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But here I am, Vina, two years later. You were a saint, staying by me after I broke my promise so many times that I've lost count. All the hurt I put you through, knowing you were at home, wondering whether I was alive. You cried nights when the right side of the bed was empty, only stopping in the morning 'cause it felt like your eyes would explode. When I came home, I'd bitch about the bureaucrats on Earth, saying they needed me for their war games and power plays. I'd say they needed me...
But you knew me better, Vina. You knew I could just say "fuck you" to those assholes higher up in the food chain, and they'd never be able to lay a finger on us. No, you knew what kept me in there... the killing. The two cold machines of death in either hand. The smell of the enemy's blood. What could you tell your friends about your fiancé, the monster of a man?
I knew how lucky I was to have you waiting for me, after all I put you through. But no more, baby. I'll show you that you're more important than my guns.
And this time, I mean it.
Jimmy Boy, I'd tell him later. I watched him plant one leg on a doorframe and leap off it. Before he landed, two sparkling pieces of metal were on their way to the soldiers that Trey missed. Beautifully played, like something you'd see in a movie. The last thing he needed to do his job was to be pissed at me.
But when you watched him, it was like he could do it in his sleep. He flung a razor-sharp disc outward and went into a spin, still holding onto his weapon with a near invisible wire. In seconds, a small army became a mass of severed appendages, and Trey and I didn't need to lift a finger. He wasn't even breathing hard when the disc returned to his gloved hand.
Twenty minutes after we drilled into the station, we were already standing before a seven-foot tall blast door. Trey looked at it for a second, and the noise of a thousand cans grinding against each other echoed through the corridor, just before the door bent and then crushed in on itself like nothing more than the foil you wrap your lunch in. The station's defenses were toys. The golem waiting inside was another matter.
Deuce the Destroyer. He stood in the huge, puke-green tinted room, surrounded by the glowing tanks that contained others just like him. Imagine the victories the Dominion could rack up if these artificial... things got out. Deuce didn't get his name for nothing. I'm a tall guy, and he stood at least a foot higher than me. Probably wider than me and Jimmy Boy standing side by side too. The flak cannon in his hand- the kind you'd find mounted on a tank- that didn't look too friendly either. Trey would have to take care of that.
He cracked his knuckles and said, "I've been waiting."
Show off. Of course he was. Why else wasn't he outside, stopping us from getting here? Trey only had to blink, and Deuce's brothers would be instantly aborted. The golem project would stop dead. But no, he had to face us alone. I guess the Dominion was too concerned with his brawn to divert the funds to make a matching brain.
He had a horrible grin. It was like his perfect teeth were all there were to that head of his, save for the two beady little eyes. "The Royal Flush. You must be Ace."
I winced. The Royal Flush, that's what the media called the Alliance's super-secret engine of destruction. Nobody knew our names of course, so by default, the leader had to be 'Ace'. Jimmy Boy had more nicknames than General Howrad had whores- the Clipper, Scissors, Blade Dancer. At some point, the 12 year olds stopped caring, so he suddenly became 'Jack', plain and simple. Nobody agreed on who Trey was- the higher ups called him 'Brain' 'cause it annoyed him.
I stared coldly at the behemoth of a man, not saying anything. Jimmy Boy, on the other hand, couldn't keep his mouth shut, as usual.
"Doesn’t matter who we are. By the time we're done with you, you won't remember us anyway. You won't remember a thing." His hands hovered above the knives in his satchel.
Frowning, Trey said, "Jimmy, shut up. Con, there's another psychic in here."
I nodded. Someone was blocking him- that gun might be a problem after all.
I finally spoke. "You let us get this far, Deuce. Suddenly scared or something? Gotta have your backup hiding somewhere?"
Deuce just laughed. "Ace, Ace... oh wait, your name's Con." He smiled in Trey's direction. "Do you think I'd be running an operation like this if I was stupid enough to let you into the heart? Trey over there should've figured it out by now!"
I looked at Trey, whose eyes went wide in alarm. "The golems!" I drew my pistols, ready to shoot at anything that came out of those tanks.
"No, they're dead- fake!"
I lowered my guns a little. Of course... this wasn't the right station at all. Bogus intel. "All this trouble to lure us out, Deuce?"
"All my idea, really!" He lifted the flak cannon onto his shoulder and fired. Immediately, Trey pointed his head at the incoming barrage, and a green force field erected in front of us. The flak shell exploded against it, throwing shrapnel all over the room. The tanks cracked and broke, spilling fluid everywhere. The dead bodies tumbled out like rag dolls.
"Go!" I darted off to one side, Jimmy Boy in the other, while Trey flung the force field in Deuce's direction. It dissipated just inches from the giant.
"I'm gonna find that psychic- cover me!"
With that, he let off ball after ball of heated plasma at Deuce, as Jimmy and I came at him from the sides. The projectiles veered off in other directions, and I had to duck one before I was right beside the golem. I kicked at his shin, but he didn't even flinch. His psychic friend was pretty good too- he was easily deflecting Jimmy's blades away from Deuce, while making sure Trey's attacks didn't get through. A quick shot from my pistol confirmed that he wasn't ignoring me either.
Acting like we weren't there, Deuce took aim at Trey again. I readied to kick the barrel, but Jimmy was already on it. With his wire, he tugged at the cannon, and Deuce's shot hit the wall just behind Trey. Shrapnel would've gotten him too, if he hadn't dived at the last minute. I heard his angry voice in my head: "I said cover me!"
I brought my pistols up again, aiming for the flak cannon's trigger- a single bullet took it to pieces, and Deuce was only mad. I just barely dodged his enormous arm. His other one caught Jimmy square in the chest. Jimmy Boy!
He was alright, but he'd feel it in the morning. He bounced back off the wall that he'd slammed into, running for a rear attack as I made for Deuce's legs again. The giant was ready, though. At that moment, I didn't know the difference between his boot and a truck on my ankle. I've felt worse- I didn't scream. I never scream.
"Con!" yelled Trey. "In the ceiling!"
Jimmy Boy slammed into Deuce's back with all his energy- the huge man just barely moved, but at least my ankle was free. I spun around on the floor and pointed both my guns at the metal ceiling, and I fired till my clips were empty. I'd cut a clean circle; a second later, it gave way under Deuce's buddy's weight. Just that one moment of his shock was all I needed, and I had one bullet left in the chamber. When he landed, he wasn't yelling anymore.
Trey already had another plasma ball on the way. I darted off, reloading as I did. The ball only hit the other side of the room, though. Deuce was faster than you'd think, considering that build. He rushed after Trey, ready to plough his fist into the much smaller man's head, but he only hit a force field... which broke immediately under the impact. Good thing Trey kept in shape, or the next attack would've nailed him. With his mind, he tore the machinery off one of the tanks and hurled it at Deuce, but the golem grabbed it effortlessly out of the air, barely feeling the impact, and used it to block Jimmy's knives and my bullets.
Trey, you idiot, you never get caught off guard! Deuce actually managed to surprise him with that kick, and sent him flying out the ruined blast door. Jimmy yelled out, "Con, I think he's out!"
Not good. That left Deuce and the two of us. Normally I'd like those odds, but my ankle was still complaining. Probably broken. Shit. I told it to be quiet and dove under Deuce's blow, with just enough time to pump his right knee with three bullets. Bad timing, Deuce, shouldn't have tried to kick me with your other leg. I didn't go unconscious from the knock to my head, but it was definitely worth getting to see Jimmy Boy throw a machete into the same knee I'd just shot from behind. Deuce yelled, oh he yelled. Stop whining, you big baby- you're lucky your lower leg is still attached at all.
But go figure, he stood up again. There was a pool of blood on the floor big enough to belong to an entire human, and the asshole was standing! He paid no attention to the machete that still jutted from his knee. He was just focused on pounding me into oblivion.
Not today- I'm a stubborn son of a bitch too. Ignoring the nova in my head, I flipped back on my feet and planted a fist into his groin, following up with a blow to his jaw. Those perfect teeth of his, I heard them crack. It might have been the bones in my own hand, but who cared. Jimmy Boy's wire was around his throat now, tugging and drawing blood. We had him where we wanted him.
Or so we thought. He slammed his head back into Jimmy's face, and brought his knee- the one with the machete- into my stomach. I felt the blade penetrate my armor and my flesh, spilling blood all over the floor. I keeled over. Somehow, I could still see. Jimmy was unconscious now, his nose flattened. And then, I heard the clatter of boots against the steel floor outside. Great- reinforcements.
Deuce was gasping, but he stood tall. "Good fight, Con. Almost worth the surgery I'll need for that knee you busted." He finally pulled the machete out and threw it across the room. "Say hi to God for me."
"Say it yourself, you piece of shit." Trey!
I managed to turn my head to the side. There stood Trey, a wall of Dominion rifles hovering in front of him. I almost felt sorry for those reinforcements.
Trey narrowed his eyes, and all the rifles fired simultaneously. Deuce tried to turn and run, but me and Jimmy had done a good job on his leg. His back erupted in a spray of blood as bullets riddled it. Trey, face calm, didn't let up until every last clip was empty. The giant crashed to the ground.
The rifles fell from the air, and Trey came running to my side. He was no doctor, but he did a decent job of closing up my wound. He fell on his knees and was suddenly laughing that scary laugh of his.
"You... you son of a bitch! Thanks for the cover."
It made my insides twist in agony, but I laughed with him.
The door opened soundlessly. There she was, my Vina, lying naked in bed, asleep. My perfect woman. She like looked a blessing from heaven, a reward at the end of a long fight. But then, she always looked like that. When I come home, I just appreciate it so much more that she's still waiting for me, not knowing if I'll come home this time at all.
I turned the lights on, and she was instantly awake. Her beautiful, green eyes, how I hated to see them full of horror. Yes, my appearance. I hadn't had a shave in days, and I was covered in bandages. You could tell from the bruises and cuts that I'd been through hell. She threw her arms around me. It hurt, but I didn't mind.
"Con..."
How could I tell her that it wasn't over? That the whole operation had been a set up, and the Alliance would order us back out as soon as they found the real center? I did tell her. Her face turned redder, and she started to cry again. She said she understood.
I pulled my gun out of its holster. The gun I'd carried since I joined the Alliance military, so long ago. It had taken so many lives, I was amazed it still worked the way it did. It was an extension of the monster I was.
I made a few quick finger movements, and the gun came apart. I let the pieces fall to the floor.
Trey knew where I was coming from. As expected, Jimmy Boy was mad for hours after I broke it to him. He said I was unloyal, that I was betraying the Royal Flush and the Alliance. But underneath the man who impales people for a living, there's a real sofite. The bottom line was, he didn't want me to go. We'd been together for so long that he couldn't imagine a life where I wasn't fighting by his side.
I'm loyal as I'll ever be, Jimmy Boy. But I need to be loyal to my woman. It's time for me to let go of the monster, and become the Con Rafale that Vina fell in love with.
She continued to cry, but they were tears of joy, of relief. I held her, cried with her. I was human now.
