It was as if a Silence Skill had been cast.
Ola froze for a second, subconsciously reaching up to tap the small insect on the back of his neck. 'Is it broken?'
After a full minute and a burst of harsh static, the voice of the King Insect, which rarely ever spoke, resounded in his mind.
[Warning: Wide-area surveillance node "Kirov-3"... life signs have vanished.]
[Searching for backup link... Rerouting signal... Connected to "Kirov-2".]
[Communication restored.]
The instant the signal reconnected, a distorted, panicked shriek nearly shattered Ola's eardrums.
[Above!! Look above!!]
Ola jerked his head up.
The sky had gone dark.
Something was falling from far above.
It was the Kirov, the all-domain signal relay that had been hovering at an altitude of eight thousand meters!
Its massive, grayish-white gasbag had been sliced cleanly down the middle. Green insect blood mixed with viscera rained down like a foul, torrential storm.
[It's dead...]
