Assault (Red vs Blue)

35: Threats

35: Threats

Present Day: Jungle Temple (The planet Chorus)

Felix stood inside the temple, sword in hand. He had spent the last ten minutes activating and deactivating the weapon; it made him feel both triumphant and smug all at once. The fact that he had a working Key meant that Doyle was dead, the Reds, Blues, and freelancers were at a major disadvantage, and the armies of Chorus were officially fucked. It was a good day to be on Charon's side of the fight. Not to mention he got the satisfaction of having the Key tethered to him and there was nothing Locus could do about it.

"God, I don't think I'll ever get tired of this," Felix said with a laugh as he activated the sword yet again. "It's just such a beautiful sight."

Locus sounded less than amused when he responded. "Stop treating the Key like it's a toy. We lost a lot of people trying to get that thing — too many people."

Felix took his eyes off the sword and looked at his partner. "So what? The way I see it, the fewer people we've got, the bigger the payouts we'll get. Besides, you're not looking at the rest of the picture. Now that we've got a working sword, everything we need is all right here." He stopped for a moment and looked toward the center of the wall. "Isn't that right?"

The red holographic form of the alien A.I. appeared in front of them. "That is correct. If you now possess the Key and are able to activate it, than you have clearly proven your worth."

"And that's exactly what I wanted to hear," Felix told the A.I. "Now let's get down to business. So when we go and activate this Purge —"

"The Purge is not something that should be taken lightly," the A.I. interrupted in a rather stern voice. "It should only be activated as a last resort measure; if all the planet's current inhabitants are no longer worthy."

"Trust me, buddy, I've met the people. They're so not worthy," Felix told the hologram. "I really just wanted to double check one little detail. I need to be sure that we," he gestured to both Locus and himself, "won't be exterminated along with the rest of the planet's population."

The A.I. sighed, almost as if it were annoyed by the question. "Those who are residing within the temple at the time of activation will be spared."

Felix clapped his hands together. "Great! Now, how exactly do we go about activating —"

"What about our other remaining forces that are here on the planet?" Locus demanded, cutting the other mercenary off. "Every last one of them will be killed while guarding the Temple of Communication."

Locus's sudden concern for the rest of their men was beginning to get on Felix's nerves. They'd fought together for years; not once since they'd started working for Charon Industries had he given a shit about any of their other soldiers. It was one of the things Felix actually liked the guy. Locus's ability to follow orders and sacrifice useless men had been two of his best qualities. Now, all of a sudden, both traits seemed to have gone out the window. Felix found himself starting to question where his partner's loyalty really laid.

"Look, most of them turned out to be at least decent men. Actually, I take that back. Almost all of them were dirty, rotten, disgusting, murdering bastards! But that's not the point. The whole point of this was to prove the point I made earlier. And I think it's safe to say that what they all don't know won't hurt 'em . . . Until they're dead, that is. Then nothing matters."

"Some of those men are former partners. They trust us."

"But orders are orders. You're always the one telling me that; you should know that rule better than anyone else here." When his partner simply looked away in response, Felix sighed. "Locus, I want you to answer me something. When have we ever — and I mean at any point in time — looked out for anyone but ourselves?"