Perimeter of the southern Feral Woods

AVL-2: Guardian AVL of WITCH Squad, deploying to FERL-W2 to eliminate high-priority hostile HMN. Please confirm, Beacon.

KKS-93: I got you, A. Beacon reading loud and clear. Confirming sortie details now.

AVL-2: KKS.

AVL-2: Welcome back to the world of the living.

KKS-93: Great to be back. Feeling refreshed!

AVL-2: …

KKS-93: Oh come on, you love my jokes.

AVL-2: …

KKS-93: Don’t be like that, A.

AVL-2: Please confirm details.

KKS-93: Not until you admit you missed me.

I sighed, rain pattering against my suit and helmet as I clenched and unclenched my fists.

AVL-2: Of course I missed you.

KKS-93: Wow.

I frowned, my skin growing hot.

AVL-2: You told me to say it.

KKS-93: No, not that, your mission is sponsored by both VENATOR Corp. and LUMEN Corp.?

AVL-2: Oh. Yeah.

KKS-93: Big shot now, huh?

KKS-93: Sure you can handle it?

HRA-319: He can handle it.

KKS-93: Okay, well anyway, details confirmed. You’re all cleared to proceed.

AVL-2: Copy, proceeding.

I leapt into the air, my ESTRM engaging as I soared through the air toward FERL. I loved the feeling of the cold air against my skin-tight combat suit, the way it passed silently over the fabric. I loved the feeling of my body cutting through the raindrops like a sharp blade.

ESCOM: Entering mission operation space.

I slowed my throttle and landed gracefully on a high branch of a massive tree, my impact so light that it didn’t even shake the water from the leaves.

HRA-319: Gorgeous perch.

AVL-2: Thanks.

AVL-2: I had a good teacher.

The visor in my helmet buzzed to life, information dancing across my eyes like ocean waves as my ESCOM identified lifeforms around me: alien creatures with strange names and anatomies.

ESCOM: No hostiles detected.

I sighed.

It was never easy, finding these damn HMN’s.

AVL-2: WITCH 3 reporting—

KKS-93: I’m all yours, A. Speak freely.

AVL-2: Copy, KKS. No hostiles found in FERL-W2. Please advise.

KKS-93: Please check the surrounding area. I’ve cleared you for the entire FERL region, engage targets at your own discretion.

AVL-2: That’s an awful lot of responsibility, KKS. You sure about that?

KKS-93: Want me to sortie your babysitter?

HRA-319: HRA standing by at VEIK-L9.

AVL-2: No, that’s alright. HRA go make yourself useful, will you?

HRA-319: Nothing more useful than keeping an eye over my little fledgling.

AVL-2: With all due respect, please go home.

HRA-319: Ubrelia’s not home without you, A.

I ignored HRA and leapt forward, a burst of ESTRM accelerating me from treetop to treetop, the iridescent particles trailing behind me as I traversed the forest canopy, my eyes rapidly scanning the spaces between the leaves. Sparse beams of soft moonlight pierced through the veil of clouds in the sky above, and I danced around them, careful not to get caught in the light.

This was my first solo sortie, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Despite trying to stay calm, my nerves were definitely getting to me, and my senses were dulled by the fiery rush of adrenaline.

KKS-93: You’re doing great, A.

Just as the words rang through my head, I spotted something glimmering below me.

I grabbed a branch as I passed by, swinging around it and redirecting my momentum, landing on the cold earth with a feathery grace as the leaves and grass rippled around me. I squinted into the darkness, trying to find what had caught my eye.

HRA-319: Hey kid.

HRA-319: Your ESCOM malfunctioning or what?

I swore to myself.

AVL-2: Right.

My ESCOM scanned the environment and immediately highlighted a few nearby objects, hidden in the cloak of shadows from the canopy above. Threaded skin and claw fragments.

I took a deep breath in through my respirator, the damp, toxic air filtering as odors entered into my nose.  Despite the rain, I could smell all the strange flora, their odors tart, sweet, and rich. Overlaid on top of them was the scent of fauna, earthy, musky, and gamy. The smells entangled in my brain like an orchestra, and from them I pulled a single line. A single instrument.

The stench of a monster.

ESCOM: Scent trail confirmed, tracking HMN.

KKS-93: HMN confirmed by Beacon. Weapons free.

A silvery line appeared across my visor, showing the scent path of the monster.

AVL-2: WITCH 3 reporting—

HRA-319: If you’re scared, just say so.

AVL-2: I’m not scared.

HRA-319: Hm.

AVL-2: I’m not scared.

HRA-319: Is that why you’re calling in every time your heart skips a beat?

AVL-2: I’m just trying to follow protocol.

KKS-93: Give him a break, H. I’m sure you had nerves the first time you had to branch from your squad.

AVL-2: Can we keep coms clear, please?

HRA-319: You got it, kiddo.

KKS-93: We’ll be here if you need us.

AVL-2: Tracking target now.

I shook my head and proceeded forward.

HRA had been my mentor ever since I joined the Guardian Division and had been personally responsible for overseeing my growth as a fledgling Guardian. I, of course, felt immensely grateful to him for his guidance, and his calmness in every situation had helped me through many difficult encounters… but that said, I frequently found him to be overbearing and condescending, and I couldn’t help but wish that he had taken the day off.

It was hard to focus with him over my shoulder.

ESCOM: Scent trail localized. Approximate location FERL-W7.

I leapt up, back into the canopy for cover, and continued following the trail on my visor. The mission, issued by VENATOR Corp. and LUMEN Corp., was to identify and eliminate a monster threat using a new weapon technology developed by VENATOR Technologies.

However, the details on the mission had been exceedingly sparse, which had made HRA nervous enough to request being on standby. Just thinking about it made me clench my jaw.

KKS-93: A, everything okay? I’m reading abnormal neural patterns from your ESCOM.

I shut my eyes, frustrated.

AVL-2: AVL here, all clear.

KKS-93: If you need—

AVL-2: I’m fine.

ESCOM: Target identified. Deploying MAGICK System.

I stopped in my tracks, my feet landing silently on a branch as I stabilized myself, squinting down into the forest floor below.

There, in the middle of a clearing, was an adolescent monster. It sat on the ground, metal claws brandished. Its alien, pink, hairless skin glistened in the air, and the sight caused a chill to ripple down my spine. On top of its head was a braid of wet, greasy, matted fur, its massive eyes turned toward its razor-sharp claws. From its pursed lips, muffled by the rain, I could hear a strange cooing sound that set me on edge.

AVL-2: Is this right?

KKS-93: Your ESCOM is confirming the target on our end, AVL. Clear to engage.

AVL-2: But it’s just an adolescent. Wasn’t this a high-priority target?

KKS-93: I don’t have all the details, but ESCOM is confirming mission target.

AVL-2: What is an adolescent monster doing alone in FERL-W8?

HRA-319: That’s not our problem. Eliminate the target.

AVL-2: But—

ESCOM: MAGICK System online. SPELL Unit armed.

I shook my head.

AVL-2: Fine.

All I had to do was fire the weapon and leave.

I guided the reticule over toward the target as a metal shard split from the suit. I glanced at the “SPELL Unit” curiously as it hovered next to me, raindrops pinging off the smooth angular surface.

HRA-319: You can marvel at it when the job’s done.

I nodded, my eyes focusing back on the monster.

HRA-319: Come on kid, just like in practice.

I took a deep breath and let my lungs come to a gentle stop.

And I fired.

AVL-?: STOP!

ESCOM: WARNING. CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED.

A trap!?

A searing pain ripped through my back like a wave of fire as flashing error messages flooded my ESCOM. I barely managed to maneuver in midair and land on my feet. A moment later, the SPELL unit impaled itself into the ground, clearly destroyed. I looked up, I saw a matured monster, claws honed on me, diving toward me at a blistering speed.

ESCOM: MAGICK malfunction.

ESCOM: SWRD malfunction.

ESCOM: SHOT malfunction.

ESCOM: ESTRM malfunction.

KKS-93: AVL! What’s going on? We’re reading severe—

I barely managed to dodge away as the monster slammed into the ground. But before I even had a moment to think, it dashed at me once more, fangs bared, its massive, feral eyes staring at me with a nightmarish glow. I quickly parried the attack with my SHLD and leapt away to gain distance, but without my ESTRM, my movement was sluggish.

The adult monster roared into the air, turning its attention briefly toward the adolescent as the smaller creature scampered away.

ESCOM: WARNING. CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED.

KKS-93: A! Your ESCOM is requesting to abort the mission!

AVL-2: NO!

I couldn’t let it get away.

This was my chance to prove myself.

HRA-319: AVL, RUN!

I glanced between the two monsters before giving chase on the adolescent one, a shrill, guttural cry piercing through the air.

A moment later, my visor flashed red.

ESCOM: CRITICAL DAMAGE SUSTAINED.

ESCOM: SHLD malfunction.

I barely had time to look at the severed appendage at the end of my arm before a sharp blow came from the side, the monster kicking me with its hind legs, sending my body crashing into a tree, ripping the air from my lungs as water and blood splashed around me.

My body collapsed to the ground, my vision growing faint, as life poured forth from my arm, staining the earth crimson.

ESCOM: WARNING. CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED.

The absolute violence.

ESCOM: CRITICAL DAMAGE SUSTAINED. ABORT MISSION.

The savagery.

ESCOM: WARNING. CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED.

The adult monster looked at me, its massive, round eyes piercing through me, its black matted fur sticking out from its head like claws.

I stood no chance at fending off another attack.

I swore, my limbs growing numb as my mind raced, my thoughts short-circuiting under the duress of confronting my own impending mortality.

HRA-319: WITCH 1, engaging target.

AVL-2: … What?

Obsidian bullets descended down from the forest canopy like a hail of blades, masked by the rainfall, burrowing deep into the earth beneath. The monster managed to party the SHOT pellets as sparks exploded into the air, but it was forced to backpedal away as HRA launched forward with his SWRD.

AVL-2: No.

ESCOM: CRITICAL DAMAGE SUSTAINED. ABORT MISSION.

I tried to move forward, but an arm wrapped around me and hoisted me into the air, my limp corpse dangling as blood spilled from my wounds.

ADF-152: WITCH 2 to Beacon, I’ve got AVL. Retreating from the area of operations.

ADF’s ESTRM engaged in a burst of bright light, ripping us into the air, away from HRA, even as he continued fighting the monster, sparks and blood spraying into the darkness.

I couldn’t tell who was winning.

I could barely see anything.

KKS-93: HRA, we got him! Disengage!

But even as we gained distance from the battlefield, HRA remained silent.

KKS-93: HRA, please copy! AVL has been retrieved.

KKS-93: HRA-319! Please respond!

HRA-319: It’ll chase them down.

KKS-93: … What?

HRA-319: I can’t leave.

KKS-93: HRA, disengage!

KKS-93: HRA, that is an order!

AVL-2: H…

HRA-319: Sorry kiddo, gotta leave the nest sooner or later. ADF, KKS, take care of him.

KKS-93: WITCH 1… HRA…

ESCOM: WITCH 1 has been eliminated.