“Justice for Dahteste!”

“Justice for Dahteste!”

Great they’re drunk.

The inebriated crowd was riled. Fumes of alcohol wafted from their mouths, and reminded Blake of the bar.

He sent a quick message to his mother to inform her of his arrival.

After a few moments of listening to them chant the phrase, Blake stepped before them, and raised his hands in the air to signal silence. They, of course, ignored him, and he was forced to shout to be heard. “Let me speak!”

When that also did nothing, he roared, “QUIET!!!”

That got their attention, the chanting stopped abruptly, and they shuffled to see Blake. “Everyone, please remain calm while I get to the bottom of this. Dahteste’s death was a tragedy, and I promise you, there will be justice.”

Some looked disappointed that justice was delayed, but most seemed to calm down at his words. After the very short speech, he saw Kuruk motion to him. As he approached, he noticed the silent woman next to Kuruk, and introduced himself. “Hello, I’m Blake. Are you Dahteste’s mother?”

The older woman nodded.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Blake glanced at Kuruk and added, “Both of your losses.”

Kuruk sneered and remained silent. His mother on the other hand replied softly, “Thank you.”

After he gave his condolences, he stood there awkwardly. Since he did not know what else to say, he nodded and told her, “Time to get some answers.”

He turned and strode into the large faction hall. After he stood within the silent lobby, he swiftly shut the thick door behind him and breathed a sigh of relief.

This is going to be tricky.

The crowd was incensed, and he realized they would not be satisfied if Rajesh only received a light slap on the wrist. They wanted Blake to make an example of his old friend, and they most definitely knew of his conflict of interest. It was no secret that Blake called Rajesh his friend. He had given the Indian more resources than the other combat teams, and often ate meals with him.

What WOULD satisfy them?

Blake briefly considered his options as he slowly ascended the stairs to his mother’s office. After he saw the crowd’s visceral reaction, he doubted the mob would accept it if he just moved the man to the Payson expansion. Execution was definitely off the table - He did not believe Rajesh intended for Dahteste to die, and that would be the only way he would deserve death himself.

He can be an ass, but he’s not a murderer.

He disliked the idea of a large fine. If Blake confiscated Rajesh’s nano, it would most definitely hurt his old friend, at a time when they needed his help the most. Without that resource, Rajesh could not increase his power, and humanity needed people capable of fighting against the monsters. Besides, Blake doubted the crowd would be satisfied by a simple fine.

There was always banishment, but without a faction to take refuge in, that was just a delayed execution. Blake had no doubt his friend could take care of himself. His attributes were maxed, and he had nano-enhanced gear. However, Rajesh had to sleep sometime, and without a faction town, monsters could spawn wherever he rested.

No use worrying yet. I should at least find out what happened before I decide what to do.

Blake reached his mother’s office and heard a muffled Montgomery ranting within. He paused for a brief moment to listen, but knocked on the closed door when he realized it was just a castigation of Rajesh.

“Yes? Who is it?” she asked in the sudden silence.

“Blake.”

“Oh, good,” he could hear the relief in her voice. “Come in.”

He entered the office and glanced around the small room. Jeff lounged on a small couch, seemingly calm. Montgomery sat beside him. His talkative friend leaned forward, and was literally on the edge of his seat.

Meanwhile, Donna rose to her feet behind her desk and gave him a hug. While he embraced his mother, Montgomery said, “Thank God you’re here. Now we can get rid of that smarmy bastard.”

Blake rolled his eyes and turned to address his friend. “Tell me what happened, first.”

“The asshole disobeyed Jeff’s orders and got Dahteste killed!”

He looked over to Jeff for confirmation. His silent friend nodded.

“How did she die?”

“Rajesh wasn’t there to back her up, so she got hit by like five spells at once.”

“Wait, hold up,” Blake raised a hand. “Spells? Were you guys in a level one scenario?”

“Yeah, duh.”

“Since when are you guys taking on level one scenarios?”

“Since today.”

Blake sighed and rubbed his temples. “How about you start from the beginning and tell me exactly what happened in detail.”

“Fine,” Montgomery agreed, but did not relax in his seat. “So, we completely dominated a level zero goblin scenario this morning.” He paused, as if to gauge Blake’s reaction, and then justified their actions. “It was super easy. I mean, all four of us had our attributes maxed, we got kick ass gear, skills, you name it. They never stood a chance. We were slaughtering them like…”

“Okay, I get it,” Blake rolled his eyes, annoyed at his friend’s inability to plainly state the facts. “You guys are awesome. You can move on now.”

“Of course we are. Anyway, after we finished cleaning up, Dahteste had a great idea. Why not increase the difficulty?” Montgomery’s shoulders relaxed as he spoke.

Blake pinched the top of his nose, and in an exasperated voice, stated, “I told you how difficult it was. There’s a reason I fought level one Ursa and not goblins. There’s just too many of them, and they all have spells.”

“Yeah, but the Feds got the Ursa portal blocked. There were also four of us and only one of you. Besides, aren’t you fighting stuff like two levels above you?”

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“Yes, but I have insanely high attributes from my achievements. You guys don’t. I also have way more practice.”

“Hey! We have achievements too.”

“Really? What do you get, a four percent boost?”

“Seven percent,” Montgomery corrected him.

Donna interrupted the conversation with a small cough. “Can you please get to the point. It’s been a long day and there’s still a lot more to do before it’s over.”

Montgomery looked annoyed, but agreed. “So, we decided to take on the harder scenario.”

“You ALL agreed, including Rajesh?” Blake asked as he looked to Jeff for verification.

Jeff nodded.

Interesting.

“Yeah, yeah,” Montgomery responded. “The objective was to defend some poor goblin settlement. Had to make sure no more than five died over the next six hours.”

Blake winced.

“It was gonna suck, but Jeff came up with this amazing plan…”

Jeff shook his head.

Blake sighed and struggled to keep his face neutral. “You mean you came up with a plan, and Jeff agreed.”

“Same diff,” Montgomery shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, it was awesome. Even Dahteste thought it was great.”

“I’m guessing Rajesh didn’t agree.”

Montgomery snorted. “Of course not. Rajesh hates any plan he doesn’t come up with himself.”

That’s fair.

“We argued for a bit, but he refused to see reason. We ended up having to overrule him.”

“What was the plan?”

“So, there was this canyon the goblins had to go through to reach the town we were supposed to defend. Instead of fighting them on the walls, I wanted to use it as a choke point. We were gonna hide inside it and take them by surprise.”

Blake nodded, surprised that the plan in question seemed reasonable. “Sounds fine, why didn’t Rajesh like it?”

“Because he didn’t come up with it.”

He heard his mother sigh, and agreed with her sentiment. “What were his arguments?”

“Oh, he said the canyon was too wide for an ambush, or some bullshit. He wanted to sit on the town’s wall and shoot arrows down on them. Said it was safer,” Montgomery sneered.

It might have been.

Without observing the battlefield, Blake had no way to know what he would have done in the same situation. Defending the walls sounded safer, but if enough of the defenders died during the siege, they could fail the scenario, regardless.

On the other hand, an ambush concentrated the danger on themselves, but removed the risk of innocent defenders dying. Without that worry, they were free to use any tactics they wished. He considered asking for more details, or a drawn diagram, but Montgomery’s left leg was bouncing violently. Blake decided to continue.

“Okay. How did he disobey orders?”

“He and Dahteste were supposed to fight side by side with their backs to the canyon wall, while Jeff and I took the opposite side. That way, we didn’t have to worry about being surrounded.” Montgomery tightened his hand into a fist. “But, that asshole just up and left her. He took off after some other goblins rather than watch her back, and she got killed because of it.”

Blake narrowed his eyes.

That doesn’t sound like him, he would never risk his neck running after a monster. He better have a good reason for abandoning her.

“How did she die?”

“Without him there, she couldn’t interrupt all their spells and got hit with a Shocking Stun.” He shook his head. “After that, she never stood a chance. By the time we got to her, she was already dead.”

Jeff nodded solemnly.

“Did Rajesh say why he left her?”

“He said some shit about her being more than capable of defending herself. That he had to stop the other goblins before they killed all of us, or whatever. But, here’s the thing. That asshole didn’t look even the slightest bit upset at her death. It’s like he wanted her to die.”

I doubt that. He may be an asshole sometimes, but he wouldn’t intentionally let her die if he could prevent it.

Unfortunately, the accusation that he was not remorseful rang true. Blake could easily see the Indian standing there with a blank face while Montgomery ranted and raved at him. In all his years fighting beside the Indian, the only emotion he could recall him display was contempt. It would only infuriate the fireman more and would lead him to believe it was intentional rather than just callous.

“Anything else?” Blake asked.

“What else do you need? It’s obvious he’s guilty and needs to pay.”

Blake looked to Jeff, who had remained silent throughout the exchange. “What about you? What are your thoughts on this?”

After a brief moment, where Jeff considered his question seriously, he replied in a deep, even voice, “He left. Shouldn’t have.”

When he didn’t add any more details, Blake pressed, “Anything else?”

Jeff shrugged. “Asshole.”

Blake sighed and glanced at his mother’s frown.

I’m not gonna get anything else out of these two. I need to talk with Rajesh.

He turned to his mother and asked, “Will you go downstairs with me to get Rajesh’s side of the story?”

She nodded.

“Thanks.”

“We’ll go too,” Montgomery offered.

Blake and his mother locked eyes briefly before he responded. “Not a good idea.”

“I agree with Blake,” Donna stated. “You should both head to your rooms. I’m sure you must be exhausted after everything you’ve been through. Let us handle this ourselves. Now, straight to your rooms, don’t get mixed up in the crowd right now.”

“But, who’s gonna call out his lies? You need us there to set the story straight.”

Blake shook his head. “I know you guys pretty well. I’m pretty sure I can tell when he’s lying.”

Montgomery scoffed. “Sure you can.”

“I figured out it was your plan and not Jeff’s, didn’t I?”

“Whatever,” his friend said dismissively as Jeff tugged on his arm.

“I’ll meet up with you guys after I talk with Rajesh, I promise.”

“Fine,” Montgomery turned to his friend. “Let’s go Jeff.”

After they exited the room, his mother said in a tentative voice, “Blake… you think of Rajesh as your friend, but he is not the same person you used to know. For all their anger, those two didn’t change their story the entire time I talked to them. They believe what they say.”

“I know that,” Blake agreed. “I’ve already had this conversation with dad. But, even though he’s not the same, he’s still a good person. He would never intentionally let Dahteste die.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Blake nodded.

She sighed. “I hope you’re right. Now, let’s go see what he has to say.”

They remained silent as they left the office, and descended the stairs to the main lobby.

I have a feeling that I’m going to lose a friend today.

Donna led him through two separate rooms before she came to a steel door. She retrieved a large key from her pocket, unlocked the barrier, and turned to her son. “After you.”

Beyond the door was a stone staircase that led to the basement. Unlike the rest of the faction hall, the basement was not adorned with ornate granite pillars and statues, nor polished wood siding. The walls were bare stone that dripped with water, which only added to the primitive ambiance.

The steps gave way to a long hallway lined on each side with jail cells. Blake glanced at Jerome as he passed his cell, but the Apache man turned and ignored him as he sat on his twin size bed. The next cell he passed was filled halfway to the ceiling with boxes and cans of dry goods.

When Blake reached the final hold, he found Rajesh within. The Indian stopped his pacing and addressed Blake. “Ah. You are finally here. You can free me now.”