huh?
”
Max questioned smugly.
“
Yeah, good thing. Look, do you always have to rub it in when you
’
re right?
”
“
You
’
d do the same thing.
”
Stifled, Crimson let out a sigh.
“
You know me all too well.
”
“
Well, I will have you know, the good news is that it is easier than we had thought. In another two days, the machines in the lab will begin mass production of the flying anti-Psyker bots. In one day, I will have an ampoule of the antibodies ready. We just need a way to deliver it to Zarfa. I
’
m not going to mass produce it… There is no need to.
”
“
Good, he also decided to go ahead with the Psyker treatments. He doesn
’
t want to lose his hearing and he believes we should be able to take down Synaptix within the next two months… Before they will be able to control him on the frequency.
”
“
What gave him that idea?
”
“
I did.
”
Max, shocked, dropped what he was doing and glared up at Crimson. She had to know what he was thinking by now.
“
What?
”
She questioned him like he was a little boy begging his mother for something.
“
Two months? Really?
”
“
Maybe sooner. Look, Max, you
’
ve already proven one thing, that you work very fast. You are beyond intelligent; almost nothing is out of your reach. Look at how fast you made these bots for us. All you have left to do is make the bot that will let me be unharmed by massive amounts of electricity. If you can do that, great; if not, we will do our best without it.
“
The government is taking notice of our actions and Synaptix has been stewing about the blow we struck against them. Not to mention the blow Zarfa struck to them. They
’
re angry and it is only a matter of time before they strike. We need to be the first to move
this time
.
“
Three days from now, Zarfa is going to lead what he thinks will be the final assault against Faraza. They are crippled. He killed their main leader, Ghast, and Polyhelix has no immediate backup to send except for Zarfa
’
s father.
”
“
Zarfa
’
s what?
”
Max exclaimed.
“
Yeah, some other news… His sister is back and informed them that their father was the true founder of Faraza. Also, he sits at the head of Polyhelix. He could come and lead Faraza to a potential victory, but it is too risky. It is almost certain that he will remain in Alexarien at the Polyhelix headquarters. To send him to Ilyeion to fight along with the cultish army of theirs would be a poor strategy. Zarfa promised if I lent him a hand, he would march Legion Nine to Alexarien where we will crush Polyhelix and Synaptix together. I agreed. In three days from now, I will be taking a huge risk with potential collateral damages to Legion Nine. Zarfa understood and agreed he still wanted what I could offer.