​​Part One - 2958 A.D. - Planet Janice 5

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Terra-forming and faster-than-light travel has been perfected. Planet Nations now run the galaxy with Earth Prime becoming the most powerful colonial force with numerous planets under its heavy-handed protection and with that, humans in general are not considered trustworthy or loyal. Colonial protection is maintained both politically and militarily with all armed forces integrated as “multi-specied”. In fact, many Earther Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines have never even set foot on Earth.

 

Among these forces, the Earther Rangers have become the elite of inter-planetary task-forces... expeditions, humanitarian missions, peace-keeping, hot-zone evac, disaster relief, search & rescue operations... in short, the Earther Rangers are those who excel at being dropped into total chaos already in progress.

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Desert planetoid Janice 5 is a Wilderness Jump Zone, currently playing host to a battalion of Earther Rangers on their way to a peace keeping mission on the Earth protectorate of Janice Prime, a planet that has collapsed into all-out civil war following a bloody insurrection.

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Throughout the galaxy, most smaller moons and planetoids in the orbit of major colonized planets have some alliance with the planet they orbit. However, they hold no real allegiance to any one Planet Nation other than the most basic support agreement - emergency landing zones, military rendezvous zones (Jump Zones), re-supply depots, etc... To most, these small moons and planetoids are simply referred to as “The Wilderness Worlds” and have become a haven for those who wish to live a simpler life outside of Planet Nation influence. Janice 5 is one such planetoid.

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Under a fading sun, the entire Ranger battalion has been assembled to learn why this pit-stop was made on the way to Janice Prime. Across from them, standing at attention, appears to be an identical Battalion, but these Rangers are Raquinn.

At an average of six feet in height, Raquinns are a typically slender race with blue skin, and pupil-less solid reddish-black eyes.

​

But their most distinctive feature is their white hair best described as more a horse’s mane than anything you would find on a humanoid. This mane is temple to temple width, starting in a widow’s peak high in the middle of the forehead and runs down the back of the neck, ending between the shoulder blades (necessitating a slight alteration to the standard Ranger’s uniform) all neatly trimmed, of course, to military spec.

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Other than the eyes and mane, the Raquinns have no other equine features, otherwise the rest of their physiology appears to be completely human.

​

As a people, planet Raquinn was defeated in a bitter war with Earth Prime over sixty years ago and has been occupied by Earth forces ever since. And as is the custom, Earth Prime “Laws of Assimilation” were imposed Terran-izing their speech, their manner, their customs, etc. so that Raquinns could one day be recognized as “good citizens” of the Empire.

​

That day has apparently come. Here on Janice 5 the Human and Raquinn commanders are announcing the first ever integration of Raquinn Platoons into the Earther Rangers. The peace-keeping mission on Janice Prime will be the first real test of the integrated troops.

​

Within hours, Ranger drop-ships unload company after company of soldiers into the war-torn cities of Janice Prime to help uphold a cease-fire that is shaky at best.

​

The Raquinn platoons prove to be excellent soldiers, highly skilled, highly disciplined, and very efficient. However, their attitude toward human troopers is cold, if not outright rude. It isn’t long before the offended humans start calling the Raquinns “Ponies” as the slur of choice.

​

This situation proves to be particularly maddening to Combat Corpsman 2nd Class Dante Clarke who is continuously blown off by Raquinn troops who refuse any kind of medical aid from the human corpsman. Preferring instead to seek out corpsman of any other species or simply “keep bleeding”.

​

Dante Clarke is what you would call a “Native-Born Earther”. And yet, the easy-going, if not outright cavalier, Clarke prefers the term “Angeleno” which he purposely doesn’t explain as he enjoys the confused look on the faces of his fellow troopers - most of whom have never even heard of his ancestral coastal home of New Los Angeles.

​

Highly intelligent, and with a toned body built for speed, Corpsman Clarke is destined to be a career soldier who believes in being of service. An idealist who enlisted years ago at the age of 18, he specifically requested the Ranger Combat Medical Corp. He cannot imagine a greater calling.

​

As the Rangers take control of security on Janice Prime, curfews are imposed and patrols are ordered into the cities to search out and arrest Delesko - the elusive insurrectionist leader rumored to have been given safe haven by civilians sympathetic to his cause.

​

It is believed that capturing Delesko is the key to ending the civil war.

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While on patrol a Raquinn platoon receives word of sniper activity near their position and are ordered to assist. Quickly they come upon a stricken squad of fellow Rangers, and Corpsman Dante Clarke.

​

Dante is hard at work treating a trooper who has lost most of his right hand. The wounded soldier grins through his pain and says to Dante, “The Ponies have arrived.”

​

“I believe the proper term is ‘Cavalry,’” replies Clarke. The wounded trooper chuckles with a wince.

​

Leaping from their transport the Raquinns quickly take up defensive positions. Lieutenant Kleeaude Nim, the female Raquinn platoon commander is informed that tracker life-sign scans indicate only a single target. Double-checking with her own hand-held tracker, she leads half the platoon on a search of the nearby buildings to locate the sniper.

​

Though usually a master of concentration, Corpsman Clarke glances at the Raquinn soldier crouching nearest him - another female shouldering a plasma rifle, intensely scanning for hostiles. Clarke instantly notices something very odd about the trooper and cannot help but think... “She’s tiny.”

​

It’s true; Sergeant Jayso Tynnian is only 5' 4", unusually small for a member of her race, being the only trooper in the entire battalion who is a good head shorter than the average Raquinn.

​

Her size once prompted the nickname “My Little Pony” from a non-Raquinn. The ensuing thorough ass-whipping she gave the unfortunate trooper made sure that the nickname would not be repeated anytime soon.

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No stranger to combat, Sergeant Tynnian is aggressive, brave, sharp-witted, a bit emotional, and highly skilled in close-quarters combat. If a weapon can be carried, she’s mastered it. If not, her hand-to-hand skills are just as formidable. Jayso Tynnian is a model rifle company squad leader and Ranger.

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Without taking her reddish-black eyes away from scanning, she asks, “What are you looking at Corpsman?”

​

“A fellow Ranger watching my back,” replies Clarke without missing a beat.

​

And like most Raquinn, Jayso is not too thrilled about humans or wearing the uniform of those who assimilated her world 60 years ago - but she tolerates it for the same reason her fellow Raquinn do. She was ordered to.

​

As Clarke continues his work, weapons fire rings out in a nearby building. Sergeant Tynnian and her squad of four riflemen are quickly called in to flank the building and in no time they are racing down an alley.

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It was a trap.

​

The single life-sign tracker scan was a deliberate fake as seemingly every visible window on the whole block lights up with enemy fire. Old-type gunpowder-propelled rounds explode around Clarke. He sees a round go through the throat of the trooper he was treating just a split second before more rounds smack into his body armor sending him flying.

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In the alley, Jayso is hit in the mid-section and goes down tumbling into a bomb crater. The rest of her squad is cut-off and is forced to take cover further down the alley.

​

Wounded, but essentially saved by her body armor, Jayso tries to get out of the crater but finds herself hopelessly pinned down in a crossfire. Try as they might, her squad cannot get to her as they take fire from all directions. After seeing two of her troopers killed despite their cover, she pulls her radio and calls for more help.

​

Lt. Nim appears in the alley alone, like Jayso she was cut off from the rest of her platoon in the ambush. A third member of Jayso’s squad is killed, convincing Nim that they’re about to be cut to pieces. Nim orders Jayso to lay cover fire for a retreat and then to try and hold until the She can send reinforcements.

​

Jayso uses grenades and automatic fire to cover the Nim’s retreat but that soon brings her to the attention of the hidden insurrectionists. Gunpowder rounds erupt all around her, tearing up the edges of the crater.

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Lt. Nim makes it out of the alley unscathed, but the last remaining trooper from Jayso’s squad has sustained a massive leg wound and is losing consciousness.

​

To their shock they are met by Dante who drags the wounded Raquinn behind cover and goes right to work on the leg wound. Dante asks about other casualties while startling Lt. Nim by grabbing her hands and forcing her to apply pressure on the other trooper’s leg wound.

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Regardless of her wounded comrade, the Raquinn jerks her hands away, furious that a human would touch her in such a forceful manner. Unfazed, Dante makes it clear that if she doesn’t apply pressure her fellow Raquinn will die. He then repeats the question about more casualties.

​

Grudgingly the Lt. applies the pressure while telling Clarke about the wounded Sergeant they had to leave behind.

Carefully, Dante goes and peers down the alley where he can see Jayso continuing to fire in all directions until she suddenly spins from a bullet impact and disappears from sight into the crater.

​

“Don’t concern yourself, Human,” shouts Lt. Nim, “if she’s to die, she’ll die with honor.”

​

Flat on her back with blood pouring from where the old-fashioned lead round tore through her forearm, Jayso looks up just in time to see a pair of Ranger combat shuttles streak into hover assault positions in the sky above. The roar is deafening as the shuttle’s forward guns obliterate the surrounding building tops.

​

Now’s her chance.

​

One-arming her rifle, she lunges from the crater and is startled to find a crowd of fleeing insurrectionists heading right towards her. Both open fire simultaneously.

​

Her weapon runs dry just as she is hit in the upper thigh and knocked back down. Despite the pain, she draws her sidearm and fights on, blasting away anything that comes near the crater.

​

It doesn’t take long before she empties all three of her sidearm magazines. On her back and with one arm and one leg useless, she draws a fighting knife, grimaces in pain and says grimly to herself...

​

“This...is gonna suck.”

​

Screaming insurrectionists appear on the crater’s edge, raise weapons and...

​

...they’re stitched with small arms fire, the plasma rounds blowing them completely off their feet.

​

Dante Clarke lunges into the crater, his smoking sidearm drawn. “Hi,” is all Dante says as he quickly checks the wounds of the shocked Raquinn. Before she has a chance to respond, Dante says, “this is gonna hurt!” throws her over his shoulder and lunges out of the crater. Dante ignores the hail of rounds whizzing past his head and exploding all around, as he races down the alley for all he’s worth, legs pumping, muscles straining, lungs on fire. And with Jayso screaming in pain through clenched teeth.

​

Meanwhile reinforcements finally pour into the area. Lt. Nim hails the first Raquinn platoon she sees and orders them into the alley to get Jayso. The platoon rushes the mouth of the alley and stop cold, shocked to see Dante Clarke charging towards them with Jayso over his shoulder.

​

The Raquinns open fire on the insurrectionists closing in, just in time for Dante and Jayso to make it out. Without stopping, Dante barges past the stunned Raquinn, heads for the cover of the nearest armored transport and begins working on Jayso.

Lt. Nim stands there stupefied, her expression quickly turning to rage. She grabs a Raquinn corpsman heading into the alley and drags him towards Dante. But before they can get to him she is stopped by a human Captain who angrily points at the alley and says, “The fight’s that way, Lieutenant!” Furious and frustrated, she acknowledges the order and heads for the alley with the Raquinn corpsman in tow.

​

As he works, Dante finally catches his breath enough to speak. With a reassuring smile he tells Jayso that her wounds look much worse than they really are.

​

Like a striking snake Jayso snatches Dante’s hand, stopping him, and asks, “Why did you do that?” He shakes his head, remarking offhandedly that he always talks to his patients. Irritated, she says through grit teeth, “You know what I mean.”

He shrugs and replies, “I’m a corpsman...it’s what I do.”

​

By morning, the surge has been suppressed, and even though the insurrectionist leader Delesko is still at large, a truce has been called, and as the days go by, combat action drops to almost zero.

​

In the meantime, Dante makes a habit of visiting Jayso in the field hospital. He claims that watching her heal is helpful as his practical experience with Raquinn physiology was limited at best. While other Raquinns in the ward clearly don’t like it, Jayso doesn’t mind a bit. She’s fascinated by this male who was clearly not like any human she had ever heard of.

​

As the peace holds and weeks pass, Dante’s battlefield prediction that Jayso’s wounds weren’t too serious prove correct and Jayso is soon released back to active duty - yet the visiting continues. Clearly something serious is growing between these two. Lt. Nim is often seen hovering nearby, quietly whispering to a trio of Raquinn troopers who apparently share her disgust.

​

Eventually the entire battalion is rotated out and shipped back to their home base located on “Earth 1” - formerly Earth’s moon until it was terra-formed and made into a military outpost.

​

Now on base, the three Raquinn troopers who had been seen whispering with Lt. Nim try to reason with Jayso. They say she is acting like a “human” to her own people because humans have no loyalty.

​

Unfazed, Jayso asks if “loyalty” was the issue then why did a human rush into that alley to save her and not Nim. As far as Jayso is concerned, they are Rangers, and that’s all that matters now. Without another word, the trio walk away. They did not like that answer.

​

From this point on Jayso refers to them as “Nim’s Triplets.”

​

Off duty, Dante asked Jayso to meet him on one of the more secluded ridges on the Sea of Tranquility overlooking a lush valley known as Armstrong’s Landing.

​

Dante sits pointing at Earth Prime, as it hangs enormously on the horizon amidst the hazy blue lunar sky. He tries to point out where his home of New Los Angeles is and tells of how much he’d like to take her to see it.

​

She chuckles at the idea of how much that would piss off Lt. Nim and the Triplets. Dante says he knows something that would piss Nim off even more, and kisses Jayso. She kisses him back. As their passions rise, Jayso asks, “Aren’t we a little exposed out here?” Dante reaches behind himself, tosses out a compact survival kit and says:

​

“I brought a tent.”

​

As their relationship grows, human troopers would often try to goad Clarke.

​

“So we hear you like riding the ponies?”

​

But to their chagrin the comments never get to Clarke, who simply chuckles and says, “Don’t let the Sarge here you say that, she’ll kick your ass”.

​

Jayso on the other hand was having a much tougher time.

​

Firmly convinced now that Jayso is a traitor to her species, Lt. Nim orders the Sergeant to stay away from the corpsman. Jayso does not, and when Lt. Nim retaliates by giving Jayso the worst duty assignments on the base as punishment, Jayso counters by asking the company commander for reassignment to another rifle company.

​

Thrilled to see a Raquinn so willing to “integrate” he gladly transfers her to a human platoon. Nim is furious.

It was soon after, that Jayso is jumped by Nim and the Triplets. They had decided that the traitor needed to be taught a lesson by beating her to a pulp.

​

It looks like they might succeed but Jayso is way to skilled for them. Before they know it, Jayso gets the upper hand, taking out all three of the Triplets. Soon, only Nim and Jayso face each other in taught combat stances. Nim draws a fighting knife and lunges. Jayso blocks the thrust, spins and delivers to Nim a vicious kick to the head, sending her into the mud.

And that’s when the high alert sounded.

​

Delesko has returned, and the entire regiment is being ordered back to Janice Prime. Without hesitation Jayso runs to join her platoon, leaving a furious and bloodied Nim.

​

Dante is so concerned by Jayso’s considerable cuts and bruises from the fight, that once back “On Planet” he asks his Medical Corp Commander if his corpsman duty assignment could be with Jayso’s platoon. His request is granted. This irritates Jayso. “I can take care of myself,” she says.

​

Since Dante seems to “get along with the “ponies,” his superiors send him and a Raquinn Corpsman to brief a Raquinn Company forward outpost on medical preparedness in the event of an insurrectionist push. As every rifle company trooper has combat shuttle flight training, he requests Jayso as his pilot.

​

After a tedious flight (Jayso is still sore and irritated, and worse yet, the Raquinn Corpsman doesn’t stop babbling) they finally approach the Raquinn fire base.

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That’s when the sonic explosion occurs and everything goes dark for Dante.

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Noise.

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Chaos.

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And then hands shaking him to the surface.

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Dante is roused back to consciousness by Jayso who tells him that the base has been hit - the shockwave had knocked their shuttle out of the sky. Communications are fried and the Raquinn corpsman has died of a broken neck.

​

Jayso and Dante separate to search the firebase for survivors. There were over 200 of Jayso’s people at the base and all are dead. The veteran Sergeant is clearly rattled by the horrific site of the bodies; blood soaking into their cropped white manes from both ruptured eyes and ears. Dead mouths, frozen in open agony, full of blood and shattered teeth.

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That’s when Dante spots a survivor outside the base perimeter.

​

He calls out to Jayso and rushes to give aid. What Dante finds is Delesko himself, his legs shattered, blood runs from his ears and one ruptured eye. Many of Delesko’s men lie scattered around him, all dead. Delesko spits a mouthful of blood then slurs through a grin of shattered teeth, “Damned thing went off too soon.”

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When Jayso arrives, she is horrified to see Dante giving the leader of the insurrection aid. Furious, she demands that he just let Delesko bleed out. Dante says he cannot do that.

​

“HE MURDERED MY PEOPLE!!!”, screams Jayso.

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Calmly, Dante assures her that Delesko will pay for that. Losing it, Jayso rips her sidearm from her holster and draws a bead on the grinning Delesko, but Dante steps in front of the weapon. He tells Jayso that he knows how she feels, but he cannot allow her to kill Delesko.

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Barely holding it together she asks in a voice full of pain, “Why are you doing this?”

​

With a deep breath, Dante replies, “I’m a Corpsman...it’s what I do.”

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Jayso lowers her weapon as she backs off in pained dismay and disbelief. “They were right...” she says, “...you have no loyalty.”

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With that, Jayso turns and walks away. Dante tries to go after her but Delesko suddenly coughs up a gout of blood. Seeing no choice, the agonized Dante returns to his patient.

​

Returning to Earth 1, and before the entire assembled regiment, Dante is given a medal and a promotion to Corpsman 1st Class for capturing Delesko alive.

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The ceremony is bittersweet as Jayso Tynnian is nowhere to be seen. As the ceremony ends with raucous applause from the Medical Corps (Human and Raquinn Corpsman alike cheering with pride), Dante turns to the Company Commander who reads the expression on his face and says, “Sorry son, she resigned her commission.”

​

End Part One

​

​
Part Two - 2963 A.D. - Planet Calaydon Prime

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A once uninhabited world Calaydon Prime now has a single city of over a million souls surrounded by sporadic patches of forest. A gleaming metropolis that attracts only the wealthiest and most influential members of the Earther Empire.

 

Calaydon City also serves as the Empire’s financial center of operations. Scholars of Earth history have dubbed it Wall Street City.

​

In the middle of acres-long botanical fields on the rim of the city a group of scientists camped under an over-designed shelter launch iridescent spheres into the blue sky. Their hope is to seed the clouds with a new chemical agent that will turn the planet from a patchwork of small forests into a lush garden paradise befitting its place in the Empire.

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The scientists can barely contain their excitement as clouds roll in with astonishing swiftness. This prompts the Empire’s top bankers and brokers throughout the city to pause in their rush to their offices. A light rain begins to fall.

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The drops of rain are green.

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The citizens watch in confusion as the green rain spatters and runs down their polished sidewalks and streets. However, no one seems to notice that where the strange raindrops hit exposed patches of manicured grass, trees and flora, the exposed ground stirs.

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The scientists pour over their data in confusion - the rain shouldn’t be green? They pause as around the shelter a low growling can be heard rising in the distance.

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Calaydon 3 is one of four Wilderness Worlds in orbit around Calaydon Prime.

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Mostly forested mountains around large clear valleys that are perfect for use as landing zones and depots. The climate only

knows the most extremes. Harsh snow in the winter, or very hot, very humid summers... like today, causing run-offs of melting snow to overflow the small lakes and streams.

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The citizens (mostly human) don’t seem to mind though, living by simple means in a small close-knit mountain village with a collective attitude towards the Empire of: “Whatever you need, as long as you leave us alone.”

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And that’s why these people have chosen to live here.

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This is one of those “Whatever you need” days as a score of Military drop ships slowly descend through the atmosphere toward those open landing zones.

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Among those waiting on the ground to greet them is a tiny Raquinn in a Law enforcement uniform... the only Raquinn on the entire planetoid... Constable Jayso Tynnian.

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Beside her is Deputy Bernard, a tall and lanky 19 year-old. A kid who is eager to please.

​

All knees and elbows, and almost two heads taller than his superior, Deputy Bernard cuts a rather comical figure next to Jayso. She stands there with hands on hips, her now grown out mane cascading over her shoulders, and blown about by the transport’s landing thrusters.

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In her tan and brown summer uniform, Constable Jayso squints into the bright blue summer sky at the approaching drop ships with an uneasy expression. Milling in the background are a number of citizens whose turn it is to volunteer for landing zone support.

​

The deputy frowns at the spit and polish nature of the Constable’s uniform and asks in amazement, “You’re wearing a badge?”

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“Shut it, Bernard,” says Jayso flatly as the drop ships touch down in a bowling pin formation - the Earther Ranger emblem emblazoned on every vessel.

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Noting which transport bears the Medical Corp insignia, she takes a deep breath.

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The ramps of the first transport fall and out pour the first company of Rangers. Leading the group is the former Lt. Kleeaude Nim, now Major Nim. With a grin she says to Jayso, “Well, if it isn’t my little pony.”

​

Not even stung, Jayso sees the perspiration starting to pour off the Rangers unaccustomed to the humidity. She smiles and says, “The sweat looks good on you Nim... makes people think you work for a living.”

​

Nim’s eyes flare before she continues, calling out to the citizens at large, ignoring Jayso.

​

“Here’s the deal! You’ve all heard there’s a disturbance on Calaydon Prime! And of course being Calaydon Prime, in true overkill fashion, the Empire has seen fit to send an entire Marine division to check it out! Our job is to sit on this humid backwater shit-hole, probably for the next couple weeks on the off chance anyone in Wall Street City actually needs help! Your job is room service. In other words, when we say ‘jump,’ you ask if we want fries with that. Do you mental rejects understand, or do I need to speak slower?! Good! Now, get my people some fresh water!”

​

Having heard enough, Jayso turns away and suddenly halts with a start.

​

Jayso finds herself staring into the chest of Dante Clarke, now also a Major and Corpsman Company Commander. After a beat he asks where the best place would be for setting up a refugee field hospital.

​

Without a hint of emotion she says, “Right this way, Major.”

​

“You know this guy?” whispers her lanky deputy.

“Shut it, Bernard.”

​

On Calaydon Prime the Marine division touches down in those botanical fields outside of Calaydon City with Marines fanning out in all directions as a communications officer shouts to his commander: “Still nothing!”

​

The Marines quickly come upon the scientist’s shelter, now torn to pieces and no with sign of the scientists.

​

That’s when a Marine calls out: “Captain, Civilians!”

​

The Marine Captain turns to see what appears to be thousands of civilians emerging from the city and rushing towards the Marines across the immense gardens. Obviously terrified they clump together, those on foot staying close to already overloaded vehicles.

​

That’s when it starts to rain.

​

The confused Marines stare at the green drops splashing around them when they see the civilians suddenly break into all out panic - trying to scramble on top of vehicles or running pell-mell at the Marines or back toward the city.

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Through binoculars the Captain sees what appears to be scores of people literally disappearing into the ground, screaming with arms flailing. Low growling begins to rise around the Marines who frantically look around for signs of movement.

The confused Captain has a dark thought and looks down just as the ground beneath his feet suddenly erupts into a gorilla-shaped creature with great sinewed arms that end in slashing talons. However, where the head and neck of a gorilla would be, is instead a giant maw of needle sharp teeth.

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The creature did not come out of the ground, the ground itself, became the creature - it’s body a slick patchwork of solidified soil, grass, rock and vine. With a horrific roar, talons sink into the Commander’s chest, while the maw clamps around his torso with a wet sickening crunch. The binoculars go flying as the screaming Captain disappears, yanked down into what once again becomes an undisturbed patch of meadow.

​

Before the Marines can react, creatures rise everywhere.

​

Back on Calaydon 3, the day has become an arduous one for Jayso who is also doing her best to avoid Dante.

​

Meanwhile, she notices that Nim’s Triplets are now officers who are already harassing the locals. At one point she even stops a protesting local from retaliating, knowing the kind of damage these Rangers can do.

​

By nightfall, Dante finds Jayso sitting on a hillside near her tiny jailhouse. Bernard told him where to find her.

​

At first she wants him to go away, but she soon relents. The first few minutes are tense but it soon becomes clear that she’s actually glad to see him.

​

Jayso tells Dante how five years ago, she made a pit-stop on Calaydon 3 on her way back to Raquinn.

​

While here, she got into a bar fight, kicked somebody’s ass and before she knew it, they were all asking her to be Constable... including the guy whose ass she kicked.

​

It turns out, they’d been without a Constable since the last one - as silly as it sounds - died of the flu. Starting a new life as the only law of a sleepy wilderness world, dealing with the occasional drunk and disorderly, sounded appealing.

But she was lonely, and over time she came to understand the magnitude of the mistake she had made in leaving... not the service, but Dante.

​

And yet two things stopped her from going back. Her Raquinn pride, and the fact that the villagers loved her, and she had come to love them in return. In five years she had no occasion to fire her weapon. She joked that she wasn’t even sure it worked. These were great people and she could not bring herself to once again walk away from those who came to depend upon her.

​

While speaking she never realized that the intensity of combat had always been mixed with the intensity of her feelings for Dante. As such, in seeing him again, adrenalin seemed to course through her body.

​

Dante confesses that when he learned a couple years ago that she was on Calaydon 3 he thought about seeking her out, but he knew that if he came all this way and found out that she hated him, he wouldn’t be able to stand it. Dante instead had chosen to put Jayso out of his mind and he thought he had done so, but when he saw her today (even looking so different with her mane all grown out) he knew he still loved her.

​

For Jayso, instead of forgetting Dante, the village citizens reminded her of him. Always helpful, always looking out for each

other, and always doing the right thing, because that’s what you do. Hearing this, Dante says in a hurt tone, that if that was really how she felt, then she should have come back and saved him about sixty months worth of agony, give or take.

​

It isn’t what he said but how he said it, that struck Jayso the wrong way - as if his pain is the only pain that mattered.

​

Even though deep down it really wasn’t what he meant, emotions were running too high. Her reawakened feelings quickly turned to anger and Jayso loses her temper. Before long, the reunion turns into a shouting match that only ends when interrupted by a radio call from Bernard. Jayso was needed at the general store.

​

The Constable storms off leaving Dante to stew alone.

​

Minutes later, a still-pissed Jayso tromps into the general store, calling for Bernard. That’s when a rifle butt smashes across Jayso’s head, sending her down on all fours.

​

Before she can recover, a rough hand rips her sidearm from its holster. Jays looks up to see Nim and the Triplets - at their feet is Bernard unconscious and also disarmed.

​

“On your feet, pony,” hisses a grinning Nim as she pulls off her body armor and sidearm. “We have unfinished business,” Nim continues, as she drops into a combat stance. Seriously dazed, Jayso stumbles to her feet.

​

The moment Jayso drops into a similar stance, Nim swats her back down with the same kind of vicious round-house kick that Jayso used to send Nim into the mud five years earlier. The Triplets chuckle.

​

Jayso retaliates by sweeping Nim’s feet out from under her and lunges howling in rage. Blow after blow, the two Raquinn hammer on each other with murder in their eyes and spitting blood.

​

Bernard comes to and tries to get up but one of the Triplets plants a foot on his throat, points a sidearm at his head and says, “Down boy.”

​

Finally, Jayso gets the upper hand by smashing a lantern across Nim’s head, grabs her bodily and begins slamming her over and over into the store counter. Insane with fury, Nim reaches for her nearby sidearm and...

​

...a plasma round explodes into the wall.

​

Everyone spins to find Dante with a sidearm in each hand... one smoking. The Triplet who had pinned Bernard now lying unconscious at Dante’s feet.

​

Jayso takes advantage of the split second of confusion to elbow the nearest Triplet in the skull, jerk away his weapon and draw a bead on the last Triplet - who simultaneously had drawn his weapon on Dante and was about to fire.

​

Instant standoff - everyone except Bernard and Nim has a weapon pointed at someone else.

​

Fingers hovering over her weapon, Nim looks at the gun Dante has pointed at her head and says, “What do you think you’re doing, Major?”

​

“Keeping Jayso from putting you in my hospital... Major,” Dante continues, “Touch your weapon and I won’t be able to stop her.”

​

“Drop your weapon, Major!” hisses Nim.

​

“I can’t do that... Major”, replies Dante.

​

Mere seconds away from everything going terminal, emergency beacons on Nim’s and Dante’s uniforms begin flashing red. By their collective expressions Bernard concludes that no one ever expects these particular beacons to go off.

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Reflex action kicks in - in one swift move Dante holsters one weapon and pulls his radio, Nim pulls hers. Simultaneously they answer.

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“Major Clarke!”

 

“Major Nim!”

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As they listen, their faces go ashen. A beat later they both say, “Understood, dust-off in ten!” Hanging up their radios, Dante says in shocked amazement, “The Marines were wiped out.”

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“The entire division?!” says the stunned Jayso - more an exclamation than a question.

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“We’ve been ordered to evacuate Calaydon Prime,” adds Nim. “Which part?” asks a Triplet.

“All of it,” says Dante.

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Duty takes over. The standoff forgotten, Jayso orders Bernard to ring the village alarm and get everyone, especially the doctor, to the landing zones. Likewise, Dante and Nim are barking orders into their radios.

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As everyone charges out of the store, Jayso calls out to Dante, “We’ll be ready!” The two lock eyes for a moment. Dante gives

​

her a quick reassuring smile that says: “I’ll be okay.” And with that, he’s gone.

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The sound barrier explodes as the first wave of drop ships, combat shuttles and sub-orbital fighters burst through the atmosphere of Calaydon Prime, on rapid descent toward the city.

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Lightening continuously strikes off the task force hulls as they roar through thick blackish-green clouds that now cover the entire planet in a blanket of perpetual night.

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As ordered, they land in waves within the city itself on any man- made surface possible, guided in by the few surviving Marines. Rangers hit the ground running and immediately begin sweeping the remaining civilians into every transport and shuttle.

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Tearing into the fresh supplies of ammo, the tattered surviving Marines repeatedly call out warnings to stay on the concrete and move fast before it rains again. “They come out when it rains!”, shouts a Marine overloaded with fresh ammunition.

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“What does?!” asks Dante.

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“Things... they come out of the ground!” replies a Marine who takes a defensive position and draws a bead on the remains of what was once a small grassy knoll.

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Dante can see that the knoll must have been hit with everything from incendiary grenades to pulsar tank rounds, and yet the Marine aims at it with fear in his eyes.

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All around, the city streets are littered with bodies, civilian and Marine. Spent magazines, ruined tanks and empty discarded weapons lie strewn about. Splattered all over everything is a slimy residue mixed with soil, rock and clumps of grass.

Dante continues to direct the medical corp while the sheer number and severity of civilian and Marine injuries seem overwhelming - bite wounds, severe lacerations, limbs missing. He spies a handful of Marine fighters hovering in positions along the city perimeter. “Are the forests covered?!” asks Dante.

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“With what?” answers the nearby Marine. “They ran out of ammo a long time ago.”

 

“Depending on where rain is falling, the birds that still have fuel are only up there as look-outs to tell us which direction those things are coming from.” The Marine looks at how the evacuation is going and shakes his head in dismay. “If we get hit with one more hard rain...we’re all screwed.”

​

Following emergency evac protocol Dante’s corpsman work at a break-neck pace to get the injured on transports and shuttles by any means possible. Meanwhile Nim’s rifle company is split between loading all other civilians and joining the marines in taking defensive positions.

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As the first evac wave starts lifts off with the second ready to touch down the words: “Incoming! From the East!” crackles over comms. All eyes turn to a Marine fighter hovering on the eastern perimeter. Rain can be seen falling over it. A low distant growling rises in the east as a Marine calls out: “HERE, THEY COME!!!”

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Those words send the civilians still waiting to board into a panic.

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Dante and Nim both watch in horror as a horde of the creatures rush towards them at impossible speed down the city streets and along building walls like insects.

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The Marines and Rangers open up on them. When hit, the beasts splatter apart into the gelatinous mess of soil and rock found everywhere. Keeping the horde of creatures at bay requires an alarming amount of ammunition. And yet a number of

them still get through to shredding equipment, civilians, soldiers and Marines alike, before troopers can blow the creatures apart.

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And so the evacuation goes. Wave after wave of shuttles and transports, fill and leave, while exhausted troopers battle wave upon wave of creatures, coming from every direction. Casualties are extremely high. Weapon stores and ammunition begin to run low. Ranger fighter craft take the place of the Marine birds that have long since run out of fuel. Soon they too run out. Finally the evacuation is down to the last few thousand.

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And then the hard rain comes - heavy and dark green, cutting visibility to almost zero.

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The situation completely deteriorates. The sounds of screams, creature roars, weapons fire and driving rain becomes a deafening cacophony. The things come from all directions - down every street, out of the blasted grassy knoll, down the sides of buildings - everywhere. It is a slaughter as it becomes every man for himself. Panicked civilians cling and fall from landing gear as the over packed transports lift skyward. Leaping creatures snatch the falling civilians out of the air before they even hit the ground.

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Then, just as three of the last four shuttles take off, the hard rain stops as suddenly as it came.

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It finally all comes down to a half dozen bloodied and lacerated troopers left standing to fight off what’s left of the creatures, while Dante Clarke herds the final fifty civilians onto the last shuttle.

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Exhausted and bloodied, with no more ammo or med supplies, the bleary-eyed Dante sees more creatures charging from down the block as a light rain begins again. Shaking off the exhaustion he literally grabs and throws the last civilian on board and calls out, “THAT’S IT, LET’S GO, LET’S GO!!!”

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The rapid padding and splashing of the oncoming creatures echoes off the now completely deserted city streets, as the last of the troopers scramble on board... but not fast enough.

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Seeing that they will not get the shuttle ramp up in time. Dante grabs onto the ramp strut and calls at the top of his lungs for the pilot to “lift off.” The creatures are practically on top of them as the shuttle thrusts skyward. Terrified civilians crush forward trying to get away from the open door. The overloaded craft rises slowly, Dante tries to swing himself inside and...

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...standing in his way is Nim. She raises a sidearm and says, “I’ll tell her you went out screaming.”

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Just then a creature clinging to the side of a building launched itself into the air and snatches Dante off the ramp the very second Nim pulls the trigger. It is unclear which hit Dante first.

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Regardless, the satisfied Nim slams a fist into the Ramp closure pad so the shuttle can streak away.

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Meanwhile, Dante and the creature tumble through the air. The plasma round meant for Dante had actually hit the creature so when the two sail into the fifth floor office windows of a high-rise, the creature literally splatters apart while Dante explodes through the glass.

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He tumbles the full length of the abandoned office before crashing to a halt, large shards of glass jutting through his right thigh.

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Back on Calaydon 3 Jayso and her villagers are nearly strained to the breaking point in their efforts to support the Rangers. While most of the once great city’s population died, the number of evacuees - panicked, wounded and dying - is overwhelming.

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There is so much chaos that Jayso cannot get a handle on where Dante might be.

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***************

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The rain has halted and few creatures are left in the city. The injured Dante fashions a makeshift dressing for his punctured thigh then tries in vain to find a military comm array that the creatures haven’t torn to shreds. Having no other choice, Dante picks up whatever weapons he can find and battles his way to a civilian radio station. Every encounter with a creature is almost his last and invariably he exhausts what little ammo he manages along the way.

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With a number of the civilian survivors so important to the Empire, the Company Commander is ordered to personally escort them back to Earth Prime immediately. Before leaving, Major Nim is put in charge.

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Between the scrambling troopers, throngs of traumatized civilians, and frantically working combat surgeons, it takes nearly a full day for Jayso to learn that Dante did not make it back. No one claims to know what happened to him - especially Nim.

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Jayso takes the news stoically, but when she finally finds herself alone in her tiny jail house, she slumps into the chair behind her desk and falls apart. Exhausted and emotionally drained, she lays her head across her folded arms and quietly sobs until sleep takes her.

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***************

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Fueled by anger and determination Dante finally makes it to the radio station, his empty weapons now useless. He limps in and collapses, his injured leg finally giving out. Looking around he finds the station equipment scattered, but not destroyed.

 

***************

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Jayso opens her eyes to find herself on her back looking through the open flaps of a tent. Outside are the fields of the Sea of Tranquility with Earth Prime on the horizon, filling the lunar sky. A hand reaches over her - gentle fingers touch her chin, turning her head to face Dante who lies beside her. He smiles and says her name...

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“Jayso!”

The Raquinn startles awake completely disoriented. “Jayso, are you there?!”

​

She almost knocks her desk over getting to the jail house radio. Dante had been unable to get a military band so he’d been trying civilian bands as a last ditch effort. When Jayso says she’ll contact Nim immediately to mount a rescue operation Dante stops her and explains how it was Nim who tried to murder him.

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Fury rising, Jayso asks for his position for a radio fix and swears to find him.

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Unfortunately, with communications now under Nim’s command, one of the Triplet’s had intercepted Dante’s transmission.

Knowing she could end up in prison for the rest of her life, Nim’s only hope now is to try and beat Jayso to the airfield otherwise stopping someone as experienced and crafty as Jayso from stealing an armed shuttle will be nearly impossible.

On the other hand thinks Nim... it might be cleaner to deal with the “little pony” off planet.

​

Jayso indeed has no trouble stealing a shuttle right out from under the crew that had just refueled and rearmed it. Once airborne, she tries to alert the base to the rescue of Dante but quickly discovers that her channels are being jammed.

There is little doubt as to who is responsible for that. When she returns with Dante Jayso intends to spill some blood.

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***************

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With thrusters on full, Jayso blasts through the atmosphere of Calaydon Prime...

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...and a lethal stream laser fire just misses the shuttle. It’s Nim and the triplets.

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The Major taunts Jayso over the radio as they exchange weapons fire while darting in and out between the skyscrapers of the deserted city. A game of cat and mouse that ends when a wrong turn puts both pilots on a sudden collision course. Jayso and Nim struggle to pull away, guns blazing. The collision is narrowly averted, but the point blank weapons fire cripples both crafts.

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Jayso and Nim manage to crash land their shuttles at near opposite ends of the city.

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Shaking it off, Jayso quickly locates a hand-held tracker... four life-signs, all Raquinn. “Damn it,” mutters Jayso.

​

She searches the uniform lockers for body armor. Nothing - that hadn’t been restocked yet. The weapons locker on the other hand, had. Jayso grabs as much as she can strap on and pocket – ammo, knives, sidearms, grenades - everything and anything, and what she can’t carry, she grip-tapes to herself.

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She tops it all off with a both a standard rifle and an enormous anti-armor tri-barrel plasma gattler. Ready to go, Jayso re-calibrates the tracker to Dante’s radio signal and clips it to her belt.

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About to exit the smoking craft she spies the shuttle’s freshly packed combat med-kit. Grabbing it, she stares at the medical insignia a moment, then straps it on.

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Leaping out, Jayso slings the rifle to her back, shoulders the enormous tri-barrel gattler and moves swiftly into the city as a light green rain begins to fall.

​

It’s not long before Jayso encounters her first creatures. After the initial shock of it, Jayso finds cover to size up the threat. As the rain eases up Jayso acts - she becomes a killing machine.

 

The Raquinn’s fury is single-minded. She feels no fear. She feels no pain. Muscle memory and instinct fueled by adrenalin takes over as Jayso blasts, kicks, slashes and blows her way through the beasts. It’s as though her body were acting independent of any thought whatsoever.

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Save one.

​

Absolutely, nothing is going to stop her from getting to Dante before Nim and the Triplets.

 

The rain however, has not eased up around the radio station and the growling is rising. Hunkered down under a communications console Dante freezes, listening to the sounds of sloshing and splashing outside mixed with a low monstrous rumble.

​

Relief as the splashing and rumbles begin to fade... when a creature bursts through the radio station windows.

Dante was ready for this.

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In a blur, Dante rips a loosened cable from the console and thrusts its now sparking end into the chest of the lunging creature. The arcing electricity blows the thing apart and the stations power shorts out.

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Unfortunately, another creature leaps in to take its place. Dante is now out of options. He would prefer to die on his feet, but all he can manage is to raise on one knee as the creature charges, leaps and...

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...explodes in a hail of automatic weapons fire.

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Jayso lunges through the window, rushes to Dante, grabs him by the collar and pulls him into a long kiss. Their lips part and before the startled Dante can ask a thing Jayso sets her forehead against his and with eyes closed says, “Nim and the Triplets have a fix on your position.”

​

"No, I couldn’t mount a rescue operation.”

​

“And yes, I’m alone.”

She remains there holding him, not wanting to let him go. “Is there a plan?” asks the still stunned Dante.

​

Jayso snaps out of it and begins handing Dante grenade belts, ammo, the tracker, fighting knives, etc. all the while saying: “Yes, you cash in your pension and we build a little cabin on Calaydon 3.”

​

“You’ll like it, there’s skiing in the winter and fishing in the summer.”

 

“I think fishing is stupid and pointless, but it relaxes you humans so you’re going to do it.”

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“I’m okay with that”, replies the trooper.

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With the standard rifle lost along the way, Jayso hands him a pair of sidearms. “I remember you were pretty handy with these,” she says.

​

Finally, she hands him the med-kit. Dante points at his wrapped thigh. “Thanks, but I got it already,” he says.

​

Jayso kisses him again and says, “It’s not for you, dumb-ass, it’s for Nim.”

 

“I’m going to hurt her, and then you’re going to have to do what you do.”

​

Jayso helps Dante to his feet, shoulders the tri-barrel gattler and leads the way out of the radio station. Dante checks the tracker.

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Four Raquinn life-signs, and closing. “They’re coming,” he says.

 

A heavy rain begins to fall.

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As the growling starts to rise in the distance, Jayso’s face becomes a mask of grim determination. She cocks the huge gattler and says...

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“This...is gonna suck.”

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**********

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What happens next? We will leave that up to you our SoulGeek Fan-Fic Writers.

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Written by Dino Andrade
Copyright © 2007 - The SoulGeek Network, LLC