For a moment Alani stood rooted to the spot. "How…how did you-"
"Oh please, girl, it's not like your little crew is a big secret or anything," Dexion said. "There were pictures of the Jennerit defectors all over Tempest. Not to mention UPR bulletins on deserters and space pirates. A few days of research is enough to learn the life stories of just about everyone on board that ship."
Alani's mind was racing. "Alright, so you know I work with Deande. If you kill me her soldiers will be here in no time."
"We're prepared for that eventuality," Dexion said.
"Wait a minute now," said Pendles. "Maybe you lot haven't heard, but Rendain's long gone. You're fighting a battle that's already been lost, mate."
Dexion laughed. "You two still think this is about Rendain? Kade was a tool, you idiots. We found him raving in the streets, talking about how the great High Commander would return to spare the loyal Jennerit from the destruction of the universe. So, I thought he might be useful. I convinced him that my people shared his views. That there were more like us all across Tempest. We spent months trying to legitimize Adalric. We taught him how to connect with a crowd and gave him the platform to do so. And then, when he was about to have his biggest moment, one bullet from a Deadeye would bring it all crashing down."
"Then, the sniper in the tower at the rally," Alani said. "It wasn't there for security?"
Dexion shook his head. "We hadn't planned on intervention from the Battleborn, but it in the long run it opened up another golden opportunity, didn't it?"
"This doesn't make any sense! If this isn't about Rendain, then what is it about?"
"It's about the Jennerit people!" Dexion said, losing his calm demeanor. "It's about the people finally taking leadership for themselves!"
Alani crossed her arms. "And that's your idea of leading your people? Dragging the ones you don't agree with off the street and setting them up to be murdered?"
Dexion sighed. "I wouldn't expect you to understand the sacrifices I have to make. What was the name of the planet you're from?"
"Akopos."
"Ah yes. The one that was boiled by the Silent Sisters. And yet you joined up with the Battleborn knowing that the woman who killed every living thing on your planet was a fully accepted member. I believe your Captain granted her a full pardon for her war crimes, did he not?"
Alani flinched. "Rendain ordered-"
"Ah, that old excuse," Dexion chuckled. "'Lothar Rendain, the tyrant that destroyed the Jennerit's good name!' The truth is that the Jennerit have been ruled by tyrants for millennia. Your friends Deande and Rath were the tools of one. Our beloved Empress Lenore did not rule for over ten thousand years without taking the lives of a few dissenters along the way. Did the Empress ever condemn slavery? Or the fighting pits? No."
A loud crash from the side of the room caused both Alani and Pendles to jump. Augustus had upended one of the bookshelves and used it to barricade the door shut, cutting them off from the only exit.
"Your deaths will bring a new hope to the Jennerit. The thralls, the slaves, and the non-Sustained will see that nothing can stand in their way! Not Rendain! Not the Battleborn! And not some treacherous former spymistress and her scraps from a dead regime!"
"Right then! I think I've heard enough!" Pendles said. "Next time you see me, I'll be ripping your spinal column out of your back!"
He reached into one of his hidden pockets and, in a literal flash, threw down one of his trademark smoke bombs.
"Ow!" Alani complained, rubbing her eyes. "How about a little warning next time!"
As her vision cleared, she saw that something wasn't right. Namely the fact that Pendles was still standing right where he was, clearly visible to the rest of the room's occupants.
"Erm, well that didn't quite go as planned." Pendles said, chuckling nervously.
Dexion pointed up into the corner of the room behind them, where a small security camera was perched high on the wall.
"We had the security updated once we decided to keep you on as a guest, Pendles." Dexion said. "The LLC has some shockingly reasonable deals on anti-cloaking devices. Hooks right into the regular security system."
"Well then," Pendles said, trying to put the cocky tone back into his voice. "Guess I'll just have to do this the old fash-"
Augustus's huge fist slammed into the side of Pendles's head, sending the Roa flying backwards until he landed in a heap.
"Pendles!" Alani cried out. Augustus turned his attention to her, and she had to duck out of the way as he threw a punch in her direction. She steadied herself, concentrated, and threw out a riptide wave that forced the angry thrall back a few feet. Having created some distance between herself and her attacker, she stayed alert for his next move.
"You have some impressive skills," Dexion said. Alani tried to look in his direction, but he was mostly obscured by Augustus's wide form. "I'm sure the people of Akopos would appreciate how you're using them to defend the killers who slaughtered them all."
"Shut up!" Alani yelled. Too late she realized the distraction. Augustus was charging her, and she didn't have a chance to try to block or sidestep him. He crashed into her with his full bodyweight, driving the air out of her lungs (and she'd just been starting to feel like she'd gotten used to using those again, too). He scooped her up into his arms and then slammed her hard into the wall, where she dropped to the floor in a daze. She looked up to see Augustus standing over her, his right arm raised for one last blow.
"Oi, big guy! It's not like I need to cloak if you're just going to ignore me anyway!"
Pendles had somehow managed to jump up on Augustus's back. He coiled his long organic arm around the thrall's neck, and in his prosthetic hand he held a single throwing star, which he promptly jammed into Augustus's eye socket. The thrall howled and thrashed, trying to dislodge his assailant.
"Pendles…get back!" Alani called out through gasping breaths. Pendles glanced at her, then noticed the pool of water that had begun swirling beneath Augustus's feet. He let go and moved away just a geyser pushed Augustus into the air. The pressure was enough to send him crashing into the ceiling before he fell back face down on the floor. With their opponent off of his feet for the first time since the fight began, Pendles wasted no time pouncing on him, finally cutting deep into his neck with poison infused kamas.
Alani leaned back against the wall, using it for leverage as she forced herself back up to a vertical base. While Pendles made sure Augustus was dead, she turned her attention back to Dexion, whose face betrayed a slight look of sadness at the fate of his lieutenant.
"You can still give up." Alani said.
The rebel simply shook his head. "Augustus was a good friend to me, and loyal to our cause. I will not allow his death to be meaningless."
"Want to bet on that?" Pendles said. He started to move towards Dexion, but stopped when Alani put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.
"You want to know why I joined the Battleborn?" she asked. "I haven't forgotten what Ambra did. I wear this to remind myself every day." She pointed to the red sash tied at her waist. "But there was a bigger fight out there. Solus is the last chance we've got to save the universe from the Varelsi, and when that history is written I want everyone to know that Akopos was a part of it."
"And then what?" Dexion sighed. "If you defeat the Varelsi, where do you go from there? Do you think Deande and her underlings will remember you while they take over the Empire? Do you think your Rogue assassin friend here won't stab you in the back if the price is right? Whatever union has been achieved between the factions will crumble and you will have no home to go back to. And the moment you die, the memory of Akopos dies with you, girl."
Pendles felt Alani's grip on his shoulder tighten. She didn't want to show it, but Pendles knew her better than just about anyone, and he knew that Dexion had managed to hit on several of her insecurities.
"The only ones dying here today are you and your thrall friend, mate," Pendles said. "And since the job is already halfway done, why don't we just get it over with right now?"
"I am not afraid of death," said Dexion, his right hand reaching under his robe. From an inner pocket he removed a small handheld device. "I am not a coward like the Sustained. Death serves a purpose. And our deaths will serve a great purpose!"
"Pendles," Alani whispered into the assassin's ear.
"Yes love?"
"Is it just me, or does that thing look an awful lot like that detonator Ernest uses for his explosive charges?"
"So it does."
Both Battleborn let their eyes roam around the room, searching desperately for an exit. The only door out was still blocked by the toppled bookcase. Even if they could have gotten out, they probably wouldn't be able to escape the mansion before Dexion triggered whatever trap he had set up.
"There are people like me all over Tempest!" Dexion continued. "Capable leaders who do not require the crutch of Sustainment! They will tell of what happened here!"
Pendles heard Alani take a slow, deep breath.
"Pendles," she said, "hold on to me. And whatever you do don't let go."
"What?"
"Just do it. I have an idea."
Pendles curled his long arm around her waist. Meanwhile, Dexion was reaching the climax of his speech.
"The Sustained are destined to fall, and my name will be lauded by the new order of the Jennerit for years to come! I am an inspiration to the masses!"
With two fingers, he pulled the trigger.
"I die for the people!"
A series of explosions sounded as Alani summoned a Riptide wave in the direction of the window that looked over the back of the estate. Pulling Pendles along with her, she rode her wave as it crashed up against the glass. She closed her eyes as she slammed herself against it, feeling shards cutting at her skin as it shattered against the combined force of the water and her own body. Behind her she felt an intense heat coming up fast. Then, for a few moments, she was falling through the air. She hit the ground on her side and felt a sharp pain stab its way up her arm. As she reached around to clutch at the injury, she suddenly realized that she had lost Pendles somewhere along the way. Had he been knocked loose by the force of the impact against the ground? Had he even made it out of the window with her?
Alani scrambled to her feet and turned to look back at the house. The entire structure was engulfed in flames, and the heat that radiated from it was oppressive. She looked back and forth, trying to find the form of the Roa laying somewhere in the yard.
"PEN-"
Her attempt to call out his name was cut short by a final, massive explosion that destroyed the rear wall of the mansion. Something large and heavy collided with the side of her head, and she dropped to the ground, unconscious.
