The hivemind is conquering for me?

”Holy Guacamole Keyla! You are a menace with those knives!” I said as I extended my hand to Keyla who I just had to backhand with the hilt of Zircon to get her away from me. After spitting out some blood, she looked at me with Sparkling eyes as I helped her up as she asked. ”Really?”

After nodding my head I brushed her cheek to make sure she was ok before replying. ”Yes, absolutely. I mean, you clearly lack the training I have and your footwork was sloppy, but the way you used the knives, it was like they became an extension of your body and that having affinity with your weapons can be deadly.”

I emphasize my point by highlighting the shallow, yet long cut across my body that was in the process of healing. ”I still recommend you using your Bloodfiend form when we engage as your regeneration will leave me at ease, but at least now you have a fallback if for some reason you are forced out of it.”

Keyla’s eyes glazed over as the thought of the battle to come fuelled her bloodlust. She was pulled out of it when the creature, commonly known as Orchid, from the side of the room finally walked over, after fighting the urge to lick Apollo’s wound clean and said. ”You are right Apollo-love, she has an affinity for small weapons, but you were also holding back a great deal. I informed you not to.”

I began to look around guiltily before replying. ”Oh, you noticed that huh? Sorry Orchid, I was holding back because we are nearly there, I don’t want to injure her before a big fight.” Orchid looked at me lovestruck as it was not often she saw her amazing Apollo have a dud moment.

”Keyla, heal your mouth please.” Orchid requested, to which Keyla turned into a bloody mist as she turned into her Bloodfiend for two seconds before turning back, spitting out a tooth that had regrown after the blow from Zircon knocked it loose.

”Oh.” I simply said, a little flush covering my cheeks as I had even just mentioned her regeneration to her. Keyla was about to say something cheeky to lighten the mood before I said. ”I guess I just did not want to hurt my short stack too badly then. She is too cute after all.”

Before anyone had a chance to react, Keyla ran up to me and jumped, wrapping her legs around my midsection before kissing me aggressively. Having our second fight and walking away victorious once more, Keyla brought her head away from my own and began stroking it with both of her hands in a frenzy.

”After the bloodshed, we will find the bloodiest, most gruesome location on the battlefield and you will split me in two! I don’t care If I am screaming in agony, you are going to make me look like I am on a stake!”

”Oh my.” I blurted out at the vivid image that just popped into my head as she said that. To change the pace of the conversation, leaving Keyla around my torso for now, I said. ”Speaking of the battlefield, how about we have a wager among the hive?”

Keyla and Orchid tilted their necks to the side in unison before Keyla wrapped her arms around my neck and asked. ”What kind of bet are we talking about here? I am more of a calculating gal, I don’t like ’getting lucky.’ So to speak.”

Waving my hand I said. ”No, nothing like that. Maybe wager is not the correct word, more a friendly competition? Jewel you can participate too, just not with your main body. I shouted to the room. Jewel was connected up to the Ships brain like she did during the Kermin assault.

She had done a scan ahead and noticed a lot more Psionic activity than usual coming from our destination. ”Basically, what I was thinking, is that whichever hive entity kills the most ’prey.’ They get to spend an entire week, alone with just me and no one else. We can do whatever you want during that week. If you just want to mate, we can do that, if a lower caste wins, they can be given freedom to free think and perhaps even develop a body if they so desire and spend the week with me in that etcetera. Or, and this is my personal favourite, we can do research all week!”

Keyla and Orchid looked at each other with mixed expressions. They liked the idea very much, apart from the research part. A week alone with Apollo and no other to interrupt the peacefulness of it sounded incredible, but what worried them was that Jewel just heard it and via extension, the whole hive.

On all the ships in the current fleet, those with liberties to think freely began to look for loopholes in their basic instructions. If they found one, they began to use their genome to make themselves stronger, faster and all around deadlier. The cost of this effect? They were now hungry and very much ready to dive headlong into battle, where they could prove themselves and obtain a week with Apollo, perhaps becoming his newest mating partner?

My casual suggestion had turned the usually excited hunters into a legion of bloodthirsty murderers all wanting to increase their tallies as much as possible. Not that I knew of course. Keyla and Orchid, feeling the shared emotion of determination of the rest of the fleet, alongside the confidence each of them felt thanks to their respective capabilities, looked at me with a look that would make normal people scared, but I aroused before saying in unison. ”Were in.”

…

Meanwhile, On the once Lush planet. Prime three had scoured the entire planet of biomass. Absolutely nothing remained after the intense week, except for Apollo’s trophy. That would stay there for eternity, for it was his and his alone.

Over the last week, she had prepared everything for the moment that is about to come and now, Apollo offers this reward to her, after inviting her to come and see him? ’He must truly wish for me to be his!’

Wading through the sea of corpses and blood, Prime three arrived at the teleport and decided to activate it now as considering her distance from her far away mate, the travel would take a long time.

Activating some Psionic energy around her, it was like an explosion went off, every corpse in the valley, every drop of blood suddenly began glowing, making the crimson wetness even more prevalent. Psionic energy began pouring from everything in the vicinity towards the teleporter.

Prime three’s breath became heavy, her black glossy eyes looking more menacing than ever. Her four clawed hands gripped tightly around her weapons, the anticipation greater than any hunt she has ever been on.

As she felt a change around her, signalling the teleport was ready, she bared her teeth into what could be considered a smile as a blood red laser of ultimate mega doom descended upon her, leaving a gigantic crater in the planet miles wide, where she had just been.

…

Aeletha was inside her room on this originally numbered planet #21,800,982,125,153. It was once a simple mining colony, slowly siphoning its resources into the Coalition. Now though, as Aeletha looked out of her window, although she could not see, she could tell what was going on out there.

The entire planet has been dug out, every single resource used to make this world its new namesake. A Bastion. Aeletha’s visions had become clouded again. She could still see the future, but only a short while into the future, mere minutes, seconds.

She had a feeling that this large force of the hunger was different to the ones over the last few decades. She had reports from Spartari about the use of tactics in a siege of one of their fortress worlds as well as undocumented creatures.

The thought of unknown creatures sent a shiver down her spine as she thought of the creature that spoke to her. Onyx. She did not know how or why that creature spoke to her, why she knew its ’name’ and why she was not dead like her previous Rekosh, but she feared one thing about her future. She knew she was destined to meet that creature again somehow.

The thought sent another shiver down her spine, she had scarcely felt fear before that encounter, but holding the amulet around her neck gave her a great deal of comfort. She was a powerful Psionic user who knew the secrets of how this Galaxy flowed.

The Hunger might be sending a large force directly towards her position, but she had a few secrets up her sleeve. that she knows will secure a major victory for her during the upcoming conflict.

Down below, the structured defences were made in a way that, to the soldiers of the coalition, looked normal, but ironically to the blind Seer, she could already see the Psionic energy creating a pattern as the gigantic Array began to form.

Aeletha could not help but smile as her emotions got the better of her. Catching this she walked back to her desk to make herself some tea. She could not have her emotions swaying her sight after all.