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Chapter 3

DPC One - The planet Epaenetus

"Judas!" the Claymore Maximus shouted, "You have betrayed the Source! I will have your head!"

"Come and get it, knight!" his opponent shouted from behind a wall of cronies. The grunts charged forward, into Maximus' lightning fast blade. In less than a second three of their heads were airborne.

Miali wrinkled her nose at the gory detail of it all. Ciara sat quietly and watched. She had already been conditioned to accept that kind of thing. The only thing she had a disagreement with was the fact that heads were rolling in the first place.

"The problem with these shows," she explained, turning the volume down while the carnage ensued, "Is that they make it like Knights have to remove every head they come across. It's a terror tactic, not a law or anything. TV makes it look like that's all we ever do."

"And what's up with calling these guys 'Judas' and 'Maximus?" her sister complained, "Who would name their kid something like that?"

Ciara considered that a relatively minor point, but decided to chalk it up anyway. In the hospital, it seemed, critiquing television programs was a competitive sport. Nobody actually kept score; It was the kind of thing where one person would make an observation and the rest would nod sagely in agreement. The one with the keenest observations garnered the most respect.

It was, when viewed objectively, quite pathetic. But when half the blood in your body had gone squirting out your legs which were hanging on by a thread, it was one of the few forms of amusement available. At least now Ciara understood why Knights never watched TV.

The bloodshed ended, and the two sat and watched as the conquering hero was hailed and proceeded carry his faithful partner off to bed for a night of passion.

"Here's where it gets good," Miali said.

Ciara just sighed and looked out the window.

"You're weird," the other girl said, "You're always acting like a prude one minute and then you put on your KCS and go cutting off heads the next." When she could see that she was eliciting no response, Miali decided to prod a little. "You know they do that on purpose, right? Put men and women together? They say sex makes your Psi-Comp rating go up. I just think it's 'cause they don't want the Order to be full of fags."

"Miali..." Ciara warned.

"I can't wait. I know they're gonna stick me with some big Claymore stud. You got a Claymore, right? What's he like?"

Ciara didn't reply.

Miali let out a wicked chuckle, "He's ugly isn't he?"

"He's not ugly, really... it's just..."

"Oh my God! You got stuck with a replicant?"

"Yes."

For a moment the other girl just stared at her, before doubling over in sadistic laughter. "That's hilarious!" she said, trying to regain her composure. It took her a moment. "Alright... alright... Seriously... What kind is
he?"

"Minotaur," a rumbling bass voice said from behind her.

Miali's blood went cold and she spun in her chair. Her heart then proceeded to sink about a foot. He was enormous. He had to duck to get in the room. Seven feet tall, at least, and she could only guess at how many hundreds of pounds of muscles rested on his massive frame. The skin-tight KCS suit was sculpted to make him look even more muscular than he already was.

And Ciara was right. He wasn't ugly... He was actually kind of handsome, for a cow... Actually... The more she stared at him, the more she realized Malaki's head wasn't truly bovine. It was correctly proportioned, being smaller and thinner than a normal cow's. His fur was blonde, a color that hardly ever occurred naturally in animals. And even though his eyes were hidden beneath reflective sunglasses, she could imagine his eyes being every bit as clear and expressive as a human's.

"Jihad Dawn?" he asked, observing the muted television.

"Yeah," Ciara answered, "How'd you know?"

"I've been in here a lot."

"How old are you?" Miali asked.

"Twenty-five. I've been active five years."

"Wow."

Malaki ignored her and turned to Ciara. "How're your legs?"

"Fine, I guess. They used nanomachines to sew it all back together."

"Any scars?"

"Yeah, two big white ones."

"Are you ready to leave?"

"Uh... yeah, I suppose. The doctor said he wanted to give me another nano-booster, and then I'm free to go."

"Take it and follow me. We need to get you re-suited and put in a few hours in the gym."

"Did something come up?"

"Yes, we have to travel to Korrus right away. We'll practice today, sleep and wake up on the ship, and visit a cleric there first thing in the morning."

She nodded and slowly rose out of bed, taking a moment to stretch before following Malaki and her sister. After Miali said goodbye, Ciara stopped by the nearest exam room to receive a pair of shots. Each one a briny fluid containing hundreds of thousands of microscopic robots.

"Be sure to get your O-2 units updated," Malaki warned, "You'll be needing them."

She exhaled and bit down on a plastic tube, which shot new air into her mouth. Floating around in it were tiny spherical robots that contained hundreds of times more oxygen than a red blood cell. If she ever needed it, she could go for over an hour without drawing a breath. The fact that Malaki recommended them specifically made her uneasy.

"Your sister is... interesting," the minotaur commented as she followed him out.

"She needs to grow up. Did you hear everything she said?"

"All of it?"

"Everything she didn't say, too."

Ciara's brow creased at the connotations of that. "You have your matrix on?"

He lifted his sunglasses slightly to reveal the piece of curved stone that clung to his fur just below his eye.

"You know you aren't supposed to wear it out here." There was a custom among the Knights that matrices were not worn off-duty unless you were training. And then, everyone on the training grounds wore them.

The idea was that if all or none were wearing them, no one could read anyone's thoughts. Except for the few with the power to overcome the matrix reading-barriers, and the ones the user let in.

"Trust me, all us old fogies wear them 24-7. Where's yours?"

"In my locker," she answered, but could tell he wanted more of an explanation. "It's secured."

"Good. But keep that in mind: Around here, you never think anything you don't want someone else to hear. It's one of those philosophies that should be applied more often."

"Things not even your partner should hear?" As the pair became more familiar with each other, it became easier to tap one another's thoughts for instant communication.

"If you have something you want to keep secret from your partner, then there's something wrong."

Ciara paused and glanced around as they walked. "How do you mean that?"

Malaki stared at her for a moment. She had already forgotten what he just told her... "You're not married to your partner, but you might as well be." Again he felt the pang of expectation from her, as though he was dancing around what she really wanted to hear. "Not sharing creates conflict, and that will get you killed."

He stopped in front of an elevator button and jammed it with his thumb. It took conscious effort to avoid reading her thoughts. She wanted to know if Miali was right, if the Diktat really did pair men and women together with the intent of having romance between them. He didn't know if it was a set rule, but when assignments came out the pairs seemed to end up that way more often than not. There was probably a reason for it, and they all probably knew that reason, but he preferred not to entertain the thought. It made him uncomfortable.

It was a plexiglass cylinder set on the outside of the hospital building, allowing her a view of the entire DPC complex. It was a massive structure, five stories high and separated into four quadrants for teaching, training, living, and worship. Branching off of the training area was the armory, a massive structure containing vehicles and weapons of every variety. The hospital was set to the side adjacent to the living area, alongside the landing field. It was, however, dwarfed by sky-scraping obelisk in which the Source Almighty dwelt... a building containing hundreds of clerics who ran the bureaucracy of the Diktat, trained and organized the Knights of Psion, and spoke with the Source Almighty himself.

Ciara herself had been inside only once. They required all matrices to be removed upon entry, and this time it was a custom that no one dared disobey. Perhaps, she thought, it was for her own safety rather than out of courtesy. She had only been inside once and in the short time she had before the clerics commanded her to remove the matrix, she had gotten a glimpse of the Source's soul-flame even though he was hundreds of meters away. People often compared a person's spiritual presence with a burning match. Given that simile, the Source's would have been a torch. No, a bonfire. It had been a blinding nimbus of energy, blotting out everyone around her the same way the sun overwhelmed the stars.

And on the outside, drawn in letters so large Ciara could read them from a mile away, the words "Poydev Kaparo" Poy-deev Ka-pa-ro; Psion Awaits. Psion... the quasi-mythical planet that contained enough Lattice Obsidian to outfit every citizen in the Empire. They were the Knights of Psion, dedicated to seeking out the planet with black cliffs rising above beaches of obsidian sand. It was a planet that existed somewhere in the Empire, a planet that was known once but forgotten before mankind knew its significance. It was out there, somewhere, waiting for them.

When it was found, the Knights would conquer it and rule it as their prize. In the meantime, they were the elite guard of the Diktat. There was still work to be done.

"What did I do wrong?" Ciara finally asked.

"Nothing," Malaki replied.

"We should have stuck together."

"No. The plan was solid. There was no way you could have known the Bishop even had a matrix. He wasn't supposed to. And kinetic intermittence is a rare power. I was just lucky to be born a thermokinetic. Otherwise, I might be dead, too."

Thermokinesis was not to be confused with pyrokinesis. The latter was defined as the creation of flame. Thermokinesis let Malaki take energy from one place, such as power lines, body heat, or even the warmth in the air around him, and redirect it either as a burst of energy or fuel for another power.

"Alright," she said half-heartedly. The girl wondered if he was being truthful or trying to comfort her. She still felt guilty. She had failed and nearly gotten both of them killed.

"No you didn't," Malaki said again, "Forget about it."

"Stop reading my mind."

"No," he replied with a slight smirk, "The more we share the higher our psychic compatibility gets and the easier it is to communicate in combat. Eventually I won't be able to shut you out if I tried."

"Fine," Ciara said, turning back to watch the roof of the dormitory quadrant rise up around them. The elevator came to a stop and the pair disembarked, finding their way to the shuttle that would take them across the length of the DPC to the training fields. It was a quick ride that deposited them in small armory where the Knights' personal gear was stowed during hospital stays and the like.

Ciara took a moment to retrieve her mended suit, matrix, and crystalline short sword. She also took a .50 caliber pistol, holstering it on her left hip. The DP-50 was the regulation sidearm of the Diktat and had a reputation for reliability. This particular variation had a double-stacked clip of fifteen rounds and bore inlaid pieces of channel crystal. Some people could channel their power through the gun itself, but they were usually Pikes. Ciara herself couldn't do it, but having the channel crystal helped it mesh with her personal psychic field.

The training complex itself was a series of large gymnasiums, each of which contained it's own specialized equipment. A few were full of mats and exercise equipment, some had mock terrain set up, and a handful were completely empty. These empty rooms were Malaki's favorite. It was all skill... Just two people testing their skills against each other. Of course, it could be argued that using terrain to one's advantage was a skill in itself, but Malaki didn't care. He loved sparring.

So like a Claymore, Ciara thought.

"This one?" Ciara asked, looking into an empty gym. She looked up to find she had left Malaki behind. He was more interested in the gym next door.

"Ciara, come watch this guy."

"What is it?"

"Ynok. He hardly ever comes by the DPC anymore."

He stood aside so Ciara could peer in the window. A Diktat monk stood on one side of the room, a long, curved, matrix resting across his shaven head. Spread around him was a pile of debris... boxes, bricks, stones, and pieces of wood among other things. Standing opposite him was a wolf-replicant. His skintight KCS outlined a muscular frame that was only a little bit smaller than Malaki's, and a rectangular matrix rested on the left side of his gray canine muzzle.

"I heard he's good," Ciara commented as the replicant stretched.

"I've seen him before. He is good."

Ynok drew his sword, a slightly curved crystal katana. Ciara thought he threw it to the floor until she blinked and realized the weapon was hovering in mid-air. Suddenly the cleric raised a hand and a brick launched itself across the room as fast as a bullet. The blade blurred as it leapt up and sliced the projectile in two.

"Use your KSA," Malaki advised, and Ciara was glad she did. It was only in the world of her accelerated PPF that she could even keep up with Ynok... and he still looked blindingly fast. One by one, and sometimes by twos and threes as well, he parried the objects the monk hurled at him. On the rare occasion that he was unable to block one with his sword, all the lupine Knight needed to do was raise a finger to redirect the oncoming missile.

"Wow," she said as the exercise reached its end. Ynok raised a hand and sent the debris back across the room where it stopped in a neat circle around the monk. "Does he have a partner?"

"No. I heard he refused to be assigned one, and the one they tried to send him could never catch up. Not that he needs it."

For a moment Ynok turned towards the pair, grinned to reveal his jagged teeth, and raised a fist in salute. They both returned it before the monk assaulted him with another barrage, this time even faster than before.

Ynok still didn't miss a single one.

"What are you doing?" Ciara asked as Malaki threw open the door.

"I want to talk to him."

She sighed and followed him in, wondering exactly what it was Malaki was interested in.

"Ynok?"

"Yes," the wolf answered, "Who're you?"

"Malaki. Claymore."

"And is this your Rapier?"

"Yes."

"Is she good?"

Ciara wondered exactly in what sense he meant that. They were all wearing their matrices, so she couldn't taste their thoughts.

"Pretty good, yeah. Why?"

"Do you to want to give it a go?" Ynok asked, quickly whipping his sword in a figure-8 around him.

"Why not?" Malaki replied, unsheathing his own blade. He tossed his sunglasses to the floor, controlling their descent so that they rested neatly in the corner.

"What?" Ciara asked, "You're going to fight? Now?"

"Yes," her partner replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Hey!" Ynok interrupted, "How about this... I'll take both of you on. At once."

Ciara looked from him to Malaki, not believing her ears.

"This guy's good, C. If he thinks he's good enough to take both of us, then I'll need your help."

C? Since when did he call her that?

"Uh... okay... I guess..."

"Sounds good," Ynok said, pacing the floor like a hungry animal. He turned to the monk and gave him a moment to exit, sending his skeet out the door after him. Ciara took a moment to stretch out, but Malaki just stood there, flexing his muscles a little.

"You're not warming up?"

Malaki shook his bovine head and then turned to face Ynok again. "Ready when you are."

"Alright," Ynok replied, before suddenly turning into an oncoming black blur. As soon as he started moving he slowed back down again. It took Ciara a moment to realize that Ynok hadn't slowed down... she had unconsciously sped up to match him. For a moment the two replicants became a twisting, dancing, whirlwind of blades before they broke away and squared off once again.

Ciara let her shroud of invisibility come up and then charged, leaping over Malaki and coming down on Ynok sword-first. At the last moment his head snapped up and he lashed out at her. The girl parried, hanging in mid air and twisting herself to the side as Ynok swung at empty air. He had an idea of where she was, but it wasn't good enough. Not like the Bishop...

Malaki advanced, putting one foot on the wall and defying gravity as he ran along it. Ynok brought both hands up for an overhead slice, but Malaki suddenly dumped all of his power into his speed. He suddenly shot forward, grabbing Ynok's sword arm by the wrist and giving him a quick blow to the stomach with his sword hand. Ciara dropped to the ground behind the pair, quickly sweeping the canine replicant's legs out from under him. As he slammed against the ground she spun to place her blade at his throat.

For a moment Ynok looked up at the girl above him as her cloaking dropped, and then to minotaur still standing on the wall. He grinned, and proceeded to blow both of them back against the opposite wall with a sudden burst of telekinetic force. The replicant rolled backwards to regain his footing and hurled his sword across the room. Malaki barely managed to block it in time, but the blade didn't drop. It lashed out at him again and again, forcing him to defend. Up, down, right, left... it only had to spin on its hilt to attack him from a completely different angle.

Malaki tried to parry, desperate just to keep the whirling blade away. He detected a silent thought from Ciara and threw himself back as her sword intervened, catching it in front of his face. The weapon spun back the other way but Malaki used a burst of superhuman speed to leap aside and let the sword embed itself in the wall.

For a moment the pair glanced at one another, then to Ynok. They both leapt to the walls an instant before a wave of invisible force slammed into the wall so hard that it blasted a crack down its center.

Ynok slowly applauded their performance. Ciara was breathing hard, but Malaki activated his O-2 nanomachines. They filled his lungs with stored air automatically to give the minotaur the appearance of not having
been winded.

"Very good," the lupine knight said, "For a moment I thought you might not keep up. I'd love to go for another round, but I'm leaving for a vacation tonight and the ship jumps in three hours."

He departed, his sword removing itself from the wall and finding its way to his hand. Ciara looked at Malaki uncertainly. You didn't need to be psychic to realize how shocked and amazed she was.

"Like I said," Malaki began, letting his sunglasses rise off the floor and into his hand, "He doesn't need a partner."