The jump had been tense, with Hunt uncertain who among the crew was fully with him and who was harboring a grudge. Dekken in particular worried him. He had no doubt that the engineer wanted to strike the Drakmundi where it would hurt them most, but the Raki engineer had been tense and cagey since they'd gone through the maw. Granted, Hunt hadn't asked his opinion on going through, but there had hardly been time for that.

  “We're coming out of the jump now, Admiral, we'll have a look at our new world shortly,” said Triflin.

  Hunt looked out of the viewport from where he sat strapped into his command chair.

  “Alright,” said Dekken from the engine room. “We're out of the jump and ready to establish orbit.”

  The planet seemed to jump at them from out of the aether, taking up a large portion of the view. The world had ice capped poles, but most of the land was a verdant green, at least from where Hunt sat. A few yellow deserts stretched out near the equator, but the majority of the surface was covered by sapphire blue oceans. It was the exact kind of world Hunt would have been pleased to stumble upon if his command had gone the way it was meant to. He sighed, resigning himself to the reality he found himself in rather than the one he desired.

  “Talon Squad, this is Admiral Hunt,” he said, contacting their comms directly. “You’re up. I’ll meet you at the shuttle.”

  Climbing down the bridge tower stairs, Hunt made his way to the secondary hangar where Talon Squad’s shuttle was kept, escorted by two armed guards he knew were loyal to him. By the time he got to the hangar Vanbrook, Reclan, Doc, D’Jarric, Darvik, and Fremig were waiting for him.

  “Taking the Drakmundi with you?” asked Hunt.

  “I go,” said Fremig, smiling sheepishly as he attempted to speak Talpaertan.

  “I see you’ve been taking your Talpaertan lessons very seriously, then,” said Hunt.

  Fremig regarded him for a moment. “Serious about learning.”

  “I’m impressed,” said Hunt honestly.

  “He’s been an excellent student,” said D’Jarric. “Between his natural intelligence and his limited ability to communicate psychically with Darvik, we may soon be able to get a true account about the Drakmundi from him.”

  “That would be extremely welcome,” answered Hunt. “And frankly I’m glad you're taking him along. His presence on the ship hasn’t exactly been… calming.” Hunt rubbed his forehead. “To business. No beacons, since the last thing we want in this corner of the galaxy is attention. Find a wide open space by water to land the Wingspan and do the general exploration routine. Any samples you send will be a welcome distraction for the science teams.

  “I know this whole ordeal is outside of the regular order of things, but I expect the same from you on this mission as I would on any other. Stay in touch, stay safe, and may Providence shine on us all.”

  “Indeed,” said D’Jarric with a nod. “I believe it will.”

  The others gave Hunt nods with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The others turned to go, but Vanbrook lingered for a moment.

  “This was the right move,” said Vanbrook, putting a hand on Hunt’s shoulder. “Now we just have to stay the course.”

  Hunt nodded and walked back to his escort, heading back to his office as Talon Squad boarded the shuttle and the hangar technicians prepared for the launch.

  ***

  Down below decks, towards the engine room, Dekken waited nervously in an empty hallway. Footsteps approached, and Dekken’s head snapped up to see who it was. His heart didn’t know whether to sink or rise when he saw it was Drilby.

  “Chief Officer Dekken, thanks for meeting me,” said the private. He was Syden’s brother-in-law, and, it would seem, the cooler head of the two. However, he was only more dangerous for it. “You’re picking the right team.”

  “Stow it, Drilby,” said Dekken irritably. “Come on, we’ll talk in my office.”

  He turned and walked down the hall, shutting his office door once they’d stepped inside.

  “First off, I’m not picking any sides, other than the Republic’s,” said Dekken. “I was there when Admiral Hunt defied orders, and I should have stopped him then. In that regard, I’m partly responsible for all of this. I could have killed the engines, even overridden the controls. I’m sorry I didn’t, but it’s too late for that now. I am willing to lead the crew if Hunt is deposed, but it has to be done properly. I won’t be responsible for a mutiny.”

  “I understand, Officer,” said Drilby. “That’s all we want. To let common sense take control and make our way back to Griffonia.”

  “Let your people know I’ll back them, but you have to wait for me,” said Dekken. “I’ll see who I can get on board among the higher ups. Now get back to wherever you’re supposed to be before anyone notices you’re missing.”

  ***

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The shuttle glided down through the atmosphere, passing over the wide ocean. Darvik looked out the window and saw a massive green serpent breach in the distance, diving back in before it had fully cleared the surface, its long tail trailing behind it.

  “Great,” he said. “I’m sure that’s a good sign.”

  They angled towards the nearest continent and a thin beach gave way to dense green trees, interspersed with tall red mushrooms and patches of purple vegetation. Bird-like reptilians scattered from the canopy as the shuttle approached, screeching in protest as they shot off towards the horizon.

  The twin suns that blazed down on the planet were just rising, and Reclan kept the sunrise to her left as she flew. She had deliberately aimed for the part of the world experiencing morning so that they would have the whole day to explore and set up camp. Just when she was certain the jungle beneath them would never open up, and that the distant mountains were growing right out of the vegetation, the trees began to thin out and a wide plain came into view, still mostly covered by dense purple shrubbery but with open grassy patches scattered here and there.

  “There’s a river off to the right,” said Vanbrook.

  “Perfect,” said Reclan. “I’ll follow that inland until we find a decent lake. That ought to make Hunt happy.”

  “I don’t know that anything is going to make that man ‘happy,’” noted Vanbrook. “But at least this won’t disappoint him.”

  They followed the river for a few hundred miles and found what they were looking for: a wide, open plain by a lake, just a few miles from the foot of the mountains that rose in the north. The jungle had reasserted itself on the sunrise side of the river, but there was plenty of space to land the Wingspan, much less the shuttle, on the lakeshore.

  As soon as the shuttle had landed, Vanbrook unbuckled and scurried to the exit ramp, walking outside and breathing in the steamy air that wafted over from the distant jungle. It was alive with a subtle organic spiciness that piqued his curiosity.

  “Where to first, Squad?” he asked, feeling energized for the first time since he’d left Raivyn behind on Griffonia.

  “Let’s start with the lake,” said Reclan. “Dense forests are always full of all kinds of poisonous creatures and predators and the like. Maybe we’ll luck out with the lake.”

  With a shrug, Vanbrook walked over to the edge of the lake and looked down into the clear water. A few small crustaceans flitted to and fro, and an amphibian the size of Vanbrook’s fist swam by, gulping a couple of the crustaceans as it went. There was a kind of short shelf for a few feet where the creatures skittered about, and then what appeared to be a steep drop off.

  “Looks pretty typical,” said Vanbrook over his shoulder. “Lake gets pretty deep a ways out, might be worth throwing on some aether gear and scoping it out if we have the time.”

  Just as he said it, a tentacle shot out of the water and grabbed him by the legs. The tentacle retracted as suddenly as it had emerged, drawing him towards a slavering maw that had just broken the surface from the depths below. Being dragged feet-first, he had a good view of the jagged teeth and beady eyes tucked away under a pointed shell.

  He pulled his revolver and fired. The blue bolt of energy went wide, ricocheting off the shell, but the surprise forced the monster to drop Vanbrook in the shallow water. Landing with a splash, he stood quickly and drew his saber, sloshing backwards through the water in hopes of reaching dry land.

  With a hissing scream, the creature threw its tentacles towards Vanbrook again. The rest of Talon Squad did what they could to fire on the monster, but it was hard to get a clean shot. The majority of the monster was underwater and most of the exposed flesh was being blocked by Vanbrook. He slashed out with his saber, the blade only nicking the monster’s leathery hide. It screamed again, and Vanbrook again tried to fire a shot into its face, his shot spoiled when another tentacle grabbed his leg and yanked. He slashed down with his saber, but the tentacle just squeezed tighter, threatening to break his leg.

  There was a sloshing sound behind Vanbrook, and suddenly the hulking form of Fremig was running past him where he lay in the shallow water. The Drakmundi hit the monster like a wrecking ball, driving it further back into the water. Vanbrook was hauled along with them, still slashing at the tentacle wrapped around his ankle. This time the tentacle loosed and Vanbrook scrambled backwards.

  It was now his turn to search for opportunities to shoot at the monster, but Fremig was wrestling the creature toe-to-toe now, and all Vanbrook could do was back away and wait for an opening. Fremig grappled with the tentacles, his claws digging into the tough flesh. A change came over the battle and the beast began to wave its tentacles frantically and tried to swim away from the shore. Digging his feet into the soft lakebed at the edge of the shelf, it looked for a moment like Fremig was going to be pulled along with the beast. However, it had little use of two of its limbs, and the Drakmundi found a solid rock beneath the muck to plant his feet on, clearly gaining the upper hand in the combat. Adjusting his grip so that one of his hands was on the edge of the shell over the monster’s face, he heaved with all his might, picking the creature up over his head. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Vanbrook looked on in awe as Fremig stood in the lake, his arms over his head, hoisting up a roughly spherical creature that was nearly seven feet in diameter. The moment passed and Fremig slammed the monster shell-first into the shallow water, spraying Vanbrook in water and blue-green gore. The creature cried out in pain as its shell split, leaving it a squirming mass of tentacles on the shore. The squirming quickly came to an end and the creature lay still in the water, tentacles drifting gently as the water sloshed around it.

  Fremig regarded the bloody mess with a strange dissatisfaction, kneeling by one of the tentacles and running a hand along it as though trying to comfort the beast in its demise. Standing up after a moment, he walked back to shore.

  “Hey, uh, thanks,” said Vanbrook, running along behind him.

  “Welcome,” said Fremig.

  The others stood on the beach, each signifying approval in their own way. Reclan and D’Jarric cheered, Darvik nodded approvingly, and Doc stood stock still, regarding Fremig with an expressionless gaze.

  “Alright, I guess let’s collect some data on this thing,” said Reclan, dispatching her drones to take pictures and readings.

  “Oh, you couldn’t have done that earlier?” asked Vanbrook.

  “I was working on it,” said Reclan with a shrug. “But Fremig kind of beat me to it.”

  “Yeah, that was… something else,” said Vanbrook. “But he didn’t seem too pleased with his own work.”

  “I don’t think he likes violence,” said Darvik.

  Vanbrook looked questioningly at Darvik. “You know about his old job, right?”

  Darvik sighed. “I mean before that, even. It’s been hard to get anything sensible out of him yet, but he doesn’t seem like a killer.”

  “You’d know,” said Vanbrook. The retort escaped before he had thought it through, though he wasn't sure he regretted it.

  Darvik shook his head but said nothing, walking away.

  “Allies are in short supply out here,” said D'Jarric quietly to Vanbrook. “Best not to push any away lightly.”