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armor deflected the blades, and two of the Mags got off lucky shots with their
Sin Eaters, spraying several warriors with hailstorms of lead. They pitched
from their horses' backs, bodies stitched through with 9 mm slugs. The other
braves refused to retreat.
Instead, they shrieked even louder with rage and swarmed all over the
Magistrates.
t
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JAMES AXLER
Sky Dog raced toward the screaming melee, shouting, at his warriors to stop.
His left arm dangled at his side, a streak of crimson bright against his ruddy
skin. More than likely, a 7.62 mm round from one of the USMG-73's had broken
it.
His horde of blood-mad warriors pulled back. Kane glimpsed two of the Mags
lying motionless on the
ground, leaking fluids. Cutting edges had evidently found vulnerable areas in
their black exoskel-etons.
The other Magistrates struggled in the strong grips of the braves, their Sin
Eaters stripped from them.
Domi appeared in the control compartment, ruby eyes alight with excitement. A
black smudge of soot on her right cheek marred the pearly perfection of her
skin. She had obviously caught some of the rocket's blowback, but she had
gotten off lucky. The old projectile could have exploded in the launch tube.
"Got 'em whipped!" she crowed triumphantly.
Kane thought her pronouncement a little premature, but he didn't correct her.
The machine guns of the jammed-up Sandcat continued to hammer away, spewing
steel-jacketed hailstorms in a 360-degree circuit. The blasterfire was
ineffectual and impotent. The double machine-gun fire from the turret did
little more than prune all the trees in the vicinity. Bullet-chewed branches,
bark and shredded leaves rustled down in a rain.
"Kane!"
Grant's angry, frustrated voice roared from the trans-comm on the floor.
Domi scrambled into the copilot's chair, leaned down and picked up the unit.
She handed it to Kane.
"I'm here," he said.
"The first Cat is pacified," Grant stated, reverting
Outer Darkness
77
to Mag euphemisms. "The second one still has some teeth. Only an order from
Abrams will get them to surrender. Want me to convince him it's the better
part of valor?"
"Under no circumstances show yourself to Abrams or any other Mag." Kane's
clipped, firm tone brooked no debate. "We've got to keep them in the dark
about our involvement Otherwise all of this was a waste of time and lives.
We've gone over this with Sky Dog. He knows what to do."
Grant's voice was full of disappointment. "Right. Acknowledged."
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Kane cut the connection, repressing a smile. Battle fever burned through
Grant, and he ached to bring the conflict to its conclusion so they could
claim a complete victory. Kane felt the same way, but they had already decided
to convince the Mags that the tribesmen were solely responsible for their
defeat. It would be a crippling psychological blow to the squad's confidence
and self-esteem.
How the last act drew to its conclusion depended on Sky Dog's powers as a
statesman.
SKY DOG FACED ABRAMS, doing his best to maintain a composed expression despite
the stink of burned hair tickling his nostrils. Half of the man's whiskers
were no more than charred, blackened stubble, the surrounding flesh swollen
with leaking bk'sters.
Abrams showed no pain, however, and neither did Sky Dog, despite the agony
lancing up and down his left arm.
"It is over," he told the armored man matter-of-factly. "Order the rest of
your men to surrender."
Abrams glanced around at the ferocious faces sur-
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JAMES AXLER
rounding him. Tonelessly, he replied, "If they are to die, let them die in
battle. You should understand that."
"It's you who don't understand." Sky Dog nodded to the war wag's missile pod.
"What we did to your vehicle, we can do to the other. They will die in agony,
burned alive. Is that what you wish for them?"
Abrams didn't answer, but he bit his lower lip.
''No one else need die." Sky Dog spoke so quietly that Abrams had to lean
forward to hear his voice. "If you were to give me your word, as a commander,
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