R iot crested the last step on the wall, looking out into the morning light covering the planet. Below her blazed a wall of flame nearly as tall as the wall itself. Just inside, stood Rippa and Atlas in their mechs .
Coming from the jungle interior were creatures Riot had seen before. Zenoth hive queens resurrected from the dead by a mixture of magic and machine. The insect-like monsters lumbered toward them .
That wasn’t even the worst part. It seemed the Karnayer drop ships had been hard at work creating not just one of the terrifying beasts, but seven of the monstrosities .
Distant booms and bangs from far overhead reached Riot’s ears, but in the moment, all she could concentrate on was the impossible freaks of science and magic in front of her .
“I’ve either done way too many drugs in my day, or I’m seeing seven Zenoth queens,” Wang said from beside Riot. “Tell me you’re seeing the same thing .”
“You have done way too many drugs in your day,” Riot said in answer, “but I’m seeing the same thing. Ketrick, if you can hear me, you need to break off protecting the gate and deal with the Zenoth queens .”
“I see them,” Ketrick said, bringing Vikta into a hovering position beside Riot on the wall. “I can deal with them, but that will leave the city without support. It’s exactly what the Karnayers want .”
“And we have to do it.” Riot looked up to her right, where Ketrick sat on Vikta’s wide back. The wind created by Vikta’s giant wings pushed against her. “We’ll hold the gate. You deal with the freaks. This has to be their final push .”
“Vikta says to take care of yourself,” Ketrick said over the comms. “She doesn’t want to live in a universe without you .”
Riot felt a giddy sensation rise in the pit of her stomach and spread across her entire body. The feeling didn’t belong on a battlefield, but it was what she felt when Ketrick spoke to her about “Vikta’s” feelings .
“I’ll be fine, Vikta.” Riot looked past the dragon’s head to Ketrick. “You do the same. We have plans when this is all over .”
Without another word, Ketrick took the dragons high into an arc where they would be better suited to descend upon the Zenoth hive queens .
“Wow, I never realized you and Vikta we’re so close,” Doctor Miller said in a serious tone. “That’s great. A bond between a Marine and an alien dragon. That’s a really beautiful thing, Riot. It gives me hope for the future .”
Everyone looked over at Doctor Miller in disbelief .
Rizzo actually removed his helmet to give the doctor a deadpan stare .
“What? What did I miss?” Doctor Miller said. Even the Grovothe shock troops looked at her, shaking their heads .
“We have massive beasts coming from the jungle,” Killa reported as the sounds of weaponsfire intensified from the south wall. “Hefty aliens walking on all fours with blasters on their backs, firing green energy. Five of them in total .”
At the same time as Killa’s report came in, the familiar wail of a Devil’s Hand drifted over the south wall. Not just one voice, but multiple whale-like cries penetrated the Trilord city .
“Those are Devil’s Hands,” Riot said, already making up her mind on what had to be done. They couldn’t afford to have the monsters’ strange cries resurrecting the dead. “Ketrick, you have to go and take them out. You know you do. Go !”
“I—” Ketrick said .
The single word coming from Ketrick said it all; the hesitancy, the way he already was taking his dragons in a swing to the right .
“I’ll be right back,” Ketrick said through a clenched jaw. “Hold here, Sorceress. I’ll only be a few minutes .”
As soon as the dragons shifted to the right, the Zenoth hive queens charged. Not only them, but also the rest of the Abominations that still numbered in the thousands and a new addition to the battle—actual Karnayer troops dressed in their all-black armor and carrying high-powered blasters .
“Protect the gates!” Riot screamed into her comms. Her brain was working on overdrive as she witnessed the seven Zenoth hive queens spread their metal wings and soar low over the ground toward the gates. “Rippa, Atlas, focus fire on a single queen. Brimley, tell me you’re locked and loaded .”
“I’m ready,” Brimley said over the comms .
“Great. Don’t spread your fire. Just take a single queen down, then move on to the next,” Riot said. She unhooked the warhammer from her back as the enemy closed .
Already the fire barriers from Ketrick’s dragons were beginning to fade. Where once they had risen nearly two stories into the air, they now blazed no higher than Riot’s five-foot-eight frame .
The main Karnayer force was still two hundred yards away and closing. Riot had precious few seconds to dole out orders that could very well decide the fate of the battle .
Her eyes focused on a crate of what looked like Grovothe grenades in a small box at her feet. A plan churned in Riot’s mind as she shouted orders to the forces around her .
“Queen Revna, I need you and your warriors to hold the gates when they break through. I’m as optimistic as the next space Marine, but let’s call a poodle a poodle, here,” Riot said grabbing an armload of grenades. “I need some tape. Does anyone have tape ?”
“Tape?” Wang repeated. “Why would anyone in a battle have tape ?”
“Here.” Doctor Miller reached Riot with a roll of black duct tape .
“Oh, of course she has some,” Wang said, shaking his head. “So, next question: Why do you need tape ?”
“Remember Afghanistan?” Riot asked, going to one knee. She wrapped as many grenades as she could around the head of her hammer. It wasn’t pretty, but the grenades circled it like a ring around a planet .
Not Afghanistan, Rizzo typed over the screens in everyone’s heads-up displays .
“Well, we have to die sooner or later,” Vet said, joining Riot. He brought his sniper rifle from his back and began doing the same thing. He strapped grenade after grenade to the barrel of his weapon. “I guess this is as good as a time as any .”
Wang and Rizzo joined in .
“Is someone going to explain to me what we’re doing?” Doctor Miller looked on, perplexed. “They’re about to reach the gates .”
The familiar sounds of Rippa’s and Atlas’s mechs opening fire on the charging Zenoth queens filled the air .
VRRRROOOOOOOM!
Brimley let her second and last salvo of rockets loose from their berths .
“Evonne, Cupcake, hold the gates at all costs,” Riot ordered. “And pray the nanites work as well as we all hope they do .”
“Epinephrine shots, anyone?” Wang stood up, holding the barrel of his Villain Pulse Rifle. Along the stock were duct-taped a glob of grenades. “I think Riot still has two, but I have more party favors for whoever wants some .”
Riot was reminded she did, in fact, have two of the altered epinephrine pens in a side compartment in the lefthand side of her armored leg .
“No time.” Riot looked to the charging Zenoth queens who were now less than a hundred yards from the gate. “Spread out across the wall, and whatever you do, don’t miss .”
“Oohrah!” Vet and Wang said in unison while Rizzo slammed a fist into his chest .
Riot backed up from the waist-high wall, preparing herself for what she was about to do next. She ran through the plans in her mind’s eye, seeing her actions before she actually committed to them in real life .
Rippa’s and Atlas’s mechs were in bad condition from the waist down. The Abominations that had reached them with blades for hands had done a number on the outside of their armor. The left leg on Rippa’s mech sparked, and with every movement, a huge portion of the armor had been ripped away to expose hoses and cords .
Atlas’s mech wasn’t any better. He was down on one knee. A small fire had broken out on the right leg of his mech near the ankle .
Both of the Grovothe pilots fought on despite their injuries. As one, they zeroed in on the same Zenoth queen flying toward the gate. In seconds, they had cut through its wings. They were now finishing off the freak of science-magic with a series of long laser blasts to the monster’s head region .
Brimley’s fire hammered a second giant Zenoth creature in the torso and skull as it stumbled and fell from the sky. That left five, closing in fast .
“Oohrah, Marines!” Riot yelled into the comms. “If I don’t see you in this life again, I’ll welcome you in the next !”
Riot heard their responses, but she was already moving toward her target. She was able to take two steps before her third landed her with her foot on the wall. She launched herself off the partition and sailed through the air at the same time she brought her warhammer in a wide swing .
Her timing had to be perfect for this to work. For a moment, she thought she had jumped too soon. The lead Zenoth queen she had chosen as her target still seemed too far away. Riot hung in the air as time slowed. Blue blaster fire erupted behind her as green return fire came at her from below .
Riot could see the Zenoth queen, up close and personal. It was the same kind of massive insect she had encountered before on the planet of Raydon. It looked like a giant praying mantis with multiple arms, huge eyes, pincers, and a row of sharp teeth .
Unlike before, this creature now had unnatural metal wings. A green glow came from its enormous eyes, and the arms on the right section of its body, along with a portion of its torso, were also metal .
Riot’s last thoughts were on Ketrick as a roar built deep in her chest .
I wonder what life we could have had together, Riot thought as time began to speed up. I’ll see you again one day .
As if time were trying to make up for its temporary lapse, the next second sped by .
“Rawww!” Riot screamed as her warhammer strapped with grenades came down on the Zenoth queen’s head .
It was a perfect blow. Riot hit the queen with every ounce of strength she could muster. At the same time she pressed the trigger on her weapon .
BAM!
The last thing Riot remembered was a bright light as she was hurled back into the air like a rock thrown from a catapult .