see that,” Mike
said, blowing out a slow breath and starting to realize just how tired he was
now that his anger was coming down from raging levels.
“With your permission,
I’d like to divert a portion of the evacuating troops to help pull them out.”
“Do it. I’ll head there
on the ground and we’ll be the last ones out.”
“What do you want me to
do with our guests?”
“How many are still
onboard?”
“Six in medbay and your liaison.”
“They’re coming with
us.”
“As prisoners?”
“No, they’re just
coming. Don’t let them leave the ship, but otherwise don’t confine them. I’ll
deal with them personally once I’m onboard, but don’t let them have comm access until then. And move the wounded onto your
ship. I want them all in one place.”
“What happened down
there?”
“I’m not entirely sure.
Some sort of sacrificial ritual where they burned a group of lizards prisoners and one of their own alive in the city square with a crowd watching,”
he said as he got up and moved into the cockpit.
“I honestly don’t know
what to say to that.”
“Coordinates,” Mike
said, talking to the pilot as he relayed them to his console via his helmet
battlemap. “Just get me close and I’ll take it from there.”
The Bsidd wordlessly
agreed with a head twitch that was the equivalent of a nod and adjusted their
course away from an orbital trajectory and into a globe spanning jaunt through
the thin upper atmosphere.
“It’s an abomination
that cannot be tolerated,” he finally answered the Admiral. “I’ve seen plenty
in my life, but this is among the worst. I imagine it’s not something you learn
about in the maturia.”
“No, but I thought I’d
seen enough lizard combat for things like this not to surprise me.”
“The darkside comes in many forms, unfortunately.”
“But why? The lizards
are dishonorable, but there’s always a tactical element involved.”
“That’s what our guests
are going to tell us eventually. We’ll take them back to the ADZ for a proper
language analysis and interrogation.”
“Are we taking the
entire fleet back?”
Mike hesitated for a
moment as he thought that through. “I’d like to get back to our original
mission, but it’ll have to wait. I need to go back and I’m not sending you
there without at least one mage.”
“We can resume orbital
bombardment and hold on any ground action until you return.”
“I trust in your
ability to get it done, but the lizards are devious enough I don’t want you
going in without a mage in case they pull something. If there’s any rethinking
to do on that point let’s save it until after we get everyone back up to
orbit.”
“Agreed. Are you
alright?”
“I’m not injured.”
“But are you alright?”
“No, I’m not,” Mike
admitted. “There’s a system full of bad guys that we have been fighting to
protect. I screwed this one up.”
“We fight the lizards
wherever they are. The more of them dead, the better the galaxy is.”
“Except we pushed
harder than normal in some cases to safeguard the Protovic and we lost people. That’s a sick feeling I don’t think I’m ever
going to shake, nor should I. To answer your question, I’m more
angry than unable. I’m tired, but I can handle another short fight to
get our people out. I could use a few more senzu beans though. I’ve only got 1
left.”
“I’ll send a courier to
track you down once you get there. How are you planning to get through their
aerial blockade?”
“I’ll go ground. I
don’t want to wait until our fighters clear the air.”
“Should I task a
warship?”
“Not with their big
guns still in play. How many do they have left?”
“We got 3 batteries,
two more are left.”
“Have one standing by
in low orbit just in case, but I’d rather not waste one if we don’t have to. Or
are our troops there in desperate need?”
“They’re cut off, but
holding ground.”
“We play it safe then.
Actually,
said, blowing out a slow breath and starting to realize just how tired he was
now that his anger was coming down from raging levels.
“With your permission,
I’d like to divert a portion of the evacuating troops to help pull them out.”
“Do it. I’ll head there
on the ground and we’ll be the last ones out.”
“What do you want me to
do with our guests?”
“How many are still
onboard?”
“Six in medbay and your liaison.”
“They’re coming with
us.”
“As prisoners?”
“No, they’re just
coming. Don’t let them leave the ship, but otherwise don’t confine them. I’ll
deal with them personally once I’m onboard, but don’t let them have comm access until then. And move the wounded onto your
ship. I want them all in one place.”
“What happened down
there?”
“I’m not entirely sure.
Some sort of sacrificial ritual where they burned a group of lizards prisoners and one of their own alive in the city square with a crowd watching,”
he said as he got up and moved into the cockpit.
“I honestly don’t know
what to say to that.”
“Coordinates,” Mike
said, talking to the pilot as he relayed them to his console via his helmet
battlemap. “Just get me close and I’ll take it from there.”
The Bsidd wordlessly
agreed with a head twitch that was the equivalent of a nod and adjusted their
course away from an orbital trajectory and into a globe spanning jaunt through
the thin upper atmosphere.
“It’s an abomination
that cannot be tolerated,” he finally answered the Admiral. “I’ve seen plenty
in my life, but this is among the worst. I imagine it’s not something you learn
about in the maturia.”
“No, but I thought I’d
seen enough lizard combat for things like this not to surprise me.”
“The darkside comes in many forms, unfortunately.”
“But why? The lizards
are dishonorable, but there’s always a tactical element involved.”
“That’s what our guests
are going to tell us eventually. We’ll take them back to the ADZ for a proper
language analysis and interrogation.”
“Are we taking the
entire fleet back?”
Mike hesitated for a
moment as he thought that through. “I’d like to get back to our original
mission, but it’ll have to wait. I need to go back and I’m not sending you
there without at least one mage.”
“We can resume orbital
bombardment and hold on any ground action until you return.”
“I trust in your
ability to get it done, but the lizards are devious enough I don’t want you
going in without a mage in case they pull something. If there’s any rethinking
to do on that point let’s save it until after we get everyone back up to
orbit.”
“Agreed. Are you
alright?”
“I’m not injured.”
“But are you alright?”
“No, I’m not,” Mike
admitted. “There’s a system full of bad guys that we have been fighting to
protect. I screwed this one up.”
“We fight the lizards
wherever they are. The more of them dead, the better the galaxy is.”
“Except we pushed
harder than normal in some cases to safeguard the Protovic and we lost people. That’s a sick feeling I don’t think I’m ever
going to shake, nor should I. To answer your question, I’m more
angry than unable. I’m tired, but I can handle another short fight to
get our people out. I could use a few more senzu beans though. I’ve only got 1
left.”
“I’ll send a courier to
track you down once you get there. How are you planning to get through their
aerial blockade?”
“I’ll go ground. I
don’t want to wait until our fighters clear the air.”
“Should I task a
warship?”
“Not with their big
guns still in play. How many do they have left?”
“We got 3 batteries,
two more are left.”
“Have one standing by
in low orbit just in case, but I’d rather not waste one if we don’t have to. Or
are our troops there in desperate need?”
“They’re cut off, but
holding ground.”
“We play it safe then.
Actually,
Similar Books
