Page 80 of Scorching the Alien Empire (The Klendathian Cycle #7)

Tens of thousands of Seeker drone markers vanish from the navigational display.

The tension coiled in my shoulders loosens at the sight, but relief is fleeting.

More remain, their numbers still swarming like darting red insects, maintaining their relentless bombardment against our weakening shields.

“Focus,” I snap, slicing through the laughter. “Kill them.”

“Kill, kill, eat my fill.” Drexios grins as he pivots back to the gunnery controls.

The bridge thrums with the rhythmic thunder of plasma cannon barrages, each shot a pulse of destruction ripping through the swarm.

My gaze flicks back to the navigational display, tracking the chaos beyond—the millions of drones falling in our wake, the thousands still clinging to us like parasites. And beyond them, the true danger.

Three Voidbanes.

Closing in. Converging.

The dozens more looping around the asteroid field, racing to cut us off.

We’re close. Very close.

“Shields at forty percent,” Corsark reports, tension creeping into his normally steady voice. “Kill them faster, for void’s sake.” He breaks rank for the first time, his patience fraying as he glares at Drexios.

I wrench the ship into a hard bank to port, the hull shuddering under the force of the maneuver.

Rocks and plasma slam into the shields like an unrelenting hailstorm, battering against our defenses.

The moment we clear one monolithic asteroid, another lurks ahead, waiting to crush us.

My Rush-heightened senses ignite, instinctively mapping new paths through the tumbling debris.

“Is that fear I smell, Corsark?” Drexios sniffs the air with exaggerated flair. “The poignant scent of piss running down your pantaloons?”

Corsark bristles, but Drexios continues, his fingers dancing over the weapons console.

“Ever fired cannons from a ship doing somersaults and cartwheels in the middle of a voiding asteroid field?” He pauses for effect, then grins. “No? Then shut your barking, or I’ll slit your throat.”

I hardly hear them, focusing like an arrohawk on the Voidbanes ahead. Their pulsing markers adjust, reacting to my sudden shift. Two of them will intercept us.

There is no doubt. No escape.

They’ll be waiting. Watching. Fresh goliaths of blackened arcweave, devouring the starlight itself.

In mere moments, my plan—and our fates—will be decided.

“Corsark,” I order, my blood boiling, “on my command, deploy the Enriched ships.” The words roll from my tongue like arcweave, each syllable sharpening the moment. “Target the Voidbanes and the largest asteroids.”

Will it be enough? It has to be.

“At once, War Chieftain,” Corsark moves swiftly, his armored fingers clanking as he rushes to obey.

Beyond the asteroid field, I see them.

An absence of light in the abyss. Voidbanes—monoliths of destruction, one waiting, another racing into position to intercept. My heart hammers against my chest. Rush- infused blood seethes through my veins, molten, relentless, unstoppable.

Outside is utter chaos.

Drifting asteroids tumble through the void, trailing spirals of space dust. Seeker drones swarm like predatory znats, weaving erratically between the debris, their red lenses flickering like malevolent stars.

Plasma blasts ignite the abyss in violent bursts of azure, the light bending and refracting across the shimmering white-blue glow of our failing shields.

The lingering afterimage of hyperspeed paints the battlefield in kaleidoscopic hues, a storm of movement and destruction.

But through it all, I see only the Voidbanes.

The ship creaks and shudders as I bank over the final colossal asteroid, revealing the silent angular tombstones awaiting to collect our heads. Their plasma cannons already locking onto us. The nozzles hum, glowing an ominous white-blue, their deadly energy illuminating the fractured rocks nearby.

“Now, Corsark!” I bellow, slamming my hands forward on the controls.

The ship plummets like a falling blade dropped from a mountain. A barrage of plasma fire erupts in our wake, white-hot streaks searing through the void, narrowly missing our hull. The ship shudders violently, the sheer force of the maneuver threatening to tear the arcweave plating apart.

For a brief, dizzying moment, the battlefield vanishes.

No Voidbanes. No exit. Only churning rock and drones swirling in a storm of fire and debris.

Already, I’m plotting new nav-points through the chaos, banking sharply to avoid an impending collision.

“Ships launched,” Corsark calls out, his breath ragged.

My eyes flick to the navigational display—dozens of tiny dots scatter from our location, the damaged Shorthair fleet dispersing among the asteroids like znats fleeing a broken nest.

Our last gamble. Our final hope.

I can barely tear my eyes from the screen, but I must, navigating the asteroid field at this speed, demands every ounce of my focus.

Then, without warning, a brutal jolt slams through the hull. My fingers tighten around the controls, knuckles whitening as I wrestle against the violent tremors.

Then another.

And another.

The sharp nudges transform into a full-body convulsion, the ship shaking like a caged beast in a titan’s grip. The floor vibrates beneath my boots, alarms screaming over the wail of groaning metal.

“Dracoth!” Princesa’s voice cuts through the chaos, shrill with panic.

What’s happening?

Brilliant swirls of orange aftershock ripple across the void outside, pulsing in expanding rings of fiery light.

A chain reaction of explosions detonates in rapid succession, the Elerium-infused blasts igniting the abyss like golden suns going supernova.

Their shockwaves smash through the asteroid field, sending shattered rock and obliterated drones hurtling in all directions.

I force the ship into a new course, leveling out the descent, pushing forward toward Argon Six at maximum speed.

Asteroids that should have barred our path instead detonate into clouds of fragmented debris. Fiery meteors spin wildly into the abyss, thrown from the destruction like shattered bones from a fresh kill.

“Princesa, are you well?” My voice is rough, my senses finally catching up with me. I glance over my shoulder.

She stands white-knuckled, fingers digging into the obsidian of my throne. Her pink skin is flushed crimson, eyes wide and unfocused.

“Um...” she breathes, her voice barely above a whisper. “No. Not really, actually, babes . Todd and I need a moment. He’s not used to nearly dying, thanks.”

She’s not the only one.

Even my warriors stumble, some bracing against the walls, others gulping in deep breaths to steady their shaking limbs.

“What a voiding rush!” Drexios exclaims, throwing his head back, sucking in lungfuls of air.

“Those Elerium explosions? Oh, so beautiful, oh so deadly.” He lets out a manic laugh, wiping a hand across his forehead.

“That was a clever trick, War Chief. Nearly blew us to voiding smithereens, mind you, but hey—you can’t go hunting without spilling blood. ”

His laughter rips through the chamber, unhinged and wild.

But I don’t feel relief. Not yet.

My gaze snaps back to the navigational display. Daring to hope. Expecting the worst. The end of the asteroid field is almost gone.

The self-destruction of the Elerium-enriched Shorthair ships obliterated everything in their path—monolithic rocks blasted into fragments, a scatter-shot of destruction tearing through the Seeker drones like claws through flesh.

Even the vast horde pursuing us suffered catastrophic losses. Their once-solid wall of blinking white markers is now concave inward, crushed like a skull beneath my boot.

The Voidbanes behind us remain. Unscathed. Still in pursuit.

And the three closer ones?

I hold my breath, my blazing eyes flickering across the shimmering display. The Voidbane that failed to intercept us is still there, trailing like a starving beast.

But the other two?

I scan the display, searching, searching.

Something feels... off. My instincts whisper of a presence unseen.

Are they gone? Could the explosions have taken them out? A long exhale escapes me, tension oozing from my body like venting plasma.

Then. The ship jerks violently, a sudden impact rattling through the hull, snapping me back to reality. My teeth clench, my breath freezing in my throat.

Outside, in the swirling maelstrom of hyperspeed, our shields flare a blinding blue.

“Shields at... at twenty percent, War Chieftain,” Corsark stammers, disbelief cracking his normally unwavering tone.

“Where?” I roar, my eyes darting across the navigation display. There’s nothing within range.

“Oh, would you look at that,” Drexios sneers, his words like sweet nectar to my ears. “Sneaky, big bastard, directly above us.”

Above?

At his words, the rhythmic thud of cannon fire erupts—the Voidbane’s attack resuming its onslaught.

Drexios grins, his fingers dancing over the holographic controls.

“Look at me, a sneaky Voidbane, floating on high, a voiding pain,” he croons mockingly before bursting into laughter, his hands already priming the next barrage.

I grimace, loathing this uncertainty—being caught unaware, reacting instead of controlling.

Still, I bank sharply to port, initiating evasive maneuvers while maintaining speed. Slowing down isn’t an option. The Seeker swarm behind us remains a churning metal tide, a relentless maw of jagged limbs and burning lenses, waiting to devour us whole.

Between adjustments, I narrow the navigational display’s range. The blinking blue icons sharpen, shifting from vague markers into detailed holographic constructs, morphing into precise replicas of the ships they represent.

Then I see it.

Above the Ravager’s Ruin , matching our speed with eerie precision, looms a Voidbane.

A hulking mass of angular ruin, jagged and blackened like a floating slab of scorched granite. It was so close—masked by our own marker and the Battlebarge’s signal.

Sneaky indeed.

The void ignites as another barrage of plasma slams into our shields, rocking the ship. The impact ripples through the hull, a groaning, pained sound like a wounded creature struggling to stand.

Doubt gnaws at the edges of my mind. Both our ships have endured too much. Our shields are on the verge of failure. We’ve shattered their forces, torn a bloody path through their swarming ranks, executed near-perfect stratagems.

But to face a Voidbane now—under these conditions...

A cruel fate. A brutal death.

But if that is to be our end, then let it be worthy. Let us tear their throats out with our dying breath.

“Shields at ten percent, War Chieftain,” Corsark reports, his voice steady despite the weight of finality behind it. He draws a deep breath. “May Arawnoth burn away our weakness.”

“Piss on Arawnoth’s fires, you sniveling borack dung,” Drexios snaps, sneering. “I’ve got all the fire I need right here, right now. Boom!”

“Corsark, order the Battlebarge to open fire.” I command, urgency biting at my words.

“They already are.” Corsark confirms.

Drexios barks a short laugh. “Why are you panicking?” His tone is amused, mocking. “This Voidbane’s more messed up than us. It’s venting plasma like Pinkie on discount night.”

He’s right. It should be wounded. We can win.

“You rude prick!”

Princesa’s shriek cuts through the tension, her voice laced with fury. She steps forward, arms raised, her eyes shimmering with shifting silver and crimson.

“I’m so fucking tired of your bullying, Drex-iot! Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know who you’re talking to?”

Without warning, silvery barriers materialize around Drexios.

The impact is instantaneous. He lets out a harsh grunt as they slam into him, his boots scraping against the floor as he’s forced back. My instinct is to stop her, in this moment, she’s more unpredictable than the Voidbane itself.

“Princesa, stop!” I roar, moving instinctively to intervene—before halting.

There isn’t time. Life and death hang by a thread. And she just disabled my Second, my gunner, in the most crucial moment of the battle.

My hands dart across the controls, overriding the cannon systems.

“What?” She hisses, her head snapping toward me like a vipertail preparing to strike. “Don’t worry, I’ll save the day... again!” She waves her hand dismissively, and through the cannon controls I see barriers shimmering into existence along the Ravager’s Ruin’s hull.

The Voidbane looms above. Its shields sputter, flickering like dying embers. Its hulking form is riddled with gaping wounds, massive gashes venting debris and blue-hot plasma into the void like severed arteries.

For any other ship, these would be death blows.

But not for the Scythians.

Not for machines.

Despite the ruinous damage, it clings to murderous existence.

Its cannons pulse with blue fire, the barrels glowing hot as it unleashes a final barrage—

Molten plasma tears through space, searing through the swirling hues of hyperspeed, hurtling toward us like burning comets.

At the same moment, the Ravager’s Ruin shudders as our twin-linked cannons retaliate at my command, unleashing their own volley.

Plasma rains over plasma, streaks of fire colliding mid-flight.

Some blasts detonate on impact, bursting into blinding white sparks before vanishing into the abyss. Others pierce through, unimpeded.

I grip the obsidian armrests of my throne, claws digging into the polished stone, bracing for impact.

The Voidbane’s fire streaks toward us, seconds from impact—Then stops.

The plasma halts mid-flight, mere feet from our hull.

Princesa’s barriers shimmer, edges glowing as sizzling blue pools across their surface, the energy dispersing before cascading harmlessly into the void.

Princesa exhales slowly, her lips curling into a cruel smile. “What’s the matter, Drex-iot?” Her voice is sickly sweet, dripping with venom. “Not so funny now, is it?”

I need to end this. Now.