Chapter 212: Easter Egg Hunt From Hell
I had this image in my head of me charging through the launch bay doors, guns blazing, as I promised death to all. But then I remembered that I was smarter than that.
Instead, after giving Da’kea one last glare, I went back to my spot and stood there, waiting. I was not so insecure in my position that I felt the need to push ahead of the guy who knew what he was doing. I didn’t need to prove that I was a badass, and, in this case, I knew I wasn’t. I had never fought one of these Istars before, and something told me that it would be a lot harder than killing a human or a little green man.
Not to mention, if I left my assigned spot, my men would be more worried about my safety than they were their own, and that would lead to casualties, something that I was not willing to chance.
They wanted me in the middle, and so I would stay in the middle.
Midnight and Ye’tab walked toward the hatch opening and plunged their claws in on either side of the stiles, that crack in the doors where the two sides met. Pulling hard, they managed to create an opening big enough for us to slide through.
Da’kea went first, his chakrams in each hand, willing and ready to slice apart any bunnies that might try to eat us.
Yeah, I never thought I would be saying that either.
Tha’juen moved around me so that he could go through the gap next, taking Da’kea’s right side while GA took the left. With a grunt to let us know that they couldn’t see any threats, I stepped into the hallway, quickly followed by Midnight and Ye’tab.
As soon as we were through, the doors banged to a close behind us. Well, so much for a stealthy entrance.
"Go invisible," grunted Da’kea, and the other three Saalistaja activated their camouflage mode and disappeared from sight. However, because Midnight didn’t have the luxury of camouflage, or at least anything outside of his black suit, I refused to do so as well.
While I might not have suicidal tendencies, that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t stand shoulder-to-shoulder with someone who was willing to kill for me. We would face the threats together... and hopefully, the ones that were invisible would stand a better chance of killing these terrifying aliens.
Only my footsteps echoed in the darkened hallway, Sha Shou under strict instructions not to speak or turn on lights. Luckily, my helmet had night vision, and Midnight was a wolf.
We were inside the ship for maybe ten minutes when we came across the first egg. It was pastel pink with baby blue stripes going horizontally around it and maybe the size of my forearm. It was like the Easter egg hunt from hell.
Without a word, GA took out a flamethrower and set the thing on fire.
However, I don’t think any of us expected what happened next.
Instead of the egg and its contents burning down to nothing, the heat from the fire actually caused the egg to hatch. The tiny being inside burst out of the top and launched itself at me. Surprised, I caught it in my arms and pulled it in close to my chest.
There was no sound, but I could feel it nuzzling into my embrace, its body trembling like it was scared. Looking down, I saw the cutest bunny ears I had ever seen in my life. They were big and flopped over my arms as the Istar tried to become invisible.
His fur was a navy blue color, with a lighter blue acting as a highlight. It was probably the size of a one-year-old Earth baby, and everything inside of me screamed that I wanted and needed to keep it.
The bunny looked up at me, and his bright pumpkin-orange eyes seemed to glow, even through my night vision. He had the cutest little canines poking out from his mouth. Realizing that he had my attention, he smiled at me, showing a massive amount of teeth for someone who was just hatched.
"My Star," said Da’kea beside me. Or at least I assumed that he was beside me. "Put it down slowly and take a step back."
"Nope," I responded, holding the furry bundle of joy in my arms tighter. "I claimed him, he’s mine."
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"Fuck, they didn’t mention this in the information reports," grumbled Ye’tab as the six of them continued down the hallway, their heads going back and forth, up and down, looking for another egg.
"If the flame throwers don’t work, what should we do?" demanded GA, looking at his mate with an Istar in her arms. As if reading his mind, the small youngling looked over his pet’s shoulder and stared at him, a creepy smile on its face. Opening its mouth to show off the razor-sharp teeth, it turned its head as if it was about to rip out Mei Xing’s neck.
"None of that," she snapped, smacking the creature between its ears. Chagrinned, the Istar closed its mouth and buried its forehead back into her shoulder. "If you can’t behave, you are going to be in trouble."
GA’s outer mandibles opened in surprise as the creature shuttered for a moment and then nodded its head as if it understood.
"Has anyone else noticed our mate’s ability to collect deadly things and then tame them?" mused Midnight, a small chuckle escaping his lips. He turned around to look at the thing that seemed to have been born out of the Dark Lord’s realm, sitting comfortably in his mate’s arms. "First the AI, then the voragyvis, now the Istar... what do you think she will be able to tame next?"
"Are we so very much different?" answered Da’kea, a smile passing his lips for the first time since he had heard about the infestation.
"No," replied Midnight. He was the strongest male on his planet, so much so that he chose to leave his people in order to protect them from suffering the effect of two fighting Alphas. When he first boarded his ship with his loyal pack beside him, he was worried about what the future might hold. Worried about whether or not he would be able to keep those important to him safe in a universe of predators.
Knowing what he knew now, he would have made the same decision all over again. His Star shine was worth it all.
