Chaos (Xian Warriors Book 5)

by Regine Abel

  To my greatest chagrin, Doom—as the most unkillable among us—and Stran—as the most lethal of our unit—were leading the charge… with Sabra and Varnog right behind them. As expected, despite the minimal security measures within the facility, they had a number of disruptors active which prevented our proximity scanners from detecting how many enemies lay ahead. Therefore, we needed my mate to use her empathic ability—immune to such disruptors—to scan over as far a range as possible to assess the number of enemies lurking nearby and their current mental state.

  Having seen some of the Soldiers during her previous Ghosting, we were hoping she might be able to latch onto their psychic signature and Ghost them with Varnog shadowing her. Although the Scelk leader could use his mind control ability while Ghosting, he could only affect a handful of targets that way, less even if their psychic ranks were high—which was thankfully rarely the case with Kryptid Soldiers. Nevertheless, it would help create chaos among the Kryptid ranks and give us an advantage.

  I wanted to be the one protecting my mate, but I was better bringing up the rear as very little escaped my notice. And, as much as I hated admitting it, Doom was the best fighter among us.

  “I’m not sensing anyone,” Sabra said as we approached the back entrance into the facility.

  Had Shuria not shown it to her, we never would have detected it either as a clever optical illusion created by the terrain made it look like there was merely a rock outcropping in the area—a technique often used by the Kryptids. Between that and the disruptors, it made discovering the location of their lairs all the more difficult.

  “Who is Khutu hiding this entrance from?” Wrath asked just as the same thought was crossing my mind.

  “His own people,” Bane responded in a hard voice filled with hatred for his sire. “The General has been growing increasingly paranoid—with good reason.”

  We all hushed as we reached the hidden door. Despite Shuria deactivating the security system, this lock was still active. Unsurprising considering Khutu likely had it on a different circuit so that his minions wouldn’t discover it. Thankfully, my mate had perfectly memorized the code, and the door opened with a soft hiss.

  We entered the antechamber, only to be beckoned by a small monitor near the door on the opposite side of the room. It showed the hallway beyond, as well as a secret passage to a remote room a short distance from the main entrance.

  “Looks like Daddy dearest had a secret way of getting the drop on his minions,” Bane muttered. “That would keep them all in line, never knowing when he would just show up, as if out of thin air. The troops are terrified of him.”

  “I will investigate it,” Wrath offered.

  I nodded and telepathically asked Yumi to transfer my psychic Shield to him to ensure his soul would be able to find its way to his Soulcatcher should he meet with foul play. Wrath activated his stealth shield, rendering him invisible, opened the secret passage, and left.

  The surveillance cam showing a clear passage ahead, we opened the door onto it and started advancing down the hallway.

  “I sense eleven Kryptids in this room,” Sabra said seconds later, pointing to the door on the left side of the corridor, about six meters ahead. “They’re very sedate. I can’t tell if they are sleeping or just very focused. I’m leaning towards sleeping as Shuria had indicated this to be one of their common sleeping quarters. There are almost twice as many in the opposite room. They are calm but definitely awake.”

  “Let’s give that Ghosting a try while things are still quiet,” I said gently to my mate.

  Sabra nodded, and her eyes went out of focus. She frowned, then shook her head before focusing again. My tongue burned with the urge to ask her what was going on, but I kept my peace, not wanting to distract her. A beat later, Varnog’s face went slack, and I suppressed a victorious roar, guessing he was now shadowing her. They emerged moments later.

  “I can’t see into the left room,” Sabra said apologetically. “There’s no one I can latch on to. But the room on the right is some kind of training room.”

  Varnog mentally projected to all of us an image of what he had seen while psychically shadowing my woman. Stran emitted a short, sharp growl.

  “Don’t be greedy,” Doom said mockingly to his companion.

  “They are unarmed and unaware. Stran would indeed be ideal to wipe them out. However, even though their alarms are disabled, they still have mind-speak,” I cautioned. “We don’t want them alerting the others just yet.

  I gestured with my head at Reaper—Bane’s Dragon brother who had joined Doom’s crew—and he immediately moved into position closer to the door with a psychic disruptor device ready to be activated. They would prevent us from psychically communicating as well, but would keep the Kryptids from warning the others.

  I then nodded at Bane and Varnog who moved closer to the left door. The Scelk’s armor had an incision at the back that gave a glimpse of the vestiges of the tail of the insect Varnog had once been, but that was now fused with his host’s body. Watching it slowly extend from the base of his spine into a vicious, two-meter long tail with a razor-sharp, curved blade at the tip, and sawtooth spikes along its length never ceased to amaze me. Unlike us who could shift into full armor, this was the extent of the Scelks’ shifting. They naturally had too little armor, with mostly some chitin scales and plaques along their spines, shoulders, and heads. Therefore, we had custom-made the suit he was currently wearing.

  We all activated our energy shields. Varnog drew his sword then opened the door. As soon as he got a glimpse inside, the Scelk lowered his shield—having detected no threat—and a sadistic smile stretched his lips, making me shudder. I still remembered our first encounter with his species and how they had nearly wiped us out. Moments like this one reminded me that the mindless, bloodthirsty killer General Khutu had engineered him and his species to be still lurked incredibly close to the surface.

  A similarly disturbing smile played on Bane’s lips as he followed in his wake. There were no screams, no sounds of fight or resistance. Varnog had mind-controlled the bastards inside. In a way, it was a merciful death. They would never know what had struck them nor seen it coming… Assuming Varnog hadn’t trapped them in a nightmare first.

  The crunching sound of chitin fracturing followed by the wet thud of limbs or bodies flopping to the ground was all I needed to move the unit along. Reaper activated his psychic disruptor then his stealth shield before opening the door to the larger room on the right. The sound of conversations within died, the Kryptids no doubt confused by the door opening by itself. The fools didn’t realize Reaper had snuck inside and was blocking their ability to mind-speak.

  And then Stran turned himself into a ball and rolled in, followed by Doom, Orion, and Tremak.

  The unique clanking sound of Stran’s darts finding their mark resonated all the way into the hallway answered by the screeches of the Kryptids. I cast a nervous glance in the corridor, fearing others would be alerted. Although no one showed up, our women, shields up and blasters in hand were covering us in case of any incoming threat.

  With Bane and Varnog coming back out of the left room, I stepped inside the right one just in time to see Stran unfurling from his rounded shape to stand on all fours. He swiped with his vicious claws at the throat of a Kryptid who had two of the Creckel’s darts embedded in his chest. The same black darts could be seen protruding in various limbs of at least ten other Kryptids, the rest having found their mark in the walls and training equipment scattered around the room. Stran’s victim crumpled to the ground with a gurgling sound, his life’s black blood pouring out of his slashed throat. But the Creckel had already turned to another target and was spitting acid into his face.

  Reaper, having deactivated his stealth shield, was surrounded by three Kryptids. He spread out his translucent bug wings and spun on himself. Two of the enemies were instantly decapitated by the razor-sharp edges of the wings, the third one losing the arm he had protectively raised in front
of him while backing away. He roared in pain, holding his stump with his remaining hand. In a one-two punch of the scorpion tails protruding from his shoulder blades, Reaper stabbed at the open wound. It immediately began to hiss and bubble as the Dragon’s lethal venom—enhanced to also act as acid by the Crinax we drank before disembarking—ate away at the Kryptid’s flesh. A bloody foam quickly formed around the mandibles framing the Soldier’s mouth from the venom, right before he crumpled to the ground.

  Doom and Orion were slicing limbs, left, right, and center, making minced meat of their opponents, I barely had time to throw a mouth dart at one fool who thought to rush Doom from behind. It all but smashed the top joint of his three-segment left leg. Before he could even hit the ground Stran was already on top of him. The Creckel slapped him so hard with his large, flat tail that part of the Soldier’s chitin armor shattered on impact. He flew across the room to crash against the wall next to the door. He flopped to the floor with a loud thud, only to be stabbed in the eye by the long blade at the end of Varnog’s tail. A tremor shook the Soldier who then went still. Casually leaning against the doorframe, the Scelk retracted his tail and gave me a wink.

  I glared at him which only made his taunting smile broaden.

  “You jerks could share a little,” I grumbled while marching out of the room.

  “I’ll share my meal with you, but I’m not sharing bugs,” Doom said, giving me a solid slap on the back of the shoulder, which made the others chuckle.

  For all that, adrenaline was pumping in my veins and I ached to spill blood. I exchanged a glance with Bane who had been standing watch with the women, then with Sabra. Both shook their heads, indicating there were no signs of incoming. I nodded at Reaper to deactivate the psychic disruptor. As soon as he complied, I telepathically nudged Wrath.

  “There are multiple rooms,” Wrath said. “I’ve already examined one filled with a bunch of experiments in stasis. Not the Mimics, but everything else he’s done over the past few decades. There’s a human, a Scelk, a Miegly, and even a Creckel, only to name a few. I’m getting close to the second room. I’ll update you when I’m done.”

  “Acknowledged,” I replied before ending the communication.

  I couldn’t dwell on that right now, but my gut told me another shitstorm would stem from whatever Wrath discovered.

  The next few rooms proved just as ridiculously easy. It wasn’t even fair. I had feared our low numbers might get overwhelmed by their multitude, but these Soldiers, although properly mature, were weak, their chitin armor flimsy. There was a time when a minimum of two or three violent strikes from our scorpion tails, all in the same general area, would have been required to crack their armor enough to be able to stab at the vulnerable flesh underneath with our stingers. But now, a single blow sufficed to not only break the armor but also inject our venom.

  If this was the General’s latest batch of offspring, no wonder a rebellion was brewing. At this rate, they would soon become so weak, even wildlife would start considering them as prey.

  “This shit is beyond fucked up,” Wrath suddenly mind-spoke to me. “I want to bring some of this stuff back to our ship. There’s a hidden lab here, and I believe this is where Khutu has been enhancing himself. Are you guys good or do you need my help?”

  “So far, it’s all good. They’re not even making us break a sweat,” I replied. “We’re about to split up to cover more ground faster. Doom and Stran are hogging all the action.” I added with a mildly amused annoyance.

  “Those two are ridiculous killing machines,” Wrath chuckled with sympathy.

  “They are. They don’t need us to wipe out the bugs, but we need Stran for the eggs and the larvae,” I continued. “Doom is going to remain on this floor with Reaper and his Scelk, Tremak. If you’re fine with it, I would like your Soulcatcher Linette to stay with him and his Soulcatcher. I like having her closer to the ship and to you.”

  “Sounds good,” Wrath replied.

  “Perfect. Chaos out,” I said before disconnecting from his mind.

  The facility proved much bigger than what Shuria had shown Sabra. We soon discovered that the Mimic had only taken her down the main corridors with the biggest and busiest rooms. But many backdoors and small corridors led to smaller rooms and nooks that had to be addressed. If we remained together, we’d be here for days.

  As we parted from Doom, he made a face at Stran who was looking at him with his long, lizard tongue lolling from the side of his jaw. The Creckel was mocking his friend, I assumed because we’d deemed him more essential in aiding us to accomplish our mission than the most unkillable of all Xian Warriors. I snorted and shook my head before proceeding down the hallway to the lift.

  “Shuria, we’re heading down to the Birthing Chamber,” I mind-spoke to the Mimic.

  “Most of the Workers are still in the Gathering Hall, but you will likely be discovered shortly after exiting the lift,” she cautioned. “I am in a Worker’s form right now and cannot blow my cover. I cannot assist you aside from trying to convince the other females to coope… FUCK!”

  “What is it?” I asked, tensing up at her fear seeping through our psychic link.

  “Larvae,” was all Shuria replied before disconnecting from my mind.

  “Something is wrong,” Sabra said, looking at me over her shoulder, her obsidian eyes filled with worry. “I’m being bombarded by fear.”

  No sooner did she say those words than her eyes went out of focus.

  “Bane, your watch,” I ordered before shadowing my mate.

  My stomach felt queasy with a rapid falling sensation. The dark veil that fell before my eyes was quickly lifted. We were standing in the room I believed Shuria had referred to as the Gathering Hall. Frightened Workers were pouring in, while terrified shouts and screams of agony resounded from the hallway. A number of Kryptid females passed through Sabra and me, their senses too numbed by fear to sense our psychic presence. We moved into the hallway to see what was going on, but could only go a few meters in before the link to our anchor—Shuria—began to waver.

  The Soldiers were fighting a handful of larvae that had gone feral. A blood trail leading down the hallway in front of them seemed to indicate the larvae hadn’t come from the nurseries on the left side of the corridor, but from beyond.

  “They’re either coming from the Egg Room or the Birthing Chamber,” Sabra said as if she’d read my mind.

  Just as she mind-spoke those words, another larva came running down the hallway. It looked like a giant maggot with claw-like centipede legs and a massive pair of mandibles that framed a round mouth filled with needle teeth. As it ran towards the Soldiers protecting the females, I noticed the familiar, viscous amniotic fluid quickly drying on top of the larva’s back.

  “CHAOS!”

  The psychic voice of Bane echoed in my mind, sounding far away and partially muffled.

  “Exit now!” I ordered Sabra then stopped shadowing her.

  I reentered my body with a start. Stran had taken a defensive stance behind us and our females were standing at the ready to defend both sides of the hallway. A few meters from us, the corpses of two Soldiers, riddled with mouth darts lay dead on the floor. I turned to Bane, relieved to see my mate come out of her trance as well.

  “The Kryptids are on the alert,” Bane said. “Whatever happened downstairs, one of them probably tried to ring the alarm and realized it was down. Doom’s unit is being overrun with bugs. Wrath is moving to help them. Those two,” he added, pointing at the corpses with his chin, “were probably going to assist downstairs. We need to move.”

  “Ladies, you will stay here to help Doom, then you all go back to the ship,” I ordered.

  “WHAT?!” the women said in almost perfect sync, the same outraged expression on their faces.

  “The eggs are hatching out feral larvae,” I explained. “The fumes and the amniotic fluid that lingers on them will be like acid on human skin. You know that,” I added in a harsh tone. “We don’t know h
ow much more virulent the fluids from these mutant eggs can be or how long the protein that causes the allergic reaction will survive once exposed to oxygen. It can be a couple of minutes like with regular Drone eggs, or it could be hours. We don’t know, and I’m not risking you. Back to the ship you go. Stran, get them to Doom then come rejoin us.”

  The Creckel gave me a psychic nudge then immediately started down the hallway. I caressed Sabra’s cheek with my knuckles, wishing I could hug her instead. She smiled encouragingly then followed Stran with the other women.

  Trying to silence my unease at being parted from my mate, I walked into the lift, accompanied by Varnog and Bane: we had larvae to exterminate.

  Chapter 16

  Sabra

  The sound of battle ahead had my blood pumping with adrenaline. I hated parting from my man, but the excitement and bloodlust from Stran, Doom and his companions, and the fear broadcast by the Kryptids had me chomping at the bit to join the fray.

  We ran through a few corridors before emerging into the long one leading to the facility’s ship hangar and docking bay. Wrath had already rejoined them. Forming a wall with their energy shields raised before them, Doom, Wrath, Tremak, and Orion were standing side by side in the doorframe, hacking at the bugs in front of them, and pummeling them with mouth darts. Their women behind them were shooting blasters at the swarm of Soldiers trying to get to the Warriors. And Reaper, his translucent wings slightly humming as he hovered over our men, was holding his energy shield before him shooting mouth darts and poisoned needles from the hollow tips of his scorpion tails, in addition to firing away with his blaster.

  It was a massacre.

  The Warriors’ shields should have collapsed from the onslaught, but Tremak was using his mind-control ability to make the Kryptids closest to them go still, creating a living wall blocking the others while our men hacked them down. There were far too many Kryptids for the Scelk to mind-control more than a dozen at once, but it was enough to keep the Warriors’ shields from sustaining any real damage.