Hounds of Orion

The journey back to Syl-Techs research lab was quicker than Logan had hoped it would be. When the group had first set off to hunt down the Silverback, it seemed like an hour had passed before they’d actually found it. But now, it felt like they made it back before the blood could dry on Crusaders mace. For some reason, his mind kept replaying that look the creature had given him before Logan had bashed its brains out over and over. It was a unique condition for him, especially after having spent so long in the cockpit. He’d stopped trying to remember the units, or names of pilots he’d killed years ago. Hell, most of the time he didn’t even bother to remember the colors of a mechs paint scheme, or the planet he was on when he took a life. It didn’t matter. They weren’t people. They were faceless enemies hidden behind a wall of steel and hydraulics that wanted him dead. That, he could handle all day.

But this was different. Looking someone in the eyes as you take their life, was an act that stuck with you long after the event was over, even if that someone was a giant, genetically engineered killing machine.

“You alright man?” Cameron’s hushed voice of concern broke Logan from his thoughts. He looked up, realizing he’d been walking in silence for the past few minutes, locked in quiet contemplation as he and the rest of team left the docking bay and made their way through the maze of sterile white hallways, escorted by a pair of orderlies in similar white uniforms.

“Hm? Oh. Yeah, I’m good. Just trying to do some mental math is all.” He lied, flashing a grin as he changed the subject, “Need to make sure we get you threaded and a unit of your own without breaking the bank.”

A whistle came from the pairs right, as Logan turned to see Royce looking in their direction, his eyes wide in surprise.

“Damn, threaded and his own unit? You a sugar daddy or something? Cause I mean hey, I’ve been told I give great back rubs.”

Before Logan could even respond, Cayde had leveled a firm smack at the back of his partners head, looking equal parts annoyed and embarrassed, as Royce yelped in pain, “Ah, shit! What the hell man?!”

“Don’t mind Royce,” Cayde said, looking over at Logan, completely ignoring the cries of his companion, as he continued, “He’s got a bad habit of thinking he’s funny.”

“Fuck you I am funny.” Royce shot back, rubbing the back of his head where Cayde’s palm had struck.

“Sure you are,” Cayde said, “Like a lamp is funny, or a venereal disease.”

“What’s venereal mean?”

“You know… I’m not surprised you don’t know.”

“Look, I don’t know alot -”

“We know. This has been well established.”

“But I know an insult when I hear one!” Royce said, his voice rising as he took a step towards the mousy looking Cayde.

Cayde, to his credit matched the step with one of his own, making sure he got the last word in, “Really? What gave it away?”

Logan couldn’t help but laugh as the two continued to argue, hurling insults and swears back and forth so fast, it was impossible to follow who was actually winning. Naturally, he let the confrontation escalate just to the point when punches were getting ready to be thrown before he spoke up, stepping in between the two and separating them.

“Easy fellas, there’s no need for this to come to blows,” He began, his laughter finally dying down to a soft chuckle, “Cam is just a new employee of mine. My first one to be specific. Can’t exactly expect to be taken seriously as a GAC if I have my guys slumming it in a Squire now can I? The way I see it, it’s an investment, and I expect him to pay me back ten times over if things go as planned.”

“GAC?” Royce and Cameron asked in unison.

“Galactic A.R.M.S. Contractor,” Logan and Cayde answered together. They shared a look of amusement before Logan continued, “Anyways, yeah, long story short Cam works for me and because of that, an investment in his future is in investment in mine.”

“That makes sense,” Cayde acknowledged. There was a momentary silence as the four of them continued walking before he posed a question, “So, if you don’t mind my asking, you wouldn’t happen to have any more openings for pilots would you?”

Logan shook his head, offering a sympathetic look to the man, “Not right now I’m afraid. Me and the kid here have a previous arrangement so it makes sense. But I can’t afford to take on anyone else right now.”

Cayde frowned, looking dejected as his eyes turned to focus on the floor. Seeing this, Logan offered him a friendly nudge with his elbow, having the man meet his eyes as he offered a smile, “Ask me again in a couple of months when I actually have the GAC made and had us run a couple of ops. You have our radio frequency and I’ll give you my Captain’s Code so we can keep in contact.”

“Really?!” Cayde and Royce said in unison, excitement clearly heard in their tone, causing Logan to chuckle again with a nod.

“Sure thing. Good fighters are hard to find.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Rake,” A neutral, layered, robotic voice cut through the air like a knife, bleeding all the amusement and levity out in an instant.

The group turned to see Proxy standing there, hands clasped together in front of them, hidden underneath the baggy folds of its robes. Two more orderlies, each of which held two small purses in outstretched hands accompanied it on either side.

Logan’s smile dropped, his voice taking on its standard low growl, “I’m sure you do Proxy. Shame we had to put yours down.”

“A perfectly understandable consequence of an unfortunate situation,” Proxy said matter-of-factly. “However, there was indeed a silver lining I was able to scrape together thanks to you.”

“Thanks to me?” Logan asked, skepticism evident in his voice.

“Indeed,” Proxy confirmed with a nod, “Thanks to you mainly attacking the Silverbacks head, the body was left mainly intact, I’m confident in the ability of Syl-Techs genetic engineering team, that we can create a new prototype that will outstrip the previous asset in every way. More sensitive twitch muscles, denser bone structure, and a focus on obedience conditioning that we should never have this incident again.”

Logan felt his nose twitch as he tried not to snarl, having to stop himself from cracking his teeth with how hard he was grinding them. “It wasn’t an asset Proxy. It was a living creature, capable of feeling fear. Capable of cowering. I didn’t kill an asset. I killed a creature.”

Proxy shrugged, apathetic to Logan’s statement, “That’s something we can condition out, with enough experimentation I’m sure. But I wouldn’t wish to bore you with all the scientific details. I have your payment here, one lockbox of silver for each member of your team. Please accept this with the heartfelt thanks of the Syl-Tech corporation.”

Logan didn’t respond. He wanted to. He wanted to scream, to grab proxy and melt him down into a new chassis part to weld onto Crusader. He wanted to kill someone that deserved it. But he didn’t do any of those things. There was no point, and he knew that. So instead, he settled for the next best thing, snatching two of the purses, before tossing one to Cameron, calling out to him over his shoulder as he turned and made his way back to the docking bay.

“Come on Kid, let’s get the hell out of here.”