The ExMortis return.

[Corsair]

The mining ship traveled for many weeks, jumping through a complex net of jump holes before arriving in Kyushu. The Speaker crawled out of the mining ship and clung to the outer hull. He had just activated the distress beacon and was awaiting rescue forces. The first ship that he saw was a gunboat, approaching at high cruise. When it was within range, the Speaker pounced, slipping through its shield like before and tearing at its hull. This ship was tougher than the mining ship, and the going was slow. The crew of the gunboat had time to react this time, and tried to turn their turrets on him. But he was too low on the ship's hull. They fired but only hit open space.

The Speaker finally succeeded in burrowing into the ship and emerged inside an empty room. There was only one door, and as the Speaker's feet touched the ground, it opened. Two Kusari soldiers holding guns took one look at him and panicked, firing their weapons. The energy blasts tore gashes in his chest, but didn't stop him. He charged forward, and grabbed each man with two arms. He lashed out with his jaws and bit their throats. They thrashed madly for a few seconds before going limp. The Speaker hurled them out of the way and approached the pilots, who had pulled out weapons and were aiming at him. Their faces were contorted in horror. One of them hit the comm button and screamed "Help! Backup! BACKUP!" He didn't say much more, because the Speaker shoved a bladed arm into his neck.

The last remaining pilot tried to flee, but the Speaker caught him by the leg and dragged him back. His screams echoed off the walls. The Speaker feasted again, tearing off chunks of meat and eating them messily. His meal was interrupted by the communication system.

"Patrol Gray One, respond!" The Speaker stood, and looked out the window. A Kusari Destroyer was perched there in a defensive position. The Speaker would have a clear shot. He didn't waste time. Hauling himself out of the ship, the Speaker leaped, flying a kilometer through space. He slipped through the shields and clung to the docking port of the destroyer's hull. They didn't seem to notice him. He watched as they sent a shuttle to the gunboat, and they spent only a few seconds inside before retreating back to the shuttle. The Speaker watched as the shuttle rushed towards him, seeking to dock with the destroyer.

When the destroyer lowered its shields, the docking port doors opened. The Speaker slipped inside and waited. Sure enough, the shuttle docked in the same port. The Speaker waited patiently, clinging to the roof of the docking bay. Below him, the shuttle bay doors opened. Four shaken and terrified men walked onto the scaffolding. The Speaker attacked.

This time, instead of mauling the humans, he used needles buried in his claws to inject them with the ExMortis virus while doing minimal damage to their body. He only had enough of the virus to infect two of them like that. Before the other two men escaped, the Speaker dropped the ones he was holding and grabbed them, sinking his teeth into each one. He had just enough spare viruses in his saliva to achieve the same result.

The four men lay dead. But only a few minutes later, they began to move again.

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