The other side reeked of an ambiance thick with fetid humidity and an acrid, burnt flesh odor.
Ahead, nestled in the ruins of a crumbled atrium, they spotted their target: a secret, dilapidated station.
A crooked, flickering sign, its alien runes distorted by years of neglect, was suspended over the door.
Crude cackles and the clinking of bottles emanated from within.
This is it,murmured Kaal via their neural link.
How many?Mak asked Kaal.
His brother’s eyes gleamed at him before he shut them for a beat.
He reached his hands to both temples, fanned his fingers over his brow, and tapped into his prescient dire-sight gift.
Moments later, he shook his head and opened his eyes.A dozen.
He raised a hand, signaling the team to fan out.
Based on his foresight, he gestured to them where to aim.
They moved with silent precision, taking primacy around the structure.
Asa and Melashan, in their capacity as snipers armed with laser-powered rifles, positioned themselves on a crumbling ledge.
Below, the rest crouched in the shadows, weapons vibrating, primed for the assault.
Kaal’s voice came through the comms: ‘On my mark. We take them alive if we can. They might lead us to their masters.’
A single nod passed through the squad.
‘Mark.’
The doors to the station exploded inward as the warriors surged in, their shields shimmering as they swept through the entryway.
It led into what appeared to be a combined mess hall, meeting area, and club lounge.
Thesacheminside roared in fury, their twisted forms snapping as they unsheathed their weaponized claws.
The room erupted into chaos.
Bolts of violet lasers lanced through the air.
Tables and chairs shattered as the deranged creatures fought with savage desperation, their talons raking against the force field in a futile attempt to break through.
One guard vaulted over a counter, slamming a kinetic net onto asachem’schest. Another fired a precise shot that neutralized a second target, sending them crumpling to the floor.
A third unhinged monster screeched and lunged at Mak, but he sidestepped with practiced ease, delivering a disabling energy pulse to its core.
When it kept swiping at him, he lashed out with his incisors. His fanged tips slid into its brow, and he sucked its soul out with a hiss.
The sensation hit him like a tidal wave, crashing over all senses and drowning him in its depth.
An electric surge exploded through his veins, igniting each nerve with an intensity that left him gasping. It was as if he had tapped into an aura of darkened existence, siphoning raw, unfiltered, warped potency searing through him like molten fire.
His mind stretched to encompass sensations and thoughts that were not his.
Memories flashed behind his eyes, fragmented and frenzied, images of locations he’d never visited, faces twisted in fear and fury, voices overlapping in a cacophony of despair and rage.
