I pick up Esthi and jump down an open hatch, dropping us inside the ship.
Chaos Three closes the hatch behind us, finds Chaos Two, and merges with him. “I’m going to find One. Nice to meet you, Esthi.”
She only half-glances at him and returns his wave as I put her feet down. “He’s nice.”
“Counter to his name, isn’t he?”
“Just wish he could wear some pants.” She waggles her brows. “But…whatever. With the Trio of Terror, I can see why they named him Chaos.”
“Technically, it’s theSquadof Terror.” A passing Titan pats his digibadge, which readsTerror. He chuckles as he jogs after Chaos Two and Three.
Knurl slows as he runs in the opposite direction. His textured body glints under the hallway lights. “Have you seen Scant? He’s the best at climbing in the maintenance shafts to fix things. I can’t because my husk gets me all bound up. We tried to get Rhee to do it, Diesel’s mate, but even working on engines all day, she’s not strong enough to free some of the rusted parts and get the hyperdrive’s final engine online.”
“Not sure. Has no one done a recovery mission?” Esthi asks. “Many fell from EMPs.”
“It isn’t exactly easy with everyone shooting at us,” I offer, checking the logs of recent missions. “But we do need to run a recovery mission. I’m not seeing one on file.”
ZipZap joins us, motioning to a hangar where ships are hovering in to dock. “Incoming!”
“Shields lifting in five,” Clover calls over the ship-wide coms. She speaks verbally more now than she used to with just us Titans on board. I wager it’s because of all the women who are with us now.
A few loose shots pelt the hull near the hangar. Esthi and I run toward the sound with Knurl and ZipZap. Titan ships and those we’ve acquired land in the hangars. Floor locks fold up and engage. I knowMother,the BlazeStar’s AI, won’t let anyone inside she doesn’t approve of. But that doesn’t mean some won’t set themselves on a crash course or target us. And by the buzz of ships outside the open hangar doors, we need all the defensive firepower we can get.
“We pulled out who we could,” ZipZap adds. “But Scant was piloting alone. After the EMPs went off, we didn’t send in others because of the threat of losing Recovery Mission Brothers, too.”
Green light flashes pair with warping pulses just inside an open hangar door in the hull. The gunner, a woman in a StarJumper’s suit, has her helmet open. Her long dark hair is pulled back in a tight braid, exposing her pale green skin, and her eyes trained along a modified rifle. “Eat shit! Since you love coilguns so much, I built this one just for you, fuckers! For my mother! For my father! For all the Titans! Today, you meet your maker!”
She’s a terrifying sight to behold. When Amp requests confirmation Cara is secure behind the shield, several of usBrothers quickly confirm. I make a mental note not to piss her off.
In the next bay, Leah sets up another gun. Then, another female in the hangar beyond hers. Redline kisses the third female, hugs her quickly, and sprints deeper into the ship.
She must be Aniah.
“Keanna!” Fury tosses a rack of ammo to a woman in furs with beads in her hair, who catches it and loads it into another woman’s gun. “Rip them a new one, Babe!”
“Start a wildfire, my sexy Torch!” Keanna throws him a kiss, which Fury bites out of the air.
Every bay fills until the entire hangar is armed to the teeth with pissed-off mates of Brothers here and in the rows of hangars on levels overhead.
“Light ‘em up, ladies!” Leah shouts, a headset com trapped to the side of her head. She grabs her gun with two hands and launches a blue flare.
“What’s that?” Esthi asks, gripping my wrist.
A small drone with one wheel, a camera, and a single grabber arm zips up beside Leah, lugging a can of ammo up beside her, which he locks to the floor.
“Thanks, CB!” Leah calls out.
He beeps and whizzes off to haul another can of ammo to Cara. “Big family. Protect! Big family! Titan. Human. Family! One family!”
The women fire through the shimmering shield at Skysprinters who are throwing a barrage of rockets atMother.
Esthi drags the hand down her face, messing up a few loose strands of hair. “Seems like they’re good here, so let’s focus on retrieving your Brothers.”
“Agreed.”
Esthi looks tired but doesn’t complain. “Ineed to. If I’d been faster to catch up with Scythe, I might’ve prevented…”
“Stop,” I interrupt her as I escort her out of the hangar. “Think forward, not backward. What’s next?”
