Звездопад / Starfall: Глава 29

Chapter 29

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 13:13

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Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 13:13

The circular square, like a carpet, was covered with a dense mishmash of colorful dots. The buildings surrounding the square were of old Tallan style and formed an enormous bowl. The multicolored masses came up to their massive broad bases of dark grey granite, which turned into concave inwardly shining walls of reddish glass, rising somewhere under the clouds, gradually straightening, only emphasizing their resemblance to a gigantic flowerbed.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:02

//Or with a huge salad bowl." - Taer decided, watching the square intently through the window of a café on the first floor of one of the buildings. - "Luckily the salad came out fruity..."

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:03

The automatics reacted to her strained squint, and a silent shadow descended over the world, a grainy veil of visage. The bright spot that caught her eye, enlarged and encompassed by whitish lines of markers, was a young red-haired girl with regular features and surprisingly fair skin, contrasting with her red curls and the bright red T-shirt with unreadable writing in large black letters. She must have held her gaze too long; a scarlet halo of sight flashed around her face, and Taer shook her head grudgingly as she forced her visor back up.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:04

They'd been on Tallana for two days, gutting the safe houses and rebel bases Countess Durlurl's men had pointed out and pumping all those captured with Lim's serum. They'd been counting on it, or it was a coincidence, but the last patrol was surrounded by an incredible mob of seven thousand at least, some armed with light blasters.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:07

//And I almost burned them all. - Taer was mentally horrified. - Just because it was 'acceptable'. - She thought she even felt a faint trace of someone else's, not her own, thoughts. A surprise when she interrupted the guidance, for the choice should have been obvious: 3.4 seconds to burn, two minutes and forty-two seconds to paralyze. And a slight regret of 'non-optimality'.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:08

The motley mass covered the square thinned down closer to the cafe and a hundred paces away, disappearing altogether, exposing sandy-yellow plates and forming a small clean patch on which three heavy aerocars were parked. The dark metallic gray of the streamlined sides of the cars, set in a semicircle, merged into a makeshift wall in the rare gaps which loomed bright red figures of security guards.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:11

When the fuss of the hasty departure subsided and they entered hyperspace, they found that all the heavy assault suits they had been given were of the "ceremonial" type - black with ornate red enamel painting and glowing scarlet griffins on their shoulder pads. The only paint they could find on the ship was also bright red.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:27

//However, they are even less conspicuous this way - from afar, they look like lifeguards or firemen.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:27

The firemen really wouldn't have caused much surprise. At the far end of the square, a heavy construction robot stood like a huge metal octopus, several powerful arms topped with grippers, breakers, and cutters staring upwards as if trying to grab the sky, the circular disk-shaped body was split open, and streams of thick black smoke and flashes of orange flame erupted from the cut, which nobody was in any hurry to put out. The rebels were very clever in their use of heavy construction equipment against the police aerocars, but...:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:31

//But I have more firepower than the police. - Taer grinned grimly.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:32

As she waited to meet the Countess of Durlurl, the events of the past few days kept replaying in her mind, trying to understand why things had happened this way and what to tell her. And as she thought about it, she saw with absurd clarity in each other that they had simply always lacked firepower. If they could destroy the aerocar at once, Dudo would not be wounded, and the Lord's guard would not be reduced by half. If she had killed the shape-shifter, she would not have been unconscious, and she would have been able to protect the Lord. So going to Tallana, she made sure that such mistakes would not happen again. She had twenty-four men in heavy assault suits with her, and another eight men from the reserves stayed on the yachts. And what it had taken her six hours to buy three Aegis and rip the identification units out of them...

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:34

A loud clang of broken glass nearby snapped her out of her brooding reverie:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:36

"Damn it!" The glass she was holding burst, and green streams ran down her arm, leaving behind pieces of fruit on her glove. Distracted, Taer simply crushed it. In anything not related to combat, the guider was occasionally off, and she became clumsy in her use of the assault suits.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:38

"Never mind, Sword. Would you like to make another one?" It came from behind her.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:38

"Yes, I suppose so." Taer nodded, crinkling unhappily as the glass crunched beneath her feet and turned to the bar.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:39

The unknown designer was true to the classic Tallana style - the bar was a massive square slab of dark grey with red flecks of granite, slightly glistening from the thin layer of icy water flowing down it.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:41

Behind the bar, a massive figure in a bright red suit, accompanied by three reconnaissance bots, similar to small black balls, studded with twinkling round sensors. Raised visor opened the face of the "bartender"-wide, with a little "square" chin and snub nose, it just radiated mischievous charm. His light blond, short-cropped hair and sly, slightly squinting green eyes spoke volumes about his noble origins, and his slightly sloping nose reflected his love of ungenerous pastime. "Twice Lieutenant" Grii Dirav was one of the men handed over by Countess Diltar. And he was one of the most expensive as he was an 'Iper'. That is to say, simply put, his head was stuffed with metal and bio-clusters enough to hold eight scout bots at once.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:45

"Shall I repeat it to you?" Grii asked, and seeing that he had captured the attention of his "superiors", he demonstrated the ultimate chic by tossing up and catching the cocktail glass again, which looked more like a transparent tube of the finest glass. "Or would you like to try Sororita's Kiss?"

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:47

"Repeat," Taer grumbled grudgingly. She was a bit jealous of Grii's manipulation of the glass. She certainly couldn't do it herself.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:48

Stepping carefully so as not to crush or knock anything over on the way, Taer approached the bar.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:49

The cozy little café where they were seated was decorated in a deliberately Tallana style, which must have been aimed at tourists. Near the massive rounded columns, decorated with small shiny mosaic tiles, were low oval tables made of dark wood. The tables were flanked by Tallana "tapu" of the same dark wood, either long narrow chairs without backs or small benches. On each tapu lay hanging down on either side were large, gold-embroidered cushions of darkly red velvet, their long tassels of twisted fringe almost touching the dark gray slabs of the floor.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:52

The cafe remained miraculously unlooted by the rebels, and while the spears gutted the secure communication lines of a nearby bank. Taer allowed the team to take their first break in three days and eat a decent meal. There was no point in rushing now. They found traces of the Lord and the others who had been kidnapped at the last point they had seized, bits of skin, hair, and even a few drops of blood, as well as many dead PVD's who had been dead for at least a couple of days. Someone had beaten them to it by two days and taken the lord.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:55

Taer was almost certain that Lord Cassard was still alive, they had not found a body, and the amount of tissue they had found did not indicate that he was at least wounded. But now he was definitely not with the rebels, she had to think about what to do next - and the peaceful surroundings were just right for that. The only thing she could think of so far was to tap into the Rebels' lines of communication - perhaps they knew who had attacked them and kidnapped the Lord again. To do that, they knocked out a nearby bank of PVDs. They were using the bank's network as secure lines of communication between their headquarters.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:58

Taer walked over to the bar and ran her hand over the water-covered slab to wash the remains of the cocktail off her glove:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 15:58

//That's probably why they invented watering it," thought the "specialist" lazily as she watched Grii make a cocktail for her. - So you can wash your hands without leaving the table.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 16:00

The massive figure of the 'Iper' moved surprisingly naturally, as if he wore no suit at all. He deftly chopped the fruit with his knife without chopping up the cutting board and simultaneously commanded three scouts bots, two of which brought him ingredients, while the third was frying thin flatbread for sandwiches.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 16:05

"Your cocktail, Sword," Grii smiled, handing her a glass decorated with a small slice of green melon carved in the shape of a flaming heart.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 16:06

Taer sent him a sour smile in return and taking her glass, turned her back and leaned against the bar, the water gurgling softly down her suit:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 16:07

//After the operation, I will fire him to all shadows, back to the guard," she thought with a heavy sigh and picked up a heart in her teeth and chewed it.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 16:07

The holographic screen on the side wall shows some kind of rally of the rebels. Near the screen stood three soldiers in scarlet suits with raised visors, staring blankly at the screen, eating sandwiches. As it was found out practically, the tapu could not bear the weight of a heavy assault suit, and it is necessary to be able to sit on them, fixing the knee joint. Three more slept - standing up, right in the armor.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 16:38

With a low whirring sound a black scout ball came out from somewhere over his shoulder. In its short clutches was clutched a tray on which lay a healthy sandwich, exuding the intoxicating aroma of freshly baked bread and roast meat. Taer, who had previously thought she wasn't hungry, involuntarily swallowed her saliva.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 16:56

"A sandwich Dirawski," Grii commented from behind her. Seeing the predicament of Taer, whose left arm was still not moving, suggested. "Would you like me to hold the sandwich? Because you, Sword, would be uncomfortable with one hand..."

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 16:58

//Is he trying to feed me by hand?" She almost hissed in anger and turned to the Ieper with a single glance to silence him.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 17:03

Putting the glass back on the counter, she raked a sandwich off the tray:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 17:08

//Or better yet, not fired, but demoted to cook," she decided after taking her first bite - the sandwich was overwhelmingly good.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 17:31

Despite all her indignation and angry looks intended for Grii, eating with one hand on the weight was indeed uncomfortable:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 17:32

"Hold still," she ordered the little scout with the tray and, clutching the sandwich in her teeth, reached for the glass to put it close. At that moment, her gaze slid to the huge screen on the side where the rebel rally was still going on. The cameraman, tired of filming close-ups of the frenzied crowd, moved the camera closer to the speaker. He wore a brown Tallana student union jacket, as did most of the PVD members, and climbing onto an overturned forklift he called out, with glowing eyes, "To defend the young revolution from the imperial hirelings. The speaker was a perfect "charismatic rebel" You could put it on a poster right now: a lofty expression on his face covered with days-old stubble, a slight burn on his left cheek, probably from a close hit, ruffled hair was the typical dark color of Thallans.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 17:34

//Except for the eye shape, it's not Tallana's at all. - Taer thought and was about to turn away when she realized who she was looking at:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 17:35

//It just can't be..." - She blinked involuntarily to ward off the obsession, but Lord Cassard was still on the screen. With slightly sunken cheeks, covered in days-old stubble, disheveled, with a burn on his cheek, dressed like a PVD man, and calling out to a raging crowd of clearly not sober students: "sweep the traitors away with a wave of righteous anger". This was Lord Cassard, he and no one else.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:03

A sandwich fell out of the "specialist's" involuntarily open mouth and slammed to the floor:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:03

"Where are they filming this?" she asked, muffled, still seemingly in a state of prostration but coming to her senses.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:05

"I'm sorry, Sword. I don't understand you. What is "this"?" Grii interrogated from behind me.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:05

"THIS!!!" she yelled, pointing her finger at the screen. "Where is that picture coming from?!"

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:06

The soldiers, munching their sandwiches by the screen, turned at once to hear her shout:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:07

"I think it's at Transit Station Six," one of them reported and, after a second's hesitation, added. "Where it's broadcasting from, I don't know."

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:08

"Commanders of the eights, assemble the men. Leave immediately," Taer commanded, turning on the communicator and switching to the external communication channel added. "I want to see all three Aegis over the square and ready to receive aerocars in three minutes. We're on our way." Taer took a handful of credits from a small chest container and poured them onto the counter:

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:10

//And for the food and for the damage," she thought as she slammed the discharge from her heavy blaster into the shop window.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:11

The glass shattered, showering the café with a stream of tiny shards, and a few seconds later, the steel-grey sloping back of the aerocar rose from below. The car hovered in front of the shattered window, and the side door swung open to the side, inviting me inside.

Camrad_RIP 23.03.23 в 19:12