Page 15 of Slavic

“Itwould be impossible for a cargo ship of that size to hold more than fifteen or twenty.”

“Ahh, a couple for each of us to obliterate and then tear into tiny little pieces, one scream at a time.Perfect, a good fight is just whatIneed to take the edge off!Cloakthe ship, head to their coordinates and rouse our brothers.”

Speakinginto the comm,Bikarturns with a smile on his lips. “Awakenone and all, we have a new target on the radar, andSlavicwants all of you on the bridge.So, get your lazy backsides up here with haste.”

Ploppingdown in my chair,Igrin asIhear all the grumbling as he talks to each one of them separately.Ifwe had more time,Iwould have enjoyed meeting them all at once in the sparing chamber.Iffor no other reason other than to solely remind them why the gods made me the eldest brother.Itake pride in being the oldest and looking out for my brothers, but that doesn’t meanIdo not enjoy beating them to a pulp either.

Thankfully, the ship we acquired when we freed ourselves from the mines is capable of holding our massive bodies easily, or our opulent yet rough way of life would make them even crankier.TheZenith, once known as theVespira, has plenty of space for all six of us to loiter around and not bump into one another unless we want to.Iteven has a few places to hide when we need our space.Mymind drifts for a moment as my hearts are saddened by thoughts ofOurLifeGiver,Mam.Shepreachedconstantly the importance of family, of how much stronger we were together than apart.Fromthe timeIwas a youngling, she made it known thatIhad a responsibility to my brothers, andIhave done my best to fulfill that role, but there are times when we all need some quiet time alone.

Thehelm’s door slides open, jerking me out of my dark thoughts, andIwatch as everyone takes their usual spot around me.Itdoesn’t take long until all five are present on the bridge, staring out at the holographic screenBikarhas projected on the control panel.

Seatedin his normal spot,Bikaris working in the comms chair to my right, his fingers flying across the controls on the console.Falonwalks up on my left, his massive legs spread to keep his balance as theZenithmoves aggressively one way then another asBikardodges the few asteroids in the vastness of the space surrounding us.

Murgultakes up his regular spot, leaning against the wall across the room as he avoids physical contact with any of us.Hisarms are crossed and he looks bored as usual.Ican feelRuarc’squiet presence as he walks up slightly behind me.Mysecond oldest brother takes his responsibilities as my next in command seriously, maybe even more intensely thanIdo at times.Glancingaround,Isnarl whenIdon’t seeEinar.JustasI’mabout to tellBikarto comm him again, he stomps into the room.

“Niceof you to finally join us,Einar,”Igrowl out.

“Iwould not have been lateSlavic, had someone,Iam not mentioning any names here, butIam assuming the culprits wereBikarandFalon, not completely demolished my med-bay.IfIhad not been wasting my time reorganizing things, again,Iwould have been here when you first commed”, he barks back at me, frustration heavy in his voice.

“Forfuture reference, in an emergency situationSlavic, we cannot afford for me to not know where my things are, and you know this.Theyshould know this!”Theyall duck their heads when he points a stubby finger at each of them, but their smirks only make me angry.

“Youneed to keep them out of my med-bay,Slavic, orIswearIam going to start retaliating”,Einargrowls out in a menacing voice.

Isigh wearily. “Youfracking dumbasses,Iam not your babysitter.STAY-OUT-OF-THE-MEDBAY!”SmackingBikarupside his head,Ireach over and punchFalon, knocking him sideways, the walls practically shaking asIroar out my anger. “Iwill not discuss this with you two again.Einaris correct.Ifsomething happens to one of you idiots, he needs to be able to find his things so that you do not die.Howwould any of you explain your death to ourLife-giver in the afterlife?Doyou really want to tell her the reasonEinarcould not save you was because you hid all of his shit again!Wipethose damn smirks off your faces beforeIdo it for you!”Ihave to take a deep breath in order to calm down beforeIcan continue on. “Nowas to whyIneeded you all here,Bikartell them what you found.”

Weall watch as he tweaks a few knobs before turning his massive form around to face us. “Youguys know the drill.Ialways have theZenith’sinstruments looking for our next haul.Shenotified me early this rising when a small ship came within our sensors with a full cargo hold.Unfortunately, it is a small to medium-sizedVelgriddixship.Icannot seem to get an exact head count on the nasty ass bugs because of their exoskeleton, so we are going in blind.Nowbecause of the ship’s size, thereshould only be a handful of them onboard.However,Iam picking up some odd readings in several other parts of the ship.Itis possible they may have slaves on board, and you know what that means.”

“Morecredits for us”, they all yell out.

Alow growl from across the room causesBikarto pause.Alleyes glance over atMurgul, checking to see if he is going to be able to keep his shit together while we invade this ship.

Mybrother was captured by the insectoid species rotations ago as a youngling.Whenwe finally located the planet he was being held on, his mind was so damaged we had to restrain him to even get him off their ship.Thethings they did to him though, … no being could ever truly heal from, and it is easy to see by the wildness of his electric bluegaze that he is barely holding on to his sanity.

Angerinstantly infuses me as memories thoroughly grip my mind.Igrasp the chair’s arms so tightlyIcan hear them cracking.Iwill always carry the burden of not being able to protect him or ourLifeGiverswhen they needed me most.Theonly joyIget from remembering that rising now is knowingIpersonally destroyed every hand that ever caused him pain.Nevertheless, when he sees us all staring at him, he snarls out.

“I’mfine, proceed.Ihave no intentions of losing it this rising.”

Thewords are harsh, almost as if he has to force them from his throat.Whichis probably true, since his vocal cords were irreparably damaged according toEinar.Ihave always assumed their damage was caused by his screams andIcannot imagine the amount of torture it took to make aRukuhkas tough asMurgulbreak, even as a youngling.

Oncewe are reassured that my youngest brother is not going to slip his leash and destroy the bridge with us all on it, they turn back to me. “Brothers, what say you?Dowe go give them a traditionalRukuhk, uninvited guest greeting?”Anevil grin graces my features.

Theirboisterous voices echo off the walls as they scream out. “Frackyeah!”

“Einar, you have not been off the ship lately, so grab one of the smaller shuttles andI’lltake the other.Bikar, as usual, you have the comms.Falonget to the engine room,Ido not want any mechanical malfunctions on this run.Ruarc, you are in command whileI’moff the ship, andMurgul, keep our weapons hot.Youknow better than anyone these bugs rarely travel alone.OnceEinarandIhave the ship secured, you all are to hard dock theZenithnear their back cargo hold.

Afterthe ships are sealed securely together, you know the drill.Bikar, instead of helping load the cargo this time,Iwould prefer you stay here on the comm’s at all times.UnlesstheVelgriddixdetection system is down, you know they can probably see our ship as clearly as we can theirs.Theymight merely be trying to lure us closer in order to claim the bounty on each of our heads.”

Ordersissued,Irise out of my chair, stretching my large frame before exiting the room, ignoringBikar’sboisterous shout as he hates to be left behind.Ihead toward my personal quarters to retrieve my double-edged swords.Myspines are still trembling, warning me not all is as it seems.

Chapter Twelve

SLAVIC

AsIanticipatethe battleI’minstigating, there is no containing the smile on my face as the shuttle powers up underneath me.Nomatter how manyIkill,I’llnever be able to destroy enough of these abominations that plague this part of our solar system.SeveraltimesI’veconsidered moving our operations into another region.Nonetheless, theCommandershave too many ships regulating those areas and our way of life is highly frowned upon.

TheVoidhas kept us hidden for many orbital rotations, allowing me and my brothers to survive.Butthat thought takes the smile from my face, asIknow all we are doing is surviving.Manya darknessIdream of the life we should have had, but dreams turn to ash the momentIopen my eyes.

Redsettles into my gaze as my anger renews with the thoughts of all that has been taken from me and my family.KnowingIam a danger to myself and all others around me whenIallow the past to rise up in my thoughts,Ibottle these emotions up for the enemy.Backingthe shuttle out of the bay,Imaneuver it away from the main dock in a daze, my body working automatically asIfight to get my thoughts back on the battle ahead.Assoon asIam out,IseeEinar’sshuttle cloak the second it clears the ship’s hull.Iconfirm the coordinates thatBikarhas pre-programmed into the shuttle and initiate the launch.

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