Page 27 of Doom

The ambassadors and the generals all averted their eyes. Despite the shame plastered on their faces, their underlying determination could clearly be seen.

“What do you think will happen once we leave?” I continued, my fury further fueled by the one boiling within my brothers. “As Ambassador Brejor so rightly stated, the human population is very high. Imagine how much more infinite General Khutu’s army will be once he’s used all the females of fertile age as breeders and the rest of the billions of humans as food for his swamps and his liveships?”

“Which is what is already happening,” Ambassador Ludcek countered. “Except on top of that, we’re also losing our own troops and all of you, Warriors. We must cut the problem at the source or else we’re all going down with Earth.”

“I know you’re not saying what I think you are,” Wrath said in a threatening voice.

“You have a duty to protect the entire galaxy,” Ambassador Sommek said, the slits of his four yellow, reptilian eyes narrowing to a thread as he leveled us with somewhat of an arrogant expression. “Every planet of the Coalition has sunk endless resources and years of hard work to create you. We indulged this folly of coming to the rescue of this primitive species because of Dr. Xi’s fondness for them. And see where we are now? See what this fool’s errand has cost us, including his own life? We made you to defend the advanced worlds under threat from the Kryptids. Earth is a lost cause. We will not allow you to sacrifice yourselves here any further.”

Just as I was opening my mind to tear into the obnoxious Lenusian ambassador, Brejor placed a calming hand on his colleague’s scaly forearm, stopping him from further alienating us and claiming the right to speak.

“We understand your father’s attachment to his homeworld,” Brejor said in an appeasing tone. “But he wouldn’t want to see his legacy and all the allies he has made over the past few decades obliterated and for all of his efforts to have been in vain. After extensive discussions, every member of the Coalition has unanimously agreed to withdraw from the Battle for Earth. Although this species cannot be saved, allowing them to continue this war on their own will, as you correctly pointed out, only provide General Khutu with more troops. We are therefore calling for a complete withdrawal, at the end of which Earth will be destroyed.”

As if animated by a single mind, my brothers and I jumped out of our seats in a menacing stance before the ambassadors. Everyone tensed in the room, some of them also rising to their feet, hands twitching nervously near their weapons belt. They knew better than to even try to fight us; they would never stand a chance despite outnumbering us eight to one. But then, I couldn’t fault them for their reaction with Wrath and Rage having partially shifted into their battle form.

“Warriors,” Ludcek said, raising his furry hands in an appeasing gesture, his canine nose twitching. “Please hear us out before you get angry. We know this sounds cruel. We didn’t come to that decision lightly. As they cannot be saved, we can grant them a swift and merciful death. Humans will not be extinct. Many have already been selected to be settled on a new Coalition planet where humanity will get a second chance.”

“You have said enough, Ambassador,” snarled Chaos in a chilling voice. “You can spare us the rest of your rationale and plans. As long as we draw breath, my brothers and I will not allow Earth to fall. And if she does, then we will go down with her.”

Outraged and shocked gasps and huffs resonated through the room, the same disbelieving expressions—betrayed even in some cases—could be seen on every face.

“You cannot—”

“Yes, we can,” I snapped, interrupting the rude Ambassador Sommek before he could spew anymore nonsense. “Contrary to what you said, it is not ourdutyto protect the galaxy, but achoice. You may have contributed to our creation, but you do not own us. In fact, your efforts to put this program together failed miserably until one of thoseprimitivehumans, as you love to say, came and fixed what you could not. The only people we are duty bound to protect are the humans. Did you already forget that they represent 40% of our DNA? Did you forget that another of our main splice is Gomenzi Dragon DNA? That makes it impossible for us to turn our backs on those we consider our people. And if you ever ask us to choose between every world of this Coalition and the humans,theywillalwayswin. So, if you wish to leave, we will not hold you back. Butwewill stay.”

“You cannot make that decision for every single Warrior,” Brejor argued.

“Yes, he can,” Chaos replied while Rage and Wrath nodded. “Even without our Dragon blood commanding us to help the humans, basic moral principles would forbid us from allowing this genocide.” Ignoring the slighted expressions from some of the people in attendance, my brother continued mercilessly. “You said all Xian embryos have been destroyed and fear our species will become extinct. And yet, in the same breath, you want to obliterate the only species to have awakened our mating glands? Human females are now our only hope for new Warriors to be born.”

That last comment struck a nerve with the Coalition members. I clenched my teeth in disgust at the selfish and calculated stance of our allies. To them, we were the meat shields that kept them safe. They had never cared before of how many Xian souls had been lost to permanent death thanks to the large bank of embryos that our father kept replenished to continue building our ranks. And now, just like General Khutu, they were realizing human females could be the broodmares needed to populate their ultimate army.

And that did not sit well with me.

“When we came here for this mission, Dr. Xi gave you two mandates: save his people, and then open negotiations for their voluntary participation in the psychic program,” I said in a harsh tone. “We love our Hulanian Soulcatchers, but our compatibility is weak, which explains why they burn out so quickly and why their soulcatching range is so limited. Humans should be our perfect match.” My stern gaze roamed over the attendance, making eye contact with each of the ambassadors of the main planets. “You want to turn the tide in this war? Then stop dallying about initiating the psychic program, build us new incubators, and protect our fucking support ships. Now, if you’re done wasting our time, we’ve got bugs to kill.”

Without giving them a chance to respond, my brothers and I marched out of the room, ignoring Ambassador Brejor calling our names.

Chapter 9

Victoria

Camp 485 was one of the busiest in the area but merely served as a temporary way station for most of the displaced. I’d elected to stay, at least for the time being. It was located in a human military base where many of our fighting troops were also stationed. Refugees transited through here before transferring to the remote camps much farther away from the hotspots.

A week had gone by since Doom’s passing. Xian Warriors were constantly dropping by, but I saw them from a distance. My request to speak with one of them when next they passed through the camp had been denied by the coordinators who had too frequently received similar requests from the refugees. The Hulanian Operators that relayed messages between the Vanguard and both the human and Coalition armies wouldn’t tell me anything either. For security reasons, they couldn’t discuss the status of any of the Warriors with non-authorized personnel. As much as it angered me, I understood all too well this type of secrecy which my own profession referred to as privacy and confidentiality.

Just as the man from the supermarket had foretold, medical doctors were a hot commodity for our human troops. Even with the golden aliens taking the brunt of the damage by thinning the herd, our troops coming in behind still managed to get injured, some of them badly. I found some measure of solace caring for my fellow humans, although I would have given much to be allowed inside the large black and golden tent where alien patients were treated by Coalition doctors.

I’d seen a few familiar faces here, one of them Father Robert from Our Mother of Mercy. He’d also elected to remain here and provide spiritual comfort to those who sought it, regardless of faith. I had missed Andy who had moved on to one of the other camps further north where our patients from our makeshift hospital had also been transferred. They had all survived thanks to Doom and Stran’s sacrificing themselves to lure away the Drone Swarm. There had been no news of my former colleagues, Laetitia or Johann. I tried not to imagine the fate that had befallen them.

At least, I’d been able to communicate with my family through the radio. We couldn’t speak often as I had to share the limited number of devices with the countless people in the camp. I’d initially considered asking my family to come join us, but it was a long way from our cabin to the camp and a potentially far too dangerous journey. As supplies weren’t an issue for them, and they were sufficiently isolated to be safe from the bugs, we agreed they would stay put.

“Hey, did you see this?” Isabelle, a friendly nurse, asked, startling me. She slapped a flyer down on the table and plopped herself into the folding chair next to mine in the large mess hall where I’d been ‘enjoying’ my break.

“What is it?” I asked, taking a sip of my watered-down coffee.

“That thing you’d been asking about,” she replied, tossing her black hair over her shoulder before tapping the flyer with her finger. “They’re looking for volunteers for some experiment. Our government approved it. I don’t buy this bullshit about it making us psychics.”

I grabbed up the flier and scanned it: Room 24A. I jumped to my feet so abruptly my chair toppled over.

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