The man screamed from pain as he was pulled down and dropped his rifle. The screams distracted people nearby, and one of them went as far as letting go of his own rifle to try saving the grabbed man.
Malevolence, who was controlling both human squads and the bee swarm, noticed this all immediately—the screams made it hard not to, even when she had thousands of things vying for her attention.
Such a show of incompetence—letting go of his weapon—was like a hornet sting to her heart!
'GET BACK YOUR WEAPON, SOLDIER!' She screamed telepathically at the man, and then added to all those around him, 'Hold your line, worms! Hold it!'
They jolted, remembering their discipline and that there were enemies constantly pushing on them. The grabbed man's screams ended when he was pulled fully into the wave of crocodile-beasts and torn into pieces by their mandibles and claws.
