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One step at a time.
Kaiden rolled a smoke grenade into the factory and waited until it was in the center of the massive hanger before activating it. The smoke covered everything in moments and Nash knew the design would soon permeate most of the factory.
He pulled up his rifle and the muscles in his shoulders tightened as he waited for the command.
“Now,” Kaiden said, heading into the factory first.
Nash cursed as he followed closely, the imaging on his helmet’s glass showing him where each warrior in the squad was. If something happened to Kaiden while on this mission Adelina would never forgive him.
He shot a Neprijat about to fire on the Drakesthai prince and then the white smoke was filled with bright flashes as the plasma shots went off. But their squad was well trained. No one spoke aside from stating where they saw the enemy, who would take what.
The way the Drakesthai worked to protect their Draga brothers and sisters was a wonder in itself. Adelina was accomplishing something no one had been able to do since they’d all split off from the Ancient humans. For the first time they were working together.
That the Neprijat were somehow brothers as well wasn’t something Nash was ready to consider yet.
Then an enemy burst out of the smoke and attacked him head on. Nash fired without thinking – a lifetime of training taking over.
Again and again he fired as they came at him.
His body moved as he entered that perfect calm. Nash kept firing until they got too close. Then he whipped out a plasma blade and sliced as they kept pressing forward through that endless smoke – the factory seemingly going on forever.
He lost all sense of time as he kept shoulder to shoulder with Varan, right behind Kaiden to protect his back. As the Neprijat moved, they did as well. Despite all their problems with each other, their competitions, and squabbles – the three of them fought seamlessly together.
Nash didn’t need to be told, and neither did the other two. They simply knew where the other was at all times, moving to protect each other’s backs.
Kaiden sliced through the front while Varan and Nash took the sides, trusting their blind spots to the warriors behind them.
Moving from rifle to blade and pistol made the close quarters smoother and it became nothing more than a dance as he spun around Varan to get the Neprijat the other male couldn’t see.
Then Kaiden stopped when there weren’t any more enemies waiting to take the place of their fallen brothers. He breathed heavily, wings out in that aggressive stance that made him appear twice as large. “Report.”
The two scouts appeared out of nowhere. “We’ve covered the bottom floor—” A black Neprijat blade sprouted from his chest and Nash fired on instinct.
Then the roar of more Neprijat surrounded them.
Chapter Eleven
Varan
Neprijat Factory
The Hai System
Varan didn’t hesitate as he fired on every Neprijat he saw. His heart pounded. Every breath was short and sharp. The enemy had snuck up on them yet again. Their blasted tech protected them from any surveillance.
He cursed as he threw a knife, taking out one as it leapt for Nash. Black blood sprayed over both of them.
Varan checked on Kaiden, but the Drakesthai prince took down two on his own as he moved to block Varan’s exposed side without even looking.
Three more of their warriors went down, but Varan, Nash, and Kaiden were a whirling circle of death. Nothing got past their guard. Where they went their enemies fell.
Blood ran thick down their armor, both red and black.
And suddenly…Varan stopped, chest heaving as he looked for his next target and only found allies.
Dead scattered the floor.
Varan breathed a sigh of relief as he saw it was mostly Neprijat.
