Page 49 of True As Steel

Realizing he wouldn’t make it, between two defensive maneuvers, the Ferein leader went on the offensive. It surprised me to see he was a solid pilot and fighter, although it shouldn’t have. After all, you didn’t climb the ranks to mercenary leader unless you were a badass in your own right. He skillfully swooped then skirted around and between his stalkers, no doubt hoping they’d end up pulverizing each other while trying to shoot him down. The whole while, he also launched some vicious counter attacks.

“Should we assist them?” I asked through the com when one of his pursuers got badly hit and was forced to pull out.

“Haelin would prefer the Fereins take him down on their own,”Jarog said in a pensive tone.“Let’s give them a few more minutes to see if they can get the upper hand. We must not give the impression that we used them as bait only to swoop in and steal their prize.”

“Agreed,”Lanish said in turn.“Either way he goes down will work for us. But, paying out such a generous bounty will ingratiate Haelin to the Fereins. That said, she also wants to limit the number of casualties that may occur while taking Grellik out.”

That made sense considering she’d laid it on pretty thick about how cavalier Grellik had been with the lives of his troops in order to achieve his goal. But all of that became a moot point when a yellow warning light appeared on my navigation panel.

“EVERYONE FAN OUT!” Jarog ordered. “Get away from him!”

I didn’t know what that warning meant, but didn’t ask questions and dove down, away from Grellik’s ship. Jarog, Lanish, and our other three companions each fled in a different direction. Seconds later, a blinding light lit up the early evening sky. The EMP blast caught at least two of the Fereins pursuing Grellik. They started falling from the sky like drunken bugs as their pilots struggled to regain control of their systems. I couldn’t see the others to know how they fared. The shockwave only grazed the tail end of my ship, causing more scare than damage.

“I’m going after him,”Jarog said.“Once I’ve got him caught in a tractor beam, take out his propulsion system. He’s probably recharging his EMP as we speak. That gives us three minutes.”

We all turned around to chase after Grellik. Only two of his original pursuers were still in the game. However, judging by their flight patterns, their systems had been affected by the electromagnetic pulse. Jarog zipped through the sky after his quarry. He came out of stealth a split second before firing his tractor beam on him. In an acrobatic ballet, Grellik tried to shake him off and break free of the beam, but my man was far too accurate and relentless.

At first, I tried to get a clean shot to disrupt his propulsion system, but quickly realized our target’s vessel was too powerful for Jarog to be able to fully control him. Instead, I fired my tractor beam at him and latched on. Grellik’s ship quite literally appeared to stall in mid-air, unable to fight the traction from both our beams. The same yellow warning appeared on my screen.

In the split second it took me to wonder if I should bail out or hang in there, Lanish swooped in and fired a single photon torpedo with supernatural accuracy. It struck at the same time Grellik fired a second EMP. The pulse didn’t get to blast outward, choking on the explosion, and wrapping his vessel in a series of electric tendrils that fried his systems.

If not for our beams still pulling it, Grellik’s ship would have plummeted from the sky like a rock. Flanking him on each side, Jarog and I slowly brought him down to the ground, our companions and the two remaining Ferein ships on our tail. As soon as we landed, a bruised and bloodied Grellik ran out of his battered ship, hands in the air in surrender. I wondered whether the aerial fight was responsible for his injuries or if he’d battled his way out of his city before taking flight.

“Tell Haelin she won,” Grellik shouted as Jarog, Lanish, and I approached him. “She wanted me out of the city. I gave her what she wanted and was leaving Xyva. Why did you stop me? Why did you help them attack me?”

Behind us, the two Ferein fighters had landed, their pilots running towards us.

“You didn’t give us what she wanted,” Lanish said with contempt. “You were running because she turned everyone against you that you intended to sacrifice to get your way. You were only fleeing Xyva to rebuild your forces and come back to wreak havoc. This is the end of the road for you, Grellik. You should have heeded our warnings while you could.”

“That bastard’s blood is mine!” shouted an angry Ferein female, marching towards her former leader with murder in her eyes.

If not for the many small horns peeking through her hair, and the short tail that extruded from the base of her spine, she could have passed for a beautiful, dark-skinned human.

“NO!” shouted the Ferein man dashing towards us from the other vessel. “His blood is mine to spill! He sacrificed my only son for his ambitions!”

“Both my husband and brother died crushed in those fucking Burrowers,” the female snarled. “You will not cheat me out of my revenge!”

“Stop it, both of you,” Jarog said in a commanding voice that had the two Fereins standing to attention. “I am Jarog Kaijo. And once this vermin has been taken care of, I will be taking over the leadership of Tarkis and of the Ferein territory as a whole. It will become Cyborg territory. I understand your anger, but under my rule, there will be no vigilante justice within our streets.”

“Haelin Zorani set a bounty on his head for him to be brought dead or alive!” the female hissed through her teeth, her hands fisted. “I will not fight you over the credits—you brought his vessel down. But I demand the kill!”

“You cannot deny us! The bounty stands for another 24 hours!” the man seconded. “I, too, gladly relinquish the credits. But I want his blood.”

I cast a glance towards Jarog, forcing myself to keep a neutral expression despite the worry gnawing at me. They were entitled to their revenge, barbaric though it was. As the future leader of a mercenary city, he couldn’t go martial law on their asses, especially not under these unusual and tragic circumstances.

“I said that I will not tolerate vigilante justice within our streets,” Jarog repeated in a calm voice and with the same emotionless expression on his face. He waved at the area around us. “We’re not in Tarkis.”

My jaw dropped, and the two Fereins’ eyes widened in almost perfect sync as understanding dawned on them.

“No! No! You can’t let them do this!” Grellik exclaimed when a vicious grin stretched his former people’s lips. “You’re supposed to take me in!”

Jarog took a step back, leaving the Fereins to rush Grellik. I wasn’t a fan of standing idly by while a man was getting beaten to death with unfair odds. And yet, no pity entered my heart as they broke his bones, punched and kicked him until his gurgling pleas turned the wet, meaty sound of inert flesh getting pummeled.

By the time the Fereins relented, their former leader—who had actually been a fairly handsome male—was an unrecognizable bloody mess. They turned to Jarog, as if awaiting his verdict or next orders. My man stared at them for a second then turned to Lanish, gesturing with his head for him to interact with them.

Intrigued, I observed the Narengi male as he approached the two Fereins, who seemed just as curious as I felt. Lanish tapped a couple of instructions on the interface of his armband before looking back at them.

“Please transfer your bank information to me so that you can each receive your half of the bounty,” Lanish said.

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