Harem Assassins : King Sekton's Harem Planet, Book 2: A Space Opera Harem Adventure by Baron Sord (mobi ebook reader .TXT) 📕

colors on my visual field and adjust the transparency, making it easier to discern what I was looking at.

As we continued our search, it turned out humanoid jungle beasts were as common as the four-legged, six-legged, and eight-legged varieties. Heck, I saw several three-legged, five-legged and seven-legged animals too. Anyway, so far, I had spotted several different seemingly primate species swinging through the trees as we flew past, but none of them looked like Jungle Babe women to my eye.

What I did see were mutant primates of one species or another. One standout group had horns, glowing orange eyes, a screeching call that set my teeth on edge, and fiercely fanged maws that glowed brightly orange whenever they screeched, almost like their insides were on fire.

“What are those?” I asked in awe.

“Babooms,” said Corporal Syx after opening her visor.

“Don’t you mean baboons?”

“No, Babooms.”

“Why do you call them—?”

Kra-KOOM!

Something bright orange lit up the dark jungle.

“That’s why,” Syx hissed. “There’s another one!”

I whipped my head around just in time to see one of the larger Babooms open his jaws wide and belch with a dramatically coughing KORCH! When he did, a bright fireball the size of a softball — approximately 10 centimeters in diameter— exploded out from his flashing fangs and shot toward a darkly thrashing form flying toward him. The fireball exploded on impact to illuminate a very large—

“Slasher Bats!” Captain Theia shouted suddenly.

A cacophony of high-pitched shrieks followed. The jungle exploded with a swarm of large black Slasher Bats attacking the pack of Babooms. Based on size, you’d think the man-sized Slasher Bats would make mince meat of the smaller Babooms, which appeared to average no more than 20-30 kilograms each, similar to Earth-based baboons.

“The bats are hunting the Babooms!” Corporal Syx said.

KRA-Ka-Ka-KOOM!

While brachiating through the branches, several of the larger Babooms swung suddenly around to cough a barrage of fireballs at the chasing Slasher Bats, hitting several square on.

At least one Slasher Bat shrieked painfully as it plummeted from the air, rippling with deadly flames. It flailed at the flickering tufts of fire in a vain attempt to extinguish the blaze. Distracted, it bounced off tree branches on its way down and inevitably smacked into the jungle floor far below.

More fireballs from the Babooms splatted like napalm grenades against the outspread wings of two other Slasher Bats still flying. The thin, membranous wings of the mutant bats sizzled and stank as the jellied fire continued searing larger and larger holes. The burning bats flapped more frantically, unwittingly fanning the flames while steadily losing altitude. One bat was snatched from the air by a large carnivorous plant, shrieking desperately as it was torn in half by the plant’s powerful grabbing vines. The other bat was completely consumed by fire and spewed a trail of thick black smoke on its way down. It quickly disappeared into the jungle below amidst waving leaves and branches disturbed by its dying descent.

At that point, the Slasher Bats decided the Babooms weren’t worth the risk. They changed course and flapped their bat wings straight toward me.

This wasn’t my first encounter with Slasher Bats, but that fact made them no less terrifying. Like the normal bats I’d seen flying at night back on Earth, Slasher Bats flapped so fast, they were no more than a black blur that moved too swiftly for me to track with any accuracy. The only thing I had time to do as the bats blasted toward me like a thrashing black hurricane was grimace in anticipation of certain—

BRAAAAAAP!

A dozen or more Shock Knights lit up the night with their ABR-17 bolt rifles, shredding a dozen of the devilish Slasher Bats before I could even aim my rifle.

“Did that get them?!” I hollered when the sounds died down.

“They turned tail, if that’s what you mean, my king!” shouted a random Shock Knight with plenty of pride.

Sure enough, the surviving Slasher Bats flapped frantically away, making a hasty escape by disappearing behind the nearest screen of jungle trees and dense leaves.

“Thank you, ladies!” I laughed in relief after retracting my visor. “Great work!” I turned to Captain Theia and grinned, “You sure trained them well, Captain.”

“Thank you, my king,” she said with a polite, professional smile, her helmet visor retracted. If Theia was one thing above all else, it was understated. Verbally, anyway. When she was walking around the outpost effectively naked in her golden gloves and boots, her beauty shouted louder than a supernova. All that and humble too. Amazing woman.

“Remind me to never get on your bad side or theirs, Captain,” I chortled and tipped my head toward Theia’s ever-watchful Shock Knights who had their rifles at the ready and were attentively scanning the jungle for any signs of new danger.

“I’m starting to believe you never will,” Captain Theia said, offering another smile that was friendly, genuine, and a little bit inviting.

“Thanks, Theia,” I said with genuine affection, feeling myself stir. There was something about overcoming a deadly enemy that aroused passion every time.

“No, thank you, my king.” Her kryptonite eyes glimmered green.

Once again, I felt a strong desire to kiss her — and more — but flying over the jungle searching for a missing woman — Violet — wasn’t conducive to kissing. Wrong mood. It was probably for the best. For Oia’s sake, I knew I could resist the frivolous flirtations of someone like brash First Lieutenant Mira for another ten days. When it came to Captain Theia, I wasn’t so sure. Best we kept our distance.

“Hey,” I said to change the subject, “Captain, I’ve been meaning to warn you about something important.”

“Warn me about what, my king?”

“I think Hydra might be slightly psychotic.”

“The outpost mainbrain? She does seem… stubborn.”

“That’s an understatement,” I chuckled, then briefly explained some of my concerns to Theia. Things like Hydra trying to suffocate or gas us in our sleep.

Theia nodded and replied, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Should I — should we be worried?”

“I would say cautious, my king. I’ve dealt with mainbrains like Hydra