Page 32 of Darken
“Your attention, please. I am Ranger Darken Wolf. Your captors have been neutralized, and I will be releasing you very soon to return you to your homes. I---”
“Darken, we’ve got trouble…. Two flyers…”
“Shoot to kill!” Darken commanded, quickly assessing the new arrivals with his internal scanners.
The flyer outside the back door carried one natural born convert cyborg and an ordinary human. He had an ion rifle that could stun Darken depending on where he was hit. The human stayed by the flyer as the other cyborg approached.
Darken activated his armor cloaking as he extracted his helmet. The natural convert would sense he was there, but he wouldn’t see him. Darken’s armor was the latest version from Phantom, from a limited supply onStarfire Nemesisnot available on Earth.
After taking the hits at Devlin White’s compound, he requested it. He couldn’t afford to be injured in a dangerous situation with only Gina’s backup, even if she was doing exceptionally well in training. She was still a novice.
He waited behind the door as the other cyborg opened it. Darken grabbed the rifle and wrested it from the cyborg. Shooting such a powerful weapon inside the building was too dangerous for the people in holding.
Once Darken had the rifle, he swung it by the barrel to hit the other cyborg in the head. He ducked and punched Darken in the midsection. Up close, the other cyborg would see Darken as a blurry form. Although the odds of shooting his adversary without damaging any of the humans in the holding area behind him were good, Darken was reluctant to shoot a fellow war veteran.
He threw down the rifle and continued to fight the cyborg hand to hand in the hallway before the holding area. They were pretty well matched though Darken’s superior genetically engineered body was marginally stronger. The other cyborg was strong enough to hold his own for a while as they traded blows.
As though he knew he might be overmatched, he came at Darken with everything he had. Charging Darken, he slammed him into the holding area door so hard it broke off its hinges and slammed to the floor with Darken sandwiched against the door.
Screams came from the cells as Darken, and the unknown cyborg wrestled on the ground. Darken pounded him until he was able to push him off. While he seemed fatigued, he was still putting up a good fight. Darken managed to back him out of the cell room and back toward the exit.
The rogue was almost as good as Darken in mixed martial arts, but Darken pushed him toward the closed back door. Backing off, Darken then took a flying leap hitting the rogue with both feet, so he went flying against the door that collapsed outward with his weight.
The unenhanced human by the flyer took aim at Darken with a blaster, but Gina shot him just as her mate noticed.
Darken jumped up and blasted him in the chest as he lay on top of the door, rendering the rogue unconscious. A blaster on full power wouldn’t kill a cyborg wearing standard-issue armor.
As Darken looked down at him, retracting his helmet, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with the rogue. He had no restraints to hold him and no drugs to keep him unconscious. Darken gazed up on the hill as a male took aim at Gina with an ion rifle.
Darken could only scream her name as he fired.
Chapter Twenty-One
While Darken went to secure the abductees, Gina lay on the rise above the Quonset hut, watching and waiting. A whimper startled her, and she turned to see the wolf queen trotting up to greet her.
“Hey, girl. Good to see you. Can’t play now. We’re on a mission.” She immediately turned her attention back to the scene below. More yips from various areas told her the pack was all there.
Darken kept his com open, so she could gauge his progress. It didn’t seem to take long for Darken to secure the Quonset. He was about to inform the abductees they were rescued when Gina spotted two flyers behind her. One passed overhead, and one hovered overhead.
The wolves scattered, and Gina called out to Darken over the com.
The feed from her helmet cam let Darken identify both as hostiles. “Shoot to kill!”
She pulled out her blaster and rolled onto her back. The flyer was about thirty feet above her at a forty-five-degree angle. A side hatch opened, and a male leaned out, pointing a blaster at her. Flipping the safety to the kill setting, she held the blaster in both hands, pointed at the flyer, and held down the trigger.
None of the shots hit the man, but the flyer took several hits and started to wobble before moving off. It lurched forward then dropped like a rock between Gina and the Quonset.
She rolled over, setting her blaster down to cover them with her rifle. Black smoke poured up from the flyer. The hatches opened, and two males jumped out. One stumbled and appeared disoriented. The other jumped out, firing a handheld blaster at her position.
Gina didn’t stop to think she aimed and fired back. His last shot went wild as he took a direct hit to the chest. The other male simply stumbled and fell.
Turning her attention to the Quonset, she saw both doors on the other flyer were opened, and it was empty. “Two down,” she called shakily over the com.
She had killed animals for food before, but never a man. From the sounds coming back through her helmet com, she thought Darken was in a fight. That worried her because he could take half a dozen naturals easily. He seemed to be fighting someone his equal… another cyborg from the sounds coming through.
Gina knew it was possible; it seemed some cyborgs worked for the eastern overlords. She was torn as to whether she should stay put or help her mate. She agonized for a couple minutes before she removed her rifle from the stand and stood.
Just as she took the first step down the rise, something heavy hit the back door, breaking the hinges and the latch, slamming to the ground with a loud crack. An armored male lay on top of it, apparently stunned.
