20 – Equal SharesHector stood in the rain-slick opening of the cave, hand resting on the stone wall beside one of the auto-turrets. They were blocky little rectangles, the turrets—about half a meter high with dual twenty-centimeter-long barrels. The autonomous little killers could be mounted to just about anything using the self-tapping, threaded prongs at their base. “Better than we used to have in the Guard,” he mused, pleased to see that some things had improved while he’d been on ice.//The Invicti didn’t rely on such things.// Evie noted, and Hector couldn’t disagree; Tribune Victus wouldn’t allow crutches—guard duty was for the soldier, not the machine. Still, such things had existed, just not so marvelously compact and clever.He felt someone approach, and a moment later Freddy asked, “What’s the plan?”“I’d like to wait for the storm to pass—give the local denizens a chance to forget we were out there. I’m hoping the feeding frenzy back at the old camp will erase any traces of us. The rain should help.”Freddy walked over and rapped his knuckles against another turret. “Turrets haven’t fired since that first flayer cat came close.”“Yeah, hoping they aren’t as smart as reapers. I don’t think they are.” Hector hesitated, then added. “I’d go have a look, but my system’s processing an update.”The kid didn’t seem surprised. “Same. Took level twenty-five.”“Twenty five, huh?” Hector gave him an appraising glance. “You should be using aura more. Everyone seems more…” He hesitated, letting his words trail off. He’d been about to say reliant on tech, but that might open up a conversation about what he meant by that.“More what?” Freddy pressed.Hector slapped his hand against the rifle hanging by his side. “Eager to shoot. Have you all been trained to save your aura as a last resort or what?” Before Freddy could respond, he added, (...)