The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet (52 page)

“One that has not fought and killed. One that hasn’t gone to battle.” Calling me a weakling and an incompetent I was fine with but when he said I was unblooded it offend me but those that had died for me and the Free Fleet to get here.

I unsealed my helmet looking my accuser straight in the eyes.

“You wish to challenge me!” He yelled as I stared at him as if he was a piece of litter in the corner of the room.

“Do you wish to challenge me?” My voice cold as a malicious grin spread across my face and my gauntleted hands tapped on the hilt of my plasmid sword.

“I have killed tens of Avarians in my life time child and I have the scars to prove it!”

“Is that what you call yourselves? Interesting, Ursht you really gave up your position for me?” I said sitting back in my chair looking completely relaxed as I stared down the Avarian to my left.

“It is an insult to talk to a lesser when in a ceasefire talk.” Ursht pleaded with me.

“If they take offense I hope that things loaded.” I eyed the plasma cannon out of the corner of my eye that had somehow made its way into my protection detail hovering on a miniature antigravity sled, legs underneath it waiting to stick into the ground to support the beastly weapon.

“Yes I gave up my position; I am without honour as I asked for your assistance.”

“More like the only one with a brain here it seems.” I said loudly making sure that all of them heard me.

“Alright so I hear you have no more streams so you can’t fuel the power plant anymore with straight H2O. Have you had issues with your population because of the lack of water?”

“The weaklings that needed it died as they were unable to protect their watering taps.” The one opposite laughed as the one to my right laughing with him. The Avarian to my left held my stare clenching and unclenching his fists.

I accessed my communicator through my implants connected to the suits more powerful communications suite as I turned off my translator and used my throat mic so the Avarians couldn’t hear me.

“Rick scan the area for comets heavy in water. We’re going fishing.”

“Sir?” He sounded perplexed as I rolled over his questioning.

“Also get with stores and see if we have a purifier and a massive water holding tank. If we don’t have either, see if engineering can whip something up.”

“Sir, I’ll ask but if we’re going to have to make it we may have issues with supply of materials.” I put the channel on hold

“Ursht you said something about mines?”

“Yes we have thousands of mines which we would use to trade with people from space.”

“Did you stop mining when no one came?”

“No, and upon your arrival there will be a tithe paid by the other battle masters to restore their honour. Paid in the blood of the workers.”

A growl came from the other battle masters; obviously they didn’t want me knowing about the tithe.

“Paid in blood by the workers?”

“Yes, the mines are very hazardous but if you work in the mine you get a water allowance for you and your family.”

“Ursht how many mines do I now control?”

“Seven hundred and eighty seven.”

“See to it that production is stopped immediately.”

“Scared by the loss of a few workers?” The one to my right sneered. Ursht made a disgusted noise.

“Why waste a worker when I can have the supplies to feed water and make them more productive.” I said levelly.

“Banel, he is the one that talked from the dome and talked over the enlightened channel. The priests say there are signs he is the one sent by the Planner.” Ursht said as the other eyes in the room looked to me as I stopped myself from looking to Ursht.

Resilient knows the Planner. It would explain how the Syndicate never found them if there was some AI created channel that only Resilient could pick up on. I wonder how she didn’t know about Avar Interi Hermanti then?
 
I thought.

Ursht turned to me, the others examining me more closely as Ursht talked.

“Are you sure?” He asked his voice pitched low so the others couldn’t hear him as he looked to them indicating who he was talking about.
 
You are in a room with killers.
 
I thought his eyes said as I wondered how he had picked up my gestures so easily. The Avarians seemed to be a race that picked up on other races nuances easily.

Perfect for a leader needing an army without the issues of race divide.
 
It made me wonder what else the Planner had done in its absence from the AI league.

“Yeah, be interesting to see what these idiots come up with.” I said with a malicious grin, he bowed his head, clearly not understanding me.

“If one of them attacks you, you are under the rules of ceasefire allowed to kill them and take their lands.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Ursht left as the one to my left barked.

“You whisper like a little baby, what will you do now that your minder is gone?”

“Lay down a few rules.” I said, I was now in command of a fourth of this small planet, I needed to assert my authority and show I wasn’t to be messed with. That said I had no idea what kind of cultural land mines I might run into or other issues.
 
Maybe sending Ursht away wasn’t the smartest idea.

“Rules? You must have power to have rules. You are without anything other than other metal beasts.”

“Did you see the ship they came from?” I replied levelly as lefty responded.

“We saw nothing but a loose asteroid cutting through our sky.”

“That was one of my ships,” this finally gained their attention, “one of twelve in current orbit of this planet. So when I am confident in my own power you should respect it. Now as I am making a water system for my own land I will offer you a similar system for the cost of resources plus time and effort by my people to make it. This can be paid in raw resources.”

“How will you make the water system? You will need to hold it, make sure it’s clean then move it to a place that people can use it.” The Avarian that had not spoken yet in front of me asked.

“I leave that to my engineers but I think they’ll probably use a system similar to that we have on our ships or if not; the one I have in this Mecha.”

“I am interested by this Mecha what does it do?”

“It looks after me.”

The main halls door burst open as a truly massive Avarian walked in. He was large, even for his own people muscle from hard work as well as scars from fighting adorned him.

“Are you the one that made my brother lose his station and now stopped production in our mines?” He demanded as I winced at his voice, my helmetless head unable to lessen the thunderous roar.

As I turned I felt more than heard or saw the Avarian battle master to my left move. In bare seconds he’d covered twenty metres and was bringing his shining extending claws down at me.

I drew and fired my pistol, rounds slamming into him as he kept coming. Finally one of my panicked shots hit his skull.

His head painted the room behind him as he dropped bonelessly I holstered my pistol and looked to the new Avarians.

“That’d be me.” I said to the stunned looks of all of the Avarians.

“I Krom so challenge you.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me! Can I just have a damned month where someone doesn’t challenge me?” I yelled.
 
Yasu’s going to kill me if he doesn’t.

“It does seem to be a trend with you.” Jeremiah admitted as I threw myself off of the chair landing in the centre of the room as I pulled out my plasmid sword and almost lazily twirled it.

The other battle masters had stared at me in shock when I’d killed their third but now they were nearly apoplectic as they stared at me facing down Krom.

“He has been battle trained; you will not survive even if you come from the stars.” Righty said as I rolled my eyes brandishing my sword in his direction.

“Will you please SHUT THE FUCK UP?” Listening to the silence I opened my hands in exaggerated relief, holding the sword between my fingers.

“Thank you. Now you were challenging me?” I turned to Krom conversationally; he really was a giant, bigger than even his brother Ursht. As I stood in front of him in my Mecha I realized he was a foot taller than me and his brother. It was the damned planet of giants with muscles that would put Bregend to shame.

“Yes, blades only.” He said.

“Works for me.” I put my pistol on safe as well as my rail gun, throwing them to Jeremiah.

Krom pulled a sword off of his own back of similar length to my own but this sword had the same metallic look as the fusion and shield generator dome. The edges impossibly thin—a telltale sign of a mono-molecular blade.

I left my helmet where it was after my last experience of it being stuck I wanted the mobility of not wearing it and being able to see my opponent.

I could see around the room red eyes appearing in the shadows, apparently we had a crowd.

As if a switch was flipped I and Krom charged one another our blades smashing into one another in a shower of sparks my plasmid dulled the single molecule edge of Krom’s sword making him grin.

I grinned too as I kicked out his knee dropping him to the ground. I brought my sword down to where his abdomen would’ve been but he’d already rolled away and was on his feet again barreling into me and sending me flying, I hit a wall back first my head cracking against the wall my battle suit’s raised collar stopping me from cracking my skull open. I felt blood run down my back. I shook it off as I got to my feet, dazed as Krom was following up his attack by running for me.

I had just enough time to interpose my sword my servos whining as he tried to use his massive strength against me. My servos did their job pushing him away by inches. Finally I released some tension unbalancing him as I pushed again with the full force of my Mecha sending him into the chair I’d been sitting on. Chunks of the black rock that made up the chair fell away as he grabbed it with his claws, leaving two inch deep rends in the polished surface.

He grinned as we circled one another. My left forearm still not completely healed ached something fierce though my head and the weird liquid coming from my nose scared me more.

“You are indeed warrior borne.” He said as we circled one another.

“Thanks, you’re not too bad at swinging a sword yourself.” He laughed the kind of deep belly laugh that makes you have to smile.

“I wonder what the awakening would do for you.” He said as we turned facing one another no longer pacing as we came together again. Where the Battle master had been quick Krom was lightning fast. I could barely keep up with him stopping one out of three of his attacks.

My time training and being Yasu’s dummy were paying off as I was able to turn the hits that made it through my guard so they thankfully didn’t penetrate my armour, but they were making me lose mobility quickly.

I caught him cross guard to cross guard; planting one boot I kicked him away savagely with the other. I heard something break, but he just got back on his feet without even a wince.
 
What the hell was he made of!
 
I thought to myself as I watched him.

“What in the hell are you doing.” I winced at the cold voice I knew all too well. Krom raised an eyebrow at the source.