Chapter Text
Hunter looked through the glass canopy of the Marauder, searching intently along with Tech and Echo for their escort. The Marshall Commander had been clear about that step; wait for them and do not attempt to approach the surface of the planet without them. The reason why was unclear.
According to Tech, this planet chose to remain relatively advanced-technology free, meaning that they did use comms and datapads, but turned down ships and any plasma-based weapon. It was odd but not unheard of. It also didn't explain why the clones were forbidden to approach without a native escort.
Surely, without any high-technology, the ship could not be shot down, the planet was affiliated with the Republic so the locals would not attack them as soon as they stepped out, their presence was planned days ago and so they would not be surprised of the Batch's arrival.
Even Tech's encyclopedic mind and seemingly endless databank couldn't make sense of it. He told them the planet was inhabited by a high variety of highly dangerous animals of all kinds; swimming, walking, flying, venomous, stealthy, all more dangerous than the previous one. However, they could be as deadly as they wanted, the clones aboard the ship were trained elite commandos equipped with pretty decent artillery. Those animals had no chance whatsoever against them.
They nonetheless followed their orders and remained into the stratosphere until their comm received a transmission. Still, Hunter couldn't spot any escort in the clear blue sky.
"So you're the clone ship?" A cheery, female voice rang through the line as soon as Echo accepted the incoming call.
"We are. We were told to wait for an escort, is that you?" The Sergeant inquired, eyes still looking for any sign of the woman's ship. Again, he remained clueless of your position. Even the radar remained clear.
"The one and only!" Crosshair came over and rolled his eyes at your enthusiastic tone.
Then you finally came into view from their side. Hunter was not the only one shocked to see you ride a living, flying creature instead of a ship.
The thing was slim in girth although imposing by the size of its leaf-shaped wings. Its back went from an emerald green to a darker shade with black star-shaped markings while its underside was on the brown side. Hunter noticed the curious movements of the wings flapping to slow down. They were separated in three distinct flaps, like six humongous leaves that kept it in the air. More importantly, the vicious talons and sharp teeth that caught the sunlight were enough for Hunter to be grateful that you were on their side.
Then his attention moved to you, firmly holding onto your ride by a saddle. Your helmet looked like the only piece of technology you possessed. Its emerald shade shone under the sun, a stark contrast with the dark Y-shaped visor.
"Woah! I've never seen one of those!" Wrecker exclaimed in awe as he ran to the cockpit, his eyes growing wide at the sight of the flying reptilian.
"Just follow me and I'll bring you to the landing zone closest to our city." The creature kept a stationary position a good distance away from them, its eyes looking right at the men. Hunter repressed a shiver at the feeling of being seized up.
"I wanna ride one of those." Wrecker pointed at the beast. A scoff escaped Hunter's mouth. He looked at his brother and wondered if he realized that you were riding 45 klicks in the air. "Looks much more fun than the Marauder! And cuddlier!"
"Cuddlier?" Echo whispered in disbelief. Hunter had to agree with his brother, this beast was in the same "cuddly" department as Crosshair.
"Using animals as transportation methods is quite antediluvian." Tech tutted. “Ships surpass by far any capabilities of a biological creature.”
"I beg your pardon?" The female's voice cut through the comms. Hunter straightened along with Echo. Both of them thought that the transmission was over. Tech must not have noticed the dryness of your tone because he continued like there wasn't any issue.
"Oh, do not apologize, it's quite alright. Antediluvian refers to something old-fashioned. There are more useful and practical ways to fly nowadays than use animals that have limited stamina, lower speed, lower height endurance--"
"I know what the word means." You cut him off. Hunter noticed your head snapping in Tech's direction and he was more than certain that a glare hardened your face under your helmet. "If you guys are all so advanced and mighty, then I don't see why I, a mere idiot who's using obsolete ways, am needed here. Have fun making your way to the city." You snapped and cut the transmission right as Hunter was about to jump in to try and save the situation.
They watched as your beast propelled itself upwards with the powerful beat of its wings and continued to rotate backwards until they lost sight of it. The radar of the ship scanned something big above them then it lost any signal as it dove for the ground.
"Total success Tech, congratulations. We are now without any escort." Hunter grumbled in disapproval. His instinct told him that this was not a preferable outcome.
"I can't help but wonder if we really needed one in the first place. We have the coordinates to the landing zone and it is not too far from here. I estimate our arrival time to be 13 minutes." Tech looked back at him with confidence and as calm as ever.
Hunter took a second to think everything through. He had received Cody's debrief alone, none of his brother had heard the serious tone in which the Marshall Commander had relayed to not proceed with the mission without native help. When he had pushed for a reason why, his superior admitted that he was himself relaying info from a third party and the reason was lost to him too. All they knew was that the warning was to be taken seriously.
On the other side, Tech was more often than not a reliable source of information. If he said that this planet was not a threat, then it must be so. Whoever this third party was, they surely couldn't measure up to Tech.
"Get us to the LZ." He walked away to the side console when the ship started advancing towards their destination. He wondered if you were someone important in that city and whether what happened would impact the mission.
Cross the river when you get there, he pinched his nose in exasperation.
The ship suddenly jerked to the side, sending Hunter crashing into Wrecker who hit the wall with force. With a yelp, Tech fought with the commands to take back control of the Marauder.
"Something is keeping us on the side!" He yelled behind him. "Hold on!"
In a flash, Hunter anchored himself to a seat. Not even a second later, the ship jerked slightly forward, the engines pushing as much as they could to dislodge the ship, but not budging. A worrying sound of metal being scrapped filled the Marauder until whatever stopped them in their course released them.
"What was-"
"We lost most of-"
"Wrecker, gun's nest!" Hunter barked in a hurry as soon as he noticed the new critter that flew before them. It was big. Bigger than your own creature. Almost as big as the Marauder. Black scales shone under the sun, looking as hard as rocks, imposing teeth were visible despite its maws being shut, it pushed an enraged screech and Hunter started to understand why they needed you.
Even more when he noticed that its tail scaringly resembled a blade.
"On it!"
"Tech! Get us out of here!" Echo looked at his brother, his arm pushing against the console like he could keep the monster at bay.
"I'm doing what I can, but as I was saying, we lost most of the power in our right engine." Tech groaned in concentration, his hands firmly grabbing the ship's commands.
The ship jerked a few times, forcing Tech into reckless maneuvers in attempts to keep the ship from getting maimed 35 klicks away from the ground. Hunter could hear the turret going off in quick succession. The sound of artillery put him more at ease, knowing that they were not defenseless.
"Guys! This thing won't go down!" Wrecker yelled with worry behind his shoulder.
"Well shoot it!" Crosshair shot back with a hint of annoyance laced with nervosity.
"That's what I'm doing! It doesn't do anything!" He shot at the beast that gained enough speed to outfly them and right in front of their eyes, the plasma hit the black scales without any indicator that the creature was hurt. To Hunter, it looked like a blaster bolt had hit a wall, leaving behind a charred circle and nothing else.
"What?!"
The beast suddenly lost speed and swung its powerful tail to hit them in mid air. Tech dodged to the side with a curse, avoiding the blade-like tail by less than a meter.
"Can we jump into hyperspace?" He asked his piloting brother, his own knuckles turning white under the pressure of his grip on the seat.
"We'd need to redirect–"
"Can it be done?" He asked again, eager to skip the long explanation.
"Yes."
Jaws appeared on their left, quickly gaining ground. Soon it would reach the cockpit and the teeth clashed together in excitement of its upcoming bite on metal.
Hunter was ready to call it a day and order Tech to jump into hyperspace to try again later. The words stuck in his throat as he barely noticed something above them dive for the enormous beast and clash so hard they both plummeted towards the ground.
Screeches could be heard over the engines of their ship. With swift movements Tech quickly lowered the speed and rotated the ship to take in what happened.
A green creature had the monster's neck between its teeth from its position on its back. The black one trashed in the air, angrily trying to dislodge its opponent to counter-attack. The green beast let go once the monster dove for the trees below, it took some altitude but remained between the ship and the furious dragon. You held on tight onto your mount, one hand on the saddle, the other onto a blade strapped to your back.
"We should go. She can't beat that." Crosshair mumbled next to him, his gaze searching for the aggressive one's return.
"Oh I think she can." Hunter countered.
He didn't know exactly why, maybe it was the confidence that radiated from you or the battle-stance you moved into whenever the wild monster came charging back, but his guts told him you had this under control.
The monster charged the smaller one in a menacing growl. They clashed once again but this time you jumped off your saddle to land onto the attacker's back. There you found the base of its wings and plunged your blade between the scales where wings met its back. It screamed in pain and took off, abandoning the fight in a dive.
"Kark-"
Hunter's heart stopped as he saw you free falling. Wrecker groaned, his stomach surely upset at the sight. You, however, seemed pretty calm. You weren't flailing around like anyone else would, you were patiently waiting, arms and legs parted. Your green mount sped off towards the ground to catch you onto its back.
"She's nuts." Echo mumbled as you came back to their height, unfazed.
You refused every attempt at communication Hunter sent you, instead deciding to point once towards the landing zone and take off in its direction. This trip was going to be hell. Not 30 seconds in it and Tech had ruined their relationship with their protector by insulting what he would bet was your entire culture. Hunter feared he would have to tape Tech's mouth closed if he wanted to preserve some civility in future conversations.
The rainforest became clearer as they continued their descent after you. Quite a few times, your green-colored beast became fully camouflaged with the top of the trees, forcing the clones to use Crosshair and the radar to follow you effectively. At the back of his mind, Hunter wondered if that was intentional or not. Maybe you hoped they would lose you and return home.
He certainly wanted to.
A clearing appeared before them and your creature dove under the high leaves. They followed after you and quickly landed on the lush ground.
"I don't think I need to say this but let's try and not insult anyone further." He looked at Tech.
"I simply stated the truth."
"Sometimes the truth hurts." He sighed. "And right now, she's the one with the flying dragon that can cover us."
"A wyvern." His brother corrected. "Dragons have four legs whereas wyverns have two." Tech pulled on his helmet and like that, the team was fully geared up and ready to leave the ship.
"Whatever the name, it's still hers, and I have a feeling that there are more of those things around."
He gave one last look at his squad before lowering the ramp.
Hunter got a glimpse of yourself patting your beast's neck before sliding down its side and repeat the gesture with its forehead when it lowered its head. Yellow eyes then turned to him and he immediately noticed the intelligence behind them. This was no porg.
From up close, Hunter's gaze found the flesh of your thighs, visible through a slit at the side of your dark green pants that moved slightly with the breeze. A sort of armor made of deep green scales covered your shins, arms and chest. He had never seen such a design before and found himself intrigued.
He knew Tech would have queries about everything since they knew so little about this place, the question was whether you would take it kindly or not.
"Thank you for your help back there." He consciously slowed his approach when he got within biting range of the wyvern. Just as slowly, he reached a hand out. "We highly appreciate it."
Your Y shaped visor moved from his hand to his face to the rest of his brothers. A long second stretched and he wasn't certain you would accept his gratitude and let him hang in the air. You surprised him with a firm shake.
"You're welcome." Your cautious tone put him slightly more at ease. It was so much better than the aggression he had feared. He could work with cautiousness.
"And I also would like to apologize for my brother's rude comment." He pointed over his shoulder in Tech’s general direction.
You hummed, the sound slightly muffled by the confines of your armor. You shrugged and removed your helmet, showing them a wary smile. Hunter remembered your initial cheery self and thought that they were headed in the right direction.
"Apology accepted. I mean, I get why the GAR would think that we're somewhat outdated, with your tanks and ships and our animals." You exaggerated the last word, referring to Tech's words and chuckled. "Guess y'all didn't think that they were plasma resistant though."
"You could have warned us." Tech lifted his gaze from his datapad to peer accusingly at you.
Where was the tape?!
"Tech!" Hunter growled.
"Well, if it's warnings you want, here's one. Raek is carnivorous." You informed him, your smile falling with your shoulders. You turned and proceeded to enter the dense forest, Raek following you dutifully. "And we're late for lunch."
Hunter pulled on Tech's backplate to keep him from following you too closely.
_______________
The rainforest was full of life. Hunter could hear a diversity of critters running, flying and digging around him. A few chirping birds silenced their voices at the group's passage, some smaller animal scurried off at the sight of Raek's imposing form and Wrecker was chatting your ears off with questions about your mount. If your growing smile and the enthusiasm that took over your voice whenever you talked about your beast was anything to go by, Hunter would say that you forgave them their initial mishap. Even the one that followed. The Sergeant sent a silent thanks to his brother.
"Oh, no no, Raek can't breathe fire, and you won't see any fire-breathing wyvern in these parts. You'd have to go to the West where there's more mountains." You explained before pointing at Reak's mouth. "Raek is a Starios. His saliva is actually a venom that affects the nervous system. He can paralyze or render another wyvern unconscious in a handful of minutes depending on its size."
While Wrecker wowed, Hunter found himself staring at the venomous mouth. Raek was big enough that he would only need two bites to finish a clone, no venom needed. In order to affect another beast of his size, his venom must be extremely potent, making Hunter wish that his brother was not leaning closer to the maws so he could get a better view of the sharp rows of teeth so generously displayed by the Starios.
"This is great! A venomous dragon!"
"Wyvern." You and Tech corrected at the same time. Hunter noticed your smile widening before you had to dodge Wrecker's arms moving to the sky.
"Who cares?"
You chuckled. "I do." Your hand softly stroked Raek's wing.
"How long have you had him?" Tech wondered, his attention fully on you.
"Eleven years now. And I don't really have him, he decided to stick with me when he found me. He's more like a friend than a pet." Hunter hummed. He could somewhat make sense of what you meant, what with the sharp intelligence he saw in Raek's eyes. At some point even he wondered if the green creature could understand the whole conversation.
"A coexisting relationship then." Tech pushed his glasses up his nose, interest shining in his eyes.
"Exactly."
"You mentioned that he found you. If I may inquire, how did that happen?"
Your steps faltered and that content smile of yours became stiff and forced. "That's a story between him and I, sorry."
Tech's shoulder dropped in disappointment. It was obvious that the story was too personal to share and Hunter would even dare say not on the happy side. He made sure to catch Tech's eyes and with a shake of his head, to stop any push back for answers.
You stumbled into Wrecker when a green head playfully pushed you to the side. Instead of pushing back, you reached your arm under its lower jaw in a side hug.
"We're almost there." You announced and separated from Raek. "Ya know where to go. I'll be back soon." You patted his wing. He looked down at you with a rumble and took another route through the trees.
"Do you fight other drag- er- wyv-ern?" Wrecker looked down at you and you nodded in confirmation. "Other wyvern often? You looked like you did that everyday!"
"This season I do." You nodded your head along with your words. "Right before winter some species will migrate and others will calm down with the added space. Although when they get hungry, it can get real' ugly since preys migrate too."
"I bet!"
An enormous gate stood in the horizon, guarded by two beasts completely different from your own. In some of the giant trees hidden behind it Hunter could see platforms and buildings, flying creatures going and coming from them, some passing right overhead. You waved as they passed and did the same to the guards who waved back and let them all in without issue.
You beelined to a staircase at the bottom of a tree, marching up the stairs two by two. "I hope you're all good with heights." You jokingly threw them. Wrecker grunted and you stopped. "Oh."
"I hate heights!" He swiveled back towards Hunter, afraid that he would be forced to go up. "And there's no rail Sarge!
Indeed, he too had noticed that detail. Added to the height of the first platform which was a good klick above ground, it brought a tinge of discomfort even to him.
"It's fine Wrecker. You can wait down here." He reassured. "We'll brief you when we get back."
Wrecker's whole body sagged in relief. "Ah, thanks Sarge." He looked back up at the stairs and with a shudder and stepped aside to let them pass. "I'll wait here. See you soon. Don't fall."
"We won't." He assured his brother and followed after you.
The first few stairs went fine, but half a klick in the air and even Echo was cursing through the comms. It didn't help that the stairs were individual planks shoved into the tree in a regular spacing in a branch-like fashion. It meant that they could see the ground far below between each stair and there was no rail.
"This design is irrefutably unsafe." Tech yelled from behind him and Hunter hoped the wind carried his words away.
"We ride wyverns for a living here. This is nothing for us." You shot back.
"Again, irrefutably unsafe!"
"Says soldiers fighting in a war." You mumbled under your breath. “The hypocrisy.”
Hunter groaned. Five minutes without Wrecker and Tech was back at antagonizing their escort.
You sped up the last few steps, climbing two at a time, and arrived at the top.
“Morning.” You walked up to a man whose gray hair stood out like a sore thumb. He turned to you and looked over your shoulder at them with a warm smile. "Here are the clones, and I’m off.” You waved over your shoulder, already turning on your heels and walking away. It was clear that you were glad to finally be relieved of them and Hunter sighed in relief that your job with them was over. He did not dislike you, you simply had all the reasons to spit in their food.
You crossed a connecting suspended bridge leading to another platform a few trees away before grabbing your sword and handing it off to someone else.
“Welcome to Zeppham. I am Nix, Headman of the village.” The Chief approached him. Hunter responded in kind, his hand clasping the leader’s in a shake.
“I’m Hunter. These are my brothers, Tech, Echo and Crosshair.” Nix acknowledged them with a nod, his eyes sweeping over them with kindness.
“I hope the travel was uneventful, Maker knows the Spathas are looking for trouble this time of year.” The chief turned and invited him to follow with a wave of his hand. They reached a large table with a map taking the whole space.
“We did meet some complications, but nothing our escort couldn't handle. Thank you for sending her our way.” Hunter eyed Tech who carefully crouched to take in and touch the paper that made the map.
The older hummed. “Of course. I wouldn’t invite Republic troops without guaranteeing their safety.”
“We appreciate it.”
With a smile, the man looked down at the topographical map. “We are here.” He said, pointing at a circle in a sea of green, various rivers passing nearby. “What you were sent to retrieve is located here.” He moved his finger South, landing on a brown zone. Mountains. “It is a two days trip, then another two days back.”
“I suppose there is a reason we are not going by ship?” He dared to ask even though he was almost sure he knew the answer.
“Indeed.” The man chuckled. “This mountain chain is wild territory. Dread Vox territory. Your ship would be swarmed and torn apart in seconds.”
He figured. He wasn’t looking forward to discovering what a Dread Vox was.
“Of course, I won’t send you lot alone. You’ll need a guide.” Nix looked up, looking through the people around. The Headman called a name and Hunter turned to find your form, frozen mid stride, finger pressing against the newly sharpened blade of your sword.
Hunter tensed. Oh no. He heard Echo curse under his breath.
"They are here for the crystals you found a few months ago and they'll need a Rider to guide and protect them."
You stayed glued to your spot near the edge of the platform.
“That's days away…” The way you trailed off, like you were scared to think of leaving for a whole day tipped Hunter off. Suspicions grew in his mind.
“I will take precautions in consequence of your absence, I promise. Everyone will be protected and taken care of.”
"I- eh- I'm also quite busy with my own stuff at the moment, but I'm sure Olaka or Taeme would love to fill out this role." You sheathed your sword across your back, body coiled to bolt at any moment.
"As it stands, they are out on an expedition.” You closed your eyes. “What is so important that you have to do?" Nix frowned.
"Find the kids who decided to bully Jax into a river and terrorize them enough so they'll have nightmares for days." Gone was the woman who got wary of leaving the village a few seconds ago. You were pissed, and deadly serious. Hunter could already see you making them walk in circles for the upcoming week.
The Headman pinched his nose with a sigh. "I'll take this matter into my own hands. You can go ahead and escort the clones to the Lemgona cave and show them the crystals." He paused. “How’s Jax?”
You kicked your feet. “Still terrified of water.” You walked closer, breathing deeply. "Wouldn't it be easier if I went to get those crystals and gave them to the clones? It would be quicker if I could ride." You wondered.
Tech jumped in, his datapad in hand. "If those crystals are what we think they are, then harvesting them the traditional way would inevitably destroy them. They require a precise extraction technique in order to maintain their constitution and attributes."
Your shoulder slumped as you accepted defeat with a nod and turned around, the pep in your step gone.
"You'll be back to your ship with the crystals in about four days, Sergeant." Nix assured him.
"Sir-" Hunter worriedly looked back at the Headman after he took in your body language.
"I know what it looks like." He sighed. "She'll take good care of you all, do not worry about that. She's not usually like this, so I think something might have happened on the way here?" Hunter answered with a look towards Tech who was busy scanning the map with his helmet. "Know that as long as you don’t hurt Reak or the young ones, she won’t hold a grudge against you." The man assured them. “Those kids did just that.”
Hunter stored the information. "Alright. Thank you, sir."
"I hope those crystals are worth the trouble of getting to them. Now, off you go." He waved them off with a reassuring smile.
"Sir." He nodded one last time and they were all off after you. Hunter frowned. You stood at the edge of the platform again, nowhere near the stairs.
"You can either take the zipline or the stairs." You shot them a single glance over your shoulder, taking in how Tech's eyes widened. "Guess it's gonna be the stairs." You grabbed a hook off your belt and down you went.
"Like hell." Crosshair moved at the front and followed after you with his own hook.
"It really couldn't be an easy one." Echo sighed.
_________________
After a quick stop to ensure that someone will take care of your charges during your absence, the clones followed you to your home, a small, two story house camouflaged in the foliage and a barn that seemed to have been through a lot. Some walls were charred, some parts have obviously been smashed in and fixed with planks, the windows were all broken and the door hung at an odd angle.
"I just have to feed the lil' guys and grab my stuff. Shouldn't take too long." You turned to him. "You can look around if you'd like. They are all used to humans around here."
Hunter nodded. He couldn't see any "lil' guys" around them yet, but he knew they were there, looking at them from their hiding place in the high grass near the back of the barn. He assumed they were what Nix referred to as “the young ones”. Wrecker did not lose a second and approached the pair when the grass slightly moved.
An elbow to his arm caught Hunter's attention and he looked back at Crosshair who pointed in the trees. Hunter didn't see anything.
"Camouflaged. 200 meters above ground." He told him.
Then he saw it, the faint movement of the bark of a tree, like a mirage. It slowly moved downwards as if crawling down before stopping completely. Right before their eyes, a navy-blue creature formed right where the mirage once was, its dark eyes staring right at them. This one had four legs and no wings, but it jumped down 90 meters nonetheless and somehow glided next to you. It landed in a crash when one of its front legs gave out.
"You okay, Jax?" You tilted your head at the growling beast. "We'll have to work on strengthening your legs if you really want to keep jumping down trees."
Jax wasn’t a kid. It was a beast. A baby beast scared of water.
It whined and snarled at the ground before scratching the dirt with its claws. Curiosity got the best of him and Hunter approached the navy creature. It looked up at him, head tilted in a silent question. It chirped lightly and in turn approached him in earnest, its head pressing against the plastoid and wild sniffing filled the air. Its head reached his mid-chest, the scales on its body moved up and down frantically as it moved all around him causing the light to reflect over them, its tail finished in a grape of spikes as long as his forearm.
It did a whole circle around him and finally pressed its head hard on his chest plate, nearly sending him stumbling backward. He planted his feet more firmly on the ground and waited. He received another push to his chest.
"I think it wants pets." Echo joined him.
"Is that what you want fella?" Tentatively, Hunter flattened his hand and stroked a path down the neck of the beast, the upturned scales on its skin flattening with his hand before rising again. A vibration shook his armor and purrs reached his ears. Maybe not porgs, but closer to tookas.
Tech moved over, eyes wide. “Interesting.” His brother stroked the scales, marvelling at the light reflection.
Hunter continued the motion to the pleasure of the beast while you grabbed two buckets that made you lightly limp from the effort of carrying their heavy weights. If only he wasn't scared of insulting you more, Hunter would have offered some help. He noticed Echo looking at him with a questioning gaze, he too wanted to help but was hesitating for the same reason. With a shake of his head, Hunter hoped today would get better for the sake of the mission.
"Soooo by the way!" You drew the word out with a huff of effort. You presented yourself. “But I think you got that already."
He watched as you stopped outside the barn, removed the lid and dumped a few hundreds kilograms of ripe fruits on the ground. Immediately, the navy-blue creature detached itself from him to enjoy the food and you came back towards their group who looked in curiosity as more beasts exited the barn and made their way to the pile.
"I'm Hunter. That's Wrecker, Crosshair, Echo and Tech." He pointed at each of them.
You turned to them with a small smile and nodded. At that moment, Raek breached the line of trees and ignored them in order to drop a gray-furred carcass near the fruit pile before digging in with great appetite. He tore into the prey with ease, the flesh seemingly shredding with little to no resistance. Hunter wondered how easily Raek could tear into plastoid.
A gasp caught everyone's attention including yours. Wrecker awed at the tiny, orange wyvern that clumsily walked right into the barn door and sent it falling to the ground. You sighed in defeat next to him.
The damage went unnoticed by the youngling, its eyes staring at Wrecker. It was smaller than the several others gulping down the fruits. Way smaller. It barely reached his knees and those big yellow eyes definitely got to Wrecker's soft spot. His brother quickly joined its side in a crouch to get even closer.
"Can I pet him?" Wrecker's hands were almost shaking with excitement.
"You can. And Silica's a she." You looked between his brother and Raek whose gaze was fixed on Wrecker's hand petting Silica's head. There was no malice in his gaze, only pure protectiveness. The resemblance between the two was obvious, not only in shape, but the tiny one, despite being primarily dark-orange, had Raek's green highlights.
"We'll be able to leave once Raek is done eating." You glanced at the wyvern once more and took in his focused state. "Silica, com'ere." You called and she reacted immediately. She turned around with a joyous chirp to join your side, her flat tail whipping harshly at Wrecker's thigh plate. The resulting noise made the creature jump and face them with a growl. Hunter's heartbeat skyrocketed, his eyes shooting to the hovering male. To his relief Raek remained in place and looked somewhat amused.
You quickly herded back your beast, all the while whispering her reassurances and giving her pats. She calmed down enough for you to send her back to the fruit pile with Raek who bumped her head with his nose and shared some shredded meat.
"Sorry Wrecker." You sheepishly scratched your neck. "She's still a hatchling and gets scared easily."
"A hatchling?"
"A baby."
"Oh! You sure have a lot of those!"
You turned to your troops with a fond smile. "Raek and I take care of the orphans of our Riders or the ones we find in the forest." You reached the fallen door and lifted it enough so you could pull a bag with your foot from under it. You dropped the door back down. "The world doesn't have mercy. Not for anyone."
You opened the bag to check the content and closed it before strapping it to Raek's saddle. You ran inside the nearby house and just as quickly came out of it, your orange sword nowhere to be seen. In its place on your back was now a peculiar spear.
A group of three men each with their own wyvern breached the tree line and greeted you. The sight of them visibly put you at ease. Hunter found himself intrigued. The new trio approached the fruit pile while you came back to the Batch.
“Could you explain what this weapon is designed for?” Tech chimed in, pointing at your spear.
“That’s a gunlance.” You reached for the handle and showed it to Tech. “The perfect mix for long range and close combat.”
You suddenly took a fighting stance before swiftly shifting for a shooting one. Despite the size of the weapon, your moves were fluid and precise. “Just what you need to fight in a cave system.”
“There’ll be more of these in the caves?”
“Not necessarily, but I prefer to be prepared than to be food. Speaking of which, you guys need a change of weapon.” Your eyes roamed over their blasters, unimpressed. Hunter knew the idea would not be taken well by his brothers. By one more than the others. They were conditioned to keep their blasters close, their soldier instincts needed them to keep anxiety away. On a planet full of sharp toothed beasts, the Sergeant wanted the security of his blaster near.
“No we don’t.” As expected, Crosshair clutched his rifle closer.
“Whatever.” You turned away from them, inspecting your helmet. “Don’t complain if your blasters are as efficient as your ship at gunning them down.” You put it on and walked away.
His mind then remembered the feeling of dread when he noticed that the cannons of the Marauder had no effect on the winged titan coming for them.
“Wait.” Hunter reached over. A green head turned his way and just like that, his hand shied inches away from grabbing your shoulder. Huh. It had been a while since he got intimidated this fast. It wasn’t just the teeth, the Batch had faced more terrifying creatures throughout their career. The fault most probably lied in the obvious intelligence inhabiting the killing machine carefully looking him over. “What do you have for us?”
You motionned him after you with a jerk of your head, hands roaming through your own satchels to run an inventory. He followed as you entered the little house. The lack of furniture was obvious, but what truly caught his attention was the layer of dust covering every surface, even the inside doorknob. The sunrays filtering between the drawn curtains hid nothing. This was curious, as Hunter was certain this house was yours. Where had you been all this time? Crosshair clicked his tongue in disgust.
“Ever heard of cleaning up?” Crosshair grumbled while making sure to keep his hands close to his body.
“Honestly, I only come here to get a change of under-armor or weapons. The rest, I do elsewhere, so I don’t really care about cleaning up in here.” You shrugged, barely giving the dust a glance. “Take whatever suits you.” You moved away from the doorway leading to a living room.
“Now that's what I like to see!” Wrecker guffawed, pushing through Hunter and Crosshair to enter the room faster.
Every inch of the far wall was covered by weapons of all kinds. Some sort of rifles, an ax, a bow, but mainly blades. Swords of various colors and lengths. It was a whole armory.
“Why do you have so many?” Echo asked, still looking through the details of the selection before them. Each had some organic component to it, be it some scales, fur, bone or leather. Many had a combination of the materials in their design.
“To best counter whatever predator I’m being sent out to fight. Exploiting their weak points, you know? And they all have different ones, so variety and versatility is key. Well… mainly.” You explained as you stepped closer and pointed at the bow. “Chimeraos produce a toxic gas and store it in their neck pouches. If you get too close and they spray you with the stuff, half a breath will burn your lungs for life, so it’s best to fight this one long range.” Then you pointed at a curved sword, the blade half your size. “Some wyvern requires more finesse to reach their soft points, like the belly and the like. Others don’t have those soft points and we have to blast through.” The axe in your hands was huge, a good six inches taller than you. How in the world could you lift that thing?
Wrecker took it from you and lifted it in glee, exchanging his DC-17m without any second thought.
Following his brother’s example, Hunter placed his blaster on the nearby low table and grabbed a long sword. The blade was straight and black. Somehow, it felt like the metal was shaking with energy, like a low static wave. The leather covering the handle was hard and warm, like someone had been holding it before passing it on to him.
“Why are they all so huge?” Echo asked as he looked at a similar sword, only it was had a light grey blade atop a dark brown intricate handle.
Silence stretched for so long Hunter thought you hadn’t heard.
“Have you uh… not seen their size? A smaller sword could slash their eyes but that's about it. Assuming you can reach their eyes.”
“Fair enough.” His brother relented, trying the weight of the weapon by moving it around cautiously. It was fairly obvious that this would not do. Just like he had thought when he first entered the room, the weight of the arsenal before them was as great as their size. They were not trained to carry such weaponry through a rainforest for days, much less fight with this. With his scomp-link, Echo would only be hindered and not only him.
“Crosshair, Echo, Tech, you keep your own blasters. Wrecker and I will do the change.” He saw the relief in his brothers as plain as day.
"Need any supplies before we leave?" You asked and Hunter shook his head.
"We're ready when you are." You pushed yourself off the wall and led them outside, towards Raek. You pat Silica's head on the way.
"Gabe will care for you. Be a good girl will ya?" A thrill answered your question and you chuckled.
"Let's go." You took the front and led them back to the gates where you led them deeper into the forest. Raek followed a few steps behind them, his head turned back for as long as he could discern his home until he huffed and turned back around.