Lok aimed and fired a round from his gauntlet to strike another soldier in the chest. When the bolt impacted, it injected something into the armor, which started to melt
“What the hell is this?” the soldier yelled and quickly whipped the armor off and examined his chest.
“Some sort of acid. We don’t know what the enemies are carrying, so be careful,” the ensign shouted. “When will that backup get here?”
“They said eta is five minutes,” another recruit shouted as he backstepped and continued to fire. He managed to hit a Sauren in the leg with a charged shot. He celebrated as it roared, but it was cut short when the alien turned and lurched at him. He yelled as he tried to fire, but his attacker knocked the gun away.
“You keep it distracted and I’ll get him,” the ensign ordered and raced to assist the endangered recruit
“On it,” the petty officer hollered. He turned and fired at the Sauren, who glowered at him and snarled. A guard raced up with a Tesla cannon and fired a charged shot. It shocked the alien, and its limbs and tail flailed. The ensign grasped the recruit with one arm and dropped a grenade at the alien’s feet as they scrambled out of reach. It detonated to blow the Sauren’s armor off with enough force to launch it to the ceiling where it thudded solidly before it dropped. The momentary anticipation of joy at finally claiming a casualty was quashed when the creature simply glared at them and hissed its outrage, now even angrier than before.
“Can we even kill these things?” one asked.
“I’ve seen them bleed,” the ensign said as he lowered the recruit he’d rescued and vented his weapon. “That means we can kill them. Sharpshooters, fire!”
A dozen shots powered into the unarmored Sauren from the floor above, and he roared in distress before he sank to the floor with a hiss. Raza flipped a switch on his lance and launched it upward. It soared over a group of three of the snipers, missed them, and exploded against the wall to kill them all.
Lok selected another sniper and fired one of his acid bolts at the man’s helmet. The acid poured in and scalded his face and the hapless soldier struggled to remove his helmet before he simply slumped and went still. The battle continued and the Sauren made the snipers their priority, with the exception of Raza. He looked at the ensign, who appeared to be this group’s leader, and charged him. The man fired first, then retrieved another grenade and threw it. Raza smacked it with the back of his hand and launched it up to the floor above where it exploded and killed a sniper hiding there.
He careened toward the ensign and his claws cut through the machine gun, but as he went in for the kill, he was distracted by a bright purple light beside him. Raza raised an arm and activated a shield a split second before a metal fist caught him in the face.
The force was massive and hurled Raza, the ensign, and anyone else around it back a few paces. The Sauren impacted with a wall and cracked it with his armor, but he rolled onto his feet almost instantly, his razor disk at the ready. In front of him was a large man with close-cropped blond hair and a goatee. He held a metal gauntlet up with a cylinder on top and said something in their language but glared at him as he spoke. The man looked at him quizzically before he smacked his own head with the other hand and retrieved a Tsuna translator device.
“Do you understand me now, you scaly git?” he asked. The Sauren understood, but some of the words were still odd. What was a git?
“How did you like this force gauntlet?” the man asked and flexed his hand. “It’s something they’ve been working on. They used scales from that rhino-looking thing we have on Voinik to make the plating. It’s one of the few things that could stand up to the force.”
The arm of Raza’s suit was shattered and the gauntlet with the barrier shield lay smashed on the floor. He lowered his arm and growled as he glared at the man as his pack approached.
“It looks like I pissed you off pretty good.” The human chuckled, seemingly not worried about approaching death. “I’ve heard of you from the files—Sauren, right? I thought you and the Tsuna were chummy.”
“We have a pact with the Tsuna but none with you,” Raza snapped.
“Really? How do we get one?” he inquired. “That would be better than all this pointless bloodshed, right?”
“What are you doing?” the ensign yelled. “Shut the hell up and take them down.” He looked around, clearly alarmed. “Where are your men? I was told I would have backup.”
“They are evacuating the civilians. Don’t worry yourself about them. I’m here, aren’t I?” he said dismissively, his attention on Raza. “Forget the whiner. You have me.”
“Do you think you can handle me and my pack?” Raza snarled. “We have killed many of you as we have ascended this station in search of our prey.”
“Your prey? That’s not us? Are you looking for something in particular?”
“The borroth—the beast you took from Voinik. We were charged with its capture and you are blocking our way.”
“So you want the beastie.” The man nodded and stroked his goatee. “I’m starting to put it together. Fine, if that’s what you want, I’ll prep it and you can have it.”
“Sergeant!” the ensign cried indignantly. “That is not in your authority to—”
“Quiet, boyo. I’m dealing with this.”
“We do not make deals,” another Sauren, Ketik, stated coldly. “You have impeded our progress and took something that wasn’t yours.”
“To be fair, you broke into our station,” the human pointed out. “This one is close to Earth too. This could turn into a declaration of war.”
“Let them…come…” The downed Sauren muttered as he planted one hand on the floor and forced himself up. “You are…not…a challenge.”
“We filled him full of holes,” a recruit shouted, and the ensign gaped in incredulous horror.
“They regenerate. You should have gone for the heart or brain,” the sergeant explained. He glanced at the ensign and shrugged. “Or blown it up. That probably would have worked.”
“I did. It only destroyed the armor,” the ensign shot back.
“You should have shoved it down its gullet. Seriously, you should read more docs.”
As the soldier glowered, Raza spoke again. “While my Jah-Wai speaks out of turn, we will not accept your deal.”
“Oh no? Why’s that?”
“You have claimed the beast so we must fight for the right of the hunt,” the leader explained. “If you had run off, that would suffice, but you continue to fight. We must therefore respond in kind.”
“Odd and somewhat noble, but mostly idiotic.” He sighed. “I tell you what, how about a round of Rekka or whatever.”
Raza blinked and studied the human cautiously. “You know our rituals?”
“Only that one. I recently got a doc on you guys from the Tsuna before you launched your assault. They wanted to introduce us to each other, but I think we’re fairly well acquainted now.”
“You know what the combat entails, right?” Raza asked.
“It’s a fight to the death. I’m good on the specifics.” He folded his arms and puffed his chest out. “You look like the leader, so you and me will go. If you win, you claim the beastie and whatever you like. If I win, get the hell off this station and we’ll call you when we feel like being chummy.”
“You realize that by ‘claim anything’ you mean he could claim anyone on this station, sergeant?” the ensign protested.
“Then I would say you’d best do your damndest not to be here,” he answered without breaking his focus on the Sauren. “And take those still alive with you. I’ll hold them off.”
The ensign stood and shook his head. “They’ve killed over thirty men and we hardly put a scratch on them. This is a fool’s errand.”
“Maybe, but I’m a hell of a tough fool. Now, what do you say, lizard man?”
Raza looked at his pack and nodded. “I cannot refuse an outright contest if it’s one on one. If your warriors withdraw, mine will as well
.”
“You got it.” He finally looked at the ensign. “Get going. I’ll hold ʼem off for as long as you need.”
The other man’s anger faded. “Good luck,” he said quietly, looked at a soldier with a shotgun, and motioned for him to toss it. He caught it and handed it to Wolfson.
“I have my own,” he said and gestured at the rifle on his back. “But options are nice, thanks.”
The ensign nodded and saluted smartly. “Everyone, retreat to escape pods and transports,” he ordered and the remaining soldiers raced off to the other side of the sector. Raza motioned for his pack to leave.
Ketik helped their last comrade off the floor and Ken’ra said, “We shall await your return. I expect you won’t be too long.”
Raza tilted his head to observe the man thoughtfully. “This one seems different, but I’m sure that I will be successful.”
“Good hunting.” Ken’ra nodded and left the sector to head back to their ship.
Raza and the man stood, unmoving. “It is customary to announce yourself before we fight,” he declared and held his claws up. “I am Ran’ama Aboren Zin’til Arcquini, a War Chief of the Sauren.”
“That’s a mouthful, Ran’ama Abor. I caught the first letters, but how about simply Raza?”
“You would not even let me have my name?” he asked and growled with real affront.
“No offense meant, but it’s a mouthful.” The man held his gloved hand up. “I guess I should tell you the name of the man who is about to kick your ass, huh? I’m Staff Sergeant Baioh Wolfson of the United Earth Army.”
“And you are my prey,” Raza stated coldly as he lowered to the floor with his claws at the ready.
“And you’ll be my new pair of boots,” Wolfson retorted as he pressed a switch on the gauntlet to power it up again.
Raza roared and launched forward. He tried to thrust them both into a slide, but the human simply slammed his fist into the floor. Instead of another explosion of force, a massive wave of electricity surged and the Sauren jerked for a few seconds before he jumped back, his tail still twitching.
“Did you like that?” Wolfson yelled as he ran up to his opponent and activated the switch again. Raza noted that it switched from white to purple. “I have a couple of different settings on this beauty. Is this what you were looking for?” Raza dodged a few jabs before the man raised his hand up to swing it down on his head. He caught the gauntlet and bared his teeth at his attacker.
The sergeant grinned, pressed the switch, and held it down. The light grew bright before it faded out as another explosion erupted, but this one wasn’t nearly as strong. It was enough to make the alien stumble but not enough to compel him to release the gauntlet, even though Wolfson tried to pry it out of his grasp. He snarled as he ripped the gauntlet off the man’s hand and tried to crush it, but it wouldn’t give. Remembering that his adversary had said it was made from the borroth’s hide, he drove it into the soldier’s stomach. Wolfson gasped and doubled over. The Sauren pounded it over his head before he raised one of his massive clawed legs and kicked his chest to force him to his knees.
“Are you gonna slap me this whole fight?” Wolfson grunted as he stood and retrieved the shotgun. “Show me those claws.”
Raza took the bait and swiped at the soldier. The heavy armor was enough to block each strike momentarily and he shoved the shotgun into the alien’s throat and fired. The blast staggered the creature and he coughed from the force of it. Wolfson ran up and swung the butt of the gun into his stomach before he fired into his jaw. Raza roared when his helmet shattered. He thrust the shotgun aside as the man tried to fire again, clawed at his face, and raked across his cheek.
The sergeant ducked but caught a kick from the Sauren. He drew his rifle with his other hand, spun around to avoid another slash from the vicious claws, and slammed the butt of the weapon into his opponent’s head before he fired both guns. Raza was forced back when his shields and armor cracked apart. He grasped his razor disk and flung it, but Wolfson dodged it easily before the alien called it back and it sliced through his rifle on its return arc.
“Shit!” Wolfson cried. He jumped to the side as Raza advanced slowly and controlled the disk as he did so. The soldier tried to dodge the attacks, but it cut through his chest and left thigh. He holstered his shotgun and dove to the floor. The Sauren flipped the disk in the air and it altered course toward him. He twisted and caught it in the gauntlet he’d recovered and grinned at his adversary.
Raza smiled in return, pressed a switch on his gauntlet, and the disk blinked alarmingly. Wolfson hurled it away quickly, but it exploded, and shards ripped into his back and side. He cried out and toppled and the alien took the opportunity to activate his wrist-blade and advance.
The man scrambled to his feet and raced toward his opponent. He fired his shotgun as he drew closer and the Sauren raised an arm and fired a net charge from his gauntlet. Wolfson flung himself aside and rolled. He found his feet as Raza raced into the attack and he fired two more shots before his gun overheated. There was barely time to vent the weapon before the alien was on him and slashed at him with his claws and blade in a rage. Wolfson ducked and strafed to the side, dropped his shotgun, and drew a kinetic pistol. The Sauren yanked a whip from his belt and as the man turned to fire, he snapped the pistol out of his hand. He cracked the whip and struck at his adversary, who rolled and retrieved his shotgun before he barreled into the alien and slammed the open vent into his exposed chest. The heat of the core burned and the creature roared and snapped at his attacker, who withdrew.
Raza brought the whip back and snapped it forward again. Wolfson weaved around the strikes until he was able to catch it in his gauntlet. He pulled and tried to haul the alien to him, but the creature pulled back and was certainly stronger than he was. The man dropped his gun and fumbled behind him. He winced as he eased a piece of the razor disk from his back and used it to cut the whip.
“Do you still wanna play with your toys?” Wolfson asked snidely. Raza growled and straightened to his full height to reveal his claws and massive body. “Good, now we can get into the thick of it.”
Their battle continued for days. After their initial fight, they stalked each other through the mostly empty station. Raza developed a fondness for the soldier during their extended skirmishes. When the Sauren were officially invited to the new embassy as one of the known races, Wolfson was there to greet him. The crazy soldier had even learned his name.
That had, in its own weird way, somehow clinched their friendship, even if he’d let him call him Raza from then on.
There was a knock on his door. “It’s open.”
A hunter walked in, dressed in full gear, and bowed. “War Chief, we are approaching the embassy.”
Raza’s eyes widened as he looked out the window. He hadn’t even realized they had gone through the warp gate “How long?”
“Four hours at most at our current speed.”
Raza huffed his irritation. “Prepare my personal ship.”
“Sir?”
“I want to meet someone. In my ship, I can do that and be at the embassy before you finish docking.
The hunter nodded. “It’ll be done chief.”
Chapter Five
As Raza flew toward Earth, a comm link notification popped onto his screen. The code was Wolfson’s, but the ID number wasn’t. “Who is this?” he answered.
A screen appeared to display a man with jet-black hair and a pale complexion. He wore a helmet with the Nexus Academy Symbol on it. “War Chief Ran’ama, this is Security Officer Jetton. I have an urgent request from Head Officer Wolfson. He hoped you would be available.”
“Speak, Officer.”
“Wolfson is in pursuit of a fugitive known as Gin Sonny. He’s downed all our ships, but the HO is in pursuit. He sent me his tracking signal and asked you to join him in apprehending him.”
“Gin Sonny? The revenant?” Wolfson had told him about his encounter with Kaiden. Raza was already fami
liar with the wretch. He was responsible for the death of an entire pack during his first days as War Chief.
Raza felt a chill as he watched the screen. This was where they were felled. He had sent a hunter to look into the distress call of a human science group on an outpost in Kal’ah as the Sauren had been close. The screen he watched was a feed from the hunter’s ocular camera. He watched the events unfold.
The view was dark and most of the lights were out. The hunter curled his hand and his wrist blades emerged when he saw blood along the floor. He walked toward the rear window in the room. No light from star or moon came through it. His movement cautious, he peered out and saw nothing. There were no trees or animals on this planet and the scientists had been there to study microorganisms. There was merely a dark horizon that seemed to stretch endlessly.
The last of the lights went out and the hunter held his blades at the ready as he attempted to find the cause of these killings. He walked through the halls and checked each room as he progressed. So far, he’d found nothing. He wondered if the person who had committed this massacre was somewhere within or if they had already fled. The blood was fresh, and he had arrived almost as soon as the request was sent. Still, he was too late.
A crash resounded some distance ahead. The hunter raced to the lab and kicked the door in. No one was there.
He crossed to the far side of the room and saw that a few empty tubes had fallen. They had perhaps rolled off the table, or they were knocked down by the killer.
Satisfied that there was no one there, he left the room and continued to the last place he needed to check—the observation room. He opened the double doors and looked around the barren room. Three walls were made of glass and a lone table stood in the middle. Everything else seemed to be boxed up or pushed against the walls. Obviously, they hadn’t even finished setting up. He saw no one and nothing seemed disturbed. Had he missed something? Had the killer already left?
Animus Boxed Set 2 (Books 5-8): Revenant, Glitch, Master, Infiltration Page 43
