“
Faith. Exercise it more in me, please. You said yourself Badger is in your head. You think I am going to tell you? Hell no. Have a little faith, Zarfa. We have this handled. Just keep him from killing your friend.
”
“
Okay, Crimson…thanks. I am off to see my betrayer. I am trusting you.
”
As soon as the com-link went down between them, she contacted Max.
“
I
’
m kind of in the middle of something,
”
he managed to grunt out, sounding like he was in severe pain.
“
Max, this is serious. We need your bots. Now!
”
“
What, why?
”
“
Because Synaptix sent an ambush for Legion Nine…the Psyker Scream army. We need to get your bots there and now!
”
“
But how? It
’
s thousands of miles away!
”
He screamed in what Crimson could only describe as excitement and agony.
“
I
’
ve got a plan, but I need you to come activate them, asshole!
”
“
I
’
ll be there in…
”
She heard him conversing with Luther.
“
An hour.
”
“
Max! You are already late getting back here! That will leave us with only seven hours before Legion Nine will be out there risking their ass for my plan!
”
“
It
’
s the best I can do, Crimson… It
’
s the best I can do.
”
Max sounded defeated, like he had failed her entirely.
“
Max. Whatever you are doing, it better be worth the lives of those who may die if you are too late.
”
“
I think it is… I really do think that it is. For once I feel like I can make a big change
,
and if I were to die—
”
“
You aren
’
t going to! There aren
’
t even troops to attack in Alexarien right now. Both Polyhelix and Synaptix are showing to the grounds of Ilyeion. They must have formed an alliance when they saw the threat. Stop worrying about dying!
”
“
I
’
ll be there in an hour,
”
he said, and disconnected.
Damn it, Max, we need you here! I need you here.
Crimson
’
s thoughts and feelings were raging like a storm within her.
* * * *
Zajifa was being held in one of the tents on the edge of Badger
’
s camp. He knew that Badger would be by at any time to interrogate him for
information
. He could tell by the eyes of tho
se guarding him that they had no thoughts of their own.
He wriggled in the chair they had tied him to
,
trying to reach his hands up his shirt. The drones may have noticed the commotion if they could still think for themselves, but they couldn
’
t
,
and so they didn
’
t. Finally
,
Zajifa got his hand to the handle of a small plasma blade that he always kept strapped on to his back.
The chains that bound his hands dug into
his wrists and caused him
pain as he tried to grasp on to the handle of his weapon. After a few minutes of struggling
,
though
,
he was able to free it from its sheath and the filament of the plasma dagger was now resting between his hands on the chain that kept him bound.
Zajifa braced himself for the worst as he flipped the switch on. The blade powered up and a loud crackling noise began to
emanate
from his location as the energy disintegrated the chain that held him. He had hoped for it t
o
cut through quicker than it did. The four drones had turned to see what was going on and he still wasn
’
t through his fetters entirely.
One of the drones stood right in
front of him, its eyes were glassy and empty.
Can Badger see me through his drone
’
s eyes?
The crackling noise and the billow of toxic fumes filled the tent. The drone grabbed hold of Zajifa
’
s face and pushed him backwards in the chair.
As the chair tilted back, the blade finished cutting through the chains and his hands were freed.
Lucky I didn
’
t burn myself,
he thought as he toppled backward, rolling to a crouched position.
The dagger was lying on the ground burning the sand that it rest
ed
on, midway between himself and the drone that had just pushed him over. Zajifa sprang into action before the drone could receive a command to respond. He grabbed the blade by its handle and lunged at the drone, driving it into the man
’
s chest.
As the d
r
one fell to the ground limp, dead, the other three sprang into action.
Apparently
,
that registered with Badger.
The three were swinging plasma k
atanas at him
.
H
e had only his dagger for defense.
Two quick slashes c
a
me from different directions toward his chest
;
he quickly deflected and rolled to the feet of one of the drones that
were
on the offense. Quickly
,
he swiped across the man
’
s knees and he came toppling down to the ground. As Zajifa stood
,
he made another strike at this drone
’
s arm, removing it clean.
Pulling the katana from the severed arm
,
he swung at the other drone
’
s neck
that
had just backed its partner in the assault against him. The drone
’
s head rolled from off his neck and Zajifa quickly sheathed his dagger behind his back once more
, but continued the fight with the katana he has acquired
.
The final drone came at him swinging its sword wildly like a beserker. Its blows appeared to be untrained and wild. Zajifa deflected three powerful attacks before countering with a riposite. Zajifa
’
s counter struck the drone in the chest
. A
large puff of smoke burst forth as he dropped to the ground. If he wasn
’
t dead
,
he was close. Zajifa quickly picked up that katana and ran out of the tent.
The camp was in chaos as the drones responded to Badger
’
s mental commands. Some were close by and responding quickly to the command to capture Zajifa. Zajifa knew there was no way he could make a stand against the whole camp
,
though
,
and ran in the direction of least resistance.
Several shots were fired at him, they all missed. He barreled his way out of the camp
,
avoiding as much potential conflict as possible. Most of the drones were too slow to even catch up with him. A few managed to get in his way and he quickly cut them down and continued to flee.
Finally
,
he was out of the camp and back into the unrelenting sands of the desert. He just kept running until he couldn
’
t any more. By the time he stopped to see if he was still being chased
,
he could barely see the camp. A few drones were still pursuing
,
but he had created a large gap between them. He breathed deep and continued to run toward Ilyeion.
*
*
*
*
Zarfa
’
s blood was boiling as he grabbed Sofronio by the thumbs and bent them back until they snapped. He then proceeded to grab him by his right ear and avulse it using his great strength.
Zarfa had called Sarah on his way over to Sofronio
’
s apartment. He told her that he was okay and everything was fine. He told her he had some business to attend to before he came home.
She sounded worried. He assured her she shouldn
’
t be. Badger probed into Zarfa
’
s mind and told him he should be. Zarfa had to take the second
and third
round
s
of Psyker bots to keep from going deaf, but his mental link with Badger was now stronger and they could speak crystal clear.
Zarfa didn
’
t need to worry about being contr
olled. It wasn
’
t until the fourth
round of treatments that he would be at that level. It was still an annoyance, however, trying to keep his thoughts from Badger. He had to fill his mind with nonsense to block him out and he had to listen to his commentary as events unfolded that Badger was aware of.
“
You are so cruel.
”
His probing voice invaded Zarfa
’
s head.
Zarfa snapped Sofronio
’
s right humerus and tossed him to the floor. Blood was pouring down the side of his head as he screamed and looked at Zarfa in fear. Sofronio was much larger than Zarfa, but had never been augmented in any way. Zarfa
’
s strength outmatched his greatly.
“
Why do you think I betrayed you and Legion Nine?
”
“
You don
’
t
easily
mistake ten
thousand for thirty
!
”
“
So that makes me a liar?
”
“
Of course he
’
s a liar. He had us kill his team when we caught him and planned to betray you to save himself. What I didn
’
t tell him is that Synaptix doesn
’
t take kindly to traitors,
”
Badger
’
s voice raged in Zarfa
’
s head.
“
That and Badger confirmed it,
”
Zarfa spat out, grabbing Sofronio by the back of his neck and lifting him back to his feet.
“
I wouldn
’
t dare. He
’
s lying!
”
Sofronio shouted in agony.
“
A liar to the end. Do it for me
,
Zarfa, kill him. He isn
’
t worth my time to hunt him down myself. Plus
,
he
’
s served his purpose.
”
“
It isn
’
t a risk I am willing to take,
”
Zarfa said, breaking his other arm.
Sofronio screamed and fell to the ground. He had a true look of fear on his face. Zarfa stood over him as he writhed in pain.
“
I just want to know why? Jealousy?
”
“
Zarfa, Badger is lying!
”
“
Where are your other team mates? You took ten with you, right? Where are they?
”
Sofronio was silent.
“
Right, underlings without families that nobody would recall missing. I did my homework on the way over.
When Badger first told me
,
I figured he was just trying to cause dissent in the ranks. That is why I gave you the benefit of doubt and dug up from facts before I came here, but they all just confirm what Badger is telling me.
I know you betrayed me; this is my justice. Call it what you will. Maybe it
’
s petty vengeance, but your actions may have killed thousands. If it were possible, I would kill you over and over again in the worst ways possible. But there is neither the means nor the time for that fantasy, so here it is.
”
H
e
grabb
ed
Sofronio by the front of his shirt and lifted him up
.
His arms dangled by his sides, unable to move. Zarfa spit in his face and said,
“
At the very least, I give you the honor of dying on your feet facing me, you filthy coward of a backstabber.
”