Alex immediately fired off a blast of energy at the Zotari commander. It barely had any power to it and no doubt confused the alien more than anything.

I can’t believe this! Stupid Forge. Stupid Coalition. I’m so tired of this.

Command Grit-or looked angry. He yelled across the clearing, “I thought we were making progress. Are you not interested in my proposition?”

“Oh I am but I just got a counter offer that I can’t refuse,” Alex said as he launched a volley of thermal blasts.

“Well that is unfortunate. It looks like we will have to do things a little differently than I had planned.”

Instantly, the two giants were right on top of Alex. Not quickly. They were instantly on him as if they had teleported. They were actually rather slow once they got to him. They started to swipe and kick at him, but their moves were so telegraphed that he was able to dodge them. That was until he rolled around one of the giants feet and met eyes with the third Zotari. The commander had a sneer on his face and punched him in the stomach. It had the same effect that the grey Zotari had. Everything felt wrong and Alex was instantly dizzy.

With him suddenly out of sorts, he was easy pickings for the two giants. They started to bat him around. Alex felt like a tennis ball at Wimbledon. He just kept getting slapped from one giant to the other. It was probably a solid minute and half before one of the giants slammed him into the ground.

Alex groaned and dug himself out his crater. One of the giants crouched down, probably to pick him up to resume their volley. Alex charged up a quick death ray and blasted it into the giants face. It reared back in pain. Alex blasted himself forward into the giant’s knee, bending it back the wrong way. The giant buckled and fell over. Alex started slamming his fists into the giants face, when suddenly, he was hoisted into the air. He flew fifty feet in the air before he started hurtling down. Alex utilized his downward motion and guided himself into the giant that had tossed him.

Moments later, Alex collided straight into the giants face knocking it over in the process. Alex didn’t have any time to add its punishment as he was immediately overwhelmed by the other two Zotari. He did his best to block the incoming blows, but with each successful block, two more connected. Each attack from the commander left him queasy. And that wasn’t all. The commander felt like he had extra strength to his blows as well. It wasn’t on the same level as the brutes he had faced, but it was substantial.

Does he have abilities from all of these variants? Is he some type of experimental super soldier? That’s potentially problematic. I hope they don’t start mass producing these guys.

Alex sent out a surge of energy to create some space and molded his Eonsteel into a sword and shield. Hopefully, having a larger surface area to block the incoming strikes would help and getting a longer reach would keep they at bay. His escapades in the desert so far had increased his abilities with a variety of weapons, but he still wasn’t a pro. His fighting was clunky, but functional. He slashed and stabbed at the two Zotari, but started to get frantic when he saw that the giant he had knocked down began to recover.

I can’t do this alone. I’m running out of tricks. I’ve come so far, but it’s too much.

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Krizzik couldn’t watch anymore. His patience had already grown thin with the way things had been handled. It wasn’t like the Saxan armies had stagnated to allow the grub to do it all, but they hadn’t been helping nearly enough either. The elders claimed it was to allow their forces to push further in other areas, but Krizzik knew it was just posturing.

As he looked on at the scene before him, he just felt sick. This grub had done so much with so little help from them. They had lost this city because they were too stubborn. He had nearly paved the way for it to be reclaimed, but he was about to be overwhelmed. Again, it was due to their stubbornness. Krizzik hadn’t seen these variants before. He wasn’t sure if it was an experimental thing happening inside this unit, or if the entire army was going to start implementing it, but he could see the writing on the wall. If these Zotari were allowed to run rampant, they would lose.

“Prepare for battle!” Krizzik yelled out.

“Sir. You have orders. We can intervene once the siege towers have been destroyed. There is one still standing in the plaza and he hasn’t even started on the ones remaining in the city. We estimate that there are at least six more towers. If you move in now, the elders could have you removed from your position,” one of his lieutenants said just loud enough for Krizzik to hear.

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“I will not stand by as he makes all the sacrifices for our people. I feel it in my core, this is the tipping point. If we don’t act now, we will lose everything. Forget the consequences. We need to act. So prepare for battle. We leave immediately.”

The way Krizzik said that left no room for argument. He knew that the men would listen to his order and he was grateful for his lieutenant. He might lose his position for this. He could lose his life. He couldn’t let his people lose. He would rather die.

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Alex was losing health like crazy. He still had substantial stores, but things were not going well for him. One thing he had realized in his time on Saxar IV was that health only meant so much. He could feel instinctually that if he took a fatal blow, it wouldn’t matter how much health he had left—he would die. With each passing moment, Alex could feel that lethal strike edging closer. It was the hangman’s noose around his neck, so tight he could barely breathe. The two giants were currently pulling his arms and legs while the commander unleashed a barrage of strikes. Alex felt like he would be torn apart. He couldn’t tell up from down, and his vision had long since shattered.

Is this how it ends? All of that suffering? For this?

Just as Alex was about to succumb to the darkness creeping in, a rumble shook the ground around them. The trio of Zotari stopped for a moment, giving Alex a moment to catch his breath. He couldn’t see what had caused that sudden rumbling, but whatever it was left the three of them terrified. Their eyes tripled in size. One of the giants dropped Alex, while the other threw him to the side. When Alex recovered, he could see the three of them retreating back to the tower. Alex’s vision went black.

When he awoke, he was surrounded by sights of carnage. There was no longer only one tower in the plaza, but seven. The clearing was alight with lighting. It was reminiscent of his first day in the plaza. What took Alex by surprise though, was who the towers were firing at. He was no longer a lone wolf, the Saxans had joined the party. Alex was both immensely relieved, and horrified. He could see Saxans being slaughtered by the dozens. Lifeless heaps formed all over the plaza. But, they had come to save him. If they had come a moment later, he likely would have died. An emotion of gratitude and loyalty surged through him. These soldiers had died, for him.

This feeling gave Alex the strength to get to his feet. He popped two health bombs into his mouth. His supply was starting to dwindle and he normally wouldn’t use two at the same time, but he felt like he had to.

The battlefield was chaotic. Alex maneuvered as best he could, but was having trouble navigating. Through the thick haze, Alex could see a tower begin to light up with energy. Like a moth to a flame, Alex rushed toward the tower. With all the confusion, he was able to make it to the tower rather easily.

Man, if only they had done this a while ago.

He made his way up the tower, only running into a few Zotari scrambling to get to another part of the war machine. He faced little issue making it to the engine room. Within fifteen minutes, he had placed the bomb in the engine room and exited the tower. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste. As quickly as he could, Alex placed the remaining bombs in the war machines. He looked around the battlefield. The losses were extravagant.

He needed to find a way to get the remaining soldiers away from the towers. He had placed charges in all of the remaining towers, but couldn’t set them off until he knew that he had done all he could to get them to safety.

I don’t if you work like this, but I need to find Krizzik. If you could guide me to him, I could get these soldiers out of here so that I can achieve my mission.

To his surprise, that internal GPS of his actually activated. He followed it until he saw the Saxan in the middle of the battlefield. As fast as he could, Alex rushed forward. Krizzik was currently fighting four Zotari at once. Alex was amazed that the warrior was holding his own. The four soldiers couldn’t match up to him. He effortlessly evaded their attacks. When Alex arrived, it was all but over.

“We need to get everyone out of here,” Alex said holding up the detonators.

“I am glad to see you are well,” Krizzik said putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder. It took a moment, but realization dawned on the Saxan’s face. “You have placed the charges?”

“Yeah. All the towers have one. We need to get everyone out.”

“I shall signal the retreat. We will need a moment, but it will be done.”

Krizzik stood straight and began to shake his antennae rhythmically. Alex was a little confused until he looked around and saw the other warriors do the same. They didn’t stand up straight like Krizzik had done, but their own antennae began to vibrate in unison with Krizzik’s until the entire battlefield was even more in motion than before.

“The retreat has been sounded,” Krizzik turned to make his way out before returning to Alex and embracing him. “I thank you for your sacrifice. I may not be your liaison after today, but I wanted you to know. We are all grateful.”

As quickly as it had begun, the hug was over and Krizzik, along with the other soldiers, were on their way out of the city. Alex started to make his own way out of the city as well. No sense in him staying behind, he had the biggest job.

When Alex was far enough away, he triggered the explosives. He hadn’t accounted for the number of explosives and was sent flying backwards from the combined force of them all.

Alex was about to celebrate his victory when something terrible sounded in his ears. A wail straight out of a horror film made blood drip from his ears. He wasn’t the only one affected. He could see in the distance Saxan warriors clutching at their own heads.

Something terrible had followed Alex out of the city. Something headed straight for him.