"How do I look?" asked Rhade as he attempted unsuccessfully to use a damp cloth to remove some smudges from his uniform.
"Like a well-dressed target," snapped Cho Hee. "Cepting Burma's surrender personally is like painting a target on yourself an' then handing Burma the gun."
Rhade was in the tent that was euphemistically called the umwa command tent preparing to accept the surrender of the Burma and the Tans. With him were Cho Hee and Orlund. Orlund had appointed himself as Rhade's aide de camp. Cho Hee had appointed herself as Orlund's babysitter.
After ten days of fierce fighting Burma and the remainder of the company forces had surrendered, but only on the condition that Rhade be the one that took the surrender. Avineri anxious to stop the destruction of the city he and the others called home had welcomed the offer. Others were not so happy about it. Orlund and Cho Hee among them.
Andromeda's planetfall defense bots had turned the tide of battle, but the battle for Seefra City had been as savage as any battle Rhade could remember being in. Seefra construction methods made most building into passable bunkers and the umwa troops were constrained by the fact that there were still noncombatants in the area. The Tans made good use of both facts. The Black and Tans had fought like cornered rats. The gassing of the south-side civilians had been totally beyond the pale of civilized warfare anywhere within the Seefra system. Quarter was neither asked for nor given
When the fighting spread into north-side some of the umwa troops decided that the north side civilians were fair game. Rhade was forced to use some of his troops a military police to protect the north-siders. He give them some very simple orders. Any umwa trooper caught looting or molesting a north-sider non combatant was to be summarily executed.
"This is a very risky move sheriff," said Orlund. "Burma is undoubtedly planning treachery"
"Orlunds's right sheriff," said Cho Hee. "I wouldn't trust Burma any further 'en I could throw a roba. Why can't we just let those plantfall defense things of yours just finish off the Tans once an' for all."
"I have no intention of trusting Burma," answered Rhade as he shrugged his shoulders trying to get the uniform jacket to sit comfortably. "But I want to end the fighting while we still have some part of the town still standing. Half of it's already in ruins and we'll be hard pressed to find shelter for the elderly and the children once the winter rains arrive if any more of it is leveled."
"So why is he insisting that he surrender to you personally?" asked Cho Hee.
"Probably because he thinks I won't shoot him out of hand," answered Rhade
"An'? Seems like a good idea to me."
"And we're on the side of the angels," said Rhade. "Or at least most of Ourway prefecture thinks we are. Ever since Vox's broadcasts were transmitted to the rest of the prefecture the umwa has been the underdog rising up against a corrupt system. As long as they continue to think that way the prefecture governor and the Company aren't going to risk the political fallout of moving in force against us. They''ll claim complete ignorance and blame Burma and the resident manager for everything that happened. But if we kill him after he surrenders they'll have an excuse to come down on us with everything they have. So no matter how much Burma deserves to be thrown into a pit full of tokigets. We're not going to do it. We're going to turn him over to the proper authorities and let them deal with him."
Rhade took a step towards the door and stumbled forward as his broken ankle decided that it still wasn't ready for him to put all of his weight on it. His nanobots had long since stopped working, and without their assistance while he healed faster than an unmodified human broken bones still took time to mend. Trance had offered to use some of the medical nanobots that Andromeda had included in the supply drops, but Rhade had refused telling her that there were others who needed them more than he did. Trance had nodded her head in understanding and told him that in that case he had best do his best to rest and not to put any stress on his ankle. An order that was much easier for Trance to give than for Rhade to follow given that he was leading troops in battle.
Orlund moved to catch Rhade while Rhade let loose a tirade of invective that left Cho Hee in open mouthed admiration.
"Good thing we managed to get one of those Guardian's up and running," said Cho Hee. "Wouldn't look very dignified you arriving to the surrender site in the back of a roba wagon."
Burma was waiting at the agreed upon location. He was still in a Black and Tan uniform, but the uniform and Burma himself looked the worse for the wear. The self styled general was accompanied by a bevy of Black and Tans who looked even more worse for the wear than their commanding officer did. There were a number of umwa people there as well, Beka and Doyle among them. Beka was watching Burma intently while Doyle was scanning the surrounding area. She was carrying a Lancer gauss rifle in the ready position and had her rocket launcher slung over her shoulder.
Rhade approached to within three paces of Burma and stopped, waiting for Burma's salute. Too no one's surprise Burma didn't salute.
"It appears that you won, Rhade," said Burma, pointedly keeping his hands at his side "Those battle bots your friend dropped on us were a complete surprise. Where did you find that old tech?"
"Do you really expect me to answer that question" replied Rhade.
Burma shrugged. "Not really. If I knew where there was a location of pre history tech I wouldn't tell anyone about it either. He raised his hand as if to shake hands with Rhade. "Well I guess this is where we part ways. I won't say goodbye because I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again."
"I doubt that" said Rhade as he extended his hand and began to take a step towards Burma. As he stepped forward, Burma began to curl his hand. At the same time he heard Beka cry "Rhade look out! He has a sleeve gun."
Rhade attempted to dive to one side, but his injured ankle betrayed him. His dive became an uncontrolled fall. He felt something smash into his chest as he heard what sounded like a thunderclap going off next to his head. He struggled to catch his breath. His vision began to grow dim. From somewhere in the distance he heard Doyle calling out. "No! We need him alive." Then darkness overtook him.