Thirty-Six
“There’s a difference between being willing to risk your own life, and being responsible for the lives of others,” Benny said. Kon had closed the door to the cockpit, leaving the two of them isolated from the others who were resting. They were done with the planet, having harvested everything they could over the last few weeks. Benny had insisted they take a break to decompress and allow the cadets to settle into their new nodes before heading back to the Oasis.
“I figured that out a few minutes after saying it. I just don’t know how to fix it,” Kon said as he leaned against the hatch. Alice hadn’t been moody per se, but she had been more subdued than normal. Having the generally boisterous Knight seeming sullen had dampened the mood with the cadets, which had already been subdued after their fight with the paralyzing wasp.
“You can’t. This is up to her to figure out. Being a soldier is one thing. Being an officer is another. She’ll command others into the breach and to their deaths which is much different than taking that risk herself. She was an officer in Titan’s Resolve, but from the sounds of it she led a small personal team of other capable Knights. Not a bunch of cadets she personally trained, or what will likely become a significant auxiliary corp. She needs to figure this out for herself,” Benny said. Kon opened his mouth to say something, but Benny cut him off.
“The best thing you can do is keep your mouth shut and stop reminding her of the burden. She knows what it is, let her come to terms with it.” Benny leaned back in his chair and had to hide the smile as Kon’s mouth snapped shut.
“Ignacio has some good ideas that won’t take much time to integrate into your suit. The others will be behind yours, they need their first greater rune, but Bob should have it done by the time we return to the Oasis.” Benny had barely finished speaking before Kon was up on his feet and pumping his fist in the air.
“Calm down. There’ll be a few fittings and the exo-suit won’t be done for a bit longer, but you’ll have the interior suit. Which is generally more than enough, it’s all I wear most of the time,” Benny said. The old man generally didn’t even wear that, just a standard breastplate and armored jumpsuit underneath it.
“I’m just excited. I’ve been thinking about this suit for over a year now. It’s just everything is coming together, finally. Rune is implanted, new cadets, armor is ready,” Kon trailed off as he basked in the sense of accomplishment. They’d been busy and their hard work was finally showing. In the next few months they’d be arriving to aid the Ulmna with a decent sized fleet and resources to help offset the Lion’s attack.
“Don’t forget the weapons. Once you’re in your full suit you’ll be able to use more than just a mace and knife. Full laser and plasma weaponry, anti-personnel missile, anti-armored missile, and then of course the treasure-alloy built in weapons on top of it. With your mage craft, which needs lots of work, you’ll be a menace,” Benny said. He wasn’t so crude as to smile and rub his hands in glee at the thought, but there was a light to his eyes that normally wasn’t there.
“A true Knight,” Kon agreed and let himself, for just a moment, bask in his own joy.
A loud beep quickly tore that joy from him as Benny frowned and spun his chair around to face the console. Wrinkled fingers stabbed at buttons and the displays powered to life.
“Left a few warning beacons in orbit, hardly more than proximity alarms, but something is moving out there. Lots of somethings,” Benny said, hints of worry in his voice.
“ALICE!” Kon yelled as he threw open the cockpit door and called to the senior Knight. He heard feet pounding a moment later as the tall woman rounded a corner, face cast in a serious expression as she looked them over.
“Sitrep?” She asked as she entered the cockpit, closing the door behind her.
“Ships in orbit. Don’t know allegiance,” Benny replied as his fingers continued to dance over the controls.
“Escape protocol?” Alice asked and Kon frowned as he stared at them. They had a set of commands that he didn’t know.
“Not yet, let’s see…ahh, they’re pinging us,” Benny said as he flicked a switch and a hologram snapped to life over the console. Lero Ran’s battered face filled the screen and Kon had to repress a gasp at the state of the man. His handsome features were slumped and bruised, bones obviously broken, one eye nothing more than an empty socket. Bloodied bandages were wrapped around his head, but his voice was strong as he started to talk.
Stolen novel; please report.
“She’s dead, Benny. The bastards assassinated Dina,” Lero said and there was true sorrow in his voice as he shook his head. The High Inquisitor of humanity looked broken, a man calling to his father to right a wrong. Benny blinked back at him as the temperature in the room grew noticeably colder as the ancient Knight looked at his battered former Squire.
“Land and we’ll get you to a healer. I want this report in person. Who managed to get off the ship?” Benny finally said after a moment of silence.
“I got the old men out and some of the Dragon Knights. It…it’s bad Benny,” Lero’s voice finally cracked just as the transmission cut off.
“What’s the possibility that it was fake?” Alice asked. Benny paused, then clicked a few more buttons and shook his head.
“All the encryptions were correct and the handshake between ships was clean. It’s Lero’s ship and his personal encryption key. The only way they have that is if they broke him before impersonating him and there hasn’t been enough time for that,” Benny explained.
“Full armor then. Shields up on the Puca, engines running hot. Need to get the kids buckled in and ready to run,” Alice said, bolting out of the door and beginning to bark orders.
“Kon, go and prep the medbay. Doubt we have anything Lero doesn’t, but I want somewhere comfortable for him. I’ll begin plotting an exit route,” Benny said and Kon hopped to it, running through the halls and seeing a few worried looks as he passed by. He ignored them as he entered their rarely used medbay and began setting it up for Lero. Most of it was basic first-aid, between Benny and Alice they didn’t have to worry about injuries that often.
“I can’t imagine Lero is less than a C-grade, which mean neither Alice or Benny can heal him. Not without Benny unsealing himself.” The thought was dark with how badly injured the other man had looked. That Benny would burn up a bit more of what was left of his power to heal his former Squire wasn’t in question. Kon didn’t want that to happen as Benny was already growing too frail for his tastes, so he made sure he had everything ready for when Lero landed.
Minutes ticked by with the speed of hours as Kon paced back and forth across the well lit medbay, stuck waiting for the inevitable barrage of work that was about to arrive. Anxiety was his companion as he thought through everything that could have happened. There were too many possibilities to what it meant, but Kon knew it was the Lion and the nobility who had struck.
“Kon, they’re landing now. Bob and Alexandros are with him,” Benny’s voice came in over a speaker. A moment later the minute tremble through them floor told him they had been docked too and a minute after that the door opened and Lero staggered in.
The scent of blood followed the man, coating him as Kon ducked down and wrapped his arm around Lero’s waist and helped him to the bed. His hands came back blood, the wounds that covered the High Inquisitor had bled through his bandages and clothes. His right arm was nothing more than a sack of skin holding bone fragments and blood, filled like a water balloon. Lero’s entire right side was a catastrophe Kon saw as he stepped back and looked him over.
“I look better than I feel,” Lero spat between clenched teeth. Kon grimaced as he grabbed the general injector. It was a mix of nanites, pain suppressants, antibiotics, and a general cocktail meant to promote healing.
“That’s the third one today,” Lero said, face blank as he stared up at the ceiling. Half his chest was slumped inward, rising unevenly as he breathed in deeply. He turned to look at Kon, the pitted and torn flesh around his eye horrific to see.
“I slipped. I slipped, Kon and he’s going to pay for it. You’ll pay for it. Don’t let him do it when he offers. Prices have to be paid and he’s paid enough,” Lero half rambled, his one eye slightly glazed. The words had barely finished being spoken before the door opened and Benny was in the room, striding up to Lero and leaning over.
There was a vulnerability to Benny, a softness that Kon would have never thought possible as the old man hesitated, eyes unfocused as he stared at the broken remnants of the High Inquisitor. Lero looked back at him with his single eye unflinching as Benny leaned over him, a single bare hand delicately touched Lero’s face.
“Oh, my son, what have they done?” Benny whispered so softly that Kon could hardly hear the words. He was suddenly certain that he wasn’t supposed to be here to see this moment, but his boots were planted on the decking and refused to move.
“I fucked up. I’m sorry, Benny,” Lero whispered voice strained. Benny shook his head as his fingers traced over the wounds on Lero’s face.
“Don’t worry about it, boyo. I’ll have you up and moving in a moment,” Benny said. Lero’s face hardened as he grabbed Benny’s hand, a resolute look on his face as he stared up at Benny.
“No, not yet. Report first,” Lero managed to say. Benny froze and backed up a bit as Lero’s only good hand dropped to his chest and then grabbed at his belt. His fingers were clumsy as he struggled to find something, Benny eventually reached down and grabbed what he was looking for. The holopad was small and compact but the image that came from the projector was clear and clean.
“It was an ambush from the first moments we arrived, I just didn’t connect the dots,” Lero began.