Mozzie and the rest of the crew sat in silence around the main deck of their new ship, palpable dread sucking out most everything else. Mozzie's knee jerked repeatedly in the captain seat - an anxious rhythm. Ric glanced over, furtively placing his hand on Mozzie's knee. Mozzie looked up at him, a slight smile breaking out across her lips. Ric returned it.

  Suddenly, the comms shot out gasps of static, and the quiet of the ship was somehow even greater, the crew too scared to dare inhale in or release breath. It continued for a few moments, going in and out, until-

  "Lazy Wolf you are go for departure in approximately fifty seconds."

  Mozzie immediately snapped into focus, her and Ric flipping switches as the engine began a quiet roar.

  "Sending the coordinates to you now, we're just estimating where Hermes and Daniel will connect, but it's as precise as precise can be, believe that."

  A string of numbers reflected from Ric's helmet monitor in his eyes like film reel.

  "Coordinates received, preparing for boom in thirty eight seconds."

  The small, black pyramid that sat several feet away outside began to hum, crackling electricity as it levitated into the air. It spun, faster and faster, the hum growing in ferocity as well as the sparks and lashes of electricity.

  ***

  Back aboard The New Iron Lung, Jack and Hal clacked against keys, mechanical goggles on their heads that zoomed in and out incessantly. They had a rhythm, an almost language, nonverbal and only understood by the two of them. Hermes stood near the airlock, Tera attaching a gravity pack to him.

  "They're here", said Thomas the pilot.

  "Roger that", Hermes replied. "Hashthorns, how do we look?"

  "Pretty, pretty good if I don't say so myself", responded Jack Hartshorn. "The asteroid belt is proving to be good cover, and there's no activity within the nearby vicinity. We did see movement about several kilometers north of here, but we're going to chalk it up to most likely the passing of a merchant ship. Gaborian mining is of course still big on some of the moons here. They didn't scan us, so no worries there also. As for The Hilgreen gang, their weapons system is down, and we're reading only the body heat of the five members. I think we're in the clear."

  "Good", Hermes said, sheathing his favorite blade, Black Star, fashioned out of a mixture of Ordaxian and diamond, called that because of its strange obsidian hue, like that of the ancient Nodeann star. "Ishmael, if something so much as has whispers of peculiarity, fire at will."

  Ishmael nodded, his hand wrapped around the weaponry controls like it was their natural resting place, and they ought not be anywhere else save there and ready to kill and to maim.

  Tera handed Hermes a long, obsidian box; the home of the sickle of The Hunter Wolvesbane. Tera looked at Hermes, a quick flash of something between concern and sadness crossing her hazel eyes, then, like a blink, disappearing. Hermes nodded at Tera.

  Hermes proceeded to the airlock, the first set of doors opening with the sound of a serpent then closing once Hermes had passed through. There, he was met with the second and last set of doors.

  "Opening second barrier in 3", Hank said, pulling a series of switches. "2...1."

  The doors opened, and Hermes was sucked into the cold black. He drifted forward for a while, needing no momentum save for that initial push. After that, he pulled the lever of his gravity pack, a hum emitting and reverberating within his helmet then an uptick in speed. Across the field of astroids and debris, he saw Daniel Hilgreen, who floated to Hermes without as much effort. His suit was dark green, worn and weathered, and he wore the ashen Femorian helmet back from the days of the Second Galactic War. Hermes briefly wondered if the rumors of Daniel being descended from great Femorian pilots were true.

  They met, Hermes handing Daniel the package.

  "The sickle of The Hunter Wolvesbane" he said, Daniel observing him for a moment before taking it.

  ***

  "-and one", Ric said, pulling a lever as the ship levitated off the ground of the Millennium clock, and shot towards the now several feet wide and tall field of shifting matter and electricity. They went through what seemed to be an electrical tornado for a moment, before arriving at the asteroid belt, Hermes and Daniel only dozens of feet ahead of them.

  "Peter!", Mozzie spat.

  "On it!", Peter responded, at the weapons area, hand on a lever as he studied the outside monitor. He pulled the lever, a harpoon shooting out the ship and snatching the box from Daniel's hands.

  "Success!", Peter shouted.

  "The Hartshorns sent me the location for the second Fen-Har portal bomb, preparing for boom", Ric said, weaving through the field of rocks and long destroyed structures with the precision of a surgeon.

  "Goddamn, this thing goes fast", Mozzie said, leaning against the chair as Ric sped up.

  "Gotta give some credit to Paul, he has his connection-"

  "Lazy Wolf, change course immedia-", the voice of Hal Hartshorn said, but it was too late. A maroon beam hit the back of the ship, instead of destroying or damaging it, quickly enveloping it in a sort of field.

  "What the-", Mozzie said, before everything turned black, like the deepest obsidian, and then a strange, all encompassing and infinite white. Steven's eyes widened, the white looked familiar, but for the life of him he couldn't remember from what.

  After this transpired, the duration of which was seven seconds, The Lazy Wolf found themselves back in the asteroid belt near The New Iron Lung and The Hefty Beetle.

  "...what the fuck...", Peter said, looking outside in astonishment. "W-what just happened?"

  "Fire!", Mozzie yelled. Ric, Peter and Steven immediately began to rain down fire, the attacks much more lethal than any on The Lazy Wolf craft. Still, The Hefty Beetle seemed to be nigh invulnerable, after several beam shots, only the left wing and part of the main deck taking any damnge. Still, this was enough as the ship began to descend.

  "It's not much", Peter began to say. "But seems we've at least partly damaged their flight capabilitie-"

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  A door on the underside of The Hefty Bug slid open, and there a gigantic harpoon shot out, digging itself into the underside and side of the obsidian ship.

  "Shit! Ric-", Mozzie spat.

  "Already on it!", Ric said, straining as he pulled back levers. Still, the density of The Hefty Beetle was too great, and they began to descend with it.

  "W-what do we do?", Peter shouted, he and Steven still returning fire.

  "What you're already doing!", Mozzie shouted, flipping switches and pulling levers. Still, the ship continued to fall.

  "God fucking dammit!", Steven spat. "Of all the fucking ways to die, going out stealing a sickle for a fucking pimp! With my kidnappers!"

  "Like this is how I want to die either, asshat!", Ric responded.

  Off to the side, Peter had let go of the controls for the weaponry, on his knees and praying.

  "Oh great and mighty all father, may you and the mother goddess have mercy on my-"

  "Dude!", Steven spat, eyes nearly bulging out of his sockets as he looked at Peter. "Are you serious!"

  "All men should be serious as they prepare to meet their maker", Peter responded, quickly returning to his prayer.

  "Peter", Mozzie said, turning her head slightly around. "Get the hell off your knees, you're not dying today. We're going to though, if you don't do your fucking job."

  Peter looked up, turning his head for Mozzie, Steven, then outside.

  "Okay", Peter said, rising up. "You're right. I'll fight."

  Peter returned to the firing station, and together he and Steven rained down hellfire upon The Hefty Beetle as they descended downwards towards Vindal.

  ***

  "Hartshorns, any idea what that was?", Hermes said upon returning to The Iron Wing.

  The Hartshorns had since gotten up from their station, putting on combat suits and weaponry along with the rest of the crew.

  "Honestly", Jack replied. "I really have no fucking idea, but if I had to guess-"

  "Alchemy", Hal finished. "Very, very powerful alchemy. Which means, we're either dealing with an alchemist, or an-"

  "android", Jack finished, his eyes wide as he looked at Hal in astonishment.

  "You don't think...?"

  "Well", Hal said, finishing up attaching a gravity pack to himself and now putting on a flight mask. "Given that we didn't read more than five, separate body heat signatures, I'm inclined to follow the evidence."

  "Androids?", Hermes said. "Outside the dwarf-stars?"

  "Stranger things have happened", Hal said. "And stranger yet to happen."

  Ishmael gave a quick sharp glance back towards Hal.

  "Captain", Ishmael said. "We're getting communication from The Hilgreen gang."

  "Put them through", Hermes said.

  Static reverberated in Hermes helmet, a moment later the rough voice of Daniel Hilgreen speaking.

  "Goddamnit Hermes, what are you playing at? Help get this damn pest off of us."

  "Would, but don't think I will", Hermes replied. "My only job is to deliver the sickle to the Zhar clan-"

  "Whom we represent," Daniel said.

  "True, whom you represent. Key word being represent. We'll follow you down and carefully observe the situation, possibly intervening if it poses no threat to me or my crew."

  "Goddamn Nodeann cowards. You scum are beyon-"

  Hermes cut off the communications.

  "Daniel's just a little rowdy", Hermes said, walking to the window and observing the two crafts spiraling. "Like most frontier men. It's all the hard living."

  A portion of The Hefty Beetle exploded, red flame spreading out over the blue atmosphere.

  "How long until they both make contact?", Hermes asked.

  "Approximately thirty seconds", Thomas said, descending the ship, but not so far as to come too close to either ship.

  "Alright crew", Hermes said, his face covered by his obsidian helmet, but a crooked smirk most likely underneath it. "Prepare for landing."

  ***

  The Osiris, also know as the little green devil, both due to its dark green scale covering and resilient nature, its species having survived the bombings of Vindal during the war, had since began to thrive a little under twenty-five years ago. Adept diggers, they spent most of the day underground in complex tunnel systems, coming out only to hunt or scout the land.

  We come across a particularly successful Osiris, a young male who has recently found a mate. He comes out of his tunnel, seeking to find food for the both of them. If he continues on successful in this regard, the female will agree to mate with him and give him offspring. He has, since this morning, caught two Snapple beetles and one Fergy Mouse. The female seems to prefer Snapple beetles, so that is what he will particularly be searching for. That is, what he would have been searching for had two, enormous crafts not crashed into him.

  A storm of dust raged, resembling something of a tornado or tempest, sand dancing in the air.

  "Go, go, go!", Mozzie's voice rang out. A minute later, four, levitating motorbikes departing like lightning out across the desert.

  In the moments following, the sand would start to disperse, though only a little. Hank arose out of the swirling sand, binoculars to his eyes.

  "I see them."

  "Good, let's go."

  Six hover bikes likewise departed the dusty tempest, in pursuit of The Lazy Wolf.

  ***

  The Lazy Wolf rode across the desert plains, ironically, like wolves. Mozzie led, with Ric behind her, Peter and Steven after that.

  "What the hell do we do now!?", Peter screamed.

  "Well, we don't lose our composure for one", Mozzie replied. "We need to contact the Hartshorns and see where we go from here. Ric, how's our comms?"

  "Not too good", Ric replied. "We need to get to a higher elevation."

  "There should be a mesa not too afar off", Peter said. "North, I think."

  "How do you know that?", Mozzie replied.

  "Maps show an elevated land mass nearby, well, sort of nearby. Plus, my grandpa used to be a miner in these parts. Back before everything fell apart. He died, durning the bombings. I don't know if it was here, but definitely one of these moons."

  "Ric?", Mozzie said.

  Ric nodded his head, looking at the monitor on the hover bike dash.

  "He's right, eleven kilometers north of here is an elevated land mass, the mesa most likely."

  And just like that, a bolt of something like lightning, or hot fire, but black, shot by Peter's head, almost hitting him. It shot into a cliff end, pieces of rock scattering.

  "Jesus!", Steven spat, ducking his head as a piece of debris flew overhead.

  Ric turned his head back briefly, off in the distance a group of bikes, more advanced than theirs, following.

  "Go!", Mozzie spat, revving her engine as her bike shot up a small, rocky incline, flying through the air a brief moment before landing back on the dirt.

  They rode across the expansive brown terrain, from the eyes of the great blue above, appearing like small, black dots, the dots behind them ever gaining ground.

  Another burst of gunfire, several shots hitting the nearby rocky terrain, the rest disappearing into the horizon. Ric spinned his bike around, aiming his wrist as a gauntlet on it opened, revealing six chambers. The chambers spun, emitting a deep hum. Ric closed one eye and squinted with the other.

  "Ric!", Mozzie shouted.

  "Keep going, I'll catch up in a moment."

  Three booms rang out as small orbs of crackling blue energy shot forth. A blast blew by Barron Dongal, destroying a small boulder ajectent to him, another zooming by Daniel, grazing the exterior of his helmet if only by a whisper.

  "Huh", Daniel said, in a sort of slight laugh or chuckle. "This one's got a sharp eye."

  Daniel outstretched a pistol.

  "Though I'm sure not sharper than mine."

  He fired, a blast of obsidian electricity shooting forth. It crackled like lightning as it flew, hitting the front section of Ric's craft, his bike flipping over and Ric being sent spinning through the air, Ric eventually tumbling on the ground for several moments before coming to a stop, his head hitting a rock.

  "Ric!", Peter shouted, spinning around.

  Steven (who had been lagging behind) came to a halt besides Ric.

  "Ric!", Steven yelled, after a moment leaping off his bike and running for Ric's limp body. Ric, crouched and shuddering near the semi large boulder, caused a sight that made Steven's eyes widen. He struggled, hosting his head up enough to only look at Steven.

  "You can't tell anyone."

  "I...I won't."

  Ric studied Steven's face, a strange expression crossing it, if only briefly. Only Steven could possibly make out what it meant.

  "I believe you."

  "Ric!", Mozzie said, circling back and leaping off her bike and crouching besides Ric, Steven already tended to what needed to be done, Ric's body covered in a piece of tattered cloth from Steven's cloak.

  "Moz-"

  "Are you good to go?"

  Ric grunted, standing up.

  "No other choice but to go."

  "Your bike is all but destroyed, who's-"

  "I'll ride on Steven's," Ric responded.

  Mozzie looked back between Ric and Steven a moment, something strange crossing her eyes, but nodded nonetheless.

  "Okay."

  Another shot blew by, narrowly missing Mozzie.

  "We need to go, now!", Peter said.

  Steven helped Ric onto his bike, seconds later the group resuming their trek. A cloud, or rather a gathering of large clouds, dust clouds, began to roll in overhead, darkening the blue. In the distance lighting began to descend.