Thad Carter leveled his pistol at the last of the Parson clan.

“Why?!?” Hesta Parson screamed.

“You know why,” Thad said grimly as he pulled the trigger and, with a searing flash, Hesta fell.

He turned to a rail-thin, grim-faced woman standing beside him.

“We don’t have enough for our own,” he said with a resigned sigh. “We can’t feed their kids...”

The woman silently nodded and walked out of the tent.

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed heavily. How had it come to this? Killing an entire family over a few chests of canned food. No. They brought this on themselves. They drew first blood. This was on them.

It was ugly, but it was justice… Or what passed for “justice” these days...

He stepped out into the morning light as a terrified child started to sprint, screaming, through the shabby compound.

Cursing the world, God, and himself, he raised his pistol…

***

Judge Thaddeus Carter awoke. As he did, glowing lines of text appeared in his vision, reporting his vitals and the status of the dozen different systems that kept him breathing.

One of the lines had the time. It was 03:00. Tired as he was, he was not going back to sleep.

You’ve suffered enough... a little xeno voice whispered in his mind. You need to forgiv-

“Some things can never be forgiven,” he said quietly to the empty room.

He struggled to his feet and wandered into the kitchen.

He winced as he reached for a bowl.

***

“Thad, honey,” the thin woman said, her voice filled with concern, “C’mon… you need to eat.”

“I’m not hungry, Selene,” he said with a sigh.

“You ‘haven’t been hungry’ for two days,” she said. “And you didn’t eat that day either.”

“I can’t touch it,” Thad said quietly. “That food, what we did to get it… I can’t.”

“Well, this is from our stock,” she said, holding a small bowl. “Can you at least eat that?”

Thaddeus Carter just rolled over and stared at the wall.

“Hey… hey...” the woman said. “You didn’t know. None of us did. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It’s just this… this fucking ash!”

“I examined the evidence,” he said. “I passed judgment. I made the call. It’s my fault.”

“How were you supposed to know that Sammy wasn’t running with them anymore?” Selene asked. “And you aren’t a judge anymore. We all made the decision, and we all have to live with the mistake that we made, ok? Now please eat something.”

“Please leave me, Selene.”

“Goddamn it!” the woman yelled. “You just gonna give up? Let yourself starve?”

“Murders don’t deserve to live...”

“Ok, fine,” Selene said and then took a deep breath. “Thaddeus Carter, I find you guilty of the murder of the Parson clan, and I sentence you to an eternity of servitude in the worst place I can send you, Earth. There you will lead a bunch of murdering scum and keep their innocent kids alive. Happy? Now get up off your sorry ass and eat!”

***

You served your time long ago... Sheloran’s voice whispered in his ears.

Judge Dredd just sighed sadly as he filled the bowl with instant oatmeal.

“An eternity means forever, frog-girl,” he muttered as he stirred in the water.

An email came in. His new kidney had been built.

***

Sheloran turned a small holographic “Orgg” back and forth, thoughtfully “painting” it a mottled blue color.

“I appreciate you giving me a hand,” Krista said as she was carefully “assembling” a scrap giant.

“Oh, I don’t mind!” Sheloran said happily. “This is fun!” she exclaimed as she examined her orgg. It needed something.

“So you have to repaint all of the miniatures that get killed?” Sheloran asked.

“We play for ‘skins’ here,” Krista replied as she started carefully painting her orgg mech. “Makes it more interesting. Makes it so that you actually lose something.”

“Huh,” Sheloran said as she examined her orgg. Stripes! Warriors should have stripes! She carefully started “airbrushing” them on.

“Wow,” Krista said, looking over at Sheloran’s work. “That’s nice! You don’t need to put that much into them, though. They are probably going to get eaten by the bionids.”

“Sorry,” Sheloran replied. “I can take them off.”

“No!” Krista exclaimed. “He looks awesome, and the computer grades the paint job. The better and more detailed the paint, the better the stats! It keeps people from just painting their guys one color and chucking them on the board. Shit paint means shit stats.”

“So that’s why Zippo is so nervous around you.”

“Heh, little bitch had to repaint damn near her entire legion.” Krista chuckled. “Damn, froggy!” she exclaimed as she looked at a small glowing panel hovering over the figure that Sheloran had just finished. “You can paint any of my shit that you want! Here! You want to paint this big guy?”

A much larger orgg appeared in front of Sheloran.

“Ok!” Sheloran smiled.

A few minutes later, Sheloran looked up with dreamy eyes.

“So these guys were created by another race to fight a war for them?”

“Yep,” Krista said as she zoomed in on the mech. She wasn’t going to let herself be outdone by this noob. “The Elder Ones made them to fight in the Celestial War.”

“No wonder they lost,” Sheloran mused as she started idly “carving” strange glyphs into the chest of the holographic figure in front of her.

“Got something to say about the orggs, bitch?” Krista laughed.

“No… It’s not that...” Sheloran muttered, lost in her work. “It’s just that the Elder Ones put all that effort in creating these guys and that other race...”

“The elvaren.”

“Yeah, them...” Sheloran muttered as her hands took on a life of their own. “They had much better material to work with...”

“They did?” Krista asked, intrigued.

“Themselves,” Sheloran murmured. “They were so much more advanced than whatever they would have used as the base stock for these orggs and those other guys. They should have just taken some of their own species and used them to make a warrior caste. They might have won if they did that. Too many of the first races made that mistake. They didn’t want to get their hands dirty, so they hid behind their creations, be they flesh or machine. You don’t win wars by distancing yourself from them. You win by embracing war… You don’t close your mouth. You drink deep.”

“Huh,” Krista said. “I never thought of that.”

“Thought of what?” Sheloran asked brightly and then gasped in astonishment at what was sitting in front of her. “I… I think I’m done with this one...”

Krista just looked in stunned surprise at the stats panel for Sheloran’s latest creation. Holy shit!

“Here!” Krista exclaimed as she handed over the mech she was working on. “Do this one next!”

Sheloran just grinned.

This was fun!

***

Gloria stood in front of her Reaper and laughed an honest, genuine laugh.

“I know I said I didn’t care what it looked like, but goddamn!” Gloria laughed. “That is fucking ugly.”

“You say fuck ship!” that wispy xeno said, holding a strange-looking welding rig. “So I fuck ship!”

Gloria walked along the modification. It wasn’t pretty, but it was perfectly symmetrical. She poked at the seam where it was attached.

“Glue?” she asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Sealant,” Harval replied. “Fresh welds that long and heavy would screw with the crystalline structure of your ship’s frame, so we attached it with spring rivets and used miner’s paste to make it airtight. The whole thing will flex instead of crack. It will be good up to twenty-five G’s.”

“Fuck,” Gloria replied. “I’m not saying that the Navy uses something like this, but IF they did, this would actually be better.”

“Pssk,” the xeno welder scoffed. “Better than your Navy no praise. You humans think you weld. You no weld. You stick metal together. You no weld.”

“Big words, little guy,” Gloria smiled.

“I thought so too,” Harval said, “until he showed me. These weird little fucks know welding!”

Gloria opened the hatch and looked inside.

“I know it looks like hell,” Harval said. “But the webbing attachment points are secure, and the insulation will keep things at least habitable. Unfortunately, we couldn’t grab a proper life support module, so we had to improvise. It’s ancient-tech, but we were able to scab it together with shit we had laying around, and it will support six humans for four hours.”

“More than long enough,” Gloria replied. “We can do it in two.”

“Noodle here,” Harval said as he nodded at the strange wispy xeno, “says that he can do one more major weld without ‘fucking ship’, but that’s it. I know you don’t want a modular weapons package, but...”

“You guys do whatever you think is best,” Gloria smiled. “Just don’t fuck ship!”

“I no fuck ship!” Noodle screeched. “You! You fuck ship!”

“Well unfuck ship then!” Gloria grinned and turned to Harval.

“I like this guy!” she laughed.

***

“Great!” Sheila said to Gloria’s image on her screen. “We move tonight!”

She terminated the call and turned to Jessie.

You got our target’s location?

“Yep!” Jessie bubbled. “She spends her day getting worked over, and then they tuck her in for the night right… here!” she said as a projection of Tartarus appeared in the middle of the bridge.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Nice work, you two,” Sheila said as she examined the model.

“There is one thing I need to talk to you about, though,” Jessie said, her face becoming uncharacteristically serious. “It’s about our little frog-buddy. She’s fucked.”

“Oh?” Shelia asked.

***

“What the FUCK do you mean I’m off the case?!?” Thaddeus Carter yelled into his communicator.

“Sorry, Carter,” a refined-looking black woman with close-cropped grey natural hair replied. “After that scene in your courtroom, we feel it best if you not handle this one, for appearances’ sake.”

“Fucking appearances?!?” Judge Dredd yelled. “You doubt my impartiality?!?”

“Of course not,” the woman smiled. “It’s just that the xenos are all up in arms. It’s just politics, you understand. If there is a conviction with you presiding, then her little xeno lawyer is going to appeal using you as the reason. We don’t want this circus lasting any longer than it needs to.”

“That shit-loach is fucking slippery!” Judge Dredd replied. “Only I know how to deal with that slimy little fucker.”

“I’m certain that the judge handling this case will be up to the task.”

“Oh, yeah?” Judge Dredd asked skeptically. “Who.”

She just smiled.

“I will be handling this case personally,” she said with a cold smile.

“You?!?” he asked, completely astonished. He then narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?”

“The Republic just feels that this one should be handled delicately, that’s all.”

A chill started to creep down Judge Dredd’s polymer spine.

“Ok,” he replied with a smile. “I know when I’m beat.”

“I’m glad you have decided to be reasonable for once.”

“So when is the next hearing?” he asked.

“You needn’t concern yourself with that.”

More chills.

“Oh, I disagree,” Judge Dredd smiled. “It seems that I need to work on my ‘refinement’. Who better to study than you, and if it is so ‘delicate’ then an extra set of eyes wouldn’t hurt, would it? Besides, I called dibs.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ, Thad,” the woman said with an exasperated tone.

“I’m just trying to help,” Judge Dredd said with a syrupy sweet tone. “I’m intimately familiar with her attorney and know all of his tricks. I can keep him from being able to successfully appeal.”

“That won’t be necessary, Judge Carter.”

“Necessary or not,” Judge Dredd replied. “You are stuck with me on this one! So, when is the next hearing.”

“I haven’t scheduled it yet,” she smiled. “My docket is quite full, so it will be worked in as time allows.”

“Then someone else should handle it. The Republic guarantees the accused a speedy trial.”

“The Republic,” the woman said coolly, “guarantees a citizen a speedy trial. A piece of Federation garbage can fucking wait until the state finds it convenient to convict them. She’s guilty as hell, and we both know it. She can sit in Tartarus until we make it official. A few months or even years won’t make the slightest difference. I’ll even give her credit for time served, not that it will matter.”

Fuck, he thought as he felt a sick feeling settle in his gut.

“Citizen or not,” he said, his voice starting to rise, “Sheloran is a living, breathing person who deserves-”

“Sheloran?” the woman sneered. “Not ‘the accused’? ‘A living breathing person’? Seriously?” the woman laughed. “Thad, you’re too close to this one. Back off.”

“The hell I will!” he snapped. “You will not just sweep her under the rug!”

“Don’t worry,” the woman said. “I assure you that she will be processed in accordance with all of our laws and customs.”

“Processed?” Judge Dredd yelled. “She is not a fucking sausage! She has rights!”

“Such passion, even after all these years,” she said with a smile. “so very admirable...”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Let this one go, Thad. Just walk away,” she said with just a touch of menace in her voice.

“Not going to fucking happen!” Judge Dredd shouted. “Sheloran and people like her get rolled over time and time again. Not this time! Not on my watch! She might be guilty as fuck, but she will be tried and, if found guilty, sentenced. She deserves that! She deserves a trial, Tamlyn!”

“I never said she wouldn’t get one,” Tamlyn replied. “She will. I personally guarantee it.”

“Oh yeah,” Judge Dredd asked. “When?”

“This conversation is over, Thad. As a courtesy, I will email you with any further details,” she said with a cold gleam in her almond-shaped eyes. “but you had better stay the Hell out of my way.”

The line went dead.

“FUCK” Judge Dredd yelled.

He stood there, seething. Tamlyn was fucking evil! Not corrupt, not incompetent… evil. She would send someone to the gallows just to free up her tee time! She wielded the law like a weapon. So did he, but in his hands, it was a sword of justice. In hers, it was a garrote.

Sheloran didn’t have a chance!

But why? She was a major player. Why was the Tamlyn Bhuti interested in a little blue frog-girl from the Free Port?

Why was she going to destroy Sheloran? That poor kid was never getting out of that hell hole…

Why?

He accessed the databases and pulled up cases.

His suspicion was correct. Every single time Judge Bhuti became involved in a case involving someone being held in Tartarus, they went away for life.

Every. Single. Time.

It wasn’t too shocking on the surface. People who are being held there pending trial aren’t there for shoplifting. If someone is being held there, they are probably guilty…

Just like the Parsons PROBABLY raided his camp...

Judge Dredd started to pull up the entire files for every Tartarus case she had ever touched and then stopped. If his gut was right…

He looked down at his phone, smiled, and then hurled it into the wall, shattering it.

He sent off an email stating that he was feeling poorly, grabbed a portable battery pack, strapped it on, and headed for the door.

***

“No, see?” Kolbth said as he showed a portly blonde the screen. “It’s completely fried. You are gonna need a new phone.”

“But I heard you could fix anything!” the woman cried.

“I can fix a lot,” he said with a wiggle of his eyestalks, “But it would cost five times what a new one would just to try and-”

“Do it!” she exclaimed, slamming down her bank card.

“Ok,” Kolbth said with a wiggle. “What do you really need here?”

The woman looked down.

“I want the chat logs… from this phone...”

“Is it your phone?”

“I paid for it! I paid for the account!” she snapped, “So, yes! It is MY phone!”

“Hey, easy,” he said soothingly. “Now that I can do but… are you sure?” he asked. “From my experience, this won’t help anything.”

“I… I need to know!” she said, her lip quivering.

Kolbth sighed.

“Ok, I’m gonna need cash,” he said. “Two hundred and fifty credits.”

The woman just nodded and reached into her purse.

The door opened.

“JUDGE CARTER!” Kolbth exclaimed, deftly making the phone disappear. “How LOVELY to see such a noble champion of the LAW here in my humble and COMPLETELY LEGAL establishment.”

Kolbth turned to the terrified woman.

“Ma’am, I will be happy to repair your phone!” he exclaimed. “Just come back this afternoon, and it will all be taken care of!”

“O...Ok...” the woman stammered and, with a speed one wouldn’t expect from someone so large, departed.

“I was going to ask if you were keeping out of trouble, Kolbth,” Judge Dredd grinned. “But it seems I don’t have to.”

“I don’t know what you mean, Your Honor,” Kolbth replied testily. “I learned my lesson! I’m now just an honest electronics repair guy!”

“Then I’ve come to the wrong place,” Judge Dredd replied. “I need something done.”

Kolbth looked at him suspiciously.

“If you need a new phone, I can help, but otherwise, you got the wrong guy.”

“I actually do need a new phone,” Judge Dredd replied with a chuckle. “And while we are setting it up, we are going discuss something else… something that you will help me with.”

Kolbth sighed and turned his eyestalks skyward. Why did the universe hate him?

***

Queen Ulkarettka cleaned her eggs miserably as some larvae snuggled her. She stroked the larva sadly, already mourning them.

They were doomed, all of them, and so were the eggs.

They were just warriors. They shouldn’t matter…

But they did! They mattered so much! They meant so much to her that her heart broke every time they were taken away, never to be seen again.

They had been so confident when they had invaded. Every projection guaranteed success…

But their projections didn’t include them…

If you had asked her before the War Accursed who the most fearsome, merciless, and strongest species ever gifted with sapience by the progenitors was, she would, without a shred of doubt, would have said it was them, the Blessed Ones. She and her sisters were the pinnacle of creation, destined to wipe clean all inferior life as was the fate of all inferior life.

Now, she knew better. She grunted as yet more eggs, doomed eggs, squirted from her distended belly. Ascension to motherhood, surrounded by her progeny… every queen’s dream…

Now an unending nightmare…

Ulkarettka flinched as a hatchway opened, and she walked in.

“Good morning!” Pam, clad in simple black trousers and a tunic bearing a silver three-headed hound, said with a bright smile. “And how is my favorite bug doing today? More eggs? How wonderful! The Republic deeply appreciates your assistance!”

Ulkarettka just whined and cowered in pure terror as the monster drew closer. Her antennae quivered as the unmistakable scent of dominance and command filled the air.

Pam smiled and exhaled at her as lab-grown, surgically implanted glands sprayed alien chemicals into her throat.

It tickled.

OBEY

The queen, every fiber of her being screaming with despair and rage, bowed.

OBEY

Whimpering, the queen rolled over, exposing herself.

Pam smiled and pulled out a syringe with a long flexible needle.

“This might sting just a little,” Pam said pleasantly, “But then again, you already know that, don’t you?”

The young Collective queen’s anguished screams echoed down the pristine halls of Tartarus.

***

“Let me get this straight,” Kolbth said as he eyed Judge Dredd suspiciously, “You want me to help you break the law?”

“The law is only valid when it protects the people,” Judge Dredd said grimly. “If I’m right, then that is no longer the case. The law and the Republic must be protected!”

“And if you’re wrong?”

“Then I will turn myself in.” Judge Dredd said calmly, “And you are doing this under duress from a fucking judge. Entrapment doesn’t even come close to describing it. You are covered.”

Kolbth just sat there silently looking at Judge Dredd.

“I need your help,” Judge Dredd said, “The law is being perverted by one of our own, and they must be stopped. I’ve turned a blind eye to it for too long. A good person’s life is at stake! She might not be innocent, but a good person is going to be… I don’t know what is going to happen to her, but I am certain it’s not good!”

Kolbth turned his eyestalks skyward.

“Right,” Kobth replied. “If I do this, I’m going to need something from you. ‘Duress’ ain’t gonna cut it.”

“What do you want?” Judge Dredd chuckled.

***

Pam walked into a large conference room where twenty black-clad Cerberus members sat around a long table.

“How is your pet?” An elderly man sitting at the head of the table asked.

“Healthy and full of eggs,” Pam replied in a cold, flat voice as she sat in the empty seat immediately to his left. “The next batch of warriors should be pupating within the week.”

“Excellent,” the man replied. “We’ve run out of them again.”

He turned to a bald, heavily tattooed man.

“How are the prospects coming along?”

“We’ve lost three,” he replied. “Two washouts, one fatality.”

“A fatality?”

“Suicide. We are still within acceptable losses for the class. We also have a graduate of phase one. They will be undergoing enhancement tomorrow.”

“Which package”

“Infiltrator-7 gamma,” a black-clad Kalesh replied. “Their physiology and epigenetic heritage lends itself well to the gamma strain. Projected chance of success eighty-five percent. Projected chance of fatality fifteen percent.”

“Very nice,” the man at the head of the table nodded. “We could use another gamma. RARPA wants more data concerning that strain, and Lord knows we could use another infiltrator. Moving on to active operations. Adept Carya?”

“Operation Snickerdoodle is proceeding well, but we have a minor complication,” a raven-haired Asian woman replied. “One of Team Epsilon broke her conditioning and attempted desertion. Adept Ixion eliminated her. Her body was disposed of discretely, and samples were extracted. Operation Buttercup failed. Team Beta sustained three casualties, and the target was not captured. Adept Electra initiated containment protocol theta. The target site was completely leveled using a captured plasma device, and our fallen were completely incinerated. Chance of human involvement being detected is less than five percent. Electra reports that there was no time to recover samples.”

“Regrettable,” the man at the head of the table replied. “When they return, dissolve Team Beta and disqualify all survivors, including Electra. However, allow her to retain her name and allow all members, including Electra, to restart the training program. Electra will continue to lead the reformed Team Beta once she graduates.”

He turned to Pam

“Achlys, you have a new toy?”

“Yes, Hades,” she replied. “A Plath of all things.”

“The one from the news?” he asked. “A bit high-profile for my tastes.”

“The reward far outweighs the risks,” Pam replied. “Her performance in the field, in addition to her… remarkable… technological abilities make her valuable. The Republic will benefit greatly with her under our care.”

“What do we know of the Plath?”

“Next to nothing,” She said with a trace of annoyance in her otherwise emotionless voice. “They are a minor Federation species with virtually no presence outside of their home system. In fact, their councilor spends only the barest minimum of time in their capital, opting to do most of his work remotely. They have a reputation for extreme docility and are considered very technologically backward. Their standard education is on par with one of our fifth-graders.”

“And this one is technologically advanced?”

“Extremely,” Pam replied. “RARPA is going nuts over her weapons, both the one she normally carried and the two delightful toys she took to the Harkeen restaurant. But unfortunately, I don’t have all of the details yet. They haven’t completed their initial assessment.”

“These Plath are interesting,” Hades said after a moment. “We should grab a few for study.”

“That would be a mistake,” Cassandra, an auburn-haired woman, said calmly.

“Why?”

“They are too much of an unknown at this point,” Adept Cassandra replied as she laid a small bunch of yarrow stalks on the table in front of her. “If this Sheloran exists, who’s to say that they don’t have squads of her. Until we know more about Sheloran and the Plath in general, it would be unwise to move. There is no need for haste.”

“And Sheloran’s prime motivator is ‘her people’,” Pam said calmly, “If she finds out that we have taken some of her own species for study, it will complicate conditioning to the point that it may be impossible. We should focus on the bird we have in our hands before we start beating the bushes.”

“Speaking of,” Hades said, picking up his coffee mug, “do you have a plan yet?”

“I haven’t fully completed my assessment,” Pam replied. “However, I am beginning to get a feel for her, enough to begin softening her up. However, I need more information about the Plath. I would like to apply for an excursion.”

“The reason?”

“Doctor Stephen Fallbridge,” she said, “He is a doctor of xenology at the University of Buenos Aires. As it happens, he did his master’s thesis on modern agrarian cultures, and the Plath were one of the species that he covered in detail. He also has at least one contact on the Plath homeworld, an abbot. He is the closest thing the Republic has to an expert on them. I would like to establish a rapport with the good doctor.”

“Approved,” Hades said in an emotionless voice. “No side trips this time, Achlys. I will not tolerate another indiscretion.”

“Yes, Hades,” Pam smiled.

“And speaking of ‘indiscretions’,” Hades said with a disapproving glance, “A certain prominent businessman lept to his death yesterday.”

“He was on the list,” she replied with a shrug.

“The list isn’t for entertainment,” Hades said with a stern voice. “They are for research and training. Did you learn anything?”

“I learned that he was really afraid of spiders,” Pam chuckled.

“I am beginning to tire of this, Achlys,” Hades said with just a touch of menace.

“I was also able to get useful data on several promising technologies,” she added, “I was able to completely break him from the comfort of my cell in less than two weeks. Here is my report.”

“Interesting,” Hades replied as he examined his tablet. “Excellent work, Apate. Your scripts performed flawlessly.”

“Thanks,” a silver-haired bespectacled female said completely without emotion. “Achlys, I am still waiting for your data, especially concerning the ultra and infrasonic noise generation apps.”

“You will get your report by the end of business today,” Pam replied. “As far as the noise generators go, I adore them. They absolutely destroyed his sleep quality! His mental state deteriorated quite rapidly.”

Apate just smiled and briefly typed on her tablet.

“If there is no further business,” Hades said, rising. “This meeting is adjourned.”