Battlegroup Vega: The Beginning by Anders Raynor

Author:Anders Raynor [Raynor, Anders]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muon Publishing
Published: 2019-07-18T22:00:00+00:00

07

OPHELIA

Through the transparent visor of Biozi’s helmet, Adrian saw a scaly face framed by six appendages, three on each side, ending with a bioluminescent organ. The unblinking stare of the enemy’s orange eyes was paralyzing.

He reached Adrian in one leap and lifted him off the floor. Adrian screamed and kicked the trooper in the abdomen with the strength of despair. A sharp pain burned in his side when the trooper’s claws ripped through his suit and plunged into his flesh. Adrian struggled and kicked the Biozi again, but he was only delaying the unavoidable.

Two biosynthetic tails rose in the air, stopped at Adrian’s eye level, and aimed their venomous stingers at his head. The Taar’kuun didn’t have naturally growing tails, but some elite units of warriors had biosynthetic appendages grafted onto their spine. Those tails made them particularly lethal in close-quarters fights.

One of the stings thrust forward. Adrian jerked his head to the side. The sting missed the visor and slashed his helmet. He felt the pungent scent of the corrosive substance the sting secreted as it was eating though the nanomaterial of the helmet.

The second sting took aim and Adrian’s forehead. He shut his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do to defend himself.

That’s it. The end of the road.

A blaster bolt lit the corridor for a fraction of a second. The Biozi froze. A billow of smoke rose from his temple.

The blaster barked a few more times. Severed poison glands fell off, and the tail’s stumps swung helplessly in the air. Purple blood trickled from the Biozi’s fractured skull. His limbs went limp and he collapsed.

Adrian opened his mouth and took deep breaths. Riley holstered her blaster and dashed to him. She pulled a first aid kit from her backpack and cleaned his wound with an antiseptic spray.

“What took you so long?” Adrian wheezed.

She gave him a sharp look. “Really? That’s what you say to people who disobey orders to save your skin?”

“You didn’t disobey orders. Captain Hunt ordered you to protect me—that’s your priority. We shouldn’t have trusted that Colonel Kor. That was a bad call.”

“It’s not like we had any choice,” Riley retorted, applying medical gel onto Adrian’s wound.

“Thanks, lieutenant,” he added in a softer tone. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful.”

Talia joined them and examined Adrian’s wounds. “You’ve got toxins in your system. I’ll give you a shot. Take it easy for next few minutes—no athletics, understood?”

Adrian nodded and staggered to his feet as soon as the doctor was done treating him. “We need to get to that Pandora’s Box, whatever it is,” he called, hobbling forward.

Riley walked next to him, her blaster carbine on the ready. A faint sound emanated from the room on the left, the one where the Biozi trooper had been hiding.

“Do you hear that?” he asked his companions.

Riley nodded. “Yeah, it’s like someone’s sobbing.”

Adrian switched on the flashlight on his helmet, as the room was dark, and took a peek inside. “The sounds are coming from a crate, there, in the corner.

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