The day passed quickly and Talon Squad joined Drixen and Trikac in the stealth ship. They took off, headed south, activated their stealth equipment and doubled back in a final effort to confuse any prying eyes. The flight was going to take most of the night.

There wasn’t much to be seen out of the windows. Vanbrook knew they would be going over the forest, then an ocean, then landing on an icy polar continent, but he couldn’t see much of anything in the dark. Nyx and Lux danced lazily across the sky, but even Lux was only a waning crescent that evening and gave off very little light.

Bored and full of pre-mission jitters, he wandered up to the cockpit. Trikac was taking a rest elsewhere so Vanbrook took a seat in the co-pilot’s seat and looked at the controls.

“So, uh, which of these buttons can I push?” he asked.

“None of them,” replied Drixen with a chuckle.

“Textbook. That’s an odd call sign. Does it come with a story?”

“I’m a rule-follower by nature. Real by-the-book type. My fellow flight school students found me pretty annoying, and started calling me ‘Textbook’ behind my back. The name stuck, and it became my callsign. By the end of flight school, people were saying it with a lot more respect. I was a natural. Now that little dig, Textbook, is a name my friends trust their lives to and my enemies fear. All in all, I kinda like it, now.

“But hey, we don’t all have the luxury of choosing our nicknames, Rattler.”

Vanbrook had to laugh.

“I can’t believe you know that name,” he said, shaking his head. “I thought I was safe from my fans out here. How long have you known?”

“Eh, you looked familiar when we first met, but obviously I was pretty distracted. Y’know, nearly getting eaten by strange new creatures and all that. Later on, Raivyn mentioned you were a pro fighter. That’s when I put it together.

“But I wouldn’t say I’m a fan. I back Rolling Thunder.”

“Ah, my nemesis in the ring!” Vanbrook said with a chuckle. “He’s a good guy, though. And a heck of a fighter. I can’t hold it against you.”

Trikac returned shortly after and Vanbrook gave him his seat back, nodding to the pilots and wandering back into the cargo and passenger area. Reclan was fidgeting with her parka and other winter equipment. It was all perfectly tailored to her, but she was resenting having to wear it at all, so she had spent most of the past hour looking for flaws and muttering about hypothermia. D’Jarric was watching in amusement while Doc just shook his head, trying to concentrate on his book.

“Drixen’s a heck of a guy, huh?” said Raivyn.

“Oh? Is he now?” replied Vanbrook with an arched eyebrow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You tell me,” said Vanbrook defensively. Evidently he’d struck a nerve. Raivyn shook her head and found a different corner of the ship to be in. Vanbrook shrugged and went to check on Reclan.

***

Aboard the recently crippled Sepulchre, Crush was brooding as she examined the damage. She’d been clever, but the Republic had been more clever. If they had taken her strategy into a full-blown conflict with the Blue Griffons they would have lost. In that way, the attack was a lucky break.

The guns she was building now, however, were going to be much harder targets. Not only would they have EM shielding, they would also have heavier metal plating. She was sick and tired of repurposed junk, and she’d put in a requisition for premium steel plating from the Collective Resource Hub. This, along with more disciplined fighter tactics could make the difference. She’d have to talk to Grim about bringing some additional fighter drones, possibly some manned fighters and pilots. She was confident the Scythe Fleet was capable of defeating the Blue Griffon Fleet if they used their resources wisely.

Hearing a message come through on her comm, she checked it immediately with high hopes, which were only sharpened when she said it came from the Hub. She opened the message.

“This is the Ramshackle Collective Resource Hub with a message for Crush. For the good of the Collective, your request has been denied. Alternate shielding will be delivered to your location and all funds indicated have been taken for the good of the collective. Use all resources to advance our goals.”

Crush fumed as she hopped in a skiff, got back to the Reaper and all but kicked Admiral Grim’s door down. He looked up at her in anger.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Can I help you, Crush?”

“How am I supposed to operate this fleet if the Hub won’t give me what I need! They took my entire budget for the guns and are sending me what I am sure is rust-eaten garbage!”

“You gave them the platinum, didn’t you?” said the Admiral.

“Yes, I spent it on the good of the Collective,” Crush said defensively. “Or at least… I tried to.”

“And now someone at the Hub will enjoy what you earned,” said Grim dismissively. The laughter and camaraderie he’d put on display during her last visit to his office were nowhere to be seen. “Let this be a lesson to you. And get out of my office.”

***

Back on board the shuttle, Talon Squad had nearly reached its destination.

“Okay, folks,” said Trikac’s clicking, chittering voice over the intercom. Learning to use crustacean mouthparts to speak modern Talpaertan, the galaxy’s universal language, was a trick, but Trikac had mastered the art. He continued, “We’re going to sweep through the valley and generate a more detailed map for you. Then we’ll return to the south end of the valley, land, and wait for you to retrieve the item and get back to us.”

When the mapping run had been completed, the shuttle landed and Talon Squad immediately jumped out. D’Jarric, immune to all but the most extreme low temperatures, was in the same shining armor he always wore. Doc had replaced the oil in his systems for a low-temperature grade oil, and the biological members of the team wore thick parkas, snow goggles, heavy boots and gloves designed to balance dexterity and insulation.

“Looking at this new mapping data, there’s a few cave systems scattered around the valley,” said Reclan as she scanned the map on her tablet, “and the closest one is - oh, c’mon! About nine or ten miles in. What are the odds it’s in the first cave?”

“Not great,” said Vanbrook, already rubbing his arms, “not great.”

Much of the valley had a smooth track running down the center and an icy wind traveled right along it, buffeting the squad as they marched straight into the gusts. Occasional crevices and icy rock falls slowed their progress, and it took them over four hours to reach the first cave system.

“Hey, Van,” said Reclan, “I’m gonna send my drones in to map the caves. Don’t just run in and set off all the traps, okay?”

“Hey,” said Vanbrook defensively. “Your precious drone had crashed, let it go.”

“I’m just making sure we’re on the same page,” she said as she sent the drones in.

The cave system appeared fairly large, with a few twists and side passages. The drone’s cameras didn’t find much on the cave floors aside from smooth ice and stone. The final room offered the most interest, as there were scattered bones lying around it. The drones carefully scanned the floor, but the pile of stones they were looking for were clearly absent. Just as she went to recall the drones, part of Reclan’s screen went black.

“Aw, man,” she exclaimed, “something happened to one of the drones!” She sent one of the others to investigate the chamber where the first were lost. This time something blurred across the screen before it also went black.

A roar echoed through the cave and reached the squad, who immediately took defensive positions.

Answering roars came from all around, and they looked up the walls of the valley to see scattered white forms stalking towards them. They were boar apes, like from the crash site, but they were covered in short, white plumage.

“Every planet has bears,” sighed Raivyn.

“What?” asked Reclan.

“Bears. Apex predators that seem to have a subspecies or variant in every climate.”

“Great. How do we handle this?” asked Vanbrook, his hand on his pistol.

Doc looked around and, seeing they were surrounded, declared, “Violently.”

Raivyn waved him off.

“Not yet,” she said. “I want to try something.” She lowered herself to the ground, sitting cross-legged on the icy rocks.

“Everyone stay calm,” she said. “No sudden moves. Try to relax your bodies.”

The directives were a bit hard to swallow, but the team trusted Raivyn and complied. Raivyn was deep in thought, her fingers resting on her temples as she concentrated.

The boar apes began to look around, sniffing the air. The roars became mild bellows, then silence. They began to shuffle towards the cave instead of the squad. Vanbrook’s hand hovered over his revolver, but he pushed down the rising panic as the beasts congregated nearby.

In Raivyn’s mind, she was calling out to the beasts, telling them to relax and that it was time to rest. Animal minds were difficult to bend. They were simpler, but in some ways stronger. They were straightforward. A sapient mind was filled with conflict and paradoxes; an animal mind was singularly focused on survival and instinct. As though she were sifting through sand, she dug for the parts of their minds that were looking for rest, and encouraged those impulses. But it was hard work, and the apes were resisting.

The boar ape that had been in the cave came out. It was nearly nine feet tall and clearly the alpha of the group. It snarled at Raivyn and the other apes again looked confused. Raivyn could feel the fear and anger of the alpha pushing back against her calming influence. She locked eyes with it as it stalked towards the group.

“Everyone head up the trail,” she said.

“What?! I’m not leaving you,” snarled Vanbrook, eying the alpha dangerously.

“Our numbers are frightening the alpha. If you don’t go, we’ll have to fight all of them.”

Vanbrook looked around nervously. D’Jarric nodded to him and began walking away. He grudgingly followed, watching Raivyn as he went, his hand never leaving his pistol.

The others leaving gave Raivyn an edge over the alpha. The other apes gave themselves over to the drowsiness that was overtaking their minds and walked sleepily into the cave. The alpha roared angrily at Raivyn, but she maintained her approach, calmly nudging him and the others to rest. With a snort, the alpha turned and walked into the cave. Raivyn smiled and relaxed her mind, exhausted from the effort.