A great blaze swept through everything in its path, carving a fiery trail between the alien swarm and their nests. I was at the front, controlling the flames with precision and unleashing a hell of pure destruction. Behind me, the captain and several space marines fired relentlessly at any creature that managed to survive the fire. Among them was Tonks, the second deadliest firepower in the group. She didn't bother with the smaller creatures; her targets were the larger beasts that escaped my flames and were too much for the other soldiers.
We advanced without looking back, without worrying about the path we were leaving open for future attacks. We had already given up on this space station when someone, in a smuggling attempt, let an egg into the camp. Things spiraled out of control, and while we uncovered valuable information, we also faced great dangers.
Until now, Tonks and I had avoided using our magic openly. It was an unspoken agreement between us. For Tonks, this was an outlet, a way to vent her anger in a visceral manner. She didn't want to rely on magic; she wanted to feel the recoil of a weapon, the impact of a strike, the raw brutality of combat.
So why were we now suggesting using it without restraint?
The first reason was a deal with the captain. After executing the high-ranking officer who had smuggled the egg, she became the highest authority in the area. I demanded access to all technological information, all knowledge, and all data on psionics. It was not an easy negotiation. No civilization would share such a treasure so freely. But after our raid on the communications room, we proved that our psionic abilities were among the most powerful in the galaxy. I ranked among the top hundred, and Tonks among the top thousand. Psionics like us were extremely rare, and at this moment, essential. After certain promises, we reached an agreement, and I finally unleashed all my power. My auras dominated the aliens, and my blood magic turned every spell into a tool of extermination. If I combined other abilities, I became an unstoppable killing machine.
The other reason was Tonks.
For months, she had maintained her mask of indifference, but it broke. Not towards me—her resentment towards me remained intact—but towards the world around her. Seeing with her own eyes how elders, women, and children were brutally slaughtered by these creatures was too much. It wasn't the first time we had witnessed horrible deaths; we had fought in the Trojan War, after all. But when a little girl was torn in half before her eyes and devoured while still alive, something inside Tonks shattered.
I tried to tell her that this wasn't real, that it was like a simulation, that if the mission reappeared on the board, everyone would be alive again. But she couldn't accept it.
And for the first time in a long time, she spoke to me with real emotion.
"We're going to end this. I don't want anyone else to die. Let's go home."
With the determination to put an end to this massacre once and for all, we unleashed our magic without restraint. It didn't matter if it deviated too much from the psionic system and raised questions.
This was the last mission on this ship, just as we had planned. Our destination: the main control room, one of the sections already assimilated by the alien nest.
Flames, lightning, explosions, and gunfire raged on for hours. Our aggressive movement attracted the attention of everything that inhabited the station, so the aliens kept coming, in all their variations.
In truth, luring them was part of our plan. While our group advanced towards the control room, another team was evacuating the refugees, taking them to the escape pods and available ships, which we needed to activate before setting our course.
The closer we got, the more assimilated the area became by the nests. Fire became our best tool, and we had to use it more frequently. After a long journey and the loss of a quarter of our comrades, we finally reached the control room... and there, we had to hold the line.
Most of the panels and devices were unusable, but luckily, these ships were built to last. The essential systems still worked.
The captain and the crew members with technical knowledge quickly got to work. Meanwhile, Tonks, the marines, and I fought against the largest horde of aliens we had ever faced. We were too close to the nest, and on top of that, we needed to make as much noise as possible to draw the creatures in and buy time for the others to escape.
The process took longer than expected due to equipment damage, but the captain managed to activate at least 70% of the evacuation ships. The rest were doomed.
However, shortly after, we heard massive explosions, and Tonks and I discovered the truth. The captain, in order to prevent the spread of this alien plague, had given orders to the soldiers escorting the refugees: if they detected signs of infestation on any ship, they had to activate the self-destruct sequence. According to the data from the still-functioning panels, 45% of the evacuated ships had exploded.
It was a cruel decision, but a necessary one. No one said a word. We only bowed our heads in respect for the dead.
Now, only our last mission remained. Those of us who stayed behind did so for a suicide attack, but not against this ship's nest.
After discovering certain things about that idiot who tried to smuggle the alien egg and proving our skills, Tonks and I were sent on an even more dangerous mission: recovering the black box and all the information about the ship that brought these creatures. It was hell, full of risks and death, but we did it.
Along the way, after saving her life multiple times and everything else, my relationship with Tonks improved… but only enough that she wouldn't want to spit in my face if given the chance. Her hatred and coldness were still there.
Among the recovered information, we found spatial coordinates: the origin of the egg. We also found records of the research conducted on these creatures.
With that data in hand, the captain made a final decision. She ordered this space station to be directed toward those coordinates, intending to crash it into the planet that spawned this nightmare.
There was nothing left to lose. Security protocols were broken, and the engines were activated at dangerous levels. Despite the damage, the propulsion system was practically intact, as the nest hadn't reached it. In a matter of minutes, we felt the violent movement of the ship as it tore through space without any stability measures activated.
After completing the necessary configurations, our group moved toward our next objective: a very particular escape pod.
From the records of the executive we executed, we discovered that this space station had a small secret ship reserved for high-ranking officials—one that man had planned to use to escape alone.
...
Now we were in that hidden section with the escape ship. The secret entrance leading to it was covered by a nest, but only on the outside. The ship itself was incredibly well-built, concealed, and protected to prevent anyone from finding or accessing it. We managed to force our way in, enter, and seal the entrance, giving us a moment to breathe before what was coming next.
Besides Tonks and me, only twelve people remained, including the captain and Yexi. However, the latter two now had some impossible-to-ignore absences: The captain had a fully robotic arm and leg, while Yexi was also missing an arm and an ear—recent wounds from this journey, still without prosthetics.
It was a moment of rest, relieved that even if the aliens found this place, it would take them a long time to break in. But no one truly felt relieved. No one was happy. We all knew this was a suicide mission and that none of us had a chance of survival.
The journey would be long. According to estimates, it would take three months to reach our destination, trapped in this mini ship designed for twenty-five people. Fortunately, the pod had enough nutritional solution to last the trip, even more so now that we were so few.
The amenities were quite decent—something to be expected for an escape ship designed for high-ranking executives. However, bad news soon arrived. After spending some time on the ship, I discovered something concerning: Tonks wasn't leaving her room.
Only the captain, Tonks, and I had individual rooms. Noticing her prolonged absence, I grew worried and decided to enter without asking for permission. I found her lying on the bed, trembling and drenched in a thick, yellowish sweat, with stains of a black liquid soaking the sheets.
I didn't hesitate to jump on her and examine her. Using my blood magic, I gave her a quick check and found the problem within minutes. Without wasting time, I started treating her. She woke up almost an hour later while I was still working on her recovery.
She had a high fever and looked disoriented, but she half-understood what was happening.
Her arm was completely black and necrotic, with a large atrophied area. There wasn't much that could be done for it. Healing it would take more time and effort than solving the problem directly.
"The best option would be to cut it off," I told her.
"Do whatever you want," she murmured weakly, looking away. "I know you wouldn't let me die. I'm a valuable asset to you, and you wouldn't risk losing me."
Despite her state, she sounded mocking, though I wasn't sure she even knew what she was saying or to whom.
"Besides, I know you'll find a way to get my arm back. You couldn't live without my handjobs..." she whispered, almost laughing, though with difficulty. "If you're going to give me a mechanical one like the captain's, make it pink."
She closed her eyes, unable to bear the light.
I laughed internally as I carried her to the pod's infirmary. With the proper tools and my skills, I amputated the arm from the healthy area. Then, I used my blood magic and several potions I had bought from the Merchant to remove any trace of the alien substance from her body.
Ah, and yes, in case you were wondering: the Merchant appears here too, though with new appearances. He's not always the same, nor is his transport the classic carriage. So far, I've seen the "Space Merchant," the "Android Merchant," the "Parasitized Merchant," and the "Alien Merchant." The last two usually roam areas infested with nests.
I managed to cure Tonks and save her from whatever was killing her, making sure multiple times that her body was in good enough condition—or at least stable enough to last until the mission's end. Once we returned to the fief, any persistent damage would be restored to the state it was in before embarking on this mission.
As for her amputated arm, I decided to leave that choice to her when she woke up. I would see if she wanted me to help her regenerate it—something I could achieve with my blood magic, potions, and spells from our world—or if she really preferred a robotic arm.
And speaking of arms… I examined the one I had removed. After a while, I found the cause of her condition: a tiny fragment of an alien stinger, about the size of a bee's stinger.
It had accidentally embedded itself in her brachialis muscle, quite close to the elbow, without her realizing it. Probably, during an explosion, an alien had burst into pieces, and this small stinger was shot out, lodging into her arm. With the adrenaline of battle, Tonks hadn't felt the impact, or if she had, she dismissed it as minor pain.
The venom had done its work silently, weakening her little by little until, too exhausted, she collapsed without being able to call for help.
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