"Hey, hey, hey! You, the stone-faced guy who looks exactly like Al-watch your mouth!" Eli tore off his gas mask and glared back without a trace of fear. "My name's Eli. I'm Alpharius's buddy. Since when did that make me meat?"
Omegon ignored Eli's protest entirely. His brain, forged by a brutal environment until nothing remained but absolute reason, was working at tremendous speed.
"Whatever you came here to do, now that you're here, you'll join my plan." Omegon stood and pointed his bone blade toward the distant Slaugth nest, which writhed constantly like an enormous tumor.
"I'm going to kill every Slaugth on this planet. Decapitate their brood leader."
"With just us?" Alpharius frowned. "According to my scans, at least several hundred thousand adult Slaugth are occupying that nest. We need to call in an orbital bombardment or request support from the main fleet."
"Unnecessary. I have bait." Omegon's tone was appallingly matter-of-fact.
He turned and casually pointed at the several hundred mortal scavengers trembling in the camp.
"The Slaugth have an irresistible appetite for the brains of intelligent beings. I've already done the calculations. The brain matter and fear of one adult human are enough to keep an adult Slaugth feeding and intoxicated for fourteen seconds."
Omegon used his bone blade to draw a complex cross section of the nest's tunnels in the dirt, his voice as mechanical as a clock announcing a death sentence.
"These six hundred and forty-two mortals are ideal fodder. I'll divide them into three groups and drive them down the nest's three main branches. Their brains will attract the xenos, creating congestion. Six hundred and forty-two people, together with the extreme terror they release before death, will be enough to delay the main xenos force in the tunnels for approximately forty-seven minutes."
"And