Gargax watched the purple and red flares fly into the sky. The sun was just rising and he was finally out of the forest. His body was screaming at him to rest, threatening to collapse. He had to find Tamalyn, he had to get her to save the other two people whose names didn’t know. Bear might need help as well. The creature had attacked moments after they touched down. Gargax should have spotted it; he had failed one clan, he wasn’t going to fail another. A purple flare shot up ahead of him, judging by the brightness it wasn’t very far away. The white flare stating there was a medic at the camp didn’t accompany it. He ran forward dragging the log behind them. Tamalyn was in that direction. His instinct said that's where she would be.

Rocky outcroppings dotted rolling hills covered in spark grass Where the hills met would likely be pools of water. Like he needed any more of that. Worms as thick as his arm and almost as tall as he was wiggled around on the surface, one of them lifted its head and started inching towards them. Gargax wasn’t worried, he had fought the death cat and won, it was only due to his armor, but a victory was a victory. Killing worms wouldn’t be a problem.

Strange black and white creatures popped out of the ground and attacked the worms, their sleek fur had no traces of dirt or mud on them, but they were of no concern to Gargax. He slipped while jogging down a hill, and tumbled into a pool of standing water. He grumbled, but he had held onto Isaac and didn’t let him fall into the water. One of the black things burst out of the ground in front of him, baring its fangs. Gargax instinctively raised his left arm, pitching Isaac to the side, and the thing latched on, his claws swiped at him, but weren’t quite long enough to reach him.

He bit back.

The thing tasted horrible and there would be new scars on his face from its claws. That didn’t bother him. Sunbeam liked his scars. The beast released arm and spasmed on the ground. If he had the strength he would stomp on its head, but was forced to wait for it to die. The claws hurt and walking around the thing while it was flailing could cause further injuries. Gargax’s stomach growled, all he had eaten the last two days was grass, the thing that food ate. Maybe if he cooked the thing then it wouldn’t taste as bad, most things tasted better cooked. Too bad Emily wasn’t here; she was the best cook Gargax had ever met. He wrapped the creature's corpse around his neck like a scarf and walked over to Isaac.

“I sorry, attacked,” he said.

Isaac coughed in response. He was getting worse and there was nothing he could do. He didn’t know exactly what was wrong with Isaac. There were no injuries that the grass could close. He had to reach Tamalyn, she would be able to save him. She was a holy shamanand deserved someone good to take care of her, like his battle brother. The only man to withstand one of Gargax’s rage-fueled punches. He had told Gargax that the binding with the skaggan had failed, but Gargax wasn’t sure. Locke fought like a skaggan, ferociously with no doubt in his eyes. Gargax lifted Isaac into his arms, he had to believe that Isaac would live, that he would reach Tamalyn.

Thunder roared above and it began to rain again. Gargax swore in ork and ran into a crag wolf den that was only a few feet away. If it had been occupied he would have heard the wolf give him a warning. The storm lasted almost an hour and once more he was on the move, focused on his goal.

After two more hills, Gargax saw a dense outcropping of rocks, and an overflowing river drowning the land around it. Movement caught his eyes, more of those black and white creatures were climbing from the ground. Then he heard the shouts, people shouting out enemy movement. Gargax set both Isaac and his prize down, took the rifle off his back and ran forward, trying to watch his steps so he didn’t fall again. At the bottom of the outcropping was a wide pool with a large piece of floating ice in it. The outcropping near the pool was completely frozen. There were several of the creatures climbing out of holes in the grass surrounded by rocks, rocks that looked to be cave entrances.

The grass was slick and the downward angle threatened to make him slip again, but his instinct told him he couldn’t let the tubeclaws get into the caves. His first shot took one in the side. Isaac was a good shot and had agreed to help Gargax improve his aim. He was patient and was quick to defend him from some of the others. It likely had saved their lives. The attack sent the tube claw tumbling into the water. The others ignored its predicament. The next two shots accomplished the same thing. Then he heard a high pitched bark. Gargax left his clanmate and risked running further down the hill. A larger tubeclaw was climbing into a den, the scent of wet wolf struck Gargax’s nose.

His attack caused the bandersnatch to back out of the and turned to face the ork. It arched its back, and another blast interrupted its attack, why it would raise its back like that was perplexing. It turned its head and snarled, a mistake that cost it its life. Gargax had logged more hours on the practice range than the mecha cadets had logged in the simulator. It had paid off. He panned around the area, nose twitching to pick up any more scents. Not seeing or smelling any more tubeclaws, the ones in the pond were thrashing about but not making any progress towards escaping. They were dirt swimming creatures, not water swimming. .

“Clear! Clear! Clear! Medic! Medic! Medic!” Gargax shouted out

A cadet appeared over the hill, his arm hung at his side covered with claw and bite marks. He looked at Gargax in astonishment and then at the three thrashing tubeclaws. “You got three still alive, dumbass.” the cadet snarled.

Gargax took out a grenade he had stashed in his torn suit, activated it and threw it. Alyxia would have been proud of the throw. It exploded and sent water shooting into the air drenching the cadet. Nothing struggled in the pond. He gave the astonished cadet an irritated look. “Now clear. Get I Tamalyn.”

=+=

A single yellow flare was an understatement. Three should have been used, or if they didn’t have three any other colors. Another color immediately trailing a yellow flare meant an increase in the danger. The beast hovering over the hills deserved that if not more. It was at least seventy feet long, covered in white and yellow scales. Yellow and white wings held it in the air, a pair of scaled legs capped with long claws were held against its body. Its tail looked like it was a quarter of its overall length, hung towards the ground, slowly swishing. The most astonishing thing about it was its heads. The creature had two long necks each ending with a head that had snow white lightning bolt horns capping their snouts and growing from their eye ridges. Their golden yellow eyes were on the sides of their heads. Horns jutted out from their jaw bone and from their chins that looked like snowflakes. Lightning danced between the beast's horns.

Tamalyn was at a loss for words, she certainly wasn’t expecting this. Armored ASF cadets had been transformed into ice, Others were on the ground, Tamalyn couldn’t tell if they were dead or not. Navy cadets were shakily aiming a flare gun, but it was like shining a flashlight at a tank for all the good it would do. The lifeboat was ripped open and turned to ice.

“Orders, ma’am?” one of the armored cadets asked, glancing towards Riley. She was a squad leader, a position earned by her test scores and evaluation. Even though she didn’t have her armor she was still leading the squad.

“Lower your weapons,” Riley ordered, her eyes also locked on the beast in front of them, “Drop them on the ground.” Her rifle hit the ground as soon as the words left her mouth. The armored cadets, and the volunteers obeyed immediately.

“Cadets! Drop all your weapons and cease any hostile actions now!” She yelled. Her voice caught the attention of one of the creature’s heads, the other was still looking at the cadets with the flare. They responded to the shouted order by immediately dropping the flare gun and raising their hands over their heads. “Good. Now nobody move!”

The beast flapped its wings once and landed on the ground, tucking its wings to its sides. The creature’s left head, which had been the one that reacted to Riley’s voice, extended towards her, stopping a foot away. The other head continued to survey the cadets. Lighting shot from the right head’s back horns to the front and it clicked its teeth together. Both Riley and Tamalyn were pulled a step forward when the creature sniffed, then it pulled back its head to be able to see them better.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“On behalf of the Danelar Naval Officers Academy, I would like to formally apologize for any offense we may have caused you, and request that we are allowed to take our injured,” Riley said, bowing. Tamalyn bowed with her.

The right head snorted, lightning crackling from the back horns to the front horn again, snapping its jaws. The left head let out a rumbling sound like thunder, lightning arced from the front horn to the back right horn. A conversation of lightning arcs and rumbling continued for several minutes.

“Are you hurt?” Tamalyn asked, “Your left wing doesn’t seem to be as pressed against your body as your right. Your hovering was also kind of wobbly."She flared her halo for good measure. Her halo healed anything that was within its light, and she moved so the very edge would shine on the creature. The more she used her halo the stronger it became. Many of the medical staff at the academy said she shouldn't rely on it, but why would she deny herself an ability that could heal someone without needing surgery? Her empathy was growing as well. Now she could touch someone and sense where their injuries were. If she became better at that then she could soon know exactly what kind of injury or illness someone had by a single touch. That excited her. She could save so many people with that ability.

Both heads whipped towards her tilting away from each other as if considering her words. The left head clicked its teeth, and the right snorted and turned away, the left wing opened and the left head turned to regard it and then turned back to the cadets, closing the wing..

“I can help, I’m a healer,” she said, extending her hand. She sustained her halo's glow. The right head slowly turned, a look of interest on its face. The left one lowered until it was inches from her. She reached out and touched his snout letting her power flow through him. The light of her halo faded and he stretched out his wing before tucking it against his body, closer than before.

This time both heads clicked their teeth before retreating several steps away. He unfurled his wings and launched himself into the air, vanishing into the clouds.

“Alright,” Riley said, “Let’s get moving, form a—“

A deluge of rain fell from the clouds. It crashed against the hills and sent a torrent of water flowing over the gathered cadets, sweeping them off of their feet. They crashed into each other, the ice statues, and into the outcroppings, their weapons washing away. Shouts of surprise peppered the air, drowned out by the sound of thunder.

=+=

The Danelar Naval Officers Academy was considered the best in the galaxy. Only those who had scored in the top five percent of all cadets who applied were even considered. They were tested on reaction time, situational awareness, athleticism, adaptability, and conviction. Riley Dax had all those qualities in spades. She had been mocked and teased her entire life for her appearance, for not having an interest in guys, and for being interested in both dancing and knowing how to wear armor and use a rifle. Her parents never let her learn how to use a sword. The only girl she had asked out had been so horrified and disgusted she made sure everyone in the school knew that Riley was even more of a freak than she already was. The ASF was going to change that, she was going to be a strong and capable person who stopped at nothing to succeed despite everything thrown at her.

The deluge had been instant, unexpected and they all had been washed off their feet. Riley was the first to react. Without hesitation climbed to her feet and scooped Tamalyn into her arms. The lifeboat was a shelter and that’s what they needed in that moment, its composition irrelevant. She pushed up the muddy hill through the torrents of rushing water and got Tamalyn inside where it was dry. Then she did it again, pulling out a dark haired girl with forehead ridges. Then a moreau girl with bear ears.

“Everyone in the life boat!” Riley commanded, ignoring any protests and only issuing the order again. One of the armored cadets slipped in the mud and fell backwards crashing into her and sending her into the water. The weight was too much for her to do anything about, sharp pain threatened to drive her unconscious. She was pulled out of the water gasping for breath and woozy.

“Are you alright?” Corbin asked, he was holding the cadet who had knocked her down up in his other arm.

“No,” Riley said. Corbin carried her to the lifeboat and put her down before heading out again. Tamalyn was next to her in a moment, her healing ability numbing the pain.

“It’s broken, but it shouldn’t require amputation. I can’t heal it at once, especially with how—” Tamalyn coughed, wheezing when she finished, “--Spent I am.”

“What was that thing?” someone called out.

“It called it a thunder cryoeborsisk. Draconic incarnations of elements, that one is a hybrid. General advisory is to get the fark out if you see one. Highly territorial, highly intelligent, overly hostile, and reported to be damn cruel. They don’t like ion powered things, engines, beacons, ect and will become even more hostile towards them, which I don’t understand. Something like that could probably even affect the weather, easily causing the storm from last night, or right now Princess’ Tits. I can’t believe that we’re alive,” Owen Marx answered. He was the cadet that fell on Riley.

Riley, Tamalyn, Robyn, and Kida turned to stare at the man, “I’m sorry,” Tamalyn said the first to recover from what she heard. “What did you say?”

“I can’t believe we’re alive?” Marx asked.

“Before that.”

“That thing could probably control the weather?” he gulped.

Tamalyn stood up and walked over to him, gave him a sweet smile, reached up and pressed the release on his helmet before taking it off, “Perhaps you didn’t hear me. What did you say between “right now” and—” she turned and coughed again ,”I can’t”

“Princess’ Tits. It’s just an expression of astonishment, I mean you can’t help but use it after you’ve seen—”

Tamalyn’s slap echoed around them and cut off Marx’s floundering attempt to justify what he said, “If I ever hear you use that expression again I will let Gargax ut Vox know. You know who he is, and you should know that ‘ut Vox’ means “rage incarnate” and only orks who are feared by entire clans are granted the title. Clear?”

“Yes ma’am,” Marx gulped.

“Damn, girl” Corbin laughed, “That was the sexiest thing I’ve seen all day!”

That creature was everything Marx had said it was, repaying Tamalyn’s kindness with cruelty, there was no way that was not intentional. There was no doubt in her mind that the monster was responsible for the weather. Was there anyone looking for them? Were any of them going to survive this. The IR beacon was their way off the planet, after seeing that monster she would argue to make for it. They may not know who was waiting for them, but it was a lifeline they desperately needed. Riley closed her eyes, she couldn’t even lead a simple expedition to try to help people. They were now in an arguably worse position. She coughed. Most people were starting to come down with it, despite all their best efforts. The way they were going, it wouldn’t matter who was at the beacon. None of them were going to reach it.

"We have a camp to the north. When this storm breaks we're going to wait for fifteen minutes to make sure our 'friend' doesn't come back and cause another one. Then we're going to leave. Get the rest that you can now and choose a buddy. We'll be moving in pairs. If anyone can't move on their own, speak up now so we can figure out how to get everyone back to our base," Riley said.

She couldn't doubt herself. She'd been made a squad leader, the only woman that was one. She had the highest grades in her class, she tutored Locke and Gargax in tactics, while Alyxia taught them physics and Issac helped them with their marksmanship.She was smart and capable, no one gave her the squad position. She'd earned it.

The other cadets responded with 'yes ma'am's' and quickly organized themselves. She kept an eye on Tamalyn to make sure the aasimar didn't over-exhaust herself. Fortunately, there were no bad injuries. Once the storm passed, they checked on the frozen ASF cadets. Two of them were still alive in their armor. Corbin cracked them open easily enough, but neither were in any condition to walk. Marx took one while Corbin took the other. Soon they were ready to go.

With the eborsisk nowhere in sight. Riley led them towards the wolf dens. It would be a successful mission once they got back to the dens. She glanced into the sky again. The thunder cryoeborsisk was a terrifying creature. She hoped they wouldn't see it again. Instead, she saw something else falling from the sky towards a plateau. It was towards the ridge and didn't look that far away, especially from where they were.

"Change of plans. Marx, I'm putting you in charge of getting everyone to the base. I need someone else to come with me. Something just dropped from the atmosphere and I want to know what it is."