Page 50 of Wrath

“What’s your name?” I asked in a gentle tone to try and calm her.

“O… Osanu. Osanu Taczad,” she said, her reptilian eyes wide with fear.

“Taczad? As in related to Bazalu Taczad?” I asked, shocked.

The female swallowed hard and gave me a stiff nod. “She’s my mother.”

It was my turn to gape. Bazalu Taczad had been one of the greatest cyber engineers of the Coalition—if not of our times—before her untimely death during a raid on Lenusia.

“I am my mother’s daughter. Marcelle can’t bypass me,” Osanu said.

“Marcelle will fuck you up!” the human said over the com.

“Get inside the changing room and lock yourself in,”I mind-spoke to Osanu.“When I tell you, open the door to let the Jadozors in. Seal the door as soon as they’re inside. We will fight and kill them here. While waiting, lock down the ship. Do not let Marcelle run away with any vessel or escape pod.”

“Understood,”Osanu replied.

I gestured with my head for her to get going while Marcelle continued to taunt us through the com. I threw down the remaining canisters, filling the room with the aerosolized virus before stripping out of my suit. In a series of cracking sounds, I initiated my transformation into my battle form, quickly imitated by Dread. Simultaneously, we telepathically discussed our strategy to avoid Marcelle eavesdropping.

Unfortunately, by the time we were ready, the door was already too bent from the beasts assaulting it for Osanu to be able to open it for us. I hated that the open door would mean the virus would escape into the hallway, but there should be enough to eventually get them. In fact, maybe it was a good thing they were bashing the doors in, as it gave time to the effects of the canisters I’d tossed outside the door to start damaging the creatures.

We split up, each of us moving to one of the far back corners of the room. This would force the creatures to roam around in the cloud of virus filling the room before reaching us. It took a couple more minutes before the left door tore right off the frame, sliding a short distance inside the room. The large Jadozor finished breaking off the second door while forcing its way in.

I immediately unloaded my blaster onto the creature, making it hiss with anger. I didn’t know if it breathed anymore, but any method to get the virus inside it worked for me. And its open mouth was perfect to give the nanobots quick access to the Jadozor’s soft tissues. It rushed me, followed by the second one.

In the meantime, Dread took flight, the high ceiling of the room—identical to our training room aboard the Defiance—giving him the space needed to get above the creatures. Aiming at the vulnerable back for the first creature, Dread fired poisoned needles from the hollow tips of his scorpion tails while also shooting a poisoned mouth dart. From his vantage point, he undoubtedly struck his target dead center. The sizzling sound emanating from the creature’s back appeared to confirm they had penetrated soft flesh, the Crinax we had consumed earlier having also turned his venoms into acid. The running creature reared, its jaw opening wide as it started losing its footing. I spit my own mouth dart into its gaping maw then rolled out of its path. It went on to crash into the wall. I couldn’t say if it was choking, contorting from the acid and virus eating away at its back, or merely trying to get back on its feet, but I had to refocus my attention on the second Jadozor coming at me.

It both tried to ram into me and bite my head off, but I jumped out of its path while swiping my scythed blade at its left front leg, knocking it out from under the Jadozor. The creature partially fell to the side, sliding past me a short distance before regaining its footing. But not before the second scythed blade protruding from my forearm gave a nice cut to its back, and Dread impaled it with a few more darts.

Not for the first time, I envied my Dragon companion’s wings. At the same time, having me on the ground kept our targets focused on me, making it easier for him to take them out. This spacious room also made all the difference. In the hallway, with zero wiggle room, we would have gotten obliterated.

Dread flew overhead to continue raining death on the first Jadozor. It had almost felt unfair as another mouth dart, more poisoned needles, and now blaster shots also found their way into the creature’s vulnerable spots. The absence of bubbling foam around its wounds confirmed they weren’t regenerating: the virus was working.

The second Jadozor spun around and recoiled when it sawmerushing it instead. It took a couple of steps back before spitting some sort of dark gob at me. I raised my shield just in time. Whatever the damn thing was, it did a number on the integrity of my shield. Using my momentum, I jumped as high as possible and performed a front flip while bashing the creature’s head down with my scythed blade to keep it from biting me.

As soon as I landed on its back, it tried to buck me off and swiped its serrated tail at me. I blocked the blow with my shield and slashed my scythe at its vulnerable spot, making a huge gash. Unfortunately, I lost my footing before I could spit my acidic venom inside the wound.

I’d no sooner touched the ground than the most excruciating pain exploded alongside my spine, radiating outward. My teeth chattered, and I fell to my knees, my body seizing as electricity coursed through me. From the corner of my eye, I saw the Jadozor about to bash me with a sweeping blow from its head, but I couldn’t move. Helpless, I braced for the impact that sent me flying against the wall. Only then did I see her, standing at the entrance.

“DREAD! Behind you!”I telepathically shouted to him as the numbness began to release its grip on me.

He managed to raise his shield just in time to parry the strange lightning beam that shot out of some sort of cannon that protruded out of Marcelle’s cybernetic arm. I stumbled to my feet only to have the Jadozor swat me again, this time sideways with its front wing. Although rattled by the strength of the blow, I welcomed the fact that it made me slide a few meters away from the creature, giving me a chance to get back up… barely.

Despite its wounds slowing it down, the beast still ran up to me, its movement getting sluggish as it attempted to bite a chunk out of me. I shoved my right scythe upward into its mouth, forcing it to remain open while holding down the bottom lip with my hand. In the brief seconds I had, my scorpion tails stabbed its tongue in quick succession while I spit acid to the back of its throat.

With a gurgling screech, the Jadozor yanked its head away from me, stumbling in a drunken retreat while emitting a pitiful sound. On its back, the first signs of its flesh turning to ash appeared.

“You bastard!” Marcelle shouted. “You’re going to pay for this!”

I turned to face her, raising my shield to parry the electric beam I’d believed her to be aiming at me only to realize she was targeting Dread still flying overhead. In the corner, the first Jadozor had begun crumbling, its flesh turning to ashes under the effect of the virus. She fired the beam at him again, but he dodged, moving with the speed and effectiveness of a fly while bombarding her with his poisoned needles.

Too focused on my companion, she didn’t see me taking aim at her.

“Kwan and Varnog have killed three of the Jadozors so far. Working on the last two,”Linette’s voice suddenly said in my mind.

My hearts soared upon hearing the news.

“Great work!”I replied.