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The rest were dispatched with callous ease, by the dozens. Even those who tried to run were chased down by Shock Infantry and sliced to ribbons before they could even reach the gates. And those who somehow outran the units were instead cut in half by the beam snipers perched on gondolas above.

A number of those gondolas descended down to the ground, and all manner of medical technicians ran off in different directions the moment they touched down. Each medical team ran up to the most wounded guards and began to stitch them back together.

Another team ran up to a number of humans, set their medical equipment to use human data, then patched up as many Federation combatants as they could find.

They even offered treatment to wounded Chosen.

One of the terrorists whose ribs had been broken and were caved in only felt the sensation of being reassembled, as though he was a living jigsaw puzzle in anticipation of being “completed”. It was all in all a pleasant experience for him.

He would have been in utterly excruciating pain if not for the nanites numbing every single one of his pain receptors. If they weren’t active, he would have likely been screaming for death.

As a whole, the medics worked to put the wounded back together, no matter who they were or what they believed. The only thing that mattered to the medics was life, and the unbiased, unabashed, and unflinching preservation of it.

.....

Together, they realigned broken bones, reattached torn muscles, and stitched together any lacerated skin or scales.

Of course, there were many who had been brutalized to the point where their life signs were far too weak. They lost the will to fight, to live. The medics could do little for them.

All they could offer was a painless and permanent end to all the pain.

Retholis stepped down from the command gondola just as it landed. A dozen members of his personal retinue followed right behind him, then fanned outwards protectively. They held their rifles at the ready as they scanned the terrain surrounding.

But everything was well under control.

With little to worry, Retholis walked deeper into the compound as he surveyed the devastation all around him.

The grass and soil had been uprooted, surrounding trees had been torn apart and shredded, low walls and makeshift fortifications blown apart and barely stood. Hundreds of weapons of every kind and every length were littered all over.

Beltknives and sidearms and rifles and makeshift clubs – all of them covered in blood.

Next to many of them were the hundreds of corpses all around. Whether they were Drogar or human mattered very little at that point.

All became equal upon death.

~

Eva recombined her blade and sheathed it as Miko finally recovered enough energy to move properly. Her breathing was still a little rough, but was a far cry from heavy.

“I am sorry,” said Miko, “My stamina pool is not as large as I imagined it would be.”

Eva simply grinned at her.

“Don’t sweat it,” she said. “Buuuut I think it’s time for you to start doing some cardio.”

Miko replied with a nod.

“Nn.”

Eva scanned the field of battle as Miko dusted herself off. Her DI pointed out all of the corpses and bodies littered everywhere. It displayed an estimate of how many people were dead, and it only kept rising the longer she kept looking.

By the time she had spun around 360 degrees, it appeared as though there were close to 1600 fatal casualties, but only a quarter of them were guards or humans.

“Over a thousand dead terrorists,” Eva muttered. “What a waste. And what did they even hope to accomplish?”

“They believed they were changing the Imperium,” said a voice.

The four of them spun around and watched as Retholis walked up to them. His personal guard quickly circled the group and kept a defensive perimeter around them with stoic dedication.

He walked up to a dead Chosen on the ground and pushed it over with his foot. The corpse rolled onto its back and revealed the gaping bullet wound in its chest.

“And I mean truly believed,” he continued. “They were told over and over again that their actions would change the Empire for the better. That they would be the ones to stamp out the lawless, to bring back the old Taloren, to return to a time when the Drogar was unrivalled in the galaxy.

“The sentiment was hammered into their heads over and over again until they believed it to be true. That false truth was used to control them into doing this, among many other atrocities. The few hundred who died here join the many thousand whose lives they’ve claimed.

“Everywhere, all over the Empire, Taloren’s Chosen keeps on growing. The more those false truths are spread and heard, the more innocent Drogar are killed. It must stop. I will stop it.”

“And causing all of this death?” asked Eva. “Wasn’t this all your plan?”

He turned back towards Eva, looked her in the eye, and nodded solemnly.

“Not my plan,” he said. “Someone else’s plan. I simply... co-opted it without him knowing. I’m truly sorry for any that you’ve lost this cycle, but I hope you understand why their sacrifices were necessary.”

Eva and Miko looked at each other with a shared skeptical glance, then nodded at Retholis in agreement.

“We understand,” said Eva, “though not everyone else will. Especially if these sacrifices, as you put it, end up without meaning.”

Retholis grimaced at her words. It was true – if he failed at taking down all those responsible, then everyone’s deaths would have been in vain.

“Don’t worry about that,” he replied. “I’ve hacked into a great deal of data – enough to resolutely point out who exactly is at fault here. On top of that, we’ll have whatever intel we can extract from our... Chosen prisoners.”

An idea shot through Miko like a bolt of lightning.

“There is perhaps someone you should meet,” she said.

~

Colviss sat under a cloud of misery at the busy field clinic. She had been disarmed, stripped of her armor, and bound up with magnetic shackles. Not that she was going anywhere regardless, as the electricity burns all over her body kept her from getting far.

Besides, she was being healed by nanite-filled medical gel. No need to run from that.

Although they didn’t use any anesthetic, and she could feel as her scales were stitched back together painfully. Not that she showed it – perhaps she lightly grimaced every now and then. But otherwise, she was practically motionless.

As she lamented her unfulfilled intentions, Retholis and the rest of the crew stepped up to her.

“So you were the one leading these people?” asked the Swarmfather.

She looked up to him, the sun behind his head, but turned away with a frown.

“No,” she replied. “I’m no leader. Just another damned fool.”

“I find it hard to believe you’re another mindless anti-human terrorist,” he pressed. “Or that you’re easily swayed by empty rhetoric.”

Colviss glanced over at the two Justicars behind him, and scoffed.

“You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” she retorted.

Retholis crouched down onto a knee and looked her in the eyes. His eyes were filled with determination and his voice was filled with fire.

“What I do know is that these people were fooled by Savoth,” he said. “Practically brainwashed to think the way he wanted them to think. To act terribly, cause chaos, take lives. And you want me to believe he fooled you, a Reborn?”

“A Reborn Justicar,” added Doleth, “who blamed it all on the Coin.”

Every word she spoke dripped with venom, and hate was set deeply in her eyes. Severas noted just how much Doleth seethed in Colviss’ presence. It was palpable.

Retholis sighed deeply

“Of course,” he said. “It’s always down to the Coin, isn’t it? I could buy that, except for the fact that no-one was gonna get out of this fight alive. You knew this was a suicide attack. And you took the job anyway?”

“No, I... I trained them,” Colviss replied. “Savoth paid me to be their sergeant at arms, give them some semblance of order. Mold them.”

“While he gave them purpose?”

She nodded at Retholis’ assessment, then exhaled at length.

“Whatever he originally planned for these people,” she said, “it wasn’t for their benefit, that’s for sure. He made sure that I trained them to feel powerful, but not actually be powerful. He said to use traditional methods of cyclical training – same as the Justicars.”

Severas and Doleth glanced at each other, then back at the albino.

“At the Academy of Law, discipline and respect for the Codex is hammered into you,” she continued. “Never question those above you, never question the Codex, never question the Emperor. Do your duty.”

Colviss looked aside and recalled her past, when she was a Bronze Justicar like Doleth. Back when she was still wide-eyed and innocent.

“Savoth found me after I was Reborn,” she said, “and pleaded for me to train his people in the ways of Law. No, rather, in terms of discipline but without the Codex to guide them... He wanted malleable minds, and so I gave it to him.”

“And you did it for Coin!” cried Doleth. “You’re a Justicar, and you allowed yourself to be corrupted so easily! I should execute you on the spot!”

She drew her blade in utter anger, but was held back by Severas. But Colviss barely flinched at the Justicar’s outburst. Instead, she became solemn.

“I know,” she said. “After I was Reborn, I was disillusioned by the Empire. I saw the Justicars for what they really are – tools of their masters. You’re not here to actually uphold the law – you all exist to ensure the Empire’s Coin flows freely. The real emperor died millennia ago. Coin is our true master now. So I followed his voice. Only my conscience got in the way.”

She looked over at Eva and grimaced.

“I came here because I wanted to die facing Ra’ventrii,” she continued, “to atone for my violations of Imperial Law.”

Silence surrounded the six of them as they absorbed her words carefully. Eventually, it was Eva who broke the silence.

“Jeez,” she said. “What’s with you Reborn and shame and wanting to die all the time?”

“Don’t you feel any guilt after you ground the Coin out of their bones?” asked Colviss.

“Sure. Like you, it took me a while to realize my own part in it, how I fueled their hate for profit. I won’t deny it. And I feel awful for perpetrating it. I feel awful having to cut them down.”

“More than Savoth would feel,” said Retholis, “and he’s the one who’s profited most from them. Despite whatever damage any of us have done, it’s nothing compared to what he’s done to his own people.”

“Exactly,” said Eva. “I’m not trying to kill myself out of guilt and shame. How about you live on and try to fix your mistakes instead? Maybe be the Drogar you’ve always wanted to be.”

Colviss looked over at Eva again, her eyes wide with surprise as her translated words hung in her DI. She stared at the words FIX and MISTAKE in stunned silence.

.....

“Help me destroy Savoth,” said Retholis. “That’s how you can best seek forgiveness.”