War Wolves: Boxset 1-3

by Jonathan Yanez

  Riot understood what Rippa was doing. She, too, was running through the odds of their survival against hundreds of Karnayer ships and ignoring the outcome.

  “Evonne, I need everyone on the bridge ASAP,” Riot said. “Congrats on your new body, as well. I was going to say you deserved it, but truth is, you just bugged us enough.”

  “Thank you,” a voice said from behind Riot. “I’ve just notified them.”

  Riot turned in her seat to see the robotic body Vet and Doctor Miller had created for Evonne standing on the bridge. Her long, raven-black hair was perfect, as was the rest of her fair complexion.

  A grinning Vet appeared behind Evonne. Doctor Miller rose from her seat with a smile as she looked over their work.

  Wang ran onto the bridge a moment later, googly-eyed as he took in Evonne’s new form.

  “Let’s focus, people,” Riot said, looking out through the window of the ship as Hoydren’s lush vegetation raced past them. “It’s time to go to work.”

  83

  The bridge sat quiet as Rizzo piloted them back to the Savage Trilord city. As he slowed down their forward momentum, the gigantic moon of the alien city showed them exactly where the battle would take place. The Savage Trilord’s capital sat on a high hill. On top of the hill was a giant, square pyramid. Below it, down the sides of the hill, were everything from homes, to barracks, to stores.

  Colonel Harlan’s cruiser class ship, the Titan, hovered high over the city in a defensive position. All alone in the vast skyline dotted with stars, it seemed lonely, or maybe that’s just how Riot felt at the moment and she was projecting her own feelings onto the situation.

  City evacuations were still taking place for all of the Savage Trilord children. Riot could see tiny figures running through the night. Torches and fires throughout the city lit their way. Even smaller shadows followed the children.

  “I should be down there,” Rippa said, looking over to Riot. “We’ll need every gun we can get capable of firing at the oncoming Scarab ships. The weapons on my mech can take them down if they get close enough.”

  “We have two Firebreath A9s in the armory,” Vet said with his constant scowl that somehow seemed deeper at the moment. “We can send them with Rippa, who can dole them out to Killa and her army. There’re only two rocket launchers, but they’re the only weapons we have that are capable of taking down ships.”

  “Do it,” Riot said, looking from Vet to Rippa. “Take your mech and the Firebreaths with you. We’ll hold the line with you from up here.”

  Rippa nodded and moved to leave. She hesitated for a moment, then turned to look everyone in the eyes. “I realize I’ve only known you all for short time, but you all have my respect. No one dies alone. If we burn, then we all burn together.”

  The strength and pure determination in Rippa’s voice quieted any response. She left the bridge, already on her way to her armored mech unit.

  “Is it just me, or were her last words unnecessarily dark?” Doctor Miller shook her head. “I don’t want to burn. Do you want to burn? We could still win this fight.”

  “We will,” Wang said from his seat beside her. “If anyone can, it’s us.”

  “Evonne,” Riot said, ignoring the talk between Doctor Miller and Wang. “How much time do we have until the Karnayers arrive at the city?”

  “Two minutes, perhaps more if they take extra time to coordinate their attack,” Evonne replied without any hesitation. Her new physical face looked at Riot, unblinking, like she was staring into Riot instead of just looking at her.

  “Evonne.” Riot shook her head. “You’re going to have to blink when you talk to me. You’re really freaking me out with that deadpan stare. I have enough going on at the moment.”

  “Oh, right,” Evonne said, batting her eyes as if she had a contact falling out. “Sorry, is this better?”

  “Maybe a bit less. You—”

  “We’re getting hailed by Colonel Harlan,” Doctor Miller interrupted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off.”

  “It’s okay. Put him on,” Riot said as she felt Rizzo maneuver the Valkyrie to the ground to let Rippa off.

  The screen came to life a moment later and Colonel Harlan’s familiar face appeared on the ship’s bridge. “Riot, I see you’re already offloading your mech unit with the two Firebreaths you have on board. We already gave our two to Killa and the rest of the Trilords.”

  “Yeah, at least we’ll have some help from the ground,” Riot said, trying to be optimistic even though everything in her body told her otherwise. “Even if they can take some of the fire off of us, it’ll help.”

  “Agreed.” Colonel Harlan actually grinned. “You and your crew have the only experience of fighting the Karnayers. I thought you should be the one to set us right. I have the Karnayers making their approach in under two minutes now. I’ll put you on our main screen so my crew can hear you, as well.”

  Riot licked dry lips, and the screen in front of her widened to a view of the Titan’s bridge. Nervous eyes looked back at her, waiting for her to give them the words of courage they would need to see them through the fight.

  Fear, doubt, despair, and a dozen other feelings were crashing inside of her, begging her to be the person she once was before; the woman who allowed herself to succumb to her weaknesses, whether it be emotional or addiction, was fighting to be heard.

  Riot wasn’t that person anymore.

  “We can bet on the Karnayer Scarabs providing the main assault on us, as well as on the city. They’re fast but weak, and will probably try to latch on to our ships before they shoot us out of the air,” Riot said, standing up from her captain’s chair. “More than likely, the destroyer will stay in upper orbit, waiting for our reinforcements. We can expect transport ships coming in while the Scarabs keep us busy, and we’ll have to allow that, for now. The main priority is keeping the ships off of the evacuating city. There are kids down there.”

  Riot took a breath. Her adrenaline was already beginning to flow with the promise of the fight to come. Talking was getting harder as her heart raced to meet the challenge. She took a brief moment, looking at her own crew, and then at the Marines on board the Titan.

  “This is our time,” Riot said, adding strength to her words as her voice heightened in volume. “The Karnayers are expecting to roll right over us and destroy the city. I say we give them a fight they’ve never seen. I say we will hold this line until reinforcements arrive. I say it doesn’t matter how many they have on their side, because there is not a fighting force in the universe like the Marines. We hold to give the fleeing children of Hoydren time to live another day!”

  “Oohrah!” the crew on the screen and her own Marines on the bridge shouted in unison.

  “We hold for a future free of monsters!”

  “Oohrah!”

  “We hold for the brothers and sister besides us!”

  “Oohrah!”

  “We hold!”

  “Oohrah!”

  “We hold!”

  “Oohrah!”

  The intensity on the bridge was palpable, and Riot’s heart beat like a war drum. She had managed to get the words out despite the level of adrenaline pumping through her veins.

  “We’re with you,” Colonel Harlan said. “Here they come. Don’t give them an inch!”

  With that, the screen went back to showing a view of the dark night sky. Rizzo lifted the ship from the ground once more, having already set down Rippa and her mech.

  “Before the party starts, I want you all to know I’ve had a blast traveling into space with all of you.” Riot couldn’t help a grin that twitched at the corners of her lips. “From Vet and his diapers, to Rizzo and Wang throwing up, from smearing what they thought were Ketrick’s ancestors across their face. Oh yeah, and Sunshine, you threw up, too, right? What was it? A big breakfast before travel?”

  Her crew chuckled around the bridge as images brought from Riot’s words came to mind.

  Here They Come, Rizzo said, writ
ing big red letters across the screen, ones that disappeared a moment later.

  Riot directed her attention to the main screen. Barely visible through the night sky, hundreds of Scarab ships screamed toward them.

  “Did you have some party favors to give out?” Riot asked, looking over to Wang.

  “I do.” Wang removed his stare from the oncoming enemy and went around placing three augmented epinephrine pens near each person on the ship. “Take them one at a time when you need a jolt of energy. It should feel like injecting espresso directly into your heart.”

  “Awesome,” Vet said, placing his in a side compartment in the leg of his armor. “I freaking love espresso.”

  Riot accepted hers, staring down the charging enemy. They had seconds before the conflict would begin. “Evonne, we’re going to need you to go to the armory and bring as many weapons as you can carry to the bridge. Bubbles, go with her—bring everything. When the Scarab ships latch on to us, we’ll need the firepower up here to keep them away from the bridge.”

  “Gotcha,” Doctor Miller whispered as she tore her eyes away from the coming enemy.

  Evonne and the doctor left the bridge at a run.

  “Here we go, Wolves. Let’s do what we do best,” Riot said as Rizzo prepared to begin his defensive maneuvers. The ships were nearly within firing distance. “We’ve got the best pilot in the universe with us. Let’s bring the pain.”

  Green rounds erupted from the first line of Scarab ships coming at them. Rizzo punched the thrusters, sending them above the first volley.

  “Wang, take the main guns,” Riot shouted to her left. “Vet, I need you to work some magic and take whatever power you can from unnecessary features and put them into the shields.”

  “Roger,” both men said in unison.

  Wang let loose with the twin blasters on the Valkyrie that shot red weapons fire into the oncoming Scarab throng. Rizzo maneuvered the ship in the air like it was an extension of his own hand.

  “Vet, it’s feeling pretty quiet in here,” Riot said to her XO. “Let’s hear some sound.”

  Vet didn’t have to ask her what she meant. He took a minute to allow the sound from the blasts outside to enter the bridge before putting on a familiar song by a band named Rage Against the Machine.

  The bass in the song added an extra layer of focus as the enemy ships screamed around them. There were so many Scarabs, it was impossible for Wang to miss.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  Nearly every one of their shots hit an enemy, but for every ship that exploded, it seemed another took its place. Rizzo did his best to harass the ships, staying away from the bulk of the enemy as much as he could. But they were everywhere. Fighting the ships was like a dog biting at a swarm of bees; no matter how many they swatted from the sky, more came.

  The Valkyrie shuddered as green blaster fire struck the ship’s shields. Riot gritted her teeth.

  “Shields at ninety percent,” Vet said from his seat to Riot’s right. “I can pull some power to the shields from the non-essential ship operations, but it’s only a matter of time before they break through.”

  “Do it,” Riot said, praying they would be able to hold out long enough for the Grovothe to arrive. “Whatever you need to do to keep her in the air.”

  “Roger that,” Vet said.

  Rizzo took them through a mass of Scarab ships that battered them with fire. Wang shot down another half-dozen. Their view over the Hoydren landscape turned from dark sky and foliage to one of the Trilord city. Scarabs were starting their attack runs over the city on the hill.

  Red beams of laser fire came from the four Firebreaths stationed around the city. To Riot’s surprise and amazement, Rippa had positioned her mech on the very top of the square pyramid capital building on the top of the hill. Her mech was firing heated metal gauss rounds from both cannons mounted on its forearms, as well as the blue laser beam that came from its helmet.

  Rippa’s location was perfect for gaining the attention of the Scarabs and directing them away from the main section of the city, but on the other hand, her mech was taking an extreme amount of enemy fire.

  “Rizzo—” Riot said, cutting off her own words as her pilot read her mind and brought the Valkyrie over Rippa’s mech. Wang lit up another three Scarab ships as they passed over Rippa. Two of the Scarab crafts exploded right there, while the third spiraled out of control and fell, crashing down to the jungle interior.

  “We’re back,” Doctor Miller said, gasping as she reentered the bridge. She carried Rizzo’s Vulcan in both hands, heaving it like an oversized piece of luggage. “How do you lift this thing when you’re fighting? It weighs more than … well, I don’t know how much it weighs. It weighs a lot.”

  Evonne followed the doctor onto the bridge, her arms loaded down with everything from Destroyer T9 shotguns to Villain Pulse rifles and molten blades. The stack of weaponry was piled so high in her arms, Riot couldn’t even see her face.

  “Did you make Evonne super strong, as well?” Riot didn’t take her eyes off the robot as Evonne gently placed the pile of weapons down beside Riot’s seat.

  “As strong as Rippa’s mech, and blaster proof,” Vet said, maneuvering his hands around the holographic display that popped up at his station. “Shield is at seventy percent.”

  The Valkyrie shook violently. Riot had experienced that feeling before, a few times. She knew what that shudder meant. Rizzo confirmed her suspicion with a quick line of text across the screen: Scarabs on the hull.

  84

  Roger that.” Riot jumped up from her seat. As she did, she saw Colonel Harlan’s craft, the Titan, flash by their ship’s window. They were giving more than they got, but they, too, looked like some kind of small animal batting away a swarm of gnats. “Vet, you take the guns and the shields. Wang and Evonne, with me.”

  “What … what do I do?” Doctor Miller asked, looking on with wide eyes.

  Riot motioned to the doctor’s helmet that sat beneath her chair on the bridge. “Get your helmet on and pick up that Vulcan you dragged in here. We’ll bolt shut the doors to the bridge. Anything that gets through, you light it up like it’s the Fourth of July.”

  Wang transferred the controls to Vet before getting up from his seat. He slammed his own helmet down on his head before picking up a Villain Pulse Rifle from the stock pile. He placed it over his shoulder before grabbing a molten blade and a Destroyer T9.

  “I … I don’t know if I can do this,” Doctor Miller said, shaking as she reached for her helmet. “I mean, I’m … I’m a scientist, not a soldier.”

  Riot forwent the molten blade, but also picked up a Villain Pulse Rifle. She swung the weapon onto her back, along with her war hammer. Next, she grabbed the stocky grips of a Destroyer T9.

  Another shudder hit the Valkyrie.

  “We’ve got another Scarab ship right next to the first,” Vet said from his station on the bridge. “The first is already unloading soldiers. They landed in the training and weight room.”

  “Got it.” Riot looked to a frightened Doctor Miller. She placed a heavy hand onto the woman’s shoulder. “You will do it, because you’re stronger than you know. You proved that in the Zenoth hive. You’re Vet’s and Rizzo’s defense. I know you won’t let them down.”

  Doctor Miller looked at the men behind her who were busy at the controls of the ship, slowly nodding. She placed her helmet onto her head. “I’m not going to let anything happen to them.”

  “I know you won’t,” Riot said, motioning to Wang and Evonne. “Let’s go.”

  The two Marines and the robot exited the bridge.

  “Evonne, seal the bridge,” Riot said, placing her still-purple-gore-stained helmet on her head.

  “Done,” Evonne said with a light whoosh behind them as the bridge doors sealed shut.

  “You don’t need a weapon?” Riot asked Evonne as she lifted the Destroyer in front of her as the trio made their way to the exercise room. “I know you’re blaster proof and all, but reall
y, weapons help in a fight.”

  “I’m not going to let anything happen to you or Corporal Wang,” Evonne said in such a matter-of-fact way, Riot believed her. “I have a physical body now. I’m going to shield you. The two of you can take cover behind me.”

  “I think I’m in love,” Wang said through the comms in his helmet. “Is that weird?”

  “Not now,” Riot said as she allowed Evonne to take point. She lifted the Destroyer over the right side of the robot’s shoulder. Wang did the same on Evonne’s left.

  The group made their way to the exercise room without encountering any Karnayer soldiers, thus far.

  “They are massing en force,” Evonne reported. “Perhaps they are waiting for another Scarab ship or two to make contact with our ship before attacking at once.”

  “Well, let’s not give them the—”

  The Valkyrie quivered again. Much more than it should have, had it only been hit by another round of enemy fire.

  Vet’s voice came through the comms again. “Shields aren’t able to keep off the Scarabs, only the blaster fire. Two more Scarabs have connected to the hull right along side the first two. Shields at fifty percent and falling fast.”

  “You and Rizzo worry about taking as many out of the sky as you can,” Riot replied. “We’ll take care of the Karnayer soldiers already in the ship.”

  “Four ships now,” Wang said out loud. “Six enemies to a ship. That’s means we’re up against twenty-four alien baddies.”

  The group rounded a corner. Down the hall and to the right, the door to the exercise room stood wide open.

  “I think it’s time to take a hit of one of those epinephrine shots you hooked us up with,” Riot said to Wang. She had ignored the level of exhaustion and fatigue her body felt from not only being up all night but also already having fought a battle earlier that evening.

  With her right hand, Riot reached for a compartment built into the right side of her leg armor. She looked down at what she was doing long enough to smell the purple gore on her armor and see the abuse her protection had already taken.