by L. Fergus
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a sneak peek at the first chapter of
Lieutenant Xi waved his platoon into makeshift positions around the seating area of the passenger terminal. He crouched behind a planter, recognizing the orange and black plants from his home world, Diamo.
“Control, Delta platoon in position,” Xi reported. “What’s the raiders’ status?”
“Should be docking now, delta six.”
“Any idea who they are?”
“Negative. No one recognizes the black feather logo on the shuttles.”
Xi grunted. Another fly-by-night mercenary group trying to make a fast buck. Attacking a medium-size station like Zitki seemed brazen, but a smash-and-grab raid wasn’t unheard of. Xi checked the magazine in his rifle—whoever they are, they’d pay dearly.
The floor shook under his feet as the shuttle docked.
“Hit the emergency override,” Xi ordered the soldiers stationed next to the door. Maybe if they find it locked, they’ll go home.
Xi waited. It didn’t take long before an orange light glowed at the top of the door causing sparks to fly and burn holes in the carpeting. It moved downward cutting through the doors locking mechanism. Xi tightened his grip on his rifle in anticipation. He’d done hundreds of repulse drills with the Diamock military, but this was his first with the Free Zitki Militia. Xi hoped his mix of Verisom, Zentos, and Aurorian troops were up to the task, but he knew his Diamock soldiers were ready. Their entire society was centered around the military, and they trained since they were pups.
The orange light hit the bottom of the door and went out. The room waited in silence until the doors opened with a loud bang that made Xi jump. The airlock light was out hiding what was waiting in the dark. There was a series of loud croaks.
“Toeaks!” Xi warned over the radio to his platoon. What are those damn things doing out of quarantine?
In pairs, the tall, muscular toads leaped into the room. They bounced and clung to every surface, firing as they went. Xi took aim and pulled the trigger. He hit one between two plates in its armor. It crashed into a planter on the other side of the room. Xi seemed to be the only one having success. The telemetry data feed to his helmet told him more than half his platoon was out of action. For their trouble, Xi could only see a handful of Toeaks on the ground.
Xi glanced back at the airlock. Toeaks continued to push through the door. Soon, the entire area was swarming with them. Over the din of gunfire, Xi could hear the sounds of his soldiers being killed by the fast-moving creatures. He gave up trying to take aimed shots and set his rifle to automatic. He ordered his platoon to do the same. When he didn’t get an answer, he stood up and swept his rifle back and forth in large arcs, hoping to hit as many Toeaks as he could.
Three bullets hit Xi at once. His armored plates stopped most of them. Two hits were non-critical, but the third punctured his neck. He collapsed, his head rolling toward the airlock door. Around him, the Toeaks stopped jumping and came to attention.
A large shape appeared in the airlock. Its silhouette was unlike any creature Xi had ever seen. When it stepped into the light, his breath caught in his chest, and a chill went down his spine. An Angel. He’d seen them a few years ago when they had first arrived at the Tet. Now, most of the vids were under strict government control, but he’d seen what they could do live in the arena. Most people doubted their power and abilities were real, but he didn’t. He believed the rumor of a single Angel taking down a Graniite.
The Angel was tall with blond hair forming balls on top of her head and pigtails that reached the floor. Everything she wore was black, complimenting her fair skin. She carried a pair of swords. What use are those in a firefight?
A Verisom wearing power armor with royal markings stepped out from behind the Angel. Why is a Verisom princess with a mercenary raiding party? Then he remembered the headlines after the arena, The Angel Kita announced her engagement to Princess Cotton.
Xi’s mind fought the pain in his body. This attack was more than a raiding party, but no government would attack a free station. So, what is going on?
“I want the Aurori found and taken alive,” Kita thundered.
Cotton took off her helmet, and her two long ears popped up. The right one had numerous piercings, hoops, and earrings.
From his position, Xi could hear them.
“Sheesh, Kita. You sound like some melodramatic supervillain,” Cotton said with a laugh.
Kita gave her a wry look then laughed at herself. “If you’re not careful, I’ll choke you with my mind.”
“Frozen fire, only you would reference such horrible movies.”
“You did your duty. You sat through them once.”
“If you’re not careful, I’m going to make you sit through the complete Verisom Opera of Unification. The damn thing takes fifteen hours. And, I’ll cut off your wireless connection. You’ll have to give it, and me, your full attention.”
“Talk about a supervillain.” Kita winked.
A Toeak approached and saluted Kita. “Captain, area secure. What should we do with the wounded?”
Kita’s eyes met Xi’s through his helmet’s visor. Kita walked over and looked down at him.
Xi gulped when he saw the glint in her eye. Nothing good came from a look like that.
Kita looked at Cotton. “Anyway, who’s to say I’m not a supervillain? Kill them, Major. They’re no good to me. We’re not here to recruit, just find the Aurori.” Kita raised her knee-high combat boot and brought it down on Xi’s head.
The crushed helmet and skull felt good under Kita’s boot. It feels so good to lash out at something. I’ve waited so long. It—
“Kita!” Cotton exclaimed. “Belay that order, Major. We’re not going to kill them. We’ll leave them. Once the station is secure, Mauler can send over medical teams to treat the survivors.” She took Kita by the wing and pulled her over into a corner. “What is wrong with you? We do not kill prisoners or soldiers that are no longer a threat. You are not some evil, despicable villain.”
Kita gulped, catching her reflection in Cotton’s large red eye. She couldn’t help it. The urge was becoming overwhelming. It felt like being horny, but sex didn’t satiate it. Only blood and torture eased the pull. And now, only grander acts satisfied it. She’d already gone through four small fuzzy creatures. She’d spent hours secretly torturing them, keeping them alive artificially so she could make it last longer. Officially, each had escaped and died by chewing on a power conduit. Cotton had refused to get her another one, and that was six months ago. Now, she was itching, and it was becoming harder to control.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I just got caught up in the moment.”
Cotton’s ear flicked back and forth as a way of questioning Kita’s statement.
Kita turned from Cotton and went to the Diamock she’d killed. She knelt and read the name on the chest. She then pulled off the crushed helmet and pulled out his right ear. Along the inside of the triangular shaped ear was his ID number. Diamocks didn’t have families, and this fellow would be shunned for leaving the Diamock military, but that didn’t matter to her. The Diamock military might not want to remember him, but she would. She studied his face for a few seconds.
“The innocent always suffer at the hands of the cruel,” Kita whispered to the corpse. “But, I will remember you, forever.”
Kita stood up and realized everyone was waiting for her. “Don’t just stand there,” she snarled. “We need to get to the control room. Now, move.”
The Toeak major ordered his troops out of the ter
minal. Kita followed, and Cotton fell in beside her.
“Are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Kita nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’m just disappointed in myself.”
“You need to get your head on straight. We’ve got a mission.” Cotton put her helmet on to punctuate her words.
Kita grunted, knowing the mission. The rest of her team of Angels and elite warriors were attacking different docks scattered around the station to maximize confusion and to get the cloud trackers in place. They were after an Aurorian that was bonded to an Aa’hgre, or cloud. The hope was the cloud could help them unravel how to cross multiple galaxies.
Her behavior was endangering the mission, and they’d just started. She sighed and followed her troops.
Kita followed Cotton and the Toeaks through the terminal. She couldn’t help but concentrate on what was going on in her head. Her mind felt trapped by the desire for blood. She didn’t understand why. She’d killed plenty of things while her group tracked the cloud and its host across the galaxy. There had been lots of blood, but it did little to ease the pressure she felt. What am I missing?
Kita lagged behind the ground as they entered the lobby of the terminal. The sound of gunfire caught her by surprise. She looked up from the floor in time to watch an explosion rip through her group. She was tossed backward but caught herself by opening her wings.
“Cotton!” she yelled to her team over the communications link.
“What’s wrong?” said Defiance, an Angel, and princess of the United Earth Empire.
Before Kita could respond, a shape appeared out of the smoke and haze.
“Gronks!” Kita yelled.
“The report didn’t say anything about those being here,” said Zentix.
“I didn’t bring enough missiles to tangle with them,” Hawke muttered.
Two more of the heavily armored creatures appeared. Kita floated backward, and a cold chill went down her spine to her toes as she held Dusk and Dawn defiantly while the Gronks’ heads lowered into their chests. Only their steely eyes were visible through gaps in the armor.
Two more appeared behind the first group. Kita’s eyes narrowed, but she couldn’t suppress the fear she felt. She’d never faced more than one before, and never alone. Now, she was up against five and Cotton could be dying somewhere in the cloud of smoke.
Kita’s feet touched the floor, and her wings closed. She flourished her swords as a warning, but the Gronks kept coming. Taking a step backward, Kita pushed off into a handspring and then launched herself upward in a twist. The Gronks raised their weapons. Before they fired, Kita phased behind the rear one. She stabbed between the gaps in the large plates on its back but found the plates overlapped. The Gronk turned and swung its massive plate and horn-covered arm, hitting Kita across the face. She did her best to roll with the strike, but the power of the blow sent her skidding across the friction carpet.
Kita flipped to her feet, ignoring the puncture through her cheek and blood coming from more holes on the side of her head. She phased into the center of the group. If she was going to stand a chance, she needed to remove their weapons. Whirling through the Gronks, she slashed their giant assault shotguns. They fell apart in the owners’ hands. Kita went to spin away after destroying the last shotgun, but a massive fist smashed her to the floor. She tried to roll but ran into a row of seats. Two of the Gronks jumped and landed in front of her. Both brought their fists down on her. One picked her up and slammed her back and forth on the ground, knocking Dusk and Dawn from her grasp, before slamming her so hard into the floor she left an impression.
Kita groaned in pain. Everything hurt, especially her arms. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her dislocated left elbow. Something was wrong with her right arm, too. The Gronk brought its massive fist up above her face.
All Kita could see was the massive fist with rows of spikes on the fingers and knuckles ready to crash down on her. She raised her right arm as much as she could to try to suck the water from the creature, but only a trickle came out. Kita winced as the fist came down.
I hope the damn thing breaks his fist on my face. At least, I’ll have some revenge before I die.
Kita didn’t know why her vision went red, but she felt fury and hate surge through her body. She felt no pain, and the world stood still. The Gronk’s fist hung in the air above her. She made a fist and struck out with her damaged right arm. The two fists collided. Slow motion ripples ran up the Gronk’s arm, causing the protective plates to pop off. Kita felt the bone in the arm liquefy. She rolled backward and put both feet in the Gronk’s chest, sending the creature crashing into a row of seats.
Kita flipped to her feet, watching the four Gronks standing like statues. Pulling on her left arm, she put her elbow back in place. She drew Midnight from her back and fired four arrows. Each arrow pierced a Gronks’ eye. As the last one fell, time sped back up to normal.
Tears welled up in Kita’s eyes, blurring her vision. She stowed Midnight, then wiped at the tears, but they kept coming faster than she could keep up. She sank down into a seat and buried her head in her hands. She cried harder than she ever remembered crying. The feelings of fear crept back over her, adding to the urgency of the tears.
She tried to calm herself down, but the fear wouldn’t let her. She knew she was out of danger, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. What’s wrong with me?
Cotton’s voice cut through her sobs. “Kita, are you all right?”
Kita nodded into her hands and tried to say yes. She felt the seat move as Cotton sat down next to her. The Verisom put her arm around Kita’s shoulders and pulled Kita in.
“Frost and fire, Kita. Your arms are black and blue. What happened?”
Cotton’s voice and words cut through the fear, causing it to recede. Kita looked up from her hands, slick with tears. A black tendril of fog drifted from her tears to her nose. Kita went rigid and rose off the seat.
“Kita? Kita!” Cotton yelled. “Girls, something’s wrong with Kita,” she called to the other members of Kita’s team.
“What’s happening?” asked Valor.
“Kita’s gone rigid and is hovering off the floor.”
“Did something black fly up her nose?”
“Yes. Some black smoke from her hand.”
“She’s getting a memory back. Don’t worry, it won’t last too long.”
“Are you at the command center yet?” Snowy asked.
“No. We’re only halfway,” replied Cotton.
“What about the Gronks?” said Hawke.
Cotton looked around. “Kita killed them all.”
“That-a-girl,” Hawke cheered.
Kita’s mind flashed with images, feelings, sights, and sounds. Most were fights, but not always. In every one, everything but her moved slowly. A man appeared wearing ancient armor. He explained she was beserking.
Kita lowered back into the seat and slumped against Cotton. Her fiancée caught her and straightened Kita back up.
“Are you all right?” Cotton whispered.
“Are you?” Kita asked in return.
“Just stunned by the grenade. I’m fine. I don’t think many of the Toeaks are as lucky.”
Kita shrugged. They were hired as mercenaries and expendable.
“What happened with the Gronks?”
Kita sighed. “I…was getting my ass kicked and right before they delivered the killing blow I berserked.”
“You were moving in a blur.”
“Yeah. Time slows down for me, and I get stronger and faster.”
“Have you always been able to do this?”
Kita nodded. “It happened during my Proving Ritual the night I joined the Legion. It’s a side effect of the genetic modifications that Omega made to the humans grown on my homeworld. In the memories I’ve learned to control it. So I can do it on command, and the emotional turmoil at the end isn’t so severe.”
“Can anyone else do this?”
“Yeah. Kami a
nd another Angel can. I don’t remember her name.” Kita sighed and leaned against Cotton.
“I hate to cut this short, kitten, but we need you in the command center,” urged Snowy.
Kita grunted and stood up. She offered a hand to Cotton. As Cotton went to accept, Kita spun, pulled a throwing star from her thigh pad and threw it. The projectile threaded the gap between the Gronk’s head and the lip of the chest cavity. Kita picked Dusk off the floor and plunged it into the Gronk’s eye to make sure it stayed dead.
Cotton came behind Kita and handed her Dawn. “Go back to the shuttle. You’re in no condition to lead. I will send someone when the station is secure.”
Kita nodded and put her swords away.