Threshold

It didn't matter that Maria alerted the perimeter guard. This heretic was too strong, too fast and too accurate. If he couldn't disarm a guard with his blades, he'd unleash a blast of streaming energy from his wrist that would startle or distract. Every move this heretic made was with the intent to do no harm. That was not his way. It was a stubborn nobility of his and he dared not let the automated program take possession of his body in this fight.

 

From the side lines, the Heretic was watched. This angry man saw in this heretic all of the things that he used to be: compassionate, noble, brave. What was worse for this man, Lieutenant Haggard, was that this Heretic was practicing this frantic charity without the need to worship a god. For a brief moment, Haggard was absolutely disgusted with himself but he quickly refocused all of that disgust onto the Heretic. How could he possibly be good without the belief in a god, and specifically the Christian God? Lieutenant Haggard watched bitterly and helplessly as the Heretic escaped.

 

After he was gone, Haggard assessed the damage: two dozen men lost their firearms. Another dozen suffered concussion. One had a broken arm. Then there was Maria, she was still wearing the Divine Armor that clearly didn't best the True Armor that the Heretic was wielding. Through the cracked metal frame of Maria's armor, he finally found the evidence he needed to convict her of false worship: a Catholic crucifix. He started designing plans that would rid himself of both Maria and this Heretic...

Done