Page 267 of Scorching the Alien Empire
“Thisisgoingtobe so much fun,” Princesa grins up at me, her fingers tracing the contours of my face. “Like a giant EDM party—only with more blood and fewer glow sticks.”
She glances around the half-melted Nebian factory. Dust-choked machinery lies fused to slagged surfaces, ossified in puddles of cooled plasma. Metal limbs, frozen in time, reach from the abyss like monuments to broken ambition. The scorched walls hum with the clamor of gathering spectators and darting Nebian vessels. When we arrived, there were thousands. Now? It sounds like a standing army waiting for the war horn.
“It’s soon, isn’t it?” she asks, excitement crackling through our bond like wildfire.
Her confidence honors me. Yet she seems oblivious to the possibility I may fall.
“Very,” I growl, feeling the fire rise in my chest. The Rush beginning to sear through my veins.
“Nervous?” she asks, casually stroking the sleeping Todd nestled across her shoulder.
My eyes meet hers—crimson bleeding into the choking air. “Rage. For what he did to you.”
“Good. Cringe-Eyes is no match for you, babes,” she snorts. “Unless they cheat. Bunch of loser-turds.” Her nose crinkles. “Anyway. You’re ready to kick his ass. Todd and I will be waiting when you’re done. Then we can talk about that Smurf infestation problem.”
A new sound draws my attention—footfalls on slag and stone.
“Oh, would you looky here? I’ve found the mating puffrios,” Drexios sneers, stepping through a blasted-out hole in the wall, a long wooden pole slung over his cloaked shoulder.
“Great...” Princesa sighs. “Just when things were getting good—a wild Drex-iot appears.”
“I love you too,Pinkie,” he hisses near her face, his single red eye narrowing. “Oi, where’sFire-on-Head?Wanted to show her my new scar.” He barks a laugh.
Princesa recoils, her face twisted with revulsion. “She’s a double agent now. Codename: Red Squirrel.”
“Oh?” Drexios crooks a brow. “Can’t trust the pretty ones.” His eye gleams with mischief. “Least we know you’re a safe bet,Pinkie.”
Princesa reddens. “Please.” She waves a dismissive hand. “Coming from a one-eyed, STD-riddled, drug-addicted psychotic? I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Drexios’s grin deepens. “Better get this banner a-flappin,” he says, unwrapping the cloth from the pole and letting the flag unfurl. A dragon blazoned in red spreads its wings wide,seeming to stir with life as he waves it overhead. “Can’t have you waddling out there with nothing but your dick in your hands.”
Pride and fury swell in my chest like twin suns rising.
“Brilliant!” Princesa exclaims. “It’s even better than I imagined.”
“What the void is it?” Drexios mutters, squinting up at it. “Looks like a sneachir mated with an arrohawk.”
“It’s a mythical Earth monster,” Princesa purrs, pressing closer against my armor. “A dragon. My. Red. Dragon.”
“That so?” Drexios grins, scrunching his face. “Wonder what it’d taste like.” He bears his fangs.
“Drexios. Is it time?” I growl, cutting through the nonsense.
“Oh... oh yes, it is, War Chief,” Drexios says, head tilting forward, eye gleaming. “You should see ’em out there. Every warband, every warrior. Even the voiding Shorties. Never seen anything like it.”
I don’t answer. Just march toward the exit, the husks of broken droids cracking beneath my boots. The sound of the masses grows louder—no longer a murmur, but a thunderous, living roar.
“You see any swirly cunts... well, you’re probably already dead,” Drexios says, falling in beside me. “But if you can, get the void outta there.” He glances up, tone rare with sincerity. “If he fights clean, you’ll tear his voiding spine out and we’ll plant it at Gorexius’s tomb.”
I nod. Grasp his pauldron. “You have my thanks, Drexios. I will honor your loyalty.”
We step through the breach.
My breath catches.
The plateau ahead—a crumbling shelf of black basalt ringed by lava—hosts a living tsunami of flesh and metal. Warriors from every clan stretch to the horizon, their armor a patchwork of seasons: sky-blue, bone-white, speckled gray, orange-rust.Above them, Nebian starfighters hover, flanked by Battlesuits like vultures awaiting a corpse.
A deafening cry erupts from a million throats:“WAR CHIEFTAIN!”Drexios waves the dragon banner. My heart swells to bursting.
