Zoel led her small group through the forest, using old trails worn into the land by generations of animals following the same route. It was her turn as acting Sargent, leading a small unit detached from the main group. They'd split into small teams to better canvas the area, and as a corporal and prospective Sargent, she had to take a leadership role as part of her training.

Zoel was in a good mood; a good morning catching the sunrise, a hearty breakfast with begrudgingly good company, and a chance to lead a group that was going well. So far, they'd made good time. Signs of the next marker were becoming increasingly apparent. The soft ground of the underbrush was slowly but surely giving way to the loose earth and stone common to this section of the forest.

She was not at the front of the group but in the centre, where she could direct more effectively. Looking ahead, past the shoulders of her team and through fleeting gaps in the trees, she could make out the threshold of the next clearing. Although they hadn't found any recent sign of the quarry, making good time to the next marker was an achievement in and of itself.

Before having the group leave the cover of the forest, she sent Yol'Nami out to scout. She vanished into the foliage. The gap left from her passage quickly disappeared as if never there.

The unit continued forwards even without the scout. Pressing forwards the foliage began to thin and the shadows underfoot gave way to shimmering light. Her team were in a state of constant movement, their heads turning this way and that as their eyes scanned the surrounding. They had to be extra thorough. Without their scout, the perception of the unit was reduced. Breaking through and into the clearing towards the sun would impair them further. She slowed their pace to allow them the time needed to adjust.

A rustling ahead stopped the unit, and they tightened their formation. Their constant vigilance was a comfort to Zoel. She knew the team would be ready wherever and whenever they encountered their target. Their vigilance was never superfluous but, in this case, unnecessary, as through the brush, their scout returned.

"The clearing's safe. No sign of the Agmagon. It is the right place though. The next cairn's right up ahead."

The Agmagon were a relatively common variation of bipedal beasts that could be found in the forests. Their species and sub-species were found in many regions across the world. Similar beasts could be found across many of the other settled worlds.

"Good work Nami."

The scout slotted back into formation as if she'd never left, and the team pressed on. They broke through into the clearing. As Zoel passed the threshold, light assaulted her eyes, leaving her seeing only burned shapes.

The blurs faded, and the next cairn was revealed. It towered in front of them, dominating the centre of the clearing like a giant of stone. Someone had been carried away while building this one.

This cleaning was much like the previous one they camped at, only less used and contained only the cairn and nothing else. Also, unlike the previous clearing, this one was not sustained through frequent usage but due to its lack of soil. Instead of the soft soil of the forest, the ground here was made up of an abundance of rounded stone, a sign they were nearing the great river.

Having made good time to the clearing, their checkpoint, Zoel thought it would be a good time to rest and told the rest of her team as much. Before stopping, they circled the clearing, skirting the edges of the forest to look for animal signs. They found it clear and none of the other tracks were worth any concern.

They dropped their packs beside the cairn and sat nearby while Hanju handed out a quick lunch. The day had been pleasant so far, but soon they would find traces of the Agmagon and their real hunt would begin.

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They had finished their break and were forming back up. Hanju, like always, had managed to sneak off with more than his fair share of food, squireling it away and munching on it when he thought no one was looking. Everyone knew.

"Pack up, and form up. We'll be moving again as soon as everyone's ready, and Hanju, stop stuffing your face!"

The sun was barely past its peak. They were still on time, and their break had only lasted long enough for them to eat. With the team in formation, they moved back towards the cleaning edge. They would re-enter the forest opposite from where they had entered.

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Beyond this point, there was little sign of a trail; they would have to cut through foliage themselves. It would make their pace slower, but it had already been accounted for. However, if they didn't find the today, they would have to circle back around a camp here for the night. After three weeks into the trip, she was starting to miss the comforts of home. She didn't want this assignment to drag on longer than necessary.

A great boom rumbled across the sky.

It drew the attention of the whole team. A great cloud of colour lifted into the air as birds became frenzied and took flight to flee.

Zoel looked up to see a bright speck in the sky. There were very few things it could be. Too bright to be a flare or a shooting star. It must be a landing ship. There must have been an accident. Nothing should enter the atmosphere here; the exclusion zone wouldn't permit it.

The speck grew brighter and brighter until it became as large as the sun. Another thundering roar broke out as a huge plume of light bloomed turning it from a fiery orb to an enormous flare of white fire.

The massive flare of light grew to ginormous proportions as it neared. The pilot must have been burning its thrusters as hard as they could to try slow their descent. An almost impossible task.

They would have to land before the zone rejected them. Everyone knew this planet couldn't be landed on. That's what the orbital platform was for.

As it lowered in the sky, more details could be made out. This wasn't like any landing craft Zoel had ever seen before. The thing was huge and oddly shaped. This wasn't the sleek-looking ships shed seen in her classes.

The craft was an inferno. She could make out details now. Parts were melting and breaking off. The whole thing was disintegrating, but its thruster was still alive, like a vast upturned match.

The thing split into chucks. One shot off at an angle, upwards into the air. Someone must have jettisoned out. It was too far away; she could barely see behind the light of the larger portion. Hopefully they made it.

The tail of fire twitched sideways and cut out. The craft began spinning and fell beyond the horizon.

Zoel thought the initial sound was loud. Nothing could have prepared her for the magnitude of the impact, nor the shock wave that came with it.

Tree cracked and toppled as a wave of debris and dust barrelled towards them.

Zoel tuned away from the wave and threw herself to the ground, hands over her ears, face buried into the gravel and lungs empty of air.

The sound rattled through her head, making her teeth clash together and her ears scream.

A wave of debris followed. It rolled into and over her. Her body pressed hard into the ground. Leaves, bits of trees, and stones pepper her back and sides.

It only lasted a moment, yet it seemed to go on for days. Eventually, the wave passed, and the debris stopped falling. Zoel pushed herself up and rolled to onto her back.

She wiped the blood from her face. Her nose and ear were bleeding. Her right ear was destroyed. Each time it throbbed it was a pulse of pain. Her left was damaged less, it wasn't bleeding, but she could hear nothing but a constant ringing.

She got up onto her knees, throwing the debris off her as she did. She'd been covered in small stones and small branches from the trees. Not five paces away was a toppled tree; she had been lucky; it could have easily fallen towards her. She looked around for the rest of her team.

Like her, they had thrown themselves to the ground. Hanju looked okay, although she couldn't see his face for the backpack he’d covered it with. The rest of the group was mostly in a similar shape. The exception was Nami; she looked terrible.

Before Zoel managed to get to her feet, even mostly deaf, she could hear the screaming.

She got to her feet and almost fell. Her ruptured ear was making her dizzy. The others were starting to get up. Hanju had untangled the bag from across his face; he looked fine other than the blood coming from his nose.

Zoel fought through her dizziness and scrambled to where Nami was writhing on the ground. Yol'Philippe and Yol'Jung had already made their way over. Nami looked even worse up close, the snapped end of a small branch had punctured her left eye, and blood stream from her nose and dripped from her ears. Her legs were broken, and probably her wrist; it was already ballooned up and purple.

She was held firm by Yol'Philippe and stopped moving long enough for Yol'Jung to heave on and reset the bone in her right leg. There was no point in Zoel telling them what to do; they already had it in hand. She'd check on the others and got Hanju and Yol'Zhao to form a defence with her while the other two worked on getting Nami into a stable condition.

Hanju was fine other than being deaf, as was Yol'Zhao. He'd managed to come out seeming uninjured. They formed a small three-pointed perimeter. The impact blast caused severe damage to the surroundings. The once-empty clearing was littered with broken branches. The trees of the once dense forest were now either completely flattened or leaning towards them. It was hard to tell how far the damage went, but it looked like a vast circle of trees had been toppled from where she stood. With the number of downed trees, she could just make out the impact sight from where she stood. A grand mound of earth had been forced up from the ground central in the deviation.

It was then she saw the Agmagon. They burst through into the clearing from the edge of the devastation. They were injured, but more than that, they were frenzied. They were heading straight for Zoel's group. They wanted something to sate their rage, and it looked like her group was going to be the target.

Zoel almost found it ironic that the very group they were hunting was coming for them.