Zyphus Alarik (Book)

Zyphus Alarik (Character)]

## Chapter One: The Lupon Sanctum

Dark Void surrounded me. And the rest of my crew, for that matter. Silence. Vastness. Emptiness. Just out the window. We could feel it. It was almost as if you could touch it. This was space. And though our ship sped through it, it has made its presence known. We were almost at that damned asteroid Lupric. My crew and I were on a mission, sent by the Union. They would pay us handsomely for the head of the master of the Sanctum we were sent to infiltrate. And I have no love lost for those of the Combined Mercanti, so I obliged. I, being the captain, have a duty to the crew of the Stargazer, and thus must...somewhat reluctantly, split the profit. I gotta say, I love this job. Which may be bad, as I’m in the business of killing and getting paid, but it was a adventure. A adventure I got paid for.

I stood up out of my bed. My room was small, yet the largest in the whole ship. I stretched. It was a large metal room bereft of much detail, its insides containing little more than my bed, a bookshelf, and a chest of my most valued possessions. Everything else was behind. I got up and pressed the proper code into the door. It slid open, revealing the long living quarters hallway. It was early in the morning. Few were open save our pilot, Kurryt Kury. I guess it would be a good time to tell you he’s not exactly human.

Good old Kury is a man I met back on Sarat. He's a scruffy looking Saratian, obviously the natives of that world I mentioned. He is, as the majority of his race, the color and texture of sand. Short, to conserve energy. Four head ridges, each containing hair. For pheromones or something. For survival in the desert, his race needs little sleep or rest, and their oddly dexterous hands made Kury a good pilot. Now, enough of that. I walked down the hallway into the bridge. A large half-circle room with a large window spanning the whole room. He sat in the pilot's chair near the guiding mechanism in the front. A large disk shaped table was behind these with a map of the sector. Rows of computers and stations surround the walls of the bridge.

“Kury! How goes the flight?” I said this as I walked beside his chair. “Char, Captain Zyphus. It goes well. I prepare the stealth shield for entrance! Their detectors won’t know what hit them, thank Hectus for the Union’s generosity providing us with that tech…” Oh, that Saratian. Never stops calling me captain. I've given up trying. It was nice he called me by my first name though. Bastard Son had never warmed up to me as a last name. (The literal meaning of the Saratian word Alarik) “And what makes you up so early, Captain?” he continued. “I told you not to...never mind. And if you truly wish to know, I've had nightmares. How are we going to survive this place? Its heavily guarded to all those without permission. I can't let us all die here!” I said. My voice was a little too loud. I hoped it hadn’t woken up my crew.

“Well captain, I suppose there is little we can do but follow the given plan.” He said this with a bit of a smirk. He enjoyed watching me struggle against my given title. Honorifics were a large part of his culture, and we both knew he would never give up using them. We were closer then ever. The light of the sun of the Viniat system shined down on this asteroid, revealing a sprawling Temple-Market on its surface. It had a large shield around it to prevent unwanted ships. But, thanks to our generous sponsor the Union, we had the rare tech to bypass it. I took a seat next to my friend.

“Whatever comes ahead, I am glad to face it with you, Captain.” He said. His rough voice showed deep affection and friendship. Loyalty. Since the day I saved his life when we were both children, our friendship deepened further yet. My crew is the only family I have. My band of brothers. I hope I didn’t bring them to die in the Temple-Markets of that cursed Luctor.

I passed by the final hour before wake up reading over the plans. I pulled up the Holobook projector. The Seal of the Union appeared before opening up to the plan. I went to the description of the location. The asteroid of Lupon, named after the Trade God Luctor of the Lucatrians. The asteroid was home to a Temple, which doubles as a massive market containing an underground smuggling ring stealing valuable war supplies from my generous benefactor, the Union. This semi secret rings leader is the one who we were sent to kill. A certain Untira Untiri. I pulled up the holographic image of him.

Average Lucatrian. The large forehead, black lips, extremely pale and thin features and mostly bald head all checked out. He was decked in one of there priest robes...plain white...covered in gold. Inscribed with those holiest of words, Love Thyself. Lord, they seemed to love that one. It was like the whole race was bent on seeking a profit, one way or another. It’s almost unfair really. I'm a mercenary, yes, but at least I have morals. He deals in war profiteering and makes three times what I do!

Now I read his biography. Famed master of a band of smugglers. Currently trying to strike a deal with our enemy, the Carrion Rehgnum. Take him down, steal the weapons, return to Union. Should be simple, right? I read his background further. Also from that cesspool Sarat. Made me think. If my crew and I had just had a little different of a journey after we finally left that world, would we be smugglers like him? If we turned towards Combined Mercanti worlds? Of course not...were too good for that...Except for maybe Vik.

Now the time had come! It was finally time to brief the crew and get going. Everybody's alarms went off and I heard the familiar sound of footsteps...and the slick sound of slime, and it being vacuumed up. as they awoke, left their rooms and came to the bridge. They lined up in a row, except from Kury, too busy piloting our esteemed vessel. Vik Kassel, his older brother Don Kassel. Two good Mucs. Mucs are. Of course, tall grey beings with patterns not unlike tattoos decorating their muscular bodies, and large strips of hair delicately shaved on every limb of their body. Vik was younger. More impulsive. Don is more cool headed. The oldest in our little party since we were children. Not a man of many words.

Next was the hideous Fernd. Waxley Ramsfutton. Fernds are hideous. They even disgust each other. Blibbering blob like massive with smaller blobs of black and crusty looking, yet smooth and slimed flesh. He had a special Vacuum to clean this up. No bones. Two unevenly side three fingered arms. Can’t wear clothes. No face to speak of. Sadly, this kind hearted soul, like the rest of his unfortunate race, was dedicated towards the pursuit of friendship. He was very glad to find acceptance in us. Not much of a thinker, or a fighter, he was the most diplomatic when the intended target wasn’t repulsed.

Last was Tim. Short for Timothy Striker. The other human on board. My best friend, instead of my messy hair his was neatly trimmed. His clothes were fancier. He enjoyed this created air of luxury due to never having real luxury himself. Like me, we both dreamed of this job getting us rich. And with luck, it would. We were certainly on our way. You might notice we are all men. All the women were taken by the Sand Men.

I heard a click as Kury turned on the holographic projector of the mission plan and location. Large temple building in the center of the asteroid with a tower, in which we will find the target. Surrounding it will be markets. Enter the temple in disguise with cards given to us, get to the tower and kill the target. Find out the location of his stolen goods and put them on the ship to be returned for a extra profit. Kury also said, “Waxley stays here. You could jeopardize the mission...you can’t even wear the disguise.” this was met with a sad sounding noise, though you could never really tell from Waxley. His voice, which sounds very Alien, I can’t really describe it so I leave it to you, said in a somewhat sad tone, I think, “But...what about all the friends I could meet?” We had to explain to the poor guy the CM is our enemy and we can’t be friends. Another sad noise followed and he slimed away back into his room. I looked at Kury. He felt bad about having to say it. He really liked Waxley.

There was a moment of silence broken when Vik spoke up. “Hey, uh, are we gonna get going or what?” His brother simply nodded in approval. “We shall. Remember, no heavy weapons. Pistols at the most.” I said. This caused a sigh from Don, our heavy weapons expert, you could say. He had two handed Plasma gun, and loved to use it. Vik didn’t care. Kury didn’t really either, Kury liked his pistol. And you must understand with his size, it wasn’t that small. When finished we walked into the gear room, to the side. Our ship was essentially shaped like a rectangle with a curved circular front and a back lower then the rest for cargo storage. When landed it is left through the side. On both sides are one wing, metal curved things to help steer.

We entered the gear room. It had about three weapons racks. Some gear. Anything else we supplied for ourselves, for example all of us had personal deflector shields of varying degree. And I had a Vibro Knife. The only Vibro blade on the ship. Made of Vibrom, this rare weapon vibrates at some vast speed, it can pass through deflector shields and most items. When it’s turned on of course, at the moment the blade is slipped inside its hilt. One by one we put on black and gold robes to disguise ourselves. “Hey Alarik?” Tim said. I turned to face him. He had his robe on already. “Would it be weird for us to be there? Rarely are people of this parties species on a CM occupied area. Especially here, it’s all Lucatrian. I replied with, “As long as we have the identification, we will be fine.” We slipped our pistols to our sides under our robes and hid our cards in pockets.

We were finished. We walked down the main hallway once more to the ship's exit. As we were all leaving, Waxley flew the ship into position. We succeeded in making it through the shield. We all jumped out in one of the deserted streets of the Temple Market. We made our way to the temple. Hundreds of aliens crossed through the streets of the market, buying and trading...sometimes dealing in illegal goods. But I didn’t care. They were vibrant. Many colored streets booths set up with aliens behind them. Humans were rare as were other Aliens, and most of those were aliens from the Combine. The majority was Lucatrians. Some gave us the side eye as we walked past, not buying a thing. Others asked us, as we were disguised as priests to be blessed with great fortune. I noticed I couldn’t find Vik.
“Hey Don, where’s you’re brother?” Don stiffened. A little bit of fear, then anger crossed his eyes. He turned around and searched the area with his larger then human eyes. And he found what he was searching for. Vik was a few stalls back, trying to buy what was possibly a illegally gained Vibro knife. Don ran to him and said. “Brother! I told you we could do that later. Maybe we can find something in the temple. No commerce!” He had a deep and commanding voice. I was always surprised Vik didn’t listen to it more often. I feel like he would be better off for it.

Vik begrudgingly listened. And cut the deal, disappointing the slick looking Lucatrian trying to make the deal, who shrunk back into the shadows of his booth. We continued walking to the temple and made it to the gates. Statues flanked both sides of the grand golden door. The building was made of a grand decorated white stone detailed with gold, enshrined above the large golden door were the words “Love Thyself.”

“Such foolish pride...self absorbed Kalkar-” Kury tried to speak. I stopped him. Speaking out agaisn’t this place could get us unwanted attention. We walked up to the temple and slid the proper card into the slot on the door. We had fake identities. I was…Cazar Celag. Ugh. The metal gate revealed itself to simply be a sliding metal door. It slid to the side and we walked through. There was a large hallway with a slightly curved roof. There were great windows of stained glass...colored like gold. The long hallway had a variety of rooms attached. Many priests wandered through the halls in their robes, some making trade deals. We needed to move to the tower.

There was a staircase on the side. Vik tried to run to it. He was stopped by his brother Don who whispered to him. “We need to be careful. Don’t hurry to much.” He told him. Vik sighed. So we all walked. Now we reached the staircase. We had to be careful to avoid unwanted eyes. If they even got a glance of our species there suspicions could be aroused. Humans and others rarely came here. I put my hand on my knife as we walked upwards.

The expansive staircase broke into many rooms to the side as we went up with hopes to ascend to the top. The stairs were clean, some were gold. Many of the walls had words from their holy book, The Manual, on them. Love Thyself seems to have been a favorite, along with other lovable lines such as “Make Profit.” We could tell we were nearing the top. The air felt cleaner, as did the stairs themselves. Finally, we made it to the top tower. These stairs came out of the floor, so I peeked out as I was first, and could not be seen by them. I heard shifting behind me from my allies pulling out their weapons. Always a good mind, Don whispered to them to do it quietly. I took out my own.
From what I could see our target was having a conversation with the other priests. Untira was quickly noticed due to him having much more extravagant clothing then his peers. I took my pistol and aimed it. But first I listened to what they were talking about. He spoke to two other men.

“You're sent to relay information from the combine?” One said. “Yes. The enigma is cracked. The new systems have opened. We need to increase operations to bring them to the new Explorators. For the good of the Combine...and, more importantly, for Profit!” Untira told them.

Now, this was getting interesting. I had begun recording. Extra information could fetch a higher price from the Union. They began speaking in there native tongue and I could no longer understand. It was frustrating, who knows what money I was missing out on? So I signaled the others to prepare. I prepped my pistol, aimed...and fired.
The bullet blasted straight into the back of one of the men, wearing no armor or shield he slumped over, dead. I didn’t have one of those fancy hard light beams, so I’m afraid it left quite a mess. Bullets do just fine.
I rushed out of my hiding spot along with the others. I ran up to the second man and cut through him with my Vibro knife. The whole time our target had been frantically whispering into a machine on his arm. Vik smashes into him with his shoulder in a powerful change and knocked him into the wall.

His brother Don grabbed him by the neck and slowly lifted him up. He put on his most intimidating face...and by the forger that man could be terrible to behold. His fangs...makes me shiver sometimes to think of it. He growled to our target...“Where are they hidden?”

Frantically grabbing at the hands locked around his throat Untira struggled to form words, let alone speak. Vik seemed to be enjoying it. Kury just had a slight smirk. Tim was inspecting the corpses and I just watched. Finally that smuggler spoke.

“Dur...est...vurger...Han?” He said, in his native language. Don brought his face closer and growled once more. “We heard you speak. We know you speak Astri. Do so or die!” This continued to scare Untira. I almost felt bad for him. “I don’t know of any cargo! I swear! None!” Don smashes him against the wall.
This went on for a while until I realized it was like he was stalling. I heard something like a metal tapping crawling up the tower walls. This strange sound had been picked up by Tim, who stood up from looting one of the corpses.
Then I heard a crack. We all heard it. We heard a stifled laugh come from Untira. He had planned something and it had worked. Don threw him to the floor. He wasn’t in much of a place to run. The crack grew and the noises grew in sound, until suddenly the domed roof gave way, revealing...a giant metal spider.

It descended onto us quick as a Star ship. It grabbed poor Don with a metal tendril. This put his brother into a rage and he attacked the thing with his pistol, making a few dents. I saw Tim notice something glisten on Untira’a side...a vibro knife. His eyes looked from it to the beast. I understood what he was thinking and drew my own. He rushed Untira and grabbed the vibro knife as I drew mine. We charged the spider's many legs at the same time. He jumped up to power his strike, and sliced through the one holding Don in a single swing. I did the same to its other front leg, and it was sliced off.

Once Don was free, he began beating it with his incredibly strong fists while Tim and I kept cutting. One the last leg was gone Tim jumped on it, and slammed the knife through its head. It sparked for a minute, then powered off. The machine equivalent for death. Tim mumbled under his breath, “Hate machines...”

He held aloft his new dagger, admiring it. After much struggling, Untira finally stood up. “My knife..birthright...give it to me...I beg...” his struggle was fruitless as he was kicked back to the floor by Don. “One last time...the loot. Where is it?” Don growled. “Temple basement...now please let me go..” Untira said. We didn’t. I shot him in the head. Couldn’t let him summon any more machines.

Tim, collect something with that new knife of yours, prove we did it. He obliged. Another reason we didn’t take Waxley... he was not one for violence. Neither was Kury. He was the only one who looked disgusted by the recent happenings. But he understood the necessity.

We rushed down to the ground level of the building. We had to hurry somewhat sneakily for Don's cloak was ripped and we did not want to arouse suspicion. The bodies were disposed of, meaning disintegrated by a little pin attached to their body. So there was no evidence of the crime. The only remaining part is whatever trophy Timothy took.
“I hope you understand I’m keeping this knife here.” Tim said as we ran. I silently nodded and continued. We descended down a second staircase. Now we came to a basement...however, the door was locked. “How are we supposed to get through...” Tim said. However he was shortly interrupted. Kury slipped a card into the slot and the door opened. “What was that?” Tim said. “It was Untira’s identity card Char.” He did this odd little laugh common to his species, and we walked in.

The room where this cargo was held was a large dark room. It had many crates hidden in it. Now, our problem was how to extract it. “Kury. Got the teleporters?” He nodded. The Union gave us special tech to teleport things. Not people, things. We attached the other end to our ships cargo area. Kury ran through on his little legs and attached teleported to all the cargo. It flashed and disappeared into the ship.

“Now we have to get out.” Tim said, somewhat obviously as everybody had this on their minds anyways. I nodded. “It’s been fun. But I’m wondering what Waxley is up to.” I said. Tim spoke up again. “By the way, I saw a nice shop outside. Can I visit it before we leave?” I agreed. Couldn’t hurt to stay just a few minutes for Tim to get something he liked.

“The others will wait at the ship. You can go alone...with me.” I smiled a little as I said it. Tim nodded. We left the building together back into the streets. They still buzzed with activity. The others went towards the ship. The door was locked, and it was held to the ground with grav tech. I watched them scan their faces and enter. We went to find that store that Tim spoke of.

It was a little stall. A booth. Owned by another human. “Another human? In these parts? Nice to see ya!” He said. He tipped his fedora. It became evident Tim saw a hat he liked. “Howdie. I’ll take this one...” he picked up a large brimmed hat. A “cowboy” hat. He thanked the man and paid up in Union Credits. “Hey. I don’t take Union credits.” The man said. Tim sighed. “Look. I found these new CM credits, fell off a ship. Don’t got enough though. Can only pay half.” He replied. The store man sighed and accepted half Union half Mercanti. The deal closed and we left. Tim tipping his hat to me, smiling.

## Chapter Two: Journey to Dominus

We walked back to the Stargazer and scanned ourselves at the door. It slid open and we walked in. Going down the hallway, I stopped in front of Waxleys door. Tim kept walking to the bridge to see how the others were doing. I decided I should talk To Waxley.

His door slid open. I took a step in...his room was an odd one. The floor was slime, his vacuum strapped to the wall. Images of him and his family where everywhere. His species sleeps standing up so there was no bed. He was in the corner of his room, doing his best, with those Clumsy hands, to build something it would appear. Judging by the sparks, it appears to be a machine of some kind.
“Ready for the flight back to the Union buddy...” I said. My voice trailing near the end to my awe at the sight of what he was doing when he moved away. A humanoid robot. It’s body was cylindrical. It had a dome like head. He seemed to be applying extra armor. It was not yet painted so it was all gray. There seemed to be a button on the chest. “Waxley...what is that.? I said hesitantly. “My new friend!” He excitedly replied. He doesn’t have a name yet, but once he’s done, he will be our friend and servant no matter what!” Waxley was full of genuine joy.

“Er...that’s great Waxley. Real great. Now we’re all going to eat some lunch, you want some or...?" I said. Waxley nodded, which is kind of bobbing his whole body. “Yes! Let us go to lunch with friends!” He slipped past me pretty fast, clicking a button on a metal frame on his back, causing his vacuum to zoom to it through magnets. When he was gone, I look to the robot. An interesting development. Tim won’t be happy. I turned around and followed Waxley to lunch.

Everybody was in the bridge. They ate a variety of foods aside from Kury, who was piloting the ship. I walked up to him. It was filled with conversation as everybody was enjoying themselves. “Straight to Sanctus?” I asked him. Sanctus was the capital of the Union. “No. Going to the Dominus Station. Our contact wants to meet us in a tavern there, Captain.” He replied. “Ah, Dominus Station...it’s been a while.” I said. He nodded. “Too long, I would say. I love it there.”

I turned to face the others. “Everybody enjoying their meals?” Most of them nodded. Waxley was talking quickly to Tim. He was cool with it. Tim thought Waxley was amusing. He had since the start, and thus whenever he saw him a smile cracked on his face, if he wanted it or not. Then, Tim's face changed. Waxley must have mentioned his machine...

“A man-like machine? What are you thinking?” He said to Waxley. He was almost yelling. He looked angry and a little scared. “Just as a friend. I know you don’t like machines, and I’m sorry Tim. But I will be making him. Maybe you can make him?” Waxley said. Tim still looked upset. “I guess I can’t stop you Waxley. But if that thing as much as looks at me the wrong way...” he was cut off by Waxley. “I understand friend. I hope you two do not have issues.”
Waxley used his other odd arm to hand me one of his sandwiches. He should have cleaned all his slime off. He is quite a good cook, surprisingly. I watched Tim’s response closely. He sighed an exasperated sigh. “It’s okay Waxley...I hope you have fun with your robot friend.” He looks at me. I nod, impressed with how he handled the situation. I went up to Kury once more. Don and Vik were wrestling in the corner of the room, so not much for me to do there.

“You look bored.” Kury said. I nodded. “I am afraid I cannot provide much entertainment. I have a few interesting Holo-books and maps but I doubt you would be interested. I get the feeling wrestling with those two would be more up your alley.” He continued. He was having fun himself piloting the shop. I took a bite out of my sandwich and pointed towards a blip on the map. “What’s that?” I said. A hint of fear in my voice.”

“That...is another Starguide type vessel. Seems to be sending signals from the Union. So like us.” He said. “Oh...and we’re going to need to stop for fuel soon. Thankfully there is an asteroid up ahead. Has some stores for mechanical parts as well...” Kury said in his usual gruff voice. Waxley perked up. “Mechanical parts? Great! I just need a power core and some paint and...” the enthusiasm in his voice was adorable, even though his voice itself sounded somewhat scary.

“Sure...we can have the brothers guard the ship while we’re gone. Tim and I can visit a bar there.” I said. “How do you know there's a bar, Captain?” Kury said with some suspicion. “There is always a bar in places like this. And normally pretty good ones at that. Maybe a good idea for a place to settle down in when I can’t do this job anymore, eh?” I finished. He let out a small chuckle. “Okay captain, about 16 more minutes until arrival.” After he said this, he looked back to his map. I told Tim and Waxley about our plans on the asteroid.
“Er...bad news captain.” Tim spoke up, suddenly. “What is it?” I responded. "Well, it would appear there’s a bounty on us now for our recent kill.” He said this and showed he a holoslab. He had one that broadcast new bounties. One was on our crew. Apparently cameras had recorded us, and we now had a bounty of 2,000 CM credits. “Well...that’s not good...we may have trouble at our stop.”

Finally we arrived. Kury landed the ship locking into its docking station with magnets. To be honest, I was tired of all these asteroids and wanted a good world to plant my feet on. But it appeared that would be in a while still. Tim Waxley Kury and I stepped off the ship. “Remember. If the ship comes under attack while we’re not here, you have to...” I was cut off. “I know Captain Alarik. We will be just fine. Kury grabbed the fuel plug, and began fueling the ship.

The asteroid was made of black rock. Grey roads were carved into it. The center of activity was, as I expected, a tavern. But there was also a store for machine parts. I whispered to Tim. We decided to go with Waxley for his errand to ensure his safety. We got a few unsavory looks from suspicious looking fellows as we walked. This put Tim on edge.
Waxley slimed towards a dingy looking building full of donated parts. Smelled bad, but so did the rest of this place. Tim and I were both on edge and had our hands on our guns in case of trouble. With effort Waxley opened up the door and slimed in. The floor was tile, but it was mostly broken. He quickly saw what he wanted and rushed towards it. We noticed two men in armor spot us and reach for their guns.

“Put the weapons down, we don’t want a fight.” Tim said. I doubted it would do much. But then he fully drew and aimed his weapons in seconds. I forgot he was such a fast draw. “Now.” As he said this, they both took their hands off their holsters and went about their business. Waxley was still shopping. “Good job Tim. I hope that works every time...” I said. I was sure that wouldn’t be the last of the problems we meet at this station.

Waxley slimed through the aisles and found the power core he wanted. He also picked out some pink and green paints. He bought them with some Union credits and ran to us. “I’m ready!” He said in his gurgling voice. “Then you can return to the ship or go to the bar with us,” said Tim, smiling. Waxley bobbed his “head” and slimed off to the ship. Tim and I looked at each other. “Ready for a drink?” “Always.”

We walked through the streets. It wasn’t hard to find a bar. A large neon sign led the way. “Stark’s Bar.” A very simple name. Not a very creative man, apparently. We walked to it, meeting suspicious eyes in the streets. Eventually we made it there and Tim opened the door. A variety of Aliens were in this tavern.
What looked like a blue humanoid pig was the server at the table. Different varieties of Aliens were all over, a few humans in between. We went to the counter and ordered some Rakkian Fizz, supposedly the barkeepers specialty. After tasting it, I believe it.

We chose a table near the back. Behind it was another circular table. Two aliens sat behind us. Like humans, but with tall heads and arms with bone like growths protruding from them. We saw them look at a bounty Holotab, look at us then draw their guns. Tim quickly drew his two pistols, turned around and aimed them at the two.
“Drop the weapons before I pump you full of bullets.” They looked intimidated but they both continued. Tim pulled the trigger. One missed and one hit a shoulder. The whole tavern began to watch as they heard the sounds of violence. I pulled Tim back to save him from a hail of bullets as the men at the table shot.

“We need to get out of here!” I said. We both jumped out of our seats. Tim dragged the table and flipped it over to shield us from bullets. I ran back a little, he didn’t. More and more people in the bar began pulling their weapons. I took out my rifle and shot a few bullets. It tore through one or two of our opponents. Tim and I cleared a bloody path outside the building. The poor bartender was hiding. As I slowly moved to the ship, he was walking backwards with his pistols, completely calm.

He fired off multiple shots, most missed due to his movement. However it did its job and instilled some fear. There was a complete shoot out now. There was blood in the streets. He fired a shot, a haze of blood was emitted from a green lizard like being as it fell.

He signaled for men to run faster and leave. “I’m not leaving you! You're like a brother to me!” I said, yelling with distress. “Now. I’ll handle it.” He said without looking away from his bloody work. And so I ran to the ship, and looked out the window. Kury walked up and I quickly told him what was happening. He had an idea.
Tim was shooting, hiding behind a crate. He had been hit, bleeding from his shoulder and thus only shooting from one hand as the enemies closed in. I felt fear...he was my friend. I couldn’t let him die. I needed to go back out there and help him. Then, a group of our enemies were shot by a Hardlight beam, a great red beam wiping out five. They looked around to find where it came from. Kury had manned the ship's top gun, and began shooting. Don and his brother ran out the door and picked up Tim, running him back to the ship. He was almost knocked out from blood loss.

I walked up to him to check him. He was alive, I knew that for sure. However he did not look good. Waxley slimed up with a little medical hat on and some equipment. They carried Tim into a small medical office we have, run by Waxley. Kury called me. "Zyphus! I'm manning the gun. Get this ship out of here!" I went to the pilots seat. I pulled the necessary levers to turn it on. I was not a good pilot, but I did enjoy it. The hum, as the machine turned on, was a good sound to hear. I set course for Dominus Station, and initiated Astraspan, which is the way we make long distances quickly. With that, we blasted off, to Dominus Station.

## Chapter Three: A New Mission

Journeying through space can either be really boring or really exiting. This was on the boring side. As we, finally, got close to the station, about a system or two away, I heard Waxleys voice on the intercom. “Hello friends! Come to my room! He’s finished!” I immediately knew what he was talking about. Genuinely exited, I rushed to his room to see his completed robot. From what I saw it looked promising.

Me and the others were all in the bridge. Even Tim, though he was still wounded from the evens at the asteroid, modern medicine and time had left him mostly healed up. We got up as one and walked to Waxleys quarters. We heard mechanical noises and sizzling coming from his room. We opened the door...and we were greeted by his new machine. As previously described, it’s a cylindrical object with a domed head, and humanoid arms and legs. It was painted now, green with a pink heart on its chest, pink line on its head, and pink shoulders. “Hello. I am Zacharius. You may call me Zac. I am a friendship droid.”

Tim looked a little apprehensive. He began to back up. Waxley slid up to him. “Don’t be afraid or threatened by Zac. Give him a chance friend Timothy.” He said. Tim turned around and nodded. As I said before, he thought Waxley was the most adorable and pure being on the ship and he wanted to keep him happy. He walked up to Zac and extended his arm for a shake.

Zac looked at him, like he was scanning him. He extended his robotic hand, and shook. Tim smiles. Don and Vik walked up and did the same, as did I and Kury. “Hello new friends. May I have your names?” Zach asked us. We all did as he asked without problem, except for Vik, who looked like he was going to say some kind of joke name before Don gave him a murderous look and he gave his proper name. Tim smirked at this.

“It is nice to meet all of you. Now, excuse me,I need to charge.” He walked back into the room and attached himself to some machine. Vik and his brother lost interest and walked back to the bridge with some Decaf. I followed. Tim stayed. He appeared to be whispering to Waxley. “Hey Vik, got some Decaf?”

Arriving there, Vik went to the small kitchen and made some decaf. Kury was at the control. “Dominus station is in sight! Preparing for entrance...”
Dominus was a circular starship, with four hallways arranged with one in app directions towards a sphere, the high command, in the center. It was blood red, silver and a bit of gold, the colors of the Union. Multitudes of weapon systems can be seen. As the flagship, it had a large docking area. Kury activated the magnitech. Vik walked up and handed me some decaf.

“Thanks Vik.” I said. I took it and had a sip. Dawn was watching through the window as we approached. This is uncharacteristic. He usually didn’t care about the view. I went up to him. “Hey Don. What’s so interesting about the station?” I asked. “Such power in a concentrated form...and such technology. Stunning.” I realized he was impressed. His race values power, tech and other such things. However...they were not. There planet was conquered long ago by the Carrion Rehgnum. However, many escaped, and they fled throughout the galaxy. They are enemies of the Carrions, and used their ambition, enabled by new locations, to grow in personal power. Don wasn’t that ambitious of a guy, but he had that awe of power ingrained in him, as if it was genetic.

“Interesting...” I walked away and into the armor room. He didn’t seem to notice. I pierced out my favorite gun, my rifle. Name pending. It was a older model, Zar-15, due to it being mine since I escaped the Sand Men with my friends. I’ve kept it with me ever since. I took a deflector shield and my coat. Even on the flagship, I could get into trouble. In some of those bars, a brawl was only a few words away. I pinned the Imperial Signet on my coat. A red coat, silver rims. Looked pretty good to me. Contrasted with the relatively basic brown pants.

I slung my rifle over my back. I returned to the bridge. Tim was there now. “It’s time to get ready crew. We look for the contact as soon as we land!” I said. I was excited, and could not hide this in my voice. This wasn’t needed for Tim, he always had his pistols. And, of course, his new favorite hat and Vibroblade. He got off pretty well from that mission.

We got closer and closer...and I began to feel a pull as the magnets securely latched us to the dock of the station. Then It stopped. I and the others walked out of the ship. The station was ginormous, the walls grey. We passed through a shield in the part hanging open for new arrivals. Surely, hundreds of ships were docked here. A majority on Union business of course. We all stepped out and admired it. Except for Waxley, he took a while. As he slimed out we saw why. He had brought his new friend. Oh, and before I forget. Tim had teleported the Cargo to the specified pay, this giving us access to a sweet sweet bonus.

“Hello crew of the *Stargazer*. I have been asked by friend Waxley to join you on your mission. I have some combat capabilities and hope I will be useful!” The machine said...excitedly, if a machine can be excited. Tim put his face his palm. Vik laughed a little at the display. This sure was going to be a interesting trip.

As soon as we looked closer, we saw Astral Troopers of the Union enter into a transport vessel. Surely marching on to some kind of battle on a distant world. Poor Sarks. Though, maybe one day I could join the Astral Legions. A job of adventure, and, well, you,re doing good deeds. Most of the time. Kill the enemy they can’t kill what you love. But enough of that.

We began walking to the meeting location. In the center circle, some kind of Comangate tavern. We had special access for the day so we could turn in the fruitful rewards of our mission. Today the station was bursting with life. Aliens of all kinds walked, or slimed, or flew through its metal halls. Tim was a little suspicious and was constantly checking his pockets. Waxley kept slowing us down, getting caught up on greeting everybody he saw.

I’m going to be honest, I’ve seen some aliens I’ve never seen before in that station. As we walked around the curve to reach the hallway to the command sphere, I saw some pretty strange species. One was green, with eyes on stalks and a bird like beak. Others had 4 legs and above those were just blobs. It made me realize, I still have a lot to learn about the species of the galaxy. And, I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a lot of propaganda . Posters advertising the grand adventure of war. As this was a station, a mobile command base, soldiers in full armor patrolled the metallic streets, equally as metallic boots echoing in the halls.

We finally made it to the hallway, its entrance flaked by two Union flags. The Union flag is red with gold outlines, and is a steel Star, known as the Iron Star. This symbolizes the Iron Star, the sun is the Unions capital system. The First Imperium did something to the star, giving it almost a iron shell. But it wasn’t solid iron, more like lines of glowing bars across the sun. These through whatever ancient means provided solar power to every planet in the system infinitely. Nothing else like it has ever been found. And it can’t be duplicated. The flag has in the middle of the five pronged Star a planet, the Unions home world of Sanctus. And on this image of Sanctus is the old eagle of the first Imperium. If you were on this ship, you knew it better then how you looked yourself, for it is seen everywhere. The hallway itself was basic. The only people we saw in it were military officials. It was grey, with some blue windows looking out into space. Or, as it headed towards the sphere in the middle, a view of some of the rest of the ship.

The door at the end slid open. We walked into a circular, massive chamber. Many officials talked in different places, doors led to a multitude of different rooms. We found the Tavern we wanted. Official Tavern for Officer/Commangate Recreation. Continuing our line of boring tavern names. We walked in. And it smelled. It smelled worse then Waxley does sometimes. There was a woman alone in a booth. She saw us and flashed a Union Signet ring. This told us she was our contact, and so we went to her booth. Waxleys robot seemed to be scanning the area as Waxley greeted everybody he saw. Again.

We walked up and took a seat. It was
Pretty packed...I had to sit next to Waxley. It was..an interesting experience. Poor Kury looked around. I could guess he was looking around for others of his race, finding none. He felt lonely with so little Saratians away from Sarat. “Hello. I’m assuming you,re the contact?” I said. She was a woman with short yet wavy red hair, and almost unnaturally pale skin. A native of Falsp, I could tell. “Commangate Herse. Yes. I’m assuming you’ve done as we asked?” Her voice was hard, showing little emotion. Being in the Union military seemed to do that to people.

“Yes...” Tim slid a case out of his pocket and handed it to her. She opened it, and for a second, she look disgusted before closing it. “I’m assuming that’s the evidence then....” she said. Tim nodded. “I have extra intel as well. I recorded him talking before we attacked. I was hoping for a bit of a extra price...” I said. She smiled a little. Her voice, however was still hard. “Depends on what it is.”

I pulled out the device I recorded it on and handed it to her. We heard the conversation I recorded again, about some new system. Interesting. She looked a little surprised. Somewhat frightened. “We need to talk in private. You can tell your friends about it later. Follow me, I have a room.” She got up and waited for me. Waxley looked excited. Don looked uncaring. Tim and Vik seemed to be sharing a joke together and laughed slyly.

She walked up the stairs to the second floor of the tavern. It was like a military bunker, a metal hallway of metal doors. She opened one. Just as boring as the outside. “That was supposed to be your next mission...we found a new system. Uncovered from a storm. We didn’t know they found it...and if they do the Rehgnum may know. We need to explore it...and if possible...bring it to the Union. Let that be your goal.”

“So we’re fighting the Mercanti.” I said. “Yes...but we’re only sending agents like you and some others. Others are devoted to war fronts. An army may eventually join you. The hope is, you can get the natives to fight for you. And, if the Mercanti found it, the Carrion surely have. And these worlds are quite rich in resources. So I expect the Carrion will be quite interested. This system is called the Orlrav system. We have found two, and the other one is deemed Domitus.” She said. She handed me a device with there coordinates.

Now I liked to fancy myself a brave man. In fact, I’d say I have proof enough for that. But by Hector, the Carrions scare me. Monsters. Their faces...their whole heads are covered by a sheet of leathery skin...like mandibles, with sharp claw like teeth. Brownish Yellow skin. The lower class usually looked starved, and weak...but the higher class had wings, and were strong. All of them were frightful to me.

This was some heavy stuff. I was a little intimidated to be honest. I nervously looked around the room. I saw a framed picture on a shelf. It’s funny, with all the technological advances those things still stay around. It appeared to be her holding her child, who was in turn holding a little stuffed soldier. I’d seen it’s kind before. When you squeezed it, it would say enduring lines like “Join up now!” We were quite a militaristic democracy...

“I’ll relay this to the crew....thank you.” I said. She nodded. “This is the end of our meeting. You may go, take your crew, and leave.” She said. Hope she isn’t that way with her kid, I thought. “Wait...” she handed me a small holocommunicator. “Relay to me your progress when it is deemed fit. You will find your payment on the table. Now go, and be quick about it.” She finished. I laughed a little, left the room and went downstairs to my crew.

They had all started a conversation among themselves. Tim has purchased everybody a drink. “Wait...Wax, how do you drink?” He asked, genuinely curious. Waxley laughed, and poured some of his drink on top of him. It seemed to be absorbed into him. “Like that, friend Tim. I have programmed my robot to know about the biology of many species, and he can act as a teacher if you should wish him!” Tim laughed a little. I walked up. “Hey guys...I have some news.” I told them. “Where’s the woman?” Tim asked, smirking a little. “Back in the room. She said her job is done.” I replied. “I’m assuming she got us this here cash.” I nodded yes. “And quite a good load it is. Imagine what we can do with it!” He threw the material credits into the air a little with joy and collected each one. Tim loved it more then most of us, and proffered the hard normal coins to digital currency.

I proceeded to tell them of our new mission. Waxley looked ecstatic. “New friends?” He gurgled. “Yes Waxley, new friends.” Tim replied and winked at me. Kury continued drinking in silence. “Should be fun. New things to challenge. Maybe fight some Bugs.” He said, using the Unions degrading nickname for the Carrions. “I hope it goes well...I do not know if converting the populace will work well.” Kury said, finally speaking up. “Them joining the Union can only be beneficial. Better Union then devoured by Bugs. Or, we could get lucky and it’s just a bunch of free empty worlds.” I said.

“Filthy bugs...may be hard to kill.” Tim said. The robot turned and spoke in it’s calm, metallic yet friendly voice. “I believe you are underestimating the forces of the Combined Mercanti.” It said. “A bunch of merchants? Ha. We took out one of there bosses easy enough.” Vik said, confidently. “That was simply the operator of one small illegal business. Or legal, for them. A true Mercanti force would have armies of well equipped mercenaries and others.” The robot said.

“Mercenaries...if only all good have as decent values as us.” Kury said this staring into his now empty mug. He looked towards Viks still full cup enviously, a little unlike him. “I don’t know. If they paid well, maybe I’d consider it.” Tim said. Drawing some odd looks. “I mean, not much of a difference between them and us.” He continued, a little amused at our responses. “The Union is Democratic. There a strange Meritocratic merchant Corp...” I said, defending our home of the union.

“Not like we don’t have our flaws. We’re a very Militaristic democracy if you ask me. Propaganda,
For example. Oh, plus, last ten leaders are former generals, four of those died in combat!” He yelled this a little bit. But putting his flimsy hand on Tims shoulder, Waxley tried to quiet him a bit. “I don’t see a problem with that. Having leaders with combat skill is beneficial.” I was a little stunned when Don said this. A uncharacteristic amount of big words.

“Guys, Guys, the important thing is we’re going to squash some bugs and shoot some money grubbers! And get first pick of the things we discover.” Vik said happily, trying to wrestle back the conversation to more lighthearted topics. “I suppose you're right.” Tim looked over at him and took a sip of his beer as he said this, slightly regretful of what he said before, but he didn’t show it. “I’d never work for those greedy Craks.”

“I suppose it’s time to leave...” Kury said. “Well, we can stay a bit longer.” I replied, smiling. I wanted my crew to have a fun break. Kury’s face lit up. “In that case I want another round!” Kury’s wish was granted, and another round soon came for everyone on the table. And another. And another. Until the only ones left we’re Vik and Don. Everybody else had passed out. They told us they carried us back to the ship. What believe it. But that was the end of our trip to the station, and the start of yet another journey. This time, into the unknown.

## Chapter Four: Journey into the Unknown

Vrakkus this machine was fast. I was fighting Waxleys robots with practice knifes. Every single move I made it blocked it with perfection. I tried all of my strengths, maneuvers, and others to press the advantage when I could but he just kept blocking. I could hear the laughter of Tim and Vik in the background as they watched us duel in the hallway. I wish this ship was bigger, not only would we have more room to duel but I would love the privacy. Who even knew where Waxley was.

I was getting tired. And the machine only quickened. It’s blade whisked by me as I desperately tried to parry it’s upcoming blows, but it struck with such precision and speed a human like me would have a hard time matching it. How could Waxley have made such a strong machine? I realized as the knife flew by my ear I needed to change my strategies. So I ran. It waited for a moment, I could hear metallic noises from inside of it as it began to speak “Have you surrendered, friend Zyphus?” He looked around. With all of his advanced eyesight, he couldn’t see me. Because, using the cunning only a human could have, I decided to hold a knife to Tims back and use him as cover. He found it amusing and didn’t say anything about it.

“Friend Zyphus? Where have you gone to? An Zyphus? Ate hav ug tmo?” It began speaking in a variety of alien languages. I slowly moved Tim forward. He whisked around as I got closer then ever to his back. “Friend Timothy! What do you require. Have you seen Zyphus?” Then, with all the speed I could muster, I thrust the knife from in between Tims arm and touching Zach. “I win, friend.” I said. I backed up a little, giving Tim room to free himself, he returned to Vik. “Interesting. Human cunning.” Zacharius said this as if he was assessing it. “Yep. But you did a good job friend.” Calling people friend all the time was fun. Maybe I should do it more often. I extended my hand to shake, slightly surprised by the feel of his cold metal hand.

That was a interesting fight. The ship was on auto-pilot. We normally don’t do it because Kury is scared something will break or Tim who doesn’t trust autopilot...so, it took a lot to do it. But, this time, we were traveling straight forward for about an hour so we had time. Why do I feel so glad about it? I see it as a victory over Tims fear of machines...but, I’ve spent to long on this. Now, it was a pretty part of space we were in. Stars shining...a prelude to the new worlds we surely must find. I pulled up a chair to the window and grabbed a book. I was trying to learn Sarabat to Kury. He felt lonely that nobody else spoke his language. I looked over at him, sitting in a chair a few feet away, looking out the window. Space was a wonder for him. A majority of his race lived in sand his whole life, so he was quite lucky to see it.

I heard a little mechanical noise as Zach walked up to me and bowed, a plate with a cup of Decaf on it. A golden cup stolen from a mission. I was impressed with the robots grace in carrying such delicate things, almost as impressed I was with its kindness. No, wait, robots aren’t kind. They don’t have feelings. I took it, thanked him and he walked away. I had to put down my book to drink, which made me reflect. How far we have gone together since a bunch of poor kids on Sarat...our parents barely making enough for food before they died. Now, I was drinking decaf out of a golden cup from a sevic- friendship robot. And, I could afford books! I’ve always liked to read, but back as a child I was not able to indulge in this pleasure. Most fun we got was playing with scrap.

I looked at the book. It reminded me of Kury. When I looked over to talk to him, I smiled as I saw he was already talking to Zach...and looked especially happy. I payed more attention. Zach was speaking Sarabat, the first person to talk to him in that language for a long time. Must have been a little addition from Waxley. Kury was happily goin on and on in his native language, I could barely understand it. I heard him say Char many times, meaning friend. So he clearly approved of the robots mission for friendship. I heard a noise and saw Waxley poorly hidden behind the holocomputer, I couldn’t tell, but I was sure he was smiling to. He did his strange giggle. Kury noticed him, got up and ran to him, hugging Waxley. Waxley looked surprised and very exited. He was glad to have true friends.

It was a adorable display. Tim Vik and Don were off training in the storage area. We could definitely use a bigger ship, ours is quite small for many activities. In about a hour Kury went back to piloting the ship. I was exited for the new adventure, the wait between travel and new worlds was always hard for me. For I so desperately wanted to be the first to explore these new planets. I was doubtful of my diplomacy skills, but the Union reinforcements that will eventually come certainly must be capable of decent negotiations with the natives. We were on the edge of Union Space, and the destination was growing ever nearer.

As we flew, we saw a battle taking place between a Union Battle Cruiser and a Mercanti ship. Tim looked out the window of the bridge, admiring the combat as hardlight beams zoomed from ship to ship. “Zyphus, you seeing this?” He said. But before I could reply, Kury did. “We are about to feel it soon. They will certainly send some Star Fighters to us, for we bear Union signals. Expect a dog fighter soon...” and he was right. Those greedy Mercanti wretches sent star fighters to us. Two one man ships, smooth and triangular, with a large frontal cannon, denoting it as Corkel in design flew behind us. A red light flashed on the screen to alert us of this. We heard a little boom, and the ship shook a little. We had been hit! I frantically rushed to the hologram of our ship to check its condition. Small hole in the side. No problem.

Kury looked stressed as he pulled a lever on the control booth, making our ship do, for lack of a better term, a backflip. A semi nauseating experience. I ran into one of the ships back gunning positions and placed my hands on the levers, looking out its window. I saw our ship already shooting beams at it, clearly denoting somebody had taken the other. I steadied myself, and took careful aim at a enemy fighter. I was never to good at this, but I wasn’t bad either. I slammed my thumb onto the firing button, and closed my eyes. I opened them on the sound of explosion. It had hit, one ship down! It exploded in a burst of machinery and light. On the intercom Kury announced he was turning on emergency speed to get us out of here quickly. More confidently, I took aim at the second ship. It missed every shot it made, clearly some kind of a conscripted pilot. Or just a bad one. Well, I didn’t dwell on it for long, as with another lucky shot I took him down. Then, I could feel the ship tense up as the emergency speed turned on. And as fast as the Hardlight beams I fired, we were gone.

We appeared above the first planet of the first system. Orlrav. The planets name was as of yet unknown...maybe I could name it after myself. Though I doubt Kury would approve of the pride, or Tim of it not being named after him. I looked at the planet. Its major land masses looked like a massive forest, With large oceans containing equally forested islands. It contained no real signs of civilization. It’s moon gave off some strange electrical signals, denoting it may. I heard Kury call over the Intercom for everybody to gather in the bridge. Waxley and I walked up to the main control panel he sat at. Soon the others came out from where they were dueling, and there eyes were immediately drawn to the planet outside the window. “Observe, Chars, the new planet.” Kury said, his old sounding grumble audible to all, giving a since of wonder and some kind of reverence. Ideas flowed through all of our heads. Promises of glory, of power. Duty, discovery, fame. Friends.

“What’s the plan.” Don said, in his usual straight and no nonsense voice. “I have thought of one which I believe will bear the most fruit. The moon shows signs of life. Vik, Waxley and I will visit it. I do not believe my kind would react well to a jungle like that anyways. Zyphus, Zach, Tim and Don can land to do a quick survey of the areas with a highest chance of population. Get it over quickly, with the small cost of momentary separation. We will of course have communication devices.” Kury announced his plan as if it was set in stone, a symbol of a inner confidence, not one of pride. Despite warming up to it Tim was a little uneasy around the droid, and Don looked a little doubtful of the prospect of splitting the group. I saw the wisdom in it, and trusted Kury enough to believe in his idea said with so much conviction. “I agree. Objections?” I said. As this was from the captain, this essentially confirmed it. There were no objections.

“Then prepare yourselves.” Proclaimed Kury. He turned around and began flying the ship closer to the surface. After we quickly ran to our room of equipment, I was the first one back to the bridge as I greatly desired a better view of the planet. It was one unlike any other I had seen. Trees as tall as the tallest skyscraper of a dark yet comforting and natural brown, with deep green leaves. These tall trees had a underbrush of more lightly colored smaller trees. We saw a clearing in the middle of one of these forest. Kury told us the plan was to use some life sign scanners apon reaching the surface. The ones we had worked better on surface then from space. “Are you ready for this, Char?” He looked at me as he said this, concern for my approval and respect in his eyes. “Of course.” I responded. The others came out to join me as our ship began to hum as it landed, possibly the first of its kind to touch down on this mysterious planet before.

We went to the back where the ship would open the wall up into a ramp for us to step down. Unknowingly into a dark hunt in which we would be the unwitting pray. We said our goodbyes to the crew. Waxley slimed up and hugged each one of us. “I hope you all do well and meet many friends!” He gurgled. “We will buddy. We will.” Tim said, smiling. Waxley went over and patted his robot on the shoulder with his oddly shaped hand. If it’s possible, the robot looked proud from this sign of affection from its creator. “I’ll miss you Zach.” Waxley gurgled. “Likewise, master.” The robot replied. Don and Vik shook hands, exchanging a meaningful look at each other. Kury shook mine as well, I had to bend over a little to accommodate his small stature. “Good luck captain.” He said. As I released his hand I noticed he had put our transmitter in my hand. “You to Char.” I said, using his native language. This caused a smile in his young but old looking face. He waved for Vik and Waxley it was time for them to leave. They stepped back in, and after one last wave from Waxley took off, leaving us on the new world.

“Well...ain’t this a pretty place.” Tim said on there departure. Don nodded. “Yes. The size of these trees are impressive, that one about two Milits away looks taller then any skyscraper I’ve ever seen.” He replied, he was never one for nature but his voice was full of wonder nonetheless. “Well folks, we need to get moving and set up the device.” I had to keep our mission on track. This did not mean, however, I admired it any less then they did. I looked over and Zach seemed to be taking a sample of the ground. “Friend Zyphus is correct. We should begin moving before dark. It is the wisest course of action.” The robot said in its calm, steady and noticeably mechanical voice. “Well then...let’s be on with it.” Tim looked out to the distance as he spoke. He was a lover of adventure, and I’m sure he believed he would find adventure aplenty on this world.

## Chapter Five: Prey

We were in the middle of a clearing in the forest. The strange alien trees bore odder fruits of a variety of colors and textures, great orange ones with bumps and strange flowers within the roots of the trees. Tim and I drew our knives not only for defense, but to slash through the thick vines that occasionally blocked our way as we stepped deep into the forest. Zach commented on this. “Interesting use of your blades, friends. Perhaps I can be of assistance in this matter?” His voice was trying to mimic a concern and willingness to help. “How so Pal?” Tim replied, a little suspicious. But he always is when it comes to Zach. Zachs hand appeared to fold back in on his arm, revealing a circular blade.

“With this friend Timothy.” Zach walked in front of us and quickly cut the surrounding vines. Thick though they were the saw buzzed through them. “Interesting addition...” I could hear Don whisper. Dons race could climb into trees like these easily, meaning he was hanging back for our sake. “How long till we set up the scanner?” He asked, in his usual gruff voice not denoting it as a question. “We’re planning on waiting till we form a camp at night. It takes a while, so we might as well use the valuable daytime for normal exploration.” I replied. To be honest, I was a little worried about what would happen if we found sentient life forms here. How smart would they be? Would they be aggressive?

We continued marching through the woods. I saw somewhat of a mountain in the distance with what looked like a structure, shaped like a wooden knife thrusting out of the mountain rock like through skin. We quickened our pace with excitement. We came to another cleared area. “Stop. I think I see Something.” Tim said. Really it was rare for him to notice something that I wouldn’t first, do this was slightly impressive. He bent down to inspect a rock embedded in the roots of a tree. It had a strange symbol on it, what looked like a book with a ten pointed star on it, and seemed to glow. “Well...what do you reckon-“ before he could finish, Don touched the center of its star, completely I unafraid Of some rock.

I wish I could of warned him of what happened next. The rock, like a button sunk in a little, and We heard the sound of some strange contraption and what looked like a glowing yellow net descended on him. It released some weak electric shock. He let loose a short yell. “Zyphus! Cut it off!” He said, likely referring to my knife. I drew it and went to do so but though his species endurance let him hold on longer then without, the electric shocks knocked him out and then subsided. The forest around us came to life with a screeching whoop, as another sep came down, sidestepped by Tim. Another came that he couldn’t dodge, and quicker then Don he dropped to. Lastly, one came at me fast as a bullet. Luck protected me as the center landed onto the point of my outstretched knife and broke. However, like Tim my luck didn’t last for the second time, and I fo was captured in the nets embrace.

I woke up tiredly. I looked around. I was in a dirty cage in a brown room. It has bars add of what looked like knobby wood. I tried to brake it, and failed. I heard footsteps, strange, inhuman footsteps. The bars were only in the front. I could not see through the sides as they were solid. A three toed, hairless orange foot stepped into the corner of my eye. Two arms grabbed the side of my cell...but they appeared to be from the same side of a body. And then the being stepped into full view. A alien with two arms and each side, completely naked and hairless body on which I could see no kind of genitals. It was humanoid, but the eyes were longer and more split, a large sink in nose, and lipless mouth.

It gave a odd high pitched whoop like that I heard in the forest. It spoke in a strange dialect, one of which I’ve never heard the like of. Another came in, the same as the first but taller and had five fingers when the first had four. They spoke to eachother. The tall one approached my cage and looked in at me, I could smell it’s rancid breath. It seemed to be investigating me. Finally, a third came in. It had a strange hood connected to a cape. It seemed to ask them a question. They answered. I heard a dragging noise as other cages were dragged near mine. I saw through the side of my eye my friends in these cages.

The taller one spoke in common tongue, near perfectly aside from the higher pitched voice. “You. Prey. We hunters. We will capture for great glory. Sacrifice. But first let you go. Give hunt. Yes?” Prey? I didn’t like the sound of that. The fact he looked like he wanted to eat me didn’t help. He didn’t wait for a response. Our crates were dragged to the edge of the room...which gave way and opened up into a hatch, the back of a ship. Our metal crates were opened. I stood out. My back felt weird, and I saw the others. Tim didn’t look like he cared. The robot didn’t really have expressions. Don looked the same as Tim. There were some people I didn’t know...they looked scared.

We were out of the cages, anyways. Tim looked at me and looked like he was about to speak...but then the latch we were on dropped. We fell. Land began zooming towards my face, a soft sandy beach by a water that was a blur with a greenish tinge. We all smashed into the sand. Our deflector shields protected us from getting sand smashed into us, but the fall still hurt. Quite a lot. I struggled to my feet and, out of fear for there safety, the first thing I did was look to the others to see if they were okay and away from harm.

It was a sandy beach, as previously stated. I do not have a liking for sand...it’s all over our home planet, and you get sick of it fast. It’s course, rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. My friends stuck out like a broken power cable, what with there armor against the yellow backdrop of sand. I saw the other prisoners to. I went to Tim, raising my hand to speak with him on our next move, but then I was interrupted.

“Look out!” Zach yelled, his robot optic voice conveying urgency as he pushed Tim suddenly. Tims eyes seemed to have a bit of fear in them being pushed by a machine. But he was saved from a worded fate. A unrefined hardlight beam smashed into the sand, kicking up some dust, and Zach had saved him. I repeated the machines words louder to all on the beach. I looked to the forest, and ran, soon hearing Tims footsteps and the metal clank of Zach’s “feet” in the sand beside me, for I didn’t look back to see if they were there. I heard a stumbling noise and looked around in fear, thank the gods it had only been Tim dropping his hat.

The forest was far and foreboding, though the flora and fauna weren't. The trees were honestly a beautiful breed, dark green leaves against a dark yet inviting brown stump, with strange glowing fruits hanging on its branches like lamps. Beneath them was the ground, of course, covered in roots and fallen leaves. Looked a little hard to tread. It struck me that I hadn’t seen Don. I looked towards the tree line more closely, hopefully scanning for my friend.

There! He stood amongst a Bush, signaling for us to hurry. I did, as I heard the pounding of the hard light getting closer. I rolled into the bushes with him, Tim and Zach caught up with us as well, albeit without the combat roll. As we entered the tree line where we could barely be spotted the thumping of the hardlight subsided. We were safe, for now. “Well...that happened quite fast.” The robot said. “I agree. To fast. What are we supposed to do now?” I asked, frustrated. I finally remembered my transmitter and reached into my pocket, perhaps I could contact Kury and get out of here. But my foolish Hope was rewarded with finding it smashed and unusable.

“Bad news. Can’t call back.” I said. We had began to sit in a circle on some large outcropping roots, in the beginning of a somewhat hidden glade. “Further forward!” Don said. We would go further into this glade. We sat up as one, as the others offered no resistance to this plan. Pulling back a giant leaf, wet from rainfall or the like we moved deeper in. If we didn’t stay hidden, perhaps those orange beasts would find us. Or they would find us anyways, for they know the place. I desperately hope that is not the case.

I heard rustling in the bushes and instinctively reached for my gun. I was somewhat surprised to find it there...clearly the orange things wanted some fun. Leaving me with my weapon. I quickly told the others to check as well and they all had there arms, even our Vibroknives. The rustling returned and I saw what looked like a orange cone sticking out of a bush, rough and hair. I walked over and grabbed it. A strange high pitch scream was empires and I looked down. Lying in the brush was one of those orange things. “Don’t kill! Don’t kill me please! Prisoner to!” He said, his common tongue impressive. How had some of his race learned it when we didn’t even know of there species existence?

“Well, what do we got here? A cone head orange thing?” Tim said. He bent down to get a better look. “If I didn’t know better, those lidless eyes look scared. But surely those brave enough to capture this merry band wouldn’t be capable of feeling fear, would they?” Clearly, he did not have such high opinions of that species. Zach seemed to be studying him. He was still lying down, but judging by the look in his eyes even if he wanted to dash off he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to. I’ve known that look of exhaustion and fear...I’ve wore it myself to many times.

“I...I was a prisoner...kept with c-captured human! He got shot at the beach...I’m there prey...we’re all there prey! We will all die!” He said. He sounded...mad. His voice trembling with fear yet screaming about our impending doom with a odd conviction. “As much as I hate to say it friends, the odds are not in our favor.” Zach proclaimed. Even now, not a hint of sorrow of fear could be detected in the robot. Don’t know what I expected from a machine. “Don’t be such a downer.” I said. I had relinquished my hold on the things head, but he still held still. “As long as I live we’re gonna make it off this island.” I proudly proclaimed.

Don has been siting back with a look of disgust. Clearly he did not approve of this beings show of cowardice. Such fear would he punished in his home world. And in his credit, he hadn’t shown any signs of fear himself through all we have experienced today. “Well then, think you can tell us more about why we are here?” Zach said, something in his machine body dictating that this was the time to make his voice sound more comforting. Though, it still had its odd metallic echo.

“I am a prisoner. Traitor to the tribe. So they want to kill-kill me in there games! You to! We will all die!!” Like last time, his voice raised at that last, saddening part of a already foreboding sentence. “But...but I will be loyal to you...if I’m protected...I cannot survive on my own!” He said. Maybe we should keep him around I thought to myself. He could teach us more. He knows what’s going on. They all looked at me expectantly. “Fine. We will keep you around till we get off this island. I proclaimed, this settling the matter.

With that done we moved on deeper, together. Into the forests, a unfamiliar alien forest. “We need to get out of here as soon as possible.” Don proclaimed, gruffly starting the obvious. “Agreed, friend Don!” Said Zach. “Any plans as to how we shall do this?” This prompted a look of thought from Dons face, and the rest of us. What ideas did we have? “Anybody good with tech?” I said. I still have my communicator. Perhaps...perhaps Zach could fix it. Zach, thank the gods, raised his metallic hand.

The little orange thing hadn’t spoken, he simply continued taking long, alien strides. Tim has his gun trained on a bush he had heard a rattle from. “I can friend Zyphus. Whatever do you require?” The robot said. With my left hand, pistol in my right, I pulled out the smashed com. “Hmm. Yes. Perhaps. It would take quite a while, and I may need some materials and a power source.” He said, as his voice echoed through his metal shell I could tell his mind was working hard computing a answer. We heard a strange noise above, like a hovercraft, turned and looked up through the dense and green forest canopy.

A small hovercraft with a gun mounted on it, shaped like a half circle with a wall curving inwards on the front to witch the gun was mounted. The back was open and manned by what looked like a warrior of these orange men. “There!” Zach said, his hand whirring to a point at it as it swiftly flew by, the creatures on board seemingly scanning the Forrest for prey. Our orange guy looked like he was panicking. “There coming! They come to find-hunt kill-tear!” He said, hopping from one leg to another. “Calm down there. We’ll be fine buddy.” Tim said. The little orange guy didn’t seen Tim was holding a pistol to his back just in case, but calmed down all the same.

We walked on through a humid and painful day till we reached a short, somewhat rounded mountain. At its base was a circular cave, with a small pool in it leading outside. It was of a hard grey stone, similar yet somehow alien. Mounds of boulders of these stones were just outside the cave. After making a campfire out of trees we cut down using our Vibro blades Zach lit it, and we slept there for the night, we were so tired it was one of the easiest times I’ve had trying to fall asleep. No bed and torn clothes yet I fall asleep quicker then I do on the ship. Not even a nightmare, much less any other dreams. But the next day could be a nightmare if it went wrong.

I woke up a little earlier and noticed a glow in the back of the cave. On the floor was a incredibly smooth crystal like substance. A metal of which I had never seen before. I took out my vibro knife and slipped it though it. It barely made a dent. “Impossible...” I whispered. I came to its edge. With effort I cut out a shard and pocketed it. This could be useful. Certainly adds more urgency to claiming this world... who knows what this is. But that could wait. We had a plan.

## Chapter Six: Prey’s Revenge

“Okay. Here’s the plan. We wait till one of those things come by and unload our guns into it. Sadly Zach isn’t one of those flying machines, and thus can’t fly to it. But I’m sure your all man enough to shoot down a little hovercraft.” I said. I stared intently into the eyes of each one of them, drawing a variety of returning stares, each of them showing some emotion save those of Zach. “I reckon everybody will be keeping watch then.” Tim said. He had his hat still, a fact he was very grateful for. “Yes. I suppose we can sit on the rocks in the front of the cave.” I said. Wouldn’t be that bad of a job, not with these guys. And the orange thing.

“Conehead. What exactly are you?” Tim asked. The orange thing smiled a little and looked surprised. “Xyner! Xyner! We are the Xyner of Xax, greatest tribe of the planet Xarxan...or so they said.” He quickly silenced himself and looked away sadly. “Xyner...Zy-ner... well that sure rolls off the tongue.” He said it a few more times to get a feel for the word. “And your name?” I said, genuinely interested. “Kaz-Qik. Former preykeeper of the Xax. Committed crime of stealing food! Forced to become the new prey. Here I am-see? Stuck-trapped in the forest...”

Tim began humming a old folk song from our planet. Kez-Wert of the desert. Impressive rhyme, I know. He was concentrating. Don rp was, our guns aimed to the sky. No heavy weapons, we would have to hope pistols and rifles could do. At least it could probably kill a...what’s it called? Xyner? My thoughts were interrupted by the strange sound of one of there hovercraft approaching, not noticing us. “Take aim...” I said,
Pointing my rifle at it. “Fire!” Don growled, and we all did so. With a lucky hit, it‘s short, hunchbacked pilot was tripped by a bullet and fell to his death, leading the craft to crash in a puff of smoke, surely killing its unfortunate passenger.