I did not approve of Ashton’s indolence, and certainly had no expectation to partake in it, yet when faced with the harsh reality of his reasoning, I could do nothing but relent.

What else would I prefer to do?

Such a simple question but a devastating one.

Because I had scheduled today around spending the entire day with Ashton. My offer to delay our conflict was not an unreasonable or totally unexpected one…but it meant I was now spending hours to fly out here on a social visit.

I trundled behind Ashton and the girl as they walked, talking and laughing, my eyes unfocused on the ground, the info callouts from my visor identifying each footprint they left behind.

I had allowed myself such a visit once before because Ashton was in recuperation, and visiting people while they recovered was a valuable tradition and social norm. Certainly, I cared little if someone were to stand outside of my regenerator while I used it, but I could imagine the appeal.

And yet now this was twice, and twice was a pattern, and patterns of behavior needed to be analyzed before they became a habit. This was something of which I was very particular.

So…this habit. Was it good or deleterious?

On one hand, I enjoyed Ashton’s company immensely. I found myself relaxed in his presence, having already decided that he was a person of good moral character and would not seek me harm or act against my interests knowingly. This put me at ease, and in turn, allowed me to enjoy other aspects of his character–such as his strength and never-ceasing witticisms–without the additional baggage of assessing threats or weaknesses.

It was a bit like being back with my squad on-base. Out of boredom and shared circumstance, we formed deep and honest bonds, certainly stronger than those I had with my tutors, family, or the socialites with whom my family frequently mingled.

On the other hand…it reminded me too much of my squad. I was not certain that allowing myself to become close to another was wise. Especially one so prone to sudden death as an Exhuman.

My heart wrenched slightly as I turned over that thought, though whether it was at the thought of Ashton’s death, or touching upon unpleasant memories, I was surprisingly unsure.

But on the other other hand, a life of shallow indulgence and idleness was not one I could abide. Though it was true I enjoyed my time with the Exhuman, I did not enjoy what it did to my life. I had rejected my family’s prestigious calling on the account of wishing to effect change on the world. What change did I make by loitering in this tranquil, serene paradise?

I could argue that I was keeping Ashton and his cohorts on the level, or they would be destroyed at my hand, but that was a weak deception, even in my eyes.

“–down Karu?”

“What?” I asked. Ashton was talking to me and I was caught unaware. How very embarrassing.

“Asked if you wanted to sit down. You doing okay? You haven’t said a word.”

We were at the edge of a lake where once Ashton and I had battled. It occurred to me only now that he had been out here fishing at the time I had challenged him, fishing for his own sustenance. I had been unacceptably rude in my earliest days of interacting with him.

I realized they were still staring at me and I hadn’t replied.

“Yes. Right,” I said, sitting down cross-legged where I stood in the snow, a good ten feet from where Ashton and his cohort were perched on rocks by the riverbank. He shot me a concerned look but did not inquire further.

It would have been better to process this at home at my leisure. Here, I stood only to gain further embarrassment. I found myself standing again.

“Thank you for your time, Ashton. I must be heading home for…very much important work.”

“Are you sure you’re okay Karu?” Ashton asked as he advanced on me. I took half an involuntary step back, but discovered I should have retreated further when he gently lifted my visor and placed a hand across my forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever…but you’re totally out of it today.”

His hand was warm and rough. My breath caught in my throat once.

“I-I assure you, there is nothing amiss. I merely have…important obligations…elsewhere.”

I was lying. I would go home and lay in bed bemoaning the waste of a day. Or perhaps press myself through the gym in repentance until I could do nothing but lay in bed bemoaning the waste of a day.

Ashton merely frowned thoughtfully, but his sister stepped forward. “I’m sorry, Karu. I’ve been hogging my big bro this whole time, and you flew all the way out here. I’ll head back home and you guys can hang out.” She began to walk off, and something made me stop and catch her wrist.

“I…no. It is not you.” I let her go uncomfortably. “Lies do not befit me. I apologize for my deception, and will pray for forgiveness of this sin. I merely came here expecting combat and found…this happy family. It is not what I anticipated.”

“Isn’t this better though?” Ashton asked. I could not stand to agree, but could not find any metrics by which it could be considered worse.

I stood still with my arms crossed as I considered how to respond.

Stood still too long.

A noise signaled in my visor’s earpiece to which I had been conditioned to react, not to think. Instantly, I was on the ground, and in my arms, the two Ashtons.

“Karu, wh–“

“Be silent,” I ordered. To their credit, both did so without question. I released the girl and tapped a button on my visor, bringing up the telemetry data currently being processed by my visor. In moments, it would have a solution, yet I did not know if we had those moments. I had to move now.

Reacting almost as much to my thoughts as my actions, my jetpack sprung to life and launched me into the sky. I kept moving, but not at any real speed, enough to be a difficult target, but not enough to pull any processing power away from the firing solution I needed.

A shot rang out, seeming to fill the whole sky with its sound. The blast echoed across the clearing and bounced off the trees and echoed back, putting us in a bowl filled with sound. I was already in a dive and felt the shockwave of the projectile pulse through me.

“KARU!” Ashton yelled, sprinting to catch my body. Useless and deluded though he may be, his good spirit was beyond reproach. I snapped into a controlled descent and gave him an ‘okay’ gesture, before disappearing into speeds I knew he could not track.

The jetpack did not fly at inhuman speeds, though it was very fast. Rather, it was almost impossibly maneuverable, with sixteen autonomous articulated arms which could each provide all or none of the pack’s thrust at any given time. It–and I–were versed in human psychology, and knew how best to move to throw off human perception and appear constantly in unexpected places and seemingly disappear while doing straightforward maneuvers.

How good an airborne soldier was relied almost entirely on two things: The ability to endure extreme g-forces, and the ability to be entirely methodical in one’s unpredictability. And I was a very, very good airborne.

The targeting solution would have to wait; when one shot could end the fight, I couldn’t take any more chances. I moved rapidly through the sky, spinning and scanning the treeline for any sign of the attacker, not that they would be visible, a weapon of that caliber could be miles away from here and still lethal and pinpoint accurate. I would have to bait out another shot to pull more telemetry data in order to triangulate the shot’s origin.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

It was risky, but holding still to bait the shot would be my only option. If I remained too evasive, the shooter may turn towards the Ashtons as means of distracting or incapacitating me, and that was not permissible. They should have to go through me first, and always.

With a series of taps on my wrist computer and a few spoken words, I brought up the time to fire on his or her previous shot. From the time I had begun moving slowly until the shot had been fired was…2.01 seconds. Slow. Or maybe just patient? I would have to anticipate the next shot coming sooner than that, but could use it as a baseline.

By the time I heard the shot, it would be too late, and my gear only registered the first time because he had used a subsonic viewfinder to determine my exact distance. This time I would have to dive on pure instinct.

Or…wait, what was that?

There was something red and obvious just behind the treeline before me. It could not possibly be the shooter. No shooter in the world could be so incompetent as this. My stomach turned, but not from the g-forces as I darted closer. A trailer, red, white, and black.

I was wrong, there could be so incompetent a shooter. Luminary.

At my approach he broke through the treeline in full exosuit, painted in his hideous trademark colors, and adorned with his hideous trademarks.

“Karu!” he yelled from behind the suit’s blank mask, the voice synthesized to make his angry new york accent even angrier. “Do you have any idea what the Association did to me because of you?”

“I presume nothing, because what they did, they did for your shortcomings, not through any action of my own.”

“Wrong, bitch. You ratted me out, you told them about my little information break-in and rendezvous with the XPCA guy. You have any idea what that cost me?”

“I would assume 120 million credits, minimum fine, plus probation and additional disciplinary measures as determined by the association authority. Because that is what it states in the employee contract.”

“You read that shit?”

“Was there any other reason for them to provide us with it?”

“I honestly can’t believe you. So I got a little proposition for you. See, Luminary, he’s a smart guy. I knew if I waited out here, you’d come by sooner or later. I know you’ve been seeing this Exhuman and not filing reports. Very unlike you, by the way.”

“If I did not intend to claim the Exhuman’s bounty, then I have no reason to report.”

“And see, there’s the problem. If you’re coming out here on personal business, then you’re not here on behalf of the association, making you a…what’s the term Wilfried?” He paused and presumably listened to his comms. “Yeah, a private citizen. And I’m sure you know what the terms of our boy’s exile was, yeah?”

I felt myself go red. Not only had I unwittingly violated federal law and XPCA mandate, I had also been outsmarted by possibly the stupidest man alive.

“So, you turned me in and I had to pay 150 million C’s. Now what happens if I turn you in for violating the terms of this kid’s exile? Got that one memoried, missy?”

I turned to look behind me and saw Athan sprinting to catch up. Not what I needed right now. I signaled for him to move to cover, but of course he didn’t know military visual signalling, so I instead shooed him. He kept coming, stubborn man he was.

“A term of imprisonment for not less than ten years and a fine not less than ten-thousand credits, in addition to ineligibility for any office or position of trust or service, including that of a professional hunter. Or death.”

“Smart. So you see where you stand with me then. Now obviously, I’ll be wanting my 15 mil back, but on top of t–“

“I refuse.”

“–op of, what?”

“I said I refuse. If I have committed treasonous actions, I will pay for them. I will be no party in blackmail.”

“You would seriously give up your job, sully your little daddy’s entire political dream, and maybe even face death, rather than give up a few million? You’re swimming in credits. What’s it to you?”

“I am a virtuous being. I refuse.”

“Well then maybe this will motivate you. Wilfried!”

Luminary stepped forward from the bushes as he called out, in his arms was a launcher, capable of firing any variety of missiles at me. He would find my missile countermeasures a difficult barrier to penetrate, but given his resources, I did not dare take this fight lightly. I began to move, blurring the lines between unpredictable and invisible.

A shot rang out. Boomed out. Exploded out, echoing across the field as before. My telemetry sensors were silent. Was I hit? Was I dying and did not know it? I hesitated a moment to verify my vitals were in order. Readings were green. Had the shot missed by such a margin that my suit hadn’t even picked it up?

It took me a moment to realize, no, the shot had hit. Athan lay on the ground under me, blood only now seeping from wounds across his body. His lightning shield was incapable of fully eradicating such a large projectile in such a short amount of space, and had merely blasted it into shrapnel. It was a strategy I had considered to defeat him, but weapons of that caliber did not function well or accurately while in flight.

I pushed the image of Athan’s still body from my mind. I had to fight, whether to save or avenge him, I knew not. But save or avenge him I would.

The shot had not come from Luminary, who used my moment of hesitation to fire a string of missiles at me, before using his exosuit’s speed to roar into the open. That meant that Wilfried was waiting in the distance somewhere with the rifle, ready to open fire again should I present a target.

I would not present a target. This man and his servant would pay for what they had done.

Moving faster than even I knew I could, I wove between the missiles as though they were standing still. Diverting energy for a moment, I unloaded a barrage of fragmentation grenades, saturating the area around Luminary.

I was at another disadvantage here. I had a loadout designed to combat Athan, I was not expecting to combat a hard target like an exosuit, and had not the weight capacity to always haul every weapon in my armory. I was also light on lasers and guns…and especially missiles, as those weapons were ineffective against the Exhuman, but would have proven invaluable here.

I gritted my teeth, seeing only a glimpse of Athan’s prone form, now seeped fully red as I streaked over Luminary. I would make do. He and his servant would pay.

I went through my list of onboard weapons as I rose in altitude and prepared for another dive, and then scanned the list on an info-callout to confirm. I had nothing suitable.

I did however have things nearly suitable.

My next strafing run, I unloaded dozens of grenades all around Luminary, setting their detonation timers to the maximum of ten seconds. Luminary braced, and then looked around, clearly confused. Had they been anti-armor, he would have then died, looking foolish.

“Smoke? Really?” he laughed. It was what I had on hand.

At full speed, I slammed into him from the rear. I had not wasted the seconds his mockery had given me. Every bone from my wrist to my elbows were now shattered, but through the front of his torso, my two arm-blades prominently protruded from his chest, his favorite colors of white and red.

“Smoke, really,” I whispered as he began to realize what had occurred. Pointlessly, he grasped at the withdrawing blades, his hands trembling. The suit began to hiss as it deployed emergency medical gel and structure foam to reduce bleeding and cover the hole. I kicked him in the back with my remaining strength to free my arms and fell backward, hoping to hold a few more seconds of adrenaline before the pain set in.

As I lay there helpless, it would be the final moment in this conflict. Either I would be laying such that Wilfried and his rifle had a shot, or they did not. My fate depended wholly on this and nothing else. For tense seconds, I did nothing but breathe and prepare to make peace with God.

The shot never came. Wilfried had no shot, and would instead be coming to his master’s aid. I braced myself against the pain and used my elbows to roll to my knees, my shattered arms screaming in agony as I moved. Black spots swam in my eyes from the pain but I willed myself onward. Staggering towards the exosuit, I pulled an explosive from my chest bandolier using my teeth, grateful for my breasts finally serving a purpose in a fight, and dropped it on the ground next to the prone Luminary.

I used my eyes and neural link to configure the mine’s settings and then deftly, I kicked the pin out of the mine. With effort, leaned on the Exosuit’s hip enough to roll him onto the mine’s pressure plate.

I had no doubt that Luminary was passed out inside the suit. The one who moved him would be Wilfried, ensuring that both of them were in the blast radius when the pressure plate was released. It was an underhanded tactic, but I had to do as much as I could before consciousness fled me.

I staggered towards Ashton…towards Athan. His sister was already there, applying bandages all across his body but unsure of how else to proceed. He was already unconscious which was a bad sign, but still alive.

“Girl…my…front right…on my belt.” I said, my hands dangling useless at my sides. She jumped forward and began fishing through my pockets. “That spray, medical gel. On his wounds. Hurry.”

She pointed the canister at him and depressed the trigger. Thin white foam squirted out of the nozzle and coated Athan’s body wherever she directed it, acting as a second skin and disinfectant, stopping the bleeding. He would still need emergency care to remove the shrapnel or it would tear him apart from inside with every movement.

“Take…take off my armor.”

“What?”

“Do it, or…he will die.”

Again, she didn’t ask more questions, just helped me remove all of my equipment except my visor and jetpack.

“Now…in the rescue pack. Spare…harness.”

My vision was going from black to white and I found myself almost falling over at times. I set my jetpack to help me stay upright.

“What do I do with it?” she asked, calm, despite the tears in her eyes.

“Put it on…him, and him on me. We need…medical…”

“AEGIS has a hospital set up.”

“She won’t…save him from this. Too many wounds. Strap him tight.”

It was difficult for her to get him upright on me, but I couldn’t bend down without blacking out, and he couldn’t do anything at all. Eventually she got him leaning against me, my jetpack providing thrust to keep me upright, and secured him to me tightly.

“If we evade cap…ture,” I paused, my head swimming. “Will be…a week, perhaps.”

“Good luck, Karu. Take care of him.”

“Do not…” I had something important to say. I double-checked, and the autopilot was good to take us to a clinic when directed…or if I lost consciousness. “…not…”

I seemed to blink forward a second in time, and the pack was engaging. “Do not go near Luminary!” I shouted as the pack ascended with us in tow. Lia nodded, holding herself and finally letting her tears flow.

I saw nothing more, as the shock of the pack kicking us into motion jarred my arms a final time and the pain put me out of this world.