The cluster of rocks were good cover, Pirra thought.

The fact that they were good cover meant they were also obvious; anyone watching with a military mindset would know this was the best spot for someone to set up.

Whoever had created the camp nearby must have noticed the Craton in orbit by now. Or the diplomatic carrier. The fact that they hadn't sent any messages made it very likely that whatever they were up to was not something the Union would smile upon.

Smugglers, most likely, she thought. Goods from a people about to be destroyed would be very valuable to certain collectors; valuable enough to even justify an entire expedition just for them.

They must be armed; the local lifeforms were too dangerous not to be.

"Suon," she ordered. "Up in that tree. Give us overwatch."

The tree was huge and squat, its base probably ten meters in diameter, and its branches only started three to four meters up, with a massively sprawling canopy.

Suon climbed up it easily, nestling in between some of the bigger branches for concealment.

"Kis, report," Pirra asked.

"Signs of recent occupation," Kiseleva replied. "Scans show no life signs, human or !Xomyi. Some of their devices were on until recently, they are still warm."

Still warm . . . so they were still here. At least some of them.

"Disposition of the camp?"

"General survival equipment, high-quality civilian market stuff," Kiseleva said. "I see no sign of arms."

"What about artifacts?"

"There are sealed crates, could be anything. Nothing else that is obvious."

"How many occupants?"

"Some tents may have been taken down recently, but based on what the drones see, I suspect between ten and twenty."

It was basic information, but they had a limited supply of drones. It would take sending people in there to learn more.

The people from the camp were likely out in the woods, probably alerted by passive sensors if they hadn't noticed the spaceplane landing. They were probably watching.

Trouble from them they could handle, but only if she played it right, she thought.

They had guardian drones that could intercept enemy fire, but they were also doubling as their eyes and ears out there. If she pushed them out to look for these unknown people, they'd be vulnerable. They probably had large-caliber rifles like she'd issued to some of her people, and anyone hit by those . . . well, it wouldn't be pretty.

So it was probably better to keep the drones in. Big rounds could be intercepted well by guardian drones.

Most likely the people in the camp wouldn't fire unless provoked. Pushing the drones out might easily push them to that.

"Fire Team Three," she radioed. "Investigate that camp, find out what these people were doing. Open some of the crates, look for relevant equipment, personal logs - anything like that. Keep your eyes open. We'll be giving overwatch."

"Copy," Sergeant Hesson said. "Mac Mordha, Zivai, Guoming, you're with me."

The team slipped off down the rocks, moving around to come out from another angle on the camp.

"Team two, be ready to move in for support if need be," Pirra ordered.

She sent the majority of drones in with Team Three, covering them.

"Entering the camp," Hesson said. "Found a personal tent. Just two cots. Some sealed containers . . . some trash inside, nothing else."

The team moved deeper, fanning out in twos. "Found what may have been the communications tent," Mac Mordha said. "There's basic stuff, but from the marks on the ground, they had bigger things in here. Much bigger. I don't know what would have needed this much space except something like an interstellar transceiver . . ."

The fact that there were still the impressions told Pirra that they had cleared that out in a hurry. They must have some equipment around to move things that big - exoskeletons or hauling sleds. But those were not in sight. So where were they hiding them?

"I think we found the mess tent," Hesson called. "This was big . . . we thinking ten or twenty? I think it might have been twice that."

Pirra's heartbeat picked up.

"Any sign of who it was?" she asked.

"No insignia, no identifiers. This is high-quality civilian stuff that could be used for military purposes. Wait - there's some food packages left. Looks like . . . humans, mostly. Some Greggan meals. And Jervai!"

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Jervai . . . they were an isolationist species, mostly peaceful. But a notable percentage of their male population had a wanderlust - and bloodlust - that often led them to leave their space and take up jobs that could feed their interest. Big game hunters, mercenaries, soldiers. They were usually among the more elite that could be hired.

"All right," Pirra said. "Finish up your pass quickly, I don't like this-"

The connection cut out. Errors flashed in her HUD.

Then the firing started. Her system screamed extra warnings, the Guardian drones were flying up, their flak fire intercepting shots. Others hit their cover, sending chips of rock flying through the air.

She felt a pounding on her shoulder. It was Kiseleva.

Pirra saw her mouth working behind her mask, and her system turned the lip movements into a neutral, generated voice in her ear.

"Our signals are being jammed," Kiseleva called.

Pirra popped her faceshield, the heat and humidity of the planet hitting her hard. For a moment she gasped for air, but then took a deep breath and yelled as loud as she could.

"SHIELDS OPEN!"

In moments, everyone had joined her, opening their face shields so they could hear her. Kiseleva was making hand gestures, looking up into the tree. He couldn't have heard Pirra's yell, but he must have seen, as she heard him call out, a single wordless yell to let her know he had his shield open.

"Team Two, move in, get Team Three out of there! Team One, provide cover!" Pirra ordered. Sergeant Bascet was watching her, and the realization that now he had to lead the squad against this unknown threat hit him harder than any of the flying bullets.

His face went through shock, fear, all of the emotions that one did not want to see on an officer in action. He did not move up, but froze in place.

Sky, the man was locking up now, of all moments. She had to put things back in Jack Lal's hands, concussion be damned.

"Jack!" Pirra called. The man dove down next to her.

"Take Team Two in," she ordered him.

"All right!" Jack yelled, starting to rise. "Okay, team, we're moving-"

Before he finished the sentence, his head was gone. Only his lower jaw remained, attached to his neck.

His body seemed to fall in slow motion forward, onto the rocks. Pirra looked up in a daze, and saw that Jack Lal hadn't even exposed himself to fire. But a shot, that had to be from a coilgun, had punched straight through the rock.

Whatever weapon had killed Lal would take time to recharge, but she had to get them ready for that next shot.

"SPREAD OUT!" Pirra yelled. "KEEP COVER AND RETURN FIRE!"

She rolled to the side, down the boulder, her feet hitting the soft mud. There was a slight dip in the Earth, curving away downhill, that would give them some cover. If they pulled back into the forest, they'd have nothing but the trees.

Her squad fanned out, keeping down below the lip of earth, using boulders where possible to grab cover between themselves and the source of enemy fire. The crack of rifles, her unit shooting out blindly, filled the air.

Suon fired from up in the tree. "Target down," the call came, his voice completely calm.

"Share feed!" Pirra called to her system. "Secondary sources!"

Their systems had alternate ways of communications than just radio. She heard brief, hypersonic squeals, tugging at the edge of her hearing. Humans couldn't hear them at all, and the sound would die off quickly in the jungle, making it spotty as members of her team went out of line of sight. But it was what she had to work with.

She got all the data the squad could feed her, amalgamating everything they saw to get a picture of the situation.

Flashes in the distant trees on the other side of the camp showed the locations of shooters, but they were firing and moving - the same as her team were doing. Data streams cut in or out and the data they fed on targets shifted as her squad moved.

She saw that Bascet was moving, but tentatively, in shock. He was firing, but staying back, making no movement forward.

There was a bright flash, as a concealed heavy coilgun fired out from across the clearing. It tore through a tent and hit a rock, near where she had been. It tore through the boulder like it was nothing and went on, into the forest.

"They have their own drone screen!" someone yelled. "Regular fire is ineffective!"

Suon fired again, she heard the sharp crack of his rifle. But he didn't have a coilgun of his own; his heavy-bore weapon was effective against a large creature, but its large, slower-moving bullet was an easy target for enemy guardian drones.

She heard yelling, then. Almost inaudible over the din of fire.

"WE'RE COMING! WE'RE COMING!"

Pirra risked a glance over the top, firing off a few shots towards the enemy. Return fire ripped into the space where she'd been a moment earlier, but her system had gotten a glimpse; Team Three, racing through the tents back to their position.

"COVERING FIRE!" she called out. Her team all popped out, pouring fire onto the enemy.

Najafi cried out. "I'm hit!" He went down, still moving, hand on his shoulder. Someone rushed to him.

Pirra popped up, moving and firing off shots blindly, aiming slightly high to make sure she didn't hit her own team. Risking a glance up, she saw that Mac Mordha was limping, being carried along by Guoming. Mac Mordha's face was a blanched white, blood running all down her front.

Zivai had stopped, snapping off a shot, but then two puffs of red came out of him, he jerked, and fell. He did not move.

He must have cried out, as Guoming turned suddenly to look.

"Go, go!" Sgt. Hesson cried, firing behind him as he ran.

Then the round hit Mac Mordha, punching out a red mist on her side that came through the other. Guoming's knees gave out, and as she fell Pirra could see her face frozen in a shocked 'oh' as the round over-penetrated into her side.

But she was still moving as she hit the ground, and Hesson stopped, grabbing her arm and trying to drag her along with him.

"Niamh!" Guoming yelled, reaching for the woman she had been carrying. Her entire side was covered in blood, her and Niamh's both.

"She's already dead!" Hesson yelled back.

They weren't going to make it, Hesson wasn't pulling her fast enough, Pirra realized. There were tents between them and the enemy, but they probably had scanners that could give them an approximate location.

Pirra dug her hands into the soil and shoved off. Yells came from behind her, and she knew what she was doing was fatally stupid, the wrong move. But she raced out, grabbing Guoming's other arm, helping Hesson drag her along until they reached her line.

Every moment the thought shot through her mind; she was about to be hit. A bullet could come for her. She'd left the protective envelope of their Guardian drones.

They dived back behind the rocks. Pirra shook as she realized that she hadn't been hit.

"Help her!" she ordered Hesson, her training working automatically, despite her shock.

Turning, she looked up and down the line.

Kiseleva was running towards her, and dropped down next to her. For a moment Pirra thought she'd been hit, but no - she had only thrown herself down.

"We still don't have comms, and they're moving to flank us on both sides," she said.

Pirra looked up. No comms meant they couldn't call up to the Craton. But they didn't have to have a radio for that.

"Keep the unit firing and moving. If we have to pull back the way we came, we'll have no cover. We have to hold position."

"What are you going to do?" Kiseleva asked.

"Call the sky," Pirra said.