The sound of drums echoed through the speakers of the van as they headed to the southeast section of the El Cobre Hive Zone, the place where their ruthless revenge would begin.

"We're almost there, boss," said Pak.

The drum roll stopped, giving way to a strong, raspy voice singing about death and vengeance. He hadn't chosen the song, but it was perfect for the moment at hand. Ilian and The Poisonous Snakes would pay dearly.

"Now this is music," said Brako.

Raven looked at him with approval. The light gray-skinned drauo, with a dark blue crest and amber eyes, was dressed in his reinforced synthetic fiber suit and the full Akro plate armor from his mercenary days. Leaning against his leg was a massive bulletproof shield with a visor, making him a walking wall.

"The real kind, not the crap they make nowadays," said Brako. When he turned, the scar running down his cheek and the missing piece of his ear became visible. Fine lines of pale-skinned minerals with blue gleams danced across his face and the sides of his head.

"Oh, I can't wait to kill those bastards," Tania said with a giggle, pointing one of her pistols at the companion in front of her.

Raven's eyes drifted to Tania's, and he smiled conspiratorially. The fair-skinned human with freckles, blue eyes, and black hair with red streaks had a crazy look that mirrored her personality like clear water. She was bipolar, unstable, violent, mischievous, and loved rough sex. Especially after a massacre.

"Not more than I do," said Raven. "Those bastards will regret joining The Poisonous Snakes."

"Yes!" replied some of the other members accompanying them. Among them were Serf, a human with a blonde crest, earrings, and brown eyes; an aehul with green eyes and long dark hair tied in a bun named Thefuil; and Stalos, a chromatic drauo with purple-dyed hair and brightly colored mineral scales.

As usual, the only one who hadn't said anything was Atho, an ebony-skinned human with a shaved and tattooed head, equipped with an assault rifle with a telescopic sight. Like with bullets, he only used words for important matters.

"You better cover us," said Raven, looking in his direction.

Atho nodded.

The vehicle stopped, and Raven's heart began to pound harder. The scars from that day started to burn as if the one he had called brother and his former comrades had shot him again. He was nervous. But it wasn't fear; it was having within reach what he had desired for so many years. He was so impatient that his crazed vengeance showed on his face.

"Let's go," he said in a demented tone.

Raven and the other members of "The Exterminators" got out of the armored van and crossed the road. On both sides, old, rusted vehicles, some with bullet marks, had been strategically positioned as barricades. In the distance, part of the network of buildings and walkways that made up the El Cobre Hive Zone loomed. At the lower part, like a port, was the base of the Drokis, one of the gangs that produced the most drugs in the hive. At the entrance, dozens of members and customers of all kinds, coming from both outside and inside the hive, exchanged drugs and money to the constant hum of a low murmur.

"Hey! Aren't you...?" began one of the armed men guarding the access.

Raven raised his large-caliber semi-automatic pistol and blew a huge hole in his forehead. Blood splattered on his scarred face.

"What the hell...?"

Another bullet casing floated in the air, and the second guard fell to the ground with one eye turned into a crater.

Behind Raven, the other members of his gang appeared, and a hail of bullets of various calibers took down Drokis gang members and innocents alike. In much of the different hive zones flourishing in the cities of all Ibelir, various gangs fought for power and the desire for wealth, turning those areas into lawless jungles where the price of a life was worth nothing or less. Its inhabitants usually had three options: die as nobodies in a gang skirmish, join a gang and enjoy life's pleasures until betrayed or killed, or be good and lucky enough to live as a working-class slave in the lower-middle-class areas. Raven had chosen the second.

And he had died once.

A bullet from one of the dwellings on the first floor crossed the battlefield and pierced the skull of one of The Exterminators' members. He collapsed, drawing a small bloody arc.

"Boss, three-eyed sniper!" said Serf.

"A three-eyed Egil? Damn, it'll be tough to dodge that bastard."

The Egil, a nomadic race from the continent of Dunea, were human-sized. Their athletic, sinewy bodies ranged in earthy tones, from sandy beige to dark brown. Their hands and feet were larger than humans', with long, flexible fingers. On both sides of their heads, where a human's ears would be, were two elongated eyes. These, usually brown or black, provided a nearly 360-degree panoramic view. Above them grew their elongated ears, filled with earrings. However, the most distinctive feature of their race was the third eye located in the center of their forehead. This larger eye, usually amber, was generally closed. But when opened, they could see great distances, similar to a telescopic sight.

"Take cover!"

Raven crouched and ran to take cover behind one of the armored car doors. The sound of bullets hitting the cars echoed. The Egil wasn't the only one shooting.

"Brako, get out there!"

Another Exterminators member fell lifeless while trying to move between two cars.

"Damn it, I hate being a target," spat the drauo.

"All you drauos are grumpy," Tania said with a laugh.

"Damn it! The drugs better be good, bastards!" The drauo advanced slowly while covering himself with his shield. Within seconds, the hail of bullets forced him to stop.

The sniper's rifle fired again, and a bullet hit Brako's foot. The igneous drauo grunted but stood his ground. If it hadn't been for the Akro plate protecting it, he would likely have fallen or at least stumbled.

"Shit! That bastard got me in the foot! By Ibelir, how I hate Elio's plans!" said Brako, stopping to take better cover.

"But you're doing great!" said Tania, peeking out just enough to shoot and then ducking back.

"Atho!" Raven shouted.

The sound of another shot echoed, and the sniper of The Exterminators' bullet pierced the Egil's third eye, sending him falling out the window.

"Bullseye!" laughed Tania.

"Eliminated," said Atho, but no one seemed to hear him.

"About time, Silent One!" said Brako, resuming his march as his armor withstood the gunfire.

Raven searched for his sniper with his eyes. He was behind the armored van they had arrived in. His ebony face remained serious and silent. The gang leader nodded and stepped out from behind his car.

"Now, let's go," ordered Raven. Tania, Serf, and three other members also emerged from their cover, while Atho, the drauo Stalos, and the aehul Thefuil provided covering fire.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The gang leader drew his large greatsword and, after dodging a shot, sliced a Drokis member in two before impaling another. Brako knocked down another with his shield and buried the axe in his chest, while Tania and Serf took down two more coming out of the wide entrance of the ground floor, which looked like a small industrial warehouse. Meanwhile, Atho, Stalos, and Thefuil picked off two snipers and some who had rushed towards them with various weapons along the worn-out road.

The alarmed voices drew more and more Drokis members who appeared at the entrance, opening fire. The Exterminators halted and took cover among the nearby cars. Intent on eliminating the intruders, the Drokis advanced to take positions.

What none of them expected was to receive fire from their own dwellings. This had been the first part of Elio's plan: for the main group to attract all attention at the front while another stealthier team entered through the first floor and surprised the Drokis from their own homes.

"Elio's plans never fail," said Thefuil, stepping out with the others to finish off the Drokis in a crossfire.

Brako clicked his tongue and, as if reprimanding him, buried the axe in the head of a wounded Droki.

"Inside," he ordered, holding his shield high.

Raven hung the greatsword on the magnetic hook on his back, drew his knife and pistol, and followed the drauo into the Drokis' base.

***

Tania crouched as she entered with Serf and the other three new members while bullets flew from one side to the other just as Brako decapitated a Droki with a chainsaw.

The freckled young woman stood up quickly in the crossfire and started shooting with her bayonet-fitted semi-automatic pistols. She took down a human with an eye patch and then another who was rushing at her with a machete in one hand and an axe in the other.

A thud was heard, and Tania turned. Another comrade had fallen.

"Damn, these guys are worse than the last rookies we had," she said loudly, laughing as she ducked to cover behind a stack of wooden and steel crates.

"Kids these days are good for nothing," complained Brako as he felled another Droki.

Suddenly, a chilling and repetitive sound echoed, and the armored drauo's advance was halted by a massive and continuous barrage of bullets. A drauo from the Drokis gang, with a huge scar on his face and an open helmet, was relentlessly firing a Gatling gun he held with both hands.

"I need help, you sons of bitches!" Brako shouted as he took cover with his shield.

"He's giving you hell, grumpy!"

"Damn lunatic, shut up and help me."

Tania peeked out and shot one of the Drokis near her. Then she crouched and quickly moved several meters, taking cover behind a column. She looked to her left and saw Raven taking down one with a shot, then dodging numerous slashes from another with bloodshot eyes. Part of her wanted to help him, but she knew her boss wouldn't have trouble. Besides, he didn't like interference in his fights, especially when it came to one-on-one combat.

She forgot about him. Pulling the pin from a grenade, she peeked around the column and threw it toward the Gatling gun's position.

"Boom!" she said, mimicking the explosion that shattered everything in its path.

She then turned to the drauo. His shield was in pieces, and his armor was heavily marked from the bullet impacts.

"They turned your shield into Swiss cheese, huh, Mr. Grumpy?" she said, laughing heartily.

"The shield was new, you bastards! I'll make a new one out of your damn heads!" Brako shouted, tossing the shattered shield aside and running with his axe in hand and a semi-automatic drum-fed shotgun he had unhooked from his leg.

Tania looked again for her boss and saw him plunging his knife into one head and shooting another with his high-caliber pistol. She loved that pistol, but seeing him kill with the greatsword turned her on even more. It was much more primal and savage. She still had the vivid memory of the bloodbath he left when he destroyed Zhekog and his gang with it. It was like watching a god of slaughter.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head, biting her lip to push away that seductive and pleasurable image. Then she opened her eyes, peeked again, and saw a member of the other gang moving among junkies seeking shelter in the crossfire.

"Die, losers!" she said, shooting several times until she took them all down.

Suddenly, a barrage of bullets hit the column she was hiding behind, and a bullet grazed her cheek. Tania quickly took cover, ran a finger over the blood trail, and then licked it; now she had one on each side.

"I'm getting so turned on!" she said with a laugh and stepped out to keep killing. Tania didn't know if witnessing her mother's rape before being murdered by gang members, or simply being born in a place where only slaughter, betrayal, sex, and drugs existed, had twisted her mind. But she enjoyed and got excited like a schoolgirl with danger and bloodshed.

***

Brako slit the throat of a tan-skinned woman rushing at him with a sword, then turned to shoot a drauo approaching with a huge hammer. The cartridge ejected, and the lead bullets shattered his enemy's face, leaving him standing for a few seconds before collapsing.

Another member of the Drokis emerged, screaming from behind a forklift, and unleashed a burst of fire on Brako’s armor. The bullets ricocheted off, and the drauo blasted his right knee with a shot. Like most igneous drauos, he preferred melee weapons over ranged ones, but he had to admit the shotgun was effective and equally bloodthirsty. He approached the human Droki writhing on the ground while bullets continued to fly throughout the industrial warehouse and embedded the axe in his head. Like drugs, feeling his axe sink into his enemies' heads helped him control the constant rage of the igneous curse.

Among the metal shelves to his left, he saw Raven dodging a sword attack, then closing in on the wielder and finally plunging a knife under the man’s jaw. His boss, like him, enjoyed melee combat more than ranged, which was one of the reasons Brako had decided to join his gang.

He aimed at a Droki preparing to shoot him and blew a hole in his stomach with a shot. Unlike him, who wore armor similar to the ABAC series used by the heavy infantry units of Ibelir’s army, many lower-ranking gang members settled for reinforced leather and scattered metal protections.

“Die!” someone shouted.

Brako looked up and saw a drauo on a metal platform holding a handheld rocket launcher.

“Shit! Why is it always me?” he thought.

But just as he braced for the worst, a burst of bullets pierced the drauo’s head, causing him to fall sideways, sending the missile flying into the ceiling, where it created a hole. Falling debris crushed some addicts seeking shelter from the bullets. Brako turned and saw Atho had taken him down. Despite his dislike for snipers, he was grateful to have one.

“Thanks, darkie!” he shouted in gratitude.

“Boss! That coward Vralt is heading to the second floor!” Tania yelled from a distance.

That had also been part of the plan. During their collaboration with the Drokis, they discovered that their leader always positioned himself in the warehouse, directing and supervising everything. However, despite his bravado, he showed his true cowardly nature in critical moments. They knew that if they attacked through the main entrance, he would try to escape via the elevators connecting to the first-floor apartments or a hatch leading to one of the tunnel-like streets of the hive.

Brako felled another with his axe and scanned for his boss. Raven slit another human Droki's throat and nodded at him. The upper parts of his ears had been bitten off when he was just a child.

The two of them carved a path through their enemies toward the stairs, followed by Tania and Serf, while the other members provided cover fire. Along the way, they saw another rookie die from a hammer blow.

Reaching the stairs, a door opened, revealing what must have been one of the drug labs. Four Drokis emerged, clad in protective suits and gas masks. Two were armed with assault rifles, another with a submachine gun, and the last with a pistol.

“Leave these to me, boss!” Brako said with a grin. He was dying to get his hands on the drugs. Just because he had stopped abusing tranquilizers didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy other drugs.

“All yours, big guy!” Raven said, climbing the stairs. He knew Brako wanted to raid the drug lab but didn’t mind. That was another reason he joined the Exterminators. Despite knowing his past and hating drugs because his parents had been junkies, his boss let him take the most when they found a stash and didn’t mind him using as long as he performed when needed.

“Leave some for the rest!” Tania said, dodging bullets and taking down one of the Drokis with an assault rifle.

Most of the bullets from the Drokis bounced off Brako’s armor. However, some managed to penetrate due to the damage from earlier shots, impacting the bulletproof synthetic fiber suit underneath. He felt the bullets’ impact, but for a mercenary like him used to close combat, it was little more than a mosquito bite.

“It’s useless, runts!” he said, approaching his attackers. “Try a real weapon!”

First, he blew off the head of the Droki with the assault rifle, then sent the one with the pistol flying with another shotgun blast, and finally, he cut off the hands and head of the one with the submachine gun with two devastating axe swings.

After finishing them off, and as if the battle had already ended, Brako entered the large room and approached one of the tables where the Drokis were making drugs. In one corner, five humans in protective suits were huddled, trembling with fear. Brako guessed they were the real cooks, and the others had been their assistants or jailers.

“Please, don’t hurt us...” The cooks had removed their hoods and gas masks.

“That depends. Is your stuff any good?” the drauo asked. His deep voice seemed even more imposing through his skull-shaped helmet.

“Yes...yes.”

“Let’s see.” Brako removed his helmet, opened a small sachet, and snorted its contents. The drug hit his brain, and a wave of euphoria surged through his body. “Whoa! Woohoo! Damn! This is good!” he said, contracting his facial muscles and moving his head and arms. “It’d be a real shame to waste talent like yours,” he continued, aiming the shotgun at one of them.

“Yeah, right? So, will you let us go?”

“We promise not to say anything. Please…”

Brako took another snort.

“Damn! A real shame, indeed. I know more than a few who’d die to get a hit of this.”

“Huh?”

The drauo pulled the trigger, and one of their brains splattered against the wall.

“No, please. I promise I’ll only cook for you,” another pleaded.

“That would’ve been nice,” he said before splitting his head open with the axe.

“No!” screamed the third before taking a face full of lead pellets.

The remaining two just closed their eyes to make their fate seem less violent.

Shortly after, a new member named Nyawil, barely a kid, entered. Like him, many started and ended their lives in the gang world quickly.

“Kid, have you ever tried the good stuff?”

“No.”

“You should. People like us don’t live long.”