As Jessie looked out at the forest, he tried to keep calm. That monster was something that he had never expected from this planet. Even after the other things that attacked them, this thing was unlike anything else. And there was one thought that went through his mind a thought he knew Duncan must have had. In a way, he agreed with him. Hope was all they had, but he should have told some of them.

“No, fear is a killer. You need hope, even where there’s a chance there’s none,” He whispered to himself as he looked at the dark forest.

For a moment, he just sighed and then he turned away. He saw the deckhand who had been injured being helped to the crater as others guarded the breach. With a small nod to them, as he passed the line, he moved towards Terra. A few feet away from her, Greg was struggling as two deckhands held him.

As he reached her, he saw Terra working on the internals of the shield console. With a heavy heart, he sighed and squatted down next to her. “So how bad?”

“Not too bad really. Just need to connect all the wires. But there’s a problem here,” Terra said with a scowl as she looked at him. “I don’t understand how he could have damaged it this much! I mean, this is a combat model! It should have taken his strike easy!”

“I told you this wasn’t my fault!” Greg roared and Jessie scowled at him

But Greg ignored anyone, and he kept talking. “And I could have killed that thing myself if you had only let me! I am the descendent of greatness! Let me go now!!”

Jessie looked at him and shook his head, looking at Terra. “That thing’s dead. And the vines things should have been destroyed. How long to fix this thing?”

“Just….. about….. done!” Terra said as she pulled herself out of the console and closed it up. With a smirk, she pushed a few buttons, and the shield formed again. As the deckhands all looked at it, there were cheers.

Jessie felt his nerves slowly relax, and then he looked down. Everything that threatened them outside was blocked for now, who knew what was below them? And he knew that they would see that tomorrow.

“So that thing you used,” Terra asked as Jessie looked up at her. She was looking at the weapon Jessie was holding with a small smirk. “That what that can cut into the thing?”

Jessie looked at Greg out of the corner of his eyes and nodded at her after a moment. Keeping that one from knowing what was happening, seemed like a smart thing to keep doing. He had dealt with a lot of the Neo Nobles, and they were always problems. The single fact was that people who talked loudly like Grey never kept secrets. And that might be something they would need.

“Yeah, simple modification. I could have another three done in a good half hour. But what do we do now? The night’s here,” Jessie said as he pointed up at the sky. As stars came out, he looked up. There was always something about the stars that called to him. But tonight, that call wasn’t there. He almost looked up longer but then Terra sighed.

“Yeah, and we have a lot of work to do. We’ll make a place for you to cut into it tomorrow. For now, I need to talk to Duncan about him,” Terra said as she looked at Greg who kept snarling and shouting nonsense.

Jessie nodded and walked away, looking up at the sky. He didn’t know what it was, but there was just something more that was wrong here. The stairs were always the same, but some views were different. From planets to ships, he had seen them all. But there was something about the skies of this world that was just wrong. He couldn’t explain it, and he didn’t want to. There was just something about this place that was wrong.

Looking down, he looked around and saw that his walk had taken him to the side of the shield behind the capsule.

“Hey!”

A voice from behind him caused Jessie to turn and see Zevortro walking towards Jessie looked at Zevortro, and saw a smile on his face.

“Nice work back there! And that weapon you used, how’d you find it? That something like that could help us out a lot!” Zevortro exclaimed with a wild look in his eyes.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Modified this myself. Need it for……” Jessie began only he looked away.

Zevortro took a step back, shock on his face. “Wait, you know what’s beneath us!? How?”

Jessie felt his blood run cold. Zevortro was alone here with him, sure others could see them. But if this filth was an enemy, then he just knew that Jessie knew what was beneath them! But then he blinked, how could Zevortro be an enemy? There were no enemies here! Just survivors!

“How I know isn’t the question! How do you know about it!?” Jessie demanded and looked at Zevortro who only blinked.

“I figured it out and told Duncan. What about you?” Zevortro asked with a strange look in his eyes.

Jessie blinked and then forced his nerves to calm down.

“Terra told me. Sorry about the way I asked. I’m used to keeping secrets ya know? Think I’ll do another sweep. Just make sure nothing’s out there,” Jessie said before he walked away. As he moved towards the hanging man, he looked up at him. The scum was just another piece of trash that he had seen so often in the past. The fact that they had no proof beyond what the man had done to that female medic was the only reason he was breathing. The only thing that he could do was hope that there was a survivor out there. They would testify and then the monster up there would die.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

As Zevortro watched Jessie walk away, he whistled and shook his head. “Wonder why he’s just a deckhand. Someone like him, shouldn’t he be in a different department?”

Without another word, Zevortro just shrugged as he turned and saw his friends. With a grin he walked over, looking around as other deckhands all ran around. He heard a few scraps of conversations, enough to make him worried. There were a lot of questions from what he heard, and most people didn’t know what was below them.

“…… I can’t believe that idiot! We almost died because of that! I can’t even think of a word wrong harsh enough that I can use!” Bryke snarled to Vivis.

Zevortro looked at Greg as he was pushed down the hill. And he had to admit, that what Bryke was feeling was fair. The idea that someone could try and take over and cause an attack? That was so out of the Void that he couldn’t even comprehend the stupidity. All he could do was hope that the scum got punished the right way.

“Yeah. I mean how did that even happen?” Vivis asked.

Zevortro coughed and they both looked at him. “Hey! I saw it all Vivis. Greg just slammed his hand down on the console. And then the shield fell. I could barely dodge that vine thing.”

“Zevortro! Hey man, good to see you’re alive! That way you helped the beast off with Jessie? Amazing man, amazing!”

Zevortro only chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, it was something else. And the way that guy finished off the monster? Amazing! But then with his job, I mean that’s not what you expect.”

“What do you mean, his job?” Bryke asked.

Zevortro only shook his head, cursing himself for speaking up. But he had, and he should carry a thought. “I talked to him. He said he was used to secrets in his job. And that he had been the one to modify that rifle. So that was when I figured it out. He’s a weapon engineer!”

Both of his friends looked at him and then they blinked.

“Wow. Mind blown,” Bryke said, a bit dazed.

“Wait. How did you get that from him saying he was used to secrets?” Vivis asked.

Zevortro only laughed. “After the way he handled the monster and the way he modified the rifle? He had to have trained on the weapons he made. So he could figure out the kinks to make them ready for the front line. It’s so obvious!”

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

As Bob pushed Greg into the capsule, he kept an eye on the prisoner he was holding.

“Let me go!” Greg growled as he looked back at Bob and the other deckhand.

Bob only kept his eyes roving around the chamber. “Let’s see what the Chief has to say. Just keep moving, and we won’t have a problem.”

Greg looked to say something but stopped when he saw the look Bob was throwing at him. Greg swallowed as he paled, and that made Bob happy.

All Bob could think of was that maybe the fool had finally understood how bad this was. If this fool’s actions had caused a single death, then he would have died next.

As he pushed Greg through the door to Duncan’s office, he saw the Chief finishing up his meal.

“Well,” Duncan muttered as he looked at Bob. “What’s all this?”

“Well, sir….” Bob began and then Greg broke free.

“Sir, you must help me! These rebel scum are after me just because of my family! They unfairly blame me for the shield going down!”

Bob growled and took a step forward, only for Duncan to scream.

“What!! The shield went down!? How?” Duncan demanded and Bob looked at him for a moment.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Greg said again.

“Sir!” Bob said, saluting. “We found what was causing the drain. It was a strange kind of vine with a mouth. Then Terra ordered us all to get ready to burn it to ashes. Terra wanted to wait until darkness, probably to see if the plant went to ‘sleep’.”

Greg looked at him, a sneer on his face and he was about to say something when Duncan snorted.

When everyone looked at him, Duncan nodded. “Smart. Old tactic, find out everything about the enemy if you can. And one alone was the perfect subject.”

Greg went still, his face paling as he realized that Duncan was on their side. Bob felt his mouth raise in a smirk as he saw the writing on the wall. Greg was going to be punished.

“But from the fact you’re all here, that didn’t happen?” Duncan asked with a raised right eyebrow.

“No sir. This one wanted to open a hole to destroy the vine while we still had light. And when Terra didn’t jump on the idea….. well. I mean to say,” Bob said and the other deckhand behind him spoke up.

“That idiot walked over to the console to do it himself. Then when the others tried to stop him, they argued. Then this one slammed his fist down on the console and the shield went down. In that sector,” The other deckhand said with a shrug.

“What!? How!? Those things are combat-rated!” Duncan demanded before he went pale and dropped into his chair. He stared into space before his face went red. He slowly looked at Greg and growled out his words. “Is Terra okay!? I swear if anyone is dead, I’ll wring you next myself Gregor!”

“Gregory sir, and they’re all alive! The vines only got one deckhand and someone saved him!” Greg said trying to deflect blame.

“What!?” Duncan demanded.

“Yes, sir. The vines were no threat. Then this creature that the vines had been growing from appeared. We were able to kill it, but then its body released these vines. We killed all of them, but that’s it, sir,” The other deckhand said as he looked at Duncan ramrod straight. “And we don’t know if there aren’t other things out there like it. This might just be the first strike in their attack.”