by Sara Fields
I knew this kind of training was common in many various armies throughout space, as it allowed this kind of fighting without injury to any of the other soldiers. The holograms were solid, like artificial lifeforms that would disappear once the module was complete. The challenger could get hurt, but the chance was minimal, as once the chances of a critical injury was computed by the hologram, the module would turn off before actual contact was made. The longer a challenger lasted, the harder the module became, but that didn’t seem to be stopping Kaela at all.
The timer on the wall said it had already been fifteen minutes.
She was gorgeous as she fought, twisting and kicking in one direction and swiftly moving onto the next. One after one, she took out one combatant after another. Her speed was faster than I remembered, but also incredibly graceful. Her arms blocked the assailant’s kicks and punches as though she was born for combat. The more she fought, the more I was reminded not of a human, but of a Vakarran. It was a bit unnerving.
Roan stood next to me then, watching Kaela as she fought.
“You know, it is rumored that humans can take on Vakarran abilities once they’ve found their true mates,” he began.
“Is that true...” I answered cautiously, not taking my eyes off Kaela. I had heard of such rumors from time to time but hadn’t given them any mind until now.
“It is. Danika is able to change the color of her skin, just like we do. Alaina can communicate with her mates using their telepathic link,” he said, turning to me.
“She did seem to heal from her injuries with Nix remarkably fast, even considering what we did to help her,” Valdus said.
“It is said that components of our DNA can intercalate with theirs and they can take on certain abilities that our species has access to. Maybe Kaela has inherited your strength. Maybe even more than that,” Roan said, and I looked at him thoughtfully before turning back toward her.
My eyes moved to the yellow projected scoreboards on the side of the room. I saw Kaela’s name appear in the tenth spot in the human ranking and as the minutes passed, it creeped upward.
It didn’t take long for her to reach the number one spot. Her score kept climbing though and I noticed it was on par with the number one alien, a Vakarran known as Zanuck. The entire arena stopped and watched her, and I had the feeling that such a performance was unprecedented, especially amongst the human challengers.
“It seems you have your very own super soldier as your mate,” Roan observed, and, in that moment, I couldn’t disagree with him.
Kaela fought on until her module timed out and she didn’t even seem tired as she came to a stop. Even her sisters looked impressed. They glanced at one another and then, Danika and Alaina entered the ring. Before we could stop them, they began to spar with one another. Two against one, still Kaela forced them to take steps back as she twirled, punched, and kicked her way through them. Eventually, the girls stopped and stared at one another.
“You’ve changed, Kaela,” Alaina whispered as Kaela’s eyes flickered toward her.
“For real. If I hadn’t known it was you, I would have thought you were a Vakarran,” Danika said with obvious admiration.
I smiled at Kaela. She was a worthy mate for the four of us. Her sudden increase in strength would be no match for all four of us but would certainly make subduing her more of a challenge. I met Tavik’s eyes and grinned. Even without saying so, I knew he was thinking the same thing.
Chapter Thirteen
Kaela
I hadn’t really tried to, but I’d won the competition. I’d fought hard, using every ounce of strength I had at my disposal. With my heightened senses, I was able to predict where the module figures were going to be and how they were going to strike. I could hear their movements and had reacted accordingly. They hadn’t landed a single blow on my body. Even when my sisters entered the ring with me, our combat had been different than what I remembered. Growing up, all four of us trained together, along with a number of members from our band of hidden humans back in the caves.
I’d been strong, but amongst the four of us, I had always considered myself the weakest. I was the youngest. Now, after I had battled both Danika and Alaina, it was clear something had changed in me. I was stronger, faster, and more graceful in my fighting capability. My memory flashed back to the battle in the woods, remembering how my four men had fought against their attackers. It was then that I realized that I had fought just like them here in the training ring. I had fought just like a Vakarran.
I turned my head and saw my four men walking up to the ring. I stepped down and approached them, watching the surprise and adoration on their faces.
With a smile, Tavik took my hand and pulled me into his arms.
“Come on, my little warrior. I think it’s time to get to bed,” he said, and I nodded. My men looked at me, their pride apparent in their eyes and I blushed. I said my goodbyes to the others and we went off into a private room that had been prepared for us.
My men demanded my attentions and I did little to deny them. I spread my legs and took each one of them, one after the other until they were spent, and I was happily filled with their cum. We needed our strength, but most of all, we needed each other.
I knew war was coming soon and in their desperate clutches, I could feel that they were thinking it too. Warm and satisfied, we laid together and I reflected on my feelings for them.
After everything we’d gone through together, they’d shattered my opinions on the Vakarran species. They’d told me the truth at every turn and protected me with their lives. I’d grown to trust them and now, I realized that I’d grown to love them. I couldn’t imagine a life without them and I didn’t want to.
Eventually I began to grow tired and closed my eyes.
I considered myself truly happy for the first time in a very long time. It didn’t take me very long to fall asleep after that.
* * *
Briiiiingggg. Briiiiingggg. Briiiiingggg.
What the fuck? Was this a dream? Whatever that was, it was so damn loud, and I wanted it to stop so I could keep sleeping. I reached to cuddle into my men’s warmth, but then I realized that they were no longer there. Suddenly, someone started to shake me.
I opened my lids and saw Caleb’s nervous face staring down at mine. His brow was furrowed with anxiety and I began to grow worried myself.
Had the time come for battle already?
It wasn’t a dream, but a terribly loud, repeating alarm, complete with flashing bright red lights. I pressed my hands to my ears and shook my head, forcing my fear far away. Tavik, Valdus, Zane, and Caleb were pulling on their clothes. I scampered to the edge of the bed and put on my own. In no time at all, I was prepared to leave with them and we hurried out of the bedroom.
The five of us rushed down several flights of stairs to the command room, where Alaina, Danika, and their men were already waiting. My eyes scanned around, studying the place.
There was a large piece of what looked like tempered glass at the front of the room. On it was a projected screen, showcasing a camera-like visual of the city, as well as a rotating scanner that indicated the surrounding airspace.
“What’s going on?” I asked over the constant drone of the alarm, although it was a bit quieter in the command room. I noticed that there was a single large silver blip on the scanner and as I moved closer, I read the label carefully. It was the Vakarran command ship, the ISS Starrider. I couldn’t see it in the imagery of the city skyline quite yet, but from its onward approach, I knew it was coming and that its arrival was imminent. I swallowed nervously. The time for war had finally come.
“Nix has begun the final approach. The ISS Starrider is less than an hour away from the center of the city. We must remain especially wary, although I highly doubt that they know our exact position,” Roan began.
“The shield has been mobilized and the entire bunker is under its protection. We’ve started mobilizing the cavalry as well,” Ryder answered. I noticed many
of the men were silent, and that Davon was typing away on a glass keyboard. His earpiece had extended over his eyes in a holographic screen. I turned my head back to the central city view, seeing that the sun was just rising. Had I not had a such an anxious feeling fluttering in my stomach, I would have stood and watched its beauty in the early morning sky.
Over the next sixty minutes, the room was a flurry of activity, with the men using headpieces to relay orders to the soldiers in both bunkers. It didn’t take very long for the Starrider to come into full view. It was so large that it blocked out the light from the sun, casting the city of Atlanta into shadow.
Not long after that, the first bomb fell. Even with all our protection, the ground rumbled dangerously above us. Dust fell from the ceiling and I was suddenly reminded of how far beneath the ground we were. Another fell, and then another and I closed my eyes, fearful of being buried alive under so many feet of dirt and rock. Every blast made my heart thump and the hair on the back of my neck rise in fear.
Sitting next to my men, I stayed out of the way, but all of them occasionally squeezed my shoulder or my thighs in support. Slowly, I calmed, and I began to trust in the work of our team. We were going to make it out of here alive. I was sure of it.
An hour passed and then two and the city scanner clearly indicated that the Starrider was focusing on no particular area, but the entire city as a whole. Roan had been right. Nix didn’t know where we were.
The skyline of the city slowly vanished under the bombing. Once-tall skyscrapers tumbled into dust as bomb after bomb fell. Lasers cut into the pavement below, carving away the landscape beneath, leaving terrible craters in their wake. The trees and wildlife that had grown over the urban sprawl burned away, leaving only rubble, rock, and clouds of dust behind.
Soon, the visual of the city became nothing but a sandy haze. The bombing soon slowed until it came to a total stop, indicating that the ISS Starrider had probably exhausted its immediate stores for the time being and it was time to move onto the next phase of the battle.
He’d been trying to frighten us into surrender.
Idiot.
“Both bunkers remain secure. Second bunker flight cavalry ready to deploy on our orders. Main bunker flight squad also on standby,” Alaina reported.
“Good. Command is reporting that the ground troops are fully outfitted and ready for battle. They’ll be ordered to stay where they are until the bombing is confirmed to have completed,” Tavik said and the others nodded in agreement.
“Nothing vital has been hit,” Tavik added.
“Prepare the ship cavalries for imminent departure,” Ryder commanded, and I turned my eyes to watch him. I hadn’t realized it earlier, but the blue-eyed Vakarran seemed to be the supreme leader of the Resistance. Everyone in the room deferred to him, even my own Vakarrans. As commander of the Second Battalion, he retained his rank, even here on Earth, fighting against the men that he’d used to be comrades with. As I watched him, I began to understand why. Roan, as well as my Tavik, worked closely by his side, relaying orders to the rest of their men in each of their respective divisions. This wasn’t the first battle all of our men had fought together in. They’d worked together before.
The room was a flurry of activity as we prepared ourselves for what came next.
“Shit,” Davon exclaimed, his mouth tensing in a firm line.
Our screen flickered and blurred with static for a second and I froze, narrowing my eyes in suspicion. What the hell?
Someone cleared his throat and I realized it wasn’t coming from our men, but over a set of speakers hidden in the corners of the room. At once, the scanner and visual of Atlanta disappeared and a dark figure took its place.
“They’ve hacked our observatory signal,” Davon said. “I can get it back and force them out, but it’ll take a few minutes.”
I swallowed nervously. The visual brightened and at once, I saw Nix’s revolting features looking straight at me. His eyes met mine and he grinned, his eyes darkening dangerously.
“Can he see us?” I asked quietly, moving closer to my four men.
“It’s a two-way connection hack. He can see every single one of us,” Davon explained through gritted teeth. The entire room grew tense and I could feel the fury come off all of us in waves.
My men surrounded me, encasing me in their protective warmth. Caleb and Valdus took my hands in theirs and I felt Zane and Tavik behind me. Their closeness provided me courage and I stood tall, raising my chin in defiance. Nix’s dark eyes crossed from mine to my sisters and his grin grew even wider. His dark, almost black eyes looked wild and threatening. My men’s grip tightened on mine.
“Three Stryke sisters, all in one room. It must be my lucky day,” he mused, his gravelly voice making my stomach turn. My fists tightened at my sides. My anger boiled under my skin and I tried to do everything in my power to quell it, or at least dampen its pull on my emotions. Caleb squeezed my hand and so did Valdus, which helped to calm my pounding heart.
Bravely, I let go of my Vakarrans and stepped forward, knowing now was not the time to stand down. My sisters followed. Nix’s grin grew even wider still. I glared back at him.
“What do you want from us?” I questioned boldly, taking care to keep my voice level and unafraid.
Nix’s eyes were almost completely black. The screen was so clear that I could see the wetness of his saliva on the scarred flesh of what remained of his jawbone. I swallowed back my disgusted nausea. He lifted his eyebrows at my boldness and I snarled, lifting my upper lip just a bit in order to show off my teeth. He flinched slightly then, likely remembering what I’d done to him. Slightly flustered, he shook his head, pressing his thighs together at the same time. I would have laughed, but I knew now was not the time for such things.
“I have your sister. I could just kill her, I suppose,” he threatened. His expression remained stoic and severe.
I stilled.
“Prove it,” Danika growled.
Lifting his hand, Nix cocked his finger, likely giving a signal to whomever was there with him on his own ship. That’s when her voice rang out like a bell and I could have sworn that my heart stopped working then.
“Help me! He’s going to hurt me if you don’t listen to what he has to say,” Kira shrieked. It was my eldest sister’s voice, of that I had no doubt.
“I can force him out of our network any second now,” Davon said quietly.
“No! Not yet! What do you want, you bastard?” Alaina asked Nix, gritting her teeth beside me in calm, controlled fury. She had always been the cool and calm one out of the four of us and to see her break now was unsettling. This was for Kira though. For family.
Nix chuckled.
“My team is enormous. I command the best of the Vakarran military and I have hundreds of ships ready to debark, attack, and destroy your pathetic attempt at rebellion. I have thousands of men ready to take to the ground to fight you. I’m going to kill all of you, including your sister if you don’t listen to what I have to say,” he began.
“You don’t know where we are,” Danika shouted, before I placed my hand on her lower back in an attempt to calm her raging wild side.
“I know exactly where you are. I will find you and a way into your hideout,” he replied. That couldn’t be true. He was lying.
Kira screamed in the background. It was a horrible, bone-chilling sound and I knew he was hurting her. I hoped she could hold it together a little bit longer. We had to figure out some way to rescue her.
Kira had always been the foundation of our sisterhood. She’d led us away into the woods after the Vakarrans had attacked and she was the one who helped us to survive those many years in hiding. She’d always been our fearless leader and I’d always loved her and looked up to her for it. She didn’t deserve this. I had to figure out some way to make him stop whatever he was doing to her.
“Tell me what you want, so that you’ll stop hurting her,” I replied calmly, trying not to panic and let my concern
for Kira cloud my senses.
“I just want to talk to the three of you. In person at the football arena. Alone. My men have purposely left the area unharmed. In exchange, I’ll give you back Kira. Unhurt. Mostly anyway,” he said curtly.
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked cautiously.
“Terms of surrender. If we can come to an agreement, I won’t attack your forces. If we can’t, you leave safely and then I’ll destroy your measly Resistance at my leisure,” he replied coldly.
I stared at him, trying to figure out if this was some kind of trick. Turning back to my Vakarrans, I met their eyes. Despite their apparent calmness, I could see their fury boiling beneath the surface. They stood tall, hands clasped behind their backs. I took a step toward Tavik and lifted my chin in order to look up at him.
“Is this usual, Tavik? A meeting like this?” I asked quietly. He knelt down by my ear.
“In rare cases, it is. The Vakarrans don’t typically ask for surrender, they demand it. Unless Nix is thinking about the money here, all the women and usable working men. It’s a far more profitable venture if he can take the majority of our forces peacefully. It would be more expensive for him to destroy us. But still, I don’t like it. Not one fucking bit,” he answered softly, low enough so that only I could hear him.
“The arena is about a mile from our central location here. We have an entrance that will lead to the surface near there,” Alaina whispered.
“How do we know you won’t attack us?” I asked Nix then, raising my voice so that he could hear me.
“You just have to trust me, that is, if you want your sister back,” Nix said, and Kira screamed again, a sound that wrenched me apart, making me want to cry. Kira had been like a mother to us all and I knew in my heart that I would do whatever I could to get her back.
“If you do not come alone, I will kill her. I’ll deliver her body straight to you, but in pieces. Remember, I’ll be watching,” Nix said with a dark grin and then, all of a sudden, the screen went black.
