Three Square Meals Ch. 117

Another warning light flashed, this time alerting John to the climbing barrel temperature. Despite sophisticated flux-heat exchangers cooling the weapon at an incredible rate, he was now on his third magazine, having fired off over a hundred rounds in only ten seconds. Flicking back to single shots, he crouched and took careful aim, double-tapping each guardian as it sprang towards him. One of them bounded across the blood-soaked floor, blade limbs quivering with anticipation of a kill. His first shot shattered its hex-shield and the second hit mid-forehead, its armoured chitinous skull exploded in a grotesque green and red eruption of gore. The guardian's decapitated body pitched over to flop lifelessly to the ground, its nervous system not quite realising that it was dead.

John kept firing at fresh targets until the trigger locked and warning messages blazed across his HUD, the in-built safety measures activating to prevent him melting the barrel. He raised a hand and hit the remaining guardians with a telekinetic wall that tossed them back into the room. Striding forward, John yanked his sword from the ground and plunged it into a wounded Kirrix, skewering one of its hate-filled compound eyes. Blue fire surged down the weapon, incinerating the twitching corpse as he tugged the weapon free.

The guardians John sent sprawling had been hurled thirty feet across the chamber, but they vaulted to their feet and started racing back towards him. He raised his sword and swept it around in a broad semi-circle, the blue flames surrounding the blade peeling off to form a blazing wall of fire. There was a throaty roar as the eldritch conflagration consumed the Kirrix corpses strewn across the ground, quickly followed by shrill screams that pierced the air as hungry flames enveloped the wounded.

Brought up short by the supernatural inferno, the remaining guardians hesitated, their every instinct screaming at them to back away. However, those natural reactions were no match for the telepathic compulsion from a higher-tier Kirrix, so they crouched down and leapt through the terrifying blaze. John's movements flowed with grace and precision as he whirled around, meeting their reckless charge with looping slashes of his elongated blade. One by one they were cut down, their bodies cleaved out of the air to land amidst the ravenous flames.

John rolled his wrist, making a swiping motion with his sword and the curtain of fire parted, letting him stride over blackened Kirrix corpses that crunched underfoot. The blaze behind him cast strange and unsettling shadows across an already sinister chamber, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He could see movement far back in the maze of resin pillars; whatever creature had made this place its lair was now beating a retreat from his unstoppable assault.

He slung his cooling Tachyon rifle over a shoulder and made his way deeper inside, following the curve of the oppressive room around to the left. The strange ochre-hued colonnade parted a little way in, revealing a large clearing in the chamber. Restraints circled the open area, making the purpose of this horrible place quite obvious. Central to this area was a raised dais surrounded by strange alien technology, a myriad of nightmarish devices making it look like a mad scientist's lair. By the large space in the middle, it was obvious that something had been waiting for the colonists... the mysterious creature connected to the machines in some manner.

*There's a lot of unusual tech down here,* he informed Alyssa, eyeing the equipment. *It looks... weirdly familiar.*

There was a brief pause before she asked, *Does it look anything like the machinery we saw around Nkkrrit?*

He nodded, his eyebrows climbing. *Yeah, you're right!*

*Dana thinks it might be some kind of life support system. The Kirrix might have even traded the tech with the Vulkat...*

*Which would make this thing old,* John muttered, his jaw clenching. *Maybe it's been around for thousands of years? Since the Mhoirad?*

*Nkkrrit is over nine-thousand years old... so that's definitely a possibility. I'll reach out to her later and find out what she knows...*

*You can do that?* John asked in surprise, turning away from the clearing and heading in the direction of the activity he'd spotted earlier.

*She's a powerful telepath... it'll be like reaching out to the Ashanath's sub-plane,* Alyssa replied, sounding confident. *As long as Nkkrrit wants to talk to me, we should be able to make contact.*

Dust coated the floor in a thick layer, with segmented footprints marking the passage of the guardians through the chamber. Sticking out amongst the claw marks were a uniform set of prints that could only have come from a tracked vehicle of some kind. John followed the path, moving at a rapid pace to catch up to the ancient ruler of this cursed place. He saw movement again, with something big scuttling between the pillars ahead of him.

As he rounded a resin bulwark, he caught sight of a blazing yellow light that banished the shadows and starkly illuminated a hulking hive queen. It was fortunate that John had already activated a hex shield, because only a split-second after spotting the incandescent glare, a pulsating beam blasted out to strike his psychic barrier. He staggered back several steps, then drove his sword into the ground to anchor himself.

His shield wavered under the onslaught and John flinched as his barrier was struck by a second beam... then a third.

*More power!* he snarled in desperation through gritted teeth, doing everything he could to maintain his shield as it was assaulted from three directions.

The glowing hexagons buckled and collapsed, only to be fortified with gleaming replacements an instant later as three streams of psychic energy coursed through him.

*Three Hive Queens?!* Alyssa cried out in alarm. *John, get the hell out of there!*

He abandoned his blade and whirled to the side, diving behind a pillar as the three beams scorched the air where he'd been standing. The Hive Queens swung the beams around, the resin column exploding in a shower of debris... but John was already moving, darting nimbly from pillar to pillar. He grabbed his rifle and sprinted around to the left, columns detonating behind him as the Kirrix behemoths tried to track him.

Flanking the hive queen on the left, John smiled with satisfaction as the other two had to cease firing to avoid atomising her. He leapt from cover with his rifle trained on the location he knew the creature would be. Her compound eyes flicked around to lock with his, the pulsating yellow beam swinging about to blast him again. However, John was faster, squeezing the trigger and hitting the bladed monstrosity with burst after burst. Dana's rune-inscribed rounds slammed into the psychic shield, rupturing it in several locations before it collapsed under the strain... and the next volley of hyper-accelerated rounds struck her shiny carapace.

John had aimed at her torso, wanting to put her out of commission as quickly as possible. Bullets capable of punching through starship plating were more than a match for the hive queen's armour, each slug coring huge tunnels through her body and spraying liquefied entrails out her back. Toppling over, the hive queen convulsed violently on the floor, blood pouring from the gruesome wounds left after the loss of several vital organs.

There was no time for John to savour the kill, as the other two lashed out at him again, putrid yellow beams carving through more pillars. He rolled to the side just as an ominous groaning sound filled the chamber. Darting a worried glance at the ceiling, he sprinted back to the right, ejecting the spent magazine and grabbing his last to slam it home in the Tachyon rifle. The Kirrix beams blazed along behind him, blasting through the remaining pillars on this side of the room, and the groaning quickly turned into a booming roar. The ceiling began to collapse, huge lumps of rock crashing through the resin roof in a shower of stones and debris.

John had to hurl himself across the floor to avoid an enormous slab dropping from above, his psychic speed the only thing that save him from being flattened. Unfortunately, he dropped the magazine in the dive and when he glanced back, he saw it had been buried under thousands of tons of rubble. The hive queens took advantage of him being knocked prone and zeroed in on him with their beams, both lashing out at his shield. He was sent flying backwards, skidding across the ground as they pummelled the hexagon barrier.

Raising his rifle again, John flipped the weapon selector switch and aimed at the roof above the closest hive queen. Holding down the trigger, he poured pulsed tachyon beams into the ceiling, carving deep furrows through the rock and liquefying everything in its path. Strafing his fire from side to side, it only took a few seconds for an avalanche of super-heated debris to come crashing down on the hive queen's shield, making her look up in terror. She tried to maintain her shield under that relentless rockslide, but her barrier wavered and collapsed, leaving her to be smashed to the ground under a colossal weight of red-hot boulders.

One eldritch beam winked out as the hive queen was pulverised, but the last Kirrix maintained her pulsating column of energy, finally buckling John's shield. The blast struck his Tachyon rifle and slashed to the side, raking over his right arm. John cried out with the pain as the yellow beam melted through his Paragon suit and boiled his flesh down to the bone. Lurching to his left, he managed to hurl himself clear, fighting the veil of darkness that threatened him with unconsciousness.

*John!* Alyssa screamed in fright.

*I'm coming, Master!* Jade called out, teetering on the edge of panic.

Edraele's voice wavered, gripped with terror, *Heal yourself! I'm giving you as much energy as I can!*

*Not yet!* John blurted out as he scrabbled across the floor, his eyes widening as the hive queen slashed the beam towards him.

Deactivating his psychic enlargement by emptying the compartments in his mind, John rolled underneath the beam, catching the hive queen by surprise as he rapidly shrank back to normal. He staggered to his feet, then stumbled over to the rockfall that had crushed the second Kirrix psychic. The area was shrouded in choking clouds of dust, with stones still bouncing down from the cavernous rift in the ceiling. He saw a glimpse of the hive queen on the opposite side of the cave-in, warily keeping her distance as she tried to get a clear shot at him. Crouching lower, he grimaced with the pain as he circled the opposite way, making sure he was out of her line of sight.

*Okay, now!* he called out, clutching his mangled arm.

The connection to his matriarchs was thrown wide open and he gasped with relief as he drank deep, regenerating flesh and bone to rebuild his scorched limb. Panting with the exertion, he shook off the daze, then looked around for the remaining hive queen. Her black carapace skittered into view, unblinking compound eyes glaring at him with unvarnished hatred.

Sprinting to the left, he held out his hand and summoned his sword to him, the blade trembling in the ground before tugging itself free. He caught it by the hilt, wrapping his gauntleted fist around the grip, then accelerated around the piles of rock between him and his quarry. The hive queen whirled around, chitinous arms controlling a roiling ball of yellow psychic energy. John slashed with his sword, hitting her with a booming telekinetic wave that sent her skidding backwards.

The hive queen braced herself, managing to keep her balance while maintaining control over her eldritch orb. Stabilised again, she looked around for John in her eagerness to blast him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly he crashed into her flank, having continued to circle around while she was distracted, and began raining blows down on her psychic shield. She hissed, staggering back under the onslaught, trying to replace the hexagons protecting her as he repeatedly shattered them.

One of his blows got through, his fiery blade hacking into the right side of her body, shearing off her arm and scythe-like claw from her thorax. The ball of psychic energy she'd been controlling convulsed and evaporated as she shrieked in agony, wicked blue flames scorching her hideous wounds.

He glanced at his arm and smiled. "I owed you that one."

She hissed at him, stumbling around and stabbing out with her remaining bladed limb. John parried the blow, his sword making a grating noise as it slid along the serrated edge of her claw. Shifting his grip, he lunged forward, catching her off guard. He drove his flame-shrouded sword into her chest and rammed it right through, the gleaming tip of the blade bursting out of her back.

"That was for all the people you've murdered," he whispered, staring into the hive queen's eyes and watching the light go out as she was immolated from the inside.

Putting his boot on her segmented thorax, he pulled out his sword and shoved her burning body aside, greasy smoke rising up from her charred corpse. He turned and walked over to retrieve his rifle, frowning as he saw the gun-frame had been badly warped by the hive queen's attack. Slinging it over his shoulder, he turned to follow the strange tracks in the dust.

*Let it go,* Alyssa urged him. *You're tired after being healed... it's not worth it!*

Her reminder of his fatigue made John yawn, but he did his best to stifle it. *Three hive queens were willing to sacrifice themselves to let whatever it is escape... I'm not letting it get away.*

***

Tashana watched the battle raging between the Kirrix fleet, blistering Neutron Beam salvos slashing back and forth between the massive capital ships. Each side was focusing their fire on one carrier at a time, trying to knock the vessel out to drastically cut down on the firepower available to their enemies. So far nine carriers had been reduced to lacerated hulks, four belonging to the loyal Kirrix side, the other five once part of Irillith's capital ship group.

Unlike the previous internecine Kirrix battles that they'd witnessed, the hive ships were actively involved in this fight, joining forces with the loyalists to take out the rebel carriers. Thousands of drone fighters whirled around the brutal gunfight, spraying unceasing hails of neutron bolts at Irillith's besieged forces.

"Your side is getting hammered," Tashana said, frowning as she studied the confusing combat. "I think..."

"Let's see if we can tip the odds in our favour," Irillith muttered, closing her glowing eyes as her brow furrowed in concentration.

Tashana looked at her sister with concern. "You're pushing yourself hard already, Rill. Don't overdo it!"

The strain was evident on Irillith's beautiful features as she exerted herself further. "Twelve is definitely my limit," she said with a groan and pulled off her helmet so she could massage her temple.

With a final check that her twin was alright, Tashana turned back to the Tactical Map. Airlocks had opened up along the flanks of five more of the loyalist drone carriers, Kirrix crew writhing as they were blasted out into space. Those ships ceased fire, then began to turn, bringing their guns to bear on what was left of the loyalist side. Now that Irillith's side had been reinforced up to twelve again, leaving only one solitary Kirrix capital ship to face their wrath.

Tashana couldn't help laughing with admiration as the dozen vessels skewered the remaining Kirrix controlled drone carrier from all directions. One of the beams in that lethal crossfire slashed through the power core and the ship exploded, the blastwave hurling out debris in a deadly sphere that annihilated hundreds of drone craft racing between the opposing forces. With the drone carrier threat dealt with, Irillith's hijacked force turned its formidable gun batteries on the scores of hive ships.

"Could you do this to any enemies we fight?" Tashana asked, watching the carnage in awe.

Irillith eased back in her chair and gave her sister a weary smile. "No, not on this scale. The hard part with Kirrix ships is convincing them you're their new hive queen. After that, they can fight on their own with minimal guidance. If they were Kintark, or Brimorian ships, then I could only directly control four, maybe five at maximum?"

Tashana turned to look her sister in the eyes. "What about Thrall ships?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that myself," Irillith quietly replied, steepling her fingers as she watched her drone carriers lashing out at the hive ships.

***

A flash of green raced across the room and a jade cheetah skidded to a halt beside John. *Wait for me!* she protested, shifting into her Nymph shape and throwing herself into his arms.

John could feel her trembling as he held her and he gently stroked her back. "I'm alright, honey."

"I was so scared!" Jade exclaimed, looking up at him with frightened emerald eyes. "Why are you taking all these risks, Master?!"

He hesitated, realising how reckless he'd been fighting the formidable trio of hive queens. "I saw it all. A whole species driven to extinction... and I liked them, Jade," he finally murmured, staring into the distance. "The Mhoirad were kind and gentle people, but it made no difference to the Kirrix. I witnessed a thousand years of hopelessness and despair as they were slaughtered without mercy. They never deserved to be exterminated like that... they'd done nothing wrong."

Jade was silent as she stared up at him, her beautiful green face deeply troubled. "I saw the machine the Kirrix use to turn children into food for their grubs... A species that would murder innocents in such a horrible way doesn't deserve a place in the galaxy."

John nodded, his expression bleak. "The more I find out about the Kirrix, the more I think I should have trusted my instincts..." He let out a heavy sigh and glanced towards the shadowy recesses at the end of the chamber. "Come on, let's finish this."

Stepping away from him, the Nymph shimmered as she grew in size, falling to all fours as a jade tiger. She padded along beside him as they followed the tracks, winding their way between the colonnade of resin pillars. The room ended in another tunnel, which branched several times, making them pause at the intersection. It only took a moment to find the tracks again, so after sharing a quick glance they proceeded onward.

The passageway opened up into a gloomy chamber filled with endless rows of chitin cages. The numbers were staggering, capable of imprisoning many thousands of creatures. Although the room was deserted now, John could imagine how horrifying this place must have been during the final days of the Mhoirad. Every occupant of those cages suffered through two weeks of torment, as they watched the last of their friends and relatives torn apart by Kirrix grubs, before meeting that terrible fate themselves.

Jade's big feline head swung in his direction, a sorrowful look in her emerald eyes. *This place reeks of death. I've never felt anything like it...*

Clenching his jaw, he nodded his agreement. *Millions died here...*

They continued after the trail, moving quickly now to close the distance. John had been listening for even the slightest sound and it didn't take long for him to hear rhythmic clicking, like metallic caterpillar tracks running over asphalt. Picking up the pace, they jogged down the long avenue between the rows of cages, passing mysterious pieces of Kirrix machinery as they proceeded deeper into the room.

*Up ahead... to the right,* Jade warned him, her sharp eyes spotting moving figures in the distance through the cage bars.

John held up his hand and glanced at her tiger form. *You better go dragon.*