Gabatrix: Darin and the Frontier
Copyright© 2026 by CMed TheUniverseofCMed
Chapter 16: Barking Irons at Le’Telren Part 2
Science Fiction Sex Story: Chapter 16: Barking Irons at Le’Telren Part 2 - Set shortly after The Wheels of Thunder, Earth and its remaining population are alone as the planet is surrendered to the T'rintar clan. Darin and the Blue Buccaneers set forth into the Hesik Expanse to find any possible targets of opportunity. It'll be up to the cowboy to revitalize Earth's Defense Force and bring the war against the other Itrean clans during the ongoing human/Itrean conflict. Story contains: Male Human, Anthro, Scalie, M/F, M/FF, BBW, Female Alien, Interspecies, Action, Drama
Caution: This Science Fiction Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Consensual Romantic Fiction Military Western Science Fiction Aliens Space Furry BBW
Less than five minutes had passed since the shuttle and VTOL transport departed from the Rampage. In the vacuum of space, the heavy concentration of dust particles perforated the scene. It was enough to block out even the low, dim stars in the background. Even the close brown dwarf star was still just a small sphere in the distance. Meanwhile, the small dwarf planet of Le’telrin remained close by.
The Theseus, heavily damaged, was still mobile enough to remain in place, slowly deploying its gate probes in a spherical ring. Only the hint of a few flashing navigation lights gave any indication that there was still life in the recently new, but beleaguered ship. In the vast distance, the hulking remains of the Shal’rein scoutship lay dead in space along with the disabled Shal’rein dreadnought that hovered not far from it.
The Rampage, in its damaged state, could be seen not far from the shuttle and the flying transport as they slowly headed toward Le’telrin. The capital ship was veering off, putting more and more distance away from the planet, but maintaining a specific direction. The VTOL’s wings had been deployed, stretched out as it held a tank and the large robotic canine near the craft’s belly.
Inside the nearby shuttle, Darin looked at the cabin, filled with the Rampage crew, either strapped into seats or hanging onto the interior poles. Despite the craft’s size, the load of over twenty individuals still packed the interior.
By now, Darin wore a McCleavar vest, along with a similar mask and shielded see-through visor that protected his face. He was still able to wear his cowboy hat, while adorning his rifle over his shoulder.
One Itrean traveled with them, not far from Darin. The Yutilian woman, a fo’mil, was completely covered in her wrap armor, giving her a green-and-black sheen that completely covered her scaly skin, tail, head, and feathers. On her side hip was a single submachine pistol with a small grenade launcher attachment to it. She glared in contrast, the single reptilian woman smaller and shorter than the human beings around her. Darin and Czarek remained standing, braced against service poles in the interior to keep from being jolted around in zero gravity.
Darin was busy communicating with Natch. The cowboy held his communicator device close to the mask filter.
“What’s the status, Natch?” Darin asked him.
“The Rampage is moving into position,” Natch replied back through the device. “Charles has informed me that it’ll be three minutes before we begin the bombardment.”
“And our time window before the Shal’rein send their reinforcements?”
“Less than thirty minutes.”
“Thirty minutes...,” Darin remarked as he thought to himself. “You make sure that Charles maintains a good distance from the base ... make sure that defenses can’t target him.”
“He assures me that it’ll be good enough to evade the ground batteries.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about anything that the Shal’rein might have up their sleeves, Natch. The base knows we’re comin’. They know our shuttles are getting ready to land at any time. And just because Cay’reshen decided to join up with our little caravan of misfits doesn’t mean that she completely knows the complete ins and outs of everything either.”
“Right ... because a lot may have happened in the last ten years since she last served her people.”
“Precisely. Make sure the Rampage has enough distance ... twice the distance. The base is going nowhere. It can’t dodge the shells that are going to land on top of it.”
“Agreed. Charles,” Natch could be heard veering away from the comms. “You heard Darin. Make sure that the Shal’rein can’t shoot us down like the confident hawk who swoops upon the insightful crows.”
“Four minutes, sir,” Charles replied back on the comms. “I’ll make the adjustments, but it’ll put us at a much farther distance when it comes to retrieving the shuttles upon departure. It’s going to take too long to set up a gate ring and jump back to Earth before their reinforcements show up.”
“That’s alright,” Darin said. “We’ll just switch over to Plan B when we finish everything down here.”
“Plan B?”
“Yep, almost like we did back at Renlar. We’ll make a run into deep space and lose them into the Hesik dust cloud. I reckon by the time they bother to chase us, it won’t be worth it on their part.”
“I’m assuming they don’t have Renlar’s fleets to scour every corner like they did last time either.”
“Nah, it’ll be a lot easier. We’ll just ride like lightning, but just in case, make sure to ready those decoy probes when we make the burn out of here.”
“Got it.”
“Captain,” Bastian added. “I should also let you know that we have a limited amount of power available for the railgun. The secondary reactor is good for keeping the ship operational, but when it comes to firing the railgun ... well, we have about 2 or 3 shots at most.”
“Use the 16-inch turrets, Bastian. I can assure you that they’ve been used in shelling before, long before any of us were born, that is. Fire as soon as you have line of sight, ya hear?”
“Understood, sir.”
“Just to inform you,” Natch finished up. “Theseus shuttle, the Solovey, will be joining up with you and the transport in less than a minute.”
“Alright, Natch,” Darin replied. “Then let’s get ourselves down there while we still can. Darin, out...”
Darin put his device in his pocket and turned to face the armed men and women. Most of them were his crew, civilians who mostly came from North America, with a few of Central American or European descent. There were at least 8 jump troopers in all.
“Czarek,” Darin instructed him. “Keep me updated on what’s going on outside with the Rampage. You’ll be in charge of the shuttle’s jump troopers. Only Natch or I have any say above you, ya hear?”
“Can do, sir,” Czarek replied as he tapped the small left panel on his suit. He began looking at the data feed as it showed the status of the Rampage.
“For everyone else,” Darin explained. “We’ll be taking on the Le’telrin outpost. You already know that we smashed their defense fleet in place. What’s left will be their ground defenses. Our intel is good, but not fine and dandy either. We’ll be wiping out their gun emplacements, but that doesn’t mean that the Shal’rein may be hiding other equipment down there that they can use against us.”
“Cap,” Czarek interrupted him. “The Rampage is beginning bombardment on Le’telrin.”
From one of the displays inside the shuttle, Darin could see the smaller silhouette of the Rampage. Its three operational triple 16-inch turrets began firing blasts that were quickly smothered by the vacuum of space. While the shells moved more slowly in space than the railguns, there was very little to stop the rounds from cleaving through the thin atmosphere and striking the areas the guns aimed at.
“Pilot Denzel,” Darin called out. “Inform all shuttle and transport teams to make way to Le’telrin and commence Package Drop A.”
“Aye, Captain,” the unseen pilot responded from the pilot canopy behind Darin. “Taking us in.”
Everyone in the shuttle felt their bodies slowly pushed toward the rear compartment as the rear thruster ignited, pressing many into their seats. The occupants’ straps, magnetic boots, and mounted poles let others brace themselves as the shuttle moved forward.
“As I was saying,” Darin continued. “We’ll be making our drop to the outpost of Le’telrin. We’re expecting to be facing at least 40 Shal’rein in total, depending on whatever mood they may feel when they encounter us. The planet’s atmosphere is pretty much like Titan but thinner, having a little bit of sulfur, nitrogen, and the works. Good air pressure, but it ain’t the breathing type of air quality either; neither is the temperatures, or the radiation, for that matter. Therefore, the shuttles will be landing on the ceiling of the base as we cut our way through. Just in case the air gets a little abrasive, everyone has their mask filters and rebreathers. Gravity is pretty light ... about 18% of Earth, so you’ll have a lot more spring in your step. Our nice SV-105 transport will be landing and dropping off our other equipment that’ll be engaging anything outside, hopefully try to take on anything we don’t know about and provide cover for us as we make our way to the base’s deeper interior.”
By now, the shuttle’s interior display was showing hints of atmospheric friction, but it was significantly less than Earth or Cebravis’s atmosphere. The amount of heat generation against the underside was far less. The interior cabin of the shuttle was a little bumpy, but the pull against the shuttle’s rear had completely stopped. It didn’t take long for two shuttles and the transport looming behind it to breach the thin atmosphere.
The ground surface was coming into view as the shuttles flew over a lifeless landscape. It was nothing but rocks and sand. The hint of dull darkness was ever present, but most of the Hesik Expanse’s illuminated dust provided a subtle glow over the brown sand. The hint of a very dim, overhead, very dark hazy blue and black atmosphere was almost reminiscent of the Martian landscape, just much smaller.
With the planet being so small as it was, it wouldn’t take long before they would reach the more lit side, the surface that was trapped under the continuous dark illumination of the parent brown dwarf star.
“Two of the four ground batteries have been destroyed,” Czarek told Darin. “The Shal’rein are trying to return fire, but they can’t hit the Rampage. Bastian’s having a field day up there.”
Darin reached over and took Ny’ten’moo’s shoulder as he gestured the armored reptilian woman to stand close to him.
“Our goal...,” Darin informed everyone. “Is to seize one of the main maintenance quarries of Le’telrin. Your goal is to protect me and Ny’ten’moo here as we make our way in, gain access to Le’telrin’s main computer, override their system, and transmit a powerful subspace message to the Helera’kun homeworld, a people held under the boot of the Gok’shinta Shal’rein. It’s a simple task, but the Shal’rein won’t make it easy on us, I reckon. Around forty of us against forty of theirs. Unfortunately, I won’t lie and tell you that the Shal’rein are pushovers. They hit like a truck, their armor nearly impervious, and they can shoot off a fly’s wings on a man’s shoulder without a thought. This won’t be an easy fight, but you have one goal: Ny’ten’moo is the only one who can read Itrean here, and I have the key. If we go down, then the mission is a failure.”
Darin knew it wouldn’t be much longer before they reached the target.
“ ... With that said,” Darin said. “The Shal’rein can be defeated. Many of them are unprepared for an all-out fight, while the Helera’kun who work here only shoot because the Gok’shinta point a gun to the back of their heads if they refuse. We aren’t like the Yutilians or the Aksren.” The cowboy tapped the Itrean’s shoulder,” Except for Ny’ten’moo, here, but the Shal’rein have a little more ... resentment against fighting the humans. I don’t know about you, but I smell a victory in sight. All you have to do is be ready as the Blue Buccaneers have always been willing to do: to fight against all the odds, to show that Earth is no mere pushover, that we can actually win against something others would deem impossible. I want the T’rintar to know what we did this day, cause a ruckus that will be heard from here to Helera’kun, to New Atrea and all the way to Earth. Sometimes you just have to pinch the right nerve...”
“Here, here!” Czarek yelled out, slamming his fist against his chest.
“Don’t you worry, Captain Darin,” Callista said, lightly tapping the butt of her large rifle to the deck. The muscle-bound woman showed a hint of pride. “We didn’t sign up to bend over to the Itreans.”
“Yeah, fuck them!” Another random crew member, a man, said. “A pirate’s life for me all the way, baby!”
“BREECA! BREECA!” The jump troopers shouted as they pumped their fists to their chests. “For God and Glory!”
“FOR GOD AND GLORY!” Czarek yelled back.
“ ... For Earth,” Darin concluded, holding his hand to his chest. “For my home, justice, and the American way ... let’s finish this fight and head home...”
With that, Darin turned to the overhead scene depicted on the displays showing live camera feeds from the shuttle.
Czarek remained close to the captain.
“One more target emplacement,” the jump trooper said. “Bastian is trying to knock it down. It’s going to be a little bit close.”
“How much longer till we reach the base?” Darin asked.
“Fifteen seconds...”
There was a small lip of a hill as the two shuttles and the lone SV-105 transport flew together in unison. As the spacecraft flew over, the entire Le’telrin base came into view. Much like the original projection silhouette displayed earlier, the outpost carried a mostly curved dome to it. A few outlying structures protruded from it. It was never grandiose: at most two to three kilometers long, with only a couple of two-story buildings. Only one of the four remaining outside gun batteries, consisting of a dual heavy autocannon and light railgun combo turret, was firing into the air. The last known surviving turret was busy trying to shoot at specific areas in the air, attuned to firing upon the Rampage in some dire hope of hitting it.
It proved fruitless. By the time the three spacecraft closed in, the turret spun to face them, then three 16-inch shells slammed into the gun mounting, triggering a series of explosions that tore the entire gun emplacement apart. Four smoke pillars where the defense batteries were located rose as Darin watched the shuttles make their rapid descent toward the base, turning what had looked like something small into an extensive facility.
Everything had to be done quickly and with great precision. The SV-105 transport flew down and hovered over the dead sands where it quickly deployed both Orthas and the main battle tank. The Maximus battle tank, a relic of late-21st-century Earth vehicles, was rigged to withstand the onslaught of Earth’s destroyed environment, providing a clear atmosphere for its occupant. It was larger than any other battle tank that existed during its time. Its tank treads quickly gripped the ground, and the low gravity helped it land softly. The turret, consisting of several heavy machine guns and a single configured railgun, turned towards the base itself.
Orthas was quick, galloping on all four legs with only the light gravity trying to slow its earlier trot. Like a hunter, the machine quickly spun its weapons toward any validated threat, the canine trying to encircle the outer boundary of the base.
“Cap, we got a problem,” Czarek said. “The Shal’rein have another turret.”
“Denzel,” Darin replied. “Evade, but take us in. Let the Rampage handle anything else down here.”
“Aye,” Denzel replied.
From a large enclosed flat structure, a heavy-duty autocannon battery quickly ascended from the ground. Trying to take the assault team by surprise, the fifth turret quickly pointed upward and toward the SV-105.
Very little could be done. The flying transport was little more than a brick, too slow to properly evade, especially with a weapon emplacement that was so close to it. The rotary guns spun before they unleashed a devastating barrage of rounds. Every 40mm shell it fired ripped into the transport’s frame, quickly pockmarking the craft. The left wing quickly sheared off before the cockpit took a direct hit. Very likely, the pilot was killed instantly. The spacecraft buckled under its frame before the entire transport broke apart. The scattered remains of the SV-105 flew forward before it smashed into the dirt, crumbling apart in a wall of flames.
“Damn,” the cowboy remarked quietly to himself.
The gun turret, still spinning, turned to fire at Orthas as it quickly leaped and zigzagged. The Maximus battle tank spun its turret and fired a railgun round into the Shal’rein gun turret, doing damage, but not enough to shut it down. Tracer fire struck near Ortha’s foot before a crack reverberated in the air. Instantly, a powerful hypervelocity shell smashed dead center into the turret mounting, reducing the defense emplacement to a wrecked crater of shattered metal.
The two shuttles landed opposite sides over the circular ring structure that resided around the central dome of the base. Everyone inside Darin’s shuttle felt their bodies being jostled as the sound of metal clashing with metal echoed.
“Seal confirmed,” Czarek yelled out. “Start cutting now!”
Two of the jump troopers walked toward the central interior of the shuttle before, gripping onto an almost hidden ventral hatch. They quickly tapped a button, overrode the safeties, unlocked it, and pried it open.
The hatch was big enough for a single occupant, revealing the top roof of the circular ring. Both men had sets of dual torches as they started on opposite sides of one another, striking the Itrean metal and slicing into it, then striking the lining wall near the rim. Other soldiers and crew members slowly stood up, feeling the light gravity press down on their bodies.
“It’s going to take a minute,” Czarek said.
Darin pulled out his comm device and turned it on.
“Natch, you there?” Darin asked.
“Yes, I am, Darin,” Natch replied.
“The Shal’rein got the jump on us. They just blew our transport to smithereens. We’re still moving in and boarding the base.”
“We’re also out of power for the railgun as well,” Natch added. “I’ve had to send the rest of its energy reserves to the batteries and sensors if we’re going to make a hard burn out of here.”
“Without the transport, we won’t be able to carry our tank back to the Rampage. We’ll have to let Jameson know that he’ll have to ditch it after we’re done.”
“And Orthas?”
“Light enough that one of our shuttle clamps can still haul her off since she’s small enough, but our time frame is tighter than a nose string around a horse thief’s neck. Be ready with that hangar bay and bring the Rampage closer. Keep her wide open so that we can make our getaway.”
By now, the troopers had successfully cut into the roof, forming a nice circular hole. With a hard downward kick, the entire metal of the severed ceiling gave way. The shuttle’s ventral hatchway extended downward, forming a short tube that linked to the bottom floor.
“Move in, move in,” Czarek yelled out.
One by one, crew members and jump troopers jumped, using one of the shuttle’s support poles to propel themselves into the floor below. So far, there wasn’t any resistance or gunfire that could be heard yet.
“Captain,” Charles’ voice came over the comms. “We’re picking up other Itreans leaving the base ... might be five, more than that. There’s also a ... Sir, there’s a large hatchway, surface hatchway opening up half a kilometer from the base. Underground facility, might be an underground garage. Picking up a single tank ... definitely Shal’rein, sir, looks like one of their Sholy tanks.”
“Can you destroy it from up there?” Darin asked.
“Bastian can destroy the garage, but we won’t be able to destroy the tank. It’ll be too fast for our 16-inch guns, especially at our distance.”
The cowboy sighed for a moment, knowing that his outside forces would be on their own. He had to focus on getting into the base and carrying out his mission regardless.
“ ... Alright, we’re headin in, Darin out...”
Over 75% of the soldiers and jump troopers of the shuttle had entered the base as Czarek and Ny’ten’moo stood beside Darin. A few more stragglers were still trying to get in.
“It’s going to be fun when we try to make our escape through this,” Czarek said. “We’ll be bottlenecked for sure.”
“It’ll be a matter of time before they’ll come in to start gunning us down,” the cowboy replied. “Then again, I reckon they didn’t expect us to ever make it in the first place. Both of you two get in there and secure our little maintenance shed.”
“Roger.”
Darin tapped his comms device. “Jameson, Orthas, you got company headin your way. Stop that Shal’rein tank from hassling our getaway wagons, ya hear?”
“Already tracking it,” Jameson’s voice could be heard. “I got Shal’rein soldiers preparing to engage...”
The tank driver’s voice cut out as Darin went and stuffed his communicator back into his pocket. With both Czarek and Ny’ten’moo that transcended into the bottom floor, it was now Darin’s turn. He walked to the bottom hatch and stepped over, letting gravity slowly guide him to the bottom floor.
With a mild thump, Darin quickly unshouldered his rifle. He noted that he stood in a wide, curved passageway. The hint of water pipes leading to the central dome was ever present. Most of this region was a single, large, spacious hallway that slowly encircled the entire base. Natural crevices led to massive doors that could be sealed shut, forming artificial bulkheads in the event of a natural disaster.
Most of the crew had spread out, covering both angles, while some had ventured to a nearby crossroads to look for potential threats.
Gunfire could be heard in the far distance.
“Solovey team is under fire,” Czarek said.
“We aren’t too far from the maintenance shed,” Darin replied, pointing to the far right. “Past those two corridors.”
Ny’ten’moo quickly approached Darin as the nearby bulkhead door slammed shut, almost clipping one of the crew in the process. The great wall formed, cutting the assault team off from one another and preventing them from reaching the maintenance shed.
Darin walked up to the wall and slammed the side of his fist into the great door. The Itrean woman quickly looked at her small wrist display.
“Door too strong...,” Ny’ten’moo said.
“Captain!” Czarek’s voice could barely be heard from the other side. “They’re attempting to pump some sort of gas into the passageway!”
The cowboy looked at the various vents in the passageway, noting a green gas slowly emerging from it, possibly similar to a chlorine agent or a varied chemical mixture. In a few minutes, it would fill the entire passageway, but the mask filters and visors would at least offer some defense.
“They’re removing the oxygen!” Czarek added. “Air pressure is dropping!”
Outside the base, several Shal’rein soldiers, at least five large Itrean women in black and purple wrap armor, resided not far from the exit air hatches from one of the nearby structures. Three of them carried their assault rifles, powerful but not enough to cut into the Maximus tank armor. Two of them hauled out large portable infantry railguns. Held from the side, the optic link would connect straight to their helmets. The shark-like women, while impressive to look at, still offered little defense to the base itself.
Regardless, they still made the effort to engage the outside attackers. One of the Shal’rein, with her railgun, took quick aim and fired at the tank, the round smashing into the side of the hull and track, but failing to stop it. The other one was about to fire when the tank’s heavy machine guns opened fire all at once. The heavy array of bullets smashed into the wrap armor, but failed to pierce it, only serving as a nuisance against the Shal’rein. Still, it was enough to make them lose their aim as they sought cover, hoping to regain it.
Meanwhile, Orthas closed in rapidly, all four legs attuned to the lower gravity as the Shal’rein tried to shoot the incoming wolf with their rifles. One of the mechanical wolf’s guns was a single autocannon. It fired in single-fire mode while readjusting to Itrean counterfire. While the Shal’rein were deadly accurate, they were only able to get a few shots off as the tank’s machine guns continued to pepper their armor like jackhammers. But the autocannon seemed to make the biggest difference in the fight.
One by one, Orthas was picking off the Shal’rein soldiers, the autocannon being enough to punch into the thick wrap armor. The mechanical canine then bounced back, dodging a railgun round from hitting her midsection before the small missile launcher on the turret fired, unleashing a swarm of deadly missiles that quickly landed on two of the Shal’rein, the warheads piercing and detonating inside their bodies.
It was over before it started. By the time Orthas had eliminated the Shal’rein soldiers, only a few holes and dents could be seen along one of her right legs. She still seemed quite mobile, though slowed as she assessed for other threats.
The tank veered right as a single threat emerged on the nearby hill over the dark horizon. A large purple tank rolled over, its size being even larger than the Maximus tank. The former United States’ finest military vehicle ever made was still dwarfed by the colossal Shal’rein vehicle.
The Sholy tank had a wider profile, carrying heavy-duty tank treads that rolled over the soft sands of Le’telrin. Its massive drive engine and size could easily accommodate it for the larger Shal’rein. The frame carried small fins, almost as if the vehicles could submerge into water itself. Forward, large side-mounted miniguns immediately began to open fire, targeting Orthas from a distance as the massive twin railgun turret rotated to aim at the Maximus tank. It caused Orthas to leap in hopes of evading the spray of incoming bullets, narrowly missing her.
Jameson, the tank driver, turned the main gun, taking perfect aim as the Maximus tank’s main gun opened fire, unleashing a powerful railgun round that struck the Shal’rein tank turret dead center. A small explosion rang out as one of the barrels was torn up immediately upon impact. Both of the tank’s secondary guns began to open fire at one another, failing to penetrate the armor.
Despite the damage, the Sholy tank was unfazed by the shell. The turret aimed downward and fired at the Maximus tank.
The results were immediate. The powerful hypervelocity shell struck clean through, hitting the other side and blowing into the dirt. The right tank treads were ripped clean off as smoke billowed into the air, with the engine taking a direct hit.
Disabled, the tank’s turret was still online. In one last act of defiance, both main tank guns were aimed at one another, simply waiting for their guns to reload.
Simultaneously, both tank guns opened fire almost at the same moment, the hypervelocity shells whizzing past each other as they landed dead center on both tanks. Both shells pierced into the armor and struck the main cockpit, killing the driver instantly. Small explosions echoed out over the dead landscape before the vehicles fell silent. Only the hint of smoke and dust filled the air. In seconds, the Rampage’s 16-inch shells would impact the distant garage, putting it to rest.
Back inside the base, Darin could see the air being slowly removed as the deadly toxin continued to replace it.
“I have to admit,” Darin said. “Got to hand it to the Shal’rein in them trying to repel human marauder folk alike.”
“Your key,” Ny’ten’moo directed him. “Bring it to the panel ... here...”
The Yutilian woman directed Darin to pull out his access key. There was a small service panel where the Itrean pointed.
“Alright,” Darin requested. “What do I do next?”
“Insert the key there...,” she replied.
The cowboy responded as he inserted the small pronged device into a makeshift slot. Immediately, the panel turned on as the Itrean raised her arm toward it. Her wrist computer on her wrap armor activated, establishing a link. She immediately began tapping several buttons on her Itrean keypad.
“Overriding atmosphere in this area...,” she said. “ ... Done...”
The vents immediately shut off as the chemical agent being pumped into the air was being sucked back into the vents. Other vents began to pump oxygen back into the passageway.
“Good job, Ny’ten’moo,” Darin told her.
“It will only last minutes,” she said. “They will overturn order and try again ... We need to go to the maintenance shed. Computer commands will control the entire base.”
“I hear ya. Open up the doors. Let’s see if...”
From the other side of the corridor, two Shal’rein soldiers in wrap armor walked into everyone’s field of view. Both armed with their assault rifles, they immediately took aim. Darin lifted his rifle as the few jump troopers and members of his crew took immediate aim and fired.
Gunshots echoed in the passageway as Ny’ten’moo interfaced with the panel. It took her a while, as the controls seemed unresponsive.
Bullets were bouncing off the Shal’rein wrap armor as occasional sparks could be seen. Their greater size combined with their relentless savagery allowed them to close in and open fire with their rifles, easily shooting one of Darin’s crew members in the chest. The powerful round easily punched through the Meclevar vest, killing the man instantly. He slumped over as others tried to get into cover.
Darin took aim with his rifle and fired two shots, one hitting the Shal’rein in the helmet but doing nothing to it. The cowboy turned to look at the Itrean beside him.
“Any luck?” he asked her.