Wraithkin (The Kin Wars Saga Book 1)

by Jason Cordova

  #

  They found trouble seven blocks away.

  The laser emplacement was half-buried in rubble and protective sheets of armor, manned by a small squad of Abassi infantry. They held their scythes close, and Gabriel spotted small sidearms attached to their belts. It was the first time he had ever heard of Abassi infantry carrying firearms. It was a detail the Deebs would want to know about – assuming they survived.

  However, the Abassi did not appear to be paying too much attention to their surroundings. They were huddled, their elongated skulls pressed together. For warmth in the rain, or just the way they communicated when in close, Gabriel wasn’t sure. Nothing in his database had said anything about this. Then again, he reasoned as he targeted the individual who appeared to be the sentry, the Dominion was far more interested in killing the invasive aliens and less so about being their friends.

  “Execute,” Gabriel said over his comm and fired his Lynx, putting four rounds through the alien’s head before the sound of the hypervelocity gun had begun to echo down the narrow street.

  Twist, who had been flanking him for the past three blocks, immediately jammed the alien communications net the moment Gabriel activated the command, leaving the Abassi squad alone and severely outgunned. Three more had been dropped by the Wraith squad before the others dove for cover and began to fire back with the firearms. Gabriel, recording the scene on his HUD, made a mental note to talk to someone about the power capacity of the alien weapons.

  “Ow! Shit! I felt that!” Twist exclaimed suddenly. Gabriel looked at the Boer and saw an elongated groove in his armor. One of the alien rounds had struck him and, while not a penetrating shot, was still powerful enough to damage his suit. Gabriel keyed his comm for the squad.

  “They have firearms which can damage the suits,” he informed the others in his squad. “Be careful.”

  Gabriel pressed his back flat against a ruined building as the squad began to lay down killing fire, forcing the Abassi to keep their heads down and allowing him to move closer to the laser emplacement. Comms jammed, Gabriel knew there was no way the aliens manning the laser could call for help. He intended to make sure not only would they not be able to call for help, they would not survive the encounter either.

  “Beeker, on my command, give me two bangers right out in front of them,” Gabriel ordered, referring to the explosive white phosphorous grenades which reacted violently to the moist Abassi skin. Every single human in the Dominion knew the Abassi feared the incendiary devices. Gabriel wanted to drive home how justified their fears really were. “Esau, any sign of support or reinforcements coming towards us yet?”

  “Negative,” Esau responded after a brief pause, hidden high inside one of the large warehouse buildings which had survived the Abassi bombardment. “A few of their locals stuck their heads out to see what was going on so I popped ‘em. Nobody’s come out since, so we’re clear for another five minutes or so. No sign of any human activity either. We keep this up any longer and we can expect some Sharks, though.”

  “Got it,” Gabriel killed the comm and checked the enemy’s status on his HUD. The Abassi were starting to fire back with their weaker firearms. The odds of a round penetrating their thick armor were slim, Gabriel knew. Still, there was no sense in taking unwarranted chances.

  “Toss the bangers, Beeker,” Gabriel commanded and the native of Anvil immediately fired two small grenades in the direction of the Abassi.

  The small grenades bounced haphazardly across the street, the concrete streets providing scant resistance to the grenades as they skittered forth. The distinctive tink! sound they made echoed loudly in Gabriel’s ears, but he knew the rifles the Abassi were using would cover the noise. He fired a few shots from his Lynx just to make certain they were focused on the Wraiths and not on the miniature balls of death bouncing towards their position. Any second now...

  The grenades popped up off the ground, their sudden appearance turning the blue skin of the aliens a decided red as they reacted with surprise to what had just happened to them. They did not have time for another reaction as the grenades detonated, spewing out an explosive mixture of phosphorous and small bits of gelatin.

  The white powder mixed with the tiny pieces of gelatin tore through the aliens, shredding them into two piles of bones and purple blood. None had a chance to scream in pain, so fast had their deaths come, the chemical composition of the Abassi skin and the phosphorous within the grenades combined to flare up brightly and burn anything organic. The carnage wrought by the bangers continued on to firearms. The steady high-pitched whine of the alien firearms abruptly stopped, leaving the city street as quiet as an open grave.

  “Nice,” Markus muttered softly at the destruction the two small grenades caused. He shook his head, which caused his suit to dislodge a few pieces of rubble from the pile he was laying on. He propped himself up on his elbows, his Wraith suit adjusting to make certain he was somewhat comfortable. “Why didn’t we use those on them Sharks earlier?”

  “Because they don’t work on armored vehicles, isuwula,” Beeker snapped back as he slid out from behind one of the downed and ruined buildings to Gabriel’s right. “The skin on the Sharks is, you know, metal. You worthless suwulandini...”

  “We have to completely destroy that laser,” Gabriel interrupted Beeker’s spiel and looked at Twist. “I think it’s just damaged. Any ideas?”

  The Boer suddenly bounded over to the laser and slammed a fist into the fuel cell converter. He yanked out a small, square box which glowed briefly for a moment before it sputtered and died in his hand. He tossed it onto the ground, giving a thumbs up to the squad. He looked back at the laser, shook his head, turned, and sprinted as fast as his mechanical legs could carry him. Gabriel, who realized almost too late why the diminutive Boer was running away, overrode all the suits in the squad and threw them to the ground.

  A second later the fuel cells which powered the laser exploded, sending out a violent shock wave which lifted them off the ground a few centimeters before they were roughly slammed back. The world, for a moment, was nothing more than a blinding white light which overrode their suits’ visual filters. Every single building within five hundred feet shook from the force of the explosion – including the building where Joshua had set up for overwatch.

  “Holy shit!” Joshua called out over the net. “What was that?”

  “Little Boer decided it would be a good idea to puncture an alien fuel cell that is powered by the planet’s fusion reactors,” Markus groused as he picked himself off the ground. “Stupid. Then the idiot decided to pull out the only thing keeping it from going critical. Well, that’s what the suit’s telling me, at least.”

  “That was pretty,” Beeker admitted.

  “I thought about shoving a grenade in it but I didn’t know what would happen,” the Boer admitted as he rejoined the squad. “Hey, if it’s stupid, but works, then it isn’t stupid.”

  “You knew what would happen when you punched a hole in it?” Markus asked, flabbergasted. “You knew you had the containment unit?”

  “Well, not really, no. The laser started making weird noises so that was when I decided to run.”

  “Madre de dios...”

  “One down, more to go,” Gabriel interjected, cutting off any possibility of a fight before it could start. He had a hunch about the lasers and the city’s electric grid, but he needed more proof before he was convinced. “Next one is three blocks north, four blocks east, judging by the power consumption in this quadrant. Damn, wished we’d known they were hiding them amongst their own civilians; we could have nuked everything and then dropped. Oh well, they’re going to figure out something is going on soon enough, so watch your asses. Esau, how we doing?”

  “Nothing so far,” Esau replied after a quick scan. He paused for a moment, his eyes scanning the streets nearby. “That’s kind of weird, too. You’d think someone would have reported a bunch of suits attacking one of their lasers. I mean, the Sharks were outside
the city, and that Seeker drone we jammed, but still...” his voice trailed off.

  “Agreed,” Gabriel nodded quickly. “We came bringing death and destruction for the Abassi. So where the hell are they? Bug out time. Three teams of two; Joshua and Beeker, Esau and Markus, Twist with me. Rally point is marked on your internals. Avoid detection, and for God’s sake watch out for Seeker drones! Might as well slap some glow-in-the-dark paint on yourself if you run into any.”

  “We’re Imperfects, Gabriel,” Markus sniffed daintily as he followed Esau down a ruined side street. “We’re not idiots.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Esau chirped pleasantly as he dropped down out of the partially-destroyed warehouse. He landed solidly near Gabriel and walked away from his commander. “I know I’m an idiot for following you around.”

  “I hate to sound like the crazy one here,” Joshua interjected. “But we still have some lasers to take out, a city to rescue, Abassi to kill and a ride to catch. Can we hurry it up some?”

  “For once the whiner makes sense,” Gabriel shrugged. He looked north, where the streets appeared deserted. A small part of him was itching to be in full out combat, while a sane part of his mind was very thankful they had encountered minimal resistance after their botched drop. “Three blocks or so, people. Then east. Let’s go break things.”

  The Wraiths bounded off, moving quickly through the city streets as they sought out their next target. The city was eerily quiet and Gabriel, a child of the farm and country, began to feel ill at ease. He brought his scanners up and looked for something, anything, which would indicate human life had not been entirely decimated in the city.

  “Twist?” Gabriel called out.

  “Yeah?”

  “You ever come into the city?”

  “Not really.”

  “How long has Ibliss been under Abassi control now? Two years?”

  “Something like that. Why?”

  “Where are all the humans? Or the aliens? Why is it so damn quiet?”

  “Doos, we’re like rats here,” Twist informed him. “We dig in and hide, only coming out when the danger is gone. Even those who live in the big city know how to hide when danger comes.”

  Gabriel nodded. “I thought so, but it’s just extremely weird.”

  “Tell me about it. I haven’t been back home in four years and it still looks like the hellhole I left behind. This place is slow to change, and yet it’s changed somehow. Like you said.”

  Gabriel chuckled.

  “Contact,” Esau interrupted them, his voice calm. “Laser emplacement in sight. A squad of meat shields working the laser.”

  “What, are we just inventing slang now?” Gabriel asked as he brought up Esau’s location. His second was two blocks to the east, right where he had estimated the laser to be. His hunch had been correct: the Abassi were using the city’s electric grid to power their lasers.

  Are the Abassi on the same technological level as we are, he wondered as he moved quickly towards Esau’s position. He had always assumed the Abassi were more advanced than humans, since they actually had true faster-than-light drives, compared to the alien jump gates humanity was forced to use and had reverse-engineered after their discovery. He was beginning to wonder, though.

  “Hey Twist, don’t blow up the laser this time,” Beeker said as he pulled up next to Gabriel. Twist laughed and promised not to. Gabriel smirked.

  “How do you want to do this one?” Markus asked as he came up next to them.

  Gabriel studied the street. Much like the last emplacement, the Abassi had piled up rubble around the laser, though they left the power core exposed. The buildings around them were just tall enough to prevent anything from the horizon taking out the emplacement, but allowed for a clear shot overhead and at various angles. He checked his HEAVY rounds and saw he had a full complement left. He didn’t want to expend them all on the aliens, but he also needed the others to save their rounds for later, in case their escape plan went balls-up. Esau could handle the comm jamming and Twist would lay down a limited amount of fire. He would handle this and conserve ammo.

  His HUD showed him where the aliens were; it would be up to him to take them out. He double-checked his targeting system and ordered the squad to wait for his command before doing anything. He targeted the Abassi, whispered a small prayer and fired.

  The HEAVY arced through the air before exploding in the midst of the throng of aliens. Gabriel was moving towards them before they even realized they were under attack.

  Gabriel danced through them, using his enhanced speed to slide quickly across their position. He shot one in the head, spun and decapitated another using the brute strength of the suit, then raked five others with his Lynx before kicking another Abassi in the small of its back, causing it to crumple to the ground. Before they could even draw their weapons to fire he had dropped them all, the last falling to the concrete street before Gabriel had stopped moving.

  Gabriel blinked as the sudden burst of adrenaline left his system. He bent down and looked at the dead aliens around him, shocked and horrified at what he had done. The urge to vomit came over him. He swallowed, gave himself a few moments to clear his head, and looked away from the dead. The shame and guilt vanished as quickly as it had struck, leaving behind only an empty black hole in his heart. He stood up and carefully walked through the littered emplacement.

  “That was impressive,” Esau told him over the private channel. Gabriel ignored him.

  “Doos, come see this,” the Boer called out as Gabriel picked his way through the ruined bodies. Gabriel glanced around before he spotted Twist standing near a gleaming white door, which led into a small, squat, plain-looking building. He trotted over and stopped when the Boer tapped the door with a metallic hand. “Plasteel.”

  “Not human,” Gabriel murmured as he passed a hand over the ceramic shell covering the door. The Abassi used the technology, though not for anything military. The civilian side of the alien structure and organization was just beginning to be explored by Dominion Intelligence. So far, they had gotten little.

  “Never seen anything like this here,” Twist admitted. “This is alien.”

  “Makes me wonder what’s in this building,” Gabriel said.

  “Why not build their own building then?”

  “Maybe this is a secret building?”

  “They own the planet. Who are they keeping it a secret from?” Esau asked as he joined them. Gabriel looked back at the door.

  “Maybe this door tells the Abassi civvies this is off-limits?” Gabriel offered.

  “Someone should check it out,” Esau stated. Gabriel and Twist nodded.

  “Someone should,” Twist agreed.

  “Well, since we’re here, why not?” Gabriel finalized. “Squad, form up on this door. Breach and clear. Then we’re going to see what else is strange in this new world.”

  “Pretty sure it’s nothing good,” Esau muttered as the other Wraiths joined them. Gabriel stood in front of the door, readied himself and looked at the others.

  “Ready?” he asked. The others grunted in confirmation. “Okay then, let’s go.”

  Gabriel kicked in the door and stepped inside the mysterious building.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What is this place?” Beeker asked as they descended deeper into the catacombs beneath the Abassi-controlled building. The hallways were brightly lit and white, sterile and clean in appearance. It reminded Gabriel of a laboratory, similar to the one he had failed his gene test many months before.

  There was no furniture or decorations. Gabriel could almost see the facility being a hospital of some sort, with orderlies pushing patients around in gurneys. The hallways were wide enough for the Wraiths to walk side by side, though the lower ceilings were just tall enough for the suits. Nonetheless, Gabriel made a mental note to use caution if they had to bug out in a hurry. Getting my head stuck in the ceiling would suck, he thought.

  “Looks like some sort of research place,” Ma
rkus suggested. “Like where they do experiments or something, you know?”

  “Eyes open. Use active scanners,” Gabriel ordered the other Wraiths. “Beeker, take point. Esau, rear guard.” The hulking Zulu moved ahead of the group, disappearing around a corner as the others followed at a slower pace.

  “Won’t that tell them we’re here?” Joshua asked.

  “We’re huge suits marching around in a sterile environment,” Gabriel explained, impatience creeping into his tone. “I’m pretty sure the Abassi know we’re here already.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  “Contact!” Beeker shouted and let loose a hail of gunfire. He paused, then fired again. A moment later the Zulu was back on the net. “Clear.”

  “Move out,” Gabriel ordered.

  “Shit, doos. I think one shot would have been enough.”

  “I wanted to make sure,” Beeker replied.

  Twist shook his head. “You sure now?”

  Crack!

  “I am.”

  “Guys, let’s go,” Gabriel called.

  They moved down the corridor until it opened into a larger, egg-white-colored-room. Soft glowing pads illuminated the area and the whiteness made it appear brighter. A wave of nausea came over him. Gabriel winced as his vision swam as ultraviolet spectrums not meant for human eyes reached his corneas. The HUD compensated after a small delay and the illness he was feeling went away.

  At the other end of the room were two doorways. Gabriel nodded as he recognized a good strong point for them to hole up. It was wide enough for the Wraiths to be able to easily cover one another while not allowing the Abassi to get to close enough to use their scythes. He checked his map and saw Beeker had already gone ahead through the left doorway. He began to track the suit, the system drawing a crude map as the Wraith moved throughout the facility.