“What the drek?“ M’kor whispered.
Janwar shook his head. “No time to hide the bodies. Move faster and let us know if you start to fall behind.”
M’kor and Simone’s friend nodded.
They hurried forward at just short of a jog, down one corridor and up the next. Drek, this was a big base.
Wee-wonk! Wee-wonk! Wee-wonk!
He and Simone shared a look. Then they all took off running.
“T,” he ordered, “send the drones to the front of the base.”
“Yes, commander,” T responded. “Drones arriving in thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-ei—“
“I don’t need a countdown. Just blow bura up.”
“Yes, commander.”
Simone laughed.
Blaster fire erupted behind them as the Yona defended their rear.
A door up ahead opened, and Gathendiens poured out.
Janwar fired at those on the left, aiming for their torsos as Simone’s words rang in his head. You go left, I go right. You go low, I go high.
And drek did she go high, so quickly that all Janwar noted on the periphery was a black blur racing up the wall on their right and flipping over the soldiers’ heads, one of which toppled to the ground.
“Get behind me,” Janwar ordered Allie and M’kor as return fire struck his armor.
He took down four Gathendiens while Simone’s blades flashed and eliminated the rest. Once the bodies fell, she stood facing him, her suit and helmet splattered with blood. But she sported no injuries.
Relief brought a grin to his face.
Janwar spun to check on the others.
Everyone in the group still stood.
Several soldiers lay unmoving at the other end of the corridor.
He gave the Yona warriors a nod of thanks before they resumed their race to the officers’ wing.
Explosions shook the building as the alarm continued to blare.
Janwar swore when multiple red dots on his visor indicated that a relatively large number of Gathendien soldiers approached the intersection up ahead. “Simone.”
“I see them.”
“Here.” He activated a Z-12 grenade and tossed it to her.
Catching it, she rushed forward in a blur, hurled the grenade at the oncoming soldiers, and continued past the intersection. A shout sounded just before the grenade exploded, sending flames and remains in all directions.
When the fire receded, Simone grinned at him. “That was awesome!”
Shaking his head, he caught up with her.
Allie and M’kor‘s breathing grew ragged behind him as the small group made their way through the base. The Gathendiens’ torture had not left them in prime running condition, but they were toughing it out.
According to the life-form scan, utter chaos had erupted on the base. Explosions continually rocked the structure as soldiers scrambled to figure out what the drek was happening and combat attacks from within and without. Janwar and Simone worked well together, defending their front, while the Yona warriors industriously fought off anyone who approached from behind.
A warning light flashed on his visor. He’d taken enough hits to weaken its defenses. A few more, and he’d lose protection, enabling enemy fire to damage the suit and him. But they had almost reached Krigara and the others.
Another cluster of Gathendien soldiers moved to intercept them from the left at a T-shaped intersection ahead.
Janwar tossed Simone another Z-12 grenade.
She shot forward in a blur.
Light flared as a blast from an O-rifle streaked from the other hallway.
Janwar’s heart stopped when Simone abruptly flew sideways and slammed into the wall on the right. Her body slumped to the floor, one shoulder smoking as the grenade she’d dropped rolled slowly toward the lurking soldiers.
“No!” Racing forward, Janwar dove for the floor, looped an arm around her as he passed, and dragged her with him as he skidded away from the intersection. Fire exploded from the other hallway, just missing them. “Simone?” When he sat up and looked at her, she appeared to be unconscious. Though the shoulder of her suit was scorched, it remained intact.
He gave her a little shake. “Simone?”
She didn’t respond.
Heart pounding, Janwar pushed her against the wall and backed up to her, covering her as well as he could while he aimed his O-rifle at the smoke pouring into the intersection.
Moments later, the biggest Gathendien he’d ever seen stepped from the flames and turned to face him. Unlike the others, this one wore exo-armor like Janwar with multiple weapons attached to each limb.
Ah drek. This must be one of their cyborgs.
The Gathendien’s right shoulder was scorched black. Part of his face was singed, too, indicating a weakness on that side of his armor. And his right eye glowed red when he turned toward them.
Janwar fired at that eye, the sharp osdulium blasts bouncing off the grunark‘s face shield. If he could just get him to turn his head and expose more of that weak side…
A moan carried over the comm in his helmet.
“Simone?” He shifted his aim to the cyborg’s arm as it rose to fire a weapon at them.
They were utterly exposed here. And he doubted his armor would be able to withstand much of whatever the grunark fired.
“Bastard shot me,” she muttered.
“I know. But we have a bit of a situation here, honey.”
The cyborg fired.
Janwar grunted when the blast hit his side with the force of an android’s punch. Osdulium. He could take a few more of those but needed to figure out how to kill the grunark before he flung anything more deadly at them.
“Did he just shoot you?” Simone demanded, sounding more alert and outraged.
“Yes. As I said—“ He grunted, taking another round as he continued to fire at the cyborg to weaken his armor. “We have a situation.”
“He shot you again? Oh hell, no!”
When she squirmed beneath him, he tried to hold her down. “You won’t be able to penetrate his armor. And he’ll see you coming no matter how fast you move.”
“I penetrated a fucking transport,” she declared furiously. “I can damn well penetrate his armor.”
Oh. Right. “But he’ll still see you coming, and you won’t be able to decapitate him or break his neck as easily because they’ve probably reinforced his skeletal system with alavinin.“ The next time Janwar took a hit, red warnings flashed urgently across his visor, and he was pretty sure the impact cracked a rib.
The cyborg jerked suddenly and glanced over his shoulder.
Through the smoke, Janwar could just make out the two Yona warriors firing tronium blasters while Allie and M’kor ducked behind the lekadis that shielded the unconscious Purveli male.
The cyborg turned toward the Yona.
Simone shoved Janwar off and stuffed her hand in one of his pockets. Before he could shout a protest, she raced forward with that exceptional speed of hers and leaped up high.
His mouth fell open when she landed on the cyborg’s shoulders, tucked her ankles under his arms, and started stabbing at the edge of his helmet with a dagger.
The cyborg staggered backward, caught off guard.
The Yona lowered their fire to his legs.
Janwar stumbled to his feet and shot the grunark in the ass and tail, every hit weakening the cyborg’s armor further and diverting his attention from the woman wobbling on his shoulders.