Inherited War 3: Retaliation Read Online Free Page A

His wild flight had sapped him of energy and slowed him down. The Esii in the room were diving for cover as he opened fire. There was cursing and shouting, and the sound of hissing metal as the plasma heated up the room. Cole was adding his voice to the cries of his enemy.
    Then the Pyndingum was there, seemingly out of nowhere, he appeared. Its voice intruded once again in to Cole’s head. “Remember my warning.” It slowly faded from view. Cole had stopped firing when then Pyndingum had appeared, and he once again scanned the room. Slowly the Esii built walls and tables began to melt in his vision. They reformed into the bright white walls and floors of Home Base. The Esii began to morph as well, changing from frail demonic beings to the familiar forms of Worlders. As the faint outline of the Pyndingum finally vanished, two figures rushed into the room and came to a halt almost exactly where the Pyndingum had been standing. Cole recognized the two, then they were joined by a third. Jeth, Thalo, and Sky looked around the room in horror as they saw the destruction wrought by Cole. Worlders were wounded everywhere. None had completely escaped the violence of Cole’s attack. Cole looked behind him and saw, through the now open door, the three headless corpses of the Worlders he had killed. But the three he hadn’t seen were their bond mates, bond mates who were still alive and now severed from the bond by their brothers’ deaths.
    Slowly Cole swiveled his head back to the room. He blinked a few times as if waking from a sleep and realized he was still pointing his weapon into the room. Finally the sounds hit him. Alarms were blaring, and Worlders were moaning in pain. This had been their rec-room; none had been prepared for violence.
    Cole looked at his friends and tossed the pistol on top of a wounded Worlder nearby. “Clean this mess up,” he said to no one in particular, turned, and left.
     
    The three stared at the carnage Cole had brought into the room and couldn’t believe it. It had only been moments before when the three had been standing outside of Snow’s room talking about the incident in the hanger when the alarms started blaring down the hall. The base’s AI was screaming some nonsense about Cole going nuts and killing Worlders when they heard the distinct sound of a plasma weapon. Sky and Thalo were off in an instant. Jeth was torn about not wanting to leave Snow but followed the two a few moments later.
    The AI guided them to where it had Cole trapped. Apparently the AI had reacted quickly and upon realizing Cole was not himself, had locked the area down. But not before some Worlders made it into the hallway.
    The AI reported the first three KIA, then the firefight in the rec-room. Thalo and Sky were too late. They entered the room just as it seemed Cole had gotten control of himself. There were Worlders down everywhere—some suffering minor wounds, others near death. Thalo looked into Cole’s eyes and shuddered. Cole looked like he was dazed one second, then indifferent the next. He looked around the room, threw his weapon down, and left the room, his uncaring words hanging in the air.
    Sky made as if to follow Cole, but Thalo stopped her.
    “No.” He shook his head at her and pointed to the wounded. “You need to deal with this. I will deal with Cole.”
    “Don’t hurt him, please,” Sky said from behind a surprised look.
    “As if I could,” Thalo responded and walked over to one of the least hurt of his brethren. He knelt down and aided his kinsman into a more comfortable sitting position.
    “There you go. Is that better?” he asked.
    “Yes, thanks,” the Worlder responded. “What happened? What did we do, Thalo? Why does Cole hate us?”
    “I am trying to figure that out. Did he say anything while he was in here?” Thalo asked.
    “Yes, and it was odd. He kept shouting, ‘You are dead! I killed you!’ over and over. He was wild, like he didn’t even know where he