Chapter 54

Search and Rescue

“Hand in there, Cara!” Crush grimaced as he felt something tear inside his guts. Power armor could do a lot, but gut-shot was gut-shot. Carrying a half-dead friend over your shoulder at the same time was simply not advisable in his current condition.

Crush put his head down and ran faster before blood loss could finish him off.

“Stop!” Cara yelled. “Please, I-I can’t,” She sobbed.

“Shut up, Cara,” Crush said cheerfully. “You don’t have my permission to die, got that?”

“Yes, boss,” she sobbed.

The embassy was his only hope now, and it seemed a hell of a long way away. He had already been running for an hour and bleeding for two. Where the hell was that camp again? His head was starting to spin, making it hard to think.

Crush balled his fist and slammed it against his wounded stomach.

Pain, sharp and nasty, jolted him awake.

There, just through the gap between those trees.

Crush patted Cara’s legs in what he hoped was a reassuring way and pushed into their makeshift camp. He stopped, confused for a moment at the sight of a body lying draped over the grav-sled. The armor made everyone look the same, but Crush was pretty sure that it was And-Aran.

Crush stumbled a little and forced himself to keep going until he could lay Cara down on the sled.

“And?” Crush nudged the man.

There was a quiet groan.

“Good man,” Crush gritted his teeth and pulled them both onto the sled. “Fuck! You have been eating too much lately, farm boy!”

Another groan and a lot of blood smeared across the deck of the sled.

“Hey! Hey!” He slapped the helmet until And opened his eyes blearily. “You don’t have my permission to die, either! You hear me, soldier?”

The resulting groan wasn’t exactly a confirmation, but it would do.

“Right,” Crush muttered. “Now, let’s hope I don’t die before we get there, eh?”

Crush headed for the second colony as fast as he dared to go, occasionally jerking awake as blood loss kept trying to drag him under.

He had considered going to the Clutch. They had been fighting for them, after all.

Crush didn’t, however. It wasn’t so much about trust as about technology. They had their own weird shit going on, but Crush wanted med packs and nanites for his friends.

That was a proven technology.

The bump jolted Crush out of his doze, and he slammed on the brakes, just in case.

Blinking madly, Crush worked to get his eyes to focus. It was getting more and more difficult to do that. They were just not cooperative. Bad eyes.

Crush grunted. He was woozy.

Finally, his gaze sharpened enough for him to see what he had hit.

A body.

Crush scanned around, seeing a trail of bodies stretching into the distance. Some were in armor, most not. They were all dead, and they were all familiar.

Crush looked back, seeing the open gates of his colony. He must have fallen asleep.

Crush turned the sled and drifted it into the colony. Great scars of burnt plants and twisted metal scoured the place, with more bodies lying inside.

“Oh,” Crush said, feeling blood loss pulling at him again. “Oh.”

Numbly, Crush stumbled from the sled and collapsed with his back against it.

“Oh,” he said again as tears began to slide down his cheeks. “I guess we lost.”

Crush put his head back, staring at the sky, and let the blood loss drag him down into the darkness.

“Crush!”

Someone called him, but Crush refused to answer. He was tired, so tired.

“Crush! Wake the fuck up!”

Someone slapped him. Hard.

“Ow,” Crush gasped, opening his eyes to see a blurry figure above him.

“Crush, you’re dying!” Nellie yelled at him.

“You woke me to tell me that?” Crush grinned. “Cruel, cruel lady. Why are all the women I know so violent?”

“Crush, focus!” Nellie snapped.

“They’re all dead, Nellie,” Crush wept. “They all died on me. I tried, I really, really, tried.”

“They aren’t dead, and neither are you,” Nellie seemed too close, too close. Was that blood on her face his? “Listen to me. I can save you, and most of them, but only by making you drones. Do you understand? Crush!”

“Loud,” Crush sighed. “So loud.”

Another slap.

“Fuck!” Crush snapped fully awake.

Nellie was crouching over him, covered in blood, while more of her people moved around in the colony. What had she been saying?

“Do you understand?” Nellie said.

“Drone?” Crush asked.

“Yes,” Nellie said seriously. “I won’t be able to save you and others any other way. Crush, it’s really bad.”

“Well, it’s better than dead,” Crush grimaced and lay back. “Can I go to sleep if I say yes?”

“Sure, Crush,” Nellie laughed. “Sure.”

“Go for it,” Crush said, laying his head back again.

He was just so tired.

Drone Conversion Complete!

Hud installed!

Implant Mk2 Installed!

Uplink Complete!

Injuries healed!

Crush’s eyes shot open as energy poured into him like someone had plugged a battery pack into his veins. It was dark; why was it dark? Had he been asleep? His memories came into focus, and Crush winced all over again. His hand flew to his stomach, finding a pad covering it.

He rubbed at his eyes, trying to get the specks out of it, only to realize what he was seeing wasn’t something in his eyes but icons.

Crush needed to talk to Nellie urgently.

No sooner had the thought occurred to him than an icon flashed, and a list of contacts appeared, scrolling to Nellie and connecting a comm line.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

How the hell did he do that?

“Nellie?” Crush asked the empty air.

“Crush! You’re awake, good.” Nellie appeared in a small window in one corner of his vision. She was still covered in blood. “I might need you and the others to help with the search. This must have been some fight.”

“Others?” Crush asked.

“Cara, And-Aran, and Bil-Tor if he ever wakes up.” Nellie sighed. “Seriously, how is one guy that big? I swear the nanites have converted ships in less time.”

“They’re alive?” Crush asked.

More icons flashed on his HUD, and a list of their names, status, health, and even location appeared on the left side of his vision.

“How did I do that?” Crush frowned. “I’m seeing their status?”

“You get used to it,” Nellie promised. “The implant is on ‘automatic assist’ at the moment, so it responds to your thoughts.”

“This is going to take some getting used to,” Crush put his head in his hands and took several deep breaths. “Nellie, What about the others? Vicky, did she make it?”

“Oh, so now he gets around to remembering me?” Vicky laughed.

Crush whirled to see her standing behind him, one hand on her hip. The moment he saw her, Crush whipped forward and grabbed her into a hug, pulling her close against him.

“Okay, wow,” Vicky gasped. “Guess you didn’t forget me after all.”

“No, I didn’t,” Crush promised.

“Uh, can you guys make up later?” Nellie asked. “Sorry, but we have a lot to do.”

===<<<>>>===

“Still no word?” Duke fretted as he walked back and forth in the council room.

“They fly overhead every now and again,” Hadrian said tiredly. “They have been over to the other colony and to the battle sight. Other than that, nothing.”

“Maybe they have decided to ignore us?” Duke asked.

Hadrian just stared at him.

Duke growled and sat down. This was interminable. They had waited for Nellie and her people to come for two days now.

They never had.

At first, Duke entertained thoughts of escape. He had refueled the walker and prepared to leave. He planned to make a run for a distant part of the moon and hide out. He could start again once her anger had cooled.

Within hours, the ring of silent, black-clad, sinister robots had surrounded the Colony and prevented any attempt to leave.

One had tried to run anyway, but they were dragged back.

Other than that, they had been left alone. Their scanner was able to track movements, and no one attacked, but everyone was trapped in there, and they knew it.

More and more, Duke was getting looks. Angry looks.

“We should hold a meeting tonight,” Duke said decisively.

“What?” Hadrian asked.

“A town meeting,” Duke replied thoughtfully. “Announce it.”

“And what, pray, are you planning to say?” Hadrian asked. “Just so I know how likely we are to be lynched before it ends.”

“I will tell the people that mistakes were made,” Duke said thoughtfully. “We were lied to by the Imperial Line. They took advantage of that trust to commit atrocities.” Duke sat forward, warming to his plan even as he spoke. “I will tell them that I plan to apologize to Bea and that we will move forward as allies and friends.”

“I can’t tell if you are taking the piss or not?” Hadrian asked flatly. “Do you really think she will—”

“You do not know her,” Duke replied angrily. “I do. We have a relationship.”

“Had,” Hadrian countered. “Had a relationship.”

“And we will again,” Duke said confidently. “Things are strained at the moment, it is true, but we can explain that it was all a misunderstanding.”

“You think she is stupid?” Hadrian asked, but his sarcasm was fading away.

“Not stupid, exactly,” Duke shook his head. “Simple. Naive. She needs someone to guide her and teach her how to properly lead people. I can do that.”

“So we have something she needs,” Hadrian sat a little straighter in his chair. “We have value.”

“We do,” Duke smiled. “First, we need to remind our own people of that, then we remind her.”

“It is possible,” Hadrian admitted.

“Call the meeting,” Duke said confidently. “Leave the rest to me.”

“What about your sister?” Hadrian asked quietly. “We have heard nothing.”

“Her ship is still there,” Duke said with a sigh. “No doubt she is being held, just like us.”

Everybody came to the meeting as he knew they would. With the ring of silent sentinels around the colony, they didn’t even need to have people on the walls. Besides, people were desperate for news. For hope.

Duke stepped up to the lectern and scanned their faces. A lot would depend on how this went. If he had the people behind him, Bea would not be able to remove him. It just was not possible.

What was she going to do?

“Good people,” Duke started, his voice severe but tinged with a hint of sadness. “I have summoned you tonight to speak of the future. I know many of you are afraid. Please, don’t be.”

“They’re gonna kill us!” Someone yelled.

“No one will be killed!” Duke yelled to calm them down. “Mistakes were made, it is true. The insidious Imperial Line took advantage of our trust and our kindness! They used our welcome and our trust to commit atrocities!”

Angry shouts and yells swept the square, and Duke smiled to himself. He had them; from now on, it was easy.

“We did nothing wrong,” Duke explained. “Except trust the wrong person and the others know this. Why do you think they do not attack? They know we have not turned a hand against them in anger. We only meant to protect ourselves. Now, in the light of day and free of the influence of the Imperial Line, we will move forward together as allies and as friends!”

“Liar.” The word was soft, but it cut through the crowd like a knife.

“Murderer,” the voice was hoarse, angry.

“Butcher,” the voice trembled with rage.

“Who said that!” Duke yelled, angry that someone would interrupt his flow.

The crowd parted, and gasps came from the crowd as three figures were revealed.

Duke swallowed hard.

“Duke DaVore, you stand accused of deception, murder, and the massacre of the Marshall colony. How do you plead?” Crush’s eyes stared into Duke like lasers.

“You don’t understand!” Duke protested and tried to back away.

“How do you plead?” Cara asked.

“I was misled!” Duke turned to the side, seeing the black metal forms appearing between the buildings. There was nowhere to go.

“HOW DO YOU PLEAD?” And-Aran roared.

“Not guilty!” Duke spat.

Crush began to smile. A long, slow smile.

Duke whirled as he saw the camera recordings from his own War Walker began to replay on the wall behind the lectern.

“Wait!” Duke yelled, “Stop!”

The crowd was completely silent, watching as he butchered and killed their ex-neighbors, and Duke swallowed hard.

“Guilty!” And-Aran shouted.

“Guilty!” Cara spat.

“Guilty,” Crush said through a wide smile.

“You have no authority here!” Duke spat. “Who gives you the right to judge me?”

“Thank you for asking,” Crush stood aside as a figure walked down the main street.

No one spoke as boot heals clicked down the packed dirt, and Nellie appeared in the light. Behind her, others came from the main gate. One was dragging a bound and struggling shape.

“They are marshalls of the Nanite Imperium,” Nellie said angrily, “This colony is now under our control.”

“Since when?” A voice in the crowd yelled.

“Since I said so,” Nellie said easily. “Did you see all the Centrums with guns?”

No one else yelled out.

“Duke, we were friends,” Nellie said coldly.

“We can be again,” Duke insisted.

“No,” Nellie said simply and pointed.

Duke turned to see a recording playing endlessly. In it, he lowered his weapon and fired. Banjo jumped in the way, and he died. The recording played again and again.

“I’ll leave,” Duke said, turning back. “I’ll leave and never come back.”

“Too late,” Nellie said angrily. “Much too late.”

“Duke DaVore, Brenda DaVore,” Lucy arrived, walking past Nellie as she dragged the bloody and struggling Brenda onto the stage and threw her at Duke’s feet, “You are guilty of crimes against the Nanite Imperium, against your own people, and against others. You have been found guilty.”

“When was the trial?” Duke protested.

“The sentence is as follows,” Lucy went on. “This colony is exiled from the lands of the Imperium. Your people will be loaded onto the ship your sister stole, and it will be locked onto a course back to the HUB from which it came.”

“Fine!” Duke said gratefully. “We’ll go,”

“I said your people,” Lucy replied coldly. “Not you.”

Duke paled.

“For your crimes,” Nellie picked up where Lucy left off. “You and your sister are sentenced to death. The murder of Banjo, however, requires something more. I want everyone here to remember what happens when you take from me. They can spread the word, just in case someone from the sectors ever wonders if they should come after us.”

She pointed above Duke at the roof behind him.

Duke spun and saw a four-legged horror in gleaming silver armor. The helmet flowed away like water, and he saw the face of a young woman, her face twisted with grief and fury.

“He was my friend,” Paren spat at him. “Die screaming, asshole!”

A tide of black shapes flowed down the wall, and Duke screamed as they flowed over him.

“So end all who take from me!” Nellie spat on the ground.

“Round them up and get them the fuck out of our system!” Lucy yelled as the Last Hope broke the atmosphere above them.

===<<<>>>===

Crush stood with his squad as the Last Hope left the moon for the last time.

“That was something,” Cara said blandly. “She’s one tough lady.”

“Yup,” Bil-Tor said. “Nice to her friends, though.” He flexed his new synthetic arm and smiled.

“What do we do now?” And-Aran asked Crush.

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll think of something,” Crush said with a sigh. “They always find something for useful people to do.”

“Lots of salvage and rebuilding to do,” Cara noted. “Could get boring.”

Crush laughed.

“What?” Cara asked.

“Somehow, I don’t think anything she does is boring for long,” Crush grinned. “Come on, enough lollygagging. Let’s get back to work.”

“One thing,” And-Aran asked as they walked. “Nanite Imperium?”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that,” Cara admitted.

“Apparently, she was pissed and thought it sounded intimidating,” Crush said as they climbed the ramp into the shuttle.

“Well, she’s not wrong,” Cara grinned. “Marshalls of the Nanite Imperium. It has a ring to it.”

Crush laughed.

Soldiers never changed, even if their jobs did.