Page 66 of Xara and the Xenobeast

Then he struck.

He dropped from above, landing on the rearmost Suppressor with bone-crushing force. Before the others could turn, he’d driven his claws through the weak point at the base of the soldier’s skull, severing the neural link to his combat implants.

The other two spun, weapons raised, but he was already moving—a blur of silver and shadow. He caught the second Suppressor’s arm, twisting until the reinforced bone snapped. The soldier’s scream was cut short as the Xenobeast slammed him into a stone pillar with enough force to crack his helmet.

The third got off a shot—a pulse of energy that grazed the Xenobeast’s shoulder, burning a furrow across his skin. The pain only fed his rage. He charged, ducking under a second shot, and drove his fist into the Suppressor’s chest plate. The armor cracked but held.

The soldier was good—he countered with a strike to the Xenobeast’s wounded shoulder, following with a kick that would have shattered a normal being’s knee. But the Xenobeast wasn’t normal. He was engineered to withstand punishment that would kill most species.

He caught the Suppressor’s leg and twisted, using the soldier’s momentum to slam him into the ground. Before the Zarkari could recover, the Xenobeast pinned him with one massive hand around his throat.

“The female,” he growled, his voice rough from disuse. “Why does Vask want her?”

The Suppressor struggled, but the Xenobeast tightened his grip.

“Genetic anomaly,” the soldier gasped. “Compatibility with Dominion biotech. Rare. Valuable.”

Cold fury washed through him. They wanted to use her—experiment on her. Turn her into a resource, just as they had done to him.

He snapped the Suppressor’s neck with a single twist.

Three down. Two to go.

The Xenobeast moved back toward Vask’s position, no longer bothering with stealth. The commander would know his squad was under attack. The element of surprise was gone.

Now it was time for terror.

He activated the final trap—a series of explosive charges set in the trees surrounding the clearing. Not powerful enough to kill, but enough to create chaos.

The charges detonated in sequence, sending shrapnel and burning fragments raining down. The remaining Suppressor shielded Vask with his body, scanning for threats.

The Xenobeast stepped from the jungle’s edge, fully visible for the first time. Blood—both his and the Suppressors’—streaked his silver skin. His tendrils writhed with aggression. His eyes burned with silver fire.

Vask’s expression didn’t change, but the Xenobeast caught the momentary widening of his eyes—the first flicker of fear.

“Asset K-7,” Vask said, his voice cold and precise. “Functional after all these cycles. Impressive.”

“Not K-7,” the Xenobeast growled. “Not yours.”

Vask’s lips thinned. “You were engineered to serve the Dominion. Everything you are belongs to us.”

“Nothing belongs to you here.”

The commander’s eyes narrowed. “The female is valuable. Her genetic structure is uniquely compatible with our biotech. She will serve a greater purpose.”

The beast inside him roared, straining against his control. His tendrils lashed the air, his claws extending to their full, lethal length.

“She is not yours to take.”

Vask signaled to his remaining guard. “Neutralize the asset.”

The Suppressor raised his weapon—a neural disruptor designed specifically to incapacitate beings like him. The Xenobeast had been trained to fear those weapons, conditioned to submit when faced with them.

But that was before Xara. Before the pups. Before he had something worth fighting for.

He charged, moving faster than the Suppressor could track. The disruptor fired, the energy pulse missing him by inches. He slammed into the soldier with the full force of his rage, driving him backward into a tree trunk with enough force to splinter the wood.

The Suppressor fought back with augmented strength, landing blows that would have crippled any other opponent. But the Xenobeast barely felt them. He was beyond pain, beyond fear. He tore through the soldier’s armor with his claws, ripping away the protective plating to expose the vulnerable flesh beneath.

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