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Danel and I bring up the rear while our other team members, Trel and Hux, take the lead. We’re all at the top of our class, but they scored best in stealth and scouting during our exams. With a little bit of focus, our skin camouflages against the greenery of the jungle surrounding us, rendering us nearly invisible.
The world around us is quiet, as though holding its breath. The animals and the insects are silent, and the air is utterly still. There should be some noise or movement in the forest, but it’s been unnaturally dead. The only other times I’ve ever see it this quiet in the woods like this is when a predator is on the prowl.
I pause, sniffing the air and listening carefully. Nothing. Maybe we’re just the predators that are frightening the others away.
“You good, bro?” Danel asks.
I nod. “Just on edge. Something about all this feels wrong, but I don’t know what it is.”
I half expect him to roll his eyes and call me a pussy, but he just nods. “Stay frosty for now. We’re almost there.”
In preparation for this mission, we spent hours under sunlamps, storing up energy in our spines so that we could move faster than any blaster and heal from almost any wound. All that pent up energy makes me jumpy, like a bottle of hyper-carbonated Glimner soda that’s been shaken to the point of near explosion.
Trel holds up a fist and we all stop, waiting for his signal to continue. He lifts his comms and scans the area, eventually settling on a red blob in the tree.
“What is it?” Hux asks.
“Not sure. Could be an animal. Doubt it, though.” Trel glances back at me and gives a curt nod.
I’m the best shot on the team, so I open my comms, turn on the thermal detection system, and take aim. Slowly taking in a breath, I pull the trigger on the exhale. The plasma bullet finds its mark.
With a sharp cry, a Vakutan soldier falls from the tree and lands with a sharp crack on the ground. His neck is bent at an unnatural angle and a gunshot wound in his shoulder bleeds sluggishly.
Danel pats my shoulder. “Great work, bro.”
I shrug. “Give me a challenge next time, huh?”
Chuckling, he gives me a noogie before rejoining the rest of our team. We need to get as far away from the body as possible before someone discovers it.
Trel keeps his thermal scanner up, watching for other potential combatants hiding in the trees while Hux scans the forest floor for any booby traps. Danel and I take the flanks andrear in case we’re being followed. We are getting close, and with it, that bad feeling grows even stronger.
The sound of a blaster rips through the air. The plasma strikes the tree right next to my head, and I turn in search of the source.
Catching a glimpse of a shape in the treetops, instinct takes over. All that pent up energy floods my system, and I sprint after the sniper. It takes all my strength not to whoop as I charge, drawing my plasma ax and scaling the tree one handed.
“I need backup ASAP,” he whispers from a branch. “I counted four combatants, but one is missing.”
“Not exactly missing.” I grin and bring the ax down on his head before he can even think to fumble with the weapon to shoot me first.
Grabbing his comms, I whisper, “Forget it. False alarm.” And then I shut them off.
My brother and teammates stand waiting below me with their arms crossed. Danel rolls his eyes, but he’s clearly trying not to smile. “Show off.”
I flash him a smug grin, but internally swell with pride. As a kid, I used to worship the ground that my brother walked on. Everything I did was to impress him. Not that he’ll ever know that. His head is big enough already and someone has to keep him humble. “You’re just jealous.”
Danel arches an eyebrow. “Of you? Dude, no matter how cool you are, I will always be the one who looked for monsters under your bed.”
I smirk. “So, youdothink I’m cool.”
“Aw,” Hux coos. “Your brotherly love is so cute.”
Danel shoots him a glare. “Two words, Hux: Kaleidian Arthropodicas.”
“Fuck you.” Hux shudders. “Make fun of me all you want, but those things are nasty. Any reasonable person would be scared of them.”
“As cute as this team bonding is, we should get a move on,” Trel says, already walking. “I don’t want to be here when the backup that sniper called for arrives.”
Wordlessly, we fall back into formation, concentrating on our camouflage and moving as silently as possible on the forest floor. The next time we encounter guards, we take to the trees, letting them pass obliviously below us.
