Four head nods returned her order as they ran to obey. Riot visualized the fight in her mind as she continued to prepare. Vet had fixed the area on her dragon skin that had been burned by the blaster bolt, so that only a slight discoloration remained from the hole the blaster had burned through her armor.
Dragon skin on, next came the layer of crimson red liquid armor that covered her like plate mail. Riot looked over the armory for weapons. “Evonne, did Vet load you with other classic songs from Earth, besides the Beastie Boys?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Can you get Rage Against the Machine going? Maybe their song ‘Bulls on Parade’?”
“Certainly,” Evonne said.
A moment later, the familiar chorus echoed through the armory. Riot looked over the weapons like a kid in a candy store as she bobbed her head to the music. The ship shifted under her feet as it rose into the air.
Out of her peripheral vision, Riot caught sight of a pile of weapons in the corner of the armory. These weapons weren’t their own, but rather the weapons used by the Trilords. A few axes, maces, and war hammers.
“Evonne, where did these come from?” Riot went to the stack and picked up the weapon that was a hammer and spike built around the end of a blaster. It was the same weapon she had used before in their first fight. “They were left in the cargo bay after the initial fight with the Brutes. Rizzo put them here to return to the Trilords, should they ask.”
Riot liked the feel of the war hammer in her hands. She’d have to take other weapons, of course, but taking this weapon with her just felt right. In the end, Riot decided on her molten blade, a belt of various grenades, the Villain Pulse Rifle, and the war hammer.
“Paging Riot to the bridge,” Deborah’s voice came over the ship’s comms. “You better see this.”
43
Their ship hovered over the pyramid, looking out over the oncoming Brute force. An ocean of Brute warriors stood ready to charge the Silna walls. Riot was horrible at guesstimating large groups of anything, but there had to be at least ten thousand Brute warriors ready to attack. They carried ladders with them, ready to scale the walls, as well as a massive tree-trunk-like battering ram supported by twenty Brutes on each side.
Yellow banners with a black axe in the middle were carried by hundreds of the warriors throughout their rough lines.
“This is like those crazy medieval wars we read about as kids,” Vet breathed. “This is nuts.”
“Remus has at least one ship, maybe more,” Riot cautioned Rizzo. “Plus at least two dragons he’s controlling, so watch out for them. Don’t think they’ll show up—know they will.”
“Um … is that the prince?” Wang pointed out through the right side of their front window. “And is he riding a dragon?”
All eyes swung over to see a massive, greyish white dragon come to a halt beside their craft. The dragon gazed at them with wild eyes alive with the promise of battle. Ketrick sat on the dragon’s back where its neck met the rest of its scaly body.
“Yep, that’s him.” Deborah nodded. “And he’s still not wearing a shirt.”
Ketrick wore the same black pants and boots he had at the meeting. Gauntlets protected his forearms, but only a few chains hanging from his neck did anything to protect his chest. A helmet with two horns coming from the top rounded out his armor. In his right hand, he held a long pole with the end made up of an axe on one side and a spike on the other. In his left hand was a kite shield. Both weapons had blasters fitted into them in true Savage Trilord fashion.
Ketrick mouthed something they couldn’t hear before removing his kite shield and flipping all of them off with a large smile spreading his lips.
“Did he just give us the finger while riding a dragon?” Vet asked, not believing his own eye. “Tell me that just happened.”
“It did.” Riot shook her head as she, along with the rest of the crew, returned Ketrick’s one finger salute. “As soon as it stops being fun, one of us should tell him what it really means.”
“Do we have to?” Wang was smiling and double-flipping off Ketrick. “I like it.”
Rizzo stopped, lowered his middle finger, and turned to stare out through the ship’s front window. Two flapping images came into view: a blue and a black dragon appeared on the horizon, traveling quickly.
“Evonne.” Riot took her seat in the command chair behind Rizzo for the time being. “Enhance the dragons flying toward us, and can you allow us to hear what’s going on on the ground?”
“Yes and yes,” Evonne replied right away. “Enhanced view on the front screen now, and picking up audio from the ground.”
At once, the middle and largest window allowing them to look out was filled with the image of two dragons speeding toward their location. The same long, yellow collars around their necks hummed with a green aura.
Sounds of guttural shouts and stomping of feet filled the bridge. The Brute force was preparing for their assault on Silna’s walls. Weapons were pounded against armor, blood lust in the eyes of all those assembled.
“Evonne, can you detect what those dragons are wearing on their necks?” Riot adjusted in her seat so her weapons weren’t poking into her back or sides. “What kind of metal or technology is being used to manipulate the dragons?”
“Checking.” Evonne was silent for a moment. “I can’t find anything in my databanks. It is either new tech or, less likely, I was not programmed with the information.”
Before Riot could give another order, a horn from the ground below blared into the bridge. A roar immediately followed, then the sound of thousands of rushing feet. The battle for Silna had begun.
Without warning, Ketrick and Vikta left their side like an arrow loosed from a bow. They made a beeline to intercept the two approaching dragons before they could wreak havoc on the defenders of Silna.
Rizzo moved the craft as if he were about to follow, then thought twice as an alarm went off. Riot had never heard the noise before, not when they flew into the storm of dragons in space, or when they lifted off from the Bulwark. By the blaring red lights going off and on, it was clear something was very wrong.
“Rizzo?”
Rizzo pointed to the left, then turned the craft that way for everyone to see. Not one, not two, but three alien ships were approaching. A second later, a pair of green blaster fire raced from the lead ship and pounded into their shields. The ship shuddered.
“Shields at ninety-seven percent and holding.” Vet looked at the holographic dashboard that rose in front of him from his station. “She’s good to go.”
“All right.” Riot looked out through the window that had now gone back to showing in actual magnification what lay on the opposite side. “Let’s deal with them quickly. I need to get on the ground. Rizzo, light them up.”
Rizzo accelerated toward their targets, twisting and weaving through the green enemy fire. Riot had to remind herself to buckle up. In her full suit of armor she was less than comfortable; still, it was better than being flung halfway across the ship.
All three enemy ships were now firing as the opponents raced to meet one another. The Karnayer ships were a fraction of the size of Peace Envoy One, but more maneuverable. The exterior of the enemy ships were black with sharp, rigid lines along the frame. Each had three long talons that stretched out past the ship’s body. From these three talons came the blaster fire, heavy and unrelenting.
“Rizzo, keep control of the primary guns but shift the secondary to Wang. You have enough to deal with.” Riot looked over to Deborah who, with wide eyes, gripped her safety harness with both hands. “Vet, report?”
“Their ships are fast and they can unload rounds in a hurry, but they’re not as strong as they look.” Vet maneuvered around something on his hologram display that looked like the ship’s blueprints. “We’re like a tank in this fight, and they’re firing machine gun rounds at us. Shields are ninety-five percent and strong.”
“Good. Wang, Rizzo, line up your shots on these little ba
stards. We want—”
An explosion rocked the ship, making Riot’s teeth chatter. Her body was flung against her harness so hard, she knew she’d have bruising later. More warning lights went off in the bridge.
“What the hell was that?” Riot looked to Vet, then to Deborah for answers. “Did they hit us?”
“Shield’s been penetrated,” Vet answered from his seat, his furrowed brow never more pronounced than now. “But not by enemy fire—by a ship.”
“What?” Riot asked, trying to understand what Vet was getting at. “They kamikazied us?”
“No, their ship penetrated our cargo area at the rear of our ship,” Evonne informed them from overhead. “It seems those three talons on their ships were created to tear through metal and attach to other crafts. Enemy soldiers are boarding our ship now.”
“Take those other two ships out before they can attach to us,” Riot ordered as she unstrapped herself from her seat. She tossed Deborah her belt of grenades and molten blade. “Probably not a good idea to use the grenades in here. Have Evonne shut the door when we leave. Come on, Vet, it’s time to bring the thunder. We’re going Karnayer hunting.”
44
“Here, you’re a better shot.” Riot tossed her Villain Pulse Rifle to Vet. She shoved her helmet onto her head and started down the hall. “No one gets past us. We can’t allow them to gain access to the bridge. If we can get to the armory first, we get you your gear. If not—”
She heard running boots heading up from the cargo bay. They had already breached the ship and were wasting no time in making for the bridge.
“Evonne, how many?” Riot held her war hammer low like a mini gun. Her thumb pressed the button on the top of the shaft that released the trigger on the opposite side. “What are we looking at here?”
“Ten,” Evonne said immediately. “All armed in body armor and carrying gauss weapons of their own.”
“Sweet.” Riot steadied herself as the ship took a hard turn. “Vet, put that one good eye of yours to use and stay behind me. I’m going to get as close as I can.”
The noise of heavy boots on the ship’s metal floor echoed down the hall. The first Karnayer soldier turned the corner. They were dressed like the soldiers Riot had seen standing behind Remus at the failed peace talks. Black helmets and visors hid their face. Their armor was thinner than Riot’s, all black with thin, metal plating.
BAM!
Vet took out the first one with a headshot. His victim’s black visor shattered in a spray of black glass and blue blood. Then all hell broke loose.
Riot understood her weapon worked as a blaster but was better suited as a hand-to-hand weapon. She raced forward as Vet covered her from behind.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Vet took another in the chest, and a third through the stomach. They were all racing around the corner now. Riot met them head on. She swung the heavy war hammer with the hammer side up in a wide uppercut and caught the first soldier under his chin, snapping his head back and breaking his jaw.
BOOM! BOOM!
Karnayer soldiers caught by surprise at an enemy attacking them point-blank shot in panic. They struck one of their own soldiers with wild shots. The spray of their gauss rifles firing blindly painted the hall corner green in blaster fire.
Riot continued her upward swing full circle, allowing the weapon to ride the momentum. She caught it once more in mini-gun grip and unloaded on the Karnayer soldiers, point-blank. She hit two more in the chest before one of their own weapons found her stomach and left leg.
That was the danger of fighting so close; the impact of their weapons hurt that much more. Riot doubled over from the shot to her stomach. She felt something give in her leg as she was forced to the ground under the pressure. The remaining four soldiers were on top of her before she could get up.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Vet’s Villain Pulse Rifle lit up the hall with its red blaster fire. Two more Karnayer soldiers fell. They exchanged fire while Riot struggled to her feet right in front of the last two Karnayer soldiers.
The ship banked hard right, still in a dog fight with the last two Karnayer ships. Riot slid sideways into the wall. On one knee, she fought past the pain of the gut shot and the round that struck her left leg. Her right hand was still on the war hammer’s shaft.
“Ugh!”
The cry was Vet’s as a round hit him. Something like a manic rage overtook Riot as she heard Vet go down. There was no time to look to see if he was okay; there was only time to act.
Riot bottled the pain and stood up. At the same time, she brought her war hammer sideways with the pointed end first. It bit deep into the side of the Karnayer’s helmet. The weapon punctured the head protection, as well as the skull underneath. Blue blood oozed from the helmet.
Riot maneuvered the soldier’s body still stuck to her weapon in front of her to block the shot of the last remaining Karnayer soldier. She rammed the dead figure still attached to her war hammer into its living counterpart.
“Rawww!” Riot tore her weapon free from the head of her last victim and shoved the war hammer into the corpse’s chest, pinning it and the struggling Karnayer behind into the wall. She pressed the trigger on her weapon and held it down. Yellow bolts tore bloody holes through the dead soldier and into the living soldier behind.
After far too many rounds pumped from the end of her weapon, the war hammer overheated. Riot’s heart pounded in her ears as war rage took over. The two dead soldiers fell to the ground.
“Remind me never to piss you off,” Vet coughed from down the hall. “You’re kind of a scary chick.”
Riot dropped her hammer and ran to where Vet lay on the ground. She tore off her helmet to get a better look. The shot had hit him on the right side of his chest. It burned a hole through his black-and-grey uniform, charring the skin and flesh underneath.
In front of Riot’s eyes, his body began to mend as the microscopic nanites went to work and repaired his wound in seconds.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Vet moaned as he struggled to sit up. “I’m okay. It hurt like a bitch, but we’re Wolverines now, remember?”
Riot looked down at her own wounds. Her armor had turned the round that struck her stomach and leg, but she knew she would have had internal bleeding and a shattered kneecap if it had not been for the nanites. Maybe she did have those wounds for a few seconds when she went down, before the nanites kicked in. When she was shot, it still hurt like hell.
The constant weaponfire from the ship and the return fire from the Karnayers’ crafts had dulled to a white noise in the background of their fight. Now, a much larger explosion ripped through the air, and Peace Envoy One shuddered under the impact.
“Evonne, patch me through to the bridge.” Riot helped Vet to his feet. “Wang, what’s going on out there?”
“Wahoo! We just lit one of those suckers up,” Wang shouted back. “Rizzo’s a flying god out here. We’re chasing the second one now, but he’s turned tail and run.”
Riot grabbed her helmet and war hammer. They raced to the bridge side by side. Evonne opened the thick doors for them as they approached.
A wide-eyed Deborah held the molten blade in both hands. An expression of overwhelming relief crossed her face when she saw it was Riot and Vet entering the bridge.
“I almost cut myself with this thing, like, twice.” Deborah turned off the weapon. She handed back Riot’s belt of grenades. “Here, I don’t think I should be allowed to hold these. Did you get them all?”
“The ship is Karnayer free.” Riot accepted the belt and clipped it onto her waist. She nodded to Vet. “Between his trigger finger and my hammer, they didn’t have much of a chance.”
“Oh, my gosh!” Deborah looked at Vet’s torn and bloodied uniform. “Are you okay?”
“Better than okay.” Vet ran to take a seat at his control console. “I have new baby skin already growing in over my wound.”
Riot looked out through the window. The much smaller and faster Karna
yer ship was almost lost to sight. They were already miles from the fight at Silna.
“Get the ship turned around and back into the fight with the Brutes,” Riot ordered Rizzo. “Evonne, what’s the status with the dragons and on the ground?”
“Not good,” Evonne reported as Rizzo banked hard and headed back to the battle between the two warring Trilord races. “Ketrick is locked in combat with the other two dragons, neither one gaining the upper hand. The Brute forces have breached the walls of Silna.”
As Evonne related the news, images popped up on the screen. Ketrick and Vikta were literally locked in combat with the other two dragons in the air. Vikta had her front talons clenched around the gold collar of the blue dragon, while Ketrick fought on her back. His long weapon was fending off the black dragon above them.
The next image was from the battle on the ground. A wave of yellow banners carried by the Brutes streamed in through the broken front gates of the city. The fighting now took place inside the courtyard.
“Evonne, where’s Remus?” Riot asked, searching the image for the tall Karnayer.
A moment later appeared a picture of the white-haired alien swirling his hands in front of him with a weird, green glow. He looked up at the dragons he’d maneuvered into the air as they attacked Ketrick. His position was behind the Brute army in a copse to the left of the path leading to the city.
“Rizzo, hover a few feet from the trees. I’ll jump.” Riot slammed on her helmet. She grabbed her war hammer and ran from the bridge. “After that, grab your gear and join the fun. Evonne and Deborah can handle the ship.”
“We can?” Deborah asked her back. “We will?”
“Roger,” Vet and Wang said at once.
ROGER, Rizzo said in her heads-up display.
Riot pounded down the hall, jumping over the dead bodies of the fallen Karnayer soldiers. She reached the cargo bay just as the ship’s forward momentum stopped and the rear ramp began to open. Riot ran up the still-opening ramp and hurled herself into the air.
Bring the Thunder (War Wolves Book 1) Page 17
