War Beast

Book Two: Chapter 9

Jenny gave up struggling on the metal table, still bounded helplessly by the strong braces on her arms and legs. With her normal human strength, she could never free herself. This really sucks!

Jenny released her breath and settled down, letting her stomach flex in and out. She wasn't sure if her friends could find her inside the alien's base. General Cluster's base might be in space or buried deep underground. But she couldn't be sure unless she could check. If she waited for her friends, it might be too late. And Huntar taught her not to rely on her friends for help.

Days ago (not sure how long), Jenny accepted the challenge to survive on her own in a dark jungle. She ate whatever she could find, built a shelter, and escaped from a snake tribe that wanted to eat her. Every step almost cost her life, but she managed to survive on her own without being rescued.

Time to do it again. Jenny stared at the braces on her arms. She remembered Cluster mentioning she has Starium energy inside her body. Based on what her father said about it, the power should make her god-like. Maybe not as a god, but as a superhuman who could manipulate the power for her advantage. The problem was, she doesn't know how to use it.

I cannot believe I now have magic! Although she doesn't know how she has to try using it for her own sake.

After studying the braces, Jenny closed her eyes and relaxed. She let her breath slowly escape from her lips so she could focus quietly.

If she could think about melting off the braces to free herself, it might happen. If not, what else could she do? She needed to try.

Come on, Jenny! Focus! She gritted her teeth, thinking about burning the braces off her.

Slowly, her body warned up, growing nearly hot. However, only her arms and legs warmed up.

Then the braces melted off her wrists, not burning her arms off.

Yes! After the braces on her legs melted off, Jenny sat up and rubbed her arms. Her body temperature cooled, and no burn marks or melted skin were left on her limbs. She didn't even feel pain while the braces melted off her. Maybe her skin turned immune while her power came out. But whatever she did, it set her free.

She slid off the table and approached the open doorway. She walked into a hallway, full of blue wires sparkling across the curved symmetrical walls.

Still, the alien architecture was amazing, but Jenny does not know how to escape. She just needed to keep looking. Hopefully, the base wasn't in outer space.

Jenny stopped toward another door and peeked into a chamber of computer screens. To her shock, she spotted Cluster standing toward a control panel on the floor. Her beating heart told her to run, but Cluster was watching a large screen in front of him. On the screen was a face of another Krawl creature, except he has a long white mustache and a ribcage on his forehead.

"What is your progress?" The old Krawl on the screen asked with a deep dried voice

Cluster snapped his pincers. "My probes are still constructing the gateway. It should be finished in a few days."

"We still have no power for the Devastator. It is useless right now."

Cluster chuckled. "No problem! Click click click! I found a source that can power up the weapon."

The old Krawl pointed his pincer at Cluster. "It better work. We cannot afford another bankruptcy on one single planet. The Devastator is our most expensive asset right now. We only have one!"

Cluster lowered his head, bowing. "I will not disappoint you, my honor. This world will belong to us."

"It better be, for our income's sake!" The screen turned blank, leaving Cluster motionless.

Jenny has to find her friends before it is too late.

*****

Huntar strolled through the hallway, holding out his broadsword. He never saw a place built entirely from metal and lights. A clan could never do that with their ordinary tools.

Metal was rare and difficult to obtain. Tribes who tried to mine metal from the mountains had lost many workers. Only the strongest collected the metal and crafted them into armor and weapons. But they couldn't obtain everything.

At the end of the hallway, Huntar stepped toward a drawbridge inside a gigantic chamber. What he saw stunned him more than the crafted metal in the structure.

The chamber was full of machines, building machines. Giant metal hand placed empty saucer shells on moving mediums, stretching around engines and pipes. While the tracks carried the shells across, other metal arms placed odd parts into each shell. Boards, wires, and engines, all being placed together into the saucers, like guts being stuffed into corpses. At the end, a giant claw picked up the saucer and dropped it down a tube, leaving the assembly chamber.

Huntar was kind of impressed.

Not a single living being was building the strange contraptions. A sorcerer must be controlling the automations unless their power gave them a mind of their own. A clan with a city of machines could build endless armies and conquer many enemies. How remarkable!

Huntar was curious to meet the maker if the city has a maker, but he has to find Jenny first. But why would machines need a female human? What sinister revelation could the city have?

Huntar glanced down. The bottom wasn't too far down below the machinery, and nothing roamed down there.

The lion jumped off the drawbridge and landed on his feet. After he rose, a flying metal ball approached him with a blinking blue light on it.

Huntar waved at it with a grin. "Hello!"

Suddenly, the floating sphere screamed, like nails on glass. And its light blinked red rapidly.

Huntar covered his ears while a loud siren echoed throughout the structure. Whatever the thing was, it alerted Huntar's present.