Fayre was always very good at reading people, usually in quiet missions it was her role to check the facts and make sure everything was in order; she usually could tell who was lying about something even before they had spoken a lie. Fayre understood people's minds, but rarely could they understand her. The prisoner was clearly shocked by the fact she pointed her gun at him.
He's fearful for his life, this is good she thought.
"Okay let's start this again, if you tell me information we'll let you live, do we have a deal?" she raised her eyebrow.
The prisoner gave great wheezing breaths giving away his physical health facts.
Rilou was correct, this man was certainly no imperial solider, and judging by his gear he was no sort of experienced mercenary, maybe a novice but the man was clearly middle aged, a bit too old to take up the job. In Fayre's opinion, the man was just a citizen, perhaps turned bounty hunter or mercenary during the war to earn some income. The fool, being a mercenary was not just something one did on a whim. It was a serious job with serious risks, Fayre had once met one as a Gue'vesa'saal (a human military cadet) she had asked him if he was not loyal to the empire why was he here. He replied that he wasn't loyal to the imperium either; he explained the imperium no longer cared about its citizens and it was literally every man for himself. Fayre asked him how the imperium managed to keep a hold of the majority of their species if it was so cruel.
"Religion kid, that's how" he bluntly answered. "You see they have people to make sure every one of 'ems loyal to that emperor of theirs. If there's the slightest chance that they may not be, they'll burn down entire cites to enforce loyalty they will! It's a religion of fear kiddo, they train 'em to obey without question and if they think freely they die"
As she matured Fayre had obviously questioned this argument, but she had seen how the imperium worked now, and she knew he was right.
The prisoner had recovered from his fit, this was good. "Alright" he panted, "I'll tell you what I know"
"Very wise, question one- what are you? You're no imperial solider"
"They could be desperate" Felas joked but was silenced by Fayre's stare.
"I'm nobody special, I'm just a mercenary"
"What was your job?"
"I grew up in this city so I know the area pretty well; we were hired to disrupt any transport to your foul alien masters" he spat.
"If only you knew" she answered, the tau were not their masters but their liberators. Were they free to worship the emperor or any religion they otherwise desired? Absolutely, and certainly they were no pawns of a corrupt tyrant, the reason the Gue'vesa did not rebel is that there was nothing to rebel against; it was difficult to imagine a better existence for her within the empire. Still, this man had been born and raised to the imperial code, had been fanatically loyal to the emperor and as bigoted towards free-thinkers. Could you ever convert people as fanatically devoted as this man? Could you ever reason with a fanatic? Even if you were speaking the truth.
"Enough of this, last question, are there any other mercenary bands around here?"
"Lots, we all knew this route didn't see much action so we all knew that was where you were going to be"
She gave a fierce glance at Vargil, and then moved on. "Okay that's all we need to know, you can leave though you can take care of your own wounds. If we see you again you better make sure you aren't helping imperials, clear?"
"Clear" he muttered, not taking defeat well but grateful for his life. He rose up and slowly shuffled along, after several minutes he was gone from view completely. They all gathered in a circle wondering about the future.
Felas was the first to speak "what are we gonna do now?"
"Maybe one of those mercenary bands has a transport, I say we ambush them and steal it" suggested Rilou
"Agreed"
"Well then, we have nothing to do but sit here on our asses!" boomed Vargil
"Business as usual for you then" sniped Fayre.
"Ha! Truly you should have been an entertainer not a warrior Fayre!" he remarked back. He was about to start a lecture to her but she walked away, not in any mood for it. She rested upon a hill and aimed the sight of her sniper checking her surroundings. She was very proud of her sniper, a specially modified pulse rifle with increased range and shot power but a slow rate of fire. It was a personal gift from her farther and she guarded it with her life.
She stared into the sky dreamily as she remembered her farther. Her mother died when she was simply a child, so her farther had chosen to take time off from his career to take care of her, he would always please her with stories about the exploits of him and his friends. It sadden him to leave his comrades behind, Fayre was glad he could be there for her but she felt a little guilty as well for it was she that kept him there. She remembered the day they received news her father's old squad had been slain to a man. Oh how he had wept for days after that, she had tried to comfort him to no avail. He was depressed for weeks after that, but Fayre had seen a solution though she was not sure that either she or her farther liked it. Soon after the news she had turned eighteen, old enough to enter the military which meant her farther would no longer have to take care of her. She followed her farther as the rules of caste said she must, he had been delighted that he could return to the wars of the empire but he was also sad that his only daughter would be joining them, he had seen her after she'd finished training. He looked upon her with pride in her armour and presented her with her sniper. The weapon was finely made and paid for by him and had given her another gift, her mother's necklace.
"She said it bought her luck, I hope you'll have it too" he said.
She wept as he presented her with it, she embraced him tight.
"Goodbye farther" she cried.
He returned the hug and said "goodbye my cherished child, don't worry, I'm sure we'll see each other again" he comforted. As she walked to her transport to speed her away from her previous life he had waved and said. "Goodbye Fayre! May you always be safe and your aim be true!"
That was the last she'd ever seen of her farther, she had received no news of his fate show she presumed he was still alive. She supposed a reason that she took care of her rifle so closely, it was also her last connection to her farther.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned and Rilou looked down on her.
"Are you okay Fayre?" he asked, "I'm fine Rilou, I'm just reminiscing about things"
"Not a good thing to do during a hostile zone" he chuckled, "honestly Rilou, I thought stupid jokes were Felas's department"
"Just trying to lighten the mood" he smiled back, "seriously though, what's wrong you haven't been yourself lately?"
"It's just- she paused as she heard the grumbling sound of some sort of engine. She snapped to the ground and raised her sniper; years of this had made it instinct for her.
"You were right Rilou" she stated, a combat wagon of sorts was coming towards them. It was a crudely made all-terrain vehicle with a large turret mounted on its rear. "Get the others" she commanded and took aim. She didn't think these people were soldiers, their clothes were filthy and they drove around to wildly to have any experience, soon they would have to make a sharp turn. She waited patiently until the turn had been made to shoot the gunner, his head snapped back and he fell off. The wagon turned so sharply the engines made a revving sound which cut out the falling body of the enemy that was the first lesson her farther had taught her: the first lesson of sniping- make sure you're never heard. She got up and ran towards the wagon where her friends who were in place, the second lesson of sniping- always change positions after you've shot.
The drivers only noticed their gunner had gone when the gue'vesa snuck up on them and attacked, they looked on in dread to see they were defenceless and seconds later were finished off. Felas took the wheel and Vargil mounted the turret.
"Okay part A is done, what next wise leader" mocked Felas
"We must take care of those other mercenaries, move out!" she commanded.
The truck sped off with a roar of its engines kicking up dust as the team headed towards their final destination.
