Chapter Sixty-Two - Honour and Flames

Chapter Sixty-Two - Honour and Flames

Chapter Sixty-Two - Honour and Flames

Samurai meet in the field all the time. Its a common enough occurrence.

Sometimes its not the friendliest of events. When high-yield everything is flying about, aliens are attacking, and the area is filled with dead and dying civilians, the tensions can run fairly high.

Still, there is a sort of code of honour among Samurai, and even those that belong to opposing factions will generally put the lives of civilians before any grudges. If their explosive attacks happen to accidentally overlap with the area a rival is in, well, thats just a bit of friendly ribbing.

--Cynthia Eastwood, head psychologist, New Burkely U. 2051

***

Being on fire was, in a word, unfun.

To be completely fair, I hadnt actually lit up. The wave of flames wasnt directed at me. I just got caught in the AOE.

I wanted to scream, but the air around me was boiling and a tiny gasp was enough for me to clamp down and roll up into a ball while flames licked at my jacket.

A very uncomfortable few seconds later, the flames abated and I opened my eyes only to have my organic eye spiked with pain. There was a lot of nasty smoke in the air. My nifty robotic eye was just fine. Air. I croaked.

A box appeared before me.

I fumbled it open, saw the facemask within, and slapped it on without a second thought. It didnt have any straps, which didnt seem to matter as its rubber lining adjusted itself to my face and stuck on fast.

Taking in a deep gasp was like stepping out of a room filled with smokers for the first time in hours. It was heaven.

Thanks, I said.

I cant serve you if your lungs fail. Though you should consider replacing them with something more efficient. I suspect the fire was caused by a person, not an Antithesis.

Some fuck-o had tried to light me up?

Growling, I rolled out from under the truck, spung Whisper off my shoulder and brought it around to aim at the first thing that moved.Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

I found myself staring down the scope of my crossbow at a nun.

A nun with a backpack and two arms pointing my way. Arms with little nozzles under them.

We stared at each other for a very uncomfortable few seconds as I twisted so that I was kneeling. The ground was hot to the touch and kind of painful on my legs, but my shoes had good insulation.

I swore to myself that if shed wrecked my two hundred point shoes I was going to put a very big hole in her. Nun or otherwise.

Hold. Thats a Vanguard.

We both paused. The nun lowered her hands and I, reluctantly, lowered Whisper.

What the fuck? I asked though my new mask

The nun was wearing a full-face mask under her habit. It looked like a featureless womans visage, like one of those disappointed statues of Mary. Forgive me, she said. I didnt know you were there.

A Samurai name? the nun asked. I wasnt given one, not yet.

What? Is there a reason you cant give yourself one? I asked.

Tradition? she asked more than said.

It has become something of a tradition for Vanguard to name each other, with some competing to be the first to name another. Though there are no rules, and any Vanguard is free to disregard a name that is given to them. Usually the names are given in good faith.

Like the name Id gotten from Longbow? That explained why he was so excited about it.I watched the nun while Myalis info-dumped. She looked to the side, her head cocked as if listening to something. Her own AI, I guessed.

Right, how do you like Sister Hellfire? I asked.

She turned back to me. How would you like me to finish cooking you?

That doesnt sound very Christ-like, I said.

Im part of a denomination that worships Samurai, she said. Were pretty okay with violence.

I snorted. Does that mean you worship yourself? Thats either really weird, or really kinky. She didnt seem to appreciate that, so I raised my hands in surrender. How about, uh, something a bit more serious. Whats the name of that one city that got burnt up in the Bible?

Gomorrah? she asked.

There. That sounds good enough.

You want me to name myself after a city of sinners? she asked incredulously.

I shrugged. It sounds badass.

She paused. It kind of does, doesnt it?

The Resonator shut off with a screech and I saw the newly christened Gomorrah relax her shoulders at the lack of ear-piercing noise. There was still a ring, but it sounded distant.

Oh, shit, I said. My traps have gone off.

She turned back to me. Traps?

To protect a group of civilians I was helping evacuate. Uh, want to help? Im not entirely sure how credit is divided, but theres like a thousand civilians and eight soldiers to guard them a block and a bit over. I set traps all over.

I... yes, Ill come.

I grinned. Cool. Just try not to fry the civilians.

I had the impression she was glaring. Ill be careful with them, she said. The emphasis there suggested that shed be less careful with me.

Myalis, I need something to cave that entrance in.

A few Hyper Compression bombs should do it. I dont place much stock in the strength of human-made structures.

Your faith in humanity is astounding, I deadpanned.

Two flung bombs later and I was walking away from the area, an irate fire nun at my back.