The Legacy of Tain Part 2: Stone Cold Killers

Tavek threw a fury of jabs and kicks into the red punching bag. The walls were the standard PeaceKeeper black, red, and grey. His small ponytail bounced slightly with every blow. The sound of air conditioning rustled behind the sound of grunting and strikes. Sun shined through the basement window into the training area. Most of the time the skies were emptying gray rain onto the black buildings, but this morning, the sun blazed across the urban sprawl. Even though it was no more than 70 outside, the air conditioning in all the homes ran full blast. Tavek's long black coat and gun belt sat on a table by the door. A pair of stealthy hands removed his Serpent Order issue scoped pistol.

"Gutrick, you said we would spar some, I have pre-bought a showing of a Riplous fight at Regheemond, and it starts in 2 arns!" he yelled between blows. "Hurry up old man", he added. The old, but still muscular PeaceKeeper walked in holding a single edged axe. "I thought we should start with hand weapons" he said to Tavek.

Tavek focused as he continued to pound the punching bag. Being a spy, interrogator, and an expert assassin, Tavek could read people just by their eyes. He continued to hit, pretending to be oblivious to Gutrick. Then,he juked out of the way as the axe came down were the base of his neck would have been. The blade dug into the bag and stuck. With a quick back fist and aside kick, he sent the old man back. Gutrick looked at his weapon embedded in the bag. He fell into a fighting stance. Tavek ignored the weapon and matched his stance.

"You think that you can challenge me Seefer?" asked Gutrick with an arrogant tone. "I taught you everything you know", he threw a few punches at Tavek who easily parried them. "Not everything I know", said Gutrick throwing a kick at Tavek's lower leg. Tavek simply raised his leg and punched Gutrick in the nose, sending him back. "True, but as you have mastered 1 martial art, I have mastered 3 old man" said Tavek. "Of course, I don't know which is my favorite", he added.

He led with a side kick and smacked Gutrick with a palm strike to his already bleeding nose. Gutrick fell to the ground. "Of course I like the special forces that you taught me" said Tavek carefully watching his former teacher stand up. Gutrick threw a punch, which Tavek caught. With a quick strike to the extended elbow, he crushed the join. The bone burst threw the skin at the join, and blood spewed out onto the floor. Gutrick fell screaming to his knees. "Maybe Sambara, the art of bone breaking", he added. His evil eyes met the crippled Gutrick's. "And finally, Jirera, the art of one hit kills". He drew back his fist, as Gutrick trembled. He suddenly stopped. "Too bad I need you alive for interrogation", said Tavek in a disappointed tone.

The door exploded and a flash-bang was detonated in the room. Tavek was standing on the side of the bag with the axe embedded. He quickly scanned the room for his pistol, but to no avail. He was barefoot, and didn't even have his foot blades. 5 shock troopers in huge suits of black armor entered in an arrowhead formation. The point of the arrowhead brandished a small version of a pulse cannon. The team leveled their weapons at him. "I give you a chance to surrender" ordered the point man. Tavek knew that they couldn't see the axe. He raised his hands and walked to the other side of the bag.

The shock trooper forced him to the bag and made him put his hands on top of the bag. Tavek grabbed the unseen axe. A second with a standard pulse rifle came from his left. Tavek calculated and waited for the right moment. The trooper with the big gun took one hand off it as he reached for his hand cuffs.

He discreetly grabbed the axe with his right hand. He snatched the axe from the bag and spun around. With a quick kick to the cannon,it pointed at the second trooper as it fired. The trooper collapsed screaming with a hole burning in his chest. Simultaneously, he brought the axe down on the shoulder of the trooper with the big gun. The armor was too thick for the axe to do any real damage. The trooper fell to the ground with only a flesh wound.

Before the other three could react, he tossed his axe overhand at the closet one. He had never thrown one, and the axe smacked into the trooper's helmet handle first. This confused the trooper for a few crucial seconds. Tavek leapt into a cartwheel as several pulse blasts shattered the room around him. He sprinted for the east wall, barley ahead of the fire from the troopers. He climbed the wall with his feet, going completely horizontal. He made a strait leap from the wall, sliding to the fallen trooper with the big gun. In one fluid motion, he grabbed the cannon and fired, blowing a huge hole in the first trooper. Still on his side, Tavek fired two more blasts from the cannon. One red ball of death smacked a trooper in the chest, the other blew the last trooper's left leg clean off. The trooper fell backwards, immobile.

Tavek inspected the room as he returned to his feet. Two where still alive, if crippled. He walked over to the trooper that had just been de-limbed. The trooper breathed desperately, which has only amplified by his gas mask. Tavek descended on him. "Who sent you?" asked Tavek, stepping on the bloody stump. The trooper streamed in pain. "Pro-Consul", was all he could squeeze out before passing out. The trooper who Tavek had disabled with the axe spoke quietly into the comm. "Alpha team failed, gas him", he said trying to stay still.

The basement window fractured as a large, smoking gas canister burst through. Tavek was trained well enough to know what the gas was, and what its effects were. He grabbed the gasmask/helmet from the unconscious trooper, and quickly equipped it. Throwing down the cannon, Tavek made a break for the vent on the west wall. He ripped it from the wall and jumped through, crawling at full speed.

The trooper woke up in time to see the gas rising around him. He quickly grabbed his pistol, and put it to his head. He pulled the trigger. He got of easy, the old man Gutrick was not so lucky. The swirling white gas surrounded him, forcing its way down his lungs. "No!" he screamed as it began to attack his lungs. Blood began to poor from his eyes, mouth, and ears. After a few seconds of screams, he came to a convulsing finish. By this time, Tavek had slid out into the ally besides the building. Out of sight, Tavek quickly slid into a storm drain, and fled.

A squad of ten shock troopers burst through the door, weapons ready. They searched the bodies. "Tavek escaped", muttered the only surviving trooper.

That same soldier stood across from Pro-Consul Hasaran a few minutes later in a Marauder hovering the scene. "How could you frell up this simple task, he was unarmed, unarmored, and alone!" screamed Hasaran at the trooper who carried his SWAT helmet in his one good arm. "Sir, he is Colonel Seffer Tavek, a Sadukara, he is the Union's top soldier sir", said the trooper standing at attention. Hasaran sighed. "Too bad you failed Lieutenant, you had a promising career", said Hasaran leveling his pistol at the trooper's head. He squeezed off a round without a flinch. Even before the thud of the trooper falling to the ground had faded he turned on his comm. "This is Hasaran, I want Lanbo" he said coldly.

Tavek punched the wall of Tain's office with a loud yell. "Let me kill him now!" screamed Tavek. "Patience son", said Tain calmly. "What do you mean patience, he tried to kill me!" he screamed. "Don't let your anger cloud your judgment, this is not the time to kill him, but soon", said Tain. "How soon?" asked Tavek slightly calmer. "He is too well protected her, we must lead him away from the safety of the home system", suggested Tain. "Yes, but how will he get him to leave the home world, he's the Chairman's puppet?" asked Tavek. "Simple, you go somewhere else, and he will follow you", said Tain.

"I need you to take an Attack Ship to Section 2 of the Uncharted Territories, to a Nebula near its outskirts. From there you can keep an eye on Scorpious, make sure he doesn't frell things up", the elder spy said. "I will leak information on your whereabouts to Hasaran". "But won't he just send another squad like he did today?" asked Tavek. "Yes, he will send a military extermination squad after you, he won't expect a Serpent Order one to kill you", replied Tain. "So, all you have to do is slaughter that squad, the military command will be so angry that they will order Hasaran to use Order troops to kill you". "But Order troops will not kill me", said Tavek. "Except for…" Tain left the sentence for his son to finish. "His elite guard!"exclaimed Tavek. "If he sent them to get you, he would be unprotected here, meaning that he would have to travel with them", said Tain. "Then we can ambush his fleet, and slaughter his guard and him in one strike", realized Tavek. "Precisely, and we can blame his fleets destruction on a power in the Uncharted Territories", said Tain.

Tavek smiled, and walked out. "Take Jenovian with you", headded. "Two more things son, one make sure that you kill the military squad outside of Section 2, I don't want interference from our forces there", saidTain. "Second, a warrior has caught my eye in these gladiatorial games, I want him recruited for our cause, his name is…" Tavek cut him off. "I know who",said Tavek walking out.

Scorpious ripped a stuffed Hynerian from his bulkhead and threw it at Braca and his tactical adviser Sharan. "How could Crichton have escaped this arena and disappeared without a trace?" he screamed. "Sir, he believes that the Leviathan has escaped into the debris field that resides in this system, it blocks all long range scans" said Sharan with a lowered head. He had felt the wraith of Scorpious a cycle ago when he misjudged Talyn's ability to Starburst. "But not to worry sir, once we have taken all the Sebacean worlds in this system, he will have him surrounded, then all he have to do is tighten our nose of picket ships around the field, and flush him out", said Sharan. "His only route out now will be through Teheran space, but they attack and destroy anything not their own",he added. Crichton had escaped many traps in the past, Scorpious wasn't overconfident.

Braca broke in to sound useful. "Sir, there is the matter of the missing Marauder", he chimed in. "The crew was found dead in space not far from Regheemond", said Braca. "We will proceed to our next target world, leave a few frigates to protect our newly captured planets of Servec and Kintaka, send a 2 frigates to search the debris field", ordered Scorpious with a growl. Crichton had escaped too many times; he must be brought to justice. Tain needs the wormhole technology; the Space Farer's Death may not be enough to take over the home worlds.

6 agents with black flowing trench coats stood behind Tavekin the middle of the dusty street. He wore the same, along with a black and red"over seas" hat. Jenovian stood beside him in a sleek, black combat suit. Their gold rings shined in the blazing sun. Tavek eyed a small tavern. Brown grime lined the bottom of their coats. The warrior he seeked was reportedly here. Just as he was about to enter, a Sebascean man burst through the window, dead. His throat had been slashed wide open. Tavek smiled at the brutally killed man. "He's here", Tavek said with almost glee. "Stay outside", he ordered the agents and Jenovian. The steel door flung open, and a stampede of various races charged out. Tavek walked through the open door.

A pitched melee was in full swing inside the dank hole. He saw a Sebascean in light body armor raise a primitive rifle to his shoulder. A bizarre whirling/buzzing sound pierced the air. Some kind of disc flew and sliced strait through the bounty hunter's armor, then the bounty hunters stomach, then it sliced out his back in a VERY bloody mess. Blood and flesh covered the walls like some sick piece of art. Tavek followed the disc back toits owner, a bald, muscle bound figure in full black body armor. The disc loyally hovered next to they warrior, who grabbed it, placing his fingers in the five holes on the disc.

A pointed-eared Tyreen with long black hair charged the warrior with a pair of blades. Dual wrist blades came over his right fist. He parried the first blade with them and the second with the disc. He easily overpowered the Tyreen smacked him like a rag doll against the wall of the cantina. With a quick claw swipe, he ripped out the Tyreen's throat. The dead soldier slid down the wall, in a pool of blood.

The window to the left of the figure exploded as a man in full riot gear jumped through holding a rifle. An unarmored Sebascean with 2 pistols came from the kitchen double doors. The warrior was in a pincer. As he ducked a rifle blast, he hurled the disc at the rifleman. The rifle blast flew over him and killed the akimbo gunner. The disc sliced the other's head, helmet and all in half. The figure relaxed as the last bounty hunter fell to the floor. Tavek had been watching in the shadows. He was completely invisible. Another bounty hunter burst in the door. Just as Tavek delivered a kick to his neck, a green disrupter bolt blew strait through the bounty hunter's heart. Tavek turned to see the warrior's disrupter pistol leveled at him from 20 yards away. A 20 yard shot strait through the heart in a fraction of a second. From the hip. The warrior closed on Tavek. "Who are you!" hissed out the warrior in a deep voice. As he closed, Tavek could make out his features. He looked Sebascean from adistance only. His Caucasian skin was actually made up of fine scales. His eyes were gold. A snake like tongue flicked from his mouth. Snake like fangs showed when he smiled.

"Riplous, I am not your enemy", said Tavek calmly. The Allyviperian studied him. "Yeah, and I trust a heathen", said Riplous in his deep, husky voice. "Why should I believe you?" "Because I am a fellow warrior", said Tavek. Riplous chuckled. "Oh really, the warriors of this galaxy don't impress me much", said Riplous his pistol on Tavek still. "True, only a Scarren is stronger and more durable than an Allyviperian, but you also have great agility", said Tavek. "But you are only the second best warrior in this galaxy", said Tavek. "Who's the first?" asked Riplous. "Me of course", said Tavek with a sinister smile.

"You must be a Peace Keeper, only they can be that arrogant" said Riplous lowering his pistol. "Your pretty cocky for a marine, I have killed dozens of you easily", said Riplous. "I am not a marine, I am a colonel in the Serpent Order", replied Tavek. "A spy!" exclaimed the reptilian warrior disappointed. "No, I am a Sadukara, I have been trained in all the combat, intelligence, and interrogation skills my people have mastered, I have killed hundreds of men", said Tavek with a bit of Peace Keeper arrogance. "And, I need you to fight by my side", said Tavek. Riplous raised his eye brow. (Or at least where an eye brow would be on a mammal) "Why would I help you?" asked Riplous.

"You said in your profile at Reeghammond that your people worship battle, I have a great war for you", said the colonel. "No, we worship Sett, war pleases him", said Riplous. "We must cleanse the universe of the heathens", he added. Tavek smiled. "Both our peoples want the lesser races to be put in their proper place", said Tavek.

"Who will we do battle against, Scarrens?" asked the warrior. "Other Peace Keepers", was the reply. "Why would you kill your own kind?" asked Riplous. "Because their faction is trying to destroy our faction", said Tavek. "Ah, my people faced a similar war, the House of Riplous and the House of Dimok fought for control of our empire a thousand years ago", said Riplous. "Riplous won", guessed Tavek. Riplous nodded. "So are you royalty?" asked Tavek. "No, our last name comes from what house we belong too, Riplous controls our entire empire", he said. "My name is Avrond Riplous, First Fang of the Blood Knights of the Holy Allyviperian Empire", he said.

"Will you join us Blood Knight?" asked Tavek. Riplous smiled. "Why not, I can't pass up killing Sebasceans", he replied. They exited the bar into the street. Jenovian walked up to them. "Seefer, we have a problem", she said. Tavek simply raised a curious eye brow. "Our Attack Ship was force to break orbit by a Battle Cruiser", she said. "Our ship managed to flee and is now hiding on the dark side of the moon, waiting for us to contact them, but the Battle Cruiser knows we're here, they.." "How many Marauders?" asked Tavek. "3, one is Slam Squad's", she said. "They only send 15 marines to stop me!" exclaimed Tavek insulted. "Crichton gets a whole fleet after him, and I get 3 Marauders!" "But one of them is Captain Lanbo's Slam Squad…" she trailed off before it was regarded as an insult. "We will slaughter them", she said reassuringly.

"Slam Squad", was just a nick name for the extermination squad under the command of Captain Lanbo. Extermination squads were simply a military version of the Serpent Order's death squads know as "Hunter Squads". Lanbo and Slam Squad was often believed to be a myth, no real group good have such an efficient body count. Insiders like Tavek knew better.

He addressed his agents. Alright men, I want you all to take cover in the cantina", "I want one of you to disguise yourself as a civilian, and direct them towards that patch of woods of there", he said pointing to a grove of dead trees. "I also want a weapons count", he said. "Sir Yes sir!"replied the whole squad, including Jenovian. All but one entered the bloodsoaked cantina. The last man ran towards down town. (About 5 buildings together). Tavek turned to Riplous. "Let's get to killing shall we?" asked Tavek leading the way to the grove.

An old Peace Keeper disembarked from the Marauder first. He wore a uniform like Laraaq, as did the rest of his squad. The other 2 squads were in the classic black armor, just regulars. The old man studied his surroundings. "Fall in!" he ordered. The troops slid into attention.

Tavek and Riplous stood in the middle of the dead woods. The floor of dead twigs snapped and popped like hundreds of tiny firecrackers. "I have studied Lanbo's tactics in situations such as this", said Tavek. "He will send one squad to flank the left, one to flank the right, after that they will encircle", said Tavek. "At the same time, Slam squad will come up the middle", "Surround and slaughter", said Riplous with a smile as he recognized an Allyviperian tactic. "Precisely, but they will be about 50 metras apart to encircle, leaving them vulnerable", replied Tavek. "So we strike while they are separated…" "You take one squad, I take one", chimed in Riplous catching on."Exactly, then we focus on Slam Squad", said Tavek.

"I will take the east side", replied Riplous. "There's hardly any cover there, how will you ambush them?" asked Tavek. "I will ambush them in plain sight", said Riplous in a crafty tone. He pressed a button on his right wrist. He quickly shimmered into nothingness. "Meet you at the slaughter of Slam", came Riplous' voice from nowhere. Tavek watched his shimmering outline run towards the east.

Slam held position while the two regular squads began their flanking action. The unarmored LTs. Commanded each squad, while a cannon armed marine took the point of each. The marines were every sloppy in making their way through the brush and dead trees. They were about as quiet as an armored column. Lanbo shook his head; Tavek knew that they were coming now. This smelled like a trap to him. He had about 30 years of battle field experience, and everything told him so. But he knew that if he retreated, Hasaran would have him executed for cowardice. But, Slam Squad had fallen into traps before, usually out numbered and out gunned, and had always prevailed. They had never failed. Besides, the regulars would be his canaries.

Tavek eyed the two advancing squads. He would draw first blood, with Riplous not having to wait long to do the same. Now he hoped that Riplous was as good as he seemed or claimed. Tavek was not dressed for wilderness warfare; his black was very obvious in a world of brown and gray. He reached in his coat and pulled out a pair of machine pistols with the whooshing sound of snap holsters releasing. They were a little bigger than the standard pulse pistol. The barrel was thinner, with a huge maw. The clip was located between the tip of the barrel and the trigger. They would unleash a tremendous rate of fire.

It took a while, but he found his hiding space. A hole had been dug about 6 feet and 5 inches down, giving Tavek 4 inches head room. He squeezed in and rolled a sizable chunk of dead log on top of it, covering the whole hole, except for a small crack in front. It was right in the squad's path. He had just gotten settled down when the point man stepped by his hole. He watched the cannon carrying marine go by, flanked by the machine pistol wielding LT. A pair of rifle men walked on both sides of him. Now he just had to wait for the rear guard. He had no rattlers or butterflies in his stomach, nor did he get the shakes. He was a stone cold killer. Each man he killed brought him closer to Hasaran's death and his father's return to power. If he could get the jump on the rear guard, he could mow down the entire squad in less than 2 seconds of sustained fire. He could take his time with his usual style and bravado. But he could save that for Slam Squad. The rear guard had just made the last mistake of his life.

As the last rifleman walked in front of the hole, Tavek hurled the 50 pound log at the back of his knees. The marine yelled as he tumbled to the ground. Tavek acrobatically flipped out from the hole to his feet, drawing the machinene pistols simultaneously. As he reached the downed rear guard, the blade came from the sole of his foot. A quick kick from his left foot sliced the marine's throat. His squad mates turned to acknowledge his gurgling screams and were met by Tavek's weapons. "Fi…" the LT. screamed out before dozens of bolts of read death tore through his squad. The two rear riflemen were literally walked back on their heels by the impact of the pulse blasts. Burning and boiling blood shot out everywhere as they fell. The left one's left arm was blown/burned off. The smoldering limb bounced once on the ground before staying there. Tavek then split his guns between the point man and the LT. The point man fell without giving him any trouble, but the LT. fell to his knees, his eyes forever staring ahead. Six holes had burned through his lungs, and one through his heart. Tavek gave a chuckle and reloaded.

The world was a wash of blue and black through the eyes of Riplous. A few birds and rodents stuck out as globs of reds and oranges. He glared at a group of 5 light blue/orange figures came walking towards his position. He didn't see light, only ultra-violet or heat. The skin of the PeaceKeepers glowed orange. Their armor was a bright light blue, different from the dark blue of the dead forest. He sat atop the only tree in the clearing, totally devoid of leaves. If it wasn't for his body cloak, he would be easily spotted.

But the cloak only gave him partial invisibility. If he moved, his out line could be seen. Also, breaking the field of the cloak, like drawing a weapon, would deactivate the device.

He would wait for them to gather close, then the first sign of him that they would get would be his blades in their body. The squad's attention turned to Tavek's firefight. Riplous could see the blazing white hot pulse blasts as they cut into the marines. He looked below and saw that they had gathered within two feet of each other.

Even before the sounds of Tavek's pistols died down, the silhouette of Riplous dropped onto the rear guard. A slight electrical surge sound was made when the cloak dropped. His wrist blades on his right hand sliced through the back of a rifleman's helmet with a splat. At the same time, he stabbed his large, tan colored retractable stout spear through the second rifleman's back and out his chest by about a foot. The first dropped without a sound, but the second let out a slight bubbling cry. Blood flew out of hismouth. The LT. turned his machine pistol ready. Riplous ducked the constant stream of pulse blasts and swiped with his blades. Through his eyes, Riplous saw the gun arm, gun and all, hit the ground; Orange flew from it in a stream. The LT. lay on the ground screaming. Orange poured out of his right shoulder. He screams were ear-piercing.

Riplous side stepped a blast from the point-man's cannon. The large blast ripped a tree in half, sending it down onto the crippled LT. ending his screams in a gruesome crunch. Riplous grabbed the cannon and forced the point-man to fire on the marine who Riplous had stunned when he jumped from the tree. The blast blew away the marines entire center of his chest, leaving a smoking, bloodless hole, where the other side was clearly visible. Riplous grabbed the point-man's forearms and dislocated both the man's elbows. Crippled, he fell to his knees. Riplous threw off the man's bulky helmet, exposing his face. The point-man's eyes were a slightly different temperature from his face, making them stand out. Riplous lined up the tips of his wrist blades perfectly, and punched.

He called Tavek on his new PK badge. "Tavek, second squad neutralized", reported Riplous. He withdrew his blades with a squishing sound, retracted his spear, then cloaked, moving into the woods.

An officer on a Marauder yelled into the radio. "Unit 2, come in Unit 2! Unit 2!" Unit one had already lost contact. The pilot hit his badge. "Captain, we have lost contact with unit 2 as well", he reported hesitantly.

"Understood", came back Lanbo as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. His gray hair blew slightly in the wind. He rested his rifle on his shoulder. "Units 1 and 2 have been simultaneously taken out". He addressed to his squad. Various curses came from them. "Let's face the facts people, we are facing at least 2 very highly skilled foes, one is our objective, Colonel Seefer Tavek, the only soldier to survive training to become a Sadukara in over 50 cycles", he said dramatically in his gruff voice. "Under the circumstances, retreat is a viable and advisable option", he asked. "Sir, with all due respect, Slam Squad has never backed down, or failed, we won't start now", interrupted the sergeant. Lanbo smiled. "Excellent, I want a standard sweeping pattern, rear guard stay alert, and don't hesitate to shoot any place that could be hiding an enemy", ordered Lanbo as they formed a loose formation, entering the woods.

Tavek squatted, machine pistols drawn, his back to a large pile of sticks and logs. It would offer little protection from pulse blasts, but it would conceal him. He hoped to flank them like last time, but with the lack of cover, he would probably have to use some acrobatics. The squad came crunching through the twigs, at a nice steady pace. Suddenly, the crunching stopped. The squad had froze. They had probably been given a hand signal to. They were suspicious of the pile, Tavek thought. He eyed the relatively empty stretch of land on both sides. A downed log about 20 yards away was the only cover. Their would be a commando on either side to watch for someone running out. The pulse cannon man would move from point, to center so he could break apart the barrier. Tavek listened, and heard a pair of foot steps slowly creep towards center. It would take about 3 microts. Tavek made a silent count down in his head. When it reached zero, he ran.

Just as he ran, keeping down, the pile was shattered by the blast of the pulse cannon. Blasts from a rifle and a machine pistol began to slice through the wood. Before Tavek cleared the pile, he leapt side ways, right side towards the ground. It seemed to go in slow motion. The surprised commando missed the diving Tavek completely. Tavek aimed his barrels in slow motion, and squeezed the triggers. The pulse blasts seemed to lightly float towards the target. Time sped up as the blasts cut into the commando's chest. Tavek landed on his shoulder and immediately cart wheeled to his feet. He fired while he ran for the log. Blasts hit all around him as he ran, bushes and small saplings were ripped apart by the red blasts. The commando with the machine pistol went down in a wave of pulse blasts. Tavek made another shooting dive, and made it behind the log.

The cannon commando saw a shimmering figure running at him. Before he could react, Riplous appeared his spear already in the commando's chest. Riplous picked him up, big gun and all, with one hand. The commando dangled from the spear. Riplous heaved him at the other rifleman, pinning him to the ground. Riplous dove for cover as Lanbo fired at him. Lanbo had his back to Tavek.

Tavek used this opportunity to make his move. Lanbo turned to the sounds of twig breaking and saw Tavek's twin machine pistols lowered at his stomach. Lanbo's heart sank. In slow motion, he saw the triggers pulled. At a distance of a foot, the guns exploded into action. Tavek simply crossed his wrists. The repeating pulse blasts sliced Lanbo in half, torso from legs. The upper body fell backwards; Lanbo's mouth was stuck forever in shock and pain.

"No!" screamed the downed rifleman just before Tavek heard the slicing/crushing sound of Riplous' blades penetrating his skull. Riplous put his foot on the dead commando's chest and withdrew his blades. The two killers smiled at each other, and shook hands.

The three Marauder pilots stood together. "They're all dead", said a female pilot. "Then lets get the frell out of here!" exclaimed another pilot. "What's that noise?" she asked. A strange whirling/buzzing sound filled the air. The last thing they all saw was a disc flying at them.

Tavek and Riplous eyed the 3 decapitated bodies next to the drop ships. The bloody disc floated in front of Riplous, ready to be retrieved. Riplous cleaned the blood and sinew from the blades by licking it off. Tavek was only mildly disgusted. Tavek heard the voice of his advisory from inside one of the Marauders.

"Lanbo, report!" yelled Hasaran over the radio. "Well Pro-Consul, I have to report that I'm dead!" said Tavek mockingly into the radio. "You're a dead man Tavek!" screamed Hasaran over the radio. "Better do your job personally next time", said Tavek. "I will, and I am going to enjoy it!" replied Hasaran. Tavek smiled and punched the radio out of commission.

Tain's plan was falling into place.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3