Page 50 of True As Steel

“Whoa!” I whispered in shock in a voice so low I doubted anyone heard it—except for Jarog with his enhanced hearing.

The same stunned expression descended on the Fereins’ faces before confusion replaced it.

“But… you’re the ones that caught him,” the female argued.

“And you are the ones that killed him,” Jarog said, matter-of-factly.

Both Fereins stared at my man for a few moments, studying his features. Then a look of respect replaced their confusion. They bowed their heads in gratitude, then tapped some instructions on their respective armbands to transfer their bank info to Lanish.

I stared at Jarog with new eyes, seeing the formidable leader he would be for the new Cyborg city. He had not only given Haelin the victory she wanted, but also earned the respect—and likely loyalty—of these two Fereins. They would go home avenged, wealthier than any number of black-market trades would probably ever make them, and would undoubtedly spread a very positive word about their new leader.

With Lanish taking care of Grellik’s remains, we all headed home.

Epilogue

Jarog

An almost overwhelming wave of emotion—at least for a Cyborg—washed over me as I watched more than a hundred Cyborgs disembark in Tarkis’ spaceport. It had been a strategic move and a political statement to silence any attempt at a coup by the locals. Haelin had used her influence to have one of her trusted contacts with a top-of-the-line frigate rendezvous with my brothers to spare them from landing on Xyva aboard the beaten down vessels they had limped to Svaalis with after escaping the transport ship.

When they began their approach, Yelena had flown up there, meeting them before they entered Xyva’s orbit to deliver the fancy armor Haelin had ordered for them. First impression was everything. If we wanted the local population to willingly follow us, we needed to show we had the power to protect them.

And what a first impression my brothers made.

They marched out of the frigate with the rigorous discipline acquired through years of elite service in the military. They looked spectacular with their strong, lean, and muscular bodies, their don’t-fuck-with-me faces, and their Cyborg Rebel brand proudly displayed on their cheeks. Tamryn was standing to my right and Loreus to my left when Dakran and Marik—his two pod brothers—approached us as representatives of all the newly arrived Cyborgs.

My throat tightened as we shook hands, the need to feel the presence of my brothers in my neural network hitting me harder than ever.

“Hello, Jarog,” Dakran said in a friendly voice. “It is good to see you again under such auspicious circumstances.”

“And you as well,” I responded before turning to greet his pod brother. “Welcome to Tarkis, Marik. I look forward to getting to know all of you much better over the coming months.”

“We’re counting on it,” Dakran replied, his voice making no mystery of his meaning.

I gave him a coy smile. It was good to feel wanted. I didn’t doubt for a minute that I would end up joining their pod in the not-too-distant future, especially since they had agreed to draw in Caylan, damaged though his presence was. Whatever had happened to him, my pod brother survived in some state. Sooner or later, I would get a clue that would allow me to rescue him. Until then, I could only hold on to hope.

Although we made a display of the Cyborgs’ arrival, there were no celebrations organized. We weren’t here as conquerors. Instead, thanks to Loreus’s efficiency, we introduced some of the Cyborgs to key Ferein residents that he had identified as people who would hold important management roles in running the city. Having some of the locals in key positions went a long way towards allaying their fears as to what the future would look like.

It took less than two weeks to get the spaceport to be fully operational again. During that time, with the aid of Haelin’s architects and some Ferein civilians, the Cyborgs revived and expanded the village that had begun to grow around Rygow—the trade post where Tamryn and I had slept on the eve of reaching Satos. While Tarkis would remain our main city and commercial district, the Cyborgs and rebels would mostly settle around Rygow to keep our rebellion efforts separate from the black market and the weapons trade and development that occurred in the city.

I would lie if I said that the first three months were smooth sailing. While the other mercenary cartels had stayed out of Haelin’s and Grellik’s quarrel, a few tested the waters to see if they could take over the Ferein territory through a few incursions and skirmishes. Some of the local residents also grumbled that one of them should be in charge instead of us foreigners. It was a fair complaint. After all, the way we had instated ourselves as their new leaders could be viewed as a coup or hostile takeover.

However, a little logic and a major serving of reality check usually put them back in their lane. None of them had the means, the trusted manpower, the fighters, the allies, or the weapons to defend the city. If they tried to appropriate the stash Grellik previously had and was developing, the other people coveting his position would fight them over it. It didn’t take a genius to realize this would have otherwise turned into a bloodbath, not only internally, but also from outsiders looking to get a foothold.

The fact that I didn’t impose restrictive rules, but followed the standard lax ones found in most mercenary cities, went a long way towards quieting the muttering. In the end, my newpeopleonly wanted to make money and live in relative safety, which our presence provided.

For a short while, we feared Emperor Shui would attack us, once he received word of this blossoming little Cyborg city. But Xyva wasn’t Gorkon. However greedy the mercenaries could be, they didn’t tolerate outside interference when it came to dealing with their own. There was a reason Haelin had wanted the Fereins to be the ones killing Grellik. Her alliance with us had also made our presence as new leaders more acceptable. But the Kirsian Emperor sending his armies to nuke a Xyvan city would set a precedent they would never accept. The entire planet would rally with us should Emperor Shui be so foolish as to send his minions after us.

In truth, we weren’t that big of a threat to him… yet. While a hundred Cyborgs appeared impressive, we were just a drop in the ocean of the number of Cyborgs that had been created. We didn’t expect all of them to join us. Many were pursuing plans of their own, building their own army or assisting different rebel groups—just like I had initially intended to do with Tamryn.

Throughout that period, my woman was steadfast in her support. Unfortunately, we never heard anything about her brother. Although she didn’t say it out loud, Tamryn no longer held any hope that he had survived. It broke my heart for her, but I believed it as well. If nothing else, our new city allowed her to be reunited with her father and uncle. It was amusing getting the third degree from both men, trying to assess if I was worthy of Tamryn, while my poor female was dying with embarrassment.

In the month that followed her family’s arrival and that of the other rebel civilians in Rygow, Richard—Tamryn’s dad—turned out to be a phenomenal cyber engineer. My woman had not been kidding when she’d mentioned her father was quite the tech head. In no time, he took over the management of the weapons development lab, and upgraded both Rygow’s and Tarkis’ defense systems. All of that technology would also be put at the service of Bionus.

I was reviewing the results of the latest weapons tests and realized we needed a safe place to run some large-scale simulations. I commed Dakran about it and described what I had in mind.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure I fully understand what you need,” Dakran said.

“Yeah, it’s a little hard to explain,” I conceded. “Give me a minute, and I will send you a composite that should make it clearer.”

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