“I don’t know what else to call you,” said Delarosa, turning and rolling a body over with her foot. Marcus saw that there were several: soldiers, a cloaked figure like Delarosa, and two inert Partials in their unmistakable gray armor. The one by Delarosa’s feet groaned, and she shot him again. “You were making enough noise to attract every Partial patrol for miles.”

“You used us as bait!” Haru said again, struggling to his feet. Whatever had incapacitated him had left him unsteady. “You knew they were there? How long were you watching?”

“Long enough to be ready when they got here,” said Delarosa. “We knew you’d attract a group eventually, so we laid low and let you.” She knelt over the body, quickly stripping it of useful equipment: body armor, ammo clips, and several pouches clipped to the chest and shoulders. She turned back as she worked, nodding at the black disk on the ground by Marcus’s feet. “That’s their flashbang. They thought you were incapacitated, so their guard was down.”

Marcus tried to stand up but found himself just as woozy as Haru. He gripped the cinder-block wall for support. A soldier slid to the ground beside him as he shifted, and Marcus realized there was a bullet hole in the soldier’s face. “You should have warned us.”

Delarosa left the first Partial’s equipment in a neat pile and started taking off the body armor. “They would have found you either way; this way they didn’t find us until it was too late.”

“We could have laid an ambush,” said Haru. He glanced around, taking stock, and Marcus did the same: three human soldiers dead, plus one of Delarosa’s people. There were at least two more in the trees beyond, keeping watch on the perimeter. “We could have been ready for them and not lost so many people.”

“We were ready,” said Delarosa, moving to the second body. “This was an ambush. We had the perfect situation, with a perfect distraction, and we still lost four people and got two of the civilians wounded.” She pointed at the farmers. “We had ideal conditions and they still killed twice as many as we did. Would you really want to try that again without the distraction?”

“Your distraction was my men!”

“Are you really going to argue with me about this?” said Delarosa, standing to face him. “I saved your life.”

“You let three of us get killed.”

“If I hadn’t done what I did, you would have all been killed,” she snapped back, “or worse still, captured. We are facing a superior foe with better equipment, better training, and better reflexes. If you want to risk a fair fight, you’re as blind as the Senate.”

“The Senate put you in jail,” said Marcus, finally gaining his feet. “You were in a work farm.” He frowned. “You were in this work farm?”