Liam

  The plateau gave them sightlines in almost every direction. Clean arcs of fire. Minimal cover for anything approaching on foot.

  The problem was the sky.

  High ground meant nothing when the threat came from above.

  The wind ran constantly across the basalt shelf, carrying fine particulate that rattled against the shuttle’s hull and made the probe stabilizers hum at a higher pitch. Liam could hear the grit ticking against his armor.

  Eight hours up here, and anyone would fray.

  The flock had already passed twice.

  He couldn’t confirm they were the same creatures, but repetition in predator behavior was never accidental. He assumed the worst case: they were being assessed.

  They were farther from the shuttle now. The grid scan had widened. The probes were deep in their cycle.

  Another contact pinged.

  -Contact, high two o’clock.- Osbert said.

  Professional. Quick. That was something Liam respected about the lieutenant. Civilian commission or not, the man learned fast.

  Weapons came up smoothly.

  Bellatrix shifted five degrees left to widen their arc. Haidar pivoted opposite, covering the right flank. Spacing was correct. No crossfire.

  The rookies better have been watching.

  The creatures rode the updraft down the slope toward them, membranes taut, barely moving.

  -Same pattern as previous?- Liam asked over the squad channel.

  Silence from Osbert. Not good. He was analyzing, which usually meant trouble.

  Liam had learned that much since the mission’s beginning, back at boarding, before the lieutenant had earned his stripes.

  The three held formation until they reached the perimeter marker. Liam had set the warning radius to seventy meters: outside effective melee range, within reliable ballistic accuracy.

  They didn’t peel away.

  -Range sixty-five.- Bellatrix reported.

  -Fifty.- Haidar counted.

  One creature twitched its wings.

  A signal.

  The formation broke.

  Two climbed sharply, catching a higher thermal stream. The third folded its secondary membranes and dropped hard, descending faster than gravity alone should have allowed.

  -Hostile or curious?- Haidar asked, tight but controlled.

  -Hold fire.- Liam ordered. He wanted intent confirmed.

  The descending creature came straight for one of the geo-probes.

  The probe was mid-cycle, drill extended, stabilizers locked into basalt. It had minimal mobility in that configuration.

  The flier flared at the last second, jaws opening wide. A row of needle-like teeth caught the sunlight.

  Impact.

  The force traveled through the rock into Liam’s boots. Muscle and membrane slammed into alloy housing. Claws dug in.

  -Drop me this one.- Osbert ordered.

  Two rifles cracked in disciplined bursts.

  Rounds tore through the membrane. The creature spasmed but held on, wings beating violently. It tried to lift, dragging the probe partially free of its stabilizers.

  Liam adjusted his aim and fired a tight burst into the cluster of eyes.

  The creature convulsed and dropped, taking the damaged probe with it. Metal buckled. The stabilizer arm sheared under the combined weight and torque.

  -Eight and four o’clock — diving fast!- Osbert warned, crouched over his pad.

  The other two did not retreat.

  They dove.

  -Engage. Controlled fire.- Liam ordered.

  Bellatrix tracked first. Her burst cut through the torso of the left attacker. The body folded midair and fell.

  The second came in lower, jaws wide. Haidar met it with disciplined fire straight through the open mouth. The creature’s head snapped back; it crashed onto the rock ten meters short of the line.

  Silence returned in layers. Echo died.

  Wind remained.

  Liam did not lower his rifle.

  -Status.- he said.

  -Bellatrix green.-

  -Haidar green.-

  “Shuttle green.” Magnar confirmed from comm.

  -Osbert green. We retrieve the probe and one of the bodies.-

  One probe lay twisted thirty meters out, drill half-embedded in stone. Purple blood pooled beneath three carcasses.

  -Negative retrieval.- Liam said immediately. -We return to the shuttle.-

  Osbert looked up from his scanner. -Liam…-

  -No. Blood draws attention. We retreat and consolidate around the shuttle.-

  He replayed the helmet feed in the corner of his visor while maintaining visual sweep of the ridgeline.

  Formation entry. Wing twitch. Diversion and pincer timing. First strike on the largest stationary asset. Follow-up targeting personnel.

  Not random.

  Haidar’s voice came lower this time. -You think they were testing us?-

  Liam didn’t answer immediately.

  Wildlife spooks from noise.

  Predators probe weakness.

  -It’s more likely a combination of curious and hungry.- Osbert said quietly, aiming his suit scans at the nearest carcass.

  Liam disagreed, but the lieutenant had proven himself enough to earn the right to explain.

  -Bellatrix.- he said. -Eyes on the sky. Oz, you'd better explain why you think they were just curious.-

  The wind shifted slightly, carrying a faint sulphur note.

  Osbert’s scanner chirped. -There’s an organ here—looks analogous to ampullae of Lorenzini. Electroreceptive structures. Similar to a shark’s.-

  Liam glanced at the damaged probe. Active drilling meant electromagnetic output.

  -They keyed on the probe.- Osbert continued. -Not us initially.-

  That changed the calculus.

  If the probes were triggering them, then retrieval of a corpse wasn’t just scientific curiosity — it could mean countermeasure development.

  Haidar shifted. -So we leave it?-

  Liam assessed the ridge again.

  If blood scent attracted more, they were already committed. Retreating blindly during an assault might draw pursuit. Staying static was worse. There wasn’t a really good option besides immediate retreat, but that meant leaving potential lifesaving info on the ground, and a repeat of the situation.

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  He switched to the ship channel.

  -Salaminia, this is Staff Sergeant Liam. Hostile fauna engagement confirmed. One probe is damaged. Three hostiles down. Recommend temporary withdrawal for reassessment.-

  Static. Then Vega’s voice — controlled, civilian calm.

  “Copy engagement. Could we deploy armed drones to maintain mission continuity? Geological data from this plateau is of high priority.”

  Of course it was.

  Liam kept his tone level. -Negative on drone deployment. Additional noise and electromagnetic output may escalate the fauna response.-

  Osbert cut in before Vega replied. -Kit, I’m uploading preliminary data. They are likely electroreceptive, and drones will look like flying beacons. Between the probes and the scent of blood, we’ll provoke a swarm.-

  A pause.

  -We’ll bring a specimen to analyze.- Osbert continued, looking at him. -If we identify the detection threshold, we can design a deterrent frequency. Avoid future engagements entirely.-

  Liam considered the short-term risk against long-term mitigation.

  He looked at the carcasses again. The ridge remained quiet.

  -We retrieve one specimen and the damaged probe.- Liam said. -Shuttle repositions closer to minimize exposure window. Tight perimeter. Privates assist. Magnar, tell the pilots to keep the engines hot. Immediate lift capability.-

  “Copy.”

  -Haidar, on Oz. Tackle the probe. Bellatrix, on me, high overwatch. Lieutenant, we do not linger a second more than strictly needed.-

  They moved as a unit. The probe came first; bent as it was, it was simpler to maglock it to the shuttle.

  The creature was the issue.

  It was heavier than expected. Dense musculature beneath a scaled hide. Reinforced membrane fibers — built for high-gravity lift.

  Purple blood seeped from ballistic wounds.

  The cargo bay was already tight with probe racks.

  -Won’t fit.- Liam concluded. -Can’t you take the main parts?-

  Osbert sighed. -Salaminia, how many probes did you receive so far?-

  “One hundred twenty-two.”

  Liam scanned the ridgeline again. -That’s about the same number we sent up, ain’t it?-

  -Yeah. So they aren’t fast enough to get the probes when they’re in the air. The probe can vertically ascend freely after all. Salaminia, we’re sending the undamaged probes ahead, and we’re coming carrying the body and the damaged probe.-

  “Copy, Oz. We’ll get an extra dismantling team in quarantine.”

  The underground mass Osbert had flagged earlier ticked faintly across the shared display. Still deep. Still moving.

  Toward them.

  The shuttle settled closer, engines idling low.

  -Time?- Liam said.

  -Two minutes at current speed.- Osbert replied.

  -Load and move.-

  With Haidar giving Osbert support in controlling the probes and the two privates helping with the carcass, the loading procedure took less than a minute.

  They withdrew in disciplined formation, no one turning their back to open sky.

  Inside the shuttle, the hatch sealed.

  Only then did Liam allow himself a slow exhale.

  He looked once more at the plateau through the forward display. The flyers were back, already descending to feed on their fallen.

  This ecosystem was far more aggressive than baseline.

  He wasn’t entirely sure anymore whether that was the whole explanation.

  \\ elsewhere \\

  She hadn’t needed to nudge the creatures at all; their nature itself pushed them to attack the invaders.

  It went as badly for the creatures as she thought it would.

  She knew the invaders didn’t know the first thing about ancient magic; that much was natural.

  Creatures bound to metal rarely did.

  What surprised her was that the invaders didn’t control elegant beams of light, nor sculpted arcs of fire, nor the contained fury of a sun bound within crystal.

  Their weapons roared instead with the crack of thunder, sharp and violent, launching iron through the air.

  The sound rolled across the plateau in blunt waves.

  Just impact. Rupture.

  The sky-creatures fell quickly.

  Iron tore membranes. Iron shattered bone. Iron punched through flesh and organs with brutal efficiency.

  There was no shaping to it, no visible current of will threading through the strike.

  Yet the strike had been precise and deadly, delivering only brute, relentless force.

  Well, she couldn’t exactly ask the ????? for the thoughts of something alien to it.

  She tasted the discharge in the currents of the air.

  No mana signature. No leyline disturbance. No invocation. And yet it summoned death.

  The invaders did not bend the world's breath to their design.

  They built tools that spat thunder. Crude. Effective.

  Her attention shifted to the one who gave the orders. The posture. The pacing. The spacing of the others around him. That one knew violence. That was more concerning than the iron.

  The invaders learned from the attack immediately. They watched. They reconsidered. They adapted.

  That was not the behavior of prey. She remained still beneath the deeper currents, coiled within the flow of mana, observing as the invaders retrieved both their broken device and one of the fallen bodies.

  They took their dead enemy with them.

  Did they want to consume it? That, too, was telling.

  What she understood less was why they were leaving.

  It was clear they were superior. She uncoiled and approached as much as she dared, pushed by curiosity.

  She had expected domination through violence.

  She had believed they would shout to the planet to submit on the first occasion.

  Yet they retreated after such an easy victory.

  For the first time since their arrival, she was not entirely certain what they were.

  The ????? did not whisper an answer.