Page 113 of Star Claimed Omega
He surged forward, the Signet strong guard close on his heels.
In the dim smoke of the enemy’s corridors, he shifted. His muscles rippled, bones whispering as they flexed and grew.
A violet shimmer of spectral fire crawled over his flesh, coalescing into the fierce outline of a wolf-shaped aura that clung to him like a second skin.
His fangs lengthened. His breath steamed.
To his right, Zev and Boaz burst into their bear-wraith forms, hulking shadows of armored muscle with glowing silver eyes, their roars deafening.
Kaal, silent and quick, melted into a flickering silhouette of cold blue flame, his spectral form dancing along the walls like a whisper of ice.
Gunfire erupted from theRed Skullcrew.
Slugs tore through the air. Blades clashed.
Santi was already moving.
With a feral snarl, he leapt toward the first wave of defenders, two piratecaposwielding arc-rifles and serrated vibro-axes.
He dropped, slid beneath their fire, and rose with a howl.
His spectral wolf snapped outward, smashing them both into the corridor.
The impact knocked one out cold. The other tried to rise, only to be crushed under Zev’s stomping wraith-bear form.
‘Push forward!’ Santi shouted.
They carved through the decks, booby-trapped passages, ambush zones, and plasma turrets hidden in bulkheads.
But the strong guard was relentless. Boaz stormed the lower levels, flinging three capos through the air like twigs.
Kaal moved through locked doors like vapor, striking and vanishing before bodies hit the floor.
They ascended the central shaft to the bridge.
The last corridor was a bloodbath.
Ten eliteRed Skullguards waited behind electric screens.
A hailstorm of bullets and ion fire met them, but Santi burst forward, his spectral wolf charging like a battering ram.
He tackled one of the barricades himself, blasting it into rubble, and the strong guard poured through the opening like divine judgment.
It was over in minutes.
Smoke curled through the shattered cockpit.
Consoles sparked. A body twitched on the floor.
‘We’ve hit paydirt, brothers,’ Kaal growled, jerking his chin toward a man kneeling at the helm with his hands raised.
A shock baton rolled from his grasp. He was broad-shouldered, bald, with a cruelly slashed jaw and eyes that gleamed like knives.
Santi approached slowly, chest still heaving, eyes raking the stranger’s face.
A Synth ID flickered in his mind, provided by Miral.
Captain Drew Vargus.
