“Harlac: A water dwelling Xenomorph predator, found most commonly in lakes and rivers containing Briconium deposits. Scientists believe they are attracted to the unique shine of the metal. Juveniles often have four or six tentacles, while adults have been found to grow as many as ten. Adult Harlacs are Epsilon Class threats, while Juveniles are usually Zeta Class. Juvenile Harlac spotted!

Class: High-Grade Zeta: Threat Assessment: High.”

Daniel had opened his notification log out of curiosity as one of the other men found his spear and brought it to him. He read the post about the Harlac and shivered a little. High threat assessments were death sentences for most Pioneer’s. He was lucky to have survived, and if his enemy had been an adult he would have been a dead man for sure. The ambush had been an uncomfortable brush with mortality, but it had taught them all some valuable lessons.

The first thing that Daniel did after he had finished reading his notification was to change his Codex’s settings. All notifications about Xenomorphs wouldn’t show up in his vision by default. They would go into his log, and he would have to actively pull them up if he wanted to read them. Daniel couldn’t for the life of him understand why that wasn’t the default setting. Who wanted to read a novel while they were being assaulted by an unfathomable abomination?

The second order of business was bandaging his wounded leg, which was badly bruised but still in decent condition. Alvin had landed in the water and had been pulled out quickly, so he was alright as well. After that, he set a rotating watch of two men, one for the river and one for the forest. If either of those men noticed strange behavior from the smaller forest animals or a dark shadow lurking in the water, they would sound the alarm immediately. The group would then scatter into the forest and wait for the threat to pass. It wasn’t a foolproof plan, and there could be other threats lurking in the forest, but Daniel would rather deal with them than with an adult Harlac. Hopefully, a decision to spread out would make them less of a target. This also meant that there were fewer gatherers with their eyes on the ground, but it was worth it for the safety.

With those adjustments made, they continued their quest upriver. The sun reached its apex and began to fall as the hours of the day ticked by, but their Briconium gathering remained fruitful, so everyone was in high spirits. Most of them had already met or exceeded their daily quotas from both today and yesterday, a fact that kept them laughing and joking even as they kept an eagle eye out for threats and opportunities. It was their forest watchman who noticed the first instance of both:

“Look!” He hissed, “Up ahead!”

Immediately, everyone scattered reflexively into the treeline besides the watchman. He continued standing in the mud pointing forward, and the other nine, slightly embarrassed at their mistake, came out of hiding to peer in the direction he was pointing.

On the edge of the river further ahead of them loomed several silhouettes of large, shadowy figures. The men crept forward, and eventually began to make out the details of a small herd of quadrupedal, hoofed creatures. They were covered in midnight black fur that glistened handsomely with droplets of river water as the creatures milled together to drink. Each of them was larger than a person, and tall enough that they reached Daniels biceps. Their horns glittered a vibrant, electric blue, curved weapons that reflected the late afternoon light with a deadly promise. Once he got a good look at them, Daniel saw his notification log ping, and he opened it immediately:

“Sparkhoof: The lesser form of the mighty Thunderhoof, Sparkhooves are still deadly Xenomorphs, especially to weaker Pioneers. Capable of electric discharge that can paralyze and even kill weaker prey, the omnivorous Sparkhoof couples those Psionic Capacities with powerful physical strength and high resilience. They are territorial and will attack perceived enemies on sight. Adult Sparkhoof spotted! A pack of Sparkhooves spotted!

Class: Mid-Grade Zeta: Individual Threat Assessment: High Moderate: Group Threat Assessment: Very High.”

Daniel heard one of his buddies behind him gulp audibly. He couldn’t help but agree. If these things sensed them and turned to attack, they were dead men. Fortunately, they seemed too preoccupied with their water to notice the Pioneers. Daniel signaled to their group to turn around and leave, but they had only gone a short way when the paradigm shifted again. Faintly, Daniel heard the patter of rhythmic splashes coming from downstream and he whirled to watch the river cautiously.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The splashing grew louder as the seconds ticked by, until they reached the bend of the river. And then, a wave of silver rounded the corner, undulating towards them in a hypnotic pattern. Daniel blinked in shock at the army of large silver-scaled fish that leaped and swam their way up the stream. All ten Pioneers stared at the sight of the argentum droplets leaping and frolicking their way past them. They edged reflexively away from the water, nervous caution kicking in. Daniel noticed the glint of tiny ivory fangs in the mouth of each little finned beast and took a few more steps back. He then pulled up the log:

“Rokarian Silverfish: A freshwater, carnivorous, Xenomorph fish, they are common in Great Lake Planets, but are found across the galaxy. They are very deadly in large numbers, especially for unaware swimmers, but present no meaningful threat to land dwellers. Their scales and meat are fairly valuable. Adult Silverfish spotted! A school of Silverfish spotted!

Class: Low-Grade Zeta: Individual Threat Assessment: Low: Group Threat Assessment: Very High.”

Now that he was looking at the school more carefully, Hardgrave frowned when he saw that some of them carried the dregs of pale purple flesh in their mouths. That Harlac had probably encountered these things and been torn to pieces. Still, it had been in the water, and the Silverfish were passing them by harmlessly. He chanced a glance at the Sparkhooves and saw something interesting.

The great buffalo-like creatures had backed away from the water like the Pioneer’s had. They had collectively begun lowering their heads, and their horns had begun to grow an even brighter shade of blue. Arcs of electricity suddenly shot out from their tips, rolling over the Silverfish in a wave. A noticeable dent was made in the wave, but the rest of the school just swam around and under their dead or paralyzed compatriots. Some even cannibalized their own fellows, but these offenders were then paralyzed in turn by the second wave of electricity that rolled out from the Sparkhooves.

An idea sprung up in the back of Daniel’s mind, and he readied his spear and crept closer to the river. There were a couple of shocked cries from his comrades, but he kept an eye on the Xenomorphs to his far left. The closer he got to the school of fish, however, the clearer it was that the Sparkhooves were sufficiently distracted. He crept forward, readied his spear, and struck at one of the jumping Xenomorphs. Dexterously, he speared right through one of the fish and withdrew the spear immediately, backing away from the water. The creature wriggled vigorously on the edge of his weapon, but eventually its struggles grew weaker before it finally stilled:

“Corpse of a Rokarian Silverfish: Weight 2.69 kgs. Value: 296 Credits.”

Just as with the Sparkhooves, the other fish didn’t react to the death of their friend. Daniel dismissed the corpse of the fish, and edged closer to the water again, motioning for the others to do the same. Some followed and tried mimicking him in spearfishing. It was dangerous work, spearing rapidly moving creatures that could strip flesh from bone. But eventually everyone caught at least four or five of the argent animals as they swam past the group. Daniel was particularly adroit, spear flitting out and snatching eight total fish over the course of the session. As the tail end of the school was passing by, however, disaster struck.

A small dark-eyed man, growing overconfident, got too close to the edge. One of the particularly enterprising fish punished him for it, leaping out of the water latching onto his forearm with its tiny jaws. The man let out a cry of anguish, which was fortunately stifled when one of the others clasped a hand over his mouth. But it was too late to stop the noise from cutting shrilly through the air, clearly audible even above the noise of the fish. All the Pioneers quickly hustled to the tree line, dragging the injured man behind them. Daniel watched from behind a tree as several of the Sparkhooves huffed and turned in their direction. Everyone held their breath as they watched the beasts turn their beady black eyes against their position. Daniel almost locked eyes with one of them, the powerful creature seemingly staring him down. No one dared move a muscle as they were scrutinized for a few heart stopping moments. Then the Sparkhooves finally gave a huff and turned back toward the fish, and everyone let out a breath.

By the time the school had passed, the water in front of the Sparkhooves was littered with dead fish, and the buffalo sauntered happily into it. The Pioneers watched in morbid fascination as the creatures gorged themselves on the fish, chomping down on their helpless prey with large, flat white teeth. The cerulean waters were dyed a blood red as the creatures continued their feast, munching through the fish with a voracity that made Daniel realize that there would be little, if any leftovers. He still watched them thoughtfully, gears turning in his brain, before his thoughts were interrupted by one of the men:

“Sir? Are you alright, sir?”

It was a mop headed, tough looking man in his mid-thirties. He addressed Daniel with a respectful yet gruff brogue, rough voice betraying a smoker’s past. Hardgrave searched his memory and remembered the man’s name was O’Riley. It was strange to have a man twice his age call him “sir”, especially since they were all technically of the same rank, but Daniel tried to take it in stride. He nodded calmly at the man, and asked:

“What happened with the man who got bit?”

“He’s fine, sir. He got quick medical treatment, and just one of those fish wasn’t that dangerous.”

Daniel nodded and turned to look back at the Xenomorphs. They were lowing happily at one another as they swam around, glorying in their successes. But they would have to go somewhere once they all finished:

“Sorry, but shouldn’t we go back, sir? We can’t go forward.”

Daniel turned to look at O’Riley, then he examined the others, who were all watching him and waiting for his command. Despite the pressure, he couldn’t help giving his comrades a half smile:

“Anyone here do a good impression?”