Theron: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 12)

by Anna Hackett

  “We’re here,” she called back. “What’s going on?”

  “They’ve finished analyzing the intel from the city,” Roth told them. “They’ve confirmed that a giant oura is in the top of Winton Tower. Squad Nine is heading back into the city to destroy it.”

  “We’re on our way.” Theron jerked his jeans back on. He watched Sienna head for her wardrobe, stripping her dress off.

  His playful, sexy lover was gone, and in her place was the soldier he respected. The woman he trusted with his life.

  Soon, they were in their gear and meeting with Roth in the Command Center. General Holmes was there, looking grim-faced. On the screen was an image of Winton Tower, captured by the Darkswifts.

  “We got the footage enhanced enough to confirm that there is a giant oura at the top of Winton Tower.” The general’s blue gaze swept across them all. “Large enough to control any survivors in the city.”

  Not good. Theron crossed his arms over his chest.

  “We’ve also had some disturbing reports from other survivor bases around the globe,” Holmes said. “They are reporting large oura in their areas, too.”

  “So the Gizzida lure all the remaining human survivors out, and then what?” Theron asked.

  “Use their secret weapon,” Sienna said.

  Holmes ran a hand through his hair. “That’s our best guess. The problem is, we don’t know what this weapon does. Destroying the oura is the mission priority this time.” He turned to Roth. “But if you find any intel on this secret weapon, you bring it back.”

  “Acknowledged,” Roth answered.

  “The raptor defense web is still in place around the tower,” Holmes said. “We haven’t come up with a way to neutralize it. That means we can’t risk you taking Darkswifts or Hawks in.”

  “So, we’ll get dropped off close by and walk the rest of the way,” Roth suggested.

  Arden swiveled to face them. Their comms officer was seated in front of a comp. “The drone team is reporting sightings of this web in other parts of the city.”

  The news was like a punch to Theron’s gut. “We can’t fly in?”

  Roth’s jaw was tight. “We’ll drive in. In the Z6-Hunters.”

  Holmes clasped his hands behind his back. “The area around the city is clogged with barricades and obstacles. Looks like the raptors have been blocking the streets and access roads to prevent that.”

  “But you have a plan?” Sienna asked.

  Holmes nodded, and turned his gaze to the back of the room. Theron turned, and watched Tane and Hemi stride in, already armored up. The only difference was, the berserkers didn’t cover their arms, which left their black ink on display.

  Tane nodded at Squad Nine. “Everybody up for a little motorcycle ride?”

  Theron’s brows rose. “We’re going to ride in?”

  Holmes nodded. “Squad Three has been outfitting bikes for missions like this. They’re maneuverable, and all have thermonuclear engines.”

  “I’ve seen their bikes,” Theron said. “They were not quiet.”

  Tane’s lips moved in what might have been a brief smile. “Not those bikes. These ones we’ve especially designed for stealth.”

  The room fell silent. Theron turned the proposition over in his head. Not a bad idea.

  “We’ll take you in close,” Tane said, “then head off to cause a distraction and keep the heat off you.”

  Distraction to a berserker meant blowing stuff up, flames, and general chaos.

  “The tech team and Reed have put together several explosive charges for you to take in and use to destroy the oura globe,” Holmes said.

  Reed was Hell Squad’s explosives guru, and damn good with anything that went boom.

  Sienna was staring at the screen. “If we aren’t flying in, that means we need to sneak into the building and fight our way to the top.”

  Holmes face turned grim again. “Yes.”

  Shit. Theron knew the building would be riddled with raptors. “And back out again.” There was a good chance they wouldn’t make it back.

  “We’ve had tougher missions,” Roth said. “Noah’s team has rigged up some wingsuits for us. Everyone needs to add it to their armor.”

  “Wingsuits?” Cam said incredulously. “You mean, in case we have to jump off the top of a massive skyscraper?” The woman shuddered. “Nuh uh. I’ll take my chances with the raptors.”

  “Let’s hope we won’t need them,” Roth said dryly. “Noah also said the suits affect the armor’s illusion systems. While you’re flying, you’re fully visible.”

  “Great,” Cam muttered.

  Roth looked at them all. “Squad Nine, ready to save the world?”

  “Let’s do it,” Mac said.

  Taylor, Cam, and Sienna all nodded.

  For the first time in his life, Theron looked at Sienna and terror filled him. His battle calm had vanished. Yes, they’d fought dangerous missions together, too many to count. But before today, he hadn’t been inside her, listened to her breathy cries, and heard her scream his name. He hadn’t slept beside her, listened to her quiet breathing, and felt her curl into him.

  He wouldn’t let down his squad. He’d get the job done. But for Theron, his mission priority was keeping Sienna Rossi safe.

  ***

  Sienna felt the motorcycle vibrate beneath her. The huge bike was fitted with all-terrain tires, and a small, thermonuclear engine. She sat right behind Theron, with her arms clasped around his waist.

  The rest of her squad were all getting ready, and checking their rides. Beside them, Mac was riding behind Roth, and Cam was riding a third bike with Taylor behind her. Roth was carefully setting the explosive charges into armored storage compartments on the side of his bike.

  Sienna had stashed a bag on the back of their bike, too. She’d packed some of her climbing gear, her experimental climbing gloves, and her extra laser pistol. On a mission like this, it paid to be prepared.

  Ahead of them, the berserkers sat on their bikes, waiting.

  None of their escorts were sharing bikes. Each berserker had his own motorcycle, and each one was heavily modified and outfitted differently. There was a lot of armor plating involved, as well as some missile launchers.

  They really were all wild and a little scary.

  “Ready?” Tane called out, his face its usual expressionless mask.

  Roth nodded. “Let’s do this.”

  Tane nodded, and his bike shot forward. The rest of Squad Three followed him into a tunnel. Roth went next, and then Theron set their bike in motion. They rolled almost silently through the twists and turns of the tunnel, until the road began to ascend.

  Soon, they exited through a hidden entrance, and into the afternoon heat.

  They bounced across a grassy field, before riding over a downed wire fence and onto a road. Ahead, the berserkers shot off, looking like a big, bad biker gang. They headed north, Arden’s calm tones in their earpieces, along with the snarky voice of Squad Three’s comms officer. Indiana ‘Indy’ Bennett was in her late twenties, but didn’t let any of the berserkers boss her around. Sienna had heard that the berserkers had been through a number of comms officers, before Indy—a family friend of Griff’s—had stuck.

  “You follow my directions this time, or I’ll lead you right into a nest of rexes,” Indy said, her voice sharp.

  “Aw, Indy, babe,” Hemi drawled. “Chill.”

  “You don’t tell me to chill, Rahia. Last time, you guys ended up having to fight your way out of three raptor patrols. You made me spill my coffee all over my comp. My very expensive and nearly depleted Arabica.”

  Hemi snorted. “We love you, too.”

  “Indy.” Tane’s cool voice.

  The young woman sighed. “Don’t get yourselves killed out there. I don’t need all the single Enclave women sobbing all over me.”

  Sienna smiled, pressing her cheek to Theron’s back. There was no sign of any raptors or other aliens as they entered the outer suburbs of S
ydney. Instead of studying the empty schools, abandoned houses, and looted stores as they passed by, she thought of Theron. Of what they’d done back in her room. She shivered. Everything he did to her turned her on, and she was excited to experience more. He saw her. He knew her better than anyone had before.

  He reached back and patted her thigh. Damn. For the first time ever, she hated her armor. She reminded herself that she needed to focus on the mission. Whatever they faced in the city, she wanted to make sure they made it back safely.

  They whizzed around debris and toppled cars and trucks. A few times, they had to go up on the sidewalk, zipping around street lights and rubble and wreckage that had accumulated. Slowly, sadness surged inside her. Sienna hated seeing the ruin up close, the heartbreaking destruction and emptiness. It made her imagine the streets of Rome and where her family had lived. Did they look the same as this?

  Her heart clenched, and she wondered if they’d ever beat the Gizzida. The aliens outnumbered them many times over, and humans had been reduced to small pockets of fighters and survivors, scattered across the planet. Her arms tightened around Theron, and she felt him drop one hand from the bike’s handlebars onto where hers rested on his hard stomach. He squeezed, like he could read her thoughts.

  She looked at the back of his head, then over at Roth, her squad mates, the strong men of Squad Three. The sadness and despair receded a bit. They still had hope. As long as they had each other, and kept fighting, there was still hope.

  Soon, she saw the city’s skyscrapers rising up on the horizon ahead. A few times, they had to adjust their route to avoid raptor patrols. Finally, Tane pulled his bike to a stop, and raised a hand. They all pulled in around the squad leader.

  “Indy says the barricades and patrols get more dense from here.” Tane’s dark eyes were unreadable. “This is the point where you have to go in by foot.”

  Mac and Roth climbed off their bike. “Thanks for the escort.”

  Tane inclined his head. “Destroy that fucking globe and get back to base. I’ll buy the first round.”

  “I want wine,” Taylor called out. “The good stuff.”

  “Screw wine,” Cam said. “I want bourbon. Sweet, smooth, and expensive.”

  A tiny smile tweaked Tane’s lips. “That can be arranged.” He glanced at his brother—Hemi was watching Cam, his jaw tight—before looking back at them. “Get back to the Enclave in one piece.”

  Cam lifted her carbine up to her shoulder. “Don’t you worry your pretty little heads about us.”

  Sienna climbed off the bike and grabbed her small pack. She hitched it over her shoulder, and gripped her carbine.

  Roth, Theron, and Taylor stashed the bikes in an abandoned building. The squad would come back for them later. Then, they watched the berserkers speed off down the street.

  “Let’s go,” Roth said. “Armor illusion systems on, and keep it quiet.”

  Sienna watched as each member of her squad flickered and disappeared, blurred by the illusion systems that were now built into their armor.

  They moved in formation, Mac in the lead, and Theron bringing up the rear. They didn’t need to talk in order to move together with a precision they’d honed over the last year and a half.

  They hadn’t gone far when Mac’s voice whispered over the comm line. “Raptors coming in from the east.”

  “Inside,” Roth ordered.

  Chapter Twelve

  They all hurried off the street and into a building that looked like it had once been an office. Sienna crouched beside Theron, behind a long reception desk in the lobby.

  Overhead, ceiling panels and wires hung down. Chairs had been overturned, and leaves and trash had collected in piles, blown in through the broken windows and open door.

  She heard the raptors approach, the clomp of their heavy boots and their distinctive guttural voices growing louder. She peeked around the corner of the desk, just as a raptor stomped past.

  “Arden says there are raptor patrols on every street,” Roth murmured quietly. “We’ll have to move slowly and carefully.”

  Once the street was clear, they slipped out of the building and continued their journey. As they got closer to the tower, the raptor patrols became more numerous, and more frequent. Multiple times, they stood stock-still in doorways, or ducked through buildings to avoid detection.

  They closed in on the Winton Tower. Sienna arched her head back, staring up at the skyscraper. The building speared into the sky, mostly intact, except for some shattered windows. She wondered just what the hell the aliens were doing on the top floor, besides housing the oura.

  Roth hunkered down behind an overturned van, and they all crouched beside him, so close together, that they were all inside each other’s illusions. Roth pulled out his binocs, and was studying the scene ahead of them.

  He cursed quietly. “Dammit. The base of the tower is even more heavily fortified than on our last trip. I can’t see a way in.”

  Even without binocs, Sienna could see the raptors had piled up cars, vans, and blocks of concrete to create a barricade around the tower. Armed raptors were everywhere.

  Suddenly, a boom sounded, and the ground beneath them shook. They turned to look behind them. Several blocks away, a cloud of smoke was rising in the air.

  Several patrols of raptors started shouting and running toward the explosion.

  Score one for the berserkers. As her squad debated options, Sienna studied the area. Across the street was another office tower that was almost as tall as the Winton. Something had crashed through the side of it, leaving a giant hole torn into its side, but it was miraculously still standing.

  She glanced between the two towers. The barricade didn’t extend around the second building. “I have an idea.”

  The others went quiet, all of them looking at her.

  “What?” Roth asked.

  She pointed at the second building. “We can use that building, instead.”

  Roth frowned. “I’m listening.”

  “I’ll climb up the outside of the building. I brought my climbing gear, and I have a zip line. I can zip across to the Winton and—”

  “What?” Theron was vibrating with tension. “That’s insane. No.”

  A cold sensation brushed over her skin. Theron knew her skills. “It’s a good—”

  “No.”

  “I can do this. You guys can run interference down here, and with my illusion armor, no one will even notice me. It’s far less risky than trying to infiltrate the building from the bottom.”

  “Unless you fucking fall,” Theron bit out. “You’ll be exposed.”

  “My illusion system will keep me hidden.”

  “We’ve seen it fail before. Taylor almost died!”

  The cold had expanded, lodging in her gut. God, he wasn’t going to turn into an idiot like every other man in her life, was he? “Don’t you think I can do this?”

  A muscle worked in his jaw. “It’s a bad idea. Crazy. You can’t climb up slick glass.”

  “I can with these.” She whipped the climbing gloves out of her bag. “You’ve seen them in action.”

  He shook his head. “No. Just no.”

  “I’m the best climber in the squad.” Please believe in me, Theron. Pain drove into her heart. Now that they’d slept together, maybe things had changed. Maybe he only saw the lover, and not the rest of her.

  Theron stared at her, his face granite hard. Stubborn as always. He looked back at Roth. “We’re wasting time. We need a real plan.”

  Her heart twisted. Just like every other man in her life, he couldn’t accept her as she was. She sucked in a breath, pushing the sorrow away. She couldn’t deal with this now. It would have to wait until later. She looked back at Roth, feeling Theron’s glare boring into her. “I can do this.”

  Roth gave one vicious shake of his head. “You both need to put your personal stuff aside.” He looked at the building. “Sienna, you’re our best climber, and we have to do whatever we can to destroy t
he oura up there.” He pulled out a black bag, which held the explosive charges. “Go. Climb the building.”

  A burst of relief hit her. She took the bag, swinging it onto her back. At least Roth trusted her. “I’m on it.”

  Theron looked like his jaw was going to break under the strain of gritting his teeth. “Fine. But I’m going with her.”

  To protect her? Because he didn’t think she could do the job? “I can do this—”

  “I know you can,” he ground out. “But once you get into the Winton, you can’t take on all the raptors up there alone. You need backup, and that’s me.”

  She stared at him, something trembling inside her. She pulled out her second pair of climbing gloves and slapped them against his chest.

  Roth nodded. “Okay. Both of you, go. Good luck, and we’ll see you on the other side.”

  Cam slapped Sienna on the back, while Taylor winked and Mac nodded. As the others slipped away, Sienna faced the building they had to climb. Anger and hurt churned inside her, but she blocked them out of her head. She couldn’t worry about her and Theron right now.

  When the way was clear, the two of them raced across the street, running to the side of the building. They paused there, and pulled on their climbing gloves.

  “Let’s move down that alleyway,” she said. It would get them off the street, and give them some cover.

  He nodded and they slipped down the narrow gap. Once, it had probably been a shortcut for city workers slipping out of the office for coffee or lunch. Now, it was filled with rotting trash and debris, and against one wall, she spotted the skeletal remains of a body.

  An orange glow emanating from the other side of a dumpster caught her eye. She skirted it, and felt something squelch under her boot.

  “What the hell?” she muttered.

  Theron grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “It’s like that pod we saw in the colony outside the Enclave.”

  It was attached to the side of the building, pulsing. Tentacles snaked out of it, reaching in all directions.

  Sienna wrinkled her nose. “What are these things?”

  “Let’s avoid it.”

  She stepped around the alien thing, and faced the building. Close enough that she saw her reflection in the glass. A soldier ready to do what had to be done. She pressed one gloved hand to the glass, and felt her sticky palm suction on.