Chapter Forty-Eight
Xexis
He would never hear her scream like that again.
He would not allow it. Not while there was still air in his chest or blood in his body.
Aphrodite scrambled out of the room and Xexis charged after her.
Thrumming with righteous fury, he couldn’t stand around to mourn his father.
He would not allow the vision he saw taint the memory of his Korzavic.
His father was a strong elder, wise, cunning, sharp, and fought to the last. Which is probably why his eye was nearly gouged out and infected.
The Korzavic probably realized he was infected and tried to remove the Brexzkit himself.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Vroz bodies did not infect well.
Their flesh deteriorated quickly. Xexis had never seen someone so clearly held together by sheer force before…
and he would kill the creature wearing his father’s face quickly.
The Korzavic deserved a glorious death, not one of pain and rot.
Xexis flew out of the inner halls and found the station alive and in panic. Screams from multiple people told him what happened in quick succession. A human man and the Korzavic cleaved their way to the Council ship, taking Xnasis and Kinsi with them.
“Shit,” Aphrodite hissed, making quick work of finding Buddy trapped in a decorative vase.
“Armor,” Xexis instructed, scooped her up in one arm and bolting toward his armory. Their armor was kept there for cleansing and upgrades. Aphrodite didn’t fight him, instead her fingers flying across the keyboard of her data pad. Buddy whizzed past Xexis, clearing a path.
“Kannatch!” Reevar called out from across the station, charging after Xexis.
“Secure the station!” Xexis commanded.
“Where are you going?” Reevar bellowed as he fought his way through the crowds.
“To hunt my father,” Xexis slowed to a stop in front of the armory, twisting to face Reevar. “Find the others, have every drone we own scan and secure the station. I want every shadow searched and every room cleansed of rot. See that the Korzavic’s chambers are cleansed as well.”
“What about you? Where is the Brexzkit taking the Korzavic’s corpse?” Reevar put his hand to the sensor, opening the armory door. “I knew who that human was the second I saw his face but I could not stop him from snatching the Mphrovic. Xnasis chased after them but was captured all the same.”
“The Council. If they arrive, the whole Council could be infected, and this time, I do not think they intend to be stealthy.” The Brexzkit did not have the numbers for a slow infiltration.
Their only chance was to capture the leaders as quickly as possible and breed.
There was no time, even one more Brexzkit than before would mean disaster.
Besides, if they infected Xnasis…or Kinsi…
Xexis’ heart sank as he dove inside the armory.
He sat Aphrodite down onto her feet, letting her scramble to pull her armor on.
Xexis stopped to face Reevar. “Protect the station, ensure it is safe and secure, and if I do not hail back that the infection was cleansed, then assume we were compromised and blast us from the stars.”
“Zhat muq brotesqu, Kannatch.” Reevar’s eyes widened as Xexis jerked away from his friend and ally to find his armor. It was kept in a case close to the front with his name and rank carved into a plaque above it. Reevar followed him, muttering, “That would…”
“Xreck would be Korzavic and you Kannatch,” Xexis whirled to face Reevar, feeling the weight of his declaration.
Rolling the rings down his arm till they were in his palms. The case holding his armor hissed open behind him.
Xexis placed his title rings into his oldest friend’s hands.
“And should this be my final hunt, it was an honor. Vels Zet, Reevar.”
“Vels Zet, Xexis, and may the stars keep you safe.”
Xexis cupped his friend’s shoulder tenderly, nodding to him before turning to his armor.
Reevar left quickly after the rings were pulled up onto his arms. They pulsed with light as the Vroz left to secure the station.
Xexis’ chest warmed to hear Reevar command those around him and the panic slowed around the station.
He was in all but his helmet with Aphrodite returned to his side, her data pad strapped to her arm and Buddy sat on her opposite shoulder. Xexis brought her forehead to his.
If this is the end…then it was a glorious hunt together.
Aphrodite pushed up onto her toes, kissing his temple. Then, taking him by the arm, she followed the path on her data pad. “I’ve gotten one of the smaller vessels ready to launch.”
Xexis pulled on his helmet, shivering as it hissed into place.
The connector clicked deep into the back of his skull and the screens lit up before him.
An exact replica of his previous armor that had been crunched by the Brexzkit.
Only there was strangely a new text box that appeared.
Translucent but to the top left was a small gray box.
Now I can speak with Xexis and Aphrodite Kerso at the same time.
“Buddy.” He smirked to himself as the pair raced through the station. “Go the ship, ensure you are locked into the system, neither Aphrodite or I are a pilot.”
On it. Buddy zipped through the air ahead of them.
The noise of the station instantly died off as the bay doors to the launch pad shut behind them.
Stepping onto the elevator platform, ripping through the air, Xexis strained his ears for any sound.
Nothing but the soft rumble of a single ship and his own breathing.
The stars loomed past them, beckoning him into their endless abyss. Come, hunt them down, save your family.
Xexis tugged Aphrodite an inch closer before the platform stopped. A ship, lit up and roaring with life, sat before them.
Xexis, I have locked onto the signal of their ship, we can catch them.
Xexis and Aphrodite dove into the smaller, two-person vessel seconds before the doors snapped shut.
They weren’t sat as they launched into the stars.
Xexis caught Aphrodite by the chest in two hands and held onto a bar at the roof of the vessel with the other two.
Buddy, tentacles locked into the dashboard, drove them at top speeds.
“Zhat muq brotesqu,” Aphrodite whispered into her comms, sinking back into his touch.