Thieves' Guild Series (7 eBook Box Set): Military Science Fiction - Alien Invasion - Galactic War Novels

by C. G. Hatton

  NG had his rifle up, scanning ahead. The problem with this was that they were both getting drained. LC had run out of moonshine, no one had any Epizin left, and he was struggling to draw energy from anywhere. He was getting nothing from Sebastian but he could feel the pressure pulsing at his mind.

  Another hit rumbled throughout the ship.

  He could sense one of the elite guard making his way to them, wounded but still firing.

  Sebastian whispered, strained, ‘We are doubling up on this one, Nikolai. Do you understand?’

  He did, more than ever.

  Sebastian forced a laugh.

  NG could feel the commander waiting for them. He waited for the elite guard to reach them then gestured with his rifle. “You ready?”

  They moved fast, took out the two Bennies on guard and ran up steps that were too big to doors that loomed over them, NG flinging them open before they got there, the huge blocks of black metal, knots and spikes glistening in the half light, groaning inwards. A waft of hot, humid air hit them.

  It was like walking into the Man’s chambers. In a hideously familiar, stomach churning sense of recognition, it felt just like entering those dark, ominous chambers that opened with a key made of that same twisted black metal.

  NG didn’t stop. LC was at his left shoulder, Hal Duncan to his right and the elite guard to their left. Hilyer appeared from somewhere and dropped into step beside them, spinning a knife through his fingers.

  The Bhenykhn fleet commander was sitting on a massive black throne, up against the far wall, like a king, a heavy cloak about its shoulders, leaning forward, watching them with a gleam in its orange eyes. It had one hand on the hilt of a huge battle axe resting there against the throne.

  The chamber felt vast. NG didn’t look around. He kept his eyes fixed firmly on the commander, moving forward, walking right into its lair. He could sense other massive figures around them. Every one of them in there was big, ragged black or grey cloaks on every shoulder, rifles pointed, crossbows aimed, axes hefted in enormous fists.

  He walked forward, blood pounding in his ears, his heart beating in time with the throbbing pulse that was the energy of the hive. He approached the throne, LC and the others hanging back and spreading out.

  The commander leaned further forward, a grim smile spreading across its face. Its voice was a guttural growl inside his head. ‘And what tribute do you bring before me?’

  Chapter 36

  The warmth in the chambers felt cloying, claustrophobic.

  “No,” one of them said. “We cannot be so stupid as to think we can survive such folly. We must leave. Gather the refugees and go.”

  “Go where?” she said, outraged.

  “Anywhere. Anything but face these creatures again.”

  They were scared. The Man watched them gather themselves and stand.

  She stood amongst them, firm. “There is nowhere to go. The Bhenykhn are everywhere. We made a mistake. A catastrophic mistake. And we cannot run from that.”

  “We cannot stay here and die,” one of them said simply and turned away.

  •

  NG fell to his knees as it took hold of his mind in a grip that was excruciating, vision narrowing to a black tunnel.

  ‘None – ever – come before the Bhenykhn Lyudaed,’ it warned, ‘with empty hands,’ the smirk growing dark.

  The pain increased.

  He couldn’t think, could hardly move but he made his fingers flash the signal, both hands, down by his side, by the floor, each knuckle cracking as he flexed them, no idea if they’d even see it.

  The dark closed in, the beat of his heart slowing to an agonising rhythm.

  Nine pods exploded in unison around him, the energy blasting outwards through his senses in billowing waves.

  Rifle fire resounded in his ears.

  Roars and yells.

  Screams.

  He dropped his head and sat there in the centre of it all, breathing, gathering himself. He felt Sebastian smile inside.

  ‘Ready?’

  ‘Yep.’

  He pushed himself to his feet, head still bowed, opened his eyes and stared at the commander, a faint smile twitching. The massive Bhenykhn was gripping the arms of its throne, in the process of standing. It glowered at him.

  NG forced it back down into its seat as Sebastian increased the pressure he was exerting on its mind as if he was pressing his thumbs into its eyes.

  It wasn’t slow to react but they were overpowering it.

  NG walked forward. A blade sliced across his arm, the pain barely registering.

  He sensed more than saw Duncan come in from the side with a tackle that took down his attacker.

  The commander was straining.

  Around them, alien bodies were hitting the floor. There were others incoming, gunfire filling the approaches all around them.

  He was vaguely aware of Hilyer moving round, knife in hand, the remaining elite guard turning and firing, high-ex AP rounds that were punching through the Bhenykhn armoured hide and causing catastrophic damage to the flesh beneath. It still seemed to take an age to bring them down.

  He couldn’t do anything but hold the commander.

  He became aware of another one coming at him from behind even as he felt LC blast it, two more of them descending on the kid himself.

  He heard LC cry out.

  Felt the kid go down.

  Duncan roared.

  NG took another step forward. He could see out of the corner of his eye the big man fighting against three of them now, swinging a huge double bladed axe like a berserker, all out attack with no regard for defence. It was the only way to fight them. On their own terms. To step back was to die.

  Hilyer was shouting from the other side, trying to split their attention.

  The rate of gunfire was slowing, ammo running low.

  Sebastian was struggling.

  The commander was fighting back, rage intensifying, fuelled by the sight of its lieutenants falling.

  NG glanced to the left as one of the big black cloaks overpowered Hil, throwing the kid against the bulkhead. He crunched to the deck.

  He glanced right as Duncan went down. The two left on him turned on the elite guard who was trying to slam in his last magazine. He got it firing and went down shooting, an axe embedded in his helmet.

  NG stopped and raised his eyes to the commander. He still had control of it.

  The other Bhenykhn all stopped, turning to him.

  He felt their attention as a crawling itch on the back of his neck that was fast joined by the hot metal of a gun barrel pressing against his skull. A huge hand reached around his neck and pressed talons into his throat. He felt the heat of the poison spread, its hand clenching, starting to rip against the tendons in his neck.

  He braced himself to fight it.

  Sebastian murmured, ‘No,’ and let up the pressure he’d been keeping on the commander. ‘This is not our time to die, Nikolai.’

  NG couldn’t hold it on his own. He let go, adrenaline pounding in his chest.

  The Bhenykhn commander roared and stood. It raised its hand to stay the one with its goddamned talons in his throat and turned its full attention onto him.

  Last man standing.

  Right in the heart of the enemy’s territory.

  It breathed out and sat back, spreading out its arms again. ‘Your empty hands insult us, human.’

  He shifted his weight imperceptibly, fighting stance, ready. “We’re not here to bargain,” he said out loud, not as loud as he intended, throat dry and painful, chest heaving.

  He couldn’t tell if the others were still alive, couldn’t feel anything from Sebastian.

  It sneered. ‘The last time a race like yours stood before the Bhenykhn Lyudaed, they tried to appease us. They offered us a galaxy.’ It leaned forward, leering. ‘Your galaxy.’

  The chambers spun.

  It threw the memory at him, joint ancestral hive memories bombarding his mind with that ancient de
al, a galaxy teeming with life served up to them in a feeble attempt at bargaining for peace.

  ‘The Man.’ Sebastian was linked in with the entire hive. He sounded far away, struggling to connect. ‘The Man and his people offered them our galaxy. They thought it would save their own. My god, Nikolai, the Man didn’t just lie to us, he condemned us before he ever came here to try to save us.’

  Shards of ice twisted in his stomach as he stood there, defying these conquerors. Defying the Devourers. More determined than ever.

  It forced him down to his knees. More figures closed in, gripping his shoulders with talons that broke the skin, stabbing, more poison that pulsed into his bloodstream, pushing him down.

  It had no doubt of its position here. No doubt it had won.

  He stared up at it, unblinking, refusing to submit. He could see Leigh standing to the side of the throne, looking into his eyes, willing him to hold, willing him to live.

  Even though she hadn’t.

  ‘What do you have to offer us, human?’

  He could feel Sebastian sucking energy from them, stealing their alien life force and weaving it into strands he could use.

  NG managed to not let it show.

  “We don’t sell out anyone,” he said, as loud as he could manage, chin up, shutting off the pain, cold and determined, pushing aside the weakness from the toxin that was pulling at his muscles. “You want to make a deal, what do you have to offer?”

  It laughed.

  Sebastian made his move. He threw all the energy he’d garnered from them back into them, sent them flying, talons ripping out of NG’s flesh, frying their brains and turning on the commander.

  It bellowed, lurching up out of its seat, grabbing the massive axe and throwing it.

  Time seemed to slow. All he could see was the blade tumbling, as if in slow motion, headed right for his centre mass.

  He couldn’t move fast enough, throwing himself to the side, catching the full weight of the weapon slamming into his shoulder and knocking him back.

  The commander pounded down the steps towards him. He couldn’t scramble away, pinned by the axe. It grabbed the haft and pulled it out, kicking him hard enough to send him rolling. He folded, lungs burning, coughing blood, his shoulder shattered and bleeding, left arm numb of all feeling.

  It roared again and towered over him.

  ‘You think you can stand against us?’

  It opened its mind.

  Shared.

  The pure immense scale of the Bhenykhn hive hit him. This fleet that had turned up was one of an advance force of hundreds just like it. And behind that they had thousands, millions of warships, fighters, tens of millions of ground troops, breeder units…

  It let that sink in and expanded the view again. It wasn’t just this galaxy they were attacking, the Bhenykhn hive was immense.

  Inevitable. Conquering. Devouring.

  It was unstoppable.

  The Bhenykhn leaned down and grabbed him round the throat. It picked him up and hurled him against the steps.

  ‘No one,’ it bellowed into his thoughts, ‘can stand against us.’

  NG hit the deck hard. He curled up. The pressure in his head was unbearable, the pain in his shoulder and ribs too much to neutralise, the toxin coursing through his veins too much to deal with.

  It loomed over him.

  He couldn’t feel Sebastian anywhere.

  He closed his eyes.

  And opened them in the hazy light of a summer’s evening, forest scent strong, the air still warm, beams of light casting shadows among the trees.

  “This is amazing,” Leigh murmured.

  He turned to look at her.

  “You’re not real,” he said. “You’re my subconscious, my conscience, whatever… But whatever you are, I know you’re not real.”

  She smiled at him. “Does that matter? And frankly who’s to say what’s real or what isn’t? You? Sebastian? The Man? Right now, NG, you need me and that’s all that really matters. Isn’t it?”

  This was the clearing where he’d brought Devon. He wanted to spin around, find her here as well.

  Leigh touched his shoulder, the one that was bleeding and broken in the real world nightmare where he was dying on the bridge of that alien ship.

  “NG,” she said softly, “you do know that you can’t give up, don’t you?”

  “I know.” He almost laughed. “But what the hell am I supposed to do?”

  “Win,” she said simply. “You know that too.”

  “I miss Devon.” He wanted to ask why he couldn’t conjure up an image of Devon but that didn’t seem fair.

  Leigh smiled. “You could, if you wanted to.”

  “I don’t know where Sebastian is.” He knew he sounded like a lost little boy. He was half expecting Sebastian to turn up here, joking, chiding him with sarcasm.

  Leigh shook her head, squeezing his arm. “You don’t need him. NG, go. Fight. Be you. Kick its ass. We’re the Thieves’ Guild, remember. No one messes with us.”

  He raised his face into the dying warmth of the last rays of sunlight, the shafts of gold breaking through the trees getting fewer. He didn’t even know if there was a guild any more.

  “NG, you are the guild. How many of us need to tell you that before you believe it? Not the Man, not the Alsatia, not any contract or agreement. You. It all comes down to you. It always has. The Man was waiting for you. He couldn’t do anything until he found you and started to prepare you for this.”

  “He could have told me a lot more.”

  She pulled that infinite patience to the end of time look that she had. “I’m sure he meant to. I’m sure he didn’t foresee the damage one greedy dying human could do, how paranoid we can get when threatened, how hurt we can get when we realise we’ve been lied to, how the consequences of our actions tumble into one another and take on a life of their own. Face it, NG, you’ve always thought it. The Man didn’t comprehend our timescales. He didn’t understand human frailties. How could he? But he saw how much potential we have. He knew exactly how much potential you have. Think about it.”

  He did think about it and he understood. Finally, in all this, he understood.

  The sun was setting, shadows lengthening.

  “Now go,” she said. “And don’t let it kill you this time.”

  He opened his eyes, sprawled at its feet. He got up onto one elbow. “You’ve made a big mistake coming here.”

  Its face twisted, angry.

  He managed to suck in a deep breath. “Those others? You don’t realise, do you? They didn’t offer us up as a sacrifice, to feed you.” He shook his head. “They sent you here because they knew we could beat you.” He grinned. “And here you are, getting beaten.”

  He drew energy from the heat of the deck, from the thrumming buzz of the hive itself, from the massive Bhenykhn commander before him.

  It shifted its weight as if it was going to stamp on him, finish him off.

  “No,” NG said, almost laughing again. He got to his feet, shaky but standing, hardly coming up to its chest, looking up into its eyes as it looked down at him with disgust, realising that it couldn’t move.

  He held it there.

  He didn’t want it all to come down to him. He wanted to go sit on a beach and drink until he passed out. Damn all this to hell. He wanted to stop being afraid of what would happen if he did this or did that. Get back to honestly and voraciously saying screw the consequences and just do.

  He sucked in more and more energy, felt it spinning in a vortex around him.

  He looked up, going deep inside the mind of this alien warrior that had been so arrogant in its confidence, going through it to hook into the hive. He felt every alien entity within the entire system and drew energy from them. He could feel the link with the hive beyond and he thought clearly and distinctly, with more mischief than he’d felt in a long time, ‘Fuck you. You come back here, we’re waiting and we will beat you.’ He summoned every ounce of energy he could muster and
channelled it absolutely and completely into the enemy before him.

  The commander of the Bhenykhn fleet screamed as he held it there, the blast rippling outwards through the hive mind as far as he could sense, one echelon of command after another falling until he reached his limit.

  The commander dropped dead.

  NG stood there, hardly breathing, then dropped down as his knees gave out and sat on the steps, drained, done.

  Chapter 37

  They stood alone in the chamber.

  “He beat them.”

  The Man nodded.

  “But now he knows? About us?”

  Another nod.

  She stood and looked around at the empty spaces. “Let’s go and find a bottle of wine. Tell me where they are now. Tell me that Nikolai is alright. Tell me where we go from here.”

  •

  The only sound in the chamber was a faint pulsing hum of the ship’s systems, an occasional muted rumble as it took a hit.

  NG sat there, nothing left to heal with, half-heartedly trying to stop the blood flowing from his shoulder, eyelids heavy, tempted to lie down on his back and sleep but he needed to check on the others.

  LC was alive but fading, blood trickling from a knife stuck in his neck. Duncan was out cold, the powered armour’s internal medical systems keeping the big man alive as much as the virus. He could see Hil was breathing but the kid was sprawled, bleeding electrobes into the deck. He couldn’t reach any further, no idea if the others had made it or not.

  He started to gather himself to move. To help them. As much as he could.

  The Bhenykhn command structure was down, all the subcommanders dead, three tiers of command beneath them all wiped out. Every other alien left in the system was incapacitated, stunned into inaction.

  He could sense from them the confusion and something unprecedented, almost incomprehensible to the Bhenykhn, panic.

  He shut it out. His head became resoundingly quiet.

  Nothing was moving in the chambers.