Samson’s cold stare bore holes into me, but only for a couple of seconds before he turned to Levi and sighed.
"Whatever. Cain better have a good explanation, or my hands will strangle the life out of him."
"Shut up and let us help you," I said, pulling the big guy up. He barely stood on shaky legs. His Achilles' tendons had been severed, that much was clear.
"Here," Gene said as he entered, "Let me help you up on this thing."
"That’s no gurney," I commented.
"Well, it’s the only thing I could find. Take it or leave it."
I sighed at the wheeled contraption. It was as wide as a king-sized bed and narrowly fit in the hall outside. Would it fit into the elevator? Maybe, but upstairs we’d have a problem getting to the research bay.
"Come on. Get up there," I said, pushing Samson up on the bed, then went back for Levi. She looked up at me with hollow eyes.
"I knew you’d come back," she sobbed. "I told the big guy, but he wouldn’t believe it. Thank you," she whispered.
Something deep in my guts lurched and threatened to open up long-closed floodgates. Tears threatened to well up in my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them see it. No, not now, and not ever. They needed to be saved, and then we could see how to proceed once our numbers were replenished to a degree.
"I’m sorry for not being able to come sooner. But the moment I was on my feet, we beelined here," I whispered, kissing her forehead for some strange reason. "You can go to sleep now, Levi. Let me take care of you guys."
She nodded as I picked her up gently.
"Are you really a monster now?" she asked, but avoided my gaze.
"I guess. But not as big as Cafka or his sons. And speaking of which, I’ll let you have the old geezer if you want. You can splatter his brains all over the bridge once you’ve recovered."
She nodded weakly as I put her down beside Samson.
"I’ll do it with my bare hands. And hey, wake me up once we’re there, okay?"
I nodded and flashed her a smile, then turned my head to Gene.
"Can you get us some armor, weapons and more ammo from the guard room? You know where it’s at and how to open the locks," I asked, starting to push the double gurney.
"Sure. Wait for me at—"
"Humans? I thought we killed all of them," a clicking and popping voice spoke from behind us. It was loud enough to carry the approximate twenty feet distance between the newly arrived group and us. I turned around slowly, my gun at the ready and froze.
Three Gebradim troopers stood around a two head taller, and much meaner looking—creature. Most likely an officer. Or at least I guessed it was one with all the stripes pinned to his shoulders. Whatever he was, though, the six arms on his back and the steel armor he wore were enough to make me think twice about fighting the thing. But if not me, who would take on the burden? Gene?
"Gene, forget about everything. Take them up to the Doc, immediately. I’ll try stalling them down here."
Chapter Nine
"I guess you missed a couple of us Humans, alien. But you’re free to try me out this time," I said, grinning from ear to ear.
Outwardly, I was ready to face death like any other soldier, but on the inside, I wasn’t sure of what to feel. It was one thing to ambush these alien troopers, but something else entirely going up against them in a one on one.
"Why don’t you run, Human?" the officer asked. "It would make it more fun for me to hunt you like the vermin you are!" The group stepped slowly in our direction but lingered far enough smirking and laughing.
"Why would I be the one running, Gebradim? I’m quite hungry if you know what I mean."
"Hah! Humans need food quite often. We eat once in a month and can remain satiated for much longer periods than you human scum!"
I shrugged and waved him off.
"Why don’t you try me? Just you and me, and I’ll show you just how weak we are," I provoked. To my surprise, he went for it.
"Very well, Human. But how do I know you’re worthy of fighting me? You look weak to General Baragdi!"
His brown-reddish body looked ominous under the red strobe light, while his arms looked as thick as my legs. Had I chewed off more than I should have? Unless I tried, I would never know.
I looked back as Gene pushed the large contraption into the elevator. Our eyes met for the slightest of moments, but he could see the trouble I was in, that much I was sure off. He raised his rifle and aimed.
The ant-soldier on the right, his third mate, noticed first and brought up his weapon, releasing a shot before I could do the same. The energy bolt went wide as Gene’s bullet struck him in the chest.
I turned back and pointed my assault rifle on the enemy, releasing a storm of bullets their way. Everything went to shit as the Gebradim put up a sort of shield that deflected most bullets. The enemy lowered their rifles and stood there motionless. I guessed they couldn’t fire any bullets our way either. Good, we had just gained a few extra seconds.
"Run!" Gene shouted as he produced a small, round object. My eyes went wide once I saw the item. The high-pitched sound we became so familiar with not too long ago, struck my overly sensitive ears as the grenade passed right by me.
"Shit! Where did you get that thing from?" I asked as I dropped beside him, my rifle trained on the group of four.
"Hit the second floor!" he barked, tossing another bomb at the Gebradim. The elevator doors groaned and started closing almost immediately. Just as the elevator lurched upward, the fiery explosion shook the corridor beneath us.
"They’ll come for us, I’m sure," I said. "I doubt the grenade did anything but piss them off if that shield could deflect our bullets so easily."
"Right. But look at this," Gene said, offering three more. I couldn’t help but chuckle. Had he robbed the dead soldiers in the guard room? He shrugged and tossed them to me. "Take them. I got two more on me. We need to split up, though. One of us needs to stay and hold them back somehow, while the other takes these two to the research bay. It isn’t far, but I doubt you memorized the layout."
"You’re right. You go ahead while I set up an ambush," I replied while studying the grenades. "I trust you’ll be back momentarily?"
Gene nodded. "The moment I hand these over, I’m back with you."
I looked down at Samson and Levi, a weak smile on my face. Luckily they had no idea just how fucked we were.
An explosion rocked the whole ship and almost toppled me over as I slammed into the wall. With a curse, I tried to steady myself.
"What the hell was that?" I hissed. "Did they bomb us?"
Gene shook his head as he collected himself.
"I have no idea. Something bad must have happened since the whole ship lurched. We should be focusing on our own problems for now, no?"
I shook my head and spat as we kept moving upward. Luckily, the elevator didn’t sustain any major damage, so we managed to reach the next floor pretty quickly. I helped Gene push the gurney down the first two corridors and waved him off. There was no better spot to attack the enemy than at the elevator, so I backtracked and waited around the corner.
Left alone to fend for myself without any help wasn’t the greatest of feelings. Not that it was any different than most of my life had been. All I ever did was hide from people and live on my own, or at least I tried to.
The sound of the elevator moving again drew my attention back to the issue at hand. Gunfire erupted down the hallway, accompanied by screams and shouts. I wanted to run and help whoever it was, but that wouldn’t do. If I did, someone might accidentally shoot me. No, that wouldn’t do, I thought.
With a sigh, I crept around the corner and passed the elevator. It was still on its way down, so I had some time. Ahead of me, I noticed a group of rookies and a couple of regulars. It looked like they were beating a retreat, but I wasn’t sure. What I did know, was that if someone came up their backs, they’d be dead in a heartbeat.
"Hey! Friendly on your six! Don’t shoot!" I s
houted, holding my rifle to the side. Two of the five soldiers looked back, but just one trained his weapon my way for a second and lowered it quickly when he saw me.
"Why are you almost naked, rookie?" the Lieutenant asked. I recognized the band around his shoulder; it was just like Kris’s when we first met.
"I was in a vat when all hell broke out, Sir," I added and walked up to them. "Speaking of which, a high ranking Gebradim officer and three soldiers are on their way up the elevator. They’ll be here any moment now."
The Lieutenant frowned.
"There are two things you need to know about our situation, rookie. We’re about equally matched in numbers, but they caught us with our pants down. We’re using guerilla tactics, and that’s what we’re going to do with the general as well."
"Sounds good, Lieutenant, but why are you telling me this? I’m just a rookie."
"The hell you are!" he snapped. "You survived for so long by yourself, no? How many did you kill?"
I shrugged.
"A couple?"
"Good enough. Figured it might have been one, but a couple works better. And there are the obvious marks of an awakened, so you outrank me in any case, sir," he nodded.
"Oh? I didn’t know it showed," I replied.
"Sure does. Your arm is two times its ordinary size, no? Something along those lines. Anyway," he said, turning toward one of his men. "Brown, mine the elevator entrance. Use invisible filament. The rest of you, pull back with this gent here!" he ordered and pushed me back the way I came.
Gunfire erupted from the opposite end of the corridor once more, punching holes and scorching the steel walls and ceiling all around us. A short, stubby regular ran up to the elevator door, knelt and planted what looked like a pack of explosive against the wall, attached a fuse and did the same to the other side.
"Done!" Brown shouted and hustled to hide behind the corner. "Fuck, man, that was close," he laughed shouldering his rifle. “Lieutenant, I got you."
The Lieutenant nodded and moved to run our way. A single stray bullet passed through the back of his head and splattered his brains all over the walls. I felt Brown stir beside me, rage apparent on his face. But I stopped him just as the elevator dinged to a halt. As the door opened, four Gebradim spilled out, their weapons trained on all sides.
The general was missing three limbs, while the three troopers had sustained severe burns and broken appendages. Baragdi strode from the elevator like a proud peacock with his head held high, and a rifle pointed my way. With each step, he released a salvo that slammed against the wall nearest to me.
"Fucking hell, why did he step over the filament?" I hissed and looked at Brown. "Did you put it too low?"
He shrugged.
"I’m a short guy. What do you want me to say? It looked high enough for me."
I sighed and shot back at the general, then pulled back again.
"So am I in command?" I asked, looking the four men over.
"Yes, sir!" Brown said with a grin. I raised my right eyebrow and looked closer, noticing the man was stoned.
"What the hell did you take? Get me some of that shit if we make it out of this mess alive," I asked and grinned back at the fool, picked a grenade from my belt and held it close to me. "Run, all of you!" I hissed before I activated the device. Once it started screeching in my ears, I turned past the corner and threw it right at the General.
A massive explosion rocked the vicinity and sent a torrent of flame my way. I pushed Brown down and lay atop him, shielding the short man with my back. The flames brought back nasty memories from Edwald’s torture sessions. Lost in pain, I failed to notice the fire had subsided, and Brown was trying to get up from under me.
"That wasn’t supposed to happen," I groaned pushing him off.
"No, shit! Did you forget about the mines?" he wheezed.
"Oh, fuck."
"Yes, fuck indeed. If they’re still alive, I’ll eat my own foot. No, make that both—"
A deafening screech thundered from behind us. I turned my head back and cursed. Was he still alive after all that punishment?
"You were saying?"
"Umm, run!"
I got up and tried to run, but it wasn’t working. Both my legs and my back had been burnt badly. I could feel the wounds healing, but the pain was all too present. Even more, my mental anguish struck me like a mallet. If the general had survived both explosions, he was very powerful and probably hard to kill. With some luck though, he might have been damaged. I rather not risk another close encounter with death until my body could handle it.
We rounded the corner and kept moving for two minutes until the pain subsided, and an all too familiar feeling took over. Hunger. The hatred, and rage. There couldn’t have been a worse time for me to lose my strength. Pain shot through my left arm as something stirred inside.
"Run," I hissed, pushing Brown away. I could see that they knew what was going on, at least partially if nothing else. But all three of them just stood there frozen like a statue.
Gene appeared behind him just then, armed to the teeth and carrying a second pair of armor on a trolley. He stopped wide-eyed and took a step back.
"Move it! Let Cain handle the guy!" he snapped and pulled at Brown’s sleeve. The short man followed without protest, but I could feel his eyes linger on me for a moment longer. Was I going to turn into that creature now that my life was in danger? Would it be able to take over? I didn’t wait and gulped down a piece of the last brain I carried up from the brig.
"There you are!" the general mocked as he passed around the corner. "I’m glad you didn’t run away! Or weren’t you able to hide any longer?"
My arm shot up in defense, growing three times size in size. Metallic scales shot up from beneath the skin as my fingers turned into a wicked-looking claw. I had no idea what it was, other than that it was very cold and felt like metal. The high polished gleam only served to confirm my suspicion, but how was I able to sprout metal claws? A number appeared over my arm as I studied it, showing me it was at 500.
"Oh, so you’re not just a lowly Human, are you? Why didn’t you say so instead of running away?" the General clicked and hissed. With a deft move, he threw aside his weapon and cried out as a similarly looking growth enveloped his body and arms.
"I’ll rip you apart, general," Devil growled through me. I couldn’t get used to his gravelly voice that made chills run down my spine whenever he spoke. But the hunger was at least gone, just before an unbridled rage took over. No matter how hard I tried to move, my body wasn’t listening to me anymore, and the sound that came out of my mouth wasn’t my own.
"Devil?" I thought.
"Sit back and enjoy the ride, young one," he said with a smug expression as an image of him appeared in my mind.
"How about you let me fight that guy?"
"Too bad. You haven’t progressed far enough to do a full-body takeover. That creature would rip you apart in seconds. He’s far too strong."
I could feel the truth in his words, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. Maybe our shared symbiosis let us read each other’s thoughts or feelings? Whatever the case, I was helpless and forced to ride the battle out as a spectator. At least for now.
Chapter Ten
"Tell me, creature, who is your god?" the General asked as he stepped closer toward me, his face set into an eternal grin.
"That is none of your concern, Khepri," Devil replied. The general stopped and cocked his head slightly.
"I see," he said with a wicked grin. It was as if he anticipated something he’d been waiting for all his life. "You must be an ancient indeed to recognize me. Not that it changes anything. The outcome will still be the same," he replied. "You aren’t even a full tier one yet."
"I wouldn’t be so sure. All I need is this one arm to defeat a tier two. Anything more would be overkill," Devil provoked and flexed my massive arm at him.
An image appeared over the General’s head as if ripped from a game.
"Hey, how
do you know who he is? I mean the name and Armament thing," I asked curiously. We knew about Armaments on Earth as it was a very hot topic even in schools, but I had no idea about how the Armaments came to be.
"I will explain in more detail if we survive, but to give the short version, there is only one ‘God’ and one ‘Devil’ for all living species in this universe. No matter what galaxy they come from, our God is their God, and our deities are their deities. However, they depict them differently, though the names stay the same and those connected through the Armaments are visible to us."
"Now that’s messed up," I replied. "I mean seriously, one would think with thousands of different species that live out there, there would be thousands of gods and stuff."
"I will teach you if we win. Now be silent, I’m trying to figure out how to tackle this hard shell of his."
"Can the grenades crack him open?"
"Probably, but they would do the same with me. You did give me a good idea, though."
Devil darted in much faster than I thought possible with a wicked snarl. Khepri put up his armored hands in a shield and stepped back, released scarab-like wings, and flew toward us. The claw grew even further as spear-like protrusions started sprouting from the palm. Before I could even feel any pain like before, the projectiles shot toward the general at incredible speed. The javelin struck its right wing, shredding the joint as it passed right through, forcing the beetle god to a skidding halt.
The wing disintegrated as if evaporating into thin air, before it appeared anew, while one of the arms disappeared in turn. Could he regenerate life by sacrificing his limbs? These creatures sure were interesting.
Not giving up on the small advantage, Devil pressed on and slashed across Khepri’s front. The wings unfurled and blocked the attack barely in time. The claw only managed to scratch the surface and deflected harmlessly. Khepri’s right arm shot out from beneath the shield and caught my chest, launching me against the wall.
Antennae sprouted from its head and swung right and left, over and over again. A high-pitched humming emerged along with a ball of crackling energy, easily the size of my head. It floated right in front of his chest, growing until everything went silent for a mere instant. The ball shot out with incredible force, melting the wall as it passed nearby. Devil dodged at the last possible moment, deflecting it with the claw. The ball dissipated once it hit the mixture of plexi-steel behind me, but not before it went in a couple of feet deep. A burning stench filled my nostrils as part of the claw still sizzled from the heat.
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