Book 6, chapter 6

Pushing off a small chunk of ice, Zee shot through the void of space. Flipping to land feet first, she touched down on the asteroid light as a feather, eying the sole occupant warily. It was a blood gorger, early D grade, with the feel of a non-combat cultivator.

This was the first time she had seen one so close up. They were just as creepy-looking as she thought they would be. The creature had two large forward-facing eyes, a pair of long antennae atop its head, and viscous-looking mandibles protruding below its bug-like face.

Six jointed legs held up a long slender body with a large thorax covered in thin, delicate-looking carapace. Zee was no expert, but she could at least tell this was one of the worker cast. The warriors were much larger and more heavily armored.  Not wanting to waste time, she tossed a gleaming crystal toward the bug.

It flinched back fearfully. Zee gestured intently, pointing at the gem lying on the rock. The oversized bug hesitated for a few seconds before skittering forward and picking up the gem with the claws on one of its frontal legs. 

"Hello," came a hesitant voice. 

Sheathing her sword, Zee adopted her best smile. "Hello there. Sorry for wrecking your ship, but we couldn't have you going to warn your friends," Zee said. 

"I wasn't going to warn anyone. I was planning on fleeing for my life," the bug replied.

Zee cocked her head at the creature.

"Why would you do that? Why not sound the alarm?" Zee asked curiously. 

It hesitated, its mandibles clacking together nervously. 

"I failed by not warning the commander of your invasmoment'sion in time. I will be executed if I return," it replied.

Zee raised an eyebrow. "Your commander sounds like an asshole. But, that doesn't matter. We don't have time to dally. You have two choices, surrender, or die," 

There was only a moments hesitation.

"I, Yalson of the Thornhill clan, surrender," it said.

Zee nodded, pointing to one side.

"Good, stand over there and don't make any sudden moves. Brick, keep an eye on her," Zee tapped the gem embedded into her collar. 

"The coast is clear. Tag land the ship, and be careful, there is some debris in your way," Zee said. 

"Yes mam," Tag replied. 

The ship landed a minute later near the wreckage of Yalson's ship, thankfully without incident. 

The hatch swung open, and her squad floated out. 

"Form a perimeter and keep your eyes peeled for threats. If you see anything suspicious, call it out. Olson, Ulga, come over here on the double. We have an array tower to blow up," Zee commanded.

The squad did as ordered, fanning out to form a perimeter around the ship. The two technicians rushed across the rough surface of the large asteroid, joining Zee and Brick. Soon after the ship landed.  They were clearly curious about Brick's captive tossing glances its way. Zee couldn't blame them, as this was their first time coming face to face with a blood gorger. 

"You can gawk later. Hurry it up. Brick, take the prisoner back to the ship. If she causes you trouble, feel free to give her some incentive," Zee said.

Brick grinned, his smile looking sinister. Zee could understand the sentiment. After what these bugs did in wiping out Draug, she had no sympathy for them.

With her two explosives technicians in tow, they approached the base of the array tower. 

It looked like a tree made from coppery metal, with all of its leaves missing. There had to be a purpose for the haphazard directions the branches pointed at, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Thankfully, she didn't need to understand how it worked to blow it up.

Ulga and Olson each pulled out the tools of their trade and set to work.

The plan wasn't just to knock out this tower, but to hopefully create a power surge along its connection with the other towers.

That sort of thing required a specialized explosive, one with a lot of Umph.  Her two technicians were not skilled enough to make such a thing, but they didn't have to. The brainiacs back in the empire had foreseen them needing such a weapon and sent a few aboard each ship. 

She could see Olson hunkered over the main weapon itself, sweat beading on his forehead as he added the trigger mechanism. Ulga had a metal panel open to the tower, fiddling with the tower's controls. She let them work without comment. This is what they had tirelessly trained for, and any advice would only distract them. 

A few agonizing minutes later, Olson stood.

"It's ready, mam," Olson said nervously. 

Ulga closed the control panel.

"All set here as well. Now the HEP should use their own towers to fry the whole sensory grid when it goes off," Ulga said with a grin.

"Good job you two. Now, back to the ship. We don't want to be anywhere near this thing when it goes off," Zee said.

Having been reminded of the literal bomb they were next to, the two technicians made haste. 

While returning to the ship, Zee pulled a large comm crystal from her spatial storage. 

"Red Viper to command," Zee said. 

"This is Command, what is your status Red Viper?" came captain Tanra's hissing voice.

"The High Energy Pulse weapon has been attached to the array tower as ordered. We have a prisoner who surrendered without a fight. Boarding the ship soon, we will be clear of the blast area in five minutes," Zee said. 

"Affirmative. Clear the area and await further orders. Do not set off the weapon until I give the order," Tanra hissed.

"Yes, sir," Zee replied. 

She tucked the comm crystal away as they navigated the debris field left by her earlier attack..

It was a mess. She supposed it might have been better to capture that ship instead of cutting it in half with her finisher skill, but she had been worried their captive would escape. 

On the bright side, her show of force made their captive much more cooperative. They hadn't even needed to needed to spill a single drop of blood.

Tapping the crystal at her neck, she spoke to the squad.

"Everyone board the ship. We are getting out of here," Zee said.

As ordered, they all boarded in a practiced, controlled manner, with Zee boarding last.

The ramp swung up, and Tag got them away.

Zee was worried about just how smoothly everything was going. Nothing had got to shit yet, and that caused her concern. Just how blind were the Blood Gorgers?

They had practically waltzed in and kicked down their front door, and the bugs didn't seem to notice. 

Her train of thought was disrupted by the command crystal vibrating against her chest. 

The glow lit up the faces of her squad in the small compartment as she pulled it out.

"Red Viper, this is Command, do you hear me?" Tantra asked. 

"Read you loud and clear. What are your orders?" Zee asked. 

"It appears the Blood gorgers have finally pulled their heads from the dirt. Blow the HEP. I have sent an update to your map crystal with coordinates. Steel squad has met fierce resistance. They need your support as soon as possible," Tanra said.

"We will respond immediately," Zee said.

The connection cut, and she took a deep breath. Here it was, the chaos she had been expecting.

Her heartbeat quickened, and a calm washed over her. The thrill of combat.

With a sharp gaze, she tapped the crystal at her neck, turning to Olsen.

"Blow that array tower sky high. Tag, do you see the new marker on your map?" Zee asked.

"Yes?" Tag replied.

"Take us there!" Zee ordered. 

"I'm on it. It should only take a few minutes," Tag said.

Zee stood, staring each of her squad in the eyes. "On your toes people. We are headed into a hot zone with a lot of angry bugs. There will be allies there, so watch out for them. I don't want you accidentally killing our own people.

Stay together and for all that is holy, keep your heads down," Zee said..

They looked anxious, but there was also determination in their eyes. As Tag said, it didn't take long for something to happen. The ship suddenly rocked to one side throwing them off their feet.

"They have spotted our approach. We are under attack," Tag shouted, his anxious voice echoing from their collars. 

"Rosco, what are you waiting for? Shoot the bastards," Zee ordered.

"You got it, mam," the copilot, and gunner, replied.

The small ship hummed and rocked as a spear of energy lanced out from the nose cannon.

"Target is blown to tiny pieces," cane Rosco's excited reply.

"Good, bring us in Tag. Rosco, anything that looks like a six-legged beetle, blast it!" Zee ordered. 

"Yes mam," they replied.

The ship hummed to life, and there was another burst.

"They are everywhere," came Rosco's excited voice as he unleashed death upon them.

A flashing light blared overhead as the ship's shields were nearly overloaded.

Zee swore. "I'm going out to help clear the way. Brick, you know what to do," Zee said.

Her body turned to a cloud of mist as she phased up through the ceiling. With one hand she grasped onto a gap in the hull plating, just as the ship lurched side to side.

It was chaos, with streaks of energy lancing up at them. In Front of them was one of the large weapon placements for the big guns to knock out their large battle cruisers.

Unlike the first one her team destroyed, this one had a full complement of about forty soldiers.

She could see bolts of energy arching back and forth between what she presumed was the Steel squad and the defenders.

The blood gorgers outnumber them three to one, moving to surround them in a small gorge.  A good half of that force was turning their attention to the approaching ship. Even with Tags evasive maneuvers, there was no way he would be able to land without a proper distraction.

It was a good thing she knew just the person for the job. Activating her movement skill in rapid succession, she flashed forward, appearing right above a clump of about six blood gorgers near the back of their lines.

Given their placement, they must be the officers in charge. The officers' guards raised barriers as she threw something down at them. 

It wasn't a skill, but a humanoid-shaped suit of metallic armor, that grew to over eight feet tall as it shot towards them.

Dern's glaive gleamed as it carved forward In a wide ruthless arc. It struck the barrier with immense force, frozen dirt, and rock shooting in either direction as his blow created a shockwave.

Deep cracks formed along the golden barrier, causing one of the bugs to panic and throw out an attack that completely missed him. 

Dern didn't relent after one hit, unleashing a flurry of overhead blows, each causing those cracks to spread and creating shockwaves.

Zee knew those oversized bugs wouldn't just stand around forever, so she used his distraction to prepare a greeting of her own.

A group of three blood gorgers harassing Steel squad from a distance caught her eye. It was three casters, standing together and throwing out bolts of ice and clouds of death.

They should know better than to stand so close to each other. Sadly for them, Zee wasn't here to hand out advice. Her energy churned, and they all looked up, spotting her almost immediately.

One of them clacked its mandibles derisively, erecting a barrier. The others didn't look worried either, not even bothering to scatter as she activated a skill.

Well, that was some arrogance.

Zee stabbed at the air, and much to the horror of the three blood gorgers, a small, pitch-black vortex appeared in their midst. It completely bypassed their barrier like it wasn't there, appearing right in the middle of them.

An immense pull dragged at their bodies, sucking them in toward their demise. Panicked, they tried to grab hold of the rough ground with their clawed legs, but it was futile.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them simply vanished, sucked into that swirling vortex.  When the skill faded, all that was left was grape sized orb. Zee was a bit shocked at just how effective the skill had been.

The Ashary she battled outside of Othera made the Gravity Well skill look weak, but it was far from the truth. If it wasn't avoided, then those caught in the pull would be crushed to the size of a thumbnail.

Turning away from the innocuous orb of yuck, she pushed off a floating chunk of rock.  Just then, her senses tingled, and she frantically ducked to one side just as an arrow whipped by her head.

Whirling, Zee glared over at an archer in a gray and white uniform. Finally, noticing she was on his side, the man gave Zee a sheepish wave. She could only shake her head.

What a mess! This was hectic enough without having to worry about trigger-happy archers mistaking her for the enemy. Swearing inwardly, she turned to a cloud of mist, rushing towards where she still sensed Dern fighting. His spiked silver and black armor was covered in cracks that leaked energy, but his opponents had suffered a lot worse.

Two of the guards were cut in half, and the other four were desperately trying to avoid the same fate. That wasn't as easy as it sounded. Dern was relentless, letting his armor take a beating from their attack as he pursued.  He was like an unkillable juggernaut. The four blood gorgers were in a full panic, leaving one of their number to die, while the others scattered to save their own necks. 

They were clearly not very well trained. If they had all fought together, Dern would have fallen in no time.

Turning to a cloud of mist, Zee appeared next to one of the fleeing bugs, cutting off two of the legs on its right side. In its panic, it was unable to react before she separated its head from its body. Its blood flash froze, its body twitching as it died. 

She didn't even wait for it to stop moving before vanishing in a cloud mist. The other two officers were trying to escape Dern, and she couldn't have that. 

A hurled spear made of dark blue mist impaled one through the thorax. The other was caught by Dern a few seconds later. It was a disappointing fight, to say the least. The main battle still raged towards the far end of the asteroid, with flashes of light momentarily lighting up the area.

Covered in frozen ichor, his armor leaking from a dozen cracks, Dern pushed off the rock, floating on over.

"You could have at least tried to dodge some of those attacks," Zee said.

He snorted.

"I'm a giant suit of armor, not exactly a small target," Dern replied in her mind. 

"I know that.. I'm just saying, it looked like you were trying to get hit," Zee complained.

Dern pointed with his glaive. "Oh look, more enemies," Dern said, bounding away.

Zee sighed. Why was Dern such a meathead sometimes? 

Biting back a retort, she followed. Dern was right. 

There were plenty more enemies to go around. So far it had just been a bunch of inexperienced enemies. There was no doubt a couple who would give her a challenge if she kept looking.

She also had to make sure her squad made it through this fight in one piece.

Speaking of which, a flash of light drew her attention nearby.

Bounding across the asteroid towards her, her whole squad approached, with Yalson in tow.

"Where is the ship?" Zee asked.

Near the back of the group, Tag scratched the back of his head.

"I kinda crashed it, will take a bit to repair the damage," Tag replied sheepishly.

Zee sighed.

"It's fine. Form up is just over there. Combat fighters in the lead," Zee said. 

"What is that thing?" Geleta, their combat medic asked, pointing at Dern still rushing towards the battle.

"That dummy would be Dern. Come on, we need to catch up before he gets himself killed," Zee said.

Without seeming to care for his well-being, Dern rushed forwards, and leaped into a group of blood gorgers, his glaive sending up plumes of rock. She swore. That idiot, running in without a plan.

Grinning, Brick leaped forward, crossing the two-hundred-meter gap in a blur. Like a whirlwind of steel, the two brutes overwhelmed the enemy, ripping the group of blood gorgers to pieces in seconds.  Zee sighed. Well, so much for that. Who needed a plan anyway?

 Glowing like a torch, a blood gorger appeared from the chaos ahead. A brilliant inferno shot in Dern's direction, the power enough to make her hair stand on end.

"Well, no time to sightsee! Move it, we have blood gorgers to kill!" Zee shouted.