DIVISION 52 - BOOK I

CHAPTER LX

I disarmed his gun from him in the next breath despite the shards of pain snapping my hand and kicked his knee out from under him. He knelt before me and sneered the way a self glorified bastard would. But the lift dinged once more and another squadron poured out of the glass and levelled sights on us.

"HAULT FIRE!" A guard called.

The Emperor's look turned mocking. "You have no cover and no alternatives, Scorpion. The moment you pull that trigger you sign both your death warrants."

Only then did my eyes flash to Makayla as she stared back at me. Not seeing any options. Not by taking his life and getting to keep our own. Her golden hair was wild and tangled and bloody but she was still as breath taking as she was the moment she had descended those stairs tonight.

"Get in the shuttle." I ordered her.

"Alex?"

"Now." I said calmly as I kept my gun on the Emperor. It was our only hold on their ceasefire and I would keep it as long as I could. For once she listened to me and moved. She did as I asked and opened the hatch and disappeared inside. I exhaled hard.

I yanked him to his feet and pressed the barrel against his head. He grit his jaw and made no move to tempt the kill shot.

"Order them to stand down." I growled in his ear.

He set his jaw and watched the rows of his men wordlessly. I dropped the rifle down and shot him through the foot. His scream of pain did wonders for my rage and adrenaline. His guard only made to scramble closer with guns trained on the platform.

"The next goes through your head." I told him simply bringing it to his temple. He shook in pain and gave a sharp nod. Before snarling out an order to cease and drop arms.

His guards hesitated and I charged the gun at his head, then they dropped their arms quickly before the narrow platform of the launch pad. I calculated their distance–had been carefully drawing us back towards the shuttle before I pulled out the last dagger from my side and barely grazed the back of his neck. Just a whisper.

"Enjoy what remains of your life." I murmured to him as I shoved him away harshly and bolted for the hatch door as he stumbled to the ground.

The metal shut with a heavy clang and the sound of fusion rounds as I turned the lock. The small cockpit was lit in a soft blue and found Makayla strapped into the pilot chair. It was at a mad angle and more 45 degrees than on the floor.

"They taught you space flight?" I demanded.

"Nope." She answered simply as she smashed a large central pad with some words like 'Authorisation' and 'Confirm' before the engines sounded louder than before and I threw myself into the co-pilot seat.

"Makayla did you change the coordinates?" I demanded.

"Nope." She answered again with maddening simplicity. I stared at her as her hands swiped over confirmation of royal identity and I heard gun shots fire into the hull louder. "They won't breach it–it's designed to take far hotter temperatures."

I glanced at her in shock before tightening the harnesses around my chest and clutching my bloody arm. She finally took her eyes off the screen and gave me a silent look before taking my free hand and weaving her fingers through it. 

Then the thrusters ignited and I was glad the chair was angled as it was because the force practically sucked us into the ground. We raced upward through the night clouds like a comet. Away from the Emperor. Away from Merridian. 

Away from the planet itself.

– M A K A Y L A –