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.Their influence would dwindle and fade.Vor ran, leading the way through the tunnels.Quentin followed as rapidly as he could move, still getting used to the machine form he had commandeered from Juno.Alarms sounded.“They’ll figure out the details soon enough, once they find our handiwork,” Vor said, breathless.“We’ve got to get to the ships.Is there a cymek spacecraft you can operate for yourself? I have the Dream Voyager.”“Don’t worry about me, Supreme Bashar.There are numerous options.”Three neo-cymeks, armed with projectile launchers built into their walker-forms, strode down the corridors.As soon as they saw Vorian Atreides, the lone human being in the frozen fortress, they clicked their systems into standby mode, but Quentin was there, looming larger than the neos.They recognized the robotic body as belonging to a Titan.“Juno, are you in control of the prisoner?” asked one of the neos.In response, Quentin raised his far superior weapons arms and launched powerful torpedoes at the three smaller cymeks.The precisely targeted detonations shattered their brain canisters, and the neo-cymek bodies slumped into wreckage on the floor.“This disguise may just be sufficient,” Quentin said.“Don’t count on it.Come on.”Taking larger strides in the mechanical body, Quentin began to out-pace him, moving with confidence.“There is a way for this all to end.In his own paranoia, General Agamemnon planted the seeds for the cymeks’ downfall.”Before Vor could ask what he meant, they encountered several other smashed cymek walker-forms that littered a tunnel near the landing bay where the Dream Voyager was stored.“It looks like someone else is at war with the cymeks.”Three neos clattered into the landing bay from adjoining passages.Quentin swiveled, preparing to blast them, but soon it became apparent that the neo-cymeks were fleeing from something.Behind them came four rampaging secondary-neos that had been unwillingly converted from the caretakers of the slaughtered Cogitors.The former secondaries had appropriated parts from other cymek walkers, incorporating the additional appendages and armaments into bizarre new configurations.Pieces of combat bodies, such as the remnants of the dismantled cymek Beowulf, had been stored for repair and reuse on other walker-forms.The involuntary servants of Agamemnon had launched their own rebellion.Blasting after the scuttling cymek-loyal neos, the secondaries raced into the landing bay.When the trapped and cornered neos saw the immense Titan walker waiting for them, they seemed to take heart.The neos rallied, thinking they had an ally in Juno.Even as the secondary-neos continued to shoot their confiscated weapons, Quentin raised his cannon arms and blasted the other neos from behind.Shrapnel and blue electrafluid scattered everywhere.The cymek secondaries hesitated only a moment before charging forward, firing weapons.“They saw me destroy Juno’s brain,” Quentin explained to Vor.“It must be what finally pushed them over the edge to violence.”The secondaries raced in among the wreckage like scavengers on a battlefield.Making certain the brain canisters of the neos were thoroughly destroyed, they stripped out the weaponry and added it to their own systems.Quentin swiveled his head turret and marched toward the secondary-neos, who waited patiently.“What is your progress so far?”“Ten of us have died.Only four remain, but we have already killed many of the neos.Their walker-forms litter the tunnels.We have destroyed the electrafluid production laboratories, drained the stockpiles, and ruined the machinery necessary to create more.Any cymeks who survive this battle will be sorely in need of their life-support fluid before long.”Vor felt as if a weight had been lifted off his chest.“Excellent!”“A large problem remains.” Quentin turned to the secondaries.“Do you know where Dante is? He is the last Titan.”“Somewhere in the complex, but we are not certain of his location.”Quentin said to Vor, “We have to find him.Destroying Dante is more necessary than you can imagine.”The Dream Voyager was stored and ready for takeoff.It would be so easy to escape and return to Salusa Secundus with his news, but Vor resisted taking the simple way out.“Quentin, the Army of the Jihad made a mistake two decades ago when we left one machine world intact
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