me that he hadn’t seen Bahre hiding behind me. Ah, the Hive did have emotions, of sorts. It had not calculated that I had company.
Bahre took the Nexus by the neck, lifted him from the ground and… pulled his head off his body with a sickening slurping sound. Black tar blood spewed from the neck of the creature, spraying Bahre’s armor and helmet, covering his shoulders and chest.
Behind the Nexus, the two Atlans fell to the ground as if suddenly released from a trance, screaming inside their helmets, their agony making Bahre’s beast roar in response. In challenge? I didn’t understand what was happening, but even inside my helmet, the sound made my head ring.
“What the fuck is going on up there?” Sambor’s voice was crystal clear and calm. Shockingly calm.
“Bahre just ripped the head off a Nexus unit. The two integrated Atlans with him are responding. They’re free of Hive control.”
“That would explain it.” Var’s relief was clear in his own voice. “I’ve got a ship. There were three more Scouts inside. They just dropped dead.”
“Same here,” Sambor replied. “I had one more Soldier to take down. An integrated Prillon. He just hit his knees. If he survives, we’ll have to take him with us.”
I stood and pulled the ion pistol from my holster. The ion rifle was toast, and this little blaster would probably just make the Atlans writhing in pain on the ground angry—but it was all I had. “The two integrated Atlans are up here on the ground. They are no longer a threat.”
“Do not hurt them.” Bahre was still in beast mode, but there was so much blood inside his helmet I had no idea how he was standing, let alone talking.
“I won’t shoot them as long as they don’t try to kill us.”
That made Bahre snort. He grabbed the small ion blaster from my hand and tossed it aside like it was an old shoe. “Not hurt. Rage. Relief.”
“Yes, I figured that.”
Bahre went to stand over the two fallen, integrated Warlords and let out a battle cry I had never heard before.
In my headset, Sambor chuckled. “Gods be damned, that is music to my ears.”
“What the fuck is that?”
“Warlord victory cry. You should hear a battalion of Atlans after they rip apart a battlefield full of Hive.”
The bright light of a ship caught my attention as it settled on the ground below us. I watched as a hatch opened and Sambor climbed on board, hauling the injured Prillon Hive Soldier with him. Moments later the ship hovered above us, ramp down, Sambor on the other end with his hand out.
Bahre handed first one, then the second Atlan up to Sambor, who reached out and took them on board without question.
“Grab that Nexus head,” Var told me. “Helion will want it.”
Disgusted but knowing Var was correct, I picked up the blue head—tentacles and gadgets attached—and threw it up to Sambor.
“Forget that. He’ll want the body, too.”
“Gods be damned. Why are we catering to that asshole?” I looked back to where the massive corpse lay unmoving, knew this was an opportunity my dislike for the commander shouldn’t prevent. “Go, Bahre.” I used my shoulder to help Bahre get to Sambor, then went back for the body.
It took every ounce of strength I possessed to move the thing a few feet. Bahre appeared next to me. “Move.”
I glanced up in shock. “You can barely walk, Warlord. I’ll handle this.”
His beast was calming, and Bahre was able to speak in a full sentence. “You are stubborn. I do not know how you got a female to accept you.” He picked up the Nexus corpse with a grunt and walked up the ramp. Sambor clapped him on the back, which made the injured Warlord drop the body with another grunt of pain.
I actually laughed at his insult, a sound I hadn’t been sure I would ever hear again. Our fight had been intense, only perhaps five or ten minutes, but it was clear now that we would survive.
With all four of us who’d made it through the crash—and a few new additions—safely climbing on board, Sambor walked down the ramp and the two of us managed to drag the dead body onto the stolen Hive ship.
“Fucker is heavy. Too heavy.” It was like the Nexus unit was made of magnets that literally locked it to the gravitational field beneath it. He was far heavier than his size should have dictated, even if he were made of pure stone or