Shadow Watch: Kethurg War by Brandon Ellis & Max Wolfe

Author:Brandon Ellis & Max Wolfe [Ellis, Brandon & Wolfe, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2023-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

The Mekti queen lumbers forth out of the jungle on six legs, leaving behind her brood. The tip of my head reaches the upper part of her segmented, spotted thorax. Her four arms end in sharpened talons, and they can cut through my mesh armor with ease. There’s no use trying to outrun her. Where would I go?

As I aim between the queen’s eyes, she unleashes a throaty growl, like an engine backfiring. The jungle seems to come alive. Hundreds of Mektis surround us, cutting off our retreat. They must have been hunting us for a while. When they close in, the queen snaps her mandibles, which are as long as my arms. I swallow and step in front of Corr.

“If we kill the queen, what happens?” Corr asks. She’s spinning around as the beasts hiss and click. I don’t even think we’d make much of a snack for them.

“Not sure. First time I’ve seen one.”

The creature lunges for my rifle, and I fire. The pulse laser snaps. My shots wing her shoulder, and one burns a hole in her face. It charges me full speed, like a battleship set to enter jumpspace. My eyes bug out when it hits me, and my rifle sails off into the darkness. I’m prone. It’s on top of me. My punches glance off it. Corr furiously riddles it with lasfire, but it’s in a frenzy.

It goes for my cheeks.

Click.

The tips of its mandibles nick my nose. When the Mektis get the scent of my blood, its Click City. They won’t feed on either of us until the Queen has had her fill.

Her warrior drones shove the workers, preventing them from closing the circle.

Corr activates her electro tattoo on her left arm, which casts ambient light around us. The Queen recoils, and her head cranes away from her.

My fists wail into it. A jolt of force hits me as one of its legs sticks into my belly, pinning me. Its breath reeks like rotten meat, and its mouthparts wiggle close to my throat. I reach up and grab its neck and squeeze. Every ounce of me struggles to get a decent grip on it. It’s too slippery. Too slick, like grease.

I bash its eye with an elbow, causing it to shake its head furiously. Another blow. She hooks her mouth into my sleeve and tugs. The mesh gives way, and she shreds my sleeve. I throw a jab, followed by hammer fist into its forehead. She’s armored up there. I end up hurting my hand.

My partner aims at any encroaching Mektis. Between the Queen and the darkness, it’s hard to see her.

The Queen rises up on its back legs. I roll out from underneath it, my body drenched in sweat. “Switch to beam! Shoot its mouth!”

Corr swings her lasrifle around, one eye closed, the other close to the lasrifle’s optics. For a dazzling five seconds, a ribbon of light surges from her las’ muzzle, engulfing the queen in a blistering wash of red energy.

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