Page 55 of Craze

Navi Command: Fire!

The Battledagger guns annihilate the lab. If Sevrin lives through that I’ll be surprised.

I stumble toward the exit, a pulsing headache making me dizzy. When I see the conflict raging across the tarmac, I slump to my knees. I can’t process the back and forth fighting with the hot humming cotton that it feels like has filled my head. Searching for an escape path through the storm of munitions looks impossible. Distant explosions steal the attention of some Solcrue soldiers. But I’m soon discovered by squads of Solcrue that turn in my direction.

I don’t have the energy to run or the ability to sort the battledagger options fast enough to stop the squad.

The last thing I see before they drag me onto a Tacticat is that Craze is gone. He’s no longer lying where they punched him down.

I hope I didn’t make a mistake using the big guns. The Solcrue that were on top of him lie in scattered and motionless heaps across the landing zone. I think I may have killed Craze. I don’t see him anywhere. The only place he could be is buried under bodies of our enemy.

A guard holds me by the collar as I collapse to cry on the platform. I don’t care where they take me. Shavih and Macabre will keep the others safe.

If Craze is gone, my spark of hope for a life with meaning is, too.

Chapter 18: Craze

The pulse for the battledagger is unexpected. I thought for sure they were going to darken my ultro via coilgun. Solcrue do love weapons as slithery as they are.

Instead, I’m launched into the side of a small ship, scattered like the others, but buried beneath many. The Solcrue soldiers don’t move. It isn’t easy to crawl out from under them. As I get up, I see a Tacticat race across the tarmac with Navi’s limp body on the back.

They’re moving her.

Macabre’s running the crew with Jeela and sneaking aboard the ship closest to the hills. The others are on distraction tactics with grenades and guns.

I get on my feet, pick a course toward Navi and start running. A hoverdrone crosses between us at high speeds, and I decide the risk is worth it. So I jump onto the hoverdrone’s moving platform and use it as a leaping off point to get me headed straight for the Tacticat Navi is on.

But as I dodge a soldier’s fist, trying to reach the front where I can make the jump, a blue pulse slams into my side. I fly across the tarmac and smash into the hull of a battledagger.

I twist and land on my feet. Time is limited to get to Navi before she’s gone for good.

When look up, I’m confronted with the ugliest mangled mess of flesh I’ve ever seen for something still living.

Rochir points a sword at me. Its blade glows red but doesn’t light up with fire. It’s a zembi, likely the one I lost in the lab when I saved Tangle.

I draw a gun and fire at him, but he doesn’t flinch. A green shield shines around him.

“Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m not dead?” Rochir asks.

“Kind of obvious, I guess. Aren’t you going to ask what it’s like to have friends?” I wave my gun around. “Those who have your back no matter what?”

He glowers at me. “You’re outnumbered.”

“Massively.”

“How can you possibly stand a chance?”

“Because while you were busy trying to fuck up my chosen one, they were enjoying rigging up a few party favors.”

Craze>>Local: Release the confetti.

Bombs punch upward from RamBash’s chosen spots, swallowing the old plant we used to work in, two emissary cruisers parked on the side of the tarmac, and the new tower which sinks into the caverns.

“Hey look, it’s like your dick when Sevrin’s around,” I tease.

Rochir fires his gun at me so fast and angry that my nanos burn the surface of my skin as they try to compensate. I return fire, get closer and knock the gun out of his hand. As I reach for the zembi, he whips the blade with his wrist, and stabs me through the middle. The blade is hot as it cuts into me.

Rochir steps back as I fall to my knees. Time creeps slower as the likelihood of death increases. My nanos leave my chest and shoulders, surging into my side.

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