CRASH!!
"What are you doing!"
See, this is why he was not thrilled with having people around. Even using his powers was a bother. He couldn't even expand his senses with his mental power before he noticed. That voice didn't sound surprised though…more like really angry, why?
"Do you not understand what situation we are in?"
Now, why ask such a useless question, he wondered, after another insect rammed against the window in the hall they were in. The good thing is that the windows were reinforced glass. The bad news: the insects didn't seem to mind and continued to ram more into the window, causing cracks.
"Cody, run away! Go take some weapons,"
"Hey stop using your mental power for no reason."
Now, why should he just listen to him? At least he now knew that the glass would break at any second and that a swarm of insects was outside. It was gonna be a long day.
"Do you just want to attract more insects here to kill you! What are you even doing? You can't hurt them like that!"
It was now becoming more and more obvious that the other male Zergs in the Dominion could only soothe female Zergs, it seemed. What a waste of abilities, or maybe he was the one with extra ones. That last statement, however, confirmed his suspicions, though.
When the intruders first came, he'd used his telekinesis to blast the insect away from the rover where he was hiding. The odd thing was that immediately after, the insects focused their attention solely on him and paid no attention to Rin, who was also fighting them. At the time, he thought nothing of it, but now…
Before he could retort, the glass cracked once more, this time worse than ever. He couldn't even dodge before it crashed down, and the shattered pieces of glass immediately started to fly in all directions. He stumbled backwards, footing slipping on smooth plating. He didn't even have the time to activate his powers and throw the fragments away before something solid collided into him.
An arm locked around his waist and twisted him sharply downward. The general turned his body, broad shoulders taking the brunt of the spray as shards rained against his back and arms with violent force.
…It's not every day you are quite literally knocked off your feet, you know. It's also not every day that you stumble and fall, only to be saved by being cradled and smothered with a miraculously soft? chest too. Which was why Jinyue felt so relieved that female Zergs didn't have large breasts, though it still felt awkward as hell. It made him uncomfortable, regardless of the chest situation. He had half the mind to be offended before another bang resounded in the air, and the buzzing sound got stronger.
He quickly pulled apart from the other as he held an awkward expression before turning serious. He turned sharply to the shattered window. One insect had managed to slip through, but Kaerin had quickly subdued it. On the other side was a swarm of insects, all fighting to enter the small crevice while getting stuck in the process. It would only take a few more seconds before they figured out how to get free, and he and Rin would be in trouble.
"Take cover!" Shouted Rin as he stood there ready to stop the swarm.
Jinyue really wasn't open to that idea, but he had to make sure Cody was safe. Additionally, with those numbers, it could only mean they were there for one or two things. His mineral reserve, which the insects may have sensed or himself, neither option was flattering. It was all their fault.
Rin didn't hesitate. The moment the insects began pouring through the window, he launched himself at them. He grabbed the edge of the window frame with both hands and pulled, using the window itself as momentum to swing out into the swarm.
His fist connected with the first insect's carapace. The impact sent it flying and effectively knocked three more insects out, but six more took their place immediately. Kaerin's movements were brutal, efficient, every punch seemed like a controlled show of power and lethal force. But insects kept coming, an endless stream of them, all focused on getting past him to reach the interior of the ship.
To reach Jinyue actually.
Inside, Jinyue extended his mental senses carefully now, mapping the insects' positions while weighing his options on whether to use his powers to knock them off. They seemed to get more agitated by the second, and if anything, Jinyue could feel the tremendous bloodlust emanating from them. Somehow, he had a feeling that that wasn't normal if the small curse Rin had elicited out of himself was anything to go by.
Quickly, he counted seventeen outside the window, at least six more trying to find alternate entry points. His mental capacity let him track them all simultaneously, but it also made him a beacon. Every time he used his power, he could feel them zeroing in on the signal like predators following blood in water. He chose to stop and face them head-on.
An insect broke through the crowd, even when Rin held it off and squeezed through the window frame. Jinyue didn't hesitate—he raised his hand, focused his power on it, and gave a firm and heavy punch, and the creature shrieked and went flying backwards, hurled by an invisible force directly into the swarm outside.
The insects shrieked, shrilled and hissed.
But they didn't retreat. Instead, more of them surged forward, drawn to the mental energy expenditure.
Jinyue cursed under his breath.
Then smoke filled the corridor.
Jinyue's first thought was alarm—until he recognised the composition of the smoke. One of his own pellets. Someone inside the ship had triggered one of his devices.
Through the dissipating smoke, a figure emerged. Blue-skinned. Moving with precise, practised efficiency, impressive for someone who was just out of bed rest. The sub-female operative skidded to a stop beside Jinyue, eyes still curious, but focused with lethal clarity. "Run. Now."
Jinyue bristled. He wasn't decorative furniture to be placed safely behind sturdier objects. But before he could respond, another insect forced half its body through the breach, its mandibles snapping as it wedged itself further inside. It looked really ugly, all things considered. Forget about the fear; now with an opportunity to examin the insects closely, they looked like cheap props from those popular scifi movies he never bothered to watch. He could take them down in no time.
However, the earlier fight had left him relatively exhausted and hungry, and the upcoming one would definitely drain him if he fought with no powers. He feared overexerting himself in case his heat showed up unexpectedly, with it already being late and all.
On the other hand, Rin seemed just fine, as if the spar hadn't had any effect on him. He was actually performing better than when they first met. The insects surrounding him were numerous, but he stepped forward and caught the creature's forelimb mid-swing with his bare hand. The chitin cracked audibly beneath the pressure of his grip, and with a sharp twist that looked almost effortless, he tore the limb free entirely. The insect let out a shriek that sounded disturbingly metallic and Rin drove his fist straight through its head, splitting the carapace with brute force. Darkgreen fluid sprayed across the wall.
Another insect lunged through the broken frame.
Kaerin ducked under it and slammed his shoulder upward into its thorax, driving it back out the window with enough force that the entire wall shuddered.
It was honestly absurd how strong he was.
In the process of choosing whether to stay or not, he hadn't noticed his mental power was leaking till he sensed the subfemale. Something was wrong. The sensation hit him like a discordant note in perfect silence. His mental power recoiled from it, unable to process the wrongness. He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable and the tiniest bit of distress, and... he didn't know why.
The sub female gasped—a sharp, pained intake of breath—as though he'd felt the intrusion. His blue eyes locked with Jinyue's for just a fraction of a second, and in that moment, something flickered in his expression.
But he recovered instantly.
"Move," he said, grabbing Jinyue's wrist.
"I can fight," Jinyue snapped, irritation flaring hotter than the situation arguably warranted.
"No," the sub-female replied, not even looking back at him.
The smoke was dissipating faster than Jinyue would have liked, and his body was still recovering from the fight with Kaerin. He was slower than usual. The sub female was dragging him forward with surprising strength, pulling him deeper into the ship's corridors.
Jinyue found himself questioning his life choices. Why was he allowing himself to be dragged around like this? First Collin, now this. When had he become so... compliant? So soft?
They reached the reinforced door to the storage compartment. It slid open with a hydraulic hiss, and before Jinyue could dig his heels in, he was shoved inside hard enough that he had to catch himself on a crate to avoid stumbling fully to the ground.
The door slammed shut.
Jinyue was still processing the dissonance in his senses. His mind kept circling back to it, trying to categorise what he'd sensed, but the pieces wouldn't fit together.
The sub female's breathing was heavy, his blue skin flushed with exertion and what looked like fever. He looked genuinely unwell—caught between weakness and desperation. When he finally turned to face Jinyue, there was something raw in his expression.
"Are you okay?" he asked, almost uncertain.
The question was simple, but the tone underneath it was layered. Like he was asking something else entirely and hoping to hear very specific things.
Jinyue studied him—really studied him—for the first time. Blue skin. That particular light shade of blue most common for office job shirts. The way he moved. The way his eyes tracked Jinyue's with an intensity that suggested familiarity.
Something was deeply, fundamentally wrong about his presence on this ship. And Jinyue didn't know what it was. Under normal circumstances, Jinyue wasn't one to hate someone on instinct alone. He required data, evidence, and reason. But his mental senses were screaming. He chose to nod instead of opting to investigate the person later.
"Do you have any other weapons, I found the smoke pellets by the training grounds?"
"Here," Cody said, handing him one of his many bows that lay there and a quiver filled with his adapted ammunition. "They mostly work like guns,"
"Okay, stay put and hide," The sub female said, getting ready to leave the room.
"I can help," Jinyue said in his usual tone, which in the end didn't work for the sub female who failed to believe any of it and hurriedly rushed for the door. Jinyue was unfortunately too far away to stop him and the door from closing.
"Stay inside," the sub-female's voice carried through the thick plating. "Do not try to fight. You will only endanger yourself and everyone else."
Endanger everyone else!?
The footsteps retreated.
Silence settled in, punctuated only by the distant tremors of impact reverberating through the ship's frame.
Jinyue stood very still. Then he turned slowly toward Cody wanting to express his disbelief only to find the betrayer at his usual side once more. The robot regarded him with bright, steady optics. "You have been secured for safety."
"For safety," Jinyue repeated flatly feeling thoroughly unimpressed and alittle miffed. He did not say more and moved on. He took in the room properly now.
His storage.
Here, weapons lined the wall in neatly organised racks. Spare parts, reinforced cases, energy cells, tools — everything catalogued and maintained meticulously over the four years.
And they had locked him in here.
A petty thought surfaced almost immediately.
Fine.
Let them fight without the upgrades.
He crossed his arms, watching as the reinforced door dented slightly under another heavy impact from outside. The metal groaned but held. Then… a small nagging part of his brain that wanted to do good just said to him, why not give them better weapons to fight the insects, instead, they will be eliminated faster, won't they?
"Should I help when they don't even want me to fight?" He asked quietly
"Your physical metrics are lower than a standard combat female," Cody replied helpfully.
"That is not the point."
The hull shook again, this time harder, dust filtering down from the ceiling.
"The insects might still be sensing your pheromones," Cody observed.
Jinyue's gaze flicked toward the door.
Of course they were.
The recon team had not yet returned when this began. The two females who had gone scouting must have drawn something back with them or disturbed something large enough to provoke this scale of response. The timing was too convenient otherwise.
Another slam rattled the door.
Structural integrity would not last indefinitely.
He walked to the weapon rack and selected a compact rifle, checking the charge with practised efficiency. He then went on to grab whatever else he could to take to the others and maybe kill some more insects to hasten their departure process. Satisfied, he slung it over his shoulder and then stepped back from the door.
"Cody, can you open the door,"
"Negative there appears to be an obstruction preventing it,"
"Is it jammed manually?" Jinyue said.
"Yes."
"So I cannot open it without force."
"That is correct."
He stared at the door.
He could remove it rather easily, actually, the question that remained was this: should I destroy this door or not?
Cody tilted his head slightly. "You are considering alternative exit methods."
"Yes."
He closed his eyes briefly and focused, not expanding outward the way he might have to scan, but gathering pressure inward, condensing it at a single point. Another impact struck the door.
He released.
The reinforced slab tore free from its hinges in a violent burst of force, blasting outward into the corridor and crushing several insects that had been mid-lunge against it. The metal folded over them grotesquely, pinning their bodies to the opposite wall in a smeared, chitin-and-steel sandwich.
Silence followed for a second
Cody observed, exclaiming a theatrical 'WOW' as he observed the carnage. "That was efficient."
Jinyue stepped over the remains. "Bring what you need for the rest."
The corridor beyond was chaos.
Insects swarmed along the exterior hull and spilt into the compound grounds. Several already lay scattered in broken heaps, evidence of active resistance. Down near the breached section, he could see them — All of them actually, even those who had gone to recon.
So it was their fault.
The insects had followed something back.
As soon as Jinyue stepped fully into the open, three insects pivoted unnervingly fast, their heads snapping toward him in near unison. A shrill sound escaped them, and they lunged.
He did not hesitate.
Three precise shots which caused three head explosions. The bodies hit the ground before reaching him. The battlefield shifted subtly. Even more insects angled toward him. Not all, though. But definitely enough to be noticeable.
Kyle noticed first.
"What the hell are you doing out here?!" he barked, vaulting down from a higher piece of wreckage and landing directly in front of Jinyue. Jinyue replied coldly, firing again as another insect tried to close the distance.
"They're destroying my compound, And I wanted…"
"Are you trying to kill yourself?" Kyle demanded cutting him off, grabbing his shoulder roughly.
"And you're trying to what? Preserve me like a museum exhibit?"
"Stop arguing and start fighting," shouted Rin from a distance, making the female pause for a moment. Another insect lunged past him, clearly angling for Jinyue rather than him. He ripped it out of the air with violent force and slammed it into the ground hard enough to crack the plating.
"You do not stand on the front line," he snapped.
"And you do not dictate what I defend," Jinyue shot back.
From somewhere behind them came shouts.
"Get him inside!"
"Hide him!"
"He's not safe!"
The words grated more than they should have.
He lowered the rifle slightly. Fine! If they were so determined to shelter him, then they could manage without his assistance!