The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight

Kamara scowled. “They’ve got a building full of hostages. What else do you suggest?”

“That Colonel Kai promise them that if they leave the building, none of Kai’s soldiers will fire upon them.”

“You can’t be serious! Do you know what the unit those soldiers belong to has done? We can’t let them go.”

Drakon’s smile held no humor. “Did I say that? I agree that we can’t reward anyone for taking hostages, especially people who’ve committed the sort of atrocities you’ve shown us records of. It won’t be my fault if those loyalists don’t read the fine print on any promises made to them. “

* * *

“I cannot yet confirm that CEO Ukula is dead,” Malin called in. “But all indications are that he, his personal guard, and his command staff died when we destroyed the alternate headquarters location. It will take time to sort out and identify DNA fragments amid the wreckage, though.”

“Understood,” Drakon said. “Nice job locating that secondary command location. The holdup had us worried. Did you run into any problems taking out the alternate headquarters?”

Malin’s expression revealed nothing as he shook his head. “Nothing you need concern yourself about, General. I took care of it. Colonel Senski has informed me that her brigade is mopping up a few small pockets of resistance, but otherwise, this valley is yours, General.”

“Thanks, I’ve always wanted one.”

* * *

AFTER a series of back-and-forth negotiations with Colonel Kai, the loyalists came out of the building.

“They’ve got citizens around them as shields,” Kai remarked disdainfully. “Even though I promised them my soldiers would not fire.”

“You’d think they didn’t trust us,” Morgan replied. “Ready when you are, General.”

“Wait until you have clean shots, then take them. Your call when to fire,” Drakon ordered.

The loyalists were halfway to the shuttle that was supposed to lift them to safety when Morgan’s hidden commandos fired, knocking down half of the enemy platoon in the first volley. The others hesitated, unsure whether to flee, fire back, or start slaughtering the citizens they were using as shields. By the time the survivors made up their minds, all but two were dead. One tried to surrender, but died before the dropped weapon hit the ground, and the other got off only one wild shot before also falling.

“All right. Do the act,” Drakon ordered.

Morgan and the other commandos killed the stealth circuits on their suits, walking out toward the citizens standing frozen with fear amid the bodies of their former captors. Colonel Kai and his soldiers came from another angle, Kai raising his helmet shield to frown at Morgan. “I had promised them my soldiers would not shoot if they let the citizen hostages go free,” Kai said loud enough for the citizens to hear.

“I didn’t promise them anything,” Morgan replied just as clearly. “And I don’t work for you. These commandos are under my command, not yours.”

“The Free Taroans did not want any citizens harmed,” Kai pointed out.

“Then they should be happy,” Morgan replied. “All we killed were the snakes and anyone helping them.”

Kai shrugged, the motion oddly amplified by his combat armor, then turned to the citizens. “You are free to return to your homes. If there are wounded citizens inside the building, my medics will see to them.”

“The citizens can’t possibly believe that was real,” Kamara protested back at the Free Taroan headquarters. “Your Colonel Kai sounded wooden, and Colonel Morgan sounded like she was joking.”

“Colonel Kai almost always sounds like that. I don’t keep either him or Morgan around for their acting ability,” Drakon replied. “To those citizens, as scared and shook-up as they are, it probably sounded real enough. We just bought you some good publicity with the citizens in that valley. Make sure you don’t waste it.”

Sub-CEO Kamara nodded at Drakon, her expression thoughtful, then gradually acquired a gleeful look as she took in all the results of the operation. “That was the last pocket of resistance in the three valleys. This guts the loyalists. We’ve got their most important valleys, all of the support infrastructure in them, and we’ve wiped out their leadership. Their remaining forces can’t hold out now. We’ve already heard from the commanders in two of the areas still held by the loyalists, asking for terms of surrender.”

“Good.” He couldn’t feel too elated at the outcome. The casualty lists were coming in. Not too many dead and wounded for such an operation. But still some.

Kamara was happily talking to the other members of the Interim Congress of Free Taroa. Drakon gazed at the display, where the patches of loyalist-controlled territory had shrunk dramatically. Outside, the sun glowed dimly through the clouds of volcanic dust drifting across the sky.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN