“Cutter!” Mack called, but I already knew.
In a world where scent was king, we were almost blind. The arach had covered themselves in the light greys and whites found in a weaver’s home interior. Askavor had found them by scent, but we had been completely blind to their presence.
“We are coming,” T’Kit said, as the walls near the other exits started to move.
I might have wondered what the weaver intended, but there was no time. We hadn’t been able to see the arach, and we couldn’t pinpoint them by smell, but they were here, and coming down the walls and ceiling we’d thought clear. Mack and I headed for Askavor.
We were no good to him this far away. We were gambling that he’d recognize us… or, at the very least, realize we weren’t arach, and leave us until last. Personally, I wanted nothing more than to put my back to Mack’s and fight that way, but we had to protect Askavor’s vulnerable rear, and it was way too wide for us to do that standing close together, unless…
Mack, of course, had gotten there before me. He grabbed me by the sleeve, and unslung the Blazer, firing down, and into the arach Askavor had kicked. It was still struggling to rise from the matted floor. By the time we were done, it was never going to rise again.
We maneuvered around it, using it as a barrier between us and the arach descending from the walls. We couldn’t quite stand back-to-back, but shoulder-to-shoulder was enough.
“T’Kit, we’re using Blazer solids,” I said.
I knew she could pick it out of my head, but it felt better saying it out loud.
“Arc?” she asked, and I pictured it, so she could see. “Mack?”
There was a slight hiccup as he paused between bursts, and then his fire resumed its usual pace.
“I am never getting used to that,” he said, and I laughed, shifting targets, and shattering the head and thorax of another arach before it could cross the ceiling and drop on us.
“You do it to me all the time.”
“Screw you, Cutter.”
“So many nopes,” I shouted back, and we both turned to take on the arach coming out of the doors on either side. It felt good to have Mack’s back against mine.
“T’Kit—” I began, but the wasp replied before I could finish.
“We are monitoring. We will stay clear of your line.”
I was guessing she meant line of fire, and felt better. The last thing I wanted was to take out one of the vespis coming in to help us. Askavor jolted backwards, and Mack and I both stepped forward and away from each other, clearing a path for the weaver to move to. We also both looked to the front.
“Fuck!”
“You two are one foul-mouthed duet,” Tens said.
“Fuck off, Tens.”
It didn’t help that that came out in sync, too.
He didn’t reply, which was a good thing, because Askavor had a darn good reason to reverse into the area we’d just cleared.
“You back with us, big guy?” Mack asked, and I knew he was moving forward to stand where Askavor’s abdomen joined his head and thorax.
“Cephalothorax, girl.”
What-thefuck-everQ.
“I am here, and I am sorry.”
“It’s no problem,” I told him, eyeing the half dozen arach advancing towards us. “We’d have had to kill these fu…spit sacks, anyway.”
“Cutter!”
And well Mack might shout at me, because the effect of that insult was satisfyingly swift. The arach rattled. It’s the only way to describe it. They vibrated their legs, and shook their bodies, and displayed their fangs in raised aggression.
Oh, fuck.
“Way to piss off a species, Cutter!”
But I was too busy to respond. After their initial display, the arach were advancing.
“T’Kit…”
“Almost there. Please do not shoot the ceiling.”
“Gotcha,” and I was relieved to hear Mack give the same acknowledgement.
What was not so good was to see the three arach closest angling around the perimeter of the room so they could all come at me at once. That couldn’t be good, right?
I didn’t wait for them to come. I started to swing the Blazer around to take the one on the furthest end, but T’Kit redirected my aim.
“There,” she said, as the Blazer crossed the second arach. “We have the third.”
They did? Well. Fine. I opened fire. This time I didn’t bother with bursts. Help was coming and I didn’t need to conserve ammunition. Yeah, that and this was no time for bursts. If they all charged me at the same time, I was in a world of hurt—and I didn’t want to spend any more time in a tank, this trip. It was bad enough knowing I’d have to go back in, when we were done.
I cut through the arach’s legs, and walked my fire back into its body, clipping the abdomen before moving it across the arach’s head. These things were really moving, but they weren’t that fast. I’d remembered them being faster. The second arach fell, head cratered like an errant asteroid, so I walked my fire into the first one.
Funny, I’d thought that one might, at least have reached me, but it was still a meter off, its fangs stretching towards me. Target accepted. I shot where the fangs joined the rest it and watched the whole spider stutter backwards in a jerky, uncoordinated dance. When it fell, I danced forward, coming away from Askavor and ignoring Mack shouting in my head.
“That one,” T’Kit said, and I moved forward taking on the arach attacking Askavor’s right.
The Blazer ran dry on that one, so I threw the gun away, and pulled the blades I’d been given when they’d handed me the rest of my gear. I was gonna carve this bastard into itty bitty pieces.
“Don’t play with your food!” T’Kit’s reprimand was as harsh a rap across the knuckles as ever I’d had.
Fine. Whatever. There were plenty more.
I took out its legs, and watched as Askavor skewered it through the eyes with first one foreleg, and then another. Yup, this
