Page 56 of Craze

“Pathetic for a machine.” Rochir spits on the ground. “You are why I never got augments. Sevrin was unique for our kind, sick in the head but useful. The commanders wanted me to oversee his projects, keep him focused on developing versions of you that we could control.” He bares his teeth and angrily taps a temple. “Flesh or nanos, not both.”

Every breath pains me, but it isn’t the zembi that hurts the most. It’s the sight of beautiful Navi, both human and cybernetics, being loaded onto the central battledagger by Solcrue. My ultro shudders.

Rochir steps closer. I sense his triumph as much as I feel the heat of the metal in my gut.

I’m not ready to let her go or to allow others to speak of her in such a way. She has made me feel powerful and valued, like the protector I want to be. I cannot let her down and slowly reach for the blade. I tap the button on the side and wince as the blade cuts through me one more time, retracting into the handle.

“It’s a tough existence, being a Titan,” he remarks. “But it must be worse to know that in your end, you failed to protect your Bond—again.

My nanos storm my insides. In seconds I know if I’m going to live or die.

I spin the handle in my hand, grab it firmly and thrust upward. The zembi blazes open and cauterizes his flesh as it cuts through him. There’s no coming back from that level of damage. “No. You’re the one who gets an unexpected ending.”

He laughs, chokes on blood. “You think Sevrin and I are the only Solcrue with twisted minds?”

“I’ll find a way to roast them from the pits of their deal souls, just like you.”

Rochir drops to his knees and slides off of my zembi.

I find a passing hoverdrone headed the way I want to go and catch an arm of its claw.

The piloting Solcrue picks up a gun to fire at me, but I’m faster and blast him off of the platform. Then I race back toward the battledagger with Navi on board. But on approach, I find the ramp already shut.

I sprint toward the vessel, but know I’m not going to make it. I have to get onboard before they jump to hyper speeds or I may never find her again.

A nearby battledagger has a LightBlade transport docked just inside a hanger. I slam the hoverdrone into a banked turn andbolt for the hanger. Someone sees me approaching and tries to close the access door.

I max the throttle, set it on autopilot and leap off of the platform, barely making it through the crack before the door shuts. My body slides across the polished floor, and I shoot down the soldiers in the hanger who turn to fire at me. Then I hurry to the ramp, swing myself inside the ship, knock out the two pilots, and drop them on the hangar’s deck.

Closing the ramp, I take the pilot’s seat and try to open the hanger doors until I remember that won’t work because of this very situation.

I shrug.Looks like we’re using guns.

I fire at the hull until I have a hole, then redline my thrusters and punch through.

The Battledagger is just entering space when I catapult up into the sky. I use Jeela’s voice recording Tangle captured and relayed to all of us to request an emergency dock.

To my relief a hangar door opens.

Landing inside, I realize it will be easier to hunt for Navi on the ship if they don’t know I’m there. So I switch off and hide in a cabinet.

Security for the hangar looks inside and quickly leaves, calling out for the female. I sneak out behind them and skirt a maintenance bay where I steal a uniform and change in a shadowed corner.

A map in the hallway shows me where prisoners are kept. Only one cell is occupied.

When I turn to head down the hallway, I hear the com chatter fill with talk of a Titan onboard.

My element of surprise is broken, but that doesn’t mean they’re prepared to greet me. It’s been a long time since a Titan infiltrated one of their ships. Of that, I’m sure.

I check my magazines as I march toward the engine room between me and Navi. I’ve left my friends behind, but they have each other. Macabre will lead them well, I have no doubt. I just hope he and Shavih don’t kill each other first.

Scanning the engine room ahead of me, I find over fifty soldiers. I pull two grenades, twist them on with a three-second delay, and burst into the room. I toss the grenades, and then switch to guns as I charge across the catwalk to the other door.

I take out three Solcrue on the catwalk with me, the first with a simple shoulder block that crushes him against the wall. He falls as the others shoot at me. I duck, and their bullets graze my shoulders. One shot is all it takes to send each of them tumbling over the railing.

The grenades detonate as I reach the other side. I slam through the doorway and am greeted by a squad wielding spined whips. They have royal black metallic armor, soldiers called Tartarus.

They growl and glare at me with eyes so dark green they look almost black. The tails of their weapons spark as they snap them back and forth in warning.

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