Hive (The Color of Water and Sky Book 4)

by Andrew Gates

  Ukhrani was a skilled marksman, brilliant with a sniper rifle. But at these close quarters, her marksmanship meant nothing. She fired a few shots into the crowd before she was forced to drop her weapon and engage the enemies in the same manner as Evirak.

  Kozakh was perhaps the best equipped for this close-quarters combat. Having trained with spears in the honor guard, he was comfortable with engaging enemies at this distance. He wasted no time extending the retractable spear and gouging away at the incoming horde. Ikharus watched in awe as Kozakh artfully swatted and stabbed at the ruors with great swiftness and finesse like something out of a well-choreographed dance.

  But still, despite their best efforts, the sea of ruors grew larger and more overwhelming with every passing second.

  “Kreeds, I can help! I can fight!” Ikharus shouted.

  “No!” Jakhu replied, bellowing over the sound of snarling monsters. “You are too valuable!”

  “The enemy is too many. Let me help!” Ikharus replied.

  “But, your Maj-” Jakhu was cut off mid-sentence as a ruor bit into her front left knee, forcing her to fall forward.

  Ikharus could wait no longer. It pained him to watch and do nothing as Scion was overwhelmed by the enemy.

  “As Supreme Chieftain, I command you to enlist my help!” he shouted as he instantly jumped into action, no longer waiting for Jakhu’s approval.

  He brought his scepter down hard on the ruor who bit into Jakhu’s knee, but his swing caused no considerable damage to the enemy. That was when Ikharus remembered that he was not wearing power armor. It had been planet-cycles since he had fought without it. If he was to fight this battle now, he would have to do it the old-fashioned way, with pure brute strength. No technological enhancements would help him here.

  Finding the strength within him, Ikharus tried again and brought his scepter down with all the force he could muster, this time smashing the monster’s skull into three separate pieces. One down, he thought. Hundreds to go.

  He then pointed the jeweled tip of the scepter toward an incoming female ruor and stuck it straight in the stomach. The creature was now firmly attached to the end of his scepter as if it had always been there. Ikharus lifted it high, pulled it back, then thrusted it forward with all his strength, catapulting the creature off the end of the scepter and launching it kotans into the distance. He could hear it shriek as it flew through the air and thud as it hit the ground.

  “Thank you, Kho Ikharus,” Jakhu said as she returned to her feet.

  “You know I am not one for thanks, Kal Jakhu. Return to the fight. This is no time for distractions.”

  Before he had time to say anything else, two more ruors grabbed onto Ikharus’s front legs. He lifted his left front leg up, hoping to shake the creature off, but when it did not budge, he swatted it with the scepter, knocking it off and forcing it to collide into the other. Both ruors now fell to the ground. They scrambled, trying to stand back up, but slipped on what must have been their own blood. Taking advantage of the situation, Ikharus jumped up and slammed his pointed feet down upon them both, piercing their bodies like spears cutting through flesh.

  Ikharus was still not used to battling without power armor, but he was getting good at it quickly.

  Bang! A thunderous echo filled the air. Ikharus saw a small metal bullet bounce off Jakhu’s dark armor and collide against the ground.

  “The rebels are back!” Evirak shouted.

  “We have fallen for their trap. They have us pinned right where they want us, surrounded by ruors with nowhere to run!” Ukhrani responded as she battled her own monsters.

  Bang! Ikharus spotted the flash of a muzzle from higher up the mountain. He quickly ducked to let the bullet whizz over his head just as a ruor jumped up to take a bite from his neck. The timing was perfect. The bullet from the evolved-one weapon struck the ruor in the shoulder, spinning it in the air. Ikharus swung his scepter around and struck it before the creature even hit the ground, launching it a few kotans back in the other direction.

  “Fortunately, the enemy’s stolen evolved-one weapons are not too powerful. The bullets bounce off our power armor like-” Kozakh stopped in the middle of his sentence as the sound of an engine filled the air, accompanied by a strong gust of wind.

  Ikharus knew that sound all too well. It was the sound of an assault ship.

  He wanted to look up to the sky, but a ruor climbed along his back and atop his shoulders in that moment. It batted away at him. Ikharus quickly tossed his head back, striking the ruor with his pointed crown. He could feel the creature slide across his cape and down his shell, squirming and bleeding over everything.

  Ikharus had the chance to look up now. Sure enough, an enemy craft was incoming. With its glowing engine, it was easy to see in the darkness of night.

  Bang! Another sniper shot. Though he did not see this muzzle flash, Ikharus instinctively ducked and was glad he did. He could feel the bullet soar through the air as it passed but a blade’s edge above his left shoulder.

  Meanwhile the enemy ship glowed even more as its weapons powered on.

  “They’re going to fire!” Evirak shouted. His own claws were full as he struggled to pull ruors off his shell.

  “Someone needs to deal with that ship!” Jakhu shouted as another evolved-one bullet bounced off her armor, ricocheting into the crowd of ruors and killing one.

  “I cannot reach my rifle!” Ukhrani responded. “There are too many ruors!”

  “I am unable to even stand. The monsters have me pinned!” added Kozakh.

  This is it, Ikharus suddenly realized. There was no way out of this one. He had battled countless enemies on countless missions, dueled the traitorous Kho Veznek and won, even survived the slaughter in space, but this was one fight he could not win. The assault ship would kill them all.

  Boom! A massive fireball suddenly lit up the night sky. At first Ikharus assumed it was the enemy ship firing its weapon. But then he realized that the enemy ship had not fired, but instead had been fired upon. The hull of the enemy ship was ablaze. Before Ikharus could even make sense of it, another blast struck the enemy craft, then another, then another, until the rebel assault ship spun out of control and careened down toward the battlefield.

  Ikharus opened his eyes wide as the vehicle descended right on top of them.

  “Move!” he shouted, jumping out of the way without even considering the ruors that surrounded him.

  The ship smashed right into where they had been standing, sending shards of twisted metal and ash in every direction. Debris pelted into the sea of ruors, taking out or injuring many of them.

  As soon as Ikharus got his footing, he engaged what monsters he could, all while trying to make sense of the scene.

  It took him a few seconds to subdue the nearby ruors, but once he did, a new ship flew overhead, sending a gust of wind across the world. I know that ship, he thought with a smile.

  “Kal Ezenkharam!” Evirak cheered, speaking the words for him.

  Ikharus had never been so happy to see her in all his life.

  Now that the enemy assault craft was destroyed, Ezenkharam’s ship turned to the sea of ruors and opened fire. Plasma blasts took out whole clusters of the monsters at once, killing five or six at a time. Blast after blast, the seemingly endless sea of enemies finally began to dwindle.

  The world was ablaze now with plasma blasts and the roaring flames of the destroyed rebel ship. Enemy muzzle fire would occasionally light up a distant area for a split second. All in all, visibility was getting better. And with the monsters finally diminishing from the battlefield, a real end was finally in sight.

  We might just survive this ordeal after all.

  The rebel snipers redirected their fire toward Ezenkharam’s transport ship now, hitting it with tiny evolved-one bullets. The shots would deal insignificant damage to the craft, but Ikharus was just glad that they were no longer shooting at him instead.

  A male ruor grabbed hold of Ikharus’s scepter
and pulled on it, bringing his attention back to the battle on the ground. Just as Ikharus was ready to pull his scepter back, another male joined by its side and helped pull it away. It slid out of Ikharus’s grip, forcing him to stumble back a few steps.

  A female jumped out at him with its sharp teeth exposed, but Ikharus quickly brought around his free claw and smashed it into the creature’s neck, breaking both the bone and the metal cuff that surrounded it, killing the ruor instantly. The corpse dropped to the ground as the two males fought over the scepter in their grasp. Taking advantage of their distraction, Ikharus lifted the female’s corpse from the ground by its legs and used it as a bat, smashing the last two males until their bodies were flattened and unidentifiable.

  For the first time since the ruors were unleased, Ikharus finally had time to stop and catch his breath. He stopped for a moment and looked around the area. Ruors shrieked here and there, but only a dozen or so remained, their horrid forms casting massive shadows against the trees in the light of the roaring fire.

  Ezenkharam, still in the transport ship, fired at the rebel snipers now. The soldiers hid away somewhere farther uphill. Ikharus could not see them with his bare eyes unless they fired their weapons, but with the technology on the ship, Ezenkharam could pick out targets much more easily. Each blast decorated the mountain in another glow of orange flames and imposing shadows.

  Jakhu limped her way to Ikharus and stopped beside him. Her cannon was nowhere in sight and her claws were covered in blood. Ikharus wondered what might have happened to her weapon.

  “Kho Ikharus are you hurt?” she asked in a concerned tone.

  “I am fine. I am weary, but alive and well,” he replied. Ikharus pointed to the ship above their heads. “It is by good fortune that Kal Ezenkharam came when she did. If not, we may not be alive now.”

  “I do not doubt it,” Jakhu agreed. She stopped and quickly picked up a crown from the ground. “I believe this belongs to you.”

  “Thank you,” Ikharus said, accepting it and placing it back on his head. “And what of your injuries, Kal Jakhu?”

  “I am also fine, but weary, Kho Ikharus. Kho Prekhon’s trap was well-planned and well-staged, but he will have to send more than a few ruors to slow us down.”

  “He did send more than ruors. He sent snipers using ballistic weapons and even an assault ship.”

  Jakhu did not respond. She simply nodded and rejoined her squad by the crashed rebel vessel. Ikharus wondered if she realized how close they had just come to failure but did not want to admit it, or if she truly did not fathom how close they had come to almost dying.

  “Kreed, form up!” she ordered through strained words.

  Evirak dropped a pair of squirming ruors to the ground and stepped on them both with his sharp feet. The other members of Kreed Scion limped toward their squad leader.

  “Status report,” Jakhu said.

  “Systems nominal,” Ukhrani responded.

  “Nominal,” added Evirak.

  “My suit has been breached. I have been wounded below the left arm and along several points of my legs,” Kozakh reported.

  “Kho Kozakh, can you continue on?” Jakhu asked.

  “Yes, I can, Squad Leader.”

  “Good. Then form up. Our mission is far from over.” Jakhu turned to face the sky. “Excellent work, Kal Ezenkharam. We are in your debt. Our lives would be lost were it not for your efforts. This area may be clear now, but it may not be that way for much longer. There is no telling what other traps Kho Prekhon may have prepared. Return to the landing site and remain there in the meantime.”

  The ship took one more shot at an enemy sniper in the distance, then arced around, soaring back from where it had come.

  The squad stood still for a moment and took a deep, simultaneous breath of relief. Then Evirak lifted his shoulders and wiped some dirt from his helmet.

  “That was madness. I can hardly believe what I saw with my own eyes. The rebels actually captured ruors and used them as weapons. Have you ever heard of anyone using ruors that way?” Evirak asked in disbelief.

  “No, never,” Jakhu responded, shaking her head. “Using ruors, evolved-one weapons, it is unheard of. These rebels must be desperate to display their dominance in any way possible.”

  “I did not realize the situation on the surface was so bad,” Ikharus said through a deep breath.

  “It is not your fault, Kho Ikharus.”

  “But in a way, it is. It is my duty to restore order to the Chiefdom.”

  “And in time, you will do so. But for now, we must focus on the present task at hand. This is not the time to dwell on politics,” Jakhu responded. She pointed to the massive door before them. “Soh Saratti. That is our objective.”

  Ikharus nodded. She was right.

  “Then let us find him and finish this,” Kozakh said, straightening his back.

  Evirak lifted a grenade to the air and stepped forward.

  “Allow me,” he said, tossing it forward.

  Boom! A second later, the front door was gone, now replaced by a gaping hole leading inside. There were no lights illuminating the interior of the facility. It appeared almost like a dark cavern.

  Jakhu was first to move. She pressed onward undeterred, despite every horror she had barely managed to live through. Ikharus could tell that nothing could slow her down. She was relentless and unafraid, driven only by her objective and her duty.

  Exactly as a Kreed should be.

  Ikharus and the members of Kreed Scion followed behind Jakhu into the facility. He was last to enter. The air inside was cold and still. In some ways, it reminded him of Vigilant Behemoth, though certainly much darker.

  “Do these rebels not have lights?” Evirak joked.

  “We do!” a voice answered as a spotlight suddenly shone in their faces, blinding Ikharus and forcing him to crouch down as a barrage of plasma fire lit up the hall.

  “Scion, follow my lead!” Jakhu shouted, diving into a side room.

  Ikharus was next to follow, with the rest of the Kreed behind him. Plasma blasts signed the sides of the doorway.

  “They are using Kholvari weapons now,” Kozakh noticed.

  “Kho Evirak?” Jakhu asked. “Can you assist with this?”

  Evirak studied his remaining grenades and let out a deep breath.

  “I possess only two more stun grenades. After that, I have naught but lethal explosives.”

  “I understand,” Jakhu replied.

  Evirak nodded, then tossed a grenade down the hall. After a quick flash of light, the plasma blasts stopped. He slowly peered out, making sure the enemy was legitimately frozen, not faking it, then stepped out into the hall. He motioned for them to move.

  “Clear,” he declared.

  Jakhu popped out next and, like usual, took the lead position as they moved through the facility. They passed by the line of frozen soldiers by the spotlight and pressed onward, rounding a corner, then another.

  “Kal Ezenkharam, are you still on the comm?” Jakhu asked as she walked along. “This facility is large. I need to know the exact location of Soh Saratti. Do you have it?”

  “No need,” Ukhrani interrupted, stopping in place and motioning to a door on the right with a thin line of light emanating from beneath it. It was the only room they had passed with the lights on. The words Prisoner Hold 6 were written across the door. The Kreed stopped and stared for a moment, before Jakhu nodded and stepped up to it.

  “Excellent work, Kal Ukhrani,” she said. She placed two motion sensor balls along the wall on either side of the door before smashing it inward.

  As soon as she entered the room, two rebels held naked Soh Saratti down to the floor with weapons pointed right at his head. One rebel was helmeted, but Ikharus recognized the other as Kho Prekhon. The room was not large, but large enough to put some considerable distance between the two groups. A toppled table and some chairs had been pushed to the corner, as if it had been a mad scramble to get to Saratti before Scion
did.

  “This is what you came for, is it not? Do not take another step, traitors, or we will kill him!” Prekhon shouted. His eyes were glued to Ikharus with a vehement rage.

  “Kho Evirak,” Jakhu ordered, calmly.

  Before anyone could make sense of it, another flash of light lit up the room. When the light cleared, Evirak slowly stepped forward and pulled the weapons from the rebels’ frozen claws.

  “What? What is this?” Prekhon asked in a panic. Since he was not wearing a helmet, his head was still free to move around, though the rest of his body remained trapped in the now frozen suit.

  “An invention of mine. You are now paralyzed in your own armor,” Evirak explained with a tone of pride.

  “Kho Prekhon, by my order as Supreme Chieftain, you are to stand trial for your crimes against the Chiefdom of Kholvaria,” Ikharus boldly declared as he stepped forward. “Kho Evirak, Kho Kozakh, take him away.”

  The two male members of Kreed Scion lifted the frozen soldier and walked him out of the room. Prekhon screamed all the while, shouting, “Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!” until his voice was naught but a faraway echo.

  Ukhrani walked up to the other frozen soldier and spun him around so he faced the corner of the room. Spinning this soldier did nothing to make them anymore safe. Ikharus supposed she was simply uncomfortable having him stare back at them.

  “Alas, we meet again,” Ikharus said as he stepped toward the naked Saratti. He was glad that he was unclothed. If he had worn armor like the others, he would have been frozen too.

  Ikharus motioned to his fellow Kholvari.

  “Kal Jakhu, Kal Ukhrani, help me with this furniture.”

  Jakhu flipped the table over and brought it to the center of the room while Ukhrani pulled up the chairs. The table was rectangular, with the long end facing left and right and the short end facing forward and back. Saratti, nervous and trembling, slowly rose and instinctively took a seat at the nearest chair, the one facing the entrance.

  “What are you doing? Are we interrogating him here? I thought we were to bring him back with us and query him in the undercity,” Jakhu said.