Prophecy of Tears: CH8: The Vatsatz

The Vatsatz - part 4

I was taking a dangerous chance, a fool's chance. The amount of pheromones I was producing was having a notable effect on the newblood women with us. Unfortunately, some of my effort was subconscious, driven by excitement at the prospect of marking or even killing the Starwolf leader. The invasion was coming any day now, and I desperately wanted to prove my worth. The Bloodsoul had granted me an opening to get close to DiVaragas. I would take it.

We picked up the Blood Eagle prisoners at their camp and took them to the dropship. The one called Najrasami seemed to be in good spirits. He actually greeted Kenzie and insulted the second girl, a Lachris Tremane. Interesting. I observed the signs of romantic attraction between Najrasami and Kenzie. The larger Blood Eagle said little, but seemed more thoughtful than other times when I'd observed him in camp.

On the way up to the Retribution, I kept the pheromone levels high. If anything unexpected happened, it would be good to know I had at least a couple of companions devoted to my safety. The pheromones weren't foolproof, and they were far from true mind control, not like some of the more advanced sub-cortical implants. On the other hand, they worked on a deeply primal level, tapping into parental instincts, a child's desire for approval, and various romantic urges. The Hordes had worked hard to leash human biology to their will. I knew the unprecedented amount of pheromones I was exposing these girls to would imprint them deeply, perhaps modifying their loyalties past the point of caution, but I felt reckless, exuberant. So many of these humans would perish soon, that I couldn't help but feel uplifted.

The Sergeant leading our escort didn't pay much attention. I'd cultivated a reputation for being popular with the local fems, so these two wouldn't stir much surprise on his part. The older Blood Eagle remained withdrawn, no doubt contemplating his imminent death. The younger one was a different case. He definitely noticed the girls and their attachment to me, and I could see the circuits clicking in his brain. As we docked with the Retribution, the realization struck me that I didn't know much about the butchers other than basic military data and Starwolf propaganda. For tribals, the Blood Eagle were fairly adept at concealing their secrets. They were rumored to be close to the Empire. Did they share briefing information? What did they know about the Hordes?

I frowned at him and caught Kenzie's eye. Then I put a hurt expression on my face, probably number sixty-four, if I were categorizing my arsenal of duplicity: Reminder of a Painful Memory. It worked nicely enough, touching off a storm of protective fury in the girl. She exploded into a homicidal frenzy, keyed up as she was. The sergeant yelled, but too late to stop her from striking down Najrasami… I hoped.

Unfortunately and to my great surprise, she regained self-control and restrained herself from killing the troublesome Blood Eagle. I felt disappointed. I'd never blasted my pheromones out at this rate for such a long time. Kenzie should have been putty. On the other hand, reactions varied from person to person. Maybe she was just more resistant. It would be interesting to see how continued exposure affected her. And I'd see the Blood Eagle's blood spill soon enough. It wasn't as if he had any credibility here, among his tribe's mortal enemies.

The trek through the Retribution was interesting but not particularly noteworthy. The Hordes already possessed all the information on the ship's schematics and other tactical data. Nothing new to observe, in other words, though my inbred curiosity still nagged at me, pushing the urge to learn more about this vessel. I squelched it down, though. This was not an intelligence gathering mission. We reached the cargo bay DiVaragas used as an arena without incident.

The Blood Eagle went off to the side to prepare their equipment, and I found myself standing with Kenzie, Tremane, and the Sergeant. DiVaragas was just finishing her warm-up exercises out on the floor. She wore a light, Scout-class armor with a skinsuit underneath, and she carried a long, thin blade that seemed well-designed for slashing or stabbing. It reminded me of a boning knife, I thought, like the kind they used in Skyrholm to gut clean fish. DiVaragas herself was dark-haired and struck me as hard in a way I'd not seen since the Hordes. I could almost taste her rage. Interesting. I wondered whether the pheromones would touch her.

Carefully, I removed my gauntlet and slipped a bio-construct tracker out of my palm. It was the size of a bead, but was designed to transmit a pulse visible to Horde sensors. It was also adhesive on contact. I put my gauntlet back on and palmed the tracker. Next to me, Tremane breathed deeply and gave me an infatuated grin.

"I'm Lachris," she said.

"Bando," I smirked. "Brianna tell me about you."

She looked uncertain. "Kenzie? I'm… uh, sure she didn't get… I mean-"

"Look sharp," the Sergeant ordered. "Here comes the Ur-Warlord."

Excitement speared me. I wouldn't even have to go to her to plant my little surprise! We all stood at attention. DiVaragas had words for Kenzie, it appeared, and only token comments for the rest of us. When she came to me, I fairly leaped at the chance to play pathetic idiot. Pheromones roiling out of me like an invisible cloud, I flung myself at her feet and begged for her to kill the evil butchers. While my mouth worked, my hands stuck the tracker on her boot. I'd have kissed her feet if that's what it took to convince her of my sincerity and cover my true purpose. Sometimes it helps to have deception wired into one's genes. Nonetheless, part of me sneered in contempt at how much I had to mimic weakness. I was of the Strong, the Chainless. It rankled me to have to play such a game of humiliation, to shame myself before these monkeys.

DiVaragas was also embarrassed. She stared at me, getting a good brush of my pheromones, but I could see they were barely hitting her. With time, maybe, but her rage ran too deep. She was too alienated to respond to any instincts but those of destruction. I respected that. It was as I imagined the greatest feroxi to function.

She wrenched her foot from my hands. "Get up, warrior," she said coldly. "Act like a man."

"Yessir." I stood and wiped away my false tears. Beside me, I sensed the girls were fairly boiling over with sympathy and a desire to protect me, and I laughed to myself. You are marked like a game bird, Ur-Warlord. You're the Hordes' meat now. We'll see how long that steely front endures when you're in the talons of the feroxi.

"Alright. No one interferes. Understand?" We all nodded. "Good," she said. "Get the restraining bolts off the butcher armors and bring them to the starting point." She jetted back to her starting position, and we settled back to watch.

"You OK, Bando?" cooed Tremane, her blue eyes wide with concern. Next to her, Kenzie watched me with the same expression mingled with envy.

"Bando OK," I said. "Sorry, Brianna. Not mean to upset you."

She looked confused, but she produced a hesitant smile. "I'm not upset, Bando. Don't worry."

My comment clearly puzzled Tremane, who wasn't used to being taken so lightly by males. She opened her mouth to say something, but the Sergeant interrupted.

"Eyes front, warriors. Just because we're ordered not to interfere doesn't mean we go to sleep. Remember, those butchers are wearing armor, and we need to keep them contained."

After the opening declaration of vengeance by DiVaragas - and a surprisingly flippant answer from Najrasami - the match started. Right away I could see the B-E were fighting hard to stay alive. They managed surprisingly well. They stayed close enough to support each other, and they didn't take stupid chances. Their impromptu tactics showed a lot of discipline. At the same time, DiVaragas was magnificent, absolutely in control of the battle even as she rode her rage like a fine stallion. Mere seconds into the first heavy exchange, she destroyed the larger Blood Eagle's knife and almost terminated Najrasami.

Kenzie winced at that, and Tremane said, "Looks like your boyfriend's in trouble, huh?" Kenzie didn't answer.

"Cut it out, Cadet Tremane," said the Sergeant. "Eyes front."

I glanced at Kenzie. She'd gone pale. I reached out and squeezed her arm, playing the reassuring comrade. She shot me a grateful look and returned her attention to the battle.

It went on for longer than I'd thought. DiVaragas disarmed Najrasami, but wasn't able to score any decisive hit on either of the two Eagles.

"He's bleeding," said Kenzie.

"Who?" Tremane asked.

"Naj - the younger one."

"I see it," said the Sergeant. "Looks like Slasher got a cut in at the wrist, but it's not arterial. Lucky scrof. He ought to be dead three times over by now."

"This is wrong," I heard Kenzie whisper. She doubtless didn't mean to be overheard, but vatsatz have excellent ears. The better to ferret out secrets with, naturally. I thought about calling her on it, but the battle was getting interesting now that blood had been shed. If I concentrated, I could just smell it, a salty tang every BioDerm was familiar with. It smelled like victory.

Things went back and forth for awhile after that, and it was clear that the butchers were fading, one from fatigue, the other from accumulated blood loss. Goodbye, Najrasami, I thought happily.

Then the unthinkable happened. Just as DiVaragas swooped in at Najrasami for what had to be the coup-de-grace, Kenzie bolted. She leaped forward, shouting, "Noooo!" and only my superior reflexes let me trip her before she could hit her jets. She slammed into the deck and I jumped over and hauled her up by the arm. Amazingly, she tried to get free, even when I pushed out the pheromones again. A shocked Tremane moved up and grabbed the other arm.

"Hold her, by the Wolf!" the Sergeant ordered, his face mottled with anger. "Damn it, Kenzie, what in Dark do you think you're doing?"

"I…" The pheromones hit her then, and she turned to me. "I… I'm sorry, Bando…!"

"Sorry, Bando? By the Wolf, Kenzie, what's gotten into you?" He lowered his voice. "Listen, I know you think this is barbaric, and between you and me and the wall, you're right. But the reality is-" The ship jolted as if a massive hammer had pounded the hull. It was hard enough to cause the deck to shudder under our feet. "What the Dark…!"

I looked out at the bay floor, and my heart sank. While we were busy with Kenzie, the Eagles had somehow turned the tables. Najrasami had DiVaragas down somehow. The other Eagle was dead. I cursed to myself. This pathetic Blood Eagle had more lives than a cat! Every time he was defeated, something kept him alive. At that moment, I promised myself I would see him dead. The Weak should perish. That was the Law.

The next moment I went from disappointed anger to exhilaration. The Sergeant rapped out, "We're under attack! The ship's under attack! Check the CC, channel Delta!"

I dropped in and flicked through the tac channels. A shaky camera view from some unfortunate warrior showed the unmistakable forms of Horde reavers. There was pitched fighting, but the feroxi moved like lightning and what they didn't blow apart, they ripped asunder as they battled their way into the Retribution.

It was a lovely sight. I cherished it. How powerful the feroxi were, how Strong. I fought down the urge to gun down the humans around me and join the rampage. I was a vatsatz, bred not for combat, but for spying and sabotage. I would maintain my cover as long as possible.

When I switched back to my HUD view, Najrasami was down. For a fleeting moment, I thought he might be dead, but no such luck. Kenzie fussed with him for a few minutes, and soon she was helping him off the floor. He looked gray, and I knew he'd be easy meat if I had the opportunity.

"OK, listen," said the Sergeant. "Our orders are to reinforce 'H' deck. They need every gun. There's a bottleneck there where we can hold the boarders out of the command section. Let's get down there on the bounce."

"What about me?" rasped Najrasami. "Deal was, I go free if I win."

The Sergeant hesitated.

"C'mon, it ain't a Sworder riddle here." Najrasami leaned on the bulkhead. "Either I'm a prisoner or I'm free."

The Sergeant was pathetically easy to read, and I jumped all over his indecision.

"Butcher. Can't trust."

Tremane nodded immediately. Kenzie struggled, but finally relented.

"We should keep an eye on him," she said.

Good girls, I thought.

"At least give me my helmet," Najrasami said. "I promise I'll be on good behavior."

The Sergeant shrugged. "Fine. I can live with that. We'll stash you in a brig along the way. If we win, you're free. If we lose…."

"Same old, same old," Najrasami muttered. "Let's get on with it, then."

Excellent. We'd stash him along the way, and I'd come back for him later. Suddenly I was glad he'd survived. So much more satisfying to kill him personally. Or maybe to get one of the girls to do it. Kenzie.

Perfect.

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