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  Sonny scrambled to his feet and readied himself to continue the fight. His opponent slammed the staff of his hammer into the ground to help him stand. Without the power core, most of his systems would malfunction until reset or the remaining power was manually redistributed. He would have a hard time moving in all that weight.

  Victory was within reach when Gin received a call from Vito. “Gin, this is Vito. We have to retreat. We’re being overwhelmed.”

  “What?” he sneered. “I’m about to finish—”

  “It’s taking way too long, Gin. We’ve already lost more than half our men. There are way more guys in this base than we thought.”

  “You were responsible for intel,” he yelled into the comm. “You told me that the leader wasn’t a fighter but a logistics man.”

  “The intel was bad, or I confused it with another base,” Vito muttered, too nonchalantly for Gin’s taste.

  “You damned idiot,” he snarled. “This failure is on you.”

  “Watch your tone, Gin,” Vito retorted angrily. “I am the leader of this crew. You will fall in line. Now, if you're not back in ten, we’ll leave your ass to the Horde, so get the hell back here.” With that, he signed off and left Gin trembling in rage as a timer appeared in his visor.

  The Omega Horde’s captain, still on his knees, chuckled and drew his attention. “Your mic is on, you know,” he said around heavy breaths. “While it’s probably a little unorthodox, considering the men you’ve killed…” He motioned to the bodies that littered the floor. “You’ve been able to both catch me by surprise and bring me to my knees. Both haven’t happened since I was only a grunt.”

  “My guess is you haven’t seen much action in the time since you became captain of this sect,” Gin responded and looked at Macha’s blade to inspect the damage. It would probably need to be replaced.

  “Hardly. All captains enter the field of battle with their men in the Horde,” the captain stated. “Where’s yours? Your mission was to take me down? Should he not be with you to make the final blow?”

  “He said he was ‘coordinating,’ as always.” Gin sheathed Macha and drew out a plasma blade.

  The Horde captain removed his helmet, tossed it on the floor, and spat. “What a pathetic leader, hiding in the shadows while his men do all the work.” He looked up to reveal a toothy grin. “And have all the talent.”

  “I’m glad you seem so enamored with me. I still have to kill you, though,” Gin said unapologetically. He held the plasma blade up and turned it on and the edge turned a bright blue color.

  “I would be disappointed if a few compliments made you malleable,” the captain huffed and heaved himself up. He turned to grab a box on the console behind him, threw it at Gin who let it fall at his feet, and prepared to back away. “Don’t fret, it’s not a bomb or a trick. You’ve earned a reward. All pirates get their cut.”

  Gin eyed him suspiciously, but against his better judgment, he kicked the button on the front of the case. It opened to reveal a shielding device within. “What’s this?”

  “A shielding mod, like my own,” the captain explained. “I’m not sure what power unit you have, but it’s useable as soon as it’s installed.”

  “You would give me something like that when yours is blown and we’re still fighting?” he questioned incredulously. “You do understand that I’m here to kill you, yes?”

  “That’s one way it could end.” The captain nodded and pointed to his helmet. “But we were able to hack into your commlink. That’s how we were able to overwhelm you so easily. And I heard your leader call the retreat. That must sting after all your hard work.”

  Gin stared at the captain, unmoving. “We’ll have words when I return.”

  “Or you could kill him for his transgressions,” the captain suggested. “Maybe while under the banner of the Omega Horde.”

  “So you think this is some sort of unorthodox job interview?” Gin inquired. He closed the case with one foot, kicked it up, and caught it in his hand. “After today, if I leave the Star Killers, I don’t think I’ll throw my lot in with anyone.”

  “That’s a damn shame. I see real talent in front of me.” The captain shrugged. “You’re running out of time. I may like you, but I’ll still kill you if you are dead set on trying to end this. Our little chat has given me plenty of time to get my armor back to working condition.” He took a fighting stance and swung his hammer to prove his point.

  Gin titled his head as he thought things through. “It might be the chat, or the sting of betrayal, or even the realization of what kind of weaklings the people in my crew are. But I feel less inclined to kill you.” He looked at his blade. “But more people will die today.”

  “If you leave, I have no reason to pursue,” the captain promised. “I still think it’s foolish that you’ll walk away from us, though, to be with those weaklings. They get some numbers and fancy guns and think they can take on the Horde? They confuse power with—”

  “Strength,” Gin finished as something clicked in his head. “Either you are a mind reader or I’m precognitive. But I think I’ve thought of something that’ll make us both happy.”

  “And what would that be?” the captain inquired.

  “I’ll take your ‘gift’ but not your offer,” he stated and turned away. “I want to also ask that you pull your men back.”

  “Are you trying to bargain for your crew's lives?”

  “Not at all.” Gin shook his head firmly as he walked away. “I want some left for me.”

  “Finally, you made it,” a Star Killer grunt barked and closed the hatch behind Gin. “I thought we were gonna leave your sorry ass behind.”

  “Vito would never do that. Gin is our best fighter!” another grunt said dismissively.

  “You know Vito. His whims change on a dime.” The other man sighed.

  “Strangely enough…” He drew two plasma blades, one in either hand, and activated them. “Mine have too.”

  Gin made his way to Vito’s quarters and slaughtered anyone in his way. His blue and black armor was soon covered in the blood of his former “brothers.”

  He didn’t have to make the entire trip. Vito met him in the hall outside his room with three guards in front of him who aimed their guns at Gin’s head.

  “Have you gone mad?” the leader snarled. “What have you done? We already lost so many, and you come in and kill almost everyone else? What if the Horde follows us? We weren’t in any position to fight even if—”

  “I find it amusing that you’re concerned about statistics rather than the fact that I’ve killed nearly the entire crew,” Gin muttered. He stood perfectly erect and his hands held the plasma blades lazily. “A great show of heart there, Vito. Maybe I should go for the head instead? Ripping out your heart may not show dividends.”

  “You’re… You're going to lecture me about how much I care?” Vito shouted, angry and aghast all at the same time. “You’ve killed men you’ve traveled with for over a year. You showed no mercy.”

  “None was needed,” he responded flatly. “If they were better, they would have killed me. It’s as simple as that.”

  Vito clenched his teeth and pointed at Gin. “Kill him.”

  The trio of guards fired but the new shield blocked all the blasts. A shimmering purple glow rippled around his suit until their guns overheated. Instead of venting them, they dropped their guns in shock.

  Gin pointed at Vito. “Kill him, and I might spare you.”

  The guards looked at one another. Their leader looked anxiously at them. One drew his pistol and fired into Vito’s head. A sizzling hole appeared as he fell back and dropped without a sound. The other two guards stood in shock until a plasma blade punctured each of their chests. Gin released the blades and shoved their bodies out of his way to approach the soldier who had followed his order.

  “And who might you be?” he asked and motioned at the visor. “Let’s have a look.”

  The guard nodded and removed his helmet with
shaking hands. Gin smiled at the sight. “Rocco! From my first day at Warlock’s Bar,” he said when he remembered the guard whom he had bought drinks for. He put his arm around the man’s shoulder and leaned against the wall. “Who would have thought this is how things would turn out, huh?”

  “C-can’t say I-I did,” Rocco stammered.

  “Right? Crazy.” Gin shook his head in disbelief.

  “Are y-you g-gonna k-k-kill me?” the man asked, petrified.

  “You know, I was,” he admitted and the guard stiffened beneath his arm. “Of course, I could say something sarcastic like, ‘I said might, no guarantees,’ but I personally like you—you have a good taste in drink.”

  “T-Thanks.”

  “Well, I think I’m gonna be on my way.” Gin clapped the man on his shoulder. “I’ll grab what I can and head over to the escape pods. Some of them have to be working. A few were able to escape with them, but… Wait a minute.” He paused, then turned and walked over to Vito’s body to rummage around for his tablet. “Let’s see…do…do…do—ah, a list of all crew members and their info.” He placed the tablet in a compartment on his left leg. “That’ll be useful to hunt them down.”

  “You’re going after all of them?” Rocco asked and flinched when Gin looked at him. “I mean…I’m—just don’t, sorry.”

  He walked past the man, stopped for a moment, and tapped his chin. “Wanna do me a favor Rocco?”

  “I won’t tell anyone, I swear to God!” Rocco pleaded.

  “I’m not sure how much good that’ll do. I doubt he likes these kinds of things,” Gin said airily. “But actually, I want you to do the opposite.” He looked at the bodies. “Tell everyone you can about everything I’ve done. They might not believe you at first but trust me…” He chuckled darkly as he stepped over the bodies and left the blades jutting out of them. “I’ll give them reason to believe you soon enough.”

  Author Notes

  March 6, 2019

  THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well.

  (I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)

  RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?

  So, originally I really hated Gin. I mean, I wanted him dead, and I wanted him dead in the last book.

  I was talking with Joshua about the villain, and Joshua (who likes complicated villains) was giving me a bit about Gin’s background. So, I asked him to write an epilogue where we got to see a bit more about Gin’s history, and what made him…him.

  Thus, you get the story of Gin in this book.

  I hate to admit that now I almost…almost…like Gin. Which, is sad cause the fucker has to die.

  Right?

  I mean…he IS the bad guy here.

  Dammit Joshua, you are screwing up my nice black and white worldview here!

  AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

  One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.

  NEW YORK, JFK AIRPORT

  I’m presently hanging in the British Airways lounge in Terminal 7 of New York’s JFK airport. It’s 10:04 PM, and I have to finish these author notes in ten minutes and get them over to Stephen Campbell and Lynne Stiegler to get in the book so it publishes really quickly.

  I sure hope I make it everywhere I need to.

  While I am flying towards London (for the London Book Fair next week) I’ll be working on two books, hoping that my crap sleeping doesn’t screw me over. I noticed on the flight from Las Vegas to here that I didn’t have the emotional desire to do anything.

  So I read.

  I’m going to save a couple of minutes and get book 03 of the series I’m reading ‘just in case’ I can’t make myself work.

  I suppose I could fire myself for not working, but I doubt that I will.

  Joshua has the beats for the next ANIMUS book completed and is writing, so I am hoping the next book will be out in April.

  Crossing my fingers, since I love these stories!

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  Ad Aeternitatem,

  Michael Anderle

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