Signals drifted through the air. Like waves, they washed over Sasha’s fur. Past her ears. Across her whiskers. She twitched at the sensations, her own heartbeat miles away.

“Concentrate, Panther,” Mr. Erin said. “Follow the sounds of the wind. The smells of the planets. The cry of the people.”

A jolt ran through her chest.

“Wait,” she said. “I-I think I can…”

The signals retracted, her heartbeat growing faster and louder. She saw flashes of light.

“Concentrate. Concentrate!”

Her eyes snapped open, the panther wincing as she felt a ringing in her ears. She was back in the control room, Mr. Erin kneeling over with a water glass in hand. She snatched it up, spilling the drink down the desert that was her parched throat. When had she gotten so thirsty? She'd only been concentrating for a few minutes. The ringing gradually faded.

“What did you see?” Mr. Erin asked.

She wiped her mouth. “Ugh. Nothing. I don’t know. Junk. Light. Ugh. My head feels like it’s gonna explode.”

“Explode, you say?” the squirrel rubbed his chin. “Ah. Must have encountered the legionnaires, then.”

“I thought you said this was safe.”

“I said relatively safe. It would be completely harmless if the White Legion weren’t around. As is, you have a…roughly 3% chance of getting your mind shattered by a legionnaire.”

“What? Why didn’t you lead with that tail brain?”

She grabbed her head, ruffling her hair to ensure that it was indeed hers. The blue streaks were intact. And even pinching herself didn't send her jumping from sleep so it had to be real. Still. Just what kind of crazy training was this? She'd never heard of meditation that could scramble your brains. But then, she'd never tried using her mind to search through space before.

As she finished drinking, Mr. Xan’s yawn came through the intercom.

“Yo,” the panda said. “We just dropped out of warp space. Arriving in Argos in T-minus…uh…whatever. Just be ready.”

Mr. Erin snorted. From the windows Sasha could see the darkness of space returning, distant stars appearing along with a giant planet directly in front of them. According to the alien squirrel, Argos was a barren world visited only by resource miners and junkers. It was also the closest marked planet in the direction of her friends.

For every world in the cosmos, unique energy signals were given off, of which their navigational devices could pick up. As was the case with the people living inside them. According to Mr. Erin, all one needed was to interpret the signals to find whoever they wished, something possible mentally via dedicated practice and study. So long as you didn't mind getting your mind shattered...

Who the heck doesn’t warn someone of that? Jerk.

She massaged her scalp, the aches soothing little by little. Mr. Erin had already left to get her a refill, along with a twin set of helmets. Now that training was over, it was time to perform her real duties as a graduate.

“So far it looks like a few portals have opened up,” Mr. Erin said, handing her a helmet. “It shouldn’t take us too long to wrap up business here.”

Sasha turned the clear dome of a headgear over in her hands. When she pulled it on, the material shrunk, hugging her face almost like a shell.

“Tight. Where’s Mr. Xan? Isn’t he coming, too?”

“I wouldn’t count on it. That panda only gets up if the world’s on fire. And it looks like…yep…No fires spotted so far.”

Through the window, Sasha could see the ship entering the brown planet in front of them.

It was surrounded by rings and devoid of any visible water. Just looking at the thing made her feel parched again, clouds of dirt and debris blowing against their windows. After a while things began to clear up, though they weren't magically graced with the serene beauty of a hidden world. There was only more dirt. Dirt and sand.

“This is Argos?” she asked.

“I told you it was a junker world,” Mr. Erin said. “Now, c’mon. I have to prep you for shore time.”

The panther sighed, stepping away from the door. Mr. Erin picked up a needle, Sasha wincing as the tip pierced her skin. He tossed the bloody piece into the trash, replacing it and putting the syringe back on the wall.

“There. That should give you some immunity.”

He pulled out a sealing ointment, squirting it on the spot.

“Immunity to what?” Sasha asked.

“Mostly viral pathogens. Tertis. Green Gum. The Fume. Plus, any foreign matter that might be lurking in the atmosphere.”

Stolen novel; please report.

When the squirrel stepped away, Sasha found her fur had regrown over the injection spot. She rubbed the area. It was a tad sore, but she counted herself lucky there wasn’t a mark left behind. Mr. Erin pushed the opening mechanism on the door.

“Now entering contamination zone,” a robotic voice said.

All the exits in the room slammed shut, both the vents and windows growing metallic paneling. A chime rang out before the planet-side hatch flew open.

“Atmospheric pressure at Class E. Please proceed with caution.”

Sasha smiled. The place might have been a barren desert wasteland, but it was still the first planet she’d landed on willingly. She leapt from the ship, her inner child squealing in excitement. That’s one step for- The squealing stopped when she dropped to the floor.

What the?

She jumped in place. Waved her arms. Even used the steps springing out from the ship as leverage. Nothing changed. Her body sunk like rock just like it always did.

“It’s a Class-E planet, Panther,” Mr. Erin said, coming down. “Same gravity as Tuptree or Shiny.”

Sasha huffed. “What? You mean I can’t even- C’mon! Ugh! Stupid useless gravity!”

She stopped jumping, turning to kick at the worthless planet she’d landed on. No space gravity. No serene beauty. And she didn’t see any weird-looking aliens for miles on end. Just more sand dunes and tumbleweeds. Mr. Erin opened up his commpad.

“Oh. Getting legionnaire readings nearby. I guess we’re in the right spot.”

Sasha stared around the empty desert.

“The heck do you mean? There’s nothing here but dust and-”

Her God Tool appeared.

“Hostile entities detected,” it said. “Please be on guard.”

She looked from the staff to Mr. Erin, who had a smile across his face. Sasha growled. Stupid know-it-all alien squirrel. Her whiskers twitched, the air growing dense. When she looked up she saw three portals appearing, the familiar sounds of crawling appendages letting her know just how outnumbered they were about to be.

“That’s your cue, Panther,” Mr. Erin said.

“I noticed. Geez.”

She lowered her staff just as the flood of targets came out. The dozen or so monsters were quick to attack, but they turned to mist just as quickly. As numerous as they were, Sasha had learned to read the gas-filled monsters after being assaulted by so many hordes. Appendage strikes that would have knocked her flat were instead deflected and parried with ease, her staff twirling and whirling until it suddenly stopped dead.

Huh?

The God Tool refused to move an inch, one of the legionaires holding her stick in place. In fact, it almost looked like it did so on purpose. She tugged to no avail, the monster staring back at her with black glowing eyes. She only noticed then that the creature stood upright rather than crawled, two brawny appendages allowing it to loom almost as tall as Mr. Xan. And it's arms. Even the strongest student on Shiny didn't have arms that big. Its antennae twitched as Sasha kept pulling.

“Let-”

The weight of a tank slammed into her.

A distant scream filled her ears, light rushing above before she felt sand on her back. When had she even fallen? The cloudy sky shined bright in her face, but her body had ceased to function.

What…

Her limbs twitched. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. Every part of her felt like it had shut down on contact. Even the pain was nonexistent, her only sensations coming from her racing heart.

Did I just…get hit?

She tasted blood in her mouth.

Oh god.

A bundle of brown fur appeared beside her, arms scooping her up.

“C’mon, Panther. Don’t start resting on the job now. Please. We got a job to do.”

She managed to blink, vision shifting to the somewhat blurry image of Mr. Erin's face. But that's all she could really manage. Even turning her head was out of the question, though it seemed like she didn't need to. From the corner of her eye she could see the legionaires had stopped approaching. They were still twitching and writhing, but none were coming at them. In fact, as she noticed Mr. Erin's glowing wand, she realized that they couldn't approach. He'd stopped them completely.

“Can you move?” he asked.

“N-no,” she said, her voice raspy and dry.

The squirrel cursed. “Alright. Then…uh…Okay. Just sit tight, Panther. I’ll handle this.”

He slung her over his shoulder, Sasha suddenly finding her gaze locked on the ground. It had started to grow cloudy, Mr. Erin doing something with his wand behind her. But as the ragdoll, she could only lay there helplessly.

Why was the ground suddenly shaking? She squinted under Mr. Erin's armpit.

Sounds of wheels on tread drifted through her ears, Sasha quickly realizing it wasn't her liaisons at work. In fact, his wand had stopped glowing altogether. Instead, she saw projectiles colliding with the legionnaires, some turning to mist on contact. They all rose, the effects of Mr. Erin's skill seemingly fading, but by then the newcomers had already arrived.

"Charge!"

A truck covered in metallic spikes came drifting into the center of the horde, doors slamming open as figures clad in armor leapt out with their giant weapons. They almost looked like guns, but the projectiles they shot weren’t bullets or cannons. No, they were more akin to grenades of light. Every monster hit turned to dust with a scorched crater left behind. Sasha marveled at the sight of it all. Even shotguns weren't that strong.

Then again, she also couldn't help but marvel at the shooters.

Their bulky frames, chiseled bodies, and loud footsteps made her question her own sanity for the briefest of moments. She would have pinched herself if she could. Instead, she asked the liaison carrying her.

“Mr. Erin.”

“Yes, Panther?”

“Are those rock people?”

“It appears so, yes.”

The gunners blew threw the giant who'd hit her with ease, moving onto the others with all the precision of an elite squadron. In the span of a few minutes, every monster in the vicinity was reduced to powdery dust. The rock-person driver raised his gun.

“Victory for Argos!”

The others all threw up their guns as well, carrying on the shout. All the while, both Mr. Erin and Sasha stared in silence, the latter frowning.

Why couldn’t it have been dragons?