Return to Earth : Operation Lizard Patrol

I wiped the sweat from my brow, the sun beamed down triumphantly over head. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the heat would have been unbearable if I didn't take a bottle of water and a wide brimmed hat before hand. I got on to one knee, brushing away the soil and digging into it with my gloved fingers to find a sickly and weak little nub of yellow carrot in the ground.

I was baffled, why the hell couldn't I get the carrots to grow properly? The almost forest like patch of tomatoes behind me stood valiantly and powerful, the radishes up ahead were large and ready to eat. I had so many potatoes I could feed an army, and the green peppers I grew could hydrate a dying man with a single bite. And yet these carrots refuse to grow.

I continued to mourn my little patch of yellow and orange weaklings until I heard a breaking branch behind me. Raising my sight from the graveyard of carrots, I turned around and observed the tomato patch. The branches weren't disturbed and the sounds ceased. Could it be some sort of critter trying to get their claws on my vegetables? Out here, I could never be so sure.

I stood up and approached my tomatoes, peering into the foliage they created around me. With further inspection, I noticed two glowing golden orbs in the bushes. Curious, I took another step, crouching down until I could see in between my tomatoes more clearly. Then, in shock, I noticed that these orbs were indeed eyes, peering and stalking me from hiding.

The owner of the eyes took notice that I had found them out, narrowing its gaze on me and emitting a low growl. I wasn't armed or armoured, I didn't expect to be seeing anyone or anything in the gardens so close to my home, and yet something managed to sneak up on me. I tried to back up, but my stalker was already on the attack, leaping from the bush with claws stretched forward. I could only stumble and fall backwards as it fell on top of me.

“Heehee!” Cat giggled, lying on top of me and nuzzling her face against my chest. “I catched you!”

“Its “I caught you.”, Sweet heart.” I corrected her.

“I caught you!” She repeated with another giggle, sliding away from my chest and planting a kiss on my lips.

I laughed, pushing the cat girl off of me and standing up from the dirt.

“If you were here this entire time, why didn't you help with the gardening?”

“What fun is in that?” She asked me, tilting her head and wagging her tail.

“Yeah, yeah. Everything is almost ready to harvest, save for these little retard carrots I have growing down here.” I said to her, kicking at the soil. “You ready to head back in?”

“Okay okay!” She nodded happily, skipping behind me while we made our way back inside.

It's been almost a year since I found refuge on this planet. I used to be big on the galactic scene, a military pilot turned celebrity. I was in charge of publicly testing the first ever Human-Cyrak cooperatively manufactured fighter. The A-77 'Hellcat', named after an ancient human war planet flown by a nation called “The United States of America” during a war called “World War 2” called the F6F Hellcat.

The A-77 was supposed to be the fastest and most versatile fighter in the military scene, but someone sabotaged the one I was supposed to fly at the show, causing my fighter to crash into a ship carrying very powerful Cyrak nobles.

The Cyrak government were, of course, outraged, and demanded that I were to receive the ultimate punishment in their culture. For a Cyrak, banishment is worse than death. You no longer have a family name, a legacy, a heritage, a title, you effectively no longer exist. This is unbearable for their kind, and only the most stalwart refrain from ritual suicide or joining one of the many high-risk PMCs that roam the galaxy. So as my punishment, I was banished from all Galactic Senate space, no longer allowed to operate within its perimeters. With my sentence final, and with the help of my friend Largo, I found my way to the only habitable planet outside of Senate Space that isn't a death world or filled with pirates and scoundrels.

Earth: The birthplace of humanity.

Its too close to Senate Space to be infested with space scum, but too unimportant and effectively 'worthless' for anyone to colonize it. There is nothing on Earth worth harvesting, and the rich aren't going to pay top dollar to have a resort built on a planet outside of Senate Space. So here I am, the first human to step foot on the birth world in centuries, at first I thought I was alone...

But I'm not, the exodus of man has given rise to a new race, unexplained in origin and cut off from the grips of the Senate. I mistook them for mutants at first, human women cross-spliced genetically with creatures native to Earth, or at least that's what I gathered. I have no idea how to find out and where to look.

One of these inhabitants is Cat, a rather energetic girl with cat-like hands, ears, and tail. She seemed to have become attached to me since I landed on Earth and she hasn't left my side since. But my relationship with Cat grew to fondness, and soon I found myself romantically involved with the cat girl. I've been teaching her to speak and read, something that she has been getting the hang of rather fast.

This raises the question, what exactly are these creatures? These 'Monster girls'? I don't know where to look or where to start, but I have a strange desire to find out. And maybe one day I will.

I sat down at the usual spot on my couch, Cat joining me soon after with a cuddle. The day was done and the lake was quiet, which leaves only one thing to do before bed, and that is to watch movies. Its become tradition in my little house hold, the media box is jam packed with practically every movie in the history of the galaxy, save for maybe the most obscure of indie films. Film was a human concept, and it didn't pick up until the Chi'tarin ambassadors were treated to a human film during the first ever Human-Chi'tarin diplomatic gathering.

The Chi'tarin absolutely lost their minds at the idea, and soon picked up their own techniques and equipment for movie making, replacing crush-ball as the #1 form of entertainment in Chi'tarin culture. Soon, movies and film took hold throughout the galaxy, leading to everyone to try their hands at the art, but thankfully for me, most movies are still human made.

“You ready?” I asked Cat, who nodded with a wide, toothy grin.

I pressed the random button on the menu, the screen taking a few moments before deciding on a movie in the war-drama section. I groaned when I saw the title, “Sky tyrants”.

“Not good?” Cat asked with a flick of her ear.

“It's bullshit, that's what it is.” I told her, leaning even further back against the couch.

Sky Tyrants is probably one of the biggest fuck ups in history. Its based off the Tyron war of aggression three years after humanities ascend into the galactic scene. In this movie, it shows the perspective of the humans that embarked on a military invasion of the planet designated “Tyron”. The director seemed to be a human apologist, with most of the movie being mental break downs of the endless atrocities humans committed during the war including genocide, mass rapes, and torture.

The truth is, the even is widely known as “The day of the flaming skies” by most alien races, including the Tyron people. It was the first military operation and relief effort committed by humans outside of Terran space and was the first time X-O's saw field experience outside of testing. Tyron was, at the time, under command of a military Junta who wanted to expand his realm into neighbouring sectors. He invaded the Cyrak world of Nebulis and the Terran world of Europa VI, causing a backlash from both the Cyrak royal army and the Terran defence force.

After orbital defences on Europa VI obliterated the rather outdated Tyron fleet, it was voted for unanimously to attack Tyron and remove Junta Barca from control. The invasion lasted three days and the first landings were known as “The day of the flaming skies” for several reasons. The first being Terran Fifth Fleets absolute domination of the Tyron defence armada, annihilating their front line of defence in a single volley of ship fire, the rest of the armada followed soon after. Many ships fell into orbit and lit on fire in the atmosphere, causing them to crash into the planet as balls of inferno.

The second reason for the title were orbital drops from Fifth fleet, Terran Marines in X-O's were attached to drop pods and fired at the planet, causing a second rain storm of fire across the planet. The third reason was Fifth Fleets total domination of ground forces through a constant spread and advance from the Terran Expedition forces and the orbital strikes and bombing runs from the Terran navy. Tyron surrendered after Junta Barca was vaporized by heavy plasma fire on the second day of the war, its armed forces laying down their arms on the third.

The war proved that humanity was a force to be reckoned with. But it also proved that we can be a force for good when we aren't turning entire land masses into glass. A lot of money was put into repairing the damages done to Tyron,  rebuilding their cities and economies as well as re-toiling fields and replacing live stock. People found rather comfortable homes in refugee camps large enough to give the populace individual dwellings until their homes were rebuilt as well as jobs to pay the citizens of Tyron for their labours.  I've been there myself, and the only complaint I've ever heard about humans was the whole sky of fire bit.

The movie dragged on for two hours, with the plot and action being broken up every twenty minutes to show a scene of someone crying about something that was going on. The war in the movie lasted for three months instead of three days, its no wonder that it was so universally panned.

The movie ended on a black screen, followed by credits complimented by an expected sad musical score.

“Yucky...” Cat complained, looking up at me like I just forced her to eat garbage.

“I'll say...” I agreed, turning off the screen and lying back on the couch.

Cat turned around and threw her legs over me, sitting down on my legs. She grabbed my cheeks and punched them between her fuzzy fingers before pulling them apart.

“Apologize!” She demanded.

“Ow-ow-ow! Fow whut!?” I asked.

“For making me watch that!”

“I dunt, doh!”

She pulled slightly harder.

“Okeh Okeh, sowwy!”

Cat liberated my cheeks of her pinching, giving me a quick peck on the nose before going back to pouting.
“Thank you...”

Turns out Sky Tyrants is so heavy handed, horribly acted, and incompetently directed, that even someone who's movie experience is shorter than one year can pick up on how awful it was.

I found my life in a comfortable routine, going about my day and keeping myself busy with one new hobby or another. I turned off any form of self cleaning my home had in favour of an old fashion vacuum and duster, something else to keep me busy in between gardening and fishing. I've also refrained from lazing around too much in the day, not only does it get old quick but it also puts Cat on edge, making her antsy and more hyperactive than usual.

I still get visitors from the “native” population from time to time, many of the regulars to the lake seem to ignore the big black box at this point, going as far as to even ignore me when they spot me outside of it. I believe I've became far too comfortable with this, I don't even bother putting on my X-O before leaving the house anymore unless I plan to go out a considerable distance.

But still, every now and then someone new appears at the lake, and the box always fascinates them. I certain that they can smell me, watching from inside as they attempt to find a way into my home. The closest anyone has ever gotten was a very petite girl with bird wings and legs, poking away at the keypad with her talons for sometime before giving up and flying away.

But the ones you have to watch out for are the ones that travel in packs. Wolf girls seem to be the most prominent in this area, and they're vicious in their own tenacity. Three months ago, a rather large pack, at least twenty eight, spotted me attempting to set up a hammock just outside my house. I got too comfortable with my surroundings, too cocky, I didn't even see them coming before they were already upon me.

I didn't know if they wanted to eat me or what, but they were dead-set on dragging me off into the woods before Cat came running in a panic with my pulse rifle. She hesitantly fired it into the air, which was enough for my attackers to back off enough for me to scramble to my feet and pull Cat back into the house. They encircled us for a few days until giving up and going on their way. I made it my rule not to kill any of the natives, there was no need for it. They all had this fascinating degree of intelligence about them, every one I've met first hand always shared the same curiosity and infatuation of my presence. It seemed to differ depending on species, Cat saw me as some sort of new playmate the first time she met me, while others approach with caution or just try to abduct me for one reason or the other. Even stranger, I have yet to meet a male of any of their races.

I still see Largo, though not as frequently. Ever since I became more self sufficient out here, he's only been making stops here every few weeks to make sure I didn't fall off the map. Cat has grown more comfortable around the giant Chi'tarin as well, before she would hide away when he came down to planet side. Its understandable, there really isn't anything on earth that's as large or as imposing as a Chi'tarin, their giant hands and razor sharp mandibles mean you wouldn't want to meet one in a dark alley, but most are quite nice once you actually get to know them.

After the movie, Cat and I went to bed, preparing ourselves for the next day. I woke up earlier than usual, sneaking out of Cat's embrace and heading downstairs to start my day. The coffee machine prepared my cup just the way I liked it, waking my senses with that alluring, bitter aroma. I took it outside, sipping at my cup and watching the mist settle on the lake, the sun barely peaking over the tree tops to the east.

I sighed and sat down on the large rock beside the lake, resting my head in my free hand and listening to the sounds of birds chirping throughout the tree tops. I was so lost in my own content that I almost missed the glint in the forest across the lake. I had to blink twice, rubbing the sand from my eyes and focusing on the sparkle, something was reflecting the sunlight, something metal.

I didn't even know how to respond at first when the stone beside me cracked and kicked up chunks into my face. I was unsure what had happened even after the loud crack rang through the sky until finally instinct kicked in and my training took over.

I rolled backwards, falling behind the rock just before the forest came to life with the sounds of gunfire, the grass around me exploded as led impacted with the ground. It was too risky to peak out and spot my attackers, there was far too much fire, sparking against my home and tearing away at the stone I had found cover behind.

I turned my head back towards my house, the front entrance opened slightly with a shivering Cat peaking out from the other side.

“No!” I shouted over the gun fire. “Stay inside! Close the damn door shut!”

I didn't know if she could hear me, but she took the hint, moving away from the door and closing it shut. There was nothing I could do, I didn't have my pulse rifle, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to return fire under all this pressure.

The sound of the weapons, the way they stabbed into the ground around me, they were primitive, like something humans would have used before leaving Earth. Was someone left behind to still use these weapons, or are some of the natives more advanced than I originally believed?

It seems like I'm not going to find out, sooner or later they're going to realize I'm not a threat to them and just move around to finish me off.  At least that's what I thought before the sky erupted with the sounds of ship engines above.

“I have thirty eight on screen!” Largo shouted through the ships speakers.

“Nonlethal!” I shouted above. “Fire warning shots!”

Largo's ship responded, coming to life with two 88-A rotary cannons unloading their payload above their targets heads. The trees exploded and crumbled under the fire, falling to the ground and sending splinters in every direction.

“They're pulling back!” Largo barked over the speakers, continuing his reign of fire until the last one vanished from the sensors.

I leaned against the rock, or what was left of it, trying to catch my breath while the smoke settled. Cat flung herself from the houses entrance a second later, charging at me before leaping into an embrace.

“Scared you'd die!” she sobbed, squeezing me tighter until I returned the hug.

“Its okay, its okay.” I tried to reassure her. “I'm still here.”

Largo landed his ship and lumbered out onto the field as soon as the ramp lowered.

“Holy shit, am I glad to see you!” I sighed in relief, taking his claw in my hand as soon as I managed to get Cat to let go of me.

“I came to bring you some stuff, what the hell was that all about!?” Largo asked me, his beady eyes constantly scanning over our surroundings.

“I have no idea, I didn't even see them coming, if I moved a second later I'd probably be dead.”

Largo studied the forest across the lake, the nostrils on each side of his snout flared a stream of smoke.

“They'll probably be back.” He said to me, lifting one of his arms from the ground to point to my house. “Get inside, we'll make a game plan in there.”

Cat sat at a distance, watching curiously as the giant Chi'tarin and I came up with a battle plan in the centre of the kitchen, a holoplate displaying record maps of earth and my surrounding areas.

“And this has never happened before?” Largo asked.

“No, most of the natives that come by don't even bother to cover up, the ones that do are in their species stone age.”

Largo nodded, swiping at the holograph floating between us and pressing at the keyboard that appeared.

“Those weapons fired led, nobody in the known galaxy fires led anymore.” Largo mumbled. “And very few outside of humans and Chi'tarin did in the first place...”

“Do you think they made them? Build fire arms from scratch?” I asked.

“Maybe...Or maybe they came across them--” Largo tapped at the holograph until a few history charts appeared. “--Take a look at this.”

Kalashnikov, now there's a name you don't hear anymore. Once one of the largest supplier of fire arms on this planet, there wasn't a corner in the world where you couldn't find an AK-47. The Russian based “Kalashnikov Concern” (Formally the separate Izhevsk Mechanical Plant and Izhmash) went on create the AK-255 in the year 2055, and brought it into service in 2059. After that, there isn't much to say about KC outside of the military and civilian space crafts they make today.

But their history doesn't concern me, what concerns me is about the news report of over a thousand crates of designated rifles and ammunition that missing a year before the exodus. By then the AK-255 was already outdated and you wouldn't even find the most desperate of warlords using them, but they still existed in bulk, either brought with colony ships into space as museum pieces or emergency weapons during colonization. Gas operated, led based fire arms are worthless, they don't pierce X-O armour and they don't even irritate shields, there are less than one hundred in Terran space that aren't rusted and beat up and they're in human history museums.

“How?” I asked Largo. “How the hell could they have AK's? Let alone AK's that still work.”

“Earth had a few researchers and engineers that stayed behind, right?” Largo added. “Maybe they sealed them away? Protected them from corrosion and just left them?”

“And whatever was shooting at us got their hands on them?”

“Exactly. It doesn't take much to learn how to fire a rifle, especially something as primitive as an AK. Take my opinion for what its worth, but if some group is lugging around boom sticks on this planet, chances are they don't have much in the terms of rivals.”

“No rivals but me...” I added. “I'm the prick prancing around with a god damn pulse rifle like I'm invincible. If one of these guys saw me lugging around a piece, they probably panicked.”

Largo sighed, his nostrils flaring while he returned the holograph to the map.

“If you haven't seen them until recently, chances are they just got here.” Largo went on to explain. “Maybe migrants, colonists, expedition forces?”

“Maybe. But either way, I don't want this place to turn into a war zone...”

“What do you suggest?”

I had to think of it. If I left the planet, then I would either have to misplace Cat from her home and possibly put her in even more danger, there wasn't much for “Safe” worlds that weren't already taken over by Senate Space, and living on a death world isn't living. Move the house to someplace else on the planet seemed like an idea...But what if it keeps happening? What if it isn't an isolated incident and I'm just going to have to keep running, that also isn't a way to live...

“I guess there's one option.” I sighed, crossing my arms. “I force negotiations.”

Largo wasn't human, he didn't have human facial features and his emotions run on a different spectrum. But what I saw on his face was the closest a Chi'tarin came to a smile.

“So what do you have in mind?” he asked. “He rain some fire down with my ship?”

“Too heavy.” I said with a shake of my head. “Leaves an impression but doesn't leave a message, chances are they'll see it as some sort of sky dragon or something equally as fucked up, if they are natives I mean.”

I stepped back from the table, turning by body to make my way towards my storage room.

“I'll go in with the X-O, you provide recon from orbit.”

“Sounds good to me.”

I left the kitchen and turned the corner towards the storage room, Largo leaving the kitchen and through the front door right after. I had almost reached the door when a pair of arms wrapped around me, furry hands and forearms clinging to my chest.

“Don't!” Cat cried, holding me as tight as she could. “Don't go!”

“Hey...” I tried to calm her down, gently separating her arms from around my chest. Her arms fell to her sides and I turned around to face her, tears were already running down her face. “Its okay, I'll be fine.”

“Too dangerous...” She whispered from in between her sobs. “Don't want you to die...”

I cupped her cheeks in my hands, wiping her tears away and giving her a reassuring smile.

“I won't die.” I said to her confidently, though even with the X-O, I wasn't one hundred percent sure of their capabilities. “Everything is under control. I promise.”

Cat looked up at me, her cat-like eyes shaky and wide. Without hesitation she wrapped her arms around my neck and planted a deep kiss on my lips. Her breath was warm against my face, refusing to part our lips for a good time. Finally, she relinquished her kiss, her eyes slowly opening to look into mine once again.

“Good luck kiss.” She said with a sad smile. “Wait for you to come back.”

“Okay.” I said to her, giving her one last hug. “I'll be back before you know it.”

The Braxton CG-043 industrial model X-O. A Civilian Grade Exosuit use commonly by labourers on the frontier. Its perfect for long hauls and dangerous working environments, popular among asteroid miners and workers stationed on death worlds. Not only is it designed to lift and withstand a good few dozen tons of pressure at full power, but its also more than capable of defending its user from wild animals or assailants dumb enough to engage the wearer in close combat. Erin Parsley, a man from Hamburg III who was chosen in a draw to test the suit in live working conditions, was caught in an accident that ended with a mining vessel losing control and crashing into him. Erin not only managed to survive the impact, but also pushed the vessel off of himself, leaving his hand prints deep in the vessels hull.

The suit can take whatever the galaxy can throw at it, save for military hardware and the most vicious of death world predators. If my aggressors think they have an easy scrap on their hands they got another thing coming.

I stepped in to the open suit, the scanners recognizing my authorizations immediately and engulfed me in its protective insides. If I wanted to force a band of thirty and above to even consider not fighting me, then I had to depend on intimidation, an open helmet just wouldn't cut it, not to mention the chances of being shot in the face.

I chose to take the “Orbit and hazardous environments safety helmet” with me, perfect for this situation. Braxton corp decided to do away with the more popular visor front of OHESHs, deciding to go for a more sturdy and practical traditional helmet with armour plating in the front. The way the eyes and front respirator were shaped resembled a human skull, and when turned on the eyes give off an ominous red glow.

I looked over my X-O, the HUD in my helmet lighting up while I clenched my fist slowly to get use to the armoured glove. Everything checked out and I slung my rifle against my back, there was no fucking around today, no ten percent armour lock. The rifle was a last resort, hopefully with all the armour can supply, I won't have to use it. But today, I show them why men are called “The God Killers”.

It was a cloudy day, more of an advantage for us. Largo's ship flew over the clouds at a speed no greater than your average atmospheric vehicle, its engines emitting a loud hum that was barely drown out by the sound of the wind pressure against the hull.

“Hey Danny.” Largo called out over our linked comm systems. “I'm picking up a large gathering of life signs a few clicks from here, I think we're getting close.”

“Drop me down here!” I yelled over the wind pouring in through the open ramp. “I don't want them to see me coming!”

As quickly as he came, Largo's ship was gone again over the clouds, leaving me by my self on the ground and in hostile territory. I've never seen actual combat, the Orion Blitz ended three years before I finished academy training. Still, pilot X-O's were equipped for emergencies if found planet side and we were all trained in mandatory infantry combat doctrines. The CG-043 had nothing on the Lascon industries MG-011, but it was still miles above the flak jackets or carapace armour soldiers of ye olde times once wore.

My advance on the destination went off without a hitch, any kind of native prowling in the woods got out of my way immediately, I guess the mask really does wonders. There was no sign of any kind of armed native, though, and Largo would be able to give me a heads up before they even see me.

“Almost in position.” I reported to Largo.

“I'm hovering over the target.” He responded. “Looks like some sort of village.”

“Yeah, I see it...” I trailed off as I pushed my way through the brush, looking over a good few miles of huts made of stone with straw roofs, even without the binocs in my helmet I could see natives going about their everyday. “Looks like a village or a town of sorts.”

“Only a good number of them are armed.” Said Largo, my HUD suddenly lighting up with red silhouettes of those carrying a weapon. “We got some kids and other non-combatants mucking about.”

“Still... I don't see any males.” I said to Largo. “I've never met a native man of any species...”

“Maybe they don't have any?” He proposed.

“Then how-”  I cut myself off, losing focus on the task at hand. “I'm not willing to get into a fight with civilians in the cross fire. I'm going in with no weapons drawn, maybe I can reason with them.”

“You want me to provide covering fire?” He asked.

“No, its alright, they can't hurt me anyway. ROE is nonlethal.”

I flipped open my wrist mounted NAV, pressing the buttons necessary to open the front of my helmet to reveal my face. I followed the trail from a distance, trying to figure out where the entrance to the settlement was, hoping to stop a fight from starting by not accidentally circumventing security. The entrance wasn't far from my position, if the dirt path through town had any say in it, and I rummaged through the foliage until I was on a beaten trail, the settlement only a few yards ahead.

I made myself completely visible, my hands in the air as I approached the three natives guarding the entrance to the wall-less village. They each wore what seemed like standard uniforms for their kind, metal plates crudely bashed to create primitive iron armour, their chests, shoulders, and biceps protected as well as a few plates for their legs and knees. This was primitive, through and through, almost like the armour for soldiers of ancient earth, when men rode on horses and fought with swords and spears and bows. Though their faces and hair differed, these natives shared very similar reptilian traits. They had green scales running down their cheeks, almost as if it were molded to their human-like skin. They had no hands, rather scaly claws that gripped to primitive rifles from an age gone by, Largo was right on the AK-255 prediction. Their clawed feet had scales running from the toes past the knee to the thighs where human flesh once again took over. If I had to predict what they look like nude, I would say the scales trailed down the sides of their bodies, enveloping their limbs while the centres of the neck, chest, and stomach area remained skin and flesh as well as the face.

They spotted me right away, their golden crocodile eyes locking on my figure before they raised the rifles. The one closest to me shouted something, it seems that these natives have formed their own language. I stopped immediately and raised my hands further into the air.

“Its okay! I don't want to fight!”

I don't know why I even tried, its not like they could understand me anyway. The one closest to me with the brown hair narrowed her eyes, approaching slowly and carefully with the barrel of her rifle vigilantly aimed at my chest. She circled around me, without turning my head I could hear her sniffing into the air, approaching closer and yanking my pulse rifle off of my back like she expected me to reach for it.

“Eto!” She ordered, jamming the barrel of her gun into my back.

I obliged and moved forward, the other two allowing me passage before following behind me with their leader, their guns as wary as hers. I stepped down the road and through the village, every one of its inhabitants stopping whatever they were doing and fixing their eyes on me while I drudged down their road like a prisoner on death row.

Children screamed and villagers gasped like I was some sort of monster, the three warriors were escorting their equivalent of the boogeyman down the road. Without looking back, I could tell that they were antsy, the one closest to me would gasp to herself if I made a move too sudden, no matter how small it was. I held my hands up in the air, I didn't want to start a scrap with so many children and civilians nearby.

I noticed a child approach me from the left, a girl with short pink hair, though I didn't expect to see a boy. She walked alongside me with her hands behind her back, examining my face curiously. I looked back at her and gave her a reassuring wink, in which she smiled and skipped off, satisfied with my actions. The rest of the town seemed to be a lot harder to please, they gathered around and whispered to each other in a language I couldn't understand. I really hope they aren't talking about trying to eat me.

My march of shame continued until I was in the centre of the town, village, whatever. The village opened up to a circular space, the ground grey and brown with mud. Facing me from the other side of the centre was a much larger hut, the home of the leader or chieftain from what I could gather. No one had to fetch anymore or call for an audience, the double sided door swung open and out stepped a lizard woman with long silver hair and blue eyes. She wore ceremonial armour, although just as crude as the ones wore by the guards, it was marked with runic lettering and symbols. At her side were two weapons, a jagged curved sword with lettering down the side, and a pistol of sorts, a peculiar piece, it didn't look like Kalashnikov.  I had to admit, she was quite the looker, though I wouldn't say something like that out loud, especially if Cat were around.

She stood in front of me, her chest piece pressed against mine and her eyes focused on my own.

“Oro...” She started. “Atsneed vakuin...”

“I don't understand what you're saying...” I responded with a shrug.

The leader raised a brow, though still refused to step off an inch or stop glaring at me. Was she challenging me? Or was this some kind of greeting?

“Atsneed...Vakuin...” She repeated, this time in a low growl.

“I don't get it, are you asking me for my name?” I struggled.

I lowered my hands slowly, using my fingers to point at myself. “Me. Daniel.”

“Vakuin!” She barked, stepping away and punching me squarely in the chest. I heard her clawed fingers crack before she yelped, retracting her hand and holding her wrist with the other.

“Oh!” I suddenly caught on. “This is some sort of cultural thing! You wanted me to back down!”

I took a few steps away from her, looking away from eye contact and towards the ground. It seemed to be the right move, when I glanced up she looked in surprise before putting on the facade that this was her plan all along with a wide grin.

Her subjects cheered at her obvious superiority, something the silver haired lizard took in with great pride. She walked in circles, her arms outstretched as she accepted the praise of the other lizard women before turning back to me.

“Roso...” She ordered.

I took a hunch and believed she told me to rise, looking back up at her with a meek little smile.

“Doing okay down there, Danny?” Largo asked through the mic.

“She seemed to have hurt herself with that last punch.” I whispered through the side of my mouth.

“Looks like a wrist sprain from up here.” Largo explained. “If she hit you any harder she probably would have shattered that hand of hers.”

The leader waltzed victoriously back to me, standing only a few inches from me. She was shorter, standing up to my chest, I had to tilt my head to maintain eye contact.”

She pressed a claw from her other hand against my chest plate.

“Oro...”

“Okay, I get that. Oro means “You.” I nodded.

She smiled wider and pulled her claw away. She raised her other claw and pressed it to the side of her first one, slowly, she made the shape of a square in the air.

“Oro bureko.”

“You...Bureko...My box?” I figured, judging by the shape she made.

She nodded with a smirk.

“Neto Oro bureko.” She continued. “Miro bureko.”

“Neto...Not my box.” I was placing the words together as best I could until I came to the realization on what “Miro” meant.

“Not your box. My box.” I repeated her words in my language. “Oh no, no no no.”

“Miro bureko!” she yelled out, raising her arms to her subjects once again, whom all cheered loudly.

“Neto.”

The leader stopped, turning to look at me with a scowl.
“Miro...Bureko.” She repeated, jamming her claw against my chest again.

“Ne...to.” I leaned in, my nose practically touching hers.

Her scowl turned into a face of rage, baring her fangs at me and drawing her sword. She stepped back and took a swing at my right, but I raised my arm and let the sword smash against my gauntlet, causing the steel to shatter and send its shards into the mud. She gasped and took a step back, her subjects doing the same. I turned to face the crowed around me, pressing the buttons on my NAV and shutting my helmet around my face. They all reeled back as my HUD activated and the eyes of my helmet glowed like the angry gaze of a devil.

“So much for negotiations...”

Largo tried to say something over the comm but was drowned out by the sounds of gunfire and bullets scraping against my armour from almost all directions. It was enough to have me throw my hands in front of my face and try to back up, putting myself in front of their leader who was also caught in the barrage of led. Civilians panicked and fled away from the apparent demon that had just brought the wrath of hell upon their village, the air was ripe with the sounds of rifle fire.

I turned back to see their leader on the ground, looking up a at me with surprise while I shielded her from gunfire. Sooner or later I would fuck up and something would get through, and rather than give them another reason to shoot at me, getting her out of the line of fire would be the best option. Besides, they had to run out of ammo sooner or later, right?

I advanced forwards towards the firing line, making myself a larger target and an easier wall to waste their ammo on. I turned back again, the leader having already scrambled out of the way and to safety, at least one thing was going right today.

At this moment I was torn, if I endured the concentrated fire, then there was a chance that they would believe they're somehow driving me back and put down more pressure. If I displayed a show of force, it may frighten them into using more drastic tactics the next time we met. The sound was absolute torture on my hears, loud bangs followed by an even louder clang against my helmet and chest plate rattled my brain in my skull. I had to do something to end this.

I spotted one of my attackers reloading, fumbling with the magazine. Without wasting a moment, I advanced on her, too preoccupied with her weapon to even realize the armoured man walking towards her. The rest of her comrades backed away, but it was too late for her. When she finally managed to slam the magazine into the rifle I was already in front of her. She froze in place, the barrel of her gun against my chest and the claw on the trigger. The others were yelling what I assumed were orders to move, drowning out the shouts of their leader who had her claws waved in the air.

Before she could even react, I swiped the gun from her hands, pressing the magazine release and letting the mag drop to the floor before bonking her on the forehead with the butt of the rifle.

“Et! Et! Et! Et!” She cried, rubbing the now red spot on her forehead.

I looked over the others firing at me, keeping my gaze on them while I lowered the rifle to the ground slowly, not wanting to accidentally fire it off on the chance that there was a bullet in the chamber.

“Are we done?” I asked, knowing full well that they couldn't understand me.

The leader screamed at her soldiers, the lizard women putting down their arms and removing their claws from the trigger, I'm glad trigger discipline is a thing here. With the coast seemingly cleared, I retracted the front of my helmet, breathing a sigh of relief now that the fighting had stopped. The leader continued to scold her soldiers, who lowered their heads and looked at the ground.

“Well, to be fair, you did attack first.” I reminded her, of course to no avail.

She span around at such a speed that I jumped, stepping closer to me and looking deeply into my eyes. She said something in her tongue, though it did sound rather sultry. She trailed her claw across my chest plate and flashed me a smile, my cheeks turnign red almost instantly.

“U-uh, sorry m'am.” I stammered bashfully. “I'm spoken for.”

Hopefully she understood what I was talking about, but either way her attitude suddenly changed, clapping her hands together and beckoning me along towards the larger house at the centre of town. There were a few bullet holes in the walls and one or two of the windows were broken, but other than that, the soldiers seemed to have taken great care not to shoot at the house itself.

I was led into a grand hall, supported by large wooden logs fashioned into support beams. A long green carpet welcomed us into the its abode and led us towards a wooden throne with each arm wrest shaped like a head of some sort of lizard, perhaps a dragon of sorts. There were a few long tables on each side of us as we walked down the carpet, their tops still adorned with mug after mug of some frothy looking drink, probably alcoholic. This must be where all the important business goes down, a throne room as well as a dining hall. Dinner and a show, huh? I could get behind culture like this.

The silver haired leader stepped in front and presented the room to me, waiting for some sort of gasp of awe or an applause before clapping her hands together again.

“Oh!” She gasped, straightening herself and pressing her claws against her chest. “Lucretia.” She introduced herself.

“Lucretia.” I repeated with a nod before pointing at myself. “Daniel.”

“Dan...iel.” She repeated, her eyes trailing off before giving me a big, toothy grin. “Danny!”

“...Danny.” I agreed, the sound of Largo laughing filled the comm in my ear.

Lucretia returned to presenting her hall, speaking of it boastfully in her language. All I heard was gibberish, so I instead allowed my eyes to wander around the room. It was then I spotted a pair of stairs beside the throne, leading down towards a gate that stood out from the rest of the architecture.

Lucretia stopped her presentation when she noticed me moved towards the door.

“Danny?” She asked before following along beside me, examining my every move until I stood at the stairs.

The double door was a solid sheet of metal, clean and without rust like it was put there just yesterday. Beside the door rested what looked like an ancient computer, its keyboard folded in under its monitor. My boots created a loud thud with each steps down the stone stairs until I stood in front of the door. Miraculously, the monitor and keyboard of the computer were still intact, the button on the side lighting the screen up and unfolding the keyboard in front of me.

The monitor revealed a green screen with a text box in the dead centre, a password screen.

“Largo, anything you can do about this?” I asked.

“Give me a sec...” He responded. “The tech on this thing is old as hell, it didn't take much to get the info out of it... Password is “Salvation44-45-451A.”

I typed in the password, careful to not smash the keys with my armoured fingers. It accepted it with a large “Welcome” message before presenting a few options to me.

“Open locks.” Was the first one to catch my eye, and I pressed my finger against the screen without hesitation.

And luckily for me, touch screens were invented by the time this machine was built. Lucretia yelped, hiding behind me as the two metal doors unlocked and exhausted stagnant air with a loud hiss. She backed up in astonishment as these doors opened in front of her, saying some sort of prayer until the doors opened fully.

“Power must be on minimum.” I commented to Largo, stepping into the dark hall.

“Use your helmets NV, see what you can find.”

I closed the visor of my helmet, tapping a few more buttons until my HUD's spectrum of light changed. It was all suddenly revealed before me, an endless hall dug into the earth. It split off every few yards, like a labyrinth of rooms and abandoned projects and the planets secrets all laid out for me.

“Largo...Do you have any more time to waste on this planet?” I asked.

“I don't have anywhere important to be.” he replied. “Why? Whats going on?”

“You...May want to get down here.” I told him, almost at a loss for words. “I think we're in for some serious shit...”