I was taking that mother-fucker with me.
“Willow!” I turned my head to see Nexus 5, his two side-brains, and at least half of his forces, if he’d told me the truth about their number, filling the corridor. “What have you done?”
Self-destruct, asshole. Bet you didn’t plan for that.
* * *
Zarren Helion
“Kayn! Where the fuck are you?”
Raz roared behind me, a Hive soldier’s arm in one hand, leg in another. I didn’t look down, didn’t need to. I’d seen beasts in battle. They didn’t sneak around, aim and shoot.
They tore their enemies in half.
Oberon fought on my left, his blaster in one hand, blade in the other. A trail of three already dead behind him.
The Hunter’s voice called from ahead. Right side.
“Over here! She’s this way!”
“About fucking time.” Oberon slashed the throat of his enemy and joined me as I ran toward Kayn’s voice.
Willow was on this base. It was small, but not small enough.
I didn’t have time to search every corridor and every room. Gods fucking knew what that Nexus unit was doing to her right fucking now.
“Raz, guard the ship. We need to be able to get off this rock.”
The beast grumbled and turned back the way we’d come. Moments later his battle roar assured me I’d made the right call.
Find Willow. Get her out of here. Two clear objectives. I’d been on operations exactly like this one. Many times.
Not once had my heart been lodged in my throat like it was now. My gut churned. I was so agitated my aim was shaky. I fucking missed my last mark and had to rip out his throat, up close and personal. Wanted to do so again. I didn’t normally count my kills. This time the urge to keep score rode me hard. Six, so far. Three more than Oberon, one less than Raz. The blood coating my armor didn’t appease me, it made me want to killmore of them. All of them.
Fuck.
“We’ll find her. She’s tough.” Oberon had performed a fucking miracle getting us through the Hive’s automated defense cannons and into their landing bay. I’d never seen anything like it. My stomach had yet to recover from the violent twist and turns. Oberon had earned his reputation as one of the best pilots in the Fleet. If I’d been in the pilot’s seat, we wouldn’t be standing here now, drenched in enemy blood.
We wouldn’t have a chance to save Willow.
Oberon took aim, fired. A Hive Soldier dropped from his place along the railing on the floor above us. Big fucker. He landed with a loud thump a few steps away.
More Hive Soldiers moved into position, taking his place, firing down on us. They had the high ground. Not good.
However, Kayn was leading us down, not up. Deeper into the bowels of the base.
To what? Waste systems? Mining operations? A dungeon?
I’d fucking filet the bastard if he’d put Willow in a dungeon.
Who was I kidding, I was going to kill him regardless.
An alarm filled the space. Urgent. Loud.
The Hive above us turned as a group and disappeared from sight.
“Where the fuck are they going?” Oberon pulled his weapon back and watched them run.
