Chapter 19

"There is a creature below. It moves like one of us," the first Hunter Killer noted, moving one of its many appendages with an eye stalk instead of claws. The other two looked out of the windows at the Martian ground below them.

"Send a soundless after it. All life on this planet is to be considered part of the new Sentient," the second one said, flexing its armor plates in anticipation of the coming fight.

The third one, who was a quadrupedal gunner with a long chitin tube along its spine, grabbed up one of the small albino creatures that squirmed on what little floor space they had. As a rejected hatchling, it was never given any affection. Other than two arms, the soundless only had a mouth on the front of its worm-like body.

The gunner shoved the soundless into the tube on its back. Two glands attached to the other end of the tube sprayed different chemicals, that when mixed ignited and expanded violently. The soundless was shot with such force, that it exploded on impact with the ground.

"You missed! Fire again!" the second screeched, waving it's heavily armored claws in the tight space.

The shuttle they were in, plummeted downwards as the living projectiles were fired over and over again. Plenty of the rejected herbivore hatchlings remained on the floor as the surface of the planet grew closer.

xX The creatures continue their bombardment as the siblings dodged. We return as the shuttle finally hits the surface. Xx

Standing with their new claws at the ready, Loyd and Charlette watched as the three monsters climbed from the wreckage.

"What say you just roll over and make this quick?!" The siblings shouted together, over the neural network that the swarm understood.

"The Prime Sentients wants the new Sentient devoured. You are the new Sentient!" the three Hunter Killers roared back in primal voices.

"Then, we do this the fun way."

Loyd, bonded with his sister so that they moved in synchronicity, crouched low on all fours and spun up his pinwheel reactor to full speed. The metallic spheres, sized only a few centimeters around and connected to the reactor using magnetic tethers, swung out like a whip from the underside of his new thruster system. Hitting the Hunter Killer with the cannon on its back, Loyd rent a large chunk of flesh from its flank.

Screaming in pain, the gunner fell back over the lip of the shuttle debris into the interior as the next Hunter Killer scrambled out. This swarm creature had a multitude of appendages that obscured the view of its body. Digging claws deep into the soil, this new threat charged at Loyd, dodging his whip. Lunging at him, Loyd's armor didn't provide full purchase for the Hunter Killer's claws as it slid across the crystal plates. One plate of his armor stuck out just enough to allow a claw to slip in and pierce Charlette's back. The creature hit flesh, delivering poison into her system.

The neural poison caused immediate pain to surge through both of their bodies, as Loyd shared the agony his sister felt while the poison spread throughout her body. Screaming in pain, Loyd grabbed the claw, ripping it out and the creature struggled free from his grip, getting distance to allow the poison to work.

"Damn, he's fast! Make sure you keep an eye on the wrecked shuttle," Loyd gasped. "We don't know what the third creature is capable of."

The final creature rose up and charged, not quite as quickly as the previous one. This Hunter Killer was the largest of the three, with much more armor and a massive shield-like crest on its head. The creature's two massive arms were like those of a mantis, pushing itself forward with a serpentine body. Letting out a muffled cry through the thin Martian atmosphere, it ducked down, about half way to them, as the injured gunner fired another of the soundless projectiles from the wreckage. Striking her left shoulder, the soundless tore her arm off.

The multi-appendaged creature attacked while they were distracted from the pain and dug its claws deep into gaps in the back armor. Before Loyd could react to this new attack, being pulled backwards and exposing his front, the armored creature rose up with its massive arms raised high above its head, and struck down, driving its claws straight into Charlette's cockpit area where Loyd was.

"Damn you! I'm swapping over to full pilot controls. I am not losing you today, Charle-"

"Ejecting pilot. It was nice knowing you, Loyd. I'm glad I could have an awesome a brother like you." Her words left no room for arguing as she initiated the ejection procedure.

Loyd could feel the atmosphere of the cockpit venting as the creature tore out its claws; his eyes coming to meet those of the armored Hunter Killer.

"Don't you fucking dare give up on me!" Loyd tore out the propellent hose designed to allow him to eject and grabbed his emergency breathing mask. "We can still win here!"

Charlette's body was nearly destroyed; the pinwheel reactor was still spinning, but she appeared lifeless. The Swarm creatures believed Loyd was just a very recent meal, and assumed they had succeeded at killing their prey.

"The new Sentients has been destroyed! We may now feast on whatever we wish," the massive shield-headed creature drooled.

"Not yet, you fucker! You and your two pieces of shit haven't killed me yet! You hurt my sister, something you won't live to regret!" Loyd cried rising to his feet, his nervous system now fully integrated with Charlette's.

He grabbed her fallen arm as his stomach growled, and ripped the armor from it as he devoured it. His body took the biomass and almost instantly healed over the holes in the cockpit while also growing a stump from where the arm had been.

The creatures turned back and watched, confused, as to how he could still be alive. Loyd jumped over to the wreck, smelling more blood. Digging into the chunk of flesh that had been torn from the Swarm gunner, the taste was like nothing he had ever eaten before. He rose to his feet with his arm regrown. His arm wasn't complete, having an opening to use as a railgun, utilizing the reactor on his back. Several soundless creatures, that had been left in the wreck, approached him, sensing the swarm in him, and hoping for a need to be used.

Loyd picked up the albino creature, and studied it for only a moment. It's grub-like appearance clashed with the carnivorous swarm he understood. With no way to make noise, it squirmed at the joy of being held. Seeing it as a living tool, rather than a pet or swarmling, he shoved the thing into his railgun. But it had no metal to be grabbed by the magnetic field needed to fire it.

By his foot, he found a piece of metal to stab into the soundless. Squirming at being utilized, even in such a painful manner, it accepted its fate. Ignoring the implications, Loyd fired the living projectile at the gunner, blowing half its body away.

The two remaining Hunter Killers started to move in on Loyd, who picked up another two soundless. They had grabbed their own metal fragments, sensing his need for metal in order for them to be useful, through his swarm link. Stabbing the first one with its chosen fragment, he fired it, splattering the multi-appendaged creature over a quarter-mile.

The next projectile smashed into one of the armored creature's massive limbs, tearing it off in revenge and knocking the creature back. Loyd took the opportunity of it being stunned to launch himself forwards. The jagged metal pieces he had used as the rails for his railgun arm, were put to another use, sinking deep into the other shoulder of the last Hunter Killer. Grabbing the creatures head with his other arm, Loyd pinned the head back, leaving it helpless.

"What are you going to do to me?" it wondered aloud.

"You hurt my sister and now you're going to suffer for it."

Loyd smiled as he bit into the thing's shoulder and ripped off its remaining limb. The creature tried to pull away but Charlette had allowed them to install pile-drivers in her legs and Loyd put them to use here as he kicked the thing in its chest and fired one off, anchoring his foot to its chest. The creature stared up at him, unable to feel fear but still wondering how it might get out of this situation.

The Hunter Killer's tail wasn't made for combat but not having any other options, the creature tried to grab him with it. Loyd simply laughed, grabbing the tail and biting through it, chewing as the creature gave up and went slack.

"Oh no you don't! You don't get to just lie down and die! I know you can feel pain and I plan on making you die from an overload of it!" growled Loyd.

"Cadet, stand down!" The military backup forces had arrived. "We are taking this thing back to base in order to study it. I can promise it will be far more painful than anything you can do here. We'll keep it from bleeding to death."

Loyd turned, the last bit of tail hanging from his blood-covered mouth.

"Listen to them, Loyd, they can get your revenge for you," Charlette said the last of her strength starting to fade.

"I fed you and you healed; how can you still be dying?!" Loyd screamed in frustration.

"I can't heal faster than my heart pumps. I only have moments left. Disconnect before you die with me."

Loyd gazed down at the monitor of her vital signs in horror. Charlette had lost almost half her heart when the creature had punctured the cockpit. Her vital signs showed that she couldn't heal it enough before it beat again, ripping the hole back open. She was losing too much blood. A tear rolled down Loyd's cheek as he disconnected from Charlette. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

"But you did! You saved me from that lab where they hurt me! You let me make friends with everyone in the corps. Most importantly, you saved me from myself. You let me hope that things would get better, and they did," Charlette said, her body falling off the creature. Her leg was still attached, making her fall at an awkward angle.

"Goodbye, sis. You were the best sister a brother could ask for." Loyd sat there listening to her heart as it slowed its beating.

"Tell the others not to cry for me; they shouldn't cry for a monster like me," Charlette said, the last of her energy draining.

"You're no monster, Charlette. You're just as- No. You're more human than any of us."

"Goodbye, for now." Charlette breathed her last, her heart finally coming to a stop.

Loyd sat there crying until they cut him out. He held a small item that contained all of Charlette's memories.

"I'm keeping this," he said, murder in his voice. "And you're going to hand that monster over to me."

"His eyes have turned! He's no longer human! Detain him!"

The soldiers moved in around Loyd, who clutched the memory bank even tighter as they got closer.

"Then you've made up your minds," he whispered.

Loyd made eye contact with the Swarm creature outside and its pupils dilated as it began to twist.

"I am yours to command, Sentient One," the creature said, beginning to move.