Might Makes Right

by Michael Anderle

  The Shrillexian pulled back his cracked foot and moved to his left as a few others walked over to watch.

  Bethany Anne picked up Darryl’s backpack. “Apparently Baba Yaga needs to explain the hierarchy of pack mules,” she grumped. She slung it over her shoulder as she stepped closer to the fight. A brown eight-foot-tall walking mass of muscle was moving toward the same spot as Bethany Anne, and gave her what she felt was an ugly face as he slotted himself into the circle, blocking her view and taking her place.

  “Now that was just rude.” Bethany Anne lashed out with her right foot, knocking a leg out from under the alien and causing him to fall backward. He was quick, swinging his right appendage around to hit Bethany Anne as he twisted into the fall the kick had caused.

  His fist met her forehead with a crack, breaking his fingers. She dodged, and he missed his grab and rolled into the dirt. Bethany Anne tossed the packs down. “Baba Yaga’s spot, asshole,” she spat in English.

  He obviously didn’t know the language. She said the same thing in Yollin, then Torcellan. He apparently understood the last. He roared and sprang at her from the ground, expecting to wrap her up and take her down to pound her.

  Instead, she slammed her fist into his skull with her feet set on the ground, stopping his momentum cold. His body slumped straight to the dirt. “Baba Yaga is not pleased with your attitude,” she told the comatose body.

  “You think,” Darryl called, and Bethany Anne turned to see both him and the Shrillexian staring at her, as well as the rest in the circle, “that maybe Baba Yaga can stop taking my cool?”

  “Baba Yaga was trying to watch you take out the Shrillexian when she was accosted,” she called back. “She’s too damned old for disrespect.”

  Ashur chuffed.

  “Whatever,” she told him, then picked up the backpacks and stepped into the opening in the circle. The aliens on either side moved half a step away and Ashur parked himself next to her.

  Darryl turned back in time to catch a nasty right hook from the Shrillexian. He stepped back on his right foot, but that was all he did as he reached up and wiped the blood off his cracked lip.

  Cosol noticed the alien’s healing ability was faster than his own.

  “That all you got?” Darryl asked. “Because I’m going to open up a ten-gallon can of whup-ass on you.”

  “I got that and a bit more,” Cosol told him as Darryl’s forward kick caught him squarely in the abdomen, picking him up and tossing him two body-lengths backward into three aliens who got too close. The move took all four of them down.

  Darryl walked over to the four squirming beings and grabbed Cosol’s foot. He pulled him out of the mess and heaved, throwing Cosol over his shoulder to fly back toward the ground. He landed so hard it made Bethany Anne wince.

  “He still your friend?” Darryl asked the stunned Shrillexian. “Cause if he is, I’ll just knock your ass—”

  “Of course he is my friend.” Cosol had moved his foot under him and he pushed off, driving his fist up toward the alien.

  Who caught it, stopping his fist within inches. “Now this is more like it,” Darryl commented as he slammed his knee right into Cosol’s face, breaking his nose and sending him back onto his ass again.

  “Baba Yaga is getting bored,” the old lady called, and the animal next to her chuffed.

  “You need practice,” Darryl told him as he snap-kicked a shot to Cosol’s forehead, knocking him out. He walked through the circle to Bethany Anne, who tossed him his backpack.

  “Let’s go,” she told him. “That was a nice warmup, but I’m ready for the main event.”

  Waless Bar, Port Sharn, Section T-772

  The Tulet pointed to a rectangular table near the bartender. “That group over there is the one you’re asking about. Though,” Farl caught the Tulet’s attention, “you know who they are?”

  The Tulet nodded. “Darkness for Hire—what’s left of them. They disbanded for like three months because they tried to operate against the Leath and the Etheric Empire. The Leath haven’t said anything about it, but the Etheric Empire has said they will go after the mercenary group if they ever find them again.”

  “Out here?” the Tulet asked.

  “No, hope not,” Farl answered. He drew a drink and gave it to a waitress before he continued, “Otherwise I wouldn’t have them in my place. I don’t think the Empies would come out here.” He glanced over as the doors to his bar opened and two new aliens came in. His eyes narrowed. “Well, damn.”

  The Tulet turned around. “What?”

  “Those are humans. Only humans I know of are Empies. I’ve no idea who that shorter one is, but she looks old for their type of people, so maybe this is a warning mission. The dark one looks like muscle.”

  Farl considered his next move as the two humans went straight for the back of the bar. He was reaching for a pistol he kept under the bar when a voice spoke in his head.

  I am Baba Yaga. I am the nightmare in your dreams…

  Which, the voice hissed, you won’t have any more of, if you touch that weapon.

  Farl pulled his hand away from the gun and looked at her. The old human was staring at him, eyes glowing red.

  —

  “That makes thirty-three new recruits,” Caster told the Tulet next to him. “I told you, make me Leader and we will come back from the dead. We had a setback, that was all.”

  Caster looked up to see two humans coming toward him. He reached for the pistol but stopped, his hand on the butt. The old human had her pistol pointed at him. “The Empress…” she began loudly, and the whole bar went quiet.

  I’ve got behind you, Darryl sent to her.

  Chuff, Ashur added, keeping watch on his side.

  “…told Darkness for Hire she would not allow the mercenary group to survive after attacking her at the peace conference.”

  “It was a job,” Caster spat. “We lost, we left.”

  “It was an attack,” she shot back, “and the attack is not finished until the Empress says it is finished.”

  “What makes her think she is right?” Caster asked. “We have operated this way for generations. Mercenary companies stick together.”

  “Mercenary companies don’t scare Baba Yaga,” she told him. “The Empress told me to make sure Darkness for Hire was disbanded.” She pulled the trigger and Caster’s head exploded. She turned and shot his second, who was next to him, blowing his hand off at the wrist.

  The one to Caster’s right had already started bringing his gun up when Bethany Anne’s next two shots entered his chest and blew his insides out his back. She turned and eyed the bar, “Now, those were the most recent leaders of Darkness for Hire, which had been warned to disband on pain of death. Hello,” she nodded her head to the bar. “My name is Baba Yaga, and I’m Death. Who else is a member of this mercenary group?”

  No bodies stirred. She casually placed her pistol back in her holster and crossed her arms. “Ok, now that I’m not holding a pistol, how many members do we have?”

  Fourteen of those sitting in the bar started moving. Ashur took off and Bethany Anne was slammed in the chest by someone who had palmed a pistol and shot her from underneath a table. His head exploded a microsecond later as Bethany Anne fell back against the table behind her.

  Ashur ripped his arm half off when he jumped across a table, grabbing the wrist in his teeth and holding onto it as he landed on the other side. The hand spasmed, shooting the alien to his right in the leg.

  Farl was considering going for his weapon when the mess degenerated quickly. The one who called herself Baba Yaga stood back up, gray hair floating, face on fire. She started throwing multiple streaks of red light, blowing bodies apart in her anger.

  “The Empress said no Darkness, or you die.” She walked toward the front of the bar, and as she was passing a table with three aliens with their hands on the table she casually backhanded one, the table breaking his face when it slammed into the surface. “That includes shooting Baba Yaga i
n the back. You try to shoot me or mine, I will kill you too.”

  “Clear,” Darryl called, and a moment later Ashur chuffed.

  There were now eighteen dead on the bar’s floor. The old human, her eyes returning to normal, addressed the barkeeper. “If Baba Yaga comes back, she burns your establishment to the ground. Understand?”

  The barkeeper nodded.

  “For the record,” she spoke to the room as she started for the door, Darryl covering those left alive behind her and Ashur jogging ahead, “there is no safe distance from the Empress.”

  The door shut quietly behind the three of them.

  Thus began the stories of Baba Yaga, the Etheric’s Witch of the Night.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Military Meeting Room, One Year After Baba Yaga’s Introduction

  Bethany Anne tapped the table. “So, to sum up the last four weeks of effort on the planet Merrek: the Leath hit this world two months ago, we didn’t respond because we didn’t know, we have teams on the planet now but the Leath are already dug in, and it has become a massive clusterfuck.”

  Admiral Thomas looked at Lance, Kael-ven, and Kiel before nodding. “Yes, that about sums it up. We knew they had left their system, but our hidden spy couldn’t go with them. It wasn’t until we searched the general area of space we suspected they had gated to that we found the planet and their ships in the system. It was based on the extrapolation of the location and angle of their gate. Unfortunately, it has taken this long to safely acquire enough video.”

  Bethany Anne looked at the ceiling in thought for a moment before returning her gaze to those at the table. “Frankly, the Leath are probably as surprised as we are. They are surprised we found them this quickly, before they really got dug in, and we are surprised they outsmarted us.”

  “The Leath are bitching about us in the press again,” Cheryl Lynn added. “Suggesting we are attacking their world and killing their harmless civilians.”

  “And the videos from our Guardians and Guardian Marines?” Bethany Anne asked.

  “Prove it’s a complete fabrication; lots of very impressive video,” she replied. “When Dan is working with the teams on the ground, he tries to pull as much video as he can.”

  Bethany Anne shrugged, “Can’t be helped. Just keep pumping out the truth and showing that the Leath are also killing the locals. And let’s make it a priority to get the translation working properly.” She looked around. “Where are Peter and Todd?”

  Kiel spoke up. “I asked them to help train with the Second Yollin Battalion so we can get them on-planet as soon as possible. The Guardians are in a stalemate right now. We need to get more bodies on planet.” He looked at his notes. “I have integrated three companies of Yollin marines with the human groups on Merrek, and they are getting bloodied and having to learn on the job.”

  “Navy has stopped new ground support,” Thomas admitted. “Just like us, the Leath can get small ships on- and off-planet, so the forces on the ground are not increasing by much on either side. They have some big bastards guarding their gate in space, and we haven’t been able to push them out yet. Every time we get new firepower, they add another. We subtract, and they do too. I’m pretty sure both of us are rearranging our ships in case someone tries a sneak attack in another location.”

  Lance said, “Neither group has been able to achieve a decided tactical advantage, so we both do what we can. They have more troops, but we have better equipment, mostly.”

  Bethany Anne nodded. “Ok, let’s talk again in seventy-two hours, unless something changes.”

  Planet Merrek, Minor Continent, Outside Zone 02-3433, Forty-Eight Hours Later

  The female wolf ripped into the Leath’s neck and twisted her teeth, and the nasty taste of Leath blood invaded her mouth.

  Again.

  Looking around, the wolf saw that the Marines on her team had decisively rebuffed the Leath effort to overwhelm their position.

  Brooklyn changed back to human form and struggled over the muddy ground on this godforsaken alien planet to her team. “Join the Marines, see the universe, kill nasty Leath, and taste their blood,” she grumbled as another wolf, legs caked with mud, trudged over to her. “It seemed so sexy in theory.” A moment later her sister Addison was in front of her, weaving on her feet before unceremoniously dropping down on her ass in the mud.

  “You look like shit,” Brooklyn told her.

  “Bite me,” Addison replied. “It’s a bad hair day.”

  Carter walked past the two of them, giving them a half-hearted smile. “Don’t worry, this whole planet is a bad hair day.”

  “Yeah,” Caden called over his shoulder from behind Brooklyn. “And for you fuzzy-wuzzies, it’s a whole-body bad hair day!”

  “If I didn’t like him,” Addison whispered under her breath, “I’d save the Leath the effort and kill him myself.”

  Brooklyn’s eyes lit up. “I’ll do it!” When Addison’s eyes flickered yellow, Brooklyn just shook her head. “You still got it bad.”

  “Like a dog in heat,” Addison grumped. She shrugged at Brooklyn’s astonishment. “Well, the metaphor was appropriate.”

  “Fuck!” Chris yelled. The four humans and eight Yollins on their expanded team turned to look at him and Chris pulled off his goggles, “Fucking Leath destroyed our last eye-in-the-sky.” He peeked over the small berm they had constructed and ducked back down to look at Brooklyn. “We won’t have extra eagles for at least three hours, according to Command.”

  Brooklyn’s mouth twisted in annoyance and she called, “Look sharp, everyone! We need to be a little more vigilant now, that’s all.” She looked at Addison, “You ok going back to wolf?” She touched her nose. “I need the sensory support.”

  Addison raised a hand for Brooklyn to pull her up. When she was standing, she asked, “Anyplace in particular?”

  Brooklyn turned to look in Caden’s direction and spoke softly, “Out in front of Caden, if you can deal with it.”

  Addison flipped her sister off and turned toward the Marine in question. “It’s not like I’m going to sniff his ass or anything.”

  Brooklyn snickered as her sister slogged through the mud, looking not very sexy at all. Maybe that will help all the damn pheromones she’s polluting the air with, Brooklyn thought.

  —

  When the attack came, it came quickly. Battles are fluid: sometimes your side wins, sometimes it loses.

  And you lose good people. People who had a life ahead of them. Perhaps even love ahead of them.

  A future, kids, grandkids…

  But no.

  This time this battle went to the Leath. A small pocket of Etheric Guardians and Guardian Marines were overrun during the last hour they lacked overhead coverage, the Leath having destroyed their drones.

  Just like the Etheric Empire took out Leath equipment any chance they could.

  It was a fight to the end, Yollins protecting humans, humans protecting Yollins, as real teams do, no matter the species.

  At the end of the battle, with dead friends’ bodies spread throughout their defensive position, two Were sisters and one human male were still fighting. The male went down, his leg exploding, and the dark-haired sister took three shots to the chest, the barrage of rounds finally overcoming her armor.

  Of the hundred and thirty-two Leath who overran the Etheric Empire’s Guardians, barely forty were alive when the last female changed in front of their eyes. She stood like a human, but her features were animal.

  That human took out twelve more Leath before she succumbed to the firepower ravaging her body from all directions. The Leath squeezed their triggers with abandon, their small hind-brains screaming in fear of the monstrosity in their midst.

  She crawled back, bleeding, and changed back to human, then took the hands of her sister and the man who had been with them at the end. Her blond hair was coated with mud as the Leath surrounded her and her team, taking liberties with the bodies…

&nb
sp; And filming it.

  Planet Leath, Tienemehn, Defense Planning Headquarters

  Prime Quarter Leader Conclek didn’t bother taking off his armor as he trudged through the hallways of the lower levels. He had been pulled home from the front lines to answer to some back-line operational weenie’s questions while his people were getting ripped up on Merrek.

  All because of some jackasses who got lucky and decided to have a little fun.

  Carrying his armor’s helmet under his arm, he nodded to the two guards who checked his credentials. Once approved, he knocked on the door of the meeting room to which he had been ordered to report. He was told to come in, so he pushed the door open and entered.

  It took him a half-second to realize these weren’t back-line operational weenies at all, and he clicked his heels together and saluted smartly. Well, as smartly as his armor would allow.

  The First Line Prime Commander was sitting at the table with two intelligence officers and an Ixtali.

  “Sir! Prime Quarter Leader Conclek reporting as ordered.”

  First Line Prime Commander Tehrle nodded, allowing Conclek to drop his salute.

  “I’ll make this quick, Conclek,” the First Line Prime Commander growled. “These are Prime Intelligence One and Two,” he pointed to the other two Leath at the table, “and our deep cover agent Ze’mek from the Ixtali undercover effort,” indicating the Ixtali. The First Line Prime Commander nodded toward the second Leath at the table. “Two will be asking you questions.”

  “Prime Quarter Leader,” Intelligence Two began, congenially enough. “I understand a group of your soldiers overran and killed an Etheric Empire Quarter some three days ago. Correct?”

  “Correct.” Conclek wasn’t sure how much he should admit. What wasn’t admitted might not be known.

  Unfortunately, the First Line Prime Commander knew the rest. “And,” he interrupted, “they were disrespectful to the bodies, took video of it, and sent it to galactic news groups?”