My captive paused before releasing a chorus of laughter from all six heads. “Of course, aStellarianwould know nothing about the source of karnilian’spower. Such a formidable species has no need of ‘ridiculous rituals’ to ensure victory in battle, hmm?”
Ridiculous indeed.
“These rituals sound like how the ancient Greeks consulted oracles before battles and other major decisions,” Micah murmured thoughtfully. “They believed the answers were divinely inspired and could predict the outcome of…” He trailed off before eyeing the alien shrewdly. “Do your rituals predict ordetermine?”
The Hydrassian made a sound of admiration. “Ah, how refreshing. A Stellarian who does not assumeundefeatedmeansimpossible to defeat.”
Because he’s not a Stellarian…
I inwardly cursed. The full extent of my knowledge on karnilian was that it was illegal—in my galaxy, Invenio-Astralis, and most I’d visited.In fact, the only planet within reasonable distance of Stellaria that allowed the stone and its related rituals was…
Lacertus.
Speaking of predictable.
The reptilian species had once been considered a worthy foe for my kind, but then we evolved—perfecting star hopping to evade their agile flight and developing an immunity to their paralyzing power drain. Now, they could barely bring us a challenge.
Do they honestly think a silly little rock is going to give them an advantage?
“So, it was theLacertuswho hired you,” I sighed, more annoyed by this sad excuse for a mercenary than anything. “They hired you to track down the karnilian and this…Trol,whatever that is. As if possession of either of those assets will change the fact Stellariansare—and forever will be—undefeated by those lumbering lizards.”
“Zig…” Micah warned, but I’d had enough.
I didn’t want to spend another minute in this sector, or in this Muonova, or be on glorified babysitting duty while Honnor and their Star Units were defending my home from invaders. All I wanted was to complete this mission and move on to the next with my stellar collision by my side.
“Careful, Stellarian…” the Hydrassian chuckled low, dropping to their knees as I released them, accepting the inevitable. “Imperial blind spots may be the end of your empire.”
Enough!
With a snarl, I sliced my tendrils through the air, cleanly decapitating all six of our captive’s heads in one stroke.
“Gross,” Micah grimaced as he attempted to wipe the Hydrassian’s black blood off his shields—which only resulted in him smearing it around even more. “I wasn’t expecting you to go full Alien Rambo until we were done interrogating.”
“I was done,” I snapped. “There was nothing this self-proclaimedmercenarycould tell me that I didn’t already know.”
Micah deactivated his blood-covered shields with a huff. “Is that so? I’m not gonna lie, Zig—I’m having serious déjà vu from thelasttime you refused to humor any perspectives that didn’t confirm your own biases.”
What is he talking about?
“It’s not a bias to suspect theLacertusare behind this, Micah,” I scoffed, tossing aside the fallen Hydrassian so I could step closer. “They haveneveraccepted their inferiority, so it’s unsurprising that they?—”
I paused my history lesson to unleash another set of tendrils, snatching the second Hydrassian whothoughtthey were sneaking up on us and decapitating them as well.
“ZIG!”Micah shouted, now wiping Hydrassian blood directly off his skin and clothes.
Oops.
“Well…” I cleared my throat. “That’s why you shouldn’t lower your shields until?—”
Sigh.
I turned to face the third—and hopefully, for everyone’s sake,final—Hydrassian, letting them get close enough to satisfy my bloodlust before sweeping a razor-sharp tendril toward their necks.
Only to have a set of mechanical tendrils intercept.
“No, Zig.” Micah’s stern tone mixed with the way his tendrils coiled around mine had me melting…
Now is not the time, Ziggy.
