Marching down the road was more tedious than difficult for me, probably thanks to my physical enhancements of course. Regardless, it sucked, like a lot. People were still able to have conversations as they marched, although with the somber atmosphere after losing so many soldiers the tone of those conversations was different from the usual soldier banter.

  We were actually making decent time though; it wasn’t a disastrous loss without the transports as I would’ve thought. While riding on the buses, it’s not like we were able to just race down the freeway unimpeded. In fact, we’d driven rather slow and careful, needing to weave around obstacles, and occasionally needing to stop to move disabled vehicles off the road. Still, our marching speed was nowhere near what a vehicle could manage, which was why it would take us three times as long to get to our destination now.

  Almana stayed with us same as always, acting as our escort as usual. I was surprised the vyranes were able to keep up with us with their little legs, but they moved surprisingly swiftly, having no difficulty maintaining the march—unlike Kianna the short stack, hanging on for dear life trying to keep pace with the rest of us.

  Almana was quieter now though, wasn’t the same company she’d been before. At first I worried she was still suspicious of me and Eve, but it quickly became apparent we weren’t on her mind at all. She was grieving for the men she’d lost in the tunnels, and every time we took a break from marching, she was quick to gather with her command group, going over the names of everyone who was missing or dead, planning out the messages they were going to send to their families.

  On the other hand, now that she was forced to march and stay awake, Eve was able to keep me company again, and I was surprised how much I missed her in such a short time. We were back to goofing around and flirting wildly and inappropriately. Same as always, it was so easy talking with Eve, bantering about every nonsense thing you could imagine. It was like we never missed a beat and were right back where we left off.

  Unfortunately, since she was forced to stay up during the day while we marched, pretty much the second we made camp, Eve immediately went to sleep. She assured me she wasn’t in any danger or anything, just mentally exhausted and drained with her void energy cut off from her physical body, needing a break from simply existing for a while before she’d be expected to remain awake all day.

  Despite her assurances, still, I worried.

  After Eve clocked out for the night, I was left to fend for myself for a couple hours before I would be able to get to sleep myself. As usual, I hung around the researchers, and even though Almana and her people were nearby, their night was spent in mourning.

  Over the next few days we continued with the same routine, marching and camping and marching and camping, no deviation in the monotony. Fortunately, since we were moving around with a smaller force while on foot, it seemed like it was harder for groups of assimilated soldiers to find us, although we couldn’t remain completely undetected, and still got into a little skirmish at least a couple times each day.

  Since the cat was out of the bag and we were down on resources as it was, Eve and I decided to fully commit to fighting on the front lines with the rest of the soldiers, using our proton blades more than our guns now. Of course, we were still being careful not to show off too much of our abilities, mostly moving at normal speeds now, looking like perfectly trained soldiers and swordsmen rather than superpowered. I still used my enhanced perception to help boost my reflexes so I could dance around the enemy easily, but I was careful not to match that speed with my movements.

  Seash had given up scolding and instead started using us for his strategies, directing us during the battles. He said if we were going to go against orders, might as well play along with the rest of the team now.

  So far none of the assimilated soldier forces were anywhere near as bad or numerous as what we fought down in the tunnel, leading to quick and safe victories.

  It also seemed like with every victory, Almana was becoming herself again, accepting her grief and moving on in her own way. After a few days on the road and more than a few skirmishes, she was back to her old self again.

  It seemed like everyone’s mood was slowly recovering, and the more days we went without a casualty, the more overall morale improved. Eventually we seemed to all be back to how we were, marching and joking, even singing along the road as we traveled on the freeway.

  It was a hard life we were living now, life and death balanced on a razor’s edge before us, so we ended up with some sick sense of joy the longer we survived, and it made me wonder if it was like this for all soldiers even back on Earth, the feeling of being free and expendable all at the same time.

  Every night at camp seemed rowdier than the last, with everyone celebrating another day survived. If we had booze I was sure people would be getting lit every night, but the limited drinks people had stealthily smuggled on the trip had already long been consumed, so they had to entertain themselves in other ways, usually just fighting or wrestling, goading each other into any insane contest of strength they could think of.

  People carried rocks, they punched trees, sometimes they just rammed straight into each other—jousting without a horse or some nonsense. They gambled with all manner of games of chance, both Vyrane and random Imperial games, the stakes surprisingly large amounts of credits since no one had the expectation they’d live to spend them. It was all good fun, and even when people walked away bloodied and bruised, they were laughing all the while. It seemed like everyone had gone a little insane down in those tunnels, and those of us that survived would have to carry that terror in our hearts for quite a while.

  Strangely enough, I hadn’t been affected by the tunnels the way all the others had, despite the fact I’d previously had a much more unstable mental state—fragile, some might say. Perhaps it was because I had the power to fight against the creatures in the dark, or maybe it was because I knew Eve would keep me safe no matter what. Regardless, I was surprised how well I was doing and would be sure to tell that doctor back on The Radiance, Jumomo how well I held up during all these times of stress.

  Although there was one point of stress I wasn’t really able to deal with; this was now the longest I’d gone without having sex since Eve and I got together. Both for the fact we didn’t have any privacy, and also since she was so mentally drained at night and promptly went to sleep, we hadn’t had the opportunity to be together in almost a cycle now. Of course, even if we were able to be together, it was little more than a tease thanks to the fucking inhibitor field.

  We didn’t talk about it at all, even though we could both feel the pressure building between us, it was better to just ignore it for now, rather than name the demon.

  Honestly, at this point I didn’t even know which was better; to just fuck at the first opportunity, or steel ourselves and resist the temptation and wait for true release once we were good and free.

  Instead of sexual intimacy, I was rewarded with companionship, both from Eve and from Almana. Almana had fully recovered after a few days and was back to her cheery, inquisitive self. She asked questions about Eve’s inventions constantly, and while I insisted everything in Eve’s arsenal was classified, that didn’t put an end to the questions—didn’t even slow them down.

  Obviously Almana was curious what we might unleash on her planet’s capital, but more than that she was just curious about what led Eve to her mad scientist career path. We were as vague as possible, alluding to the idea that Eve had always considered herself above the law and eventually it finally bit her in the ass, and the only way to get out of trouble was to put her mad science to use for the Empire, and it was quickly discovered she had a talent for warfare. But nothing we said could completely dispel Almana’s curiosity, and after every skirmish with the assimilated soldiers, she seemed more and more impressed with us and our abilities we always credited to Eve’s battle stimulants. Naturally, that led to Almana asking if she could ever receive the battle stimulants, to possess those same powers we did so she could help fight for her people, but we assured her without intense preparation and no small amount of genetic tampering, she would never survive them. Undeterred, she asked if she could maybe receive a weaker or smaller dose, and when we denied her even that, she just asked if we could just give her a more powerful gun instead.

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  She was relentless, but there was something to be admired with Almana’s tenacity.

  As for admiration, it seemed like Almana was really starting to admire us, and she started relying on us even more during the random skirmishes on the road. It seemed like she had come to trust us completely, and she just about told us such, though wasn’t so blunt about it. It seemed obvious to everyone traveling with us now there was no way we would be able to succeed in the mission without Eve—and even me now that I was using my enhanced abilities. Everyone else was there for support; we were the key players.

  Same as always, it seemed like far too much responsibility for a guy from planet dirt.

  ***

  Exhausted, battered, barely holding together, we survived seven days on the road on the way to Sesamna. We couldn’t call it uneventful, and three more soldiers had been killed along the way, and then four vyranes deserted our camp in the middle of the night, but we were finally on the home stretch, only a few hours away from our destination.

  Marching beside Eve and Almana, I was passing the time by asking Almana about the city.

  “How often have you gone there since the war started?” I asked.

  Almana shrugged, “Just twice, it’s not an easy trek to make.” She gestured to the road around us, “This is pretty much how it always goes.”

  My eyebrows shot up, “Really, that bad?”

  Almana nodded, “Pretty much. In fact, last time I made the journey we ended up having to spend the final stretch on foot same as we are now.”

  “No kidding.” I said mildly. “Then how do you make it back from Sesamna?”

  “Leaving isn’t so bad; it seems like the separatists are only guarding the way forward. I think if they had it their way, everyone would leave Sesamna and give the capital a wide berth.” Almana explained.

  I scratched at my beard as I puzzled over something, “You know, it’s kind of funny, but I don’t know the name of your capital city, we always just talk about Sesamna outside it.”

  Almana held up a finger, “Ah, that’s because we don’t technically have a capital city.”

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “How does that work?”

  Almana chuckled, “The capital is the central hub for our government, with the senatorial congress, the executive courts, and the stately palace. There are some bureaucratic offices and a few museums and even Vyrane’s oldest library, but there’s no residential area at all, so the capital is just the government capital of Vyrane, not an actual city—though it’s really an argument for semantics at that point.”

  “Oh, that’s kind of unique. Any reason for that?” I asked.

  Almana shrugged, “Supposedly it was to prevent any central favoritism so our politicians wouldn’t just do what’s best for the capital city or the government, but I’m sure that didn’t stop governmental corruption—probably didn’t even slow it down.”

  “Nice, spoken like a true cynic; you’re a woman after my own heart.” I declared.

  Almana laughed at that, “Well it’s true; it’s all about taking bribes and filling your own coffers. Even this mess we’re in now was undoubtedly caused by some politician’s greed, either making some deal with a devil or just trying to profiteer off their own warmongering.”

  Considering I knew what was really behind Vyrane’s troubles, I was always curious what Almana thought was the cause of all this chaos.

  “Is that really what you think this is all about?” I asked.

  Almana narrowed her eyes at me, “Why, does your clandestine team know more they haven’t shared with us?”

  I rolled my eyes, “While that’s undoubtedly true, we’re still pretty lost in the dark same as you lot, but it has me curious what you who lived through this nightmare think about it.”

  Almana continued to glare at me with obvious suspicion for a few silent moments, but finally let it drop with a shrug, “We really can’t even begin to guess; dealing with the nightmare of assimilated soldiers and now those abominations in the tunnels, I feel like I’m barely able to keep up with the facts I’ve been presented, let alone make any solid speculations.”

  “Boy do I hear that; ever since I joined in with the Empire, I feel like I hit the ground running, and I’m just barely keeping up with everything.” I admitted.

  “Don’t disparage yourself darling; you’ve proven yourself more than capable with everything you’ve confronted.” Eve countered.

  Almana nodded along, “I’ll say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man just get shit done the way you do.”

  I waved it off, “All thanks to Eve.”

  Almana shrugged, “I wouldn’t sell yourself short like that; just because a person was given an incredible weapon doesn’t mean they would know how to properly use it right away. While Eve might be a genius for her inventions, maybe you’re a genius for being able to properly use them?”

  I barked out a quick laugh, “Me, a genius? I’m as dumb as a rock and twice as stubborn. I think that’s what’s helped me survive more than anything.”

  Eve glared at me, “Adam, you are not dumb.”

  Almana glared at me too, “Yeah, if you think you’re dumb, what the hell does that mean for the rest of us barely stumbling after you?”

  I don’t know how I could get two women mad at me with one comment, but I suddenly felt like I should stop talking before I dug myself into more trouble.

  It was still midday when we could finally see Sesamna off in the distance, a massive city, and I could clearly see it was horribly damaged, even from miles away.

  More than that, I could see fires and lasers and even the occasional explosion off in the distance; the city was literally in the middle of a battle right now—possibly in the middle of some endless battle without reprieve.

  “Alright everyone, form up.” Seash called out.

  Everyone gathered together as the mood suddenly shifted as tension filled the air, a sense of impending danger hanging over us like a cloud.

  “This is it, the last stretch. I want to thank you all for sticking with it and staying strong. Unfortunately, here comes the hardest part by far; from here on out, we won’t be dealing with the occasional random ambush, our lives will constantly be in danger. I need you all to stay with your groups and resistance escorts, and now more than ever we all need to stay on high alert, and everyone needs to follow orders.” Seash said, pointedly looking at Eve and myself.

  Eve just trilled out a little giggle and leaned into my arm, but I was silent and serious as I sensed the nearby danger; I would definitely need to rely on Eve to safely get through that warzone.

  “The timeline through Sesamna is just two days, and honestly I don’t think we could survive much longer without additional support. Day one will be spent with Almana and her team escorting us to Ferro’s meeting location, and day two will be spent escorted by Ferro’s team through the sewer system to break into the capital.” Seash gestured towards Almana, “From here, I’ll turn things over to you.”

  Almana nodded, and once again I watched as she changed from the cute punk girl to the talented leader who rightly earned the respect of all her men. “Thank you Captain.” She paused, looking out at everyone who was left of the two teams, less than half remaining now. She took in a deep breath, then let it out twice as slow, “Sesamna is completely controlled by separatist forces, so this is going to be a stealth mission, something I believe you’re all more than familiar with. From here, we’re going hook around through an old industrial complex on the outskirts of town, then we’ll be moving block by block through the city until we make it to Brightengale Private Academy, and from there we’ll be able to contact Ferro. We’ll be moving with a purpose while in the city, quick and quiet as we can. I don’t expect to get through without getting into a least a few skirmishes, but the rules are different here; we can’t hold down and hope to eliminate every enemy we come across. Instead, it’s all about fighting defensively to create the opportunity for a tactical retreat, moving through buildings until we break their line of sight and escape their onslaught. Make no mistake, we’ll run out of weapons before they run out of bodies to throw at us.” Almana nodded down at me and Eve, “We can’t even hope to rely on you and your battle stimulants now, the enemy forces are simply insurmountable at this level.” She looked back out to the rest of the team, “Make no mistake, there will casualties, but our goal should be to mitigate our loses.”

  Almana paused again, steeling herself, and in that moment, it felt like she was willing her strength to the rest of her unit—to all of us.

  She opened her eyes, determination and sorrow showing in equal measure now—guilt she felt for the people she was leading to their deaths. Almana saw herself as a necessary evil, same as Eve and me—a dreadful realization, but one she wouldn’t shy away from.

  “I want to tell you all it’s been an honor and a privilege to serve alongside you, and I hope and pray at the end of all this, it will lead to a free Vyrane.” Almana lifted her gun in the air, “To a free Vyrane!” She declared.

  Everyone lifted their gun in the air and echoed her cry—vyrane and Imperial alike, and in that moment we were all the same, brothers in arms. Her gun still in the air, Almana turned and started marching off the freeway, starting us down the path into the city, starting us on the path that would lead to death.