Yay! We’re now counting down the days until Baring Grudge, the explosive third standalone story in the Rebel Cyborgs series, releases!
While we wait for Baring Grudge to release on August 10th, I’ll be sharing the first chapter, starting today with the very first scene.
***
Chapter One
Grudge’s self-appointed mission was to blow up as much shit as possible.
The C Model cyborg enjoyed blasting objects, ships, and beings to pieces. He liked the big booms, the plumes of fire, the impact of it. But he also viewed it as payback.
An enemy warrior had tried to blow him up, had 22.3256 percent succeeded in that task. Grudge curled his purely mechanical left arm. He sought to return that favor.
The detonation of the Humanoid Alliance space station they’d recently commandeered would have to be delayed, however.
He strode along the hallway. His boot heels rang against the white tile floor. There was no need to be quiet. His brethren and a brethren’s female were the only beings in the structure.
Cadet, the leader of their cyborg retrieval team, wanted to convey the ships and the weapons they’d found within the structure to Mercury Minor, their home planet. That would take time.
He could wait…impatiently…as long as he was the being to orchestrate the destruction.
Grudge reached an intersection and turned right, moving toward the docking bay.
Rancor stood in the middle of the hallway. He was face-to-face with one of the deactivated robot guards. The D Model had a wide grin on his face.
“Whatever you’re planning, I’m in.” Grudge wouldn’t miss the chaos that was certain to ensue.
“Cadet told me to clear the robots out of the hallways.” The warrior’s eyes glittered. “She didn’t tell me to put them back in their storage chamber.”
“We can’t blow them up.” Grudge relayed that regretful truth. “It might compromise the space station’s structural integrity.”
That would lower the intensity of the demolition, and it would irritate their leader. They would have to relocate the warships faster.
“We can’t blow up the robots inside the space station.” Rancor hefted one of the manufactured guards over his right shoulder. “But if we jettison them, we can blast them to bits outside it.”
Frag. Grudge grinned. His friend had the best ideas.
He picked up two of the artificial beings. “The guns on the warships are massive.” The newly obtained vessels were designed for battle. “The robot bits will be tiny.”
“The warships are fast also.” Rancor shoved a robot headfirst into a chute. Its shoulders got stuck in the narrow space. The D Model gave it a solid whack with both of his hands. There was a loud crack. And the robot slid out of sight. “I’ll set speed records this planet rotation.”
Rancor was their number-one pilot. He had set all their existing records.
“The freighter almost peeled apart during your last attempt at breaking records.” Grudge had found that thrilling. “The panels were rattling.”
“Cadet threatened to expel me into space if I didn’t slow down.” Rancor laughed as he grabbed one of Grudge’s robots. “The freighter wasn’t manufactured for speed, not like that warship on Suhail al Muhlif D was.”
They chattered about past flights and explosions as they stuffed more and more robots down the chute. There were numerous adventures to relay.
The two of them had been employed on thousands of missions as part of the cyborg retrieval team. Before they’d met each other, while they were under the control of the Humanoid Alliance, they had fought in many more battles.
And cyborgs never forgot anything. Every detail was captured in their databases.
“I caught that missile.” As Grudge shared that moment, he slammed his hand down on a robot’s foot, propelling it into the chute. “And I threw it back at them. They didn’t project I’d do that. The looks on their human faces before it hit them amused me for planet rotations.” He laughed and he picked up another robot, put it headfirst into the disposal space. “They—”
He stopped talking and straightened. According to his lifeform scans, a cyborg was approaching them.
Rancor snapped to attention also.
The being headed in their direction was female and a C Model. The newcomer had to be Cadet, their leader. There was a 62.1258 percent probability she wouldn’t approve of their activities.
Grudge had no regrets. For solar cycles, after he’d been partially blown up, his adventures had been severely restricted. He reveled in taking part in antics when he was given the opportunity.
Cadet came into view. She was clad in black body armor as they were, had the gray skin, black hair and energy infused eyes of their early cyborg models.
Their leader looked at Grudge, at Rancor, at the robot partially stuffed into the chute. She closed her eyes for one, two heartbeats, then opened them again.
“I did ask you to clear the hallways.” She shook her head. “Have your fun now. We’re gathering in the docking bay at the end of the shift, and I expect the two of you to be there. Do you understand?”
“We understand.” They said that in unison.
Grudge had donned the blank mask all cyborgs had perfected, his lack of expression belying his inner glee. Cadet not only hadn’t reprimanded them, she’d authorized their plans.
The C Model turned her head and narrowed her eyes at him. Their leader always seemed to read his programming. She must have processed his celebratory mood.
He ruthlessly purged his emotional system and gazed back at her.
A moment passed.
Cadet released a deep sigh. “Be in the docking bay at the end of the shift.” She gave him one more hard look and walked in that direction.
***
Read the next scene (available July 19th) here:
***
Subscribe To My Newsletter: http://cynthiasax.com/newsletter/
Baring Grudge
No one in the universe is more determined than a cyborg warrior tracking his female.
***
Grudge, a C Model cyborg, has been assigned a mission – safeguard a Humanoid Alliance space station for his kind. Honor was once all he had, and he is determined to fulfill his duty.
That resolve is tested when a tiny human female enters the space station and sets the prettiest little explosives the warrior has ever seen. She is Grudge’s genetic match, the one being manufactured for him. He wants to touch her, kiss her, claim her in all ways, but first he has to stop her from blasting him into the next galaxy.
Taelyn has a self-appointed mission—to destroy every battle robot the Humanoid Alliance has ever manufactured. A huge gray-skinned, blue-eyed cyborg warrior with mismatched arms won’t prevent her from achieving her goal. She’ll escape him, leaving destruction in her wake.
Before she departs, she’ll experience one toe-curling moment of hatred-edged passion with her handsome foe. She’ll show him how skilled with detonations she truly is. He will have his universe rocked.
Then she’ll disappear.
Her cyborg, however, has no intention of ever letting her go.
***
Baring Grudge is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a determined, damaged warrior, an equally resolute human female, and an explosive game of predator and prey played across galaxies.
Baring Grudge is the third of five core stories in the Rebel Cyborgs Series.
Book 1: Containing Malice
Book 2: Under Strain
Book 3: Baring Grudge
Book 4: B Free
Book 5: Seizing Power
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/baring-grudge/id1559566673
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baring-grudge-cynthia-sax/1139086727
