T he dense jungle interior was made worse with the time of day as evening advanced. Riot led her unit with Wang. Ketrick, Rippa, Doctor Miller, and Evonne walking in the middle, while Rizzo and Vet brought up the rear .
Strange sounds in the jungle soon took precedence over the sounds of the booming coming from the Karnayer troops. A dozen smoke curls still lifted into the sky, but the constant noise that had heralded their arrival had finally silenced .
Alien chirps and howls drifted to Riot’s ears from the jungle night life. Some animals had gone to sleep, while other nocturnal creatures were only beginning their day .
Aided by the night vision option in their heads-up display, Riot was able to see into the darkness like it was as bright as day .
“Do you think we can rename them?” Wang asked as he traveled by Riot’s side along a rarely used trail Ketrick knew. “Why do we have to call them Abominations? Let’s ratchet down the creep factor and just call them Smoochies or PLDs .”
“What does PLD stand for?” Riot asked .
“Poor Life Decisions,” Wang explained. “I mean, come on, we can call them whatever we want, right ?”
“I guess,” Riot said with a shrug, her mind less on the conversation and more on the jungle around her. “Whatever floats your boat .”
“Maybe I should wait to see them before coming up with a cute name,” Wang said, speaking more to himself than anyone else. “Or I could just call them bit — ”
“Projected distance to the smokestacks is just under a mile,” Evonne said via the units’ comms. “We should be able to get a visual on them soon .”
“Right,” Riot answered before she began doling out orders. “Vet, take Rippa, Ketrick, and Rizzo along the right. Find a spot to hole up and gather as much intel as you can. Remember, do not engage. We are here, observing only .”
“Roger that,” Vet said over the comms as he and those with him peeled off to the right .
Ketrick caught Riot’s eye and gave her a wink before he followed Vet .
“Let’s get off the trail and head into the bush.” Riot looked over to Evonne and Doctor Miller, who followed behind. “Wang, you bring up the rear; Evonne and Cupcake in the middle .”
Wang immediately turned to take up the rear position as Riot led the group deeper into the jungle. The brush was so thick at times, Riot had to turn sideways. Vines hung down from trees whose roots travelled over the ground like a swarm of snakes .
Leaves ranging from the size of raindrops to cymbals made seeing harder than Riot imagined. At this point, they would be able to hear the enemy before they saw them .
Riot was right. Within a few more minutes of travel, a dull hum met their ears. It sounded as out of place in the jungle as an elephant at a high school. Only then did Riot realize the sounds of animal life in the jungle had completely died; only the hum remained, and with it, a sense of despair .
It sounded like an overpowered electrical grid teaming with energy. Riot lifted her hand to the others following behind her, then gave the sign for them to stay while she went on .
“I don’t understand those hand signals,” Doctor Miller whispered over the comms. “What do you want us to do ?”
“I want you to be quiet and stay here,” Riot growled .
“Oh, right.” Doctor Miller and the others squatted down on the jungle ground. “Sorry .”
Riot focused her attention on moving forward. With her Villain Pulse Rifle out in front of her, she carefully crossed the terrain. She made sure to keep her feet off any branches or leaves that would sound a crunch. She came around a massive tree as wide as Ketrick and as tall as Vikta. On the other side, she got her first look at the Abomination horde .
Riot’s stomach clenched. She hunched down, making herself as small a target as possible. A newly made clearing had opened up in front of her. Jungle trees littered the ground, while others had been carted away, creating a staging ground for the Karnayer army .
Large transport ships lay in a line at the rear of the gathering, with an army of creatures lined up in front of them. These aliens had to be the Abominations Admiral Tricon was talking about .
They were stationed in a dozen square uniformed ranks right in front of the transport ships. The smoke that still rose into the air was due to what looked like chimneys in the center of each transport ship. The smoke rose high into the sky, as noises like hammering came from deep within the bellies of the ships .
Normal Karnayer soldiers dressed all in black patrolled the perimeter here and there, but the real threat was the Abomination soldiers. They were what looked like corpses from dozens of alien species. Some were short and thick like the Grovothe, others were tall like the Trilords. Some were huge beasts built like bears, while other were short with six arms .
Despite their different organic appearances, they had all been equipped with metal appendages. Some had metal parts covering their heads and torsos, and others had steel arms and legs, while still others seemed as though they were almost entirely machines save for a single eye, an arm, a leg, or a shoulder .
The inhuman hum came from the standing Abomination army. Not a single one of the soldiers moved, but the sound still emanated from the centers of their bodies like some kind of inhuman choir lending their voices to a macabre hymn .
Each one of the Abominations shared the exact same green glow that came from their eyes. Whether their eye was machine-made or organic, a dull, green glow Riot had become familiar with emanated from their eyes .
Magic is controlling them somehow, Riot said to herself. These Karnayer sons of biscuits have figured out how to meld machines with the dead and bring them together using magic .
“Are you seeing this?” Vet’s voice came over the comms. His tone was one part wonder, one part determination .
“I’m seeing it.” Riot’s eyes roved over the gathered horde. “There has to be thousands of them .”
“Thousands of zombie terminators,” Vet breathed. “Check out their skin. The organic parts that are left are decomposing and rotting into their machine hides .”
Riot zoomed in. Vet was right. Whatever organic pieces of the Abominations that remained were rotting and withered .
“I’m counting twelve groups of about a thousand each,” Riot said over the comms. “What’s your count ?”
“Same,” Vet answered. “Don’t forget the Karnayer soldiers or the hammering coming from the insides of the transport ships. They’re making something in there, and it can’t be good .”
Riot’s eyes drifted back to the open transport doors, where the smoke and harsh rings of iron workers hard at their craft sounded out .
“Riot,” Vet’s voice came through, stressed, “I think — ”
Boom! Boom! Boom !
The previously quiet night erupted with shots coming from Riot’s right where Vet and his unit peered through the foliage. Bright green and red bolts flashed through the night .
The Abomination soldiers closest to the conflict hummed to life. As if they shared a single thought, they charged into the jungle’s interior toward Vet and the rest of the unit. Rippa’s blue weaponsfire and Ketrick’s yellow blaster rang out with their booms and thumping sounds, respectively .
“Vet! Ketrick!” Riot yelled over the comms. Her yells would have been dampened by the weapons discharging two hundred yards to her right. “Anyone—do you copy ?”
“Riot.” Ketrick’s voice yelled over the comms as he struggled for breath. “Run !”
No freaking way, Riot thought. No chance in hell am I leaving them behind .
Riot pushed her way back through the dense jungle foliage, heart beating in a quick deep tempo. She reached Wang and the others a moment later. Her heads-up display painted the waiting trio in a light as bright as day .
“You heard everything over the comms,” Riot told the three nodding heads. “Bubbles, head back to the city and tell them a force of Karnayer and Abomination soldiers twelve thousand strong are on the way. Wang, Evonne, with me .”
Riot didn’t wait to see what their reaction would be; there was no time. Instead of waiting to hear a response, she crashed back into the jungle depths, headed for the location where she had last seen Vet and the others .
The fighting had intensified to the extent that there were no further pauses in weaponsfire, just a steady stream of loud explosions echoing through the jungle .
“Rippa, Rizzo, Vet, Ketrick,” Riot said through panting breaths. “Do you copy ?”
No response .
A moment later, the exchange of weaponsfire died .
The turn of events made Riot add speed to her strides. She ripped through vines that tore at her armor and over bushes seeking to impede her progress. She could hear Evonne and Wang crashing through the foliage behind her .
A second later, Riot burst into a clearing still smoking from the fire fight that had taken place a moment before. She was just in time to see Vet and Rizzo caught in a stranglehold by a massive Abomination with meaty hands and a domed head. Rippa lay unconscious, being dragged back to the Abomination lines by a pair of Karnayer soldiers, while Ketrick was on the ground, struggling to regain his feet under the onslaught of a dozen Abominations of varying sizes and races .