Free Apex 3: Shaylo Attacks by Adam Moon

to toe the line.
    The sword had the blood of dozens of retired First Mates on it. He secretly hoped he was strong enough to add her blood if she became unbearable but he was starting to doubt his own resolve.

Melanie
     
    Melanie stood guard outside the only tavern in Ault. They’d defended themselves in a bar during the first wave but that one had been razed to the ground during the assault so this one was the last bar standing.
    Most of the townsfolk had died and most of the survivors had moved on since the first wave, so the bar now housed everyone who remained behind in the little town.
    The people had approached her as their savior as soon as word spread that another invasion had commenced.
    She wasn’t accustomed to so much responsibility but she played her role the best that she could, despite the protests from her mom and dad. The last thing they wanted to see was their little girl being put in harms way ever again.
    Those who were with her during the last attack knew that Jack was the real hero but they also knew she was capable too. With Jack’s absence she was made the de facto savior of Ault and all of its remaining residents.
    Half the day had slid by as they waited inside the little dank and musty bar. The Greys hadn’t arrived. Their absence was celebrated with copious amounts of liquor being consumed by the town drunks.
    As far as the news stations were concerned, the attack s were erratic. So far, no major city had fallen. In fact, it seemed like the Greys had a different agenda than the last time they came.
    She was relieved. She wasn’t sure she could survive without help, but the people had placed their lives in her hands and she couldn’t let them down.
    She wished Jack would materialize the way he always did. She missed him.

Loss
     
    The First Mate suited up, grabbed two rifles, and boarded her shuttle. Her heart was skipping along with anticipation.
    She launched away from the mother ship and headed towards the little blue marble of a planet that spun lazily beneath her. The timing of her launch was ideal to strafe the moon of the soon to be dead world. It was large for a moon that circled such a small planet but besides its size, it was unimpressive. It was barren and bland, with no atmosphere or life to speak of. She hoped the Earth would look like that when they were done with it.
    She used her c omm. to direct the highest ranking warrior to return to the ship. “Captain, you are to take my place until I return to the ship. You are acting First Mate.”
    “Ah shit.”
    “I’m sorry. It’s only temporary.”
    “Death is forever.”
    “You’ll be fine.”
    She’d been mulling something over in her head now for awhile but she still wasn’t sure she had the guts to go through with it. She knew she had Shaylo at a disadvantage. He’d shown he had a weakness for her and she could use it against him if she could muster the fortitude to act.
    Shaylo would never release her from her new position while she lived and she couldn’t continue to live as a bureaucratic slave so she had to change her fate.
    To do that she would have to kill him. It was a gamble because High Command would put a bounty on her head once they found out. The men wouldn’t back her up and would probably try to kill her too. So she would have to make it look like an accident.
    This excursion to the enemy planet was her last hurrah in case her plan backfired. If she was put to death for killing Shaylo, she at least wanted her bloodlust sated first.
    Plus it gave her the time she needed to clear her head and think of a way to make the murder look like an accident.
    She entered the Earth’s atmosphere at an acute angle and used the reverse thrusters to slow down her descent. She pinpointed the location of the super humans and made a course directly for them. She could only hope those humans had the nerve to stand and fight her.
    She traversed a rocky canyon and finally found them clustered together with the bodies of her