Page 31 of Salvation for the Alien Mercenary
He didn't feel it. Not as pain. It was just another surge of energy feeding whatever transformation was happening inside him. He took them both down in under ten seconds, movements so fast his own mind could barely track them.
Breathing hard, blood pounding in his ears, he turned back toward where Mira was. One of the enemy had flanked around and was heading toward her hiding spot, weapon raised.
"No!" The word tore from his throat, primal and raw.
He crossed the distance in a heartbeat, catching the M'Suun from behind. His knife slid between ribs and the warrior collapsed, twitching.
"Davis!" Mira's voice cut through the combat haze.
She stared at him from behind the container, eyes wide. Not with fear of the M'Suun. With fear of him. Of what she'd just witnessed.
Something twisted in his chest. He wanted to explain, to apologize, but another barrage of energy fire forced him to drop beside her, shielding her with his body.
"Are you hurt?" He gripped her shoulders, looking for injuries, barely aware of how tightly he held her.
She winced. "I'm fine. You're not."
"Doesn't matter." He released her, realizing he'd been leaving bruises. "Stay behind me."
Across the docking bay, Rann appeared, engaging three M'Suun warriors at the same time. Davis watched as Rann dropped into a spinning low kick that swept the feet from beneath a second M'Suun, followed by an upward strike that could have only come from the same combat school. It wasn't adaptation or mimicry. It was muscle memory—the kind only acquired through years of identical training.
And it wasn’t just similar to the way the M’Suun fought. It wasidentical.
M'Suun troops poured in from three directions, and Rann pivoted, anticipating their movements seconds before they materialized.
The conversation he'd overheard in the maintenance corridor echoed in his mind:'No, they don't suspect anything yet.'
Between shots, he kept Rann in his peripheral vision, noting every reaction, every move that seemed too perfect, too prepared. This wasn't just combat instinct. No, Rannknewthese attackers.
"We need to move," he told Mira. "Anson's working his way toward Covak. If we can reach them?—"
"We're cut off." Mira pointed toward a fresh squad of M'Suun warriors entering the bay from the east entrance. "They're blocking the main route back to theDream."
He assessed their options rapidly. Not good. The M'Suun had them pinned down, slowly closing the noose.
"There's an emergency exit behind that row of pressure tanks," she continued, her voice steady despite the chaos around them. "But we'd be exposed crossing the loading zone."
He nodded, surprised by her tactical awareness. "I'll draw their fire. You make for Covak's position?—"
"Wait." She grabbed his arm, looking across the bay. "That loading bot. See it? It's still active."
He followed her gaze to a heavy-duty cargo loader, its manipulator arms idle but indicator lights showing it was powered up.
"If I can access it remotely..." She was already pulling her datapad from her jacket, fingers flying across the screen.
"You can interface with that?" he asked, impressed.
“Maybe... yes.” She whistled softly as she worked. "Some things are the same the galaxy over," she murmured, a small smile touching her lips. "I recognize this architecture. Different language, same logic."
He watched her work, covering their position as she bypassed security protocols. Her expression grew intent, the same focused look she wore when gaming. A bead of sweat traced down her temple, but her hands remained steady.
The loading bot's lights flashed from standby yellow to active green.
"Got it," she whispered.
The massive machine lurched into motion, hydraulic arms extending. It scooped up a cargo container and pivoted, servo motors whining, then hurled the container directly into the M'Suun. Metal shrieked against metal as the container tumbled across the deck, taking out three warriors and forcing the others to scatter.
"Now!" He grabbed Mira's hand, pulling her up as they sprinted toward Covak and Jesh.
