“What I want to happen, is for Operator Red and I to walk away. You walk away, and leave the Fallen asshole here. Your friend killed my friend and clustermate, the scales are even, we can resent each other and still never see each other again.”

Capricorn barked out a laugh.

“I hate that kind of life-death calculus,” Sveta murmured. Not loud enough to be heard by Cradle. Her focus was more on Rain and on herself. Her tendrils kept groping at the more ragged edges of her shell, then pulling away, sometimes bending them in or twisting them around.

I focused on Rain’s more damaged hand and arm as I attached the belt. He fought me, struggling as I tightened the belt, which made the pain in my left arm all the worse… but the fight wasn’t nearly as intense as I wanted it to be. A more intense fight in response to what had to be agonizing pain would mean there was more life in him.

This tourniquet would have to do. I was pretty sure I was good to go if the risk from blood loss—real and present-outweighed the damage from amputation.

“I don’t think they’re going to do that, boss. They look ticked,” Operator Red said. He was still holding on to one of the Cradle-machine’s fingers. He dropped, and fell about ten feet to land on his feet, legs bent. He straightened, and Chris moved forward a step.

Chris looked back with one bulbous, dark eye. He had no expression to read. There was only armor and coarse hair, and a long snout with eyes set on the side, the head more fishlike in dimension than mammal. His eye protruded and narrowed, more conelike than round as it pointed in Rain’s direction.

“Let me turn the question back on you, Capricorn,” Cradle said. “How do you want this to go? A fight? You all fight me and Operator Red, you get your vengeance on behalf of your murderer friend, and this makes it better?”

“Might help,” Chris hissed the words. Broad blades with a swirling damascus-style blend of white bone and steel were emerging from his various armor plates. Retractable weaponry, but not in a quick way.

The ‘Keen’ part of Keen Vigilance.

“It might,” Capricorn said. “But if you really think it was justice, how about we… leave? We arrest you, we go talk to authorities, and if you’re right, if it is justice, you’ll be free to go.”