Chapter 52

Watching a hole appear in Cameron's chest Garrett was convinced it was over. Where the heart once stood a bright prism shined as the flesh rapidly mended. Garrett watched strands of muscle and bone fragments reform as he tried to finish the job.

Being an experimental weapon it needed time to cool and recharge resulting in a simple click for his efforts. Cameron's body was already returning to normal, and the blaster wasn't cooling. Garrett promptly switched to his sidearm.

Cameron rapidly seized Garrett by the throat while slamming him into the wall. The pistol dropped from his hand as he struggled to breathe. Cameron seized the frozen limb with his free hand.

"I was gonna thaw it," Cameron stated.

Garrett was already slipping from consciousness due to the overbearing pain in his back. The last thing he saw was his arm crumble. Cameron dropped Garrett as he exited the lab to the sound of alarms.

The alarms blaring weren't from Cameron's actions but something picked up from control. A large craft abruptly entered Earth's atmosphere, and it wasn't even attempting to cloak itself. Aria's ship was scrambling to their stations to get a read on its origins.

"It seems the Cerullians transmitted the coordinates before the gate was destroyed." Enki relayed.

"If they breach the mesosphere fire," Aria ordered.

Hovering above Nellis airforce base is an obsidian ship three miles wide. Its shape was animalistic, but the weapons equipped were substantial. Their scanners picked up an impressive warship below along with an inferior base.

Standing at the front of the deck was a Cerullian raptor with his captains at his side. They each possessed blue scales, and black stripes trailing down from their shoulders. The woman kept short hair to accommodate military regulations but had bright-colored feathers behind their ears.

Each of them had a dark metallic plate draped over their hearts. It possessed a green triangle that was blinking periodically. The armor led down to their shins exposing their lethal talon.

"Our shields wouldn't last long against a ship like that."

"Prep every dropship, and fire for the base in unison. Anyone who makes it to the ground needs to secure a foothold for the transporter."

'Once we conquer the base below we could launch a pincer attack. With them out of the way we can claim this planet.'

Under the wings of the ship, holes gradually opened. Egg-shaped dropships rained down as Aria's ship fired. Flashes of blue, and green appeared from the front of the ship laying waste to the Cerullians.

'There's too many to stop.'

Crashing into the runway of Nellis air force base was four pods. One collided with a jet taking off, and exploded on impact. The remaining three formed deep craters before cracking open.

Soldiers on base were already confused about the sudden deployment. Witnessing an explosion they rushed in to search for survivors. The last thing they expected to see was an alien climbing up the sides of a crater.

'What the fuck is that?'

Crawling before the soldier was a woman with green scales surrounding her neck, and cheeks. He looked into the amber eyes as a hood expanded from her neck. The threat display was effective but not as good as the purple goo that covered his face.

"Get it off!" The soldier tossed around in pain as the venom secreted into his orifices.

The woman sprang up pinning him to the ground as she tore out his throat. A nearby soldier prepared to fire, but her grenade was faster. Everyone on the runway took cover as a stream of energy cut across the base.

"My men are ready to go." Enkara relayed.

"We should wait," Enki stated.

"The treaty is clear on these matters," Aria cautioned Enki.

"The punishment if Nissa isn't retrieved will be far greater," Enki replied.

Silence fell over the ship as everyone considered the ramifications. Nissa was scheduled to return to Zeta-3 with her report in two days. A delayed report was punishable under normal circumstances, but a situation like this was unprecedented.

"What are our orders?" Enkara asked.

"Stand down for now, but stay near the dropship," Aria replied.

'I'll never understand why they call us captain.' Aria sighed.

Back in the vault, Cameron was getting a bearing on his surroundings. He barely took a few steps before being confronted by armed guards. Their fingers were going for the triggers as a wall erupted. The blasters caused a concussive force to go off in closed quarters as the wall regenerated.

"Don't touch the edges," Cameron cautioned.

The wall rapidly shifted trapping them in a narrow cage. Cameron strolled past them unconcerned as he searched for Nissa. After reaching the end of the hall he saw a tall figure huddled in bed. Hearing a tap on the door Nissa stood up, and he noticed the busty frame.

'It's hard to see her face.' Cameron placed his hand on the door.

It gradually froze and crumbled into rubble at Cameron's feet. Nissa approached with her head lowered to obscure her appearance. Cameron turned to check for backup but saw no one in sight.

Protocols dictate the vault stays sealed under an attack no matter what. With no backup coming the remaining agents were preparing for their assault. They were encroaching Cameron's location in a tight formation.

'She's really quiet.'

"I don't like my voice." Nissa relayed.

Cameron glanced back as Nissa pulled her hood down.

"Sorry, it's just curiosity," Cameron turned back.

"It's okay," Nissa blushed.

Walking past the other cells Cameron noticed some of them are humanoids. He recalled his previous interactions but felt no maliciousness from the ones nearby. Cameron turned to get Nissa's input as the faint sound of marching appeared.

"Freeze!"

Cameron sighed while clenching his hand in their direction. The blasters were firing up but froze before the chambers filled. They immediately went for sidearms, and Cameron got in front of Nissa in response. A few rounds struck his chest before icicles pierced their shoulders rendering the arms useless.

"You'll never make it out of here alive." An agent threatened Nissa.

"Are you really in a spot to make threats?" Cameron glared in the agent's direction.

A wounded shoulder that could've healed later gradually became a frozen body. The remaining agents adjusted their gaze to the ground while shaking. Cameron and Nissa strolled by without another outburst.