For several seconds that Saltek just stood there, unsure of how to deal with this new threat. Then, at a barked command from somewhere in their midst, they charged forward.
The howling, charging, enraged mass of alien flesh stampeded towards Malachi, and Tamar screamed for him to do something, anything. He couldn't just stand there and hope to survive, yet he just stood there, his head down as if he were studying something on the ground. His head snapped up only when the first wave of the advancing horde was upon him.
His first movement took Tamar's breath away. No, not because it was spectacular, though it was that. The air was punched from her lungs because she was standing too close when his single hand shot forward, impacting with the lead Saltek. With his palm flat, the solid thud of skin on armor didn't punch through the creature, instead it sent a visible shock-wave out in every direction. The pressure wave swept over Tamar, the over pressure sucking the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping for breath.
As bad as it was for her, for the Saltek horde, it was far worse. In a shower of body parts, the lone Saltek flew backwards, its figure disintegrating piece by bloody piece until with a last squelching impact the head smashed into the right leg of one of the hordes, knocking the howling soldier to the ground where it continued to scream in rage and pain.
Taking advantage of the space he'd opened; Malachi grabbed Tamar and threw her as if he was tossing a baseball around the infield after a strike out. Only instead of flying a few yards, she was propelled up over a stone wall and into an old rusting dumpster on the other side. It was filled with nothing more than old newspapers, but she had the feeling he'd have thrown her in no matter what it had contained.
"Is she safe?" Malachi leapt into the air.
"Yes, you're clear."
"Good." A split second of concentration was all it took for Malachi to ignite the surface of his suit. It sizzled and popped, fire pouring off him in crimson waves. With his suit ignited, he dove straight into the heart of the horde.
Tamar's nostrils were assaulted with one of the most rancid smells she'd ever known. It was burnt flesh, that much she knew, but from nothing she knew of. Leaping out of the dumpster, she landed on its lip and sprang again. Coming down on the top edge of the stone wall, and became witness to the most violent scene she'd ever seen.
Saltek charged forward while others dropped to their knees and heaved huge rifles on tri-pods into position. The energy weapons were so ponderous only a few could be brought to bare. Dark purple packets of energy filled the space between the charging aliens and Malachi, yet they did no damage. Slim, razor-sharp blades were created with a thought. They congealed from his suit and slid into open palms. Bringing them both up to guard, he parried the first volley of shots, deflecting several into the aliens closest to him. They went down in showers of blood and gore.
Moving with blinding speed, his blades disappeared and ten twelve inch needles took their place, each growing from the end of one of his fingers. He caught the downward arch of one of the aliens' two-handed swords and rammed the talons of his other hand deep into its chest. Blood fountained into the air as it spewed out of the alien's huge mouth. It splattered over Malachi even as he hoisted the body and spun so that the next barrage of incoming fire was taken by his shield of meat.
Dropping the body, he threw both arms back and let forth with a scream that could be seen as well as heard. It distorted the air in front of him, kicking up dirt and debris in an ever widening cone to his front. The Saltek caught in that cone went down, clutching the sides of their heads, thick orange blood running from every orifice in the skulls. The sonic assault ended when three aliens grabbed Malachi from behind, bringing him to the ground in a tangle of legs and arms.
Tamar watched in horror, more Saltek pile onto him. Within seconds, she could no longer see him under the crush of armored bodies. Almost without notice, she felt the stone beneath her hands and feet begin to vibrate. The tiny vibrations turned to violent shaking, as if a level nine earthquake was happening. She realized what was going on within a split second, but it was enough time to save her life. An explosion of crimson energy lanced out from under the pile of Saltek. It punched through bodies, liquefied others in its search for release. Then, in one blinding flash, the entire area was carpeted with red. It looked like someone had let loose with hundreds of paint sprayers all at once. The air almost dripped of the ruby energy. Tamar managed to drop to the other side of the thick stone wall just in time to hear several large impacts on the other side. She then saw a mangled body, with a hole big enough she could have crawled through it sail over the wall, then another, and another until one slammed into the top of the wall with enough force, it ripped in half, showering her with gore. The lifeless torso flopped onto the ground beside her, the tiny black eyes frozen, the look of absolute terror locked forever in them.
"You are impressive human. I will give you that." The voice brought Tamar up to peek over the wall once again.
"But they were but meat for the slaughter. Now you face true warriors." Tamar watched three Rougarians work their way out from behind the last wave of Saltek. All three wore glistening green blue armor, each with a sword at their side.
At a barked command, the few remaining Saltek charged forward. Heedless of the looses they had taken, the remaining fifteen launched themselves in suicidal attack. Tamar watched from her perch Malachi wade into the oncoming aliens. His claws were everywhere, yet nowhere. One instant they were piercing through a crested head, the next they were gone, replaced with a gleaming red blade.
That's when Tamar understood what was happening. The Rougarians were using their cannon fodder to probe their enemy for weaknesses. Trying to figure out the best way to attack him. They obviously didn't care about the Saltek, and if they did, the situation must have been extreme enough for them to sacrifice them in order to bring them closer to victory.
The last Saltek head hit the ground, having been hacked from its shoulders, and Malachi back flipped thirty feet away from the approaching Rougarians. The stare he leveled at the three of them was one of indifference, not hatred. There was no true malice in it.
"I have no wish to harm you. If you will leave this planet, I have no quarrel with you. But if you persist in trying to get to that girl," he inclined his head towards Tamar. "Then I will see you all dead before you touch her."
"Human, we are the Rougarian. Our word is law over three quarters of this galactic spiral. Do not even think you are worthy of threatening us. We will not be threatened. If you value your life, bow your head and worship your new gods."
Malachi's head snapped up as if he'd been slapped and Tamar sucked in a breath.
"Oh, now they've done it."
"There is only one God." He snapped. "And you are not him." Energy crackled across his skin and his talons grew from his fingertips once more.
When the attack came, it was from two of them, not all three. The third stayed back, waiting for an opening. The first two attacked as one, their attacks forcing Malachi to defend both at the same time. This gave the third the opening it was looking for. Darting in, it slashed at his back, only to have its blade locked in a black gloved fist.
The Rougarian's eyes grew wide as it looked at the blackness that had stopped its attack. The hand was at the end of an appendage that had grown from Malachi's back. In half a heart beat it snaked up the weapon and clamped onto the creature's arm. Lifted from the ground, the alien gave an abortive shriek just before it was lifted from its feet and pounded to a pulp against the cement.
The other two paused not the slightest. Their attacks, if anything, began to increase in speed and ferocity. Malachi blades swept in blinding fast arcs, picking off attack after attack until they blurred into a dome of crimson light. And then there was only one.
Silvar watched in horror as his brother in arms take a step to close on a follow through. It was the last mistake he made. The red blade swept out and bit deep into his leg. Dark purple blood spurted from the stump and the howl of pain was cut short by the fist-sized hole rammed through its neck.
Silvar couldn't understand. How could this situation have gone this bad, this fast? From an easy retrieval mission to death at the hands of this creature. The only comfort he had was the thought that this thing, whatever it was, had not long to live. With all the video and scans they had, feed back to the flagship his brothers would soon find its weakness. They always did. His species had taken countless worlds by their ability to subvert other technologies to their own ends. This would be no different, sure he would die, but his death would bring about the empire's victory. With that thought on his mind, he dropped his blade, his guard, and everything that held him to this life. He never felt the strike that ended him. The blade was moving at just under the speed of sound. So when it entered his shoulder and curved down, exiting just above his opposite hip, then was swept in a twirling arc to take his head, he was dead before his body hit the hard asphalt.
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