Admiral José Rodriguez leans back comfortably in the Slipstream’s captain’s chair. In the first officer’s position beside him, Megla also relaxes, her thick crocodilian tail wedged through a hole in the chair’s rear. Evidently, Nyoor’s people cut out holes in the chairs so their Patriarch and new arrivals could sit more comfortably when the need arose.

Baaru stands at the front of the bridge, gazing through the Slipstream’s front windows as the ship drops down to the world of Tarus II below. Baaru holds her granddaughter, Lele, in her arms. The kitten wraps one arm around her grandma and follows her gaze to the woodlands beneath the Slipstream.

"Waa! So pretty!" Lele says, stars in her eyes. "I’ve never seen a forest from the sky before! Look at how green it is, grammy!"

Baaru smiles. "Your mother would have loved this sight. She always did have a strong affinity for nature. Looks like you take after her."

The Matriarch’s tail swishes from side to side. Baaru’s cat-ears twitch slightly. "Our village… there’s nothing left."

The Slipstream flies overhead, allowing them a good, long look at the scorched ruins of their home. No longer do their friends and family hustle around with smiles on their faces. A few scary-looking creatures, with thick, shaggy fur, long and pointy noses, and predatory eyes, tear apart the burned corpses in the village. The creatures dart around on four long, slender legs, their appearances vaguely resembling hyenas.

Baaru and Lele’s smiles fade away. They avert their eyes, unable to watch as one of the predators pounces upon a Kessu corpse and starts chomping on the bones.

Tears well up in the Matriarch’s eyes. "Sniff… my children… my nieces and nephews…"

The Admiral gazes dispassionately at the creatures lurking throughout the village. "Baaru. I know you’re in pain right now, but… can you tell me about those four-legged predators? What are they?"

The Matriarch paws at her tear-filled eyes. "Th-they’re Xonbils… normally we’d easily scare them away from the village… but the Koogali tree… it’s…!"

Baaru shakily points a hand toward a tree at the western side of the village. There, a tipped-over, burned tree lays on the ground, its ashes a faded reminder of its once-great presence.

"That tree kept the Xonbils away?" José asks.

Baaru turns to look at José and nods, as even more tears drip down her fur. "Uuu… it was our protector… a divine tree that made the monsters leave us alone. Now it’s dead… along with everyone else…"

Admiral Rodriguez meets Baaru’s despondent gaze and sighs in his heart.

Truly, endless tragedy follows in hatred’s wake.

He raises his head. "Synthmind 4131. What are the evolution levels of those creatures?"

Overhead, the Slipstream’s AI beeps in reply. "Admiral Rodriguez. This synthmind calculates that their evolutionary levels are as follows:"

"Intelligence Rating: [ONE POINT SEVEN ONE]."

"Speed Rating: [SEVEN POINT SIX FIVE]."

"Musculature Rating: [TWELVE POINT NINE ONE]."

"Overall Threat Rating: [THREE POINT SIX SIX]."

The Synthmind falls silent, giving José a moment to think.

"Hmm. Three point six. That’s much lower than I remember Tarus II’s monster ratings. These might be fringe outliers. 4131, run a scan of other nearby creatures. Are there any above an overall threat assessment level of ten?"

Several minutes follow, as the Slipstream hovers above the village, unmoving.

"Negative," 4131 replies. "This synthmind is unable to detect any creatures above a threat level of ten. However, I did locate three creatures with an overall threat rating of seven point five to the mountainous region north of this location."

José snorts derisively. "Small fry. Alright, bring us in for a landing. Megla, grab a weapon from the back. Go out there and kill all the Xonbils in the village."

The yellow-scaled Kraktol beside José flinches in surprise. "Huh? Me? Why not you? You’re much better at combat."

"I’m the Admiral," José replies indifferently. "It’s more appropriate for you to take action. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a few predators rated three on the threat assessment scanner."

Megla shakes her head. "Of course not. I’ll go at once. I’m just surprised you’d tell me to do it."

José shrugs. "Who else? You’re my best, and only, high-level soldier. Just think of this as training."

After a pause, the Admiral chuckles.

"Training… haha."

"Is something funny?" Megla asks.

"Yeah. That Troll you and your sister fought like hell to barely defeat… what number do you think a threat assessment scanner would give it?"

Megla glances outside at the fearsome-looking, hyena-like predators lurking in the village below.

"Um… it was really strong. Perhaps it would register as a… twenty?"

"No. One hundred and sixteen," José grumbles. "And the one I fought would barely fall short of two hundred. If you can’t take care of these ‘Xonbils’ by yourself, I’m going to be awfully ashamed of you."

Megla’s scales flush pink with indignation for a moment. "Tch. So you just wanted to make fun of me. Whatever! I’ll go kill them. Give me a few minutes."

She climbs out of her seat and walks toward the weapon lockers in the back of the ship. As she readies herself, the Slipstream lands in the center on the village, making more than a hundred hungry Xonbils jerk their heads in its direction. Apprehensive about the strange metal ‘bird’ setting down, some of them slowly skulk toward the Slipstream while sniffing the air.

"Wooog!"

One of the Xonbils releases a low-pitched howl, making its comrades close in and encircle the Slipstream.

Eventually, the Slipstream’s landing ramp slides down, startling a few of the nearby predators. They retreat several steps and snarl angrily at the big bird’s odd movements, only for yelps of fear and pain to go up among their ranks.

Megla, sporting a deadly energy carbine, steps out of the Slipstream’s embrace and begins calmly squeezing the trigger time after time. Her usually fierce nature gives way to boredom as she advances down the ramp and begins felling one Xonbil after another, causing panic to rise among their ranks. A few of the animals charge at her, but they end up with massive, bloody holes in their heads. The smarter ones flee with their tails between their legs, living to see another day.

Not five minutes later, Megla finishes clearing out the village of the mangy mutts. Their three-meter-tall bodies appear pitiful beyond belief as they flee into the distance, yipping and screeching at the top of their lungs.

After sweeping the perimeter, Megla casually strolls back into the Slipstream and arrives on its Bridge.

"Done."

José appears just as unenthusiastic about her resounding victory, but when her gaze falls upon the three Kessu, all of them with looks of gratitude in their eyes, her expression softens.

"…What? Don’t look at me with those eyes."

Baaru suppresses her emotions while bowing deeply. "I’ve fought Xonbils before, outside of the village. They’re vicious, lethal creatures… but you defeated them with such ease. Thank you. Now we can lay the bodies of our families to rest."

"You’re so strong!" Lele praises, stars in her eyes. "I didn’t know big Swamp Sister was this cool!"

"Don’t call me that," Megla grumbles. "Stupid furball. If the Admiral hadn’t ordered me, I’d have left those bodies to rot. Sheesh. Only a bunch of weak little Xonbils… stop acting like I… like I did you some big favor."

Despite Megla’s harsh words, she quickly turns away to prevent the Kessu from seeing her face. A slightly prideful smile appears at the corners of her giant, crocodilian mouth.

Hehe. Yeah, I am pretty awesome.

She turns to look at the Admiral, only to spot a derisive smirk on his face. He leans his chin on his fist and laughs.

"Psh. Look at how that praise went right to your head. You’re still green, girl."

Megla scowls. "Jerk! I am not! I’m red. Tch. Stupid and blind… you don’t even know your colors."

The Kraktol female turns and walks out of the Bridge, leaving José stunned.

Did… did she think I was referring to her scales? I need to be choosier with my idioms.

The Admiral rises to his feet. "Alright. Baaru, Lele, I’ll set the Slipstream to Defender Mode. No more Xonbils will come to the village. Let’s recover your family from under the mountain, then come back and bury the dead."

Baaru wipes her tears away and forces a smile. "Y-yes! Thank you, Great Precursor. I’m sorry to trouble you like this… but my children…"

José sighs. "I understand."

…

Several minutes later, the two Kessu, the Terran, and the Kraktol walk through the village, gazing upon its ruinage with varying degrees of anguish, sympathy, and pity. Even Megla looks mildly perturbed.

"I’m… I’m sorry," Megla says. "I’m more than a little responsible for this. It’s my fault this happened."

Baaru glances at Megla and narrows her eyes. "Yes. You are at least partially at fault. But… at least, in the end… you’ve repented. I can’t hate you."

Baaru walks forward. She stops beside the body of a small, badly mangled and burned body.

After gazing at the deceased Kessu for several seconds, Baaru’s eyes grow vacant.

"I… I can’t recognize them. Not their fur, nor their clothes. I don’t know who this is."

José’s eyes change and shift, allowing him to zoom in on the corpse. After scrutinizing it for a minute, he shakes his head.

Awful. That poor Kessu… they didn’t die from their burns. They lived long enough for at least two Xonbils to rip them apart. I can’t bear to tell Baaru.

The Admiral coughs out a lie. "At least, whoever they were, they perished quickly. Let’s keep moving. The sooner we reach the caves, the sooner we can rescue whoever has survived."

Baaru nods absentmindedly and rises to her feet. Her legs wobble as nausea threatens to overtake her, but Megla quickly steps up and wraps an arm around her waist.

"Careful, you. Here, I’ll help you up. Are you alright? Do you need any water?"

Baaru stares at the ground, a distant look in her eyes. "I’m… I’m fine. Let’s go… let’s find my boy."

After Megla helps the Matriarch, Lele pulls away from them and walks over to José’s side.

"Hey, Big Baldy. What’s wrong with grandma?"

José picks up Lele and sets her on his shoulder. "She’s sad, Lele. Heartbroken. Give her time… space… try to comfort her. It’s the natural order of things."

After a moment, José coughs. "Have you ever had anyone you loved die before?"

Lele nods, her usual cheerfulness replaced instead with resignation. "Yeah. My mommy died when I was really little. Daddy didn’t talk about her much. I could always tell he missed her."

Megla finishes helping Baaru. She returns to the Admiral’s side, just in time to hear Lele’s words. She says nothing, instead leaving everything up to José.

"That’s unfortunate," José says, gently squeezing Lele’s paw. "My parents died a long time ago, too. Well, before I ended up here, I mean. All the humans are dead, so… I guess that’s a given."

"Do you miss them?" Lele asks.

"Yes. Every day. The wound never goes away. The best you can hope is that eventually the pain will fade into more of… more of an unpleasant memory. Sometimes, it never happens."

The group spends a few minutes consoling one another. Eventually, they return to the mission at hand.

Baaru steels her mind. She begins walking toward the northern side of the village, beckoning for the others to follow.

"The Ancient Cave is this way. Um… Great Precursor, it’s not that I doubt your skills but… the cave is extremely dangerous. It is a winding maze of traps and hungry predators. If the Kraktol hadn’t forced our claws, I would never wish for my people to seek refuge in its caverns. We must proceed with the utmost caution."

José frowns. "Oh? If it’s so dangerous, then why…?"

"Because while the cave is frightening, it also provides natural cover from the rain of fire those despicable Kraktol-"

Baaru pauses, and glances at Megla, before changing her words.

"…because the metal sky-birds cannot shoot their weapons through the mountain. If our attackers had landed and followed after us, they might have perished upon entering the caverns."

"I see," José says. "One moment."

He telepathically connects to Umi’s system aboard the Bloodbearer. After a moment, José transmits a command.

[Umi. Scan the underground caverns. Tell me what creatures you can locate, and what their overall threat assessment ratings are.]

[Affirmative, Admiral,] Comes the reply. After a minute, she replies, [I have completed the scan you requested. I detected 122,000 creatures beneath the mountain, within the winding caverns you will soon navigate. However, below the ten kilometer mark, my scanners are unable to penetrate the bedrock. It appears there are multiple ore veins of Trifrancium beneath the surface. The ambient radioactivity is making it impossible for the planetary scanners to reach the lower depths.]

José’s heart experiences a violent shock. [What?! Trifrancium ore veins? That’s impossible! This used to be a prison world. How can such a thing exist here? No! More importantly, how much Trifrancium can you detect?]

Umi’s reply takes a few moments to sound off in José’s head. [I detect approximately seventeen kilograms of Trifrancium scattered within the mountain’s depths.]

[SEVENTEEN KILOGRAMS?!]

José’s stomach clenches so hard that he nearly falls to his knees.

[W-what kind of an absurd number is that?! That’s enough Trifrancium to power a fleet of 10,000 ships for 10,000 years! How could an ore vein of this size go undetected on a world Ramma once controlled?]

[Error. I do not know the answer to that question, Admiral.]

The Admiral continues, not even directing his questions at the AI, but the nether. [Trifrancium doesn’t just spring up out of nowhere! It can’t have just magically popped into existence after 100,000,000 years! Not even a billion years would lead to such a result! It can only appear when planets form from primal, cosmic energy! The initial radioactivity can very rarely lead to thin veins of Trifrancium in their upper crusts… but even that is damned bloody rare! Considering the richness of this vein, how could Ramma’s Chosen have overlooked it for our entire existence?!]

[Admiral. I am aware of Trifrancium’s rarity. However, your reaction is otherwise exaggerated. Whether the Bloodbearer has one milligram or one hundred kilograms, that will not affect my operations. Excess Trifrancium will not lead to an increase in my output or efficiency.]

It takes the Admiral a minute to calm himself down. He rubs sweat off his face, making Lele look at him. "Big Baldy? What’s the matter? Are you going to cry, too?"

"Um, maybe," José says, suppressing a laugh. "…But not for the same reason as you."

Umi speaks again. [Admiral, to answer your question from earlier: The strongest life-form I have detected within the caverns rates approximately a thirty-five on my threat assessment index. However, due to the Trifrancium veins, I believe you should exercise extreme caution when delving into the underground depths. It is possible other aberrant life-forms may exist capable of harming your life.]

[Right, right,] José says, casually discarding Umi’s warning. [I’ll bring a weapon. Umi, while I’m under the mountain, I want you to develop a plan to mine out as much Trifrancium as possible. Even if it does us no good, I think we should obtain as much of it as possible.]

[Orders acknowledged, Admiral. I will develop a mining algorithm for the Slipstream.]

Nodding his head, José turns to Megla. "Hey. Go grab another rifle from the weapon lockers for me. It might be a little dangerous down there, so I’d rather be prepared."

Seeing the look of casual confidence on José’s face, Megla nods. "Oh, sure. I’ll return in a minute."

After Megla leaves, José walks over to Baaru and Lele. "I’ve confirmed the location of the missing Kessu, but we’ll need to be careful. We’ll go in and then come right back out, okay?"

"Yes, Great Precursor," Baaru replies while forcing a smile. "I hope our trip goes well."

"Don’t worry. You have a Terran protecting you…" José laughs.

"…What could possibly go wrong?"