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 puns.

                  AVL-2: …

                  KKS-93: Don’t be like that, A. Not on my first day back.

                  AVL-2: Please confirm details.

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

                  AVL-2: Of course I missed you.

                  KKS-93: Oh gosh, you’re gonna make me blush. Anyway, details confirmed, you’re all cleared to proceed.

                  AVL-2: Copy. Entering hot zone.

                  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.

                  SCOM: 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 today. 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 ESTREAM 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.

                  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 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 forest floor with a feathery grace as the leaves and grass rippled around me.

                  My ESCOM immediately highlighted a few objects on the forest floor. Threaded skin and claw fragments.

                  I took a deep breath in through my respirator, the toxic air filtering as odors entered into my nose. I could smell all the strange plants, their odors tart, sweet, and rich. Overlaid on top of them was the scent of animals, 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 beast.

                  ESCOM: Scent trail confirmed, tracking HMN.

                  KKS-93: HMN confirmed by Beacon.

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

                  AVL-2: WITCH 3—

                  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 program and had been personally responsible for overseeing my growth. I felt immensely grateful to him for his guidance, and his calmness in every situation had helped me through many difficult encounters. That said, I frequently found him to be overbearing and condescending.

                  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., was to identify and contain a beast threat.

                  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.

                  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 beast. It sat on the ground, metal claws brandished, its alien, pink, hairless skin causing 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 I could hear a strange cooing sound, almost as if it were imitating a choir owl.

                  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 beast doing alone in FERL-W8?

                  HRA-319: That’s not our problem. Eliminate or capture the HMN.

                  AVL-2: But—

                  ESCOM: WARNING. CRITICAL DANGER DETECTED.

                  A searing pain ripped through my back as I was catapulted from the branch. I managed to maneuver in midair and land on my feet, but as I looked up, I saw a matured beast, claws honed on me, diving toward me like a bird.

                  Was this a trap!?

                  ESCOM: SWORD malfunction.

                  ESCOM: SHOT malfunction.

                  ESCOM: ESTREAM malfunction.

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

                  I barely managed to dodge out of the path of the creature as it slammed into the ground, only to dash at me once more, fangs bared, its massive, beastlike eyes staring at me with a nightmarish glow. I quickly parried the attack with my SHIELD and leapt away to gain distance, but without ESTREAM, my movement was sluggish.

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

                  ESCOM: WARNING. CRITICAL DANGER DETECTED.

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

                  I couldn’t let it get away.

                  This was my chance to prove myself.

                  HRA-319: AVL, RUN!

                  I looked between the two beasts before giving chase on the adolescent one, a shrill, feral cry piercing through the air.

                  A moment later, my visor flashed red.

                  ESCOM: CRITICAL DAMAGE SUSTAINED.

                  I barely had time to look at the severed appendage at the end of my arm before a sharp blow came from the side, as the adult beast kicked me with its hind legs, sending my body crashing into a tree, ripping the air from my lungs.

                  My body collapsed to the ground, my vision growing faint, as blood poured from my wound.

                  ESCOM: WARNING. CRITICAL DANGER DETECTED.

                  The absolute violence of the beasts.

                  ESCOM: CRITICAL DAMAGE SUSTAINED. ABORT MISSION.

                  The savagery.

                  ESCOM: WARNING. CRITICAL DANGER DETECTED.

                  The adult beast looked at me, its massive, round eyes piercing through me, its black matted hair sticking out from its head like the blades of a quillbeak.

                  ESCOM: SHIELD malfunction.

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

                  HRA-319: HRA, engaging target.

                  AVL-2: What?

                  Black darts rained down from the sky as a shadow swept down from the forest canopy. The beast managed to party the SHOT as sparks exploded into the air, but it was forced to backpedal away as HRA launched forward with his SWORD.

                  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.

                  ADF’s ESTREAM engaged in a burst of bright light, launching us into the air away from HRA as he continued fighting the beast, sparks and blood spraying into the darkness. I couldn’t tell who was winning.

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

                  But even as he grew further away, HRA didn’t move.

                  HRA-319: It’ll chase them down.

                  Bright sparks continued to fly as the two fought with dizzying speed.

                  KKS-93: HRA, disengage! That is an order!

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

                  And then the beast unleashing a feral cry

                  And HRA’s torso was ripped in half.