Chapter 40

The sound of gunshots rang out through the alleyway as Cahlayn, a councilor of the town of Tanith’s Gully, ran away from them. Her lungs heaved with the effort of breathing as she tried to outdistance her pursuers. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but could feel the power in them fading fast. While she had taken some initiative to stay in shape, it was in running where she fell short.

Cahlayn cursed the fact that she hadn’t seen the obvious trap that had been laid out for her. She supposed that her concern for her merchandise had overridden any good sense in that moment. Because of that lack of foresight, she was now on the run from these ... machines that were hunting her down. The very thought of facing these things was terrifying, as they were fast, efficient and showed no compassion, like real life Terminators.

She’d heard of these ‘Sentries’ from some of her sources, but had dismissed the claims of these robots as little more than errant fantasy. Now, she was regretting having taken such a stance in the first place. Cahlayn tugged at the firearm that was in the waistband of her pants and pointed it over her shoulder, squeezing off a few rounds.

The woman hoped that such shots might be lucky enough to damage these robots, but it was a fool’s hope. She’d seen some of these Sentries up close before she crafted a distraction so she could make a break for it. With armor plating protecting all the vital areas, there was no way she could hope to even make a ding in their armor! If she had a heavy caliber machine gun, maybe, but not with the pistol she clutched in her grip.

Regardless, she grasped at whatever stray thought of hope that entered her head. Cahlayn prayed that whatever she did, it would be enough to escape those relentless machines, and those who commanded them. She’d already left behind their owners several blocks back and believed she had evaded them at least.

Thinking she was far enough away, she thought she might be able to hide from them. Turning the corner, Cahlayn started to glance around, searching for a hiding spot, until she heard the cocking of a gun behind her. The woman would have turned around, were it not for the feeling of cold steel pressed to the base of her skull.

“Drop it! Try anything funny, bitch, and I’ll put holes in some very obvious places to where even a vat job and mod overhaul won’t fix it,” a feminine voice told her.

“I’d do as she says! You’ve already invoked our ire! Do you really want to piss off the likes of Deputy Parks?” Inari asked, her hand cannon pointed straight at her heart.

“You got a good line on her?” the deputy asked as she pulled out her cuffs. In response, a shot hit the street just an inch away from the councilor’s feet. The woman hopped and yipped in warning, then saw a laser dot show up at the spot where her heart was. The laser dot then migrated to the corrupt councilor’s head, resting right between her eyes.

“Yup! She even tries moving, she’ll lose her head,” Priya stated into the comms, letting everyone know.

“I’m sure you know where the sniper is pointing her rifle, yeah?” the deputy questioned as she moved in to detain the woman.

“I’m not stupid! Just take me in and off the street, please! I can’t stay out here!” Cahlayn pleaded.

“Why not? Maybe we should let the people of Tanith’s Gully know just how much of a traitor you really are!” Daved suggested.

“You don’t understand! They’ll kill me!” she argued, sounding like she was on the verge of panic.

“Once we’re done with you, maybe we should let them!” Daved scoffed.

“It won’t get that far! They won’t let me live long enough!” she cried. Just then, a laser sight sat on Deputy Parks’ chest, dancing for a moment.

“Pree, quit dicking around!” Inari scoffed over the comms.

“That’s not me! Get everyone down!” the woman screamed just as a sniper’s bullet hit the deputy in the chest.

“Enemy sniper!” Inari cried out as the deputy went down with a scream. The rest of the group got down, taking the corrupt councilor with them as several shots whizzed right by her head.

“I got eyes on the bastards! There’s two of them!” Priya called out, as she locked onto the first one.

She had him sighted in and fired just as he noticed her. It was too late for him, as his head exploded a second later while Priya searched out the second sniper. Priya found the woman on an adjacent rooftop, but she was already moving. It was clear that she’d seen what happened to her friend and was getting out while she still could. While she didn’t have a clean kill shot, Priya settled for another target on her and fired.

“You’re clear to get up!” Priya responded over the comms as an ear-splitting shriek pierced the air.

“What the fuck was that?” Inari asked as she climbed to her feet.

“I didn’t have a kill shot, so I wounded the bitch who was shooting at everyone,” Priya told her.

“Where did you hit her? Her leg?” Daved asked, as he knew such wounds could often be painful.

“Too much of a risk in hitting any arteries. I settled for a cheek shot. Lots of meat there,” Priya chuckled.

“Really, Pree? A shot in her butt cheek?” Inari replied, trying to sound like she was reprimanding the woman, all while giggling out the side of her mouth.

“One; it will slow her down, as you need your ass muscles to walk upright. Two; it was the best non-lethal shot I had so we could try to catch her and three; there’s still a lot we don’t know about who could be an infiltrator here. So, the more operatives we catch, the better our chances of getting them all,” Priya replied, defending her actions.

“Where is she now?” Inari questioned, already on her feet and moving.

“She hopped off the roof of a two story home just a moment ago, about a hundred meters in front of you. You should catch her easily enough, given how much she’s hobbling,” Priya snickered.

Inari rolled her eyes and headed in the direction her girlfriend directed her. Sure enough, she spotted the woman who Priya had shot, not even ten meters away. She was trying to run, but accomplishing something more along the lines of a shambling walk as she tried to get away. Inari scoffed as she drew her shotgun and loaded a beanbag round before she cocked the weapon, aimed, and opened fire.

A piercing wail split the air as the woman went down in a heap, the round catching her in the small of her back. Inari trotted over as a couple of deputies, including Parks, found her and her target in short order. They all hustled over, eager to get their hands on the woman who was believed to have almost ended Deputy Parks.

“You OK there, deputy?” Inari asked as the trio of law enforcement officials moved to apprehend the wounded woman.

“The round hit my armor jacket at an angle, so most of it was stopped,” the deputy replied with a wince. “What’s wrong with her? She’s squirming more than a caged devilcat.”

“That’s because I bean bagged her at around eight meters. Hit the small of her back. Combine that with the ass shot...” Inari replied with a gesture.

“That’ll be a fuckton of pain! Let’s get her up and to the station. Hopefully, she’ll be talkative after we get her looked after,” the deputy said.

“Maybe we don’t heal her. Not yet. Let the bitch suffer a bit more for trying to off some deputies,” Parks said scornfully.

“That’s against the law, which you and yours are bound to uphold. Therefore, you cannot be allowed to do shit like that,” Inari replied seriously. Parks and the other deputies looked about ready to object until Inari continued.

“Me, on the other hand, I can do shit like that, as I am not bound by any codes of conduct or laws of the town of Tanith’s Gully. I can get away with that shit and not suffer any blowback,” Inari finished, earning grins and nods from the deputies.

“Can we watch at least?” one of the other deputies, a young man, enquired.

“I don’t see why not, as long as you lot don’t have any duties to attend to,” Inari chuckled.

“I don’t care if the boss orders me to head off on patrol. I want to see this bitch suffer!” Parks growled.

“I ... didn’t ... shoot you...” the woman ground out through the pain. “Josh ... did...”

“We’ll be the ones who decide that. Having a loaded weapon pointed at the deputies of Tanith’s Gully earns you some serious jail time,” Inari told her.

“Aiming ... at ... councilor. Orders...” she breathed as she grunted in agony.

“Orders? From who?” Parks demanded.

“Take me ... out ... of here,” she pleaded, her head darting around for a brief second.

“Might want to do that. At least until you lot are out of range of the cameras I’ve located in this area. I’m good, but there’s only so much I can do, even with Jaesa’s help,” Taal’ani broke in over the comms.

“Much as I hate to admit it, she’s right. Let’s get them all to the station and sort it out there,” Daved said as he ambled up.

“But, sir...” Parks began to argue.

“No buts! You want to do something? Then go help process the corpse and weapons of that sniper that Priya offed. Raen has already checked his gun, and it looks like he was the one who shot you,” Daved offered. Parks looked down at the writhing woman and sighed, knowing that this woman had told the truth. Maybe it would be worth bringing her in after all.

“All right. I’ll go give him a hand,” Parks stated, and she was off to help.

“Let’s patch her up quick, then! We need to gather everyone and everything and clear out! From what Talon has told us, we have the advantage on Sargol and any other Confed spy! Let’s keep it that way!” Daved ordered.

Everyone then exploded into motion, with the group gathering up anything that was related to their arrest and cleaning up the streets. While Taal’ani’s program had masked their actions over the vids, they wanted to ensure that nothing was noticed on the feeds once the program went down. If Sargol was monitoring them, as the Fel’caan woman had said, then they needed to hurry and leave the zones exactly as they found them.

It didn’t take long, and once they had secured the councilor and the sniper, along with cleaning up the mess of the dead one, the group moved along back to the Sheriff’s station. Having taken screenshots of how everything looked before the group had traipsed through in their chase, Taal’ani had guided everyone through the steps of resetting everything, so nothing was amiss.

There were some new pockmarks from the various gunshots, but there were such marks everywhere. New ones usually showed up at least every week. They were usually patched up by the owner of the home or building, then forgotten about. At least, until new shots found their way into the walls. Once Taal’ani had given the green light, they all vacated the area, moving towards the Sheriff’s station with their prisoners.

Taal’ani covered the retreat and advance to the station, ensuring that their group wasn’t picked up by the cameras. Once they were in the station, is when she halted the program and let the cameras resume their normal function. Now that everyone was safe in the station and away from prying eyes, they could start questioning their new ‘guests.’ After booking the pair of women, the group met up in one of the conference rooms.

“All right. So, what do we know about the operation that the Confeds are running here?” Daved asked, closing the door behind him once everyone was there.

“Well, sir, it seems like your educated guess was correct. Sargol is indeed a Confederate spy. The first councilor you brought in was very ... talkative. So far, he’s revealed that he’s just one of many around the town that keep tabs on the daily goings on,” one of the deputies answered.

“I’d say he’s co-operating just so no one invokes the Purge Law on his ass,” Parks scoffed.

The Purge Law was a law that had been put into place since the earliest days of Tanith’s Gully, just after the Bombardment. It was a law that allowed anyone in the town to bring the full weight of mob justice on those who were deemed to be a threat to the safety and well-being of the townsfolk. ‘Purging’ such undesirables from the town was necessary in order for the town to survive.

“Yeah! Lohrek has been here long enough to know that the people here are very ... vindictive to people who are seen as a threat to the town’s wellbeing. I remember him even participating in a few of these purges,” Daved agreed.

“Lohrek also gave us a critical piece of info, which concerns you, Inari,” the young man stated.

“Oh? What did he say?”

“He told us flat out that not only was Sargol a Confed spy from day one, but that he was the one who set you up all those years ago. With the video file and everything,” the deputy stated.

“What?!? Sargol was the one who set my ass up?” Inari breathed through clenched teeth. “How does Lohrek know this?”

“He’s pretty high up in the chain of spies here. Says that the only one above him is Sargol, and how he knows just as much as that weasel bastard. Apparently, getting you off Prodosia, by death or banishment, was part of his job. Having an ex-Federation poster girl helping people out on Prodosia made the Federation look good. We all know how the Confederacy likes such things to be in their favor only,” Daved told her.

“The fucking asshole!” Inari ground out, rage suffusing her entire being. “I want his head!!!”

“I think we all want that shitbag’s head,” Daved replied, making light of her comment.

“No. You don’t understand. I. Want. His. Head! On a platter!!!” Inari growled menacingly.

“Inari, you really don’t mean...” Priya asked, looking concerned for her girlfriend.

“Oh, I mean it, Pree!! That fuckhead ruined me! He fucked with my life in such a direct way that there can be no forgiveness!! I want his head, and I want to be the one to cut it off!!” Inari fumed, baring her gritted teeth.

“You can’t have it. Not yet. Not until we capture him and learn about everything that he’s been up to and why the Confeds are so interested in Prodosia after so long. After we’ve drained him dry of everything he knows, then you can have him. Hell, we might even make a public spectacle of you killing the rat bastard!” Daved offered.

“Fine! As long as I get him in the end, I don’t care! Too many people have fucked with me over the course of my life. It’s about fucking time that I get myself some payback!” Inari rumbled, nodding in Daved’s direction.

“Good! We’ve also learned from Lohrek that Sargol kept a pretty tight net over information. Any agents were only permitted to know what they need to know to carry out their jobs. Anything beyond that, they weren’t told, if they didn’t need to be told,” Daved went on.

“There’s also something else that Lohrek said, sir, which he mentioned,” the young deputy piped up.

“Which is?”

“That a standby order was given to him and to the others who we caught. It apparently came from Sargol himself and was meant for everyone to see,” the deputy stated.

“A standby order?” Daved questioned.

“Fuck! That’s not good!” Priya groaned.

“Why is that?” the sheriff asked.

“A standby order is usually only sent if there is a bigger game afoot. Usually, for everyone to be ready for an attack order, reinforcements, things like that! This shit might just be getting started!! We need to find Sargol, now! Did any of them know what the order meant?” Inari asked the deputy.

“No, ma’am. It was a signal for them to be ready for whatever order came down for them next. I got the impression that it was an order they had been waiting on for a while,” the deputy replied.

“Fuck! If this means what I fear it does, then we need then we need to find the fucker and find him now!!” Inari nearly yelled.

“What was the standby order? Did Lohrek mention the wording about it?” Taal’ani asked over the comms, which was patched into the conference room.

“Something about an Operation Endgame! He was told if he heard those two words, that he was to standby for his final orders before he and every other operative was to break cover. He said that they’d all know when to do this, as shit would be obvious,” the deputy replied.

“Fuck!!” Taal’ani cursed.

“Talon? What is it?” Priya questioned.

“Jaesa picked up an encoded transmission a few hours ago. We weren’t sure what it was or who it was meant for, but we knew it must have been important! We caught this message that was sent with it, which reads as follows,” Taal’ani stated as she sent them the transmission.

All operatives move to final readiness phase! Operation Endgame is about to commence! Repeat, Operation Endgame is about to commence!

“Did Lohrek say what this was exactly?” Daved demanded, as the implications of such a message were not good at all!

“No, sir! Just that he was to have himself ready to make his final plays when this message was sent!” the deputy reiterated.

“But ... that’s not the worst part,” Taal’ani went on.

“What’s the worst part?” Inari asked, almost dreading the answer.

“The worst part is the fact that the encoded message that was sent with it delivered out of system! It reached the old relay system that was left behind by the Federation and was relayed out of the Abandoned Frontier! Where exactly it was sent to and what was in the message, I don’t know yet,” Taal’ani admitted.

“Please tell me you and Jaesa are working on it!” Inari almost begged.

“We’ve been chipping away at it and have made significant progress. Maybe an hour or so more and we’ll know what was sent and who it was sent to,” the Fel’caan woman replied.

“All right. What about Sargol? Any progress made on finding him yet?” Daved questioned, eager to have answers as much as the rest of them.

“The algorithm is still working, on top of whatever Jaesa is doing to help me with optimizing its effectiveness! It’s a top end piece of software, but it’s not magic! It needs time!” Taal’ani rebuffed.

“Time happens to be something that we are starting to run in short supply of! The nanosecond you have something definitive, call in!” Inari stated vehemently.

“Copy that, boss! You’ll get your revenge, don’t worry!” the Fel’caan woman replied, moments before she killed the line.

“So, what do we do now?” Priya wondered.

“Maybe you two could head out on patrol with some of the deputies?” Daved offered. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind the extra company.”

“Probably a good idea! It will help me with staying calm! Being idle and in a state like this, I’m liable to do something stupid!” Inari admitted.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Priya fired off-handedly.

Inari shot her girlfriend a dirty look, to which Priya just shrugged, as to her, it was common knowledge. Rolling her eyes, Inari then got to her feet as Daved started assigning patrol groups. The two lovers were assigned to the third patrol group that would head through the Garden District. It was a relatively safe zone, but one which had seen a lot more activity that usual lately.

Once everyone had their assignments, they were off to make their rounds, which made Daved breathe a sigh of relief. While these were troubling times, it was good to see that everyone could still work together with little issue. Daved only hoped that Taal’ani was keeping an eye on these patrols, hoping she could mask their actions on the fly if she needed to.

Daved hoped that the patrols he sent would chase down whatever leads they had and come up with at least a few more infiltrators. It had been one hell of a head spinner for sure, but Daved always had his suspicions. He just couldn’t prove much until recently, all thanks to Inari’s return.

Some people were still demanding that she be punished according to the law. But the amount of help she had given so far overshadowed what she had supposedly done. On top of which, with Taal’ani showing him what was what and walking him through how things were pieced together in the vid. He admitted to himself that he could see the discrepancies in it, now that he was taught to spot them.

Daved chastised himself for ever allowing himself to believe that someone he trusted with his life was a traitor. He saw the truth of matters now and was making it his personal mission to find out everything he could. Sure, the past was the past, but knowing the truth about it would help shed some light on things. It might even allow him the foresight to see such things happening again, so he could stop them.

One of those things would be the knowledge they gleaned from the Cahlayn, who was now sitting in the hidden cell beneath his office. While he could have gone and spoken with her at any time, he refrained because of his paranoia. Daved knew that there were many people there that he could trust, but there were also others he was skeptical of. He would get his information, but only after more people had gone home for the night.

Daved would have words with the councilor, as would Inari and Priya, as they had proven themselves capable interrogators. According to Lohrek, they’d picked up nearly half the spy network the Confeds had in place, but there were still many more at large. Hopefully, after Daved had interrogated Cahlayn, they would have some insight about whom to look at as potential spies.

The one thing that had Daved wracking his brain was why the Confeds wanted to take Prodosia and the surrounding systems back. It wasn’t as though they had the same level of appeal back when they were Gaia class worlds, fit for colonization. There had to be some other reason, and the sheriff had every intention of finding out what it was.

He rolled around some possibilities in his head, hoping one of them would stand out in his mind. The more he thought about, the less possible each idea appeared to be. The sheriff huffed, wondering if he was overthinking things, as Jenque, his wife, told him he often did. He thought about the potential ideas one more time before giving up, as there was no sense in pushing his mind when he was already stressed.

Daved then put such thoughts out of his head and turned them to the call he’d received earlier from Zuzanna. It had been a good one, as Daved had learned that both deputies who’d been gutted in the alleyway would pull through. He’d also gotten word that Willem was better and eager to be back on the job. Smirking, he figured on calling the clinic up and see just how his nephew was doing.

“Hey there, Daved! Just calling to check in on Willem?” Zuzanna asked as she answered his call in her office.

“Yup! He start putting up a fuss about getting out of bed yet?” Daved asked with a chuckle.

“Over an hour ago! If Doryn wasn’t here, he’d probably be out of here already!” Zuzanna giggled. “Even so, I don’t see him sitting for much longer. I was about to head on over to his bed and discharge him.”

“Tell him to stay put for the moment. I’m redirecting Inari’s patrol that way to pick him up. She’s got some new toys for him, which will see him well protected once he has them,” Daved told the doctor.

“Good to hear! I’ll go and deliver the news myself!” Zuzanna responded.

“Thanks, Zuzie! Any change on the Tohln or Hahrnek?” Daved asked.

“They’re stable, for the moment. I’m keeping them under close observation, so even if they so much as hiccup, I’ll know about it,” the Polish woman told him.

“Good to know! I’ll let you get back to it! Keep me posted!” Daved responded.

“Will do, Daved!” Zuzanna replied as she ended the call.

The young doctor got up and walked out of her office, heading over to where Willem was located. He was on his feet, hiking up his pants, not caring who saws his naked rear end. Doryn was still fussing over his wounds, which had healed and scabbed over, while his dad and Callista were a few meters away, snickering at the display. Willem was still trying to fob off his mother, but to no avail as she continued to try to help him.

“I’m an adult, mother! I can dress myself, you know!” Willem groaned as she helped him with his shirt.

“I’m your mother and you’re my son! It’s my damned right to worry, and so help me God, you are going to stop being such a pain in the ass!” she threatened.

“Your mother is right, Willem. She had every right to worry about you, so stop your fussing,” Aesha admonished the boy playfully.

“Hey! Whose side are you on?” Willem accused as he grabbed his gun belt before his mother could, slinging it around his waist.

“The side that wants to see you alive and not throw your life away by taking some foolish risks!” Aesha responded as she cuffed him upside the head.

Willem growled quietly, but otherwise kept his mouth shut as he fastened his belt. Doryn’s eyebrows climbed at Aesha’s display and she smiled, starting to take a liking to the Artucian woman. If such a woman was honestly concerned about her son’s welfare, then maybe she did deserve a bit of leeway. Ryley nodded as well, happy to see that this woman had her priorities straight.

“Hopefully, the toys we’ve brought will help with the kid keeping his head,” Inari replied as she walked in, having heard the tail end of the conversation. “How’s everyone doing Zuzie? You all good up here?”

“We are, thanks! Pineapple is in effect and everyone knows what’s what now,” Zuzanna replied warmly, glad to see that Inari still cared about her wellbeing.

Since enacting the last ditch safety precaution, everyone who worked the clinic carried a weapon on them at all times. Zuzanna was glad that she had this sort of insurance policy in place, as it was better to be prepared. There was one mantra she kept from her days in the Confederacy, and that was to be prepared for the worst at all times. That way, any surprise that showed up was a pleasant one.

“That’s good to hear! As promised Willem, here are some new toys for you,” Inari stated as she brought up a bag for the kid. As he finished with getting his undershirt on, Willem opened up the bag and was awed by what he found.

“Nanoweave armor vest, which is much like mine. Capable of stopping incendiary, cryo and armor-piercing rounds. Tactical glasses with a proper HUD system and a built in forcefield generator. So, it will act like a ballistics helmet if you get shot at. But even that has so many hits it can take before it needs time to recharge. Don’t get cocky!” Inari warned.

“That’s a relief to hear! It’s good to have you back home, Inari! I never did believe the shit that people were saying about you. Least of all, that old piece of shit!” Doryn told the woman, while happy to hear that her son would be safer than most others.

“It’s good to know that good people had my back after all this time!” Inari sighed as she hugged her old friend.

“You keep my son safe!” Doryn told her friend.

“Like he was my own!” Inari replied, taking her charge over the boy seriously. She then looked over at Willem, who was looking at his new gear with a measure of excitement. Inari had to admit, he looked good in all of it, a fact that Aesha was agreeing with, given how she was looking at the boy.

“So,” Inari questioned, getting Willem’s attention. “You ready for round two?”

“Hell yeah, Auntie Nari!” Willem told the woman, and she smirked at his enthusiasm. She then gestured for the boy to follow her, ready to lay out what their plan was in the coming hours.

Taal’ani was staying busy on the Darkstrider, doing everything she could to ensure that Sargol didn’t catch onto her little game. She was working hard to keep the man in the dark about the real goings on of the town at present. Sure, it was a hell of a chore, but if she was being honest with herself, Taal’ani hadn’t had this much fun in years! It was good to be doing something with her skillset other than tracking bounties.

“Hey, boss! What’s up?” Taal’ani asked as she received a call from Inari.

“I need you to post a couple of Sentries around the clinic, but in a covert manner. This place is the only real place in Tanith’s Gully that people can get quality healthcare. If things go to shit, we’re going to need to maintain our hold over that place,” Inari stated.

“No worries, Starwitch,” Taal’ani replied, using her friend’s old callsign. “Assigning a quartet to keep watch over the clinic. Go and get those cockroaches!”

“Hoo-rah!” Inari responded before the line went dead.

“Jaesa, you catch that?” Taal’ani asked.

“I did, Taal’ani. Four Sentries are en route to the clinic as we speak. As per Inari’s wish, I will ensure that they are sitting in innocuous or obscured positions, so no one pays them any mind,” the AI told the hacker.

“Wonderful! Let’s get these bastards!” Taal’ani told her synthetic friend as they got to work.

While Jaesa was happy to get to work in tracking down Sargol and his allies, Jaesa was feeling a little overworked lately. She supposed that was because she was an AI and that was her function, but she found herself wanting more lately. Though she had a job to do, there were things she could do that organics couldn’t. Smirking to herself as she filtered through data in her sanctum, she initiated a copy protocol.

This sort of protocol allowed her to create a copy of herself, so there could be multiple versions of her doing a myriad of different things. Sure, as an AI, she could do hundreds and even thousands of things simultaneously, that organics couldn’t even imagine doing. Despite being an artificial intelligence, she still had her limits. That was where her copies would come into play.