Free Relias: Uprising by M.J Kreyzer Page B

“…so?”
     “So what is it that you want from us?” Alighieri replied. “From my end?”
     It wasn’t what Luke was expecting. After the way that every other uninformed Dark had behaved Luke was surprised that, especially at his level, that Alighieri remained loyal to Luke. As a torrent of thought flooded his head, Luke began to pace.
     “I want to kill them.” Luke said, his voice getting quieter and more menacing. “The Legionnaire. I want to kill them. Every last one.”
     Laughing, Alighieri got to his feet and opted for leaning against the counter instead. “Excellent. That’s the market segment that we’ve found ourselves dominating quite recently. Let me just-“
     “Not missions, Sam. Not raids, not escorts. I want to kill them. That’s all.”
     The amusement fell away from Alighieri’s face as confusion hit him.
     “I’m not sure I follow.”
     Luke faced Alighieri entirely now, stepping towards him. “Let me go. Now. Give me the equipment I want, give me the Ditrinity and drop us behind enemy lines and let us saw our way through any Legionnaire we come across.”
     Alighieri shook his head and held a hand out in a stopping motion. “Hang on, now. I’ll give you the equipment and the transport but you know I can’t give you the Ditrinity.”
     Luke grunted disapprovingly and turned to walk away. Alighieri followed him and spoke as he did. “You’ve seen the ranks, Luke. You were in Styne and you saw that prison assault. We’re lucky to get soldiers, much less skilled warriors. I need them here, not out on a suicide mission as a tool for your vengeance.”
     Alighieri stopped speaking and moved to the blinds on the door. He pulled them apart and peered through them at the dozens of people who mulled around in the foyer outside, moving through the bloodstained hospital beds of injured Darks. Some yelled and squirmed, others relaxed and patiently waited for treatment and many lay motionless, their arms dangling off the edges of the beds with crimson running down their hands and dripping on the floor. “Look out there, Luke.” Said Alighieri quietly. “They’re still pouring in from Styne. Those men are the reason we’re still alive. They’re the strength behind the resistance… but they’re breaking. They’re breaking fast.”
     Alighieri stepped away from the blinds and turned back to Luke. “I’m sure you already knew this but we’re out of places to hunker down. We got lucky with Praemon. We were able to take it without any major fights. We’re down to three major settlements and, after that, we have only ragtag groups here and there who do nothing more than annoy the Legionnaire like a buzzing fly. We have Praemon, Brysdal, and now Styne.”
     “There’s no chance in hell the Legionnaire will find Brysdal.” Luke said.
     “We don’t know that. Besides, even if we were left with that there’s nothing we can do there. Because of the time warp every last available resource has been used up in that city years ago. The only thing that place is good for now is running equipment warps through the supply gate network. And it can only contain several thousand people before we’re rubbing shoulders everywhere we go.”
     “If we want to exist as a single, separate group.” Luke noted.
     “Well, yes.” Replied Alighieri. “But why wouldn’t we?”
     “We didn’t band together like this when our differences weren’t so obvious so why should the views of the rest of the world make your decisions for you?”
     Alighieri hummed. “We need these cities, Luke. You know how successful the derelict cells are when it comes to hurting the First Legionnaire. They’re weak. They’re disorganized. They command no respect. But as a large, collective group we’ve made Lynch realize the kind of force that we actually are. That’s why I took Styne. We needed the soldiers, but more so we had to prove to Lynch and every soldier in the First Legionnaire that we are a