The screech of armor actuators hit my ears. Squeezing every last drop of performance out of the suit, I threw myself to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade of a giant halberd that punched through the floor without resistance, sinking a good half-meter deep.
Gunfire erupted from all sides. Holding down their triggers, my Helldivers peppered the grim, monumental figure with everything they had, leaving black scorch marks and minor chips on the unfamiliar armor.
"Paltry efforts... Argh!"
Spinning in place, the brute swung the halberd with a backhand strike. The blast of a thermal detonator momentarily staggered him, forcing him to shift his weight, but it wasn't enough for long. Despite his immense weight, he moved with surprising agility, easily closing the distance between us and tossing my men aside like blind kittens.
The pommel of his weapon collided with Reed's chest with a resounding clang, knocking the boy out and sending him on a long flight. He flew back into the corridor like a broken doll and went still in a crumpled heap.
The shaft of the horrific weapon descended toward me once more. Hoisting the halberd high above his head, the giant scraped a couple of lamps, sending them swaying and disrupting the even lighting of the hangar.
Snatching a blaster from my hip, I sent a pair of laser bolts into the slits of his helmet, but earned only a surly growl before the blade slammed down beside me. The force of the impact against the floor threw me aside, sending me into a somersault.
The blaster flew from my hands, landing at the giant's feet, which he immediately took advantage of—crushing the expensive weapon. With a theatrical grind of his boot tip against the pistol, the "primarch" stepped heavily toward me.
"And what will you do next?" He spun his monstrous weapon in one hand, the hangar filling with the whistle of torn air. His voice held mockery and anticipation. Like a child who had won a game with a predictable outcome. "You are doomed..."
"Oh, I don't think so." Rolling once to the side, I flipped onto my back and drew the large-caliber revolver—a gift from Mizuna—opening fire from the hip, sending heavy bullets into the bastard's head and lead arm.
The roar of the shots drowned out all other sounds. With every new bullet, my enemy's massive frame rocked from side to side. Having exhausted the cylinder, I had pushed him back a good ten meters, allowing me to scramble to my feet.
A machine gun chattered from the right. Booker, having crawled out from behind some crates and barrels, dropped to one knee, emptying an entire magazine into the massive body. Holding the trigger, "Major" slowly slid backward from the recoil of such a high rate of fire, the barrel glowing red and clearly ruining the beautiful mechanism of war.
"It's not over yet!"
The monster's next lunge was fast. A horizontal strike passed millimeters from my body as an unknown force pulled me back, granting me another second of life.
A hail of blows rained down from all sides. Ignoring his own wounds, bleeding bluish blood, wheezing and growling with exertion, the massive warrior lunged at me like a rabid dog, practically spitting foam.
"DIE!"
Wrecking the hangar with his weapon, he lunged after me while I darted around the hall like a toy doll, trying to reload my revolver on the move.
Jeg Wright, caught in the path of the frenzied giant, let out a scream. Losing his left foot, he was sent tumbling through the air, spraying blood and fuel from a ruptured tank across the area. His flamethrower, now a crumpled piece of metal, followed after him, landing dangerously close to the leaking fuel.
"GOT YOU!"
Shielding his face from Booker's heavy bullets, the giant seized the wing of a speeder parked in the far corner of the hall. Screaming with the full power of his massive lungs, he spun in place, and then...
"Oh, for God's sake!" Diving like a fish to the side, Billy dodged the flying speeder at the last possible second. Amidst the roar of an explosion, the Helldiver tumbled a dozen meters until he slammed back-first into a wall, then slowly slid to the floor.
Our enemy... Limping and leaning on his halberd, he continued his persistent march toward me. His dented helmet revealed patches of a bloody face with torn skin. Blue blood leaked through the gaps and fresh holes in his armor, leaving a gruesome trail ten meters long behind the giant.
"I will destroy..."
Standing at full height, I leveled the pistol at the bastard and aimed for his now less-protected head. I fired.
The first shot made him jerk and groan in pain. Snorting blood, he continued his path, accelerating slightly.
The second bullet chipped a piece of the helmet, revealing a deformed and scorched face. Massive tusks, like those of a rancor, twisted into a hideous smirk.
By the third bullet, the "primarch" was running at full speed, closing the distance far too quickly. Gripping his weapon with both hands to keep it from slipping from his bleeding palm, he began the swing for his final, death-defying lunge.
The fourth shot tore through his cheek, exposing massive, broken tusks. Smoking flesh and large, glowing yellow eyes set against a face drenched in blue blood.
I didn't have time for a fifth shot, as the halberd was already hurtling toward my chest, promising to cleave me in two. An attempt to dodge would have led nowhere, and I had no intention of retreating again.
Allowing the giant to get close, I curled my lips into a smirk as the shimmering film of a shield began to spread from the point of impact, covering me from all sides in a spherical dome. Thrusting the pistol outside its perimeter, I pressed the muzzle of the revolver against the enemy's neck and fired.
The roar in the tension-filled silence was deafening. Amidst the smoke of gunpowder, fragments of trachea, blue blood, and bits of armor flew in all directions, drenching me from head to toe.
"Kha-a-a-a-a-...."
Dropping his weapon and clutching his throat, the brute recoiled, slipping on his own blood and falling to his knees. The incredibly resilient creature crawled away, looking back at Ahsoka Tano in fear and casting occasional resentful glances at me.
He was now filled more with terror and the realization of approaching death. Marking his path with blue blood, the four-meter giant collapsed on his side in the center of the hangar, falling onto his back into a pool of spilled fuel mixture.
Clawing at the floor in a final, futile attempt to save himself, he stared mindlessly at the ceiling, still clinging to life.
Aiming the revolver at a dented fuel tank, I fired the last shot, striking a spark and igniting the puddle, which instantly engulfed the massive body, creating a fire of significant proportions.
The sudden flames leaped to the ceiling, immediately devouring the giant's body and creeping under the armor. Tongues of fire licked out of the holes and gaps, and smoke saturated with the foul stench of burning flesh began to gather under the ceiling.
"Another victory for Democracy... Bitch." Spitting on the "primarch's" body, I stretched my whole frame, feeling my broken bones and torn muscles howl in pain. When Ahsoka Tano saved my ass with telekinesis, she didn't have time for gentleness, so I didn't come out of the fight without wounds either. "Time to leave."
***
"It was a clone..."
Ahsoka Tano finally broke her silent new persona. Many days had passed since the battle, and during all that time, the pretty elf had done nothing but give one-word answers to questions, never initiating a dialogue.
As if withdrawn into herself, the girl had been constantly reflecting on something and had evidently reached some conclusions.
"Look who's talking." Leaving the Kodiak Shuttle with her, I walked down the ramp, inhaling the scent of the decks of the Peacemaker—the first ship that would become the hallmark of the Helldivers. Technicians and a few soldiers scurried around, casting curious glances our way... which felt unusual. There was no official meeting or even greetings. Suspicious. "I thought your highness was going to keep playing the silent game..."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Sam." Stepping closer, Ahsoka Tano tenderly took my elbow and, looking up into my eyes, smiled that same smile of a silly, naive girl. "Did it bother you that much? I'm sorry; if I had only known what a blow I dealt to your ego, I wouldn't have dared ignore you..."
"Stop it," I grimaced as if from a toothache, watching the whispering comms officers who would surely spread fresh gossip across the ship, "and since you've decided to be cheerful and talk again, tell me what you've concluded."
Gently freeing my arm, I sent the squad following us to rest, also instructing them to take Mordin Solus and settle him in the officer's quarters until we figured out how to best use his skills.
The little frog-man himself was clearly not against getting to sleep soon, as only the day before arriving at Rishi had he stopped analyzing the records of a certain Zeta Magnus.
"It was a clone," Ahsoka Tano said, quickly switching into work mode, biting her lip and causing passing soldiers to stare. Even in her Jedi robes, the elf drew eyes. "I'm almost certain of it."
"Almost?"
"I haven't encountered them often in the galaxy." Cutting off my obvious question, the girl turned to face me. Memories danced in her eyes, and she clearly wasn't entirely with me right now, but she answered nonetheless. "Unfortunate creatures whose lot is barely better than slaves or self-aware droids, though sometimes worse."
"How did you even know..."
"Don't look at me only through the prism of my acting talents, Sam." Smiling warmly, the elf stepped closer, touching my forearm with her fingertips. "I am a Jedi Master, and that title isn't given to just anyone. The Force flows through me, shaping its will with my hands..."
"Jedi can distinguish clones from... ordinary sentients that easily?"
Stumbling slightly over the phrasing, I even looked down, as I didn't understand the difference at all and who the hell cared?! Having been resurrected in a clone body more than once or twice myself, fighting alongside thousands of clones, and carving the names of those same clones onto memorials—I had no prejudice against them.
"Not all, only those whose connection to The Force is especially great. Those who have dedicated long years to honing their mastery..." Smiling slyly, Ahsoka Tano tried to press closer to me again, giving me a suspiciously mocking look, but not getting what she wanted, she didn't seem too upset; rather, she began to tease and have even more fun. "I'm glad I wasn't wrong about you. You see them as exactly the same sentients—that's good. There is much more good in you than you think."
Placing her hands behind her back, Ahsoka Tano stepped away. Rocking slightly from heel to toe, she shook her golden hair, wafting a pleasant scent of green meadow herbs toward me.
"But let's get back to our topic... It was a clone of Zeta Magnus. Strong, fast, resilient... But only a shadow of his true danger and skill."
"A shadow? We barely survived killing that thing. Five Helldivers and a Jedi Master—barely able to defeat a monster that might not even be unique?!"
"Most likely. I'm sure there will be more, and Magnus himself..." Tucking a strand behind her ear, Ahsoka Tano smiled sadly, giving me a wistful look. "Strength and power are not the main weapons he wields."
"Knowledge? Experience? A twisted mind?" Listing all the dangers of the original, I felt my own good mood slipping, sensing that this Magnus would be a lot of trouble. "Or a lovely mix of all the above? It's clear the original is many times more dangerous than his clones, if only because Zeta himself can churn out clones endlessly."
"You're right, and that makes my heart heavier." Bursting back into my personal space, Ahsoka Tano stood on her tiptoes and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, making me stare at her like a bantha at a new gate. "For in such a dark and difficult hour, I am forced to leave you one-on-one against this monster..."
Stepping back a couple of paces, Ahsoka Tano smiled warmly, then pulled a hood over her head, concealing her eyes.
"The Force calls me further, calls me to fulfill my duty." Backing away slowly, the Jedi was returning to the Kodiak Shuttle, which, by my order on the omni-tool, was to take her to the planet. "But I assure you, we will meet again."
"Why the dramatic farewell? It's not the last time we'll see each other. There's too much shit in the galaxy for only one trouble to bring us together." Smirking, I folded my arms over my chest, watching the retreating Jedi intently. "Besides, when I corner this Magnus creature, I'm counting on your participation..."
"Of course, Sam." She said my name much louder and... more tenderly? What the hell? But at that moment, I finally saw the elf lift the edge of her hood and shoot a glance with her gray eyes behind my back, after which she lit up the hangar with the smile of a senator who had just secured extra funding—that is, the most cunning, unprincipled, and annoying smile possible. "Until next time..."
Flitting up the ramp into the Kodiak Shuttle, she vanished into the darkness of its interior, and a few seconds later, she was flying toward Rishi, from where she would make her own way to wherever she needed to go.
Continuing to stand in the same pose, I tilted my head slightly and tried to look behind my back, but at that exact moment, a pair of strong female arms hugged me. Leaning against my back, the blue-skinned girl rested her chin on my shoulder, then scorched my ear with a hot whisper.
"Looks like a successful trip, Com-man-der?"
***
Stepping away from the viewport, behind which the massive silhouette of the Helldivers warship was visible, Jedi Master Ahsoka Tano entered the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot's chair.
Crossing her legs and folding her arms, she leaned the back of her head against the soft headrest. Finally allowing herself to relax and cast off the hundreds and thousands of behavioral masks that had long since become part of the woman herself.
"Where to, ma'am? The Boss said..."
With a wave of her hand, plunging the pilot into a trance, the girl silently nodded toward the instrument panel, and the pilot punched in the port coordinates. They made the rest of the journey in silence, for under the influence of the Force, the Helldiver did not dare break the silence, interrupting Ahsoka Tano's heavy thoughts.
Everything had gone much better than she expected. By the will of The Force, she had averted another danger, although... it would be more accurate to say she had pushed it much further into the future.
Even though they had ruined Magnus's plans on Candoria, he would appear again, and Ahsoka Tano knew the next strike would be much more terrifying and cruel. The Arkanian mutant's hatred for the Republic was too great, and so the elf had no doubt he was already constructing a new plan of revenge against her beloved state and its citizens.
And she had a guess where Zeta would strike next. She had studied him too well not to understand the mindset of the genius geneticist, obsessed with his mad plans to destroy everything and everyone.
Opening the onboard computer, Ahsoka Tano scrolled through the latest news feed and stopped at one that would surely catch the crazy mutant's attention, which meant she had to be there.
"Rendili... So, they finally decided on it?" Talking to herself, the girl opened the galaxy map and bought a ticket for a flight from Rishi to the mentioned world. The Force whispered to its chosen one that she was on the right path and that it was there she would find the monster's trail.
While little Sam and his Helldivers were storming the planets of Magnus's accomplices, she would try to track his lair while the trail was hot. Yes, it was probably underhanded to act this way, but the Jedi sincerely believed she was doing the right thing. For millennia, she had kept the peace in the Outer Rim and had sometimes used her own allies as bait or a distraction; now she would have to do the same.
"Alone, there's a much better chance of tailing Zeta unnoticed."
Convincing herself of the rightness of her actions, Ahsoka Tano pulled the Arkanian geneticist's records from under her cloak, which mentioned the development of a hive virus—specifically its modernization and method of distribution.
A slight pang of guilt pricked her heart, but her steel will and conviction in her own righteousness allowed her to crush it in the bud. Besides, she hadn't done anything so reprehensible, only nudged the Helldiver commander toward his next actions. And getting rid of Zeta's accomplices would be a good deed; the fact that in the process, they would draw so much attention from Magnus and the powers that be that a certain cunning, long-eared Jedi could easily track the mutant and his patrons...
"Hee-hee, I hope Sam won't be too angry... Hm?" Just then, a message arrived on Ahsoka Tano's omni-tool, and as soon as she opened it, her cheeks flushed slightly, and the tips of her ears twitched suspiciously. Losing her concentration for a few moments, she gave in to her emotions. "How embarrassing... And they added it to their network."
The photograph showed a man in full combat gear, the armor fitting tightly to his body, giving him an imposing and sturdy look. His face, tired and haggard after a heavy battle, radiated sternness, as if he were accustomed to command and responsible decisions on the battlefield. His eyes, full of resilience and determination, no longer feared death; they held only a desire for peace and rest, as if he were preparing himself for a long-awaited sleep to recover after brutal trials.
Beside him stood a girl with striking elven features, dressed in the robes of a Jedi Master. She seemed to radiate lightness and grace, combining strength and tenderness. She stood on her tiptoes, eyes closed, to gently kiss the Helldiver on the cheek, and at that moment her cheeks flushed, only emphasizing her embarrassment and excitement. The emotions on both their faces embodied sincerity: surprise at such a display of tenderness was written in the man's eyes, while the Jedi seemed to have completely dissolved in her feelings, feeling an attraction to the hero standing beside her. This moment was filled with warmth and understanding, creating a magnificent contrast between the harshness of war and the flutter of human feelings.
Her first impulse to delete the holophoto was unexpectedly met with rejection in her heart, and so, proudly tilting her nose, Ahsoka Tano made it look like it was meant to be—she saved the holophoto in a folder labeled "Remember."
"Heh, it's almost a pity I couldn't see the ending..."
Leaning back in the chair, the girl propped her head on her fist, vividly remembering the two jealous faces she had provoked during her last conversation with Altman. Only now, instead of her usual amusement and sarcasm, the elf found herself thinking more and more of the sent photograph, which brought warmth to her heart.
***
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