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The TMS started retracting his neck—but it took a fucking long time to pull in that much length.

Plus I’d managed to damage some of the ligaments and musculature that would normally make the retraction seamless.

Naturally, I tore into him even harder, clinging to his scaly neck.

He whipped side to side, trying to knock me off in the trees, and then bent his neck to dip his head down.

Snapping, trying to dislodge me, tying himself up like a pretzel.

A thud rocked the TMS. I felt the impact ripple up through his neck.

I scrambled up the rounded side to the back and then leaped down to his upper shoulder.

Riding him down in a slow collapse to the ground.

His body crumpled beneath me, but it took several seconds for all his neck to come crashing down like a giant sequoia.

Axxol threw his head back, swallowing a massive chunk of chest muscle and heart. :Can you tap their grid?:

I hopped down beside him. :Sure. Give me a sec.:

Focusing inward on our network, I barely acknowledged his reply. :I’ll finish the Titan.:

The infinite matrix spanned through me. Finding the enemy squad’s grid was easy.

Hacking into it took a little more effort.

I assumed he wanted me to access their grid—without HQ knowing about it.

I’d already jammed their signals. Now I shut them off from DSC entirely by cutting their connection.

Then all I had to do was cycle through their encryption, find the key, and voila. Unlock the front door.

:I have access.:

:Connect me,: Axxol replied.

I looped him into the now closed network and added my specialized encryption and layers of Earth interference over their grid to make it private, while still keeping our grid protected so they couldn’t snoop without my approval. :Done.:

With their comms specialist eliminated, there was no one to stop me from accessing all their data, which I did post haste.

:Squad Z288C, designation BGR+, name Axxol. Do you want to join us and live, or die with the rest of your squad?:

Shock splintered through their network. Dyni squads only rarely worked together, even then only under express orders from HQ. Squads didn’t think for themselves. We executed orders and returned to base for reconditioning. We were tools. HQ pointed, and we killed.

Besides, I’d never trust anyone outside of our squad. We were a cohesive unit, complete and whole with Natalie at our center. We didn’t need a second fucking alpha who’d…

Ah. Axxol had no intention of working with them. He trusted even less than me, which was saying a hell of a lot.

I found their black box equivalent and cracked it open. DSC orders, alpha eyes only. Oops, too fucking late, assholes.

Eliminate Z288C. Incapacitate and retrieve any human females in the area. Do not engage KORE. Override MAXIMUS.

I initiated a query against Lohr’s databanks for KORE. Why the fuck would they have needed an override? Maybe the other squad had failsafe orders.

Their alpha finally replied. :Squad Z997A, designation BGR, name Rhack. We have our orders. Your squad is designated for termination.:

:Tell me something I don’t know.: Axxol huffed out what might have been a chuckle if the Big Rig ever laughed. :Three fifths of your squad is decimated. SOP is to jump back to base, but I bet you can’t.:

Blue ozone sparked to the east.

Axxol huffed again. :Got you, motherfucker.:

He didn’t charge in that direction or do anything that I could see or feel. But the alpha dropped off the grid. I didn’t have to ping the area to know his blip would be gone.

:I’m a medic,: the last remaining dynos said on the grid. :I can heal your injury.:

I hopped down off the dead TMS, favoring my wing again. I even let out a soft, ragged sound of pain. Though the only medic I’d ever let touch me was Snryx.

Using my good wing, I half-assed a couple of short flights toward the medic’s direction, dragging my bad wing for effect.

A dark, shapeless hump rose up out of the shadows, spines at the ready, spread open like a porcupine to protect his back.

I croaked out another pitiful sound, swaying slightly in the clearing.

Drooping down over my feet like I was going to roost for the night.

The SPR didn’t move closer but two of his implements stretched out toward me. Long fuckers. Did Snryx’s stretch so far? More than three meters. I tried to estimate how long a surgical blade might be. Closer to four, I guessed.

A branch cracked off to my right. The SPX jerked his head around to face the threat.

I leapt into the air, snagged one of the implements in my talons, and then had the long tentacle wrapped around his own neck before he even knew what happened. I strained upward, beating my wings furiously, hauling him off balance. Head high, jaw tipped back, throat exposed for the kill.

Axxol crunched through his neck, and I suddenly shot upward, implement sliced free. Head popped off. I dropped the trophy and soared higher, pinging the area for a fresh overview of the battlefield.

Carnage covered our beach house’s lawn, littered with bloody chunks of torn up whales and drones.

The two Pterons were tossing the last surviving Balaenoptera back and forth between them, taking turns slicing another wound into its long, soft sides.

It listed like a damaged ship taking on water but still fought its way toward the house.

Even though Natalie wasn’t physically there any longer.

The house itself looked like a tornado had torn off most of the roof, demolishing walls and exposing the interior to pouring rain.

An eerie blue glow beamed around the master bathroom, where Natalie had taken refuge.

The alpha pilot stood in the center of the ring, still pinging planet side, but the rest of my squad were gone. :How’s he doing that?:

:He’s merging realities,: Axxol replied. :He’s physically holding the jump ring open on Earth, but everything inside the ring is also in another dimension.:

:Can you track the location?:

:No need. If we kill him, the jump will fail Natalie back to us.:

I started flying toward the house. :Why the fuck didn’t you say so earlier?:

:Survey,: Axxol barked out. :Do not attack. You can’t get him through the jump ring without risking an implosion that might hurt Natalie.:

Frustrated, I clacked my beak sharply but I followed orders, changing my flight pattern to record all the moving targets. :Then how do we kill him?:

:We don’t.: Axxol trotted through the jungle with surprising grace. : She does.:

Natalie? How? I had no idea but he said it with such confidence that I didn’t doubt him.

I certainly didn’t doubt her.