Krum-Bahk ducked behind a corner as an explosive was thrown towards his position. The explosion rocked the building, but Krum-Bahk coolly swung back around the corner, firing on the cultist bomb thrower. The cultist had already activated the next mining charge he planned to throw, falling among his comrades and killing them with his final bomb.
From another corner of the room, a cultist wielding a flamethrower made of a modified industrial torch charged them. He was shot down by Fenyn. Two of the three cultists that had used the flamethrower as cover were picked up by Grepk, one in each hand, and slammed into the ground as Grept knelt and drove his arms down simultaneously. They did not get back up again. The last one met her end at Keshri’s claws.
Soon after, Krum-Bahk’s squad met up with the other squads. The facility was cleared. Every cultist had been either killed or incapacitated, but none had surrendered. Krum-Bahk sighed and sat on the ground, totally spent.
“You did good, rookie,” said Grepk, nodding appreciatively. “That was a tough gig.” He looked to the main door of the building, where two RIS agents were walking in. “Of course, this might be my least favorite part.”
A Wabuluban female with mechanical legs and a Talpidarian male walked up to the squad. Both had RIS insignias, the Wabuluban wearing hers on her metal thigh; the Talpidarian wearing his on his shoulder.
“What can we do for the Republic Intelligence Services today?” asked Grepk. He stood with his palms up and antennae raised, a posture known as the “Raki smile.”
“Oh, don’t pretend you’re happy to see us,” said the Wabuluban intelligence officer with a knowing smile of her own. “We all know better.”
“Oh, it’s you,” said the Talpidarian, looking at Keshri. “Now did you leave any cultists alive, or are we going to have to rely on rifling through pockets like usual?”
Keshri looked around. She kicked the cultist she had just shredded, which got no reaction. She held up a finger, asking the agent to wait. He crossed his arms, tapping his foot in annoyance. She kicked the one of the cultists Grepk had just crushed, and this one moaned slightly. She pointed to the crumpled form in triumph.
“Happy now, Chully?” she asked
“Never,” he answered flatly, then spoke into his comms, “we’ll need a medic over here.”
“Alright, squad,” said Grepk. “RIS is going to want a full debriefing. Follow me, and we’ll try and keep this quick. And civil.” He aimed the last comment directly at Keshri.
***
Trelik and Talon Squad crowded around Reclan’s tablet, watching the feed from her drone. It was a steady image of low-lying stone buildings, tucked into an overhang of the cliffs down at sea level. Vanbrook sighed. It had been nearly an hour and there had been no sign of the beast. Then something flickered on the left side of the screen. Vanbrook's eye snapped to it and he saw two eyestalks emerging from a building.
"There!" said Trelik. "Alright, we know where it is, so let's take positions down at the edge of the ruins. We don't want to risk getting ambushed, so I want Reclan to stay at the edge and monitor the slug's movements."
The ranger began to march down the path leading to the ruins and then stopped suddenly, paused, and turned to Talon Squad.
"Um, sorry, I'm overstepping, aren't I?" she asked.
"Not at all," said Raivyn, shaking her head. "You know the park, you know the target; consider us back up, ranger."
Trelik's antennae turned up and she gave Raivyn a thumbs up, then turned to the path again. The squad followed her down the well-trodden path, soon arriving in front of a series of low, rambling buildings made of heavy stone.
Trelik called out a couple taller buildings and they split into three groups. Doc stayed with Reclan, ready to use the energy setting on his rifle at a moment's notice, while Vanbrook and D'Jarric took the right side of the ruins and Raivyn and Trelik took the left.
They moved quietly, Reclan speaking through their comms' headsets to call out the slug’s movements. Climbing the outside stairs of one of the taller buildings, Vanbrook and D'Jarric spotted the eyestalks of the beast as it stood on its rear sets of legs, peering around. They ducked. It didn't spot them, but it seemed to sense the group's presence.
"Rai," Vanbrook whispered. "It's over your way, up against one of the middle buildings."
"I see it," Raivyn responded. "Trelik has the shot."
Raivyn saw the beast clearly for the first time. As Trelik had described it, it was a massive slug crawling on ten stumpy legs. However, it also had electric blue skin mottled with baby blue patches and brilliant white spots. Its eyes were crimson and set atop fleshy blue stalks and a drooling circular maw lining with small, triangular teeth. It turned to them, the black pupils contracting in their red orbs as it took them in, deciding whether they were predator or prey.
A shot rang out, and the slug's head exploded into a gooey blue-gray mess. The creature tumbled to the ground, and a cheer rose up from the three groups of hunters.
Vanbrook headed for the stairs to inspect the slug's body, then heard Reclan's voice over the comms.
"Uh, guys?" she said, voice filled with trepidation. "There's more."
"More what?" asked Raivyn, shooting an ugly glance at Trelik, whose antennae were twitching nervously.
"Check your comms," said Reclan. "I'll export my footage."
Raivyn's brow furrowed as she watched nine wriggling forms crawl across her screen. They were all heading for the source of the gunshot they'd heard. For her and Trelik.
"Rai," asked Vanbrook, his voice thick with worry, "Can you calm these guys down with your abilities?"
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"No," replied the psychic. "They're pretty focused on their next meal. Animal minds are tough, especially when they're really set on something. We're shooting our way out."
"We'll try and draw them off you," answered Vanbrook. "Keep your eyes peeled."
Raivyn turned to Trelik."What's the plan, ranger?"
Trelik shrugged."Shoot 'em till they stop moving? I honestly thought it was just the one."
"Good enough," sighed Raivyn.
The first set of eye stalks crept over the top of the roof as Raivyn drew her pistol. She hadn’t planned on shooting. While she could have relied on a T-bolt in a pinch, repeated T-bolts would drain her energy too quickly, so she opted for the gun. She took aim, fired, and watched one of the eyes explode into a bluish gore. The beast shrieked and retreated down the building.
“Nice shooting,” said Trelik, “but let's wait until we have a shot at the brain next time.”
Raivyn nodded, but didn’t mention she’d been aiming for the other eye. The slug reappeared over the edge and Trelik’s gun blasted a fist-sized hole through the slug’s head where its brain had been a moment before. Two more crawled into sight. One met a similar fate, while the other caught three shots from Raivyn’s pistol, succumbing to the third. They kept coming, more and more of them crawling over the wall until the two warriors couldn’t keep up.
“Raivyn, behind you!” came Reclan’s voice.
Raivyn spun to see a slug coming up the opposite side of the building from the others. Out of instinct she shot a T-bolt into it, knocking it back off the roof. Two more slugs quickly replaced it.
Down below, Vanbrook ran through the compacted dirt streets, sword and pistol in hand, ready to activate his buckler if need be. He rounded a corner and saw the building where Raivyn was positioned, swarming with drooling, bright blue slugs. Gritting his teeth, he ran close enough to blast the brains out of the nearest slug with the nova crystal rounds in his revolver. He pulled the trigger and a bright surge of energy blasted out of his gun and took down the slug. The others turned towards him.
D’Jarric followed closely behind Vanbrook, firing golden beams of energy from his fists. Taking advantage of the cover fire, Vanbrook leapt up the stairs. A screeching maw of venom-soaked teeth lunged for him, and he stabbed his saber through the mouth and up into the brain without slowing down, blocking the shower of acidic gore with his energy buckler and shaking it from his sword as he ran. He reached the top of the building and joined Raivyn and Trelik, who were able to keep up with the swarming slugs thanks to Vanbrook and D’Jarric’s distraction.
“Looks like all the slugs are out of the buildings now,” said Reclan over the comms. “Just mop up these last few and we should be good.”
D’Jarric stayed on the ground, pulling some of the pressure off the three on top of the building, who continued firing until all the slugs lay still, most of them in pools of blue gore.
One had climbed onto the top of the building before being shot. In a sudden burst of vigor, it reared onto its hind legs, screaming bloody murder at Vanbrook. The swordsman drew back his saber to strike, and the slug’s head burst into a shower of blue viscera.
Vanbrook blinked, then wretched, his entire upper half soaked.
“Ha!” said Doc’s voice over the comms. “That one got high enough for me to see it!”
Raivyn laughed, having only suffered a small splatter of blue on her armor.
“Thanks, Doc,” she said, composing herself. “I really appreciate it.”
***
The room blurred into focus. Darvik felt the bruises from his fight and from the rough, thick rope that was tied around his wrists and ankles. He was sitting in the middle of a dark room in a hard chair, his arms behind his back and his feet secured to the chair’s legs.
“Really?” he called out to the ostensibly empty room. “Come out here and fight with honor, you psychic freak.”
“Honor?” asked a scratchy voice from the darkness. It sounded like it belonged to the psychic Krauqian. “That’s rich, coming from you. You are Darvik of Griffonia, correct? The disgraced former duelist? The failed criminal? The murderer?”
Darvik was quiet. This obviously wasn’t the law. He’d never been arrested on Kirakna before, but no law enforcement agency in the Republic would act like this.
“Who are you?” he asked finally.
“People who want information,” said the voice firmly. “Answer our questions if you want to walk out of this room. Why were you targeting the special squad?”
“I was out hunting,” said Darvik in a flat voice. “Did I do something wrong? Guess I should have familiarized myself with Kiraknan game law.”
“We are not police, Darvik,” said the voice. “But you already know that. Why were you targeting the special squad?”
“If you know me so well, why don’t you guess?”
“Ah, yes, your rivalry with Specialist Vanbrook. Now tell us who hired you, or are you really just so pathetic you’d throw your life away over your delusions of victimhood.”
Darvik roared and jerked his arms and legs, trying to break free of his bonds.
“I see,” said the voice. “Tell us who snuck onto the Wingspan last night.”
Darvik stopped raging.
“What?” he asked, sweat rolling through the stubble of his hair and into his eyes.
“A pity. You really don’t know.”
His mind spinning, Darvik looked for a way out. He wasn’t useful to these people, whoever they were, and they didn’t seem the type to let loose ends stand up and walk out of their makeshift prisons.
“How’s this,” he said, striking a matter-of-fact tone that he hoped sounded less hostile than he felt. “You clearly need muscle, and I clearly need a job. We both want to keep an eye on the Wingspan.”
The Krauqian walked out of the shadows, staring menacingly at Darvik.
“Tell me,” he said. “What can you offer us?”
He crossed his arms, and Darvik noticed a brand on his wrist. It was in the shape of a serpent. Or maybe it was some kind of shark.
***
Back at the ruins, the ranger station was buzzing with activity as the ruins were cleaned up. Trelik had happily told the other rangers that they’d be scrubbing the blue gore for the foreseeable future.
The head ranger was standing by a kind of wood-fired grill outside the station, brushing a buttery sauce onto the choicest steaks she’d carved from the slugs. The bluish white flesh looked juicy and tender, and Reclan was licking her chops. Trelik plated the food and motioned to the Talon squad to come sit at a picnic table. Vanbrook sat down but waved away the plate.
“I really appreciate the gesture,” he said, “but I just took a bath in these things and I… I just can’t.”
“I guess I can forgive the slight,” Trelik laughed, gesturing to some of the other offerings on the table. “You’re welcome to some of the trail mix.”
“Thanks, but I think I’m going to fast until the stench dissipates from my skin.”
Reclan, meanwhile, had already eaten half of her steak.
“I’ll take his share if it’s all the same,” she said with a mouthful of seafood. D’Jarric chuckled and Vanbrook rolled his eyes. Raivyn was busily working on her own steak.
“We’ll need to get back to the Wingspan soon,” she said as she cut a dainty bite off the savory dish. “When I spoke to Jasken to let him know we’d solved the slug problem he said we’re ready to head out to the next planet.”
“Any idea what that planet is going to be?” asked Vanbrook.
“No.” Raivyn shook her head. “Jasken doesn’t want to advertise anything about the trip so he’s keeping details hush-hush. Lots of folks, the Astralbians in particular, would love to follow us and figure out what we’re up to. Jasken’s hoping to shake them.”
“It’s been a pleasure, Talon Squad,” said Trelik. “I took the liberty of sending a number of coolers full of steak to the fleet. Enough to feed the whole crew twice over. You folks deserve something better than the rations spacers are usually stuck with.”
Reclan smiled toothily. Vanbrook sighed, resigning himself to a couple diners taken in his own private quarters, far from the smell of roasting sea slug.