The Cap City trooper inside the suit died in an instant under Two-Gut Gruce's heel, snuffed out like Dicer on the muddy forest floor beside him. He kicked the suit over onto its back. No glory in a merciful death. Gruce knew if today was his day he wouldn't go out in peace.

"Pluck, I've got our key to the city," Gruce said.

"Moments, dearest," said Pluck, the words tumbling from his mouth with excitement. "Only moments."

On the HUD Pluck's icon came streaking toward him. The squirrelly tech expert leaped onto the dead suit with a gleeful cackle and pulled a long spike from his belt which was connected like an umbilical cord to his suit. He arched his back as he brought the spike over his head with both hands and plunged it into the top of the suit's helmet.

The dead man's suit spasmed as though in agony, writhing in the mud underneath Pluck who howled and whooped as he struggled to hold the suit's arms down.

"Oh, I'm in deep," Pluck moaned. "Still warm, it's all still warm. Everything, everything, give me everything, my love!"

"Boss, we got keys," said Gruce over the private channel to Starhawk.

"Good," said Starhawk. "We'll make a hole. Get inside, get the map, and get to the gate station. My birds are dropping you some fresh grubs. Don't be wasteful."

Gruce watched as the three warships overhead opened their underbelly doors and hugged the treetops. Six more armors stepped out of each craft and plunged into the forest nearby. The ships zoomed off to rejoin the others above Capitol City. Flak clouds blossomed in their path and a trio of sonic booms cracked the air as the three nimble craft dodged away from the city's defenses.

Gruce drew his rifle as he approached the new armors. These were Starhawk's men, not his. Any one of them could have orders to put him down and take over.

"Fresh grubs up front!" Gruce shouted over the common band. "First one in the city gets a quarter of my share."

A raucous cheer went up and several of the more enterprising new recruits shoved their squadmates out of the way to get a head start. Now numbering twenty eight, the armored pirate soldiers stormed the city, zigzagging randomly to avoid being tracked by the city's defenses. When his men in the lead broke through the forest into open grassland Gruce saw more squads of enemy suits deploy from the city. Drones, too.

It would be a bloody advance. Gruce brought up the rear of the formation with his own men, stopping at the edge of the forest. The troopers in the Core weren't used to fighting battle-ready men like his, true killers who fought to win. They'd be a good distraction for his own crew, the real threat. With access codes to the city's entrances they could break inside undetected.

His men in the lead were out in the open now. They didn't have the trees for cover, so they changed tactics—the men took a skier's stance, leaning back while using their boot nodes to push them a few feet from the ground as their palm nodes pulled them forward. At breakneck speed they raced to the city's walls.

"Cloaks up," said Gruce over the private channel to the remaining ten armors from his original crew. "Put some distance between you and every man around you. We bounce high and fast to the city when the hammer drops."

#

Hargrove stuck close behind the recruiter as they made their way toward the elevator to the surface. Every other person in the compact hallway hurried in the opposite direction, forcing them to shoulder their way through at points. They were followed by two Capitol City police officers, their escort to the surface.

"How did you get me out so fast?" Hargrove asked.

"A VCM badge gives you a lot of leverage," Robert626 said over his shoulder.

Hargrove was suspicious of the Volunteers' intentions—nothing good ever came from an unsolicited call. But at least he was out of that damn holding room. Now he could focus on finding Buttercup.

"When we get up there we should try the hotel first," Hargrove said.

"Oh, we've got a team looking for her already," Robert626 replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you gave me her information and I passed it along to one of our teams up in the city."

"I didn't know," Hargrove said.

He hadn't seen the recruiter make a call or access any screen, which meant if he was passing information along it was through a neural link. Thought computers made Hargrove's skin crawl. His opinion of Robert626 and the Volunteer Core Militia sank further.

"Don't worry, they'll find her—they're very good."

Hargrove stopped in the bustling hallway. "No, I want to look for her myself. That was the deal."

Robert626 swung around to face Hargrove, pulling him off to the side. "I completely understand. Of course we're going to look for her as well—we're on the way right now to a squad of VCM troopers who are going to escort us through the city. But we've got some of our very best members on it already. They might even find her before we get up there!"

Hargrove pushed past him and resumed walking to the elevator. "Let's just go."

"Absolutely, sir," Robert626 said, hurrying to catch up. "It's right around the corner here. I'll take your oath in the elevator."

"Oath? What oath?" Hargrove demanded, whirling on the smaller man and forcing him to stop again. "You never said one word about that."

Robert 626 shrugged. "It's more of a ritual, really. All for one, one for all, that type of thing. It's not a big deal, trust me. Just part of joining the club."

Hargrove glared. "I don't trust you."

People started to jostle them now as they passed, angry that the two men forced the flow of traffic in the hallway to move around them.

"Come on, move it," said one of the officers flanking them.

"If you could just wait until we're in the elevator—" Robert626 began, urging Hargrove forward.

"No, you'll tell me about it here. I won't have a choice once we get in there."

Robert626 seemed hesitant, but after a moment's internal deliberation he took on a stiff and formal tone. "The Volunteer Core Militia regretfully rejects your application, sir. Good day."

The recruiter shoved past Hargrove with surprising strength and threaded his way through the crowd to the elevator. Stunned, Hargrove lost sight of the man in the white outfit. That was his way out, his only path to Buttercup.

"Wait!" Hargrove shouted as he chased after Robert626, heedless of the calls of the officers behind him.

#

Starhawk brought the remnants of his fleet in close, keeping to the blind spots in the orbital guns' coverage. They coasted in low planetary orbit directly over Capitol City, the last population center in range of bombardment—and the juiciest. Before long the noose would close in around him and he'd be forced to fight or flee.

His flagship Deep Fog sandwiched itself between the two carriers Polyphemus and George Martin for protection. Ten warships filled out the fleet with moderate firepower—he'd sent the other ten to assist Gruce, who was somehow still alive. The fool could have made it through the atmosphere intact if he'd stayed aboard Red Shade and slowed her descent instead of evacuating. Instead he let her burn into a steaming pile of slag.

After Red Shade went down Starhawk aborted the pincer attack and brought his fleet back in close. Every one of his remaining ships had its guns pointed at Capitol City. Two-Gut and his men on Surface were breaking away from the wild grubs charging toward the city. Now it was Starhawk's turn to add to the chaos.

"Let's knock on the door," Starhawk said to his fleet. "Focus fire on the southern edge of the dome."

Dozens of cannons primed and launched a salvo of bombardment shells specially designed for orbital attack. Without the Core Fleet at home the station must have been hesitant to engage, but now they would be forced to send ships after him—they couldn't stand by and let the bombardment continue. Starhawk would keep it going as long as he could. His men would need the support.

"Fighter coverage," he ordered.

The carriers Polyphemus and George Martin opened their docking bays and released squadrons of spherical drone fighters. Hundreds of them swarmed into defensive formations between Starhawk's fleet and the orbital station. When the hangman came for him he'd be ready.

#

Hargrove caught sight of the stark white jumpsuit Robert626 wore and lunged forward, grabbing the man by his shoulder. He lost his grip on the slick material and the recruiter slipped a hand like iron around Hargrove's wrist, pulled him forward, and twisted his arm behind his back. So strong—

"Oh, it's you," Robert626 said, immediately releasing Hargrove. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

"It's fine, it's fine. Just quickly—tell me about this oath."

"I'm sorry, sir, but your application has been rejected."

Hargrove felt the blood rise to his face. "Now, you listen here! Your organization invited me, not the other way around. You're a recruiter, for stars' sake! We had an agreement!"

Robert626 shook his head in apology. "It's out of my hands, sir."

"I want to join your damn group and you're not going to stand in my way!" Hargrove boomed.

The recruiter beamed and stuck his hand out. "The Volunteer Core Militia is happy to formally accept your application."

That took the bluster out of him. Hargrove balked but took the recruiter's hand. "What—?"

Robert626 leaned in with a grin as he shook Hargrove's hand. "We always say no to new recruits the first three times. Helps to weed out the ones who aren't serious. Are you ready for the oath?"

"Fine. Yes. I've come this far."

"Do you, Hargrove Levene, declare yourself a member of the Volunteer Core Militia?"

"Yes."

"Do you swear to protect the brothers and sisters of the Volunteer Core Militia as they have sworn to protect each other?"

"I swear."

"Welcome to the Volunteers, Mr. Levene."

#

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