The Forsaken Empire (The Endervar War Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

shaking.
    No, it’s too late, she nearly shouted.
    Red leaned back, afraid. Her tone was harsh and halting. She was furious. Maybe even delirious. Her breathing, however, began to steady. Gradually she regained focus and immediately closed off her mind.
    Nothing else matters, she said. Nothing will stop us.
    She said the words almost as a threat. She had severed any mental connection to Red. Farcia sought to discard any weakness. Any affection was gone and rescinded.
    Watching all this was the machine. It came to her, ready to protect, moving in near silence. Farcia felt the shadow upon them.
    The machine her enforcer spoke. Contacts detected. Security forces inbound. There was no emotion in the words. The voice was cold and exact.
    Red turned around. At the opposite end of the promenade, he could hear them. Security bots were coming; their blinking lights were beginning to appear, and their engines were buzzing. The pod-sized contraptions flew into the premises, preparing to stop Farcia with stun guns in their pincered hands. There must have been eight or more, gliding in perfect formation.
    Red saw them all explode. A plasma beam, dense but precise, began to burn through the air. The security bots collapsed to the ground in heaps of simmering debris. He cowered as he heard and felt the blast. It shrieked from behind as Farcia’s machine companion vented heat. The singular eye from its head charged and unleashed the attack. The enforcer struck repeatedly, lashing out across the area as more security forces appeared, instantly defeated. Red covered his ears, terrified, and watched as the burning bots crashed into the floor. He could hear the gnarled metal twist as the hovering engines ruptured into melted bits.
    Then a hand touched his shoulder. We have to leave now.
    He stared up and saw Farcia. She pulled him up from the floor. Her fatigue had subsided, and her defiance was real. Red then noticed her left wrist. It was a long sleeve. The fabric was laced with circuits and an embedded display.
    Calculating jump point, she said. Departure imminent.
    A ship?
    Farcia didn’t answer. She looked past him, eyeing the remnants of the security force. The flames still burned; the bots were all dead. But something else was beginning to emerge.
    Farcia’s enforcer, who was scanning the scene as well, spoke. Movement, the machine said. Spatial shielding detected.
    Red stared. He was peering through the smoke. Behind the abating fire was the vague outline of a figure. This was no aerial bot. He heard the footsteps. It walked through the rubble unafraid.
    Farcia left Red’s side, watching in anticipation. Even with the smoke, she could tell who this was. Her eyes lit up wide.
    Murderer she said. So we finally meet.
    Her fatigue was forgotten. Farcia stood, facing and almost daring the new threat.
    Preparing contingencies, the machine at her side announced.
    The enforcer did so, in an unexpected way. Red could hear the sound of rushing liquid and gyrating instruments coming from the machine’s armor. The layers of metal and gears were peeling and mechanically clattering off. The transformation came alive; the towering machine was generating others of its kind. The reinforcements were quick to assemble and arrive. There were one, two, and then finally four. They were smaller and slimmer, closer to Red’s height, but nearly identical to their source a bladed machine ready to fire.
    Farcia remained steady.
    Let her come, she said.
    The enforcer and its kin waited, each one assuming an attack stance. Their knives were sharp and poised to strike. Then they all disappeared, slipping away into light and shadow.
    Red looked at the rubble. He could now see what was coming. To him, it was just another outsider. An alien not of his world. The figure possessed pale but familiar features. A closer look made him guess it was a woman. She walked alone, seemingly unarmed. Red watched, wondering why. Was she not afraid?
    He opened his mind and began