Crush walked down the root of her star tree that served as a ramp, keeping wary eyes on the local Astralbians. Crush had never seen Astralbians in this form before. They were blue orbs with countless crystal spikes growing out from the center, small eye spots visible between some of the spikes. Most had skittered back into the safety of their wooden walls, the crystal points that touched the ground carrying them along like a series of kneeless legs. Only a few remained, holding staves that ended in purple orbs on their backs. The orbs, which appeared to be made of polished purple crystal, were pointed at the newcomers. Crush assumed these must be guards or soldiers.

A humming, sing-song sound accompanied by jingling like that of a wind chime came from the guards. Yrinla responded in kind.

“It’s Astralbian,” she explained. “Our native tongue. As you can see, our kind took on many aspects of humanoid behavior as we conquered the biological species. What you see before you are Astralbians in their natural form.”

Crush nodded. “And what did you say?”

“They demanded to know who we were, who flew through the skies in a tree like one of the ancient tree priests. I answered that I am the descendant of such.”

One of the guards chimed again, then turned and skittered back to the gate, which opened just enough for them to slip through before closing again.

“What was that?” asked Crush.

Yrinla turned to Crush with raised eyebrows. “He says we need to speak to the king and queen.”

***

Dekken had taken a large earthmover craft out to open the muck newt’s mouth so the Wabulubans could search for survivors. Including the tail, the newt was nearly a hundred yards long, easily surpassing the next biggest recorded specimen. Doc noted that the species likely grew until it died, and was probably Glasaxia’s apex predator. This individual may have been centuries old.

Finally, the last search party, joined by Talon Squad, exited the beast’s maw, bringing a number of body bags in tow. They walked gingerly over the massive, spongy tongue and over the boards that had been laid as a walkway over the teeth and lower jaw.

The lead Wabuluban shook his head. “Thank you, Talon Squad. While I’m saddened our compatriots did not survive, I am glad we will be able to return their bodies to Wabuluba for proper funerals.”

D’Jarric nodded. “We are sorry for your loss, as well.”

“A few more deaths to hold against the Astralbians,” said Vanbrook coolly.

“I doubt the king and queen will see it that way,” said the Wabuluban bitterly. “Though I wish things were different, we are unlikely to join your war effort directly.”

“Ah, that’d be a shame,” said Vanbrook. “But I’m not counting you out yet.”

After a few friendly, if somber, words of farewell, the two groups went back to their ships and prepared for take off. Even as they had searched for survivors, the technicians had overseen the gathering and processing of ice.

Talon Squad dispersed to clean up and rest, and met back together in the galley. It was a strange hour for dinner, so they had no trouble finding a seat. Vanbrook, however, was absent.

“Anybody seen Van?” asked Reclan casually.

Raivyn shook her head a little too vigorously.

“Oh, come on, man. Are you two at it again?” Reclan asked, annoyed.

“I don’t know what you mean,” said Raivyn quickly.

“You don’t- seriously, you two are infuriating,” said Reclan, shaking her head and poking at her meal with a fork. “You better figure this mess out.”

“What mess!?” said Raivyn, annoyed.

Just then, sirens began blaring and Talon Squad leapt to their feet, ready to face whatever threat had emerged. Raivyn was glad for the interruption.

***

Krum-Bahk was sitting in the pilot’s seat of the Gladius, staring out into the stars. Huluna stepped into the cockpit, dropping into the co-pilot’s seat with a sigh.

“Looks like Hetford wants me and Chully out here long-term,” she said. “We’re the most familiar with the Koomites so we’re going to be serving as intelligence officers for the war effort, particularly in terms of keeping an eye on everyone’s favorite cult.”

“Will you be sticking with us?” asked Krum-Bahk.

“For now,” said Huluna. “Until we get a forward base of operation set up, probably on Kirakna, we’ll keep crashing your party.”

“Works for me,” said Krum-Bahk.

Huluna laughed. “Not sure it works for Chully and Keshri.”

“Yeah, they’re still pretty frosty with each other,” said Krum-Bahk.

“Don’t put that on me,” said a voice from the cockpit door. Keshri walked in with a steaming cup of rakka.

“Oh, sorry, Kesh,” said Krum-Bahk awkwardly.

“Eh, I can’t hold it against you,” she said with a shrug. “There ain’t that much to talk about on a ship this size after awhile, can’t blame you for talking about the only scuttlebutt about.

“But, the truth is, I don’t mind Chully being here. We had good times awhile back, but we never got to see each other. When we did, we started fighting.” She laughed unhappily. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve both got tempers.”

“Why pick on him the way you do, then?” asked Krum-Bahk.

Keshri shrugged. “I dunno. It just comes natural to me.”

Huluna looked like she was on the verge of asking a question when a small blast rocked the ship suddenly.

“Woah, what’s going on!?” said Krum-Bahk, scrambling to study the screens on the console.

“If you don’t belong in this cockpit, get out!” shouted Grepk, running in to check the readouts. Krum-Bahk leapt up and darted to the back of the cockpit, looking over Grepk’s shoulder.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Wingspan, this is Grepk,” said the Marine into the comm. “We are under attack by a small force of Astralbians. Looks like it’s a force of five lesser star trees. No great eyes or mother trees from what I can see. We can hold our own but some back up would be appreciated.”

“Captain Grepk, this is the Wingspan,” said Mairen. “I’ve alerted the Admiral, you’ll have backup shortly.”

“Let’s get this gunship gunning,” said Grepk, training the high-powered guns on the group of small star trees he’d spotted and returning fire.

***

While Talon Squad scrambled to help the engineers and technicians tear down the ice processing equipment and prepare for liftoff, Jasken scrambled the fighters. Leading the way, Drixen blasted through Glasaxia’s atmosphere, making a beeline for the Gladius’ position.

“Gladius, this is Textbook,” said Drixen. “We’re on our way. What’s your situation?”

“Not too bad,” said Grepk. “We’re taking fire but these guys are just a token force, probably left behind in case we decided to stop by–which we did–but the good Emperor left more of a speed bump than a roadblock. Nonetheless, we’d be happy to have you come and deal with the void wasps.”

“Lots of them?” asked Drixen.

“They’re definitely overwhelming the Gladius’ offensive capabilities,” answered Grepk.

“Alright, we’ll pick up the slack as soon as possible,” said Drixen.

“Sounds good,” said Grepk. “Oh, and check your targets. Krum-Bahk and Keshri are out there.”

“Uh- what?” asked Drixen.

High above the ascending fighters, Krum-Bahk and Keshri had leapt out of the Gladius’ assault airlock, specially designed to allow the Marines to fly from the gunship at a moments notice. Fully decked out in their aethersuit armor, complete with jetpacks and rifles, they were practically tiny fighter crafts themselves.

Using the grenade launchers on their rifles, they picked riders off of their wasps with immaculate precision, using their jetpacks to outmaneuver even the incredibly agile wasps. Swamped by the sheer numbers, they were unable to eliminate enough enemies to stem the tide, but they were able to distract them from targeting the Gladius.

Charged from behind by a wasp, Krum-Bahk turned just in time to see the threat and jet upwards, then slam back down again, holding his rifle in one hand and drawing the cutlass he’d taken from the elite Astralbian soldier with the other. He slashed the rider in two, severing his EM field and destroying him. As he spun with the follow through, he put a bullet in the wasp’s brainstem, killing it instantly.

“Rolling Thunder at it again!” shouted Drixen, watching the fight play out as he approached.

Krum-Bahk grinned as the Navy fighter squads joined the fight, engaging the void wasps and freeing the Gladius to engage the star trees. The trees, armed only with lesser eyes, had not been able to wear down the gunship’s shields, but the Gladius had struggled to return fire through the swarming wasps.

The ship’s shields were starting to fall rapidly, and Grepk grinned as the fighters cleared a path for him to engage with the trees. A short, concentrated volley destroyed one of the trees outright. It was the foremost tree and had taken quite a few shots already, but Grepk was confident that the loss of one of their star trees would make quite an impression on the enemy.

“You want my bombers helping out against the trees?” asked Drixen. “I can keep them on wasp duty but they’ll put a dent in those trees, if not destroy them.”

“You take the two towards the Gladius’ aft, I’ll take the two on my fore,” said Grepk.

“You heard him, Cowgirl,” said Drixen. “Take the bombers and make a couple runs; see if you can knock some trees out of commission.”

“You got it, hun,” answered Cowgirl, veering off to target the trees.

Drixen and the other fighters continued fighting the wasps, a couple of fighters exploding into fireballs as the wasps wore their shields down. Grimacing, Drixen continued the fight, happily noticing that the wasps were starting to thin out.

Another star tree erupted into flame for a moment before drifting lifelessly off into the void. The bombers had claimed their first victory. Not to be outdone, Grepk fired another volley into one of the star trees he was targeting, tearing the trunk to shreds.

Another volley came from below, and the Wingspan rose to join the others.

“Let her pass, but make it look good,” said Jasken over a heavily secured comm channel.

“Yes, sir,” said Drixen and Grepk in unison.

There was a small blast and an obscure airlock was torn open on the Wingspan. An Astralbian shot out into the aether back first, firing a rifle into the airlock as she went. A few fighters fired in her direction when the opportunity presented itself, but the shots all went wide. She used the rifle to create thrust and maneuvered towards star trees, all of which were now more or less crippled.

“Alright, let’s get moving,” said Jasken. “Prepare to jump to Hruduk.”

The fleet left the Astralbian star trees to lick their wounds and formed up to enter the jump. Floating towards one of the least-damaged trees, Glinya smiled wryly and watched the last of the Republic ships zip suddenly through the aether. She had work to do.

***

King Hrynkak moved silently next to Sergeant Hargen, trying to stay in the shadows of the rocks as they went. They had left Gred suddenly, loading everyone they could on the broken Army transport and flying low towards his father’s city of rebels, which he’d named Zrykyk after himself. A band of scouts and warriors had fled into the hills to head up a resistance, but they had insisted that the King go rally their allies in the Griffon Republic to aid them.

Precious few systems aboard the transport worked, but in-atmo flight was possible, if risky. The Astralbians had either missed their flight or ignored them as a non-threat. Hrynkak assumed it was the former, given the blood-thirsty ruthlessness of the attack.

Landing far from Zrykyk’s encampment, they made their way cautiously to the wrecked Koomite ship that the Gladius had taken down. As they went, Hrynkak noted that the so-called city of Zrykyk was bizarrely still. Something about it looked wrong, but Hrynkak had other matters to attend to.

The wreck was unguarded, and Hrynkak and Hargen sprinted the last of the distance, climbing up into the ship. Hargen made his way to the engine room, poking his head in the utility room on his way past.

“Good news for the most part, Your Highness,” said the red-headed soldier with a subdued grin. “We can get aetherborne with the parts from this wreck. Sublight comms are probably going to work out, too, but there’s no way we’re getting our ripmed system working.”

“So we can get to space, but not to another world,” said Hrynkak, shaking his head.

“Exactly,” said Hargen, nodding. “It’s a longshot, but if we can get the comms going we’ll at least be able to get in touch with any Republic forces in the area."

"Do you need help to gather the parts you need?" asked Hrynkak.

"Yeah," said Hargen. "I'd like to bring a few folks with me, now that we're sure it's worth the trip."

Making their way out of the wreck, they were shocked to be greeted by a small band of warriors. Zrykyk, decrepit and bitter, stood at their head, leaning heavily on a can with one arm and one of his soldiers with the other.

"My son," bit off the aged king, "you were right."

He was speaking in Hrudukite and Hargen looked uncertainly between the two monarchs, hand hovering over his side arm. Hrynkak waved him off.

"Father," said Hrynkak. "What happened to your city?"

Zrykyk laughed bitterly, which ended in a coughing fit. "It was never a city. Now it is rubble. The Astralbians fired at us from the sky. One deadly strike of crimson light. We are all that is left. I saw you from a distance and thought I might beg you to take back these warriors. They are strong and able, and they have seen the foolishness of my ways. Take them and leave me and I will die here in solitude."

"The first part of your request I grant. Gred, too, was attacked. Perhaps all of the city states were. We must all band together against the Astralbians.

"The second part of the request I will not grant. You will come with us. I will brook no argument. Either as prisoner or guest you are coming with me."

Zrykyk shook, his eyes narrow. "You are a rebellious son. How could you not be! You have your mother's kind heart and cannot stand for the wickedness of your father, and so you mock him by loving him. Cruel boy! Yes, I will come with you, because I no longer have the heart to disobey my king."