Chapter 11: Geryon

Eris watched the Raumen intently. It had been three days since they’d set up camp, and it didn’t seem like they’d decided where to move yet. There were eight of them, equipped with thermal imaging equipment and basic rifles. There were no heavy weapons to be seen.

It was a weak group, a recon party most likely.

She twitched her wings, activating an electronic warfare pod that was nestled in one of the racks. It made folding her wings difficult, even with the exoskeleton. She looked over the neural schematics of her weapons systems, and brought a virtual targeting pipper to bear on the group.

Here on this tree, she was invisible, the exoskeleton regulating her thermal signature.

There was a chirp in her mind as the weapons were selected: the two rocket pods on either wing.

She spread her wings as wide as she could, giving the rocket pods a clear line towards their target a few dozen meters away.

That was when they noticed her. She flinched as she heard the gunshots, the pipper careened away wildly as she panicked and fired off the two rocket pods. She knew they wouldn’t hit, but it forced the soldiers to take cover as she hid in the undergrowth below the tree, concealing herself in the bushes.

She switched to thermals now, augmenting her auditory senses and rushing in towards the eight soldiers.

They scattered, disappearing into the creepers and the trees; Eris memorized their vectors.

Knowing they were fleeing, she beat herself up to a higher altitude, hovering above the tree-line, tracking her targets with thermal imaging.

The next weapon on her wing rack was a Type-9 Gauss rifle. She centered its targeting mechanism on the first soldier, stabilized, and fired.

There was a hydraulic hiss as the recoil was absorbed by the exoskeleton, keeping her airborne and steady for the next shot.

She fired again, disintegrating the second runner.

Radar warnings – she dove as an arsenal of weaponry zoomed by her, pummelling the area around her. Shrapnel bounced off of her suit as the barrage continued, missiles veering in towards her last known location, radar systems active and searching. She dropped the jammer pod, knowing they would track it, and ran on foot towards the egress point.

The recon team had either been considered expandable, or they had called in the heavy weapons to try and eliminate her.

–

Haven One was a small base dug into a mountain, with a skeleton group of thirty soldiers watching over it. Eris arrived there within the hour.

“We saw the fireworks from here.” Apollo said. He was a Terran Vorchan with eighteen years of combat experience. He had been assigned command of the defence of this planet from the Raumen incursion.

They were on their own here, having separated from the Vorchan Empire hundreds of years ago. It meant that the Raumen could claim their planet if they wanted to, and it seemed now that they did, having found a hefty deposit of crystallized koverans on the southern continent.

They had resorted to guerrilla tactics. The Raumen had spacecraft and numbers. All they had was their will.

There were less than a thousand of them in the fight, all spread out over the planet. All the primary cities had been abandoned, the remaining Vorchans living nomadically, moving from forest to forest for survival.

Apollo helped her out of the exoskeleton. “You’re wounded.” he observed. There was a gash on her right wing, undoubtedly a piece of spall or shrapnel that had managed to cut through her armour.

“It’s fine.” she replied automatically.

“It could infect.” Apollo already had a disinfectant salve in his mouth; he licked it onto the wound.

“Any excuse to lick me?” Eris asked with a laugh, pushing Apollo away with a wing.

“Of course not. I merely look out for my troop.” he replied, almost sincere.

While she didn’t let herself get bogged down in intimacy and the like, she still enjoyed his flirtatious nature. It lightened the mood, especially on the worse days. Though today wasn’t one of them. She knew how daring it was of Apollo to even toy with the idea of accosting a Vulcan he barely knew, but she knew he wasn’t serious, he really was just looking out for his troop. It almost made her sigh.

“You were the only one to have had supporting fire dropped down on you. It wasn’t all spaceborne either.” said Apollo.

“It wasn’t?”

“No. A battery from Odyssia opened fire as well. I’m having Brutus and his flock take it out. They are the closest.”

Odyssia had been a large city. Eris wished she had visited it before the war. It was said to be one of the most beautiful cities on Terra.

“Sounds like a dangerous mission.”

“I have faith that he will succeed. Brutus is one of my best commanders. If anyone can do it, he can.” Apollo finished applying the salve, rubbing it down with his paws, “Now you, on the other hand, seem to still have trouble with your Mark I. It’s a fine suit you know. This damage will take time to repair.”

“I’m sorry. It’s the CCIP system; it’s difficult to get it to co-operate.”

“All that gives you is your impact point; it’s up to you to decide what that point is!”

“I know.” Eris sighed, she hadn’t been born a fighter, she preferred to draw, but with all these Raumen bearing down on them, she felt she didn’t have a choice.

It had only been a year since she’d moved away from her parents’ farm at Lokan. She was studying arts at the University of Chassis, and was making money to support her education by selling paintings and working in the library.

The building had been hit without warning.

Apollo had found her in the wreckage, unconscious but relatively unscathed. It was strange, really. While the rest of the city had been untouched back then, the Raumen had decided to invade it days later. If she had procrastinated on her decision to join Apollo’s flock any longer…

“If you’d like.” Apollo suggested, “I can give you some more targeting system training tomorrow morning. You aren’t due for another mission until a few days anyways.”

“Really? I thought I had a strike order tomorrow afternoon…”

“Not with that wound. I’d prefer it to heal before I send you out again. There are others that can do the strike mission.”

Eris wasn’t sure whether she should be grateful or not, but she thanked him for the time off anyways.

–

They practised targeting systems the next morning. It had been an uneventful night, the flock tired but alive. Apollo left after a two hour session, taking a group out towards highway thirteen for an interdiction mission.

Eris had potential, Apollo knew, but that mistake could have cost them dearly. He had reviewed the recordings from her exo-suit while it had been in for repair, and sighed when he saw the panicked firing sequence from the rockets. It wasn’t her targeting that needed work, it was her resolve, and maybe her tactics, not extending her wings fifty meters out from the enemy.

But then again she wasn’t a fighter, not like him, almost born into the service. He would defend this planet with every ounce of his being.

–

His element flew in at just below the speed of sound, dropping their bombs on the tank column before they had the time to react and scatter. The radar warnings of fighter craft made themselves noticeable as interceptors were sent in to shoot his element down.

“Dive!” he ordered, his group dropping thousands of feet, disappearing in an abandoned village a few klicks east. It was the advantage of being a Vorchan. They weren’t forced to choose between infantry and aircraft. They were everything in one.

–

–

Geryon was scared. When the bombs had first dropped he had been in school. Nobody had expected the attack. His mother told him everything would be alright though. Artemis would get them out. They would travel to the west, to the other side of the planet. Away from the koveran shards and the Raumen’s greed. They would go to a place where they’d be safe, where they could start a new colony in peace.

Now they were being held prisoner, in cages crammed with Vorchans. They were being taken somewhere, but Geryon couldn’t figure out where.

He barely knew the ones in his cage. There was Lucas, an Arctic Vorchan, a paler blue than usual, undoubtedly suffering from a disease of some sort. He barely even glanced at any of them, eyes half closed all the time. Then there was Luthera, a Vulcan Vorchan with razor sharp claws. She hadn’t stopped trying to pry open the bars that held them prisoner, a deadly resolve in her blue eyes. Lucas had heard rumours about the Vulcans, about their rapacious nature. Resting against his shoulder was Lola, a very young Desert hatchling, the smallest of them all. She was still quivering from the loss of her mother, refusing to come to terms with their reality. Then again, none of them were, really. Beside Luthera was Nazari, a relatively light-hearted Terran who had staked out the opposite corner of the cage. He was watching the Vulcan Vorchan intently. He smirked, looking over at Geryon with almost mocking eyes, as if to ask him what this crazy Vorchan’s doing.

Geryon couldn’t help but smile back, even if he was scared half to death.

Finally there was Percius, another Arctic Vorchan and the oldest in the cage. He hadn’t said too much, but was also idly staring at Luthera.

“That won’t do you any good, you know.” said Percius.

“I don’t see you trying anything!” Luthera hissed.

“I’m conserving my energy, for when we’ll actually need it.” Percius replied calmly.

“Oh and when’s that? After we’re locked away for the rest of our life?” Luthera asked rhetorically.

“You really think they’re going to lock us away?” Percius laughed.

Lola started to cry, it was barely audible. Geryon stroked her with his left wing, trying to calm her. “Everything will be alright, don’t worry.”

Luthera stopped struggling against the bars, her resolve seeming to fade slightly as she watched Lola and Geryon. There was nobody else here, this truck was carrying them and only them. There was one cage per truck.

She glared at the truck driver in the truck behind them. A scrawny Raumen, very edible. “Then what do you propose we do, Percius?” she asked.

“We wait.”

“For what?”

“For the right moment.”

“And if it never comes?”

“It will come.”

“But if it—“

Percius took a step over to Luthera, wanting to place his wing over her shoulder but flinching slightly when she saw her bare teeth. “Trust me, the time will come. Just be ready to do exactly as I say when it does.”

“What about Lola and Lucas?” Nazari asked.

“They will be fine. Lucas still has some fight in him, don’t you, Luke?”

Lucas grunted, forcing a grin under his droopy eyes. He swished his tail from side to side. It nearly hit Luthera, she had to duck her head out of the way.

Luthera looked straight at Geryon, but didn’t say anything. Geryon looked away, lying down and resting his head in his paws.

–

–

The attack had gone off successfully. The invasion was proceeding smoothly. General Martock was pleased with his men. It had been a long journey, getting the Kahless to this depressing planet had taken fourteen years. But now they were here, and the wrath of the NCR would soon be unmatched. After this planet would be secured, they would be able to use the koveran shards to build FTL drives and purchase Descendents. They would finally show those despicable Zemorians who the true rulers of this Galaxy were meant to be.

He called the artillery strike in himself, the Reaver cruisers unleashing hell from above as they disintegrated the Vorchan strike group that had tried to take out their batteries in Odyssia.

Martock was no coward, being the descendent of Admiral Hayes, the destroyer of Signus, he knew the importance of getting into the shit yourself. Knee deep if need be.

He charged his plasma pistol, walking over to the fallen Vorchan. An interesting species they were. Four legs, scales, wings. Even without the exo-skeleton they could take a standard kinetic bullet.

He knelt down next to it. This one was dark brown, a Terran, he had learnt. They lived in the plains and the grasslands, one of the more nomadic types. The echelons on its armoured suit indicated it was the leader.

“What’s your name, Vorchan?” Martock asked, plasma pistol humming idly in his hand.

“Bru…tus…” the monster growled, the translator microbes taking several seconds to decipher his gurgles.

“Your base. It’s underground somewhere isn’t it? Where?”

“D-i-e…” hissed the Vorchan.

Martock walked closer to it, noting the massive wound across its left wing, how the membranes had torn in several places. He took out his knife and dug it into the wound.

The Vorchan cried out in pain, shuddering. He tried to pull the wing away but Martock held onto the blade and deployed its fangs, keeping it securely inside the wing.

“Don’t think we won’t flatten this entire bloody region now that we know you’re here somewhere. How would you like that? All those deaths, all those poor villagers and refugees. We know there are thousands out there. We’ve been ignoring them, looking for you, looking for your men. Where are they. If you tell me where they are I won’t have to call in the bombers.”

The Vorchan bared its fangs, hissing weakly. Martock’s feet were wet, he kicked away the blood, taking a few steps back. The bastard had started haemorrhaging.

“Think of all the lives you could save by telling me. I’m sure you’ve got a family? A little Vorchan wife and little Vorchan kids. I’ll kill them too. I’ll kill all of you if you don’t tell me where your men are, where the rest of your squad is.”

But the Vorchan was staring straight ahead, tongue hanging limply.

“Bastard!” he shot it a few times with the plasma pistol and walked back to the Marauder transport.

–

–

It was dawn. Quiet. Eris was flying over the treeline with her exoskeleton. She wasn’t due for a real mission for a few days, so she decided it was a good time to practise. It had only been a day since her training with Apollo and she felt she should go out a little, practise her stealth, her targeting.

While she wasn’t technically on a mission, she knew the Raumen could be anywhere, so she elected to bring an autocannon and a gauss rifle with her, albeit slightly lighter versions with smaller magazines. She also had a pair of serpents on either wing, in case she ran into something heavy.

She didn’t mind the heavy load, she needed the practise. She saw some birds, tracking them with her targeting modes, watching their vector lines and targeting graphics. She would never kill a bird, never kill anything innocent, but it was good practise, lining up the crosshairs, firing the rounds in training mode, imagining them as fighters or recon drones.

She would head out to the small village of Katuni. The inhabitants there were very helpful, giving them food and medical supplies regularly. She longed for some more holonovels, a few more stories to get her away from her reality. She was really getting into the Phoenix Down trilogy, a story about an heiress on a distant planet. Yes, surreal but still exciting. She wondered what kind of life that would be, knowing you had an entire empire before you.

Targeting graphics flared as they warned her of an incursion, she spun around, her trackers illuminating her tail for a second before she pulled it away and let them scan the area. It was another Vorchan, headed right for her. There was no IFF code.

He stopped right beside her, still breathing heavily. He wore no suit, but Eris recognized the markings. He was part of the town watch.

“Trucks!” he hissed.

“Where?”

“On their way to us! From the west. Half have cages, the other half don’t! I think they’re coming to take us away.”

“I’ll go warn Apollo—“

“There isn’t time! They’ll be here in less than five minutes! You have to help us! You have weapons!” he said, eyeing her hardpoints.

She winced, worry in her eye, unsure of what to do. “The cages have Vorchans inside?”

“Yes, well over a hundred!”

“Ok, how many trucks?”

“I would say fifty, the line goes all the way to the mountains.”

“Weapons?”

“Three BDM-1’s as well as a recon drone, maybe a few more.”

Even with her two serpent missiles, she didn’t have the firepower. “I don’t have the firepower.”

“Come with me! Do what you can!” he began flying towards the village. The BDM’s were already there when they arrived. They watched from a plateau that overlooked the village, not less than half a kilometre away. She enhanced the view, seeing the BDM’s set up on opposite ends of the town, half a dozen soldiers leaving each one.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m too lightly armed. If I open fire they’ll kill all of you, and us.”

The Vorchan looked away, in great sorrow, “My two sons, they’ll be taken.”

“I’m sorry.” how fruitless the words were. “Really, I wish there was more I can do. We can go back to Haven I, get a group out here.”

“They’re already taking them away.” he said, tears in his eyes. “It will be too late.”

Eris looked more closely at the three BDM’s. They were lightly armoured vehicles, the Gauss rifle might be able to do some damage…

“I could try… but if I fail it will be a massacre.”

“We know about the camps they take us to, how they kill us or make us slaves, sell us. This is my family’s only hope. Our only hope.”

She activated the CCIP targeting system…

–

–

“This is our chance.” Percius yelled over the explosion. A mushroom cloud of smoke erupted before them as the BDM by them disintegrated. Lola began to wail uncontrollably. Geryon wrapped her in his wings.

“We have to go, Lola!” he said, following Percius and the others from the truck. The gate had somehow been unlocked.

Percius ran over to the truck behind them, using his nails to unlock the cage and free the Vorchans.

“Impressive.” Luthera said, watching him work.

They heard the sound of automatic fire coming from the plateau half a kilometre away, the Raumen were shooting back, saturating the area with kinetic projectiles. Screams filled the air, Raumen and Vorchan.

“Hey!” yelled the driver of the truck, his rifle aimed at Percius. He looked over at him innocently. “Back in the truck, all of you!”

Fire engulfed him, he began to scream in fear.

Geryon stared at Luthera in awe, they were forbidden to use their ancestral powers. Geryon wasn’t even sure if he remembered how to breathe fire.

Percius and Luthera smiled at each other, and Percius went about unlocking the other cages, ordering the Vorchans to run to safety, to escape.

Artemis wasn’t here, they were down to the last cage. Geryon’s family wasn’t here either, and by the looks of the other Vorchans with him, neither were theirs.

“They must have already escaped, some of the cages were open by other Vorchans.” Percius suggested.

But the thought that he might never see them again was a bullet in his heart.

Lola began to cry again. He instinctively cooed to her.

“Let’s go!” Nazari exclaimed, beckoning towards the forest. They began the run to safety, seeing several Vorchans lying on the ground, wounded from weapons fire. They weren’t anyone he knew.

“Drones!” Luthera exclaimed, watching one start buzzing down towards them. It used some sort of gravity field to sustain itself, it emitted a very peculiar buzz, easily noticeable among the chaos. They ran faster, but they were still out in the open. Geryon extended his wings, but Nazari held him down. “No, it’ll see you even better up there. We have to stay still.” he said.

“Nazari is right!” Percius said.

Suddenly, a burst of flame hit the drone, making it spin out of control wildly and begin opening fire in all directions.

“Run!” yelled Percius. They made it to the trees, disappearing into the forest.

–

They must have run for hours, arriving by a river. There were no other Vorchans here. The sounds of the battle at the village had long faded away. Geryon had had to carry Lola on his back. Surprisingly Lucas was doing fine, it was he who had fired the flameburst that had blinded the drone.

“Where do we go now?” Nazari asked. “We don’t know where the patrols are. Where their weapons are.”

“Let me check.” Percius said, extending his wings.

Luthera clamped her jaws around his tail, holding him down, “No! If they have air defences you will be killed instantly!”

Percius nudged her away gently, smiling. “Don’t worry my dear, I’ve done this before.”

Luthera let go, watching the Arctic Vorchan blend into the blue sky above them. He returned less than a minute later.

“We travel south.” he said, with cold intent. “There is a lot of cover there, and nothing of strategic value. We have to get clear of this continent.”

“What’s in this continent?” Nazari asked.

“This is where they’re mining for the koverans.” Lucas said.

“The koverans?” Geryon asked.

“Aye.” Percius growled, “The Raumen want it.”

“How do you know this?” Geryon asked sceptically.

“I was part of homeland security before the Raumen bombed my city.” Percius replied. “Lucas was my advisor.”

“An advisor? So you were…”

“A director. But that is in the past now. We have to get someplace safe, wait for all of this to blow over. Being a splinter faction we can’t rely on the Vorchan Empire to assist us.”

“But what if they never leave?” Luthera asked.

“Let’s just focus on finding someplace safe for now.” Lucas replied, trying to sound reassuring.

“Shut up! Nowhere is safe!” Luthera hissed.

Lola groaned, stretching her wings, she had been sleeping on Geryon’s back, forgetting about reality for a while.

None of them said anything more, smiling sheepishly at the baby. Geryon lied down against a rock by the stream, it was getting dark, he was getting tired.

Nazari lied down next to him, yawning. Percius and Luthera trotted a fair distance away, arguing, while Lucas sat on the rock they were lying up against, his eyes open for danger.

“Not all of us should sleep at once. I’ll stand watch for the first two hours, then you can stand watch for the next two hours, then—“

“Fat chance.” Geryon muttered, eyes half closed.

“Ok… then Nazari—“

“No.”

“But what if someone comes!”

“Stay awake then.” Nazari said, “But I’m tired.”

Lucas sighed and laid his head between his paws too. “You’re lucky you have Percius. He’ll sense danger from a mile away.”

Geryon couldn’t see the other Vorchan, resting on the rock above him, it was an eerie feeling. He hadn’t slept outside for as long as he can remember, but there was a rightness to this. It felt strangely natural sleeping out here under the stars.

He dreamt of his family.

–

–

“Eris… that’s a nice name. Fitting for one of the better looking beasts I’ve seen around here.” Martock said, pacing around her.

Her wings had been clipped, there were shackles on her legs, and there was an incendiary muzzle over her nose. It made speaking difficult, but not impossible, not that she had anything to say to this man.

“When they told me a lone Vorchan had attacked an entire convoy, I had expected a stone cold veteran. A battle-scarred Blackwing of the times, twice the size of the average Vorchan, with enough military hardware to level a small city. But this, an art student?”

“Appearances can be deceiving.” Eris hissed.

“Not entirely! I know how deadly Vulcan instinct is. You are a Vulcan, aren’t you? Are you paired? Will you kill me if I touch you?”

Vulcans were notorious for their deadly loyalty to their mates. “I’ll kill you even if you don’t.”

Martock laughed whole-heartedly, rearing his head back. It was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “I like you! You are fearless, loyal. I think I’ll spare you the degradation of slavery, or the horror of death.”

Eris listened intently.

“You did well, Vulcan Eris. You freed the majority of the Vorchans that the convoy had been escorting, and while the village was destroyed, the inhabitants managed to get away.”

Why was he telling her this? The enemy shouldn’t be bringing her spirits up.

“But…” She knew there’d be a ‘but’, “Millions of Vorchans are deported every day. Some are sold to slavery, others are simply dismembered. Vulcan skin is a commodity people pay dearly for, not to mention those fangs, and those spikes along your spine…” Martock reached for one, but Eris flinched, making the soldiers guarding her raise their rifles.

“Don’t worry, I won’t touch you.” Martock said. “Anyways, back to the facts at hand. While I can’t let you go, obviously. I am an honourable foe, and will instead take you to our confinement camp at Lexus. Have you heard of that place? It used to be one of your nicer cities, I say we’ve done a pretty good job of restoring it.”

Lexus was at the heart of the continent the koveran shards had been located on. It was the most heavily defended Raumen fortress on the planet. There would be absolutely no escape if she was held there.

Martock nodded to the guards, and they escorted her away.

–

–

“I saw everything!” Orion cried. He had flown to Apollo as quick as he could, hoping the patrol hadn’t followed him. His claws were worn and pawpads bloody by the time he arrived at the gates to Haven.

“Calm down, Orion. What happened?” Orion had been their contact to the village of Katuni. They had spoken often.

“Eris. They took her!”

Apollo’s wings perked, “Who!” he demanded.

“Martock. He came in a Marauder after the soldiers captured her!”

“What soldiers?”

Orion explained the attack, and how Eris had been suppressed over the ledge. How she’d held them off long enough for Orion and the others to escape. “She saved my family.” he finished.

Apollo nodded gravely, “So the villagers are safe?”

“Yes, a Terran by the name of Artemis rallied them together. He was one of the first to escape. I trust him to keep everybody safe. He is a great Vorchan.”

“Do you know where they are taking Eris?”

“No, but if you hurry you might be able to find out.”

–

–

Geryon awoke to panic and commotion. Lola was crying, Nazari was nowhere to be seen.

“Come with me!” he said automatically, beckoning for Lola to follow him. They skulked over to the commotion, hearing the voices more clearly now.

“Let him go!”

“You’re going to kill him!”

“Stop it! Whatever’s happened happened!” it was Lucas, sounding very distressed.

Geryon arrived in the clearing to see the most ferocious gaze he had ever encountered on a Vorchan. It was Luthera, her jaws were clamped around Percius, who was still struggling to escape. Blood was pouring from his wound, seeping down his neck and staining the soil below. Luthera would not let go.

Geryon could feel Lola hiding behind him. She peeked her head out, watching the violence. Geryon used a wing to block her line of sight. “You don’t have to see this.”

“What’s going on?” Geryon asked Nazari, who was a few winglengths from him.

“I don’t know. I think Percius tried to accost Luthera.” Nazari whispered.

Luthera’s ears perked up, and she glared straight at Nazari, not letting go of her hold around Percius’ neck. Nazari flinched, backing away apologetically.

“Luthera…” Geryon said automatically… calmly. He had dreamt of her too. In a light shades different from what was happening here, “We’re better than this.”

He was ashamed at how pleading his voice sounded.

She was staring straight at him with one of those razor blue eyes, blood running down her jaw line, barely noticeable on her red and black skin. Geryon stared back with pleading, empathetic eyes, he really didn’t want to see her like this, at the throat of another Vorchan.

She seemed to sense his thoughts, or maybe she was just getting tired, she started to loosen her grip around Percius’ throat, the blood that had been trapped in her fangs and mouth poured down onto the ground, splattering sickeningly.

Suddenly her countenance changed, she cried out in pain as Percius swiped at her underside with his rear legs. Within moments, it was Percius who was on top of her, going for her throat. She roared and bit with all her might, trying to keep Percius away, buck him off of her. But Percius persisted, pinning her legs with his legs, her wings with his wings. He licked her across the face with his tongue, and for a moment she began to give up, exhausted, tired of struggling against this creature. After all, it was her that had started it, her instincts had taken over when he had come too close, tried to be too friendly. Perhaps this was instinct too, this submission, this—

There was a loud explosion as a flameburst hit Percius in the side, knocking him off of her. She saw Geryon’s nostrils smoking.

“We’re better than this!” he roared, “All of us are.” he looked at Percius, who backed away, badly wounded from the bites and the burn.

“I did nothing to deserve that!” Percius hissed.

“You were on top of her!” Nazari yelled in Geryon’s defence.

“That was an instinct of self-preservation, she was at my throat!”

“And what did you do to deserve that?” Geryon asked.

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing!” Percius retorted.

“You know how Vulcans are!” Geryon continued.

Luthera scoffed but didn’t say anything. Her ferocious countenance had faded, she could barely stand now. She skulked away, over to Geryon, Nazari, and Lola.

“You’re all crazy!” Percius roared, walking away, Lucas following.

It was only an hour later when Percius had calmed down, his wounds tended to by Lucas. Nazari and Geryon had done what they could do to the scars on Luthera’s underside, which was absolutely nothing, both of them were terrified to come into contact with her now, knowing all too well how Vulcans reacted to intimacy.

It was only Lola that dared go close, nuzzling her, telling her everything would be alright. Luthera seemed to like the company of this younger Vorchan, she even licked back, smiled a few times.

“I used to be popular in my school.” she said idly. “Not very popular, mind you, just popular enough. I had friends, we would go out shopping. We’d buy colors and fake fangs and nails. We’d buy accessories and watch movies, read books.”

Geryon didn’t know what to say. Did she think she was the only one who lost everything?

“I never went to a proper school.” said Nazari. “Not a big school like yours anyways. I lived on a farm. When the trucks came my parents told me to hide in the forest, that they’d come find me when it was safer. I didn’t have many friends.”

They all seemed to look at Geryon now, wondering what he’d say. “I’m the same… to you – er – Luthera. I was also a school kid, had a few friends, a family. We lived in a nice building on the ocean side, to the west. Yeah…” he didn’t know what else to say. There was too much, but he didn’t want to bore them with his story.

“I’m not crazy…” Luthera muttered. “I don’t think I am. I don’t know what came over me.”

“What happened?” Nazari asked.

For a moment Geryon thought she’d actually say something, but her lips started to quiver and she blinked tears away from her eyes. Suddenly she was crying.

Neither of them knew what to do. Not even Lola knew what to do, she started to cry too. “I miss my mommy!” she wailed.

Geryon knew this couldn’t get any worse. He braced himself for the fangs, the deadly swipe of Vulcan claws as he came in closer to them, putting a wing on each of them. They both collapsed against him, sobbing wretchedly. It was his resolve that was fading now, he looked over at Nazari. They both had tears in their eyes. Nazari came over, and they all embraced each other, crying together.

–

–

The truck was a sanguine streak of vapour surrounding a crimson block. Apollo de-activated the IR filter, watching them move out a safe distance away. He had seen them put Eris on that truck, inside the bullet-proof case they used to carry prisoners of war.

“Argus, have your element secure our flanks. We’re following. I’ll take point.”

The truck traveled for countless hours, the sun had set and risen, and still they followed on, tired and worn. Finally, it stopped at a small village.

“A rest stop.” Metis suggested. He was Apollo’s wingman in this mission, one of the best Vorchans in his troop.

Apollo did an IFF scan behind him, seeing the flashing transponders of Argus and his wingman: Brehus. They were a fair distance back. He raised his wing, making the signal for the attack. Argus raised his wing in return, and they began flying towards the village at an angle. They would infiltrate it from the east, while Apollo snuck in from the south.

–

It was quiet outside, but Eris could smell something. A muffled scream. It ruffled her scales, she tried to break free of her shackles, break out of this cage, but it was no use. The darkness of her surroundings suddenly got to her. There were people outside, people coming to rescue her, she had to make noise, get their attention. She began rocking back and forth, trying to get the box to topple over. It was no use, her wings were bruised from the effort, she folded them back to her side, listening intently.

Gunshots, an alarm went off. Screaming.

A guttural roar. That wasn’t good. Something had gone wrong. She roared as loud as she could in return, biting at the metallic walls. Her fangs slipped off the composite material.

She stumbled, trying to balance herself with her wings as they started to move again, only to fall back onto her back, her wings a tangled mess. She tried to right herself but it was difficult with no bearings. There was a sudden sense of weightlessness and a loud clunk. She wasn’t moving anymore, she could hear the sound of the truck fading away in the distance.

She felt herself being lifted again. She knew this feeling, she was airborne.

–

Apollo was relieved to finally make it back to Haven. The three of them lowered the cage onto the engineering platform. Meokus immediately ran over to it, examining it with his equipment. Interesting, interesting. Meokus was a frail Vorchan, a Terran, as if that mattered anymore, the exoskeleton had become a part of him, giving him a metallic sheen in places. His eyes had been the first thing to start failing him, which he then augmented with implants. Nobody really knew his age.

“Interesting, interesting.” he said. Eyes darting from corner to corner. His wing had a scanner, he swept it over the fifth time, making sure the entire overlay was projected in his mind, as accurately as possible.

“Can you get her out?” Apollo asked.

“Don’t rush me don’t rush me… one moment…” An electrostatic discharge was emitted from his wing. It knocked Apollo and his flight back. Even the box seemed to have moved slightly. The only person unscathed was Meokus, who was still staring at the box intently, as if waiting for something.

“What the hell was that!” Apollo asked in anger.

“Hmm… that didn’t work.” Meokus observed. He bared his fangs, his composite teeth glinting. He bit into the edge of the box and sheared off a corner. “Ah! Composite type-1. I have composite type-5! Cheap Raumen these are!” he ripped apart the side of the box, and Eris emerged, tired and shaken.

Apollo immediately pushed Meokus aside and ran over to her, making sure she was alright.

“Oh Apollo!” she let him wrap his wings around her. “They were going to take me to Lexus!”

“It’s ok Eris… you’re fine now – did you say Lexus?”

Eris nodded. Apollo let her go, confiding with Metis. She knew that gait, she knew he had a plan.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“That truck – we killed the driver, yet it drove off with you anyways. It has an automatic redundancy program.”

“No, Apollo. It won’t work. They’ll realize the truck is compromised, it’ll never make it through the walls.”

“Meokus! The weapon!”

Meokus scurried off, nodding profusely.

“Apollo!”

“It’ll send a clear message!”

“They’ll intercept it before it even gets to Lexus! And then they’ll know our deadly intent, they won’t spare us then! They’ll bring in more soldiers.”

“Spare us?! You of all people know the fate that beholds those that are captured.”

Eris was reminded of what Martock had said.

“There are Vorchans in Lexus too.”

“As well as Raumen, millions of them!” There was a glint in Apollo’s eyes that Eris wasn’t all too comfortable with. “We can get the truck inside!” His mind was already racing. Eris looked away. “I can get the truck inside!”

Meokus mounted the weapon onto a hardpoint in the center of his exosuit, over his heart. Apollo felt its weight, he wouldn’t be able to carry anything else. He began to fly off immediately. Argus and Metis automatically followed.

Eris sighed and took up a formation on his left flank.

“No, you don’t even have an exosuit, you don’t have to come, Eris. You aren’t deployed. This is for Brehus.”

“We’re all probably going to die anyways. I’ll feel better knowing I did what I could to mitigate that chance.”

“Eris, you’re too kind!” Apollo replied, increasing his speed towards the truck.

–

Apollo glanced over at Eris whenever he could, curious. It wasn’t like her to come after him, especially without an exosuit. But then again he knew how powerful Vulcans were, even without the suit, all Vorchans were. All the suit really did was augment what they already had an abundance of, and – of course – the weapons hardpoints didn’t hurt either.

But Eris, sweet Eris, this wasn’t like her at all. He knew what Vulcans were like, though, he knew what this might be about.

Had she chosen him as a mate? Was the rescue the last gesture she needed? She had always been lenient to him, letting him tend to her wounds, not hissing or baring fangs, or slashing at him… not lately anyways. Other Vulcans he had to tend to more carefully, some he couldn’t even tend to at all, they had to tend to themselves. But Eris, Eris was always nicer.

Now he had his own decision to make, if this in fact was the truth behind the matter. Would he have asked her to be his mate. Or maybe she was just grateful. Eris was always honourable; she was merely paying him back for having saved her life. He was grateful to have her here with him. Maybe in another world, under different circumstances, he’d have been gifted with the pleasure of trying to win her over.

–

“A road?”

They noticed it past the treeline, immediately landing for fear of defences. Percius smelt it, pressed his ear up against it. “Something is coming.”

They all scurried for cover, hiding in bushes and behind trees.

Geryon found a nice bit of shrubbery behind a small ditch, and hid there. Luthera and Nazari followed him, taking up positions on either side of him and lying completely still. He couldn’t help but notice how Luthera didn’t seem to mind slight contact. Their paws were touching. It meant that whatever Percius had done to ignite her rage must have been extreme. He had initially thought Luthera had liked him, having stopped him from going airborne the day they all met.

What he must have done to break that trust… it sickened Geryon to think about it. But he knew it was easy for fantasy to concoct worse happenings than reality.

“I hear it.” Luthera said. Vulcans had very long ears, and hers were fully extended, the bristles vibrating slightly. One twitched as she caught the objects vector. It was impressive to see her ears seemingly triangulate the object off in the distance. “It’s still a while away. It sounds like a truck.”

Geryon was staring at her ears, only to be interrupted by the sharp gaze from her blue eyes. He was taken aback, and looked away. He thought he saw a smile in the corner of his eye.

“Is the truck bad?” Lola asked, barely audible, being as quiet as could be.

“I don’t know… I think we’re going to hide until it passes by.” Geryon said, trying to sound as calm and reassuring as possible.

“Look.” Nazari said, beckoning at the blobs off in the distance, a speck from here. “What is that?”

They all looked, but none of them could figure out what it was. “It’s getting closer.”

They watched the blobs converge with the truck.

“Vorchans!” Luthera hissed in excitement.

One of the Vorchans was massive, a Terran undoubtedly, with powerful claws and an exosuit that carried a large device on his stomach. He landed next to the truck. Another landed in front of it, a smaller Vorchan with a bleeping device mounted on his wing.

“Vorchans! You can reveal yourselves. We mean you no harm.” said the Terran.

“Get away from that vehicle!” Percius exclaimed. “It’ll transmit a signal!”

“Argus here is jamming it.” said the Terran, motioning towards the Vorchan that had landed in front of the truck. “My name is Apollo. I am the leader of the first fleet.”

“I am Percius, director of homeland security.”

“What city were you based out of?” Apollo asked.

“Lexus.” Percius replied proudly.

“Interesting. You have family there?”

“I did. They were taken away…”

“I’m sorry. Interestingly, we are on a mission that is taking us there. It is imperative that we get this truck through the city walls.” the Vorchan was already installing the device from his stomach onto the back of the truck.

“How?” Percius asked, “They will intercept us immediately.”

“They won’t. Meokus created a jamming field that will disguise it as a drone to their security system. Nobody will take a second glance at it.”

“And how will you conceal yourselves? Visually you don’t look too Raumen.”

“Inside the truck.” Apollo said.

“But it can’t—“

“I’ll be the only one going.” Apollo continued, taking Metis’ jamming field.

“No!” cried a Vorchan. It was another Vulcan on the other side of the truck, she wasn’t wearing an exosuit. “It’s suicide.”

“I need to make sure Lexus falls. If I destroy their equipment there, and possibly the koverans with them… then they might find this venture unprofitable and leave us be.”

The other Vorchan was nuzzling him now, tears in her eyes. “Don’t do it…” she whispered.

He wrapped a wing around her. “I have to.” he said with finality, and a sigh. “In another world, Eris.”

“It doesn’t have to be another world! Don’t throw your life away.”

“I’m not. The weapon has a timer. I’ll have a chance to escape.”

“Then I’ll increase those chances!”

“The truck can’t fit both of us…”

“You’ll come back.” Eris said.

“I will!” Apollo said, with determination. “Argus, you have command of the fleet until I return.”

“I will see you soon, my friend.” Argus said, giving him his hardpoints: An autocannon, a gauss rifle, two missiles, a set of rocket pods, explosives… Geryon stared in awe at the arsenal. Damn right he’d be coming back, armed to the teeth.

They nodded to each other, and Metis moved out of the way, letting the truck dodder on, with Apollo and the weapon inside.

“Eris…” Luthera said.

“Luthera?” Eris asked, surprised. The grief seemed to fade from her face as memories of the past resurfaced, “Luthera!” she exclaimed, embracing her. “I thought you were dead!”

“It’s nice to see you, Eris. And I like your catch, one hulk of a Vorchan, if anyone can make it back, he can!”

“I know, thanks. He is great isn’t he?”

“He’s amazing.”

He really was amazing, Geryon couldn’t help but envy Apollo, clad in armour and weapons, off on a dire adventure to save the Vorchans. He wanted to almost say he himself was amazing too! To show himself off to Luthera – he wasn’t completely sure why…

–

–

Haven was a place of great commotion. Geryon couldn’t help but notice the array of weapons being brought to and fro. Eris had left their side to speak with Argus in private, undoubtedly about Apollo. Luthera almost followed, but shied away when Argus looked at her in bewilderment, as if what they were talking about was classified for mere civilians like themselves.

Civilian or not, the soldiers were still friendly. They were assigned quarters in the lower tiers of the cave, three small rooms they could spread out amongst themselves as they pleased.

Percius and Lucas immediately staked out one of the rooms and left the rest of them alone. Percius seemed bothered by something, ever since the encounter with Apollo he hadn’t been his arrogant self.

“What do you think his problem is?” Geryon asked.

“I don’t know.” Nazari muttered. “What should we do? It’s dawn and we haven’t eaten yet.”

“We should hunt!” Luthera exclaimed.

While having food brought to you was an option in this civilized world, hunting was still something all Vorchans enjoyed. There was no pollution on this planet, animal life was abundant. It was one of the things that made it different from a Vorchan Empire world. Their president here had outlawed dirty technology, preferring a more arboreal lifestyle.  It was probably why they were toppled so easily by the Raumen. They had no ships up top to defend them, no factories that churned out weapons and defences.

Geryon jumped when Luthera nipped at his tail. “Are you awake? I’m hungry!” The flare in her eyes had returned.

“You want me to come?” Geryon asked, surprised.

“I want all of you to come. We’ll be safer together.”

Geryon looked over at Lola. “Lola’s too young to keep up.”

“She kept up with us so far pretty well.” Nazari observed.

“Yeah – on my back!” Geryon exclaimed.

“I can follow!” Lola exclaimed, “I can keep up! Mother always said I was strongest. I once caught an entire Durandel on my own!”

“A whole Durandel?” Luthera asked, sceptical.

“Uh-huh.”

“Fine, Durandel slayer, you can come.”

Lola whooped with glee, jumping on Geryon’s back. “Let’s go!”

“Lola… I don’t think I can—“

“You aren’t strong enough to carry that nimble little thing?” Luthera asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

“I can carry her!” Geryon replied reflexively. “Let’s go! No big deal!”

“Great!” Luthera burst out of the cave, the gang following behind her, everyone except for Lucas and Percius.

–

–

It had been Eris’ idea, following the truck’s trail. Argus couldn’t give up his duties at the camp, but he had Metis accompany them, as well as Lucas and Percius, who had been trained in small arms combat in their homeland security posting.

“It’s been a while since I’ve worn one of these.” Percius said, flexing his exosuit. He brought targeting blips to bear on the other Vorchans, testing the mechanisms, watching the cannons spool up and spool down again, the missiles arm and disarm. He wasn’t quite sure how the gauss gun worked, he didn’t really want to try it yet.

“Just like being back at the academy.” Lucas said, flying alongside him. They were flying under their own power, but they all had an hour’s worth of jet fuel in case they had to really soar. Metis was out ahead, watching for the truck’s trail.

Percius had lied about his family. They weren’t gone, they were at Lexus, and the fact that there was a bomb on its way there now worried him. He wasn’t completely sure what he would do about it, but he would have to do something.

He didn’t tell anyone yet. Not even Lucas, though he suspected Lucas knew. Lucas was always the smart one. It was Luthera, he said to himself in justification. That was why he had lied. He didn’t want her to know about his family, to make him appear disloyal. But he had thought he would never see them again, he had been ready to move on. It was a shame Luthera hadn’t accepted him, he wasn’t sure why, she didn’t seem the type to have a mate this early in her life. He winced at the scars that still hadn’t healed, they burnt like embers against his neck.

“Patrol” Metis transmitted. They were still a kilometre away, well out of range with the jammer pod active. They circled around it, continuing onwards. They wanted to save their ammunition for when it was truly needed, for when Apollo’s truck was discovered. None of them were sure how close to Lexus they would be able to get before the enemy radar was simply too strong, but for the moment the radar warning receivers weren’t giving any array blips.

A fighter would fly by occasionally, its sensor lazily washing over them, dismissing the four signatures, not bothering to do an IFF sweep. The fighters had other things to worry about, Eris knew that. Though she wasn’t quite sure what, it wasn’t like there were any hostile fighters about. In fact, you’d think that’s all the fighters here did… look for things on the ground.

“We have to take cover.” Eris said.

“Why?”

“Didn’t you pick up the fighter?”

“A passive scan.”

“Yeah, it’ll come around, I’m sure of it.”

There was another blip on their RWR, this time Metis received it too. He beckoned for Percius and Lucas to take cover. They hid by the ruins of a small building. The walls were still intact but the roof was missing. It was right by a road, possibly an information booth of some sort, or maybe a small motel. It was hard to tell, everything had been incinerated.

A sonic boom as the fighter flew by overhead, unseen but heard. There were no blips from the radar this time.

“It knows we’re here.” Eris whispered, as if it would help.

Metis activated one of the serpent missiles, setting it to anti-air mode and giving it an IR seeker profile. “Just in case.”

He took a few steps away from the ruins, scanning for something, anything.

The world around him erupted in spall as bullets dug their way into the soil and his armour. The targets he saw were immediately copied over to the rest of their targeting computers and they automatically lifted off and began engaging the blips with their autocannons, laying down a barrage of suppressive fire.

Percius’ heart was racing, he had never been in live combat before. He watched the vector lines line up with the datalinked targets and used his own image discrimination programs to locate the Raumen. He instinctively charged up the gauss rifle, firing an explosive projectile out towards one of the figures. It exploded in an IR splatter of white and black a few moments later. Percius laughed with glee. Suddenly, a round hit him, his suit warnings blared, something dragged him, pulling him to cover.

He found himself lying against the wall next to Metis’, who was groaning in pain. Eris told him to stay put, she flew off again.

Lucas still hadn’t been hit. It surprised her, he was dodging the rounds with an instinct that very few civilians had. Trajectory analysis routines could only go so far, they still relied on one’s own mental prowess. The enemies stopped firing; the fighter was nowhere to be seen. She activated a sensor pulse, doing a scan that went out to a hundred nautical miles. There was something inbound, obviously. No other reason they’d stop firing.

“Time to go.” Eris said.

It was Metis who was the worst off, but Lucas helped him on his feet, and the four of them began flying northwards, towards the truck and away from the barrage.

It landed several minutes later, a hail of fire and smoke that blotted out the sun and covered them in filth. The sonic booms from the explosions felt as if they were right on top of them, knocking them down, making their ears bleed. The barrage lasted for fifteen seconds, but to Eris it had felt like an eternity.

“Is everyone alright?” she asked.

“Just fine.” Percius said. There was a gash in his armour, but no blood. She queried his exosuit’s processor for a damage report. The entire right plate had been penetrated, but the bullet had stopped just short of his shoulder.

“They aren’t too conservative with those artillery strikes.” Lucas observed.

“It’s a good thing you brought the active scanner.” Metis coughed. He wasn’t looking too good, his armour had been destroyed in several places, there was quite a bit of blood, though he had flown this far.

“We have to get you back to Haven.” Eris said.

“I’m fine—“

“Nonsense.” Eris said, looking him over. He needed medical treatment, while the damage wasn’t permanent, he risked infection out here, and with most of his armour gone, he wouldn’t survive another barrage.

Percius snuck over to Lucas, whispering in his ear, “Take him back to Haven.”

“Why?” Lucas asked, “This is fun—“

“Do as I say!” he hissed.

Lucas looked over at Eris, then back at his superior. “She does look like Luthera…”

“That has nothing to do with it!” Percius snapped, his blue skin turning red, “I still have family on Lexus.”

“Oh no…”

“Yes. I have to stop this bomb.”

Lucas seemed divided for a moment.

“Who was there for you when you needed that promotion? Who accepted you into class three without even batting an eye?”

Lucas nodded, “I understand, old friend. I’ll keep them away. Do what you have to do.”

“I knew I could count on you. I’ll be back.” Percius said.

Lucas flew over to Eris, offering to take Metis back.

–

It was just Percius and Eris now, on their way to the bomb. She really did look like Luthera.

“So how do you and Luthera know each other?” Percius asked. They had been traveling for quite a while now, stopping only to hide from patrols, much more cautious now than before. He had built up quite a bit of trust with her in the past few hours. She was obviously more impressed in him than Luthera was, but then again, even Luthera had cared for him, somewhat, not wanting him to risk himself against the air defences.

“Arts and sciences. We both went to the same college.”

“How did you end up here? Why didn’t she follow you?”

“She was always the more timid one.” Timid? Percius remembered how her fangs cut across his neck, “Preferring to do things by the book, follow the rules. When the attack started she disappeared, running back home to her parents. They were taken away three days later, when the city was invaded. I thought they had all been killed, or sold off to slavery.”

“I tried to save her!” Eric exclaimed, “After I heard what happened. Apollo…” the name struck her, she stopped talking for a moment.

“He means a lot to you?” Percius asked.

She nodded, continuing, “Apollo and I went back to look for survivors, to see if I could save my friends, my parents… but there was nobody, the city was deserted, they had taken everyone.”

“That’s when the rumours started.” she stopped walking now, engrossed in her story, “About how our body parts were being sold, how we were being sold as slaves to the outer rim inhabitants, people willing to have us as pets…”

“Barbaric…” Percius said soothingly. It would be difficult to accost her if she’d already chosen a mate. The moment he would even hint at anything beyond friendship, her Vulcan instinct could take over and he could be at the sharp end of a pair of incisors again.

It surprised him that he was even thinking of such things at the moment. But everybody coped differently… and she would have to be killed. Killed! The thought terrified him, he had never killed before, but logically he had no other alternative. But if he killed he could do other things, he would be past the point of no return. But how could he see his wife and kids again after what he’d done? He never would anyways. They would be prisoners on Lexus forever, all he could do was make sure the city stayed intact, in the hope that their lives as prisoners would be better than the fate that awaited them if this bomb arrived. But if the bomb detonated, and Apollo’s plan was a success… the war could be over, and if he somehow managed to get his family out…

It was impossible. How could he possibly get them out? Getting in would be one thing… via the truck! But getting out? He would have to be mad… but Apollo had said the jammer pod would make him invisible, and that the truck would arrive as a drone, uninteresting to all senses.

He now knew what he had to do.

–

–

Geryon had caught his first crawler less than an hour into the flight. It was a small, four legged creature, only a mouthful, really. He wasn’t sure what to do with it. His instincts told him to offer it to Luthera. He put it down between them.

Lola immediately leapt off his back and pounced on the dying creature, clamping its neck the way Luthera had Percius’.

“So…” Nazari wasn’t sure if he should ask. Geryon shook his head, glaring at him.

“What?” Luthera asked.

“What did he do to deserve that?” Nazari asked, beckoning at Lola, who was already ripping off strips of the creatures flesh, having suffocated it.

Luthera shook her head, “That’s none of your business.”

“Did he—“

“Shut up Nazari.” Geryon snapped.

“No.” Luthera replied, “You’d think it would be something horrible. That he did something unforgivable…”

“It doesn’t matter what he did. It’s none of our business.” Geryon said.

“…but he didn’t, it wasn’t anything really. It was just… I don’t know. I liked him, I really did. But his smell… it was his smell. I didn’t trust it. Every instinct told me to back off, to get him to back away, but he didn’t. I told him to but he didn’t. I warned him! I really did!”

Neither of them said anything, watching her.

“I’m not crazy!” she yelled.

“Did you have a mate? Was that why you got so defensive?” Nazari persisted.

“I’ll tell you what, Naz. Catch me something and I’ll tell you! Same goes for you, Geryon! I’ll give you a secret for food.”

Geryon really didn’t feel like being part of her little game. “Do you think that just because you were popular in high school that you can push us guys around like toys?”

Nazari was about to fly off when he froze, wincing for Geryon, shaking his head, beckoning for him to back away from her, to shut up.

“What?” she asked quietly, her voice carrying a razor sharp edge.

“Just that…” he faltered for a moment, but picked himself back up again, “You seem to think you can just have us do whatever we want for you just because you’re a girl. We’ve seen girls before you know. We might even have mates! How would you know? Did you even care to consider that?”

“I just thought…” Luthera looked truly hurt, “That’s not what I meant at all! I—he—“ She flew off.

“Look what you did.” Nazari said.

Geryon felt like an idiot.

“You should apologize…”

“No!” Geryon said. “I’m right! Who does she think she is! She nearly killed Percius, and I defended her, and why? Because she’s attractive, that’s the only reason. She used me to save herself! She never even thanked me. And now she’s obsessed with this Apollo character. It’s not fair.”

Nazari began to laugh, “So that’s what this is about!”

“What?”

“You’re just jealous!”

“I’m not jealous!” he blushed.

“Yes you are! We’re in the middle of a warzone! Our home is being invaded, and all you can think about is winning over Luthera, the psycho Vulcan!”

“She’s not a psycho!” Geryon roared.

Nazari flinched, pressing his ears against the side of his head. “Of course not.” he said snidely. “Of course not.”

“Why am I still defending her, argh!”

“You’re in looove.” Nazari sang.

“No I’m not! Don’t tell her! Things are screwed up enough as is!”

“Definitely. You should bring her some food. Catch her something nice. Food is the first step you know.”

“To what?”

“To mating!” Nazari couldn’t hold in his laugher, he was on his back now.

“It’s not that funny.”

“Luthera… and you?!”

Now he was getting hurt. “What’s wrong with me?”

“You’re no Apollo!”

These were the most dreaded things anyone had said to him, but they were his own fears, and hearing them from his friend made it seem alright. He suddenly felt okay with the idea of not being Apollo, relief washed over him. He smiled, “That’s alright, Nazari. I don’t have to be Apollo. And I don’t have to win her over. Just don’t tell her anything. I don’t even know if I like her, you’re exaggerating.”

“Love’s a mysterious thing. It’s okay.”

“Geryon loves Luthera… Geryon loves Luthera…” it was Lola, she started to hum it to a love theme.

“Lola!” Geryon said, laughing.

“I won’t tell. I promise, cross my heart!”

“I don’t—ok, maybe a little.”

–

–

Luthera hated them. It was high school all over again. She was never popular, never one of the girls. Always an outcast. She and Eris were the only Vulcans in the entire grade. Everybody knew what they were like, everybody was afraid of them. All she had ever wanted was to be accepted, but her instincts were too different, it set her apart from the rest of them. The only person that ever understood her was Eris.

Oh how she wished there were other Vulcans around, others that understood her too. Vorchans she could actually get along with.

She would go back to Haven. She had to speak to Eris about this. She would know what to do.

–

–

“We weren’t actually that popular.” Eris laughed. She was beginning to like this Arctic Vorchan. He wasn’t like the others. He was very wise… very calm. There was an alluring quality to him. She reminded him of Apollo. That cold determination. But he was the opposite, he was so warm. Arctic Vorchans were so warm, even at this distance she could feel the heat emanating from him. Dare she go any closer? She did, side by side with him now, wingtips touching.

“Tell me about it. Neither was I. I was quite the geek back in high school. Anything below ninety was a failure for me. It was the only way to get accepted into the CIB.”

“You wanted to be intelligence? An agent?” Eris asked. She noticed Percius had overlapped a bit of his wing with hers. An instinct told her to attack him, but she shrugged it off, and pretended they were mates for a moment, satiating her insecurities.

“Aye, I did. It was my dream since I was a pup. But I got distracted, my grades dropped.”

“Homeland security isn’t that bad.”

“It’s a cushy job. Definitely pays the bills. Kept us safe. At least until the attack.” he said, looking away. He backed off slightly, breaking physical contact.

She followed intently, staying close to him, “Tell me what happened!” she asked empathetically.

“It was horrible. I tried to stop them but I alone was no match for half a dozen armoured soldiers.” He beckoned at the scars around his neck. “They almost got me.”

“That’s horrible! You poor thing.” she licked his wound, once, and stopped herself, surprised that she’d gotten this close this quickly.

“You’re too kind. It’s never had the time to fully heal.”

Eris looked into his eyes, “I can help with that.” She went back to licking his wound. Percius stopped walking, closing his eyes, moaning pleasantly.

“Oh it’s been so long since I’ve been touched there. Losing her was such a horrible burden.”

Eris’ instinct made her cringe. Inside, she was grateful his mate was dead, grateful that she had him all to herself.

–

–

“With Percius?!” Luthera asked, surprised.

“Why? What’s wrong with that?” Argus asked.

“Nothing… I don’t think so anyways, but I need to speak with her, do you know the way she went?”

“That’s classified.”

“Ok, fine, you want to know the truth?”

Luthera led Argus into his private chambers, she made sure nobody else was listening. “I think Eris is in danger.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t trust Percius. I didn’t trust him since the day we met. It’s his smell, something about him isn’t right.”

“I can’t go around prosecuting people based on smell.”

“Look. Eris is a good friend of mine. I need to make sure she’s alright. Let me go to her.”

–

Argus finally agreed, if not reluctantly, and Luthera set off for the co-ordinates, she wouldn’t have made it in time, but Argus gave her a thruster kit, it would close the distance between them fast, very fast.

All she had was a five minute demo on how the equipment worked, attached to an exoskeleton she had never used before.

–

“Where is Luthera?” Lucas asked.

“She went after Eris.” Argus told him.

“What?” Lucas coughed.

“Why?”

“I… err..”

“What is it? If she’s in danger speak now.”

“It’s just that… I don’t trust her. I didn’t trust her from the day we met, I think she might be trying to sabotage us…”

This was becoming interesting, Argus thought to himself.

“Can I go?”

“No.” Argus said, deciding to trust his sense of smell as well.

–

–

He had never felt such pleasure, Percius realized. It had been so long since he’d lain down with a Vorchan. It hadn’t been hard to get her out of the exosuit, and now they were all over each other, nuzzling contently, ready for more, when… low and behold…

“Eris!” Luthera yelled.

Eris slid out from below Percius, enraged. “What do you want!” she yelled back.

Percius was already putting his exosuit back on.

Luthera landed in the clearing, looking at them cautiously. “Why are you out of your suits…”

“That’s none of your business. Why did you come here!”

“Oh you didn’t…”

“Oh maybe I did… Percius and I—“ but before she could finish her sentence, a Gauss round cut through her skull. The sudden splatter of blood and gore surprised even Percius. He had gone past the point of no return. Luthera’s scream resonated across the skies, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE”

He brought the gauss cannon to bear on Luthera. “I’m sorry.”

He fired, Luthera dodged, the Gauss round cutting into the ground below her, kicking up a cloud of debris that engulfed both of them, blinding his sensors.

She bit and slashed savagely.

Percius’ world was a cloud of fangs and incisors now, his suit blunted the impacts, and he struck out with his wing. Luthera shrieked in pain, getting knocked back by the hydraulic force of a thousand years of engineering. Percius swooped over her, fire in his eyes.

“This time.” he said to himself. “This time, there’s no Geryon to save you.”

He entwined his augmented tail around hers, pinned her wings down with his augmented wings, held her arms down with his reinforced arms.

It was too late now. He’d get his pleasure out of her and then get to the truck, kill Apollo, take his jammer pod, disable the bomb, hide in the truck, and rescue his family. Nobody would ever know what he did.

Maybe he was going too far… no, it was too late for regrets now, he had committed murder… there was no turning back.

Luthera’s tail was extremely sharp, it cut into his right flank, drawing blood, but his tail was still entwined around hers, it couldn’t have been her tail.

He was hit again, this time it knocked him several feet back. He was on his back now. He spun around, onto his feet. “Geryon!” he roared. Targeting vectors lit up, an array of pippers made their way over to Geryon’s body, he unleashed hell.

Geryon returned fire, his autocannon rounds intercepting his rockets, his trajectory analysis routines dodging the flurry of bullets that were impacting around him. He blindly fired away with everything on his exosuit. Within thirty seconds, the area around him and Percius was crater ridden, a wasteland. He looked over at Luthera, she was still breathing. She should have asked for a suit.

A gauss round hit him, it cut into his right shoulder and exploded behind him, knocking him forward, he cried out, stalling and crashing down into the floor below them.

“Take care of Lola.” he had said to Nazari, putting her on his back. “Make sure she’s safe, in case something happens to me.”

“You’ll be fine, Geryon.” He looked at his wound, saw the blood seeping into the ash below him. Percius loomed over him, an angel of death, the gauss cannon trained on his head.

“It wasn’t supposed to explode behind you. I must have set the timer incorrectly. This is the last time you interrupt me, Geryon. Goodbye.”

“No!” Luthera shrieked.

But it was too late, Percius had already initiated the firing sequence, the gauss gun charged, reached for a round, and sent out an agonizing click.

Geryon didn’t have to be a soldier to know that sound. He lunged before a fresh clip loaded, clamping his jaws around Percius’ throat. The suit protected the carotid arteries, but he was still able to hold him down, for a second, before Percius struck back, knocking Geryon several dozen feet back. Geryon recovered, getting a hang of his exosuit quickly, he extended his wings, unleashing a second rocket barrage.

Percius responded with his own. They both broke through the cloud of shrapnel, visors cracked, fangs at each other’s throats.

“You think you stand a chance, Geryon?” Percius scoffed, striking at him with his tail.

Geryon cried out as it hit a location not guarded by the armour, digging into his skin. Geryon responded by slashing at Percius’ face instinctively with his claws, knocking the helmet from his head.

There was nothing but rage in Percius’ eyes, that same old cold determination.

Geryon aimed for his face and let out a master fire command, everything clicked, everything was empty.

“Ha!” Percius laughed. One of his autocannons began to spool up, unleashing a barrage of kinetic shells at him.

They hit him like a hailstorm, knocking him several feet back. His armour began to fail, the kinetic shells cut into his skin, he cried out in pain.

He was on the verge of unconsciousness, sprawled over on his back, the suit was unleashing a cacophony of alerts and warnings, completely useless. The automatic release activated, and the exosuit released its grip from his wings and body. He felt naked now, Percius grabbed him with the pincers on his exowings.

“I’ll tear you limb from limb, and then I’ll have my way with your mate there! One final act of evil won’t make a difference, not in a world as doomed as this one!”

Geryon could feel his tendons giving way, tears welled up in his eyes, the pain would be unbearable, he didn’t know what to do, if only he was a little closer, if only he was close enough for him to lash out.

Suddenly a pair of jaws clamped around Percius’ now-exposed neck.

“Luthera!”

Percius began to flail his exowings wildly, Geryon hit the ground multiple times, he felt bones break, he was finally let go, his world a smear of darkness and pain.

“I’m not stopping this time!” Luthera hissed beneath clenched teeth. She bit harder than she ever thought she could, the adrenaline fuelling her rage.

She didn’t know how long it took. She had stopped being aware of the situation consciously, it was too much to take in. Eventually the blood began to taste like water, and soon there had been none left. No blood, no struggling, no warm breaths across her tongue.

She wanted to keep her jaws around him indefinitely, to make sure he’d never get up, but then Geryon entered her mind, how he’d been thrown across the field like a ragdoll.

“Geryon!” she cried. Letting go of Percius’ lifeless body and rushing over to her saviour.

“Oh Geryon! Are you alright?”

His wings were torn, but he was moving, breathing.

She looked him over. Lapping up the blood, disinfecting the wounds.

“It stings, what are you doing?”

“Disinfecting the wounds.”

“Ha. Ow—“

“You’ll be alright.” Luthera said, stopping to look over at Eris’ lifeless body, or what was left of it. She felt sick. She had to throw up, she flew off, retching in a gauss round crater. She took a few steps and collapsed, shivering.

“Luthera!” It was Geryon by her side now.

“They killed her. They killed my poor Eris… why…” the words came out long and slurred, between sobs.

Geryon pressed his face against her cheek, nuzzling her tightly. “It’ll be alright. We’re alright. We’ll head back.”

“No.” she shook her head. “We have to see her wishes through. We have to make sure Apollo makes it to the city.”

“But we don’t have exosuits, we don’t know the truck’s vector.”

Luthera looked over at the exosuit Eris had taken off. It was almost undamaged.

“Take it, then. If this is how you want to end this.” Geryon said dejectedly.

“It’s not an end. It’s a beginning! Once the bomb goes off, we’ll have the upper hand, and we can push these Raumen off our planet.”

“You’re such a dreamer.” he said, cheek pressed against hers. He didn’t want this moment to end.

“Eris always said that too.” she replied, kissing him. “Let’s go.”

“Already?”

“Unless you want to do something else?”

Her implications made his entire body match her color. “Right, let’s go.”

They limped onwards.

–

–

“Heavy weapons fire. There.” reported Enzo, Martock’s tactical officer. He was aboard the Kahless overseeing the invasion.

“Get me a clearer image, I want to see what’s going on down there.”

“It isn’t ours. We have no units in that area.”

He saw a crater, but there were no Vorchans in the area, none that his ship could see from up here. There was too much smoke and debris.

“Ready a strike team, I need to know what that was.” Martock declared.

“Yes sir.”

–

–

The journey was long and difficult. Luthera expected others to arrive to check up on them. But there was nobody, no hostiles, no friendlies. Geryon stopped, collapsing against a tree.

“A few minutes…” he gasped.

Luthera landed beside him, making sure his wounds weren’t infecting. There were a lot of cuts, but they weren’t that deep. It must have been very painful. Oh how he’d suffered for her. If anything made him worthy, it was that.

“You should go on. You’ll never get to Apollo with me slowing you down.” panted Geryon. “I’ll find my way back.”

“No.” But Geryon was right. They wouldn’t catch up to the truck at this pace. She had to choose, but the choice wasn’t difficult, she had already made her decision.

“We’ll head back. Together.” she said.

He was about to thank her when they were interrupted by the sound of a sonic boom, a large craft shot by ahead of them, it was coming around.

“Has it seen us?” Geryon asked.

“I don’t know, the RWR hasn’t said anything for hours.”

“Is it on?” Geryon asked.

Luthera laughed, but checked the power indicator anyways. It was off. “Yeah, of course it is.” she lied. How could she be so stupid?

“Then we’re fine. Let’s head back.”

“Yeah, sure.” she said.

They would die like this, she could feel the plane’s cannons lining up on them, readying their volley. It was a fitting death, together. It would be quick… she hoped.

She didn’t want to die.

“Eris!” yelled a man, almost ecstatic. He was waving from the craft that silently hovered over them.

Luthera didn’t know what to do, she stared meekly.

“I saw the battle back there. Impressive. That’s twice you’ve escaped. I continue to underestimate you.”

She grinned.

“I wish you the best of luck in the war.” he tipped his hat. “I wish all my adversaries were as fearless and valiant as you!”

And with that, the ship was gone.

–

They met Argus halfway back to Haven. He was with Lucas.

“What happened?” Argus asked.

“We were attacked.” she said, eyes fixed on Percius’ friend. He was unarmed, but she put targeting pippers on him anyways.

“By who?” Argus asked.

Her exosuit was blaring at her, warning her of the laser designator fixed on her body from Argus’ suit. He was targeting her.

“Percius.”

“They’re lying!” Lucas hissed.

“I’m sorry, Luthera, but we’re going to have to place you two under arrest. De-activate the exosuit.”

She couldn’t believe this. She de-activated the exo-suit, slipping out of it obediently. Argus grabbed her with a pincer from the exowings. It terrified her and she lunged at him.

“Right, you’re a Vulcan.” Argus said, understanding. “Stay ahead of us where we can see you, then. We’ll get to the bottom of what really happened, I assure you. There will be justice.”

Argus inputted a few commands into the inactive exosuit and it folded itself into a neat block. He grabbed it with the pincer on his right wing.

Justice. Luthera scoffed at the thought. The past hour had held the happiest and most horrible moments of her life. Nothing Argus could do now could change that.

She stayed close to Geryon as they were escorted back to Haven.

–

It was surprisingly nice to see Lola and Nazari again, but a shame to be meeting them in these shackles, and behind a cell door.

“What did you do?” Nazari asked.

“I won her over. Like you said I should.” Geryon said with a grin.

“And it got you arrested?”

“Oh, this. A slight mix up.” Geryon explained what happened.

“Will they believe you?” Nazari asked.

“I don’t know. I hope so.”

“I have faith in Argus, and I’ll testify in your defence, we both will.”

“Thanks. Do you know where Luthera is?”

“Another cell, farther down. She’s alright. Very happy.”

“That’s good. I’m glad she’s happy.”

–

–

It was time. It was daybreak when Apollo finally arrived. The truck had entered the city without a hitch.

He began to spool up his thrusters. He would set it for thirty seconds, at mach one that would be enough to clear the city in time. He armed the HARMs, anti-radiation missiles. He had two. He set them to engage any radar array that locked him on his escape. He loaded the serpent’s targeting parameters with the silhouettes of common anti-air defences, and ordered them to acquire and fire the moment the master arm was triggered. He programmed a defensive sweep pattern into the autocannons, and gave his gauss cannon the targeting parameters for infantry armed with anti-air defences.

He activated the device.

Thirty seconds.

He broke the door open with his wings.

Twenty nine: With one flap of his wings, he was airborne, he activated the thrusters.

Twenty seven: He triggers the master arm. Radar systems begin to burn through his jammer pod, the HARM missiles engage them.

Twenty five: The gauss cannon and serpent missiles acquire targets, they begin engaging targets.

Twenty seconds: He thinks of Eris, watches the autocannons suppress the area below him.

Fifteen: He’s out of HARM missiles, more radars are targeting him, the jammer pod is useless, they’ve discovered its frequency, he discards it for more speed.

Thirteen: The first missile explodes by him, cutting into his armour, he spins out of control. He jettisons the empty racks off of his wings for streamlining and forces himself back into the air.

Nine seconds: The second missile hits him, he’s almost clear of the blast radius, he falls to the ground just outside the calculated blast radius. Soldiers are moving in on him now, prowlers and marauder gunships are flocking around him like agitated wasps.

“Hands and wings in the air! Drop your weapons! Martock will have questions about—“

Zero seconds: Apollo activates the blast visor, it shields his retinas from the nuclear explosion. He digs his claws in the soil and wraps his wings around himself.

–

He regains consciousness an undefined amount of time later. Something’s wrong, it’s dark. Bio-warnings are flashing in his neural visions. His lifesigns are failing, how long had he been unconscious? He tries to get up but his legs give way. He collapses to the ground.

He’s dying, he was too close.

“Oh Eris. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Apollo.”

–

They had rushed to Ground Zero after the trial, the bomb had gone off right as Geryon and  Luthera had been declared innocent.

Argus shook his head, there was nothing they could do for the fearless commander but alleviate his pain. Too much damage had been done. While Vorchans were relatively immune to radiation, the nuclear blast, coupled with the concussion wave itself, had been too much for his defences to handle. A lesser Vorchan would have died instantly.

–

“Eris… I never told you…”

“Shh, you don’t have to tell me anything.” Luthera said. It was the least she could do for Eris, for him.

“But I do… you’re so beautiful, Eris.”

It was dark, and Apollo’s visor had stopped working countless hours ago.

“Thanks.” Luthera said, tears escaping her eyes.

“Oh don’t cry, my precious Eris. How I love you. In another world, Eris. In another world we could have …”

“You’ve already given me everything I ever wanted. You saved my life. You cared for me. You were there when nobody else was. You understood.” Luthera couldn’t stop crying. The words that were meant for Geryon were his too, it was what Eris would have said.

Apollo closed his eyes, exhaling calmly.

Luthera didn’t know what else to do. She stared at the dead Vorchan for a while, they all did. Then Argus covered the body, and put him into their transport. The other soldiers saluted.

They buried him next to Eris the next morning. Everyone attended the funeral.

Everyone.

Martock took the stand.

Everyone gasped when they saw the Marauder; they hadn’t seen him step out of it. He was before them now, a grin on his face.

“Well done, all of you. The bomb irradiated the koveran shards. They are now back in beemspace where they belong.” He sighed, he looked older. “They were what I came here for. So I see no more reason to continue this war. I thought I’d tell you all in person, most of the commanders are here anyways. Ha – at first I considered just bombing you all, but then I’d have killed poor Eris.” He turned to Luthera. “I’m sorry for your loss. Maybe we’ll see each other again someday.”

Martock grabbed a near-transparent wire and was gone, hoisted up into his ship.

It flew off into the sunrise.