On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance (23 page)

“Tal! You worried?” Nero asked, putting an arm around her back and squeezing.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Nero,” was her response. She let go, and they headed to the meeting room.

“Do I ever really know what I’m doing Tal?” he replied.

Talyah let out a short laugh, again, surprising Nero. “No, no you do not, Nero.”

He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you stayed with me for so long, then. Even if I don’t know why.”

“Don’t you, Nero?” Talyah turned and gave him a short, penetrating glance. “Never mind,” she said, before he could come up with an answer.

Before Nero could figure out what Talyah had meant, they entered the meeting room. Arrayed on the tables was an impressive selection of weapons, from large laser rifles and electrical whips, down to single-handed pistols and blades. They also had grenades, both chemical and regular, as well as a few flashbangs.

Sat on the various chairs dotted about the room were the remaining members of Nero’s group. They included Nate, Onon and Koegan, but the number had reduced significantly in the past couple of days. Besides losing some of them, a surprising number had simply left, not wanting to get involved in any particularly risky fights. Talyah couldn’t blame them.

Some were gambling, some were arguing, some were sleeping, whilst others just sat quietly, trying not to think about what might be about to happen. They were all ready, though, for whatever might happen. Whenever it might happen.

“Where’s Sevi?” Nero asked, once he’d greeted those in the room.

Onon answered, pausing in the game she had started playing with Nate. “Don’t know, Nero. We’ve been trying to find her, but either she’s not about, or she doesn’t want to be found.” She shrugged, and went back to the game. “You lose, Nate,” she added with relish, as she took the small pile of bonds that was sat on the table. Nate grimaced.

Talyah shrugged as well, when Nero turned to look at her. They all knew that Sevi was probably hidden somewhere, not wanting to be sent away from the action. And there was pretty much nothing they could do about it. Knowing that searching for her would be a futile effort, Nero instead went to sit down next to one of the men, a quieter man who was sat on his own, staring off into space. He put a hand on the man’s shoulder, and then sat in silence.

****

Hours later, it was the middle of the night. It was pitch black outside, and normally, people would be asleep. Or at least they’d be in a bed. But not this night. Nero sat awake, surrounded by others who couldn’t find sleep, and who were just as bleary-eyed as him. They had very quickly become bored of gambling, and thoughts kept returning to the unknown.

Nero knew they should get some sleep. He knew there was no suggestion that Aegis agents were about to break in. But they were all nervy, and very much on edge. None of them could sleep with the thought of armoured men breaking in whilst they slumbered. Hence, only a few particularly relaxed people managed to get any sleep at all. Nero was not one of them.

Finally, he stood up, and decided to go and stretch his legs. Onon decided to accompany him.

“Talyah,” he whispered. “Give me the turret control, would you?” She looked up at Nero, eyes red with lack of sleep.

“Sure,” she replied, taking it out of a pocket and giving it to Nero. He pocketed it, and then quietly left the room with Onon, stepping out into the main area of the warehouse.

The shuttles were parked next to the opposite wall, looking like great slumbering beasts in the dim lighting, and everything else looked as it always did. The workbenches were still set up in the middle of the warehouse, ready to receive a non-existent shipment of qiameth, and the pile of empty containers was still stacked up near to the main office area. Not wanting to walk too far, Nero and Onon stayed inside the warehouse, and simply walked around the perimeter.

“When do you think they’ll come?” Onon asked after a time. Nero glanced at her before answering.

“I don't know, Onon. We don’t even know if they plan to attack here. But they’ve been working pretty quickly, so...” He tailed off and shrugged. “Best not to think on it much.”

Onon smiled half-heartedly, and they carried on their stroll around the warehouse, finding nothing of interest until they came near full-circle and neared where the shuttles were parked. Onon froze when they were close, and Nero knew why she’d stopped. He had heard it too, a faint noise coming from just outside the warehouse. They stood there, listening intently, and then, moments later, they heard another slight sound. Almost as if something was touching the wall.

Exchanging a glance with Onon, Nero walked up to the wall and placed his head next to it. He could hear the sounds more clearly now, but they didn’t sound like footsteps outside the building. Instead, it sounded as if there was something inside the wall. Taking a good look at the wall, he spotted a disguised maintenance hatch a few metres away.

Taking care not to make a sound, he made his way over to the hatch, gesturing for Onon to follow. She already had her laser pistol out and aimed at the hatch. Nero popped the recessed handles out, wincing at the slight sound that made, and then quickly pulled the hatch away from the wall.

Initially all he could see were the pipes and wires running along the inside of the wall, but then, once his eyes had adjusted a bit, he saw a shape move no less than a metre away, heading away from the open hatch. He reached into the hole, and managed to grab hold of a handful of what felt like hair. He pulled, and a high-pitched yell made its way out of the wall.

With a bit of resistance, Nero managed to drag a thoroughly bedraggled-looking Sevi out of the small cavity between the walls. “Oww!” she exclaimed, once she had tumbled out of the hole. “That hurt, Nero.”

“It’s the least you deserve, Sevi,” Onon said to her. “What were you even doing in there?”

“You’re lucky we didn’t just shoot the source of those sounds,” Nero added.

Sevi looked at the ground, refusing to meet either of their eyes. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to wait around, and I knew you’d send me away if you found me.”

Nero rolled his eyes, and exchanged an amused glance with Onon whilst Sevi was still looking away. “Well, you’re right on that front, Sevi. You are going to have to leave. This place could get very dangerous, very quickly.” He started leading her back towards the main office.

“You have some impressive talents, Sevi. Maybe you should consider using them for good, though. And not just hiding from--”

A brilliant flash and an incredibly loud bang cut Nero off mid-sentence, knocking him, Sevi and Onon forcibly to the ground. Nero lost his grip on Sevi, and he raised his hands to his ears in an effort to stop the ringing that filled his head. It was a few seconds before he could begin to hear again, and before his vision started to return.

What he saw sent a chill through his spine. Maybe twenty metres away, smoke was hanging around a newly-formed hole in the ground, and lumps of concrete were now scattered across the ground. Nero leapt up, dragged Onon and Sevi to their feet, and then ran to the living area. As he reached the room, he pushed Onon and Sevi through the doorway, and then spun around to face the hole just in time to see a dark grey figure leap upwards and land, crouched, on the concrete floor.

Another four armoured figures followed it out, moving to stand next to the first one, and then other figures began to climb more slowly out of the gaping hole. Nero squinted, trying to see through the dust and smoke that still lingered. They looked, to his eyes, like vacsos. Why would Aegis have recruited help? Unless, and the thought annoyed him more than anything, the Nostra were still around and helping.

Not giving the idea any more thought, he pulled the turret activator out of his pocket. The Aegis agents had begun to slowly walk forward, and Nero gave them a smile. There were five turrets surrounding the living area, and these invaders were right in front of two of them. Nero pressed the glowing red ‘activate’ button.

Nothing happened. He glanced down, and pressed it again. It was definitely activated, but the turrets weren’t firing. They weren't doing anything, not even tracking the invaders. “Shit,” Nero whispered. He retreated back into the meeting room, tossing the controller down on a chair.

“This piece of crap isn’t working,” he informed the others, the peril of their situation now hitting him fully as he grabbed the largest weapon they had. The others looked as surprised as he felt. “And we’ve got multiple targets out there.”

He went over to the nearest window that looked out into the warehouse, and aimed his weapon at the approaching Aegis agents. The others followed his lead, and soon there was a bristling array of high-powered laser rifles aimed at the enemy.

On seeing this, the intruders stopped walking, though they kept their weapons aimed at Nero and the others. One of the armoured Aegis agents took another couple of steps forward, and lowered his weapon. He looked at the turrets in front of him, before speaking. “Turrets not working, Nero? Shame.” His voice came rasping out of the helmet’s voice unit, sending chills down Nero’s spine and making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“What is your plan then?” the Aegis agent continued. “You know your weapons are no good. You know I can squash you like the bug you are.”

“Sure, I expect you could,” Nero replied. “But you haven’t yet, and you’ve had the opportunity. I think you’re enjoying stretching this out, so why stop now? I don’t even know your name yet.”

A chuckle came out of the man’s voice unit, sending another chill down Nero’s spine. “That is a good point. I know so much about you, Nero, and yet you know nothing about me, do you?” Nero shrugged when the man paused. “Well, let me correct that. I am Ras. Lieutenant Ras Gyyll. But there is one thing I don’t know about you, Nero.” The lieutenant paused. “Why those augmented arms and legs? Did you lose the originals?” Nero could imagine the man smiling underneath the helmet as he talked, evidently savouring the intimidation.

“Why? I liked them.” Nero kept his eyes moving across the other Aegis agents as he talked, and the vacsos behind them, ready to fire if any of them moved.

“You ‘liked them’?” The lieutenant laughed this time, the sound coming out oddly from the helmet’s voice unit, and turned to the armoured man on his right. “He liked them. The people on these backwater planets never fail to amaze me.” Turning back to Nero, he continued. “So, you’ve got these impressive augs, Nero. What do you propose to do with them now?” The way he emphasized the word ‘impressive’ suggested he didn’t think they’d aid Nero very much.

“Well, I’ll kick your ass for a start. I don’t much like you, if I’m honest.” Another sinister laugh came from the lieutenant. “And what is up with that helmet?” Nero added. “I mean really, why such a large rebreather?” He shook his head in mock disbelief. “Is it compensating for something?”

“Oh, very good,” the lieutenant replied. “See, this is why I like talking to people before I kill them. You guys can really be quite entertaining. It’s just a shame that I do have to kill you.”

“Is it?” Nero asked, sarcasm in his voice.

“Well,” the lieutenant tilted his head to the side. “Not really. You’ve got me there. I do enjoy my job.”

“I’m sure you do. The costume as well, evidently.”

“Indeed. Well, as entertaining as this little talk has been, I do in fact have a job to do.”

“Right, yeah,” Nero said. “So do we, in fact. So if you wouldn’t mind just leaving and we’ll call it quits.”

“Oh, I would love to, but I do have orders, I’m afraid. And my superior does not have the sense of humour that I have. So I am afraid, Nero, that that is an impossibility.” The lieutenant turned towards his men. “Men--”

Before the lieutenant could give the inevitable order, Nero opened fire himself, aiming carefully at the lieutenant’s head. The laser beam hit the helmet directly in the centre, but when the lieutenant turned back to face Nero, there was no sign of any damage.

“I did warn you your weapons would be ineffective,” he said, raising his own weapon. He fired, just after Nero ducked back down behind the window. He saw the flash of light pass above him, and then a general whining sound filled the room as everyone else opened fire.

Nero saw one person fall down almost immediately, a smouldering hole in their chest, and then another fell. He crouched behind the window, and fired back. Not bothering to aim at the Aegis agents themselves, Nero picked off the vacsos behind the armoured men. These aliens didn’t have the mysterious armour that the Aegis agents had, and were as susceptible to laser fire as Nero himself was. He got two of them before he ducked back down again.

“Shit,” he breathed, as he saw the heavy casualties they’d taken already. Another three of his guys had been hit, leaving not many of them left. He glanced back in the room, and saw Sevi was crouched at the side of the room, behind a solid metal table.

He pulled a grenade off of his belt, and tossed it out into the midst of their attackers. “Down!” he yelled, and ducked down with the rest of his men. They heard, and felt, the explosion that followed, and Nero leapt back up to look out into the warehouse again. The last of the vacsos was down, he was relieved to see, but all five of the Aegis agents were still standing.

“Nate,” Nero said. “You stay here. I’m taking Onon and Tal up above, okay?” Nate glanced at him and nodded, then continued firing. Nero ran beneath the windows, to reach Talyah and Onon, both of whom were shooting out of the same window. “Come with me,” Nero said, and turned and ran up the stairs to the upper level.

“What is it?” Talyah asked, once they’d caught up to him.

“We need to try something different,” Nero said, picking up a small crate. Inside it were rows of grenades. “Let’s see if they can withstand all these at once.” He placed it down next to the upper window, and prepared to start throwing them out. But then he stopped, and stared down at the floor of the warehouse.

The Aegis agents, and Nero’s men, had stopped firing. His men were instead slowly walking out of the room, to stand in front of the lieutenant, with their hands up in the air. “What the hell?” Nero breathed, and Onon and Talyah came to stand by the window. Behind the men, walking out of the room, was Nate, with his rifle aimed at the others’ backs. The ever-present smile was gone from his face, to be replaced by a more serious visage.