Page 36 of The Rebel and the Rogue

Ivy, Cerberus Territory, Canteen

“Canteen, my ass.” The muttered thought slipped from my lips on a whisper that would not carry. I only had a few hours remaining of my bargain with Astra, and so I spent my time like every minute was made of gold. It took me eighty-three minutes from the moment I left Zenos behind to steal some explosives from Astra’s storerooms and make my way back to the canteen I’d been to the night before. I had to hurry also because the stun on Zenos would only last so long. When he recovered, I had to be gone. Long gone.

A huge smile lit my face when I saw the specialty grenades. They were ReCon ordinance, designed to blow a compact hole through a wall. Just one wall, and just large enough to allow us to pass one fighter at a time. I had much experience with them. They were stolen, no doubt, from a Coalition ship so I felt no guilt whatsoever stealing them back. They were mine first, and I knew exactly how to use them.

I did want to take down Cerberus. I did not want to blow a hole in the airtight structures that protected the people living on this moon base above planet Hyperion. I’d learned much about the culture here, the people. They weren’t wild like everyone thought. They were trying to live, to raise children, to be happy, just like everyone else in the universe. I would not mess with that.

I was only after one male now. One villain. One more bad guy. As I watched the canteen from the rooftop Zenos had pointed out last night, I realized something, or rather remembered something.

“Thought you had me fooled, didn’t you, Cerberus?” Looking through the specially enhanced visor on my bounty hunting helmet,

I watched with interest as the heated outlines of five workers moved about in an underground lab. The visor was one of my favorite toys. It made me feel like Superman, X-ray vision and all, even seeing below the ground.

“Thought I wouldn’t notice?” I said to myself. “Too covered in the stench of Cerberus Legion blood?” Talking out loud to no one was the best indicator of my mental state, but I was beyond caring now. The night before, not one of the Cerberus Legion members that I’d taken down had smelled of alcohol nor behaved as if they were drunk, out to get lit and party hard. I’d been around enough dirty bars and backward canteens on the outskirts of Coalition-controlled space to know what the drink of choice smelled like on just about every planet. Here? Nothing.

But I had smelled something else.

Quell. Not on their breath, as I had with my unit, but on their clothing. In their hair.

Last night with Zenos, I’d been standing outside the bar—and then been inside. I wasn’t so hyper-focused now and realized where I’d been—a huge Quell production laboratory—and had no idea.

I checked my uniform data. Midday. Several blocks away, the sounds of children playing and an active trading plaza drifted to me under the tall dome overhead. Over here at the canteen? It was like I was doing ReCon on a morgue. It was quiet, almost dead. The whole area was shut down.

Seemed even Cerberus didn’t want to do what they did in front of their children.

Maybe a few of them were human, after all. Well, not human exactly, but perhaps not monsters either. I had to hope all of that meant that while Cerberus Legion was awful, their code extended to children. Left them out of it.

When Jillela walked out of the building, I allowed her to go. I wanted her to remain among the ranks. Clearly she had a line to Cerberus himself. I’d bested her in a fight, but I’d also taken down a hybrid Atlan in beast mode. She hadn’t stood a chance against me. And that made her reasonable. Intelligent. Cerberus, the male who led the entire legion, he was an asshole, and he was going down. He’d known about Gerian Eozara, knew about the Quell production. Allowed it. Probably reaped the rewards himself. He was just as guilty as Gerian. Cerberus Legion was going to need Jillela’s help to pick up the pieces and protect their innocents after I was finished today.

Cerberus, the leader, was going down. Cerberus, the legion, was going to change. I didn’t know Jillela well, but I had to believe she was not as evil as her boss.

Before I settled on the rooftop, I’d gathered information from a male whose arm I’d twisted from his socket before I knocked him out. He’d shared that there truly was an underground lab as I’d thought and that Cerberus himself was there now.

I repacked my gear, careful of the explosives I carried, and made my way down and out of the building. Circling around a few blocks, I moved from shadow to shadow until I was at the rear of the building. There was no door, no windows, not on any of the levels. But I didn’t need one. I was going to make my own.

Placing the first sticky grenade against the base of the wall, I set the timer for twenty seconds, ran and took cover.

Boom!

The sound ricocheted up and down the empty streets, and I knew I would have company soon. Lots of company.

“Bring it, assholes.” Smiling from ear to ear when I saw the explosive had done its job, I stepped through the crumbling hole in the wall and ran for the next barrier. An elevator shaft. Sealed doors. Locked. The security was good, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to crack the coding, even with my Hived-Up enhancements. Screw it. I had enough explosives to take down three buildings this size.

I set another charge, ran around the corner.

Boom!

I peeked around the edge of the wall. Yep. I’d made a nice big hole in the now non-functioning elevator doors. Perfect.

I pulled another explosive from my pack and tossed it down the elevator shaft.

When the explosion rumbled beneath my boots and a blast of flame and heat rushed past me, I tossed another one. The last probably took care of the elevator’s ceiling and this one would fall inside the box and take care of the door.

One more blast and I knew it was time. It was like a video game. I had the weapons, I had the powers. It was time to seek out the enemy and finish them.

Pulling my blasters free from their holsters, I walked to the blown-to-bits elevator doors and looked down the smoke-filled elevator shaft. I had a moment to think that it was weird elevators were here on Rogue 5, just like on Earth. Similar primitive technology in so many ways. The only difference was the explosion part. I’d never had reason to blow up an elevator shaft on Earth. Here… I had plenty of reason.

It was time to finish this, once and for all.

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