“M’Renthanon IV is a planet recently claimed by the Ilbithi Confederacy. Colonization efforts are well underway and-” Ray is interrupted by the sounds of crinkling wrappers and loud chewing. “Lix, please, I’m trying to give the mission briefing.”
“Yeah, and I’m hungry.” Lix grumbles with a mouthful.
“You literally scraped clean an entire pan of kheruff strips this morning!”
Lix just shrugs her shoulders. “Those were just appetizers.”
Ray sighs, shaking his head. “Anyway. Our mission today is a simple escort duty. Last week, an expedition of three went missing. For their safety, we’ll be accompanying four biologists as they collect samples. This will be a densely vegetated environment with many water features, obstacles, and sudden drops. So keep your boots on tight, your eyes open and your nav ready.” He addresses the two other agents. “Questions?”
“Nope.”
“I’m good.”
“Okay, time to meet up with them.” Ray grabs his bullpup rifle.
----------------------------------------
“Hey, Michael, what exactly are we looking for?” asks the Gihrux, his green skin making for better camouflage against the foliage than his gray uniform. A semi-auto tube fed shotgun is slung over his chest, which also sports a bandolier of shells.
The human agent shrugs, his marksman rifle bouncing on his shoulder. “Don’t ask me, Krex. Something about a plant?”
Ray rolls his eyes. So much for asking questions during the briefing.
The head researcher, Elarae Lythariel, pipes up. “We are specifically looking for a newly discovered flora, which has some high-potential medicinal properties.” She swept her unusually blue hair out of her face, tucking it behind her long pointy ears, revealing an almost human face. An earthly tone of brown paints her lithe body, and her eyes are luminous under the shade of the jungle trees. She, like her coworkers, is a Zif’ar, and owing to their seniority on the galactic stage, humans are often mistaken for them.
“If you find some, what are you going to do with it, ma’am?” Lix asks, shifting her plasma rifle in her hand.
“Cultivate it for research.” Elarae says while slicing through thick leaves with her machete. “Our current specimens lack sufficient diversity and numbers, so we’re planning to harvest as many as we can.”
As they march under the thick canopy of leaves, Krex steps beside Ray, nudging him and making a “Psst” sound. Being shoulder height, Ray has to tilt his head so his ears are near Krex’s mouth. “What are we expecting in this jungle?” he whispers.
Ray also lowers his voice, raising one brow. “What do you mean?”
Krex pats his weapon. “Enemies or something, Team Lead. I’m wondering why scientists need an armed escort.”
“Predators, maybe.” Ray shrugs. “Like I explained, an expedition of three scientists went missing a week ago. There’s been no trace of them since. Just watch our scientists, and we’ll get paid after this posting is done.”
“Wilco, Team Lead.” Krex nods, before returning to his position in the loose formation.
Now kilometers away from the colony they set out from, the researchers finally find what they are searching for. A plant with pinkish red leaves growing between the roots of a tree. The scientists cautiously extract the plant from the ground and transplant it in a cylindrical container from their backpacks.
“Specimen looks healthy,” Elarae says to her colleague. Afterwards, she turns to face Ray. “We'll probably get better sample coverage if we’re allowed to split up and search for more independently?”
Ray checks the surroundings; it’s decently quiet. “You can,” He nods. “We can split into pairs and return to this spot in an hour.” He takes out a device and places it on the ground, pressing a button causing a red light to pulse. A symbol appears on the HUD of his combat goggles, displaying the distance and location whenever he looks on the beacon he placed. “Is the beacon showing on your ends?” He asks the other agents and they voice their confirmation. “Alright, comms check.” After checking that everyone’s radio is functioning, Ray delivers his last instruction. “Every ten minutes we update our status, copy?”
They set outward from the location of the beacon, with Ray following the head researcher. Elarae gazes at the ground, scanning for that specific plant among dozens of others. A few minutes later, the band on Ray’s wrist vibrates and when he glances, it reveals the time. Ten minutes have passed, so he keys his headset. “This is Echo One, status check, over.”
Lix answers. “Echo One, this is Echo Two. Status green, over.”
Followed by Krex. “Echo One, this is Echo Four. Nothing to note, over.”
Ray frowns, waiting for a few seconds before he speaks on the radio. “Echo Three, this is Echo One. How copy, over?”
As Rey is about to radio again, when a frantic voice answers; it’s Michael. “Sorry, sorry! This is Echo Three, we’re good. I was just helping the scientist, over.”
Ray lets out a relieved sigh. “Echo One copies, out.”
“So, you’re a hybrid,” the lead scientist states after Ray finishes his communication.
“Huh?” He jerks his head toward Elarae, the question catching him slightly off guard. “Yes, I am?”
“Sorry for my rudeness. It is my first time meeting a human hybrid in person.” She places her four fingertips on her forehead before quickly gliding it down her face. Ray becomes even more perplexed. “This is a gesture of seeking forgiveness in my culture.”
“Oh, it’s alright!” He swipes the air in front of him. “I get that a lot. Can’t really blame others. I would probably do the same if I was a regular human.” Ray chuckles.
“I must say, in the scientific community, humans are quite the topic of intrigue. They are an overwhelming factor in why hybridization has, if I might borrow the phrase, skyrocketed.”
Ray sucks the jungle air through his closed teeth, and nervously laughs. “Can’t argue with that.” Hence me.
Half an hour of combing the jungle floor, Elarae fills all three of her remaining containers. “That seems to be all. Shall we regroup?”
“This is Echo One,” Ray radios. “We have collected enough specimens and are returning to the rendezvous point. Out.” He looks toward the bearing of the beacon displaying 346 meters on his HUD.
Ray spots the beacon he jammed into the soil. That was a short hike. A moment later, Krex and the scientist he was with arrives, followed by Lix.
“Seems like Michael is dead last,” says Krex while chomping through a dark brown chocolate coated bar. Lix, like the predator she is, eyes the candy and it doesn’t go unnoticed. “Want some?” Krex yanks one out from the pouch of his vest and it is immediately gone from his hand.
“Yes!” The wrapper encasing the sweet goodness is ripped open, and a set of teeth goes in for the kill. She lets out a satisfied hum, savoring the cocoa before saying, “Thank you!”
“You’re…” bewildered, Krex takes a second to finish his sentence, “welcome?”
Ray snorts, laughing “Don’t let the food goblin eat your entire stash.”
“Who you calling—” Lix retorts, even with a mouthful of chewed candy until gulping it down, “a food goblin! Also, isn’t that word a human slang for a Gihrux?”
“Uh, shit, is that offensive?” Ray glances at Krex, gauging his expression.
Until he shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe, in some context. So, what does that mean, then?”
“Someone who loves to stuff their face with food?”
Krex smirks. “Sounds like a food goblin.”
“Damn it, not you too!” But an echoing bang interrupts the light-hearted ribbing, making everyone snap their head in the direction, avian lifeforms scattering in the sky from being startled. Followed by more noise that the agents immediately recognize — gunshots.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
“Echo Three, what is happening! Echo Three, respond, over!” Ray’s brow wrinkles, eyes sharpening when he bellows out a command. “Lix, Krex!” They straighten their posture, weapons readied in hand. “Take the researchers back to the settlement ASAP and let HQ know that we’re being engaged and need immediate support! I’ll head over to Michael to assist him. Understood?”
“COPY!” The two answers.
As Ray is about to bolt towards the gunshot, Elarae calls to him. “Sir Ray!” He halts to look behind him. “May fortune guide you to triumph.” He nods and takes off at a sprint.
Ray slows down to a walk, rifle at a low ready, and he scans the surroundings as he nears the blip of Michael and the scientist marked on his HUD. His frown deepens when he notices that the two look to be separated from each other. A flash of light is followed by a rumbling boom in the distance. Gray clouds darken the jungle even more under its thick foliage while a patter of wetness soaks into Ray’s sleeves. It starts as a drizzle, but shortly turns into a downpour, and the impact of rain on mud and roots drowns out any other sound in the vicinity.
Fucking great timing. Eyes still trained around his environment, the storm adding difficulty in detecting any potential danger. “Echo Three, sitrep,” Ray whispers into his radio, noticing that the last gunshot he heard is when they split up. He continues trying to contact Michael, but each time is met with no response. Rainwater drips down his helmet and face and into his soaked clothes as his boots trudge through the increasingly muddy soil until he spots a figure on the ground. A marksman rifle lies beside his head, surrounded by all the dead leaves, grass, and bushes. A tight feeling weighs on Ray’s chest as rushes towards the figure. He grinds his teeth with his tense jaw. “Shit!” He curses through his teeth.
Michael lays face down on the ground. Three puncture marks are clear on the rear of the vest. His neck is a bloodied mess of shattered spine within the shredded muscles. The gruesome scene of death confirms Ray's worst fear. Suddenly, a painful jolt on his back shoves him to the ground. Not wasting time checking what has hit him, Ray rolls himself to his side before firing his rifle in bursts in the direction his feet are pointing, hoping that it suppresses the hidden enemy for a moment. He scrambles up to his feet and sprints to the nearest tree, one that is thick enough for his whole body to be hidden. Something whizzes past while he runs from cover to cover, but he stays as low as possible, using the dense foliage as concealment. Ray is panting when he hides behind another tree, taking the moment to replace the nearly empty magazine of his rifle.
No muzzle flash or sound of gunfire, and the bullet sounds like it's going subsonic — gauss guns. Great, just my luck.
Ray presses a button on the side of his goggles until his view turns his surroundings to varying shades of gray and checks his hands to make sure it’s working; his hands glow white. With a deep exhale, he peeks out the right side of the tree. He observes the dense jungle, looking for any contrasting heat level until he spots two silhouettes through the thick vegetation. Rifle steadied, Ray aims at one of his foe, ready to squeeze the trigger when his left leg collapses.
“ARGH, FUCKING SHIT!” Ray shouts in agony, propping his shoulder on the tree. Blood gushes out of a fresh wound on his thigh, which dyes his already wet trousers red. Despite that, he swings his rifle to his left to spot another pair of silhouettes, weapons aimed at him. Another shot showers him with splinters of bark inches from his head, and one glance off the side of his helmet bucks his head. Determined, Ray returns fire, seeing one crumple on the ground while the other leaps into concealment. After mag dumping into the vicinity of the enemies, he uses the opportunity to limp away from his compromised position to find a stream with large boulders along the length.
A groan escapes Ray’s lips, resting his back on the mossy rock as an alarming amount of blood drips down into the water. The rain strengthens the stream into a rushing force as the level has risen to his knee. With solid stone covering him from any immediate fire, he unzips a pouch at the side of his vest. A red cross patch is stitched on the front of the pouch, an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit), opening up to present various medical equipment. An autoinjector pen in hand, he thumbs the cap off before jamming the needle into his injured thigh. Seconds later, a feeling of numbness spreads to his left leg, dulling the excruciating injury. After discarding the pen into the water, Ray cuts the fabric of his pants above the wound with shears, revealing a nasty puncture. He grabs a spray bottle from the kit, wincing as he applies it to the wound. A mixture of antiseptic and a clotting compound helps to stem the bleeding. Finally, he stuffs the wound with gauze and wraps it with a bandage.
With the first aid done, Ray leans on his left leg. Still numb and weak, but not debilitating to move anymore. After reloading his weapon and reactivating his thermals, he stands up, ready to head to the scientist’s blip. However, his vision blurs, and his balance is impaired when his body leans to one side. His outstretched hand anchors him, holding on to a boulder until the spell passes. Crap, I lost too much blood. With a shake of his head, he runs toward the scientist’s blip, hoping that they didn’t meet the same end as Michael.
Injured and being cautious, it takes Ray longer to get to the location of the scientist, maximizing every chance he can to have solid cover. When the distance is only a few meters away, he approaches a tree. As he walks around it, an arm springs out with a pistol. Ray hops to the side just before it fires, shooting wildly in a panicked spray.
“CEASE FIRE, CEASE FIRE, CEASE FIRE!” shouts Ray. “I’M FRIENDLY, I’M FRIENDLY, I’M FRIENDLY!” It stops, either complying or out of ammo. Ray holds one hand up, but maintains his grip on his rifle when he steps around the tree trunk. There he finds a male Zif’ar, sitting against the tree, holding a pistol with its slide locked open in a white knuckled grip. “You hurt?”
The Zif’ar lets out a shaky exhale while shaking his head. “Just a few scratches, and I’m sorry for shooting. But how about you?” He points at Ray’s bare, bandaged thigh, coated in his own blood. “That looks bad.”
Ray answers after turning around and scanning the surroundings, rifle up. “I’ll live. Also, what happened?”
“We got ambushed. A shot out of nowhere hit Michael in his chest. He got back up and started firing while yelling for me to run.” After inserting a fresh magazine, the Zif’ar pulls the slide on his pistol and it slams shut. A common service pistol model that many Zif’ar civilians also frequently carry. “They were shooting at me as I fled, but they were more focused on Michael. Did you find him?”
Ray clicks his tongue. “Yeah…” Followed by a sigh. “He’s dead.”
“Curses. Those monsters.” He hung his head. “What about the others?”
“They’re probably back at the settlement. I told them to retreat, and help should be on the way soon. I hope.” Suddenly, they turn their head at a distinct and rapid chopping noise in the distance, even through the rain. Ray’s lips curl up when he recognizes the familiar sound. “Speaking of which, I think that’s them.”
A male voice spoke into his headset. “Echo One, this is Wyvern Zero-Two. What’s your status? I’m nearing your tracker's location. Please confirm, over.”
“Acknowledge, Wyvern Zero-Two, I can hear you coming. Be advised, confirmed hostile with small arms gauss weapons, numbers unknown. Two friendlies, one is wounded. Over.”
“Solid copy Echo One. Hold tight, we’re bringing you home. Out.”
Minutes after the transmission, the distinctive noise has become louder when a dark gray aircraft arrives. A pair of ducted tilt-rotors powering the elegant but rugged craft that is circling above the canopy of trees. The UV-65 Owl, a human-manufactured atmospheric aircraft.
“Wyvern Zero-Two, I have a visual on you. Over.” Ray radios.
“Copy Echo One. If able, proceed south-east three-zero-zero meters to a clearing. I’ll be providing over-watch until you arrive, over.”
Ray glances at his leg, feeling a tinge of pain when he lightly swings it, but it's mostly numb. “Affirmative, Wyvern Zero-Two. Proceeding to LZ. Out.”
The two of them begin their trek to the landing zone, weapons at the ready. The tension is palpable until they arrive at the edge of the clearing, hesitant to emerge from the dreaded jungle hiding unseen foes. A blast of strong wind makes Ray and the scientist hold their hands over their faces from dust and small debris kicked up by the UV-65’s rotors as it descends, emblazoned with the security company's logo. Six people, three on each side, hop off from the side door with weapons raised, forming a security perimeter. Two crewmembers are also manning side mounted weapons, leaning out of gunner windows.
Facing the left side of the craft, two of the soldiers march up to them, Ray quickly recognizing both. “You were the wounded!” Lix shouts, thankfully transmitted through his headset over the deafening rotors. Lix slings his left arm around her neck, relieving the pressure on his injured leg. “Now let’s get you two onboard the aircraft!”
Krex hands the scientist a headset, much to the relief of his ears. “By the way, where’s Michael?”
The question makes Ray’s jaw clench until he answers with a grave look. “KIA.” Both of them are silent.
With everyone seated, they quickly fly out of the zone with no further engagement by the enemy. The settlement is abuzz when they arrive. A crowd has formed at the entrance of the airstrip, various aircraft models parked on the tarmac. An ambulance is already waiting, lights flashing on its roof before Ray is stretchered into it and driven to the nearest infirmary. A surgical operation soon removes the projectile and stitches up the inflicted damage, plus a blood transfusion. Another team is also sent to recover Michael’s body. I’m not gonna envy those who will tell the family in person the news. I know I won't. But I’d do it personally if I could.
A day later, after Ray is rested from his surgery, his statement is taken by the intelligence branch of the company, and a sizable sum of compensation added to his account when they leave. But Ray just looks at the dreary white ceiling for a moment, letting out a sigh in the end with his palm resting on his face. Who in the fuck would attack a bunch of scientists collecting herbs?
Out the window, binary moons draw two smiling crescents in the sky as the sun slips over the horizon, the tv providing background noise as it plays random shows. His ear twitches when the door to his private hospital room swishes open. “Sweet room. Mind if I stay here instead?” Lix enters, tail gently swaying behind her as she sits on the couch right beside his bed.
“What?” Ray snickers. “Is the barracks suddenly too cramped for your liking?”
“I wish. Just fucking tired.” Lix pulls stuff out of the bag she’s carrying and places the assortment of snacks on the bedside table. “The base has been on high alert since then. That means workload has doubled while you’re on paid vacation.”
“Uh-huh.” Ray reaches over the table, ripping the packaging and munch on a cookie and cream biscuit. “No shit.”
A sudden glare from Lix halts Ray’s chewing. “That’s mine.” They stare at each other for a few seconds before he dramatically swallows it with a loud gulp, smirking.
The two chuckle afterward as Lix places more at his bedside. “Anything about those fuckers?” Ray grunts at the last word.
Lix just shrugs. “Nada. Whoever they are, they’re slippery. No trace, even with a company of ground units and air assets hunting for them.” She eats a wafer coated in blue icing. “You said you only saw them after you used your thermals?” Ray nods. “Likely cloaking tech.”
“Advanced military gear on a newly established colony world with no noteworthy resources?” A frown forms on Ray’s brow.
“Who knows? Claiming planets has always been heated that wars were fought. Whoever they are, they were ready to dull their claws with our flesh.” Lix waves her hand at the tv, flicking her fingers to find whatever channels suit her interest.