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Chapter 9

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RE:STRIFE

Ava fell to her knees. She held the bo-staff above her. Her arms were shaking. Royce did not grin at his victory over her. He began, "This situation brings me no joy, Ava. You've steered down a wrong path, you've made mistakes that are irreparable."

She spat, "Cromer II wasn't my fault and you know it!"

"It's not just about that planet!" Royce hissed. "It's about everything you've done in lieu of your master!"

"Oy, I didn't choose this life!"

He shifted his head back and forth, shut off his plasma sword. "No. Maybe you didn't. But one under his tutelage should have known better about responsibility. You're still just a child, Avalacia. Just as you were when you arrived here."

His pistol came up, aimed down at her head. His vision flashed, flickered between the adult Avalacia, proprietor of many a crime... and the child, the young girl who had come unexpectedly from another server.

PSHW!

A gunshot crackled through the air. His hand stung, launched the gun from his hand. It hadn't been his shot.

Rié quickly grabbed Ava's hand and pulled her to her feet. They sprinted away. The space captain only got one glance at the woman who emerged from the smoky debris of the village beside them. The woman she immediately recognized as the Paladin's own Palindrome.

"OY!"

Royce lumbered over to his pistol, leant over and picked it up.

"I'm talking to you!" Seiko shouted again. She put her hands on her hips, dangled her pistol loosely by her side. "I'm—"

PSHW!

Another crack of a plasgun firing. Her eyes widened. A shot had ripped right through her stomach.

<2.0x DAMAGE>

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Her hud was flashing. She raised a bloody glove to her eyes — the glove flickered away to her bare skin. A mirage. A vision of the last time she'd died. Now the lights were fading again. It had only taken one shot from Paladin Royce to end her, to lay her low.

She fell to her knees. The old paladin was approaching.

"Palindrome. I didn't quite expect it to play out this way. You'll have to forgive me for what we've done to this village."

He placed his huge hands over her body, began to lift her from the dirt.

"Mistakes happen, you know."

"Not... for me." she muttered.

"Hmm? Still holding on? You might just save us a [Phoenix Charm]. Our lucky day."

"I'm not... going with you." Seiko whispered. She leaned in, planted a gentle kiss on Royce's bony cheek.

"Hmm?" he hummed. And then: "HMM!?"

The loud roar of a ship crackled, tore through his eardrums, ripped through the rubble and ground around him, slammed both of them down to the ground with a deafening crunch of bones and bodies and flesh.

The door on the side of that landing shuttle hissed open, Avalacia jumped out, her confidence restored. "Seiko!"

But Seiko did not respond. She could only see the text:

(4.29m Remaining)

It would take a rare item to bring her back. A rare item that few in the galaxy had ever managed to—

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" Seiko screamed out a horrible scream, her bones all crackled back into place. In only the blink of an eye, her HP had restored to 100, her body had completely healed. It was great, and horrible, and extremely painful.

Avalacia grabbed her hand, yanked her up to her feet. "Come on, let's go. It won't take long before Royce gets back up."

Seiko looked at the crushed Paladin, his arm still twitching from beneath the ship's hull. "Shouldn't we... finish him off?"

"No. They'll be on him, soon. If we kill him off, we're picking up a bounty greater than any we could ever outrun."

"As if we're not already in deep shit!" shouted Zark, hanging out the doorway.

"Oh, shut up!" Ava spat back, stomping petulantly. She turned back to Seiko with a curious look. "You coming?"

"Yeah." Seiko said. "Yeah, I suppose I will."

"Good. Because your friend has already decided to come with us, too. We can use all the help we can get if we're up against the full force of all the Paladins, Palindrome."

"I'm not..." she began, but stopped short. Her face became more confident. "Okay. Yeah, let's do this. Against the full weight of the Paladins..."

[Void Raiders]

[ O / X ]

Seiko pressed a finger to the glowing circle before herself with a bright smile. Then their hands locked together.

"Welcome, Palindrome — Seiko. To the Void Raiders."