Chapter Eighteen

“So, what’s the target?” I tugged at my gauntlets as I walked into the garage. Zafir turned to look at me, though Calder, Nikolai, and Maelor kept seeing to their own preparations. Nearby, a woman I didn’t recognize lurked by a bike, crouching down to examine it.

Zafir gave me a tired smile. “We received reports of R’selkti deserters harassing people in several districts. There’s been several reported rapes, but….”

“But? I raised an eyebrow. He didn’t strike me as the sort of filth that would invalidate someone’s claims.

“While they were most certainly attacked, none of the evidence points toward Syldrari attackers.” Zafir shook his head faintly. “You see, Syldrari…ah…secretions? Are bioluminescent and—”

“If you were tryin’ to find a polite word for jizz—try again.” The woman by the bike strode over, hands on her hips. When she reached us, she held out a hand to me. “Names Aisu. I’m guessing you’re Elara?”

“Aisu is another survivor. She was being studied at another facility until recently.” Zafir nudged his glasses further up his nose, seemingly eager to leave behind the conversation of Syldrari jizz. “As she showed promise, our bosses decided to see if she could reign in her feral herself.”

“My town was a few over from yours—we got pulverized too.” Aisu grimaced, then shrugged. “Not that I remember a damn thing about it, mind you. I’ve been patrolling some of the other sectors the last few weeks—mainly the Brihl areas. Girls there are real nice, and the guys ain’t half bad either. Real dapper, the lot of em. Great at givin’ hugs.”

Zafir chuckled when I shot him a questioning look. “I believe you met one of their kind—tall, four arms, incredibly polite despite looking like they could wrestle any monster in this half of the galaxy…”

“Ah, right. Them.” I nodded.

“You wanna feel appreciated? Just go there as a girl in uniform!” Aisu laughed. “Real ladylike, their women. ‘cept, they have a real thing for strong women from other species. Had a gaggle of them after me the first time I went! Something about strong women really gets them goin’.”

“…anyway,” Zafir began, clearing his throat. “Your next few missions will be conducted as a group. I was hoping a few more women would stabilize before we reached this stage, so we could even out your numbers, but this will have to do. If you work well together, your team will become more permanent. Newly stabilized individuals will be assigned to a ‘Team B’ if you will.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We both know our bosses just want to retire us and shove us in the breeding pit sooner rather than later.” Aisu snorted and flapped one hand. “Get to the point, will ya? What do the bastards want us to do this time?”

I grinned crookedly. “…I think Aisu and I are going to get along just fine.”

“ They want you to kill the R’selkti deserters. I …want you to work smarter, not harder.” Zafir crossed his arms and went silent for a moment. “Aisu was correct—all Syldrari bodily fluids, aside from blood, glow. Blood is only an exception due to bioengineering, as luminescent blood made Syldrari an easier target on their home planet.

“The victims were covered in decidedly human fluids, and they aren’t showing the usual signs of trauma. They did, however, have an unknown chemical compound in their bloodstream.”

“You think they were drugged into submission and assaulted by humans, but somehow got around to blaming Syldrari?” Nikolai joined us, looking rather disgusted.

“Sounds like the government alright. Framing ‘aliens’ at any cost.” Aisu shrugged.

“A sedative that makes them susceptible to suggestion, maybe? Under the right conditions, that would’ve allowed them to hallucinate that their attackers weren’t human.” I crossed my arms, tilting my head in thought. Pharmaceuticals weren’t exactly my forte, but it sounded possible enough.

Zafir grimaced. “The point is, we need to confront the R’selkti deserters in a way that satisfies the military and chases the deserters out of our jurisdiction. Since we don’t know if their loyalty has been pledged to anyone new, we can’t take a more political approach via Elara’s contacts.”

“Let’s get to it then.” I started walking in the direction of my bike. “I swear, this damn thing gets more action than I do.”

Aisu laughed. “You too, huh? See, that’s what’s great about the Brihl girls. Our bosses don’t care if I get it on with girls. No ‘breeding risk’ and all that. I can introduce you to a few if you like?”

“No thanks, Syldrari are more my thing,” I mused as I hopped onto my bike, then I shot Zafir a sly look. “You know, boss , if we’re not allowed to get laid—the least you could do is order me something fun to play with.”

Zafir faltered. “U-uh…that’s against regulations. I can’t—”

“Is it now? Or are you just worried about what you’ll overhear since your room is down the hall from mine?” I asked sweetly, getting a snort of laughter out of Aisu. “Tell you what. I’ll let you think about it and decide for yourself what you think is worse.”

“Can…we focus on the mission please?” Maelor looked between me and Zafir, looking totally lost. Then, he perked up. “Though, if Elara is getting toys, I want some too!”

“For the love of…” Zafir brought his hand up over his face. “Did your acquisition of a ‘feral’ throw you all back into the ages of breeding seasons?”

“Waaait! I’m coming too!” A soft voice, accompanied by the quick footsteps of a petite woman, reached our ears. A woman clad similarly to us skidded into view before pausing to catch her breath.

“Uh…” I wracked my brain for a moment, trying to identify her. Finally, my brain clicked. “Diana, right? Where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you at train—”

Zafir stepped closer to Diana and sighed, crossing his arms at her. “Diana has been under medical observation. She can control her feral well enough, but her health is—”

“I won’t fight if I don’t have to, I promise! But they could use my abilities!” Diana clenched her fists and glared up at Zafir. “If anyone tries to ambush or sneak up on us, I’ll know it. Who else can do that the way I can?!”

“… no fighting .” Zafir peered back at her, then glanced my way. “If you have to engage the R’selkti deserters…all of you will be silent and let Elara do the talking. Her identity may already be compromised. If it is…then the Syldrari have some reason for tolerating her. That said, there’s no reason for you to give yourselves away.”

“Can we get going yet?” Maelor growled in irritation. “The more time we waste here, the more likely we’re too late to save tonight’s victims. Right?”

“I’ll be careful, and make sure we all come back safe,” Diana reassured Zafir, before darting over to me and giving me a sheepish smile. “Can I get a ride?”

“Sure.” I nodded, then shot Zafir one last look. “Try not to hog too much of our visual and auditory senses. It seems like we need both heavily for this mission.”

Zafir shrugged and slid his hands into his pockets. “I’m hands-off with this one. Higher-ups want you to run it. I’ll be monitoring everyone’s vitals and communicating with our military allies in the event you need to be extracted…but that’s it. This is all you.”

“Right. We’re off then.” I revved the engine. As we sped off into the night, a rather important question came to mind. “What is everyone’s codenames? Mine is Lethe.”

“Cocytus.” Calder answered.

“Erebos, whatever the hell that means,” Nikolai offered.

“Styx. ” Maelor grunted. “Why I gotta be named after a damn stick—”

Nikolai sighed irritably. “It’s S-T-Y-X. From some old and dead planet’s ancient mythology. Not ‘sticks.’”

Diana giggled from behind me, clearly just as amused as I was by their exchange. “Mine is Hypnos. Zafir suggested we should all choose codenames related to yours, Lethe. Team cohesiveness. Styx couldn’t pick, so Zafir chose for him.”

“Damn, wish I’d been in on that conversation.” I snickered.

Aisu spoke up next, her tone making it clear she was grinning like a wild woman. “Mine’s Acheron. Figured it sounded badass enough.”

I nodded to myself. “Okay. Stick to codenames while communicating until we’re back. The Syldrari may be able to hear through the modulation on our voices or hear the feed from our comms. We need to do what we can to preserve the secrecy of everyone’s identities, especially since we’re not supposed to reveal our military ties. Everyone remember our cover story?”

“We saw each other’s good deeds on the news, arranged for a meeting, and decided to team up for bigger projects,” Diana answered in what sounded like an attempt of a Zafir impression. Vaguely.

“Right. And if we find our targets…in the act?” I grimaced at the thought.

“We bash their skulls in and drag ‘em back to HQ for study, while you guard the victims until help arrives.” Acheron sounded a little too excited about the bashing heads bit.

Cocytus sighed irritably. “We should cut the chatter to a minimum considering Lethe’s info. Until we can confirm there’s no Syldrari around, keep quiet and keep it to hand signals.”

“Well, Lethe can talk considering her cover’s blown. May even speed up the process,” Styx pointed out. “I dunno about you, but I could really go for a brawl right about now.”

When we reached our destination, I let Hypnos hop off my bike before getting off myself. The first thing I noticed was that the sector smelled…perfumed. Frowning, I reached up and nudged a button on the side of my visor before muttering, “Analyze air samples.”

A few moments later, I heard a faint beep and the analysis streamed across the corner of my visor. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

Is it me? I sniffed at myself, then shook my head faintly. It wasn’t. “Stay on alert. It may smell nice…but it doesn’t smell right .”

We made our way through the streets methodically, clearing each area before moving on to the next. The deeper we went, the stronger the scent became. Then, what I could only describe as a melodic chime-like sound came to accompany the scent. However, unlike a chime, the notes were constant and didn’t sound as if they were produced by hitting something.

My teammates didn’t seem to detect the smell…but they certainly detected the sound. I hushed them and crept toward the next corner—this one leading to a plaza that should have been empty so late at night.

Should have, but most certainly wasn’t. Across from me, three barely conscious women were propped up against a retaining wall. Their clothes were dirty, but intact. They were being guarded by two seemingly unarmed Syldrari in unfamiliar uniforms.

Off from them a little ways, I spotted more Syldrari soldiers, and the cloaked man who pissed me off. His head turned slightly enough for me to see the smirk on his lips, then his attention returned forward—to a group of human men that were looking rather beaten up.

We walked right into his web. I let out a soft sigh and motioned for my comrades to follow, but to be quiet. There was no point in hiding now. “I see you beat me to the hunt.”

“I do believe I told you to stay out of Syldrari business.” The annoying bastard linked his hands behind his back, not bothering to turn and face me. “Though, you are smarter than I gave you credit for. You recognized that we already knew you were here.”

“Yes, well, the sector doesn’t smell right. Then there’s that sound…” I trailed off and shook my head. “Syldrari business, though? Those victims aren’t Syldrari.”

“Perhaps…but the attempt to frame us is our business.” The cloaked man disappeared, but not completely from view. When his sword came down at me, I struck it aside with my armored forearm. “Mmm? Are you so eager to make yourself interesting to me?”

The corner of my eye twitched. “What, you think I’m going to just stand here and let you cut me down?”

He leaned down a little with an amused smirk. “Most humans would. Now that you have my attention…why don’t you tell me why you’re here, and why I shouldn’t paint this sector with the blood of you and your companions here?”

“We’re here to stop the attacks that have been happening in this sector— regardless of the species of the attackers.” I prodded him in the chest and held back a growl. “Human or Syldrari, the kind of filth that would—”

“Oh? You claim you have the stomach to give them their comeuppance?” He shoved me in the direction of his soldiers and their captives. “Then show me what this punishment of yours looks like. If it is enough, or at least entertains me, I’ll forget you and yours attempted to interfere in our business tonight.”

“Interfere? Hardly.” I snorted, crossing my arms. “And which one are you so graciously giving to me?”

“Lethe, you don’t have to—” Cocytus raised his hands and backed away when one of the Syldrari moved toward him.

“Which one? Why, I’ll let you have your pick of course. Which one do you sense may be the most vile?” The cloaked man made a sweeping motion with one arm.

I sighed and examined the beaten human men. Several immediately began saying loud, raunchy things aimed toward me…but no. The vilest of them all would be silent. Aware enough of his own twisted mind and its abnormalities to know he’d survive longer by hiding his nature. Finally, I shifted toward the second-most quiet and reserved of the bunch. He looked to be in his forties, likely unable to afford transference into a new body.

“Not the loudest or the quietest?” The cloaked man murmured.

“The loud ones are just socially inept weaklings who were manipulated by the right people during the right circumstances. The quietest one is clearly in a state of shock, likely traumatized by the events he’s found himself participating in despite his guilt.” I shook my head, then looked at the one I’d chosen. “Then there’s the ones capable of hiding or masking their nature.”

The cloaked man chuckled and came to stand beside me, towering over me and the cowering humans alike. “And what do you think is an appropriate punishment for their crimes?”

I considered it for a moment, before a fitting option finally came to me, and I gave the Syldrari a mischievous smile. “We’ll put their corpses on display in the plaza…after removing their most treasured parts, of course. Though, I’m not certain what to do with those removed parts. Clearly no one wants them.”

“You bitch—” One of the men lunged in his restraints but fell flat on his face.

I promptly placed my foot on his skull and kept his face smashed against the ground. Then, I looked to the smirking Syldrari and asked, “Did you get the information out of them that you needed, or do I have to wait?”

“Oh, I got plenty out of them,” he mused.

“Did they get to do anything to those women?”

The smirk dropped off his face and he shook his head slightly. “Beyond frightening them half to death, no. One of my men is analyzing the drugs they were given so he can set them right. It may be a while.”

So, he can be serious about more than just the Syldrari. I sighed in relief and turned my attention back to the humans. I wanted to know if the irritating bastard had followed up on the intel I gave him, but he suddenly stepped forward and plunged his sword through the torso of the man I had my foot on. “Not that I’m complaining, but, why—”

“Don’t. Ask.” He turned away sharply, his glow turning a deep, pure red. Then, he called to one of his men, “We’re sending a message with this filth. Fetch supplies we can pin them to “

I took my foot off the human and tilted my head, debating what could have prompted the Syldrari’s response. Then, it occurred to me that one of the man’s hands was suspiciously obscured. “Gross.”

“I did say ‘don’t ask.’”

“You did. But you didn’t say ‘don’t think’ and, even if you had, I would have told you to fuck off.”

“You are making me question my decision to be lenient.” He raised his fingers to somewhere inside his hood.

“Do you really think we were going to interfere if you tried to punish these assholes?” I rounded on him with a growl. “First off, we aren’t idiots. We know we couldn’t take down one of you, let alone all of you. Despite how fun it may be to try. Second, I’m not going to complain if you execute trash like them. Third, we’re here to put a stop to these attacks and the bullshit framing too. So—”

“Yes, yes, mouthy as ever.” He made a dismissive motion. “You said something about scents and sounds being off in this sector. Explain.”

I shoved down the urge to slug him. “Ever since we arrived, I noticed the air in this sector smells heavily perfumed. However, the analysis came back with nothing. As for the sound…”

After I fumbled through explaining what I heard, the cloaked Syldrari remained silent, smirking and rubbing his chin. Finally, he spoke again, “And these enhanced senses are supposedly the cause of the Resonance Incident? No, I doubt that… Human tissue—even most human augmentation and structures—can’t withstand that accursed weapon.”

“Uh…” I wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. My shoulders slumped and I sighed. “Hey, I only know what I’ve been told about the Incident, okay? The last thing I remember is my conscious slipping and my fingers tearing into…someone.”

“It may be for the best you don’t. It is a gruesome weapon. One that should never have been deployed on this planet.” The cloaked man placed a hand on top of my head briefly as if trying to comfort me, then moved off somewhere out of view. “You lot—Lethe’s ‘companions.’ Make yourselves useful while we wait and guard the entrances to the plaza.”

“Do as he said.” I half-turned to nod at them.

“Six ‘humans’ wearing Syldrari under armor… How very strange.” His mutterings caused me to whirl in his direction.

“ Under armor? Seriously?” I asked aghast. “I mean, I guess a body suit doesn’t make much sense for armor but—”

Some manner of viney, biological-looking material erupted around the cloaked man and engulfed him, obscuring him from view. When the vines retracted into his ‘back’ I was faced with a man clad in what I could only describe as biological light armor. Every nook and cranny emitted a glow, while the tendrils were merely a glossy black. The coat of the armor formed a trench coat-like piece 0f attire, with a split in the back to make room for his armored tail.

The glow shifted from a rich violet to a spring green as he stepped toward me, sword balanced on his shoulder. “Well, well, the sviirti has nothing to say? Your masters haven’t unlocked the secrets of your stolen armor yet?”

“It isn’t stolen.” I bared my teeth at him. “Must you always be so damn smug?”

“I have to find some manner of entertainment while we wait.” He turned to look at the humans, his armor appearing to retract and disappear. Then, he smiled icily and glanced my way. “Or, perhaps you can get started on earning my forgiveness. Will you be needing to borrow a knife?”

“No. I’ll use mine.” I turned to face the cowering humans. I’m going to savor this.

[ Author's Site | | Discord | Facebook | Other Work | My Books on Amazon ]

For quicker releases, Advanced Reading Copy opportunities, and behind the scenes posts--check out my Patreon!