Chapter 31: Chapter 30 – Hounds

A crimson colored ship was slowly drifting amidst a thick cloud of orange gas. Its engines were off as it hid its own presence. It was using the interference in the nebula, slipping past any sensors that could be posted on the outside of it or any other ships arriving into the system. It was a Wuulfharn warship but instead of their usual, blocky designs, it had a form, most reminiscent of a shark’s body. Its front even had a design that looked like an opened jaw, ready to bite into its prey. In reality, it was for ramming enemy vessels and hooking into them, tearing their hulls apart and giving a chance to its crew to board it. Its name was Bloodhound. 

Its captain was Wakatu, a seasoned veteran of the Wuulfharn army, serving for more than 30 years in their special division. In appearance, he was close to three meters tall, surpassing that number if people counted his sharply standing wolf-like ears into his height. His body was bulky, with muscles bulging around his arms yet hidden below a thick coat of black fur. He was watching the image of the thick clouds swirling inside the nebula, sitting in his captain’s chair, playing with the end of his black tail.

He was trained to hunt down high-priority targets and was decorated many times by his higher-ups, evident by the many battle-scars running around his body. None of the Wuulfharn wore traditional clothes as their fur was the best insulation against any type of weather. After leaving the armed forces, he immediately gathered up his own crew, filling it up with trusty, old friends from the army as they established the Howlers; Wakatu’s own slaver group. 

“We have been drifting here for days now, Boss… This is fucking booring!” Turned around his pilot, a similarly built Wuulfharn only with bluish fur around his body.

“And?” Wakatu tilted his head, licking his canine teeth. “This is the perfect spot for an ambush.” 

“You should have already learnt something under the Captain…” A female voice said, scoffing at the pilot’s words. She was sitting at the back, to the left of Wakatu. She was just as big as him, with red fur around her body. “Going by our sources, they should pass through here to enter the Astropath, leading into their own territory.”

“And we have arrived here first.” A second female voice said, sitting at the right of Wakatu. She was the spitting image of the previously speaking female Wuulfharn. It was no wonder as they were biological twins. “We just need to wait until our prey shows up and pounce at them when they least expect it!” 

The twins were called Osha and Evin, a pair of fierce warriors and also, Wakatu’s wives. The males and females were not that different from each other. The latter were sometimes even more vicious and controlling than their male counterparts. But on the Bloodhound, it was Wakatu who held the position of alpha. None of them dared to question his decisions.

“I know…” The pilot, whose name was Zezu, sighed, turning back towards his own controls. “I am just bored out of my mind! At least the others on the ship can fight, fuck and drink… I am sitting here for days on end, playing with my own tail!”

“Stain my ship and I am shooting you out from the torpedo bay!” Wakatu scoffed while his wives just chuckled.

“Geez, not that tail!” He answered, rolling his eyes, mumbling something else under his breath.

“Patience.” Wakatu smiled, “It is the base of every successful hunt!”

“We have a reaction.” Osha, the one who sat on his left, spoke up. “A ship just came out of an Astropath and its first details match what we know about the target.”

“Check the slaves’ chips. They should still be operational, even if they get removed from their bodies.”

“Match.” Evin chuckled. “All of them are on that ship!”

“See?” Wakatu smiled, sitting up straight. “Sound the alarm and tell those bastards to prepare for boarding! We need them alive so don’t go and blow up that piece of junk!” 

“Yes!” All three of them answered at the same time. Even as the ship's internal alarms were raised, it remained immobile, their thrusters cold, hiding in the orange clouds, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

…

….

…..

“We were scanned.” The Dawn said, as soon as they exited the Astropath. Now it was only Sylen and Omega, sitting in the cockpit. Miyon was resting while Keshnar was already working, drawing up his plans on how to start manufacturing the required parts for the Xanthe’s rebuild. The rescued slaves were happy to stay in their shared room, sometimes going back and forth from the lounge and kitchen area, enjoying their newfound freedom. Even if it was limited to the hallways of the Dawn for now.

“Do you know by who? Or from where?” Sylen asked.

“No.” She replied. “It was a brief scan while we were coming out of the Astropath. I can’t locate its source but I am sure that I felt it.”

“We are being watched.” Omega agreed, closing his eyes for a brief moment. 

“Are you sure?” Sylen asked, already taking direct control of the ship and flicking on the internal alarm systems. 

“What is going on?” Miyon’s voice came from the intercom, woken up by the alarms. 

“We are being targeted but we don’t know by who or from where.” Sylen explained it to him. She was sure of the fact as both Omega and the Dawn confirmed it. The two of them couldn’t be wrong at the same time. 

“I’m on my way!” Miyon said but his granddaughter interrupted.

“I am a better pilot, Pa! Keep the kids safe with Professor Keshnar!”

“...” At first, no answer came back but in the end Miyon just sighed softly. “Okay!” 

“He sounded… old…” Omega murmured, smiling a little, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. 

“He is old!” Sylen replied with a sigh of her own. “I see it in his reflexes. In the past two to three years, he got slower and slower. I don’t want to hurt his feelings but… if we are truly targeted, I can pilot the Dawn better than he could!” 

“You are going to have a chance to prove it!” Omega added. “I can feel a killing intent, aimed at us. Where is the Astropath that would lead us into the Gate of Kaltazar?”

“Here.” Dawn interjected, bringing it up on the screen immediately. “This would be our usual route of approach.” She added, highlighting it in red for the two. It would lead them through the orange mist which occupied 80% of this system, working hard to birth a new star in the coming millions of years.

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“Let’s continue and do not alert our enemy!” Omega advised.

“Wouldn’t we fly into a trap then?” Sylen asked back but she was already guiding their ship along the highlighted path. 

“Yes we would.” Omega nodded. “I can guess as to what their plans are.” He continued, watching the orange clouds that they were heading into. “I would hunt the same way as they do! So I already have a guess who they are.”

“Wulfhaarn…” Sylen gulped, remembering that it was the same kind of people who killed her parents.

“Very likely.” Dawn agreed.

“If we run, they would just come back at another time. And if I am not there, you would be in danger.” He said, shaking his head. “I am the cause of this, so I am going to solve this problem, right here, right now.”

“Hey, I am on your side!” Sylen smiled. “I am glad that you saved those poor souls! Damn that sadistic jello!” She scoffed loudly. “I am just sad that he survived… I would have paid a lot to see him being exploded into pieces!” She grinned, pointing a thumbs up at Omega.

“I hope you are going to remain just as pumped up!” He added, with a bit of a worried voice.

“Huh? Why? What are your plans?”

“To let them board.” 

“...” Sylen blinked her eyes, going a bit paler in an instant. “You are joking… right?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Put up a little fight, trying to get away, but when they latch onto us, I am going to be the one, greeting them.”

“I… I don’t know if this is a good idea…” She gulped loudly. 

“It is not.” Omega said, being completely honest with her. “But it is the quickest way to finish this!”

“Oh boy…” Sylen murmured. 

“Here.” Omega pointed it out as he brought up the Dawn’s schematics. “I want you two to work together. Pilot in a way, when they ram us, they hit us at this position!” 

“At the underbelly? The secondary hold?” Sylen murmured.

“It is empty right now.” Dawn added. “And it is the furthest away from my mainframe. It would impose the least amount of damage.”

“It would be only superficial.” Sylen nodded, “Something that can be fixed and replaced.”

“I agree.” Dawn said.

“Sorry about it.” Omega smiled as he stood up, ready to go down there.

“It is good.” Dawn’s voice answered, sounding happy and confident. “I don’t want to lose my friends. Parts can always be replaced but family can’t be.”

…

….

…..

As the Dawn was pushing the orange clouds apart the Bloodhound was looking at it like a hungry predator. When they were passing by them, it finally ignited its thrusters which came online with an angry roar. It propelled the crimson colored ship forward with a violent force, pushing the boarding party into their seats. They were already at the ship’s nose, strapped in and prepared to board. They were wearing dark, bluish armors which were fitted onto their bulky figures and sealed them off from the outside world. There were a dozen of them, ready to board the enemy vessel. Every one of their helmets looked like a different, demonic wolf head, snarling, smelling the blood in the air.

“Oh?” Wakatu raised an eyebrow. He was enjoying the feeling of his stomach lifting up and down in his body, reacting to the wild force of the acceleration. “They have a good pilot.” He smiled.

“Not good enough!” Zezu laughed as he also watched the Dawn turning, trying to evade the sudden appearance of an enemy ship. Yet it only managed to turn enough to be struck not from the right side, but instead being hit in its underbelly. 

Even with its previous upgrades, when the shark-like ship rammed into it, its ‘teeth’ sank deep into the metal frame of the Dawn. The impact made Miyon, who was with the slaves fall forward, landing on his big belly.

“I know this feeling…” He gulped, not really doing a good job with calming down the frightened youngsters.

“Damn it!” Keshnar also grumbled, staying with the Formium capsules, holding them in place. “If these get damaged, the whole thing was for nothing!” He cursed, deciding to never bring Omega with him ever again.

The only one who was calm was Omega. He was standing at the point of impact, unbothered by the fact that a crimson colored jaw tore itself into the empty cargo hold he was in. The metal frame of the Dawn was peeled away like paper as the Wuulfharn ship lodged itself into them. He just watched it with his violet eyes, unblinking, unmoving, even when he saw the huge Wuulfharn soldiers jump out of the opened up hatches. What he was hearing though was the cacophony of muffled screams and cries for help, resonating in the back of his mind. As if they were calling him. He knew that they came from a memory, some fragments that he had yet to access… yet they were filling him with a rising rage that wanted to break out.

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