After the bug woman passed out Ben pilfered around nearby for the 'healing compound' for about a half hour, but after he thought about it—he had no real reason to help her. He had already decided not to kill her. Or try to anyway.

  But Ben felt zero obligation to help her now—he had a family to get back to. The fact that he's survived was a miracle. If that bug bitch was half as tough as she said she was... She should have no problem surviving on her own. His own survival wasn't so guaranteed.

  His armored footsteps were heavy in the sand. The enforcer suit was aiding him in many ways. It made it easier to walk. It kept him cool. It even took care of his... Waste.

  But the fuel cells wouldn't last forever. And he wouldn't live longer than a few minutes without it.

  An hour or so passed before he reached the Nebuchadnezzar. The battle-frigate was torn to pieces across the sands like a beached whale. His suits minimap started to flicker. The red disconnect icon above it began to change green off and on. And his objectives updated.

  [Current Location]

  [Rendezvous]

  It showed a location a distance away from the ship.

  He let out a frustrated groan then started walking away from the ship in another direction.

  A plum of dust shot into the air as something landed in the hot desert. A silver and white figure emerged waving a hand in an attempt to clear the dust. Zephyr stood at the base of a large dune. An L shaped chunk of caasiok was embedded into it. A collection of eggs stuck to it like a wasps nest.

  And below it within the shade of another chunk was a sleeping armless Selene.

  "Oh no... What happened to you Selene?" she said softly. Thinking out loud.

  She approached and stood over the still queen. Selene's favorite scantid recognized her and didn't attack.

  "Is your mommy sick?" Zephyr asked the scantid. Who ignored her warily.

  Something landed on her back. Tiny. Like yoda. It gnawed on her neck with it's tiny mouth pinchers. Zephyr was scared and surprised even though she barely felt it with the suit on. She barely managed to stop herself before she bashed it's head in. Instead she lowered her fist.

  "Are you.. Uh... Selene's?"

  It flinched at the sound of her voice and jumped away in a flutter. A deep voice responded.

  "Surprise attack ineffective. Switching tactics. Negotiation."

  Zephyr stared at the tiny moth. It was injured. About 3 feet tall give or take. And fuzzy. It stared at her with the same curiosity.

  "Cute." she said after a quiet moment.

  Evo tilted his head in confusion.

  "Cute-?"

  The silver human bent over towards him. Putting her hands on her knees.

  "Look at your widdle cape and feet!"

  He followed her instructions and looked to his feet. Being the far weaker warrior he was a slave to her will. His cape was tattered. His feet felt warm in the sand. One of them lifted from the sand as he examined it curiously.

  "Awe~"

  Zephyr's cooing drew his gaze once more.

  "What is this... Cute? Like a human child, or pet?" Evo asked the strange human.

  "How can you talk?"

  "I adapted the humans 'larynx'. Organ to- this is an attack?"

  Zephyr had begun gently patting the fluffy space between his antennas.

  "No... I'm being friendly."

  She rubbed her hand around so the antennas began to jostle. Evo just stared at her in confusion. The red glows in his black spherical eyes were going cross-eyed doing so.

  "Ally? Of the green queen?" he asked. Noticing how the small scantid was not attacking her. Even without being ordered not to. Likely from a previous order.

  The woman stopped petting him and stood up; "Yeah... I better get her back actually. Suns getting kinda low." she stretched. Having all this power was relaxing. It made her feel safe, which was a new experience for her. No wonder Selene was so patient and calm all the time.

  "Back? To human vessel?"

  Just then he realized who this woman was. An ally from the ship she was on when they entered the caasiok. So it was intact. Most optimal. But they were missing some critical intel.

  "It's no caasiok, but I think it's comfy. Do you... Want to come along?" Zephyr asked.

  He was not confident in the human's technology's ability to heal Zykra.

  "Green queen requires healing compound. Found in caasiok wreckage. Glowing white fluid."

  Zephyr stood straight and crossed her arms. "Now you listen little... Guy? Your voice is really deep so I assume-"

  "-Dimorphism is redundant in Zykra. Also my progenitor species reproduced asexually before assimilation."

  She couldn't care less as she rolled her neck.

  "Sure. Whatever. Selene needs help now. I don't have time to go digging around in giant guts for some healing compound." she said the last words in a mockingly deep and monotone voice.

  Just then his antenna started to twitch.

  "Human prosthesis redundant. Can not heal Zykra."

  "This conversation is redundant." Zephyr said, giving him a final head pat and walking past to scoop up Selene. The smallest scantid chittered at her annoyedly, but followed as she began walking away.

  Not optimal. The supposed ally was putting the injured and weakened queen in danger. Did they not see that? Evo considered for a moment. He could not stop nor negotiate with the strange human without providing more information.

  "Green queen's servant here. Aboleth. In chrysalis. Vulnerable. If discovered by humans, will be destroyed. Significant investment by queen wasted."

  Zephyr stopped. And her heart dropped. The cogs of manipulation and subterfuge began to turn in her head against her will. Aboleth was in an egg. Right now? Here? She could...

  She shook her head. Fighting the urge.

  But it would be so easy. Easy to excuse. Some Protectorate weapon killed her, she could say. The urge was difficult to resist. Zephyr could get rid of the dangerous obstacle. The Zykra influence on Selene.

  Zephyr turned to him.

  "In those eggs up there?" she asked, nodding towards the collection of eggs stuck to the side of the chunk of caasiok.

  The moth nodded.

  "Will hatch soon. Sunrise or sometime in night."

  She chewed her lip in contemplation. Then she looked down at Selene's sleeping face. She remembered the way her face looked then and compared it. The way it twisted in anguish. The ugly cry she did.

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  "Ugh... Fine. I'll protect the stupid egg until then."

  The Sequester was quiet. Dr. Bryant had a drone following Zephyr but she often outpaced it when she flew. It had finally caught up with her and found her speaking with a tiny moth Zykra who seemed to be protecting Selene.

  She leaned Selene back down onto a dune near a broken section of caasiok... Which had a dozen eggs clinging to it. Around a central larger egg.

  Dr. Bryant instantly knew what was going on. One of those eggs contained Aboleth most likely. And the tiny moth convinced Zephyr to stay and help guard it in case Protectorate soldiers discovered it.

  He sighed. What an annoying development. He'd almost wished that Zephyr would give into her anti-Zykra proclivities and destroy the egg, the moth, and returned with Selene. They did not have time for this. This was not the time for petty emotions.

  Danny was leaned back in a chair nearby. He was tossing a tiny hacky-sack into the hair and catching it over and over; "Zephyr find her?"

  "Yes. But it seems we may be waiting for her to return for some time."

  "-What? Why?" he missed the hacky-sack on it's return journey and it bounced off the side of his face.

  "Aboleth. She's not ready to be transported."

  Danny let out an exasperated groan.

  "It's always something. How long until she's ready?"

  The scientist shook his head. Dr. Bryant didn't know. Sure, it was easy to predict when generic Zykra variants would hatch. Scantids hatched quickly, munlocs a bit longer, and vespaxyn a bit longer than that.

  But these 'praetorians' as he's taken to calling them—they're a case by case basis. They're often from different progenitor species for one. For two the essence investment from the queen is likely different for each one. There were far too many variables to give a stable prediction. He was just too unfamiliar with the process.

  They would have to wait. And plan for other eventualities.

  Ben showed up outside a crag section of desert. The dunes temporarily gave way to rocky ridges. Layers of multi-colored sentiment lined the rock walls. It was a towering wall. About twenty meters tall. Numerous pathways went within. A maze.

  "Reminds me of that time I took Destiny and the kids for nature walks." he muttered to himself as he stepped inside the winding pathways of towering rock.

  Canyon crags were always a popular tourist destination for nature hikes. But on a lifeless world and on dwindling life support Ben didn't have the time to appreciate the grandeur of nature.

  He followed the compass on his minimap that guided him to the meeting spot for survivors of the Nebuchadnezzar.

  As the sunset the light in the crags got low. The pathways and short tunnels were dark. So he used his visors night vision. Not wanting to draw attention with his flashlight—there could be Zykra around for all he knew.

  It wasn't long before he came across the campsite.

  The pathway he was in opened up into a large cavern. There were still sections of rigid rock fallen in the center of the cavern, creating different sections and rooms where different tents for different purposes were being setup.

  Floodlights were shining all around and a camp guard in enforcer armor identical to his gave him a nod as he approached. There must've been a hundred people here at least. In a sea of tents, foldout tables, generators, and survival gear.

  A sergeant was standing near the center with a tablet giving orders to people. Ben approached her.

  "Private. Welcome back. How have these wastes been treating you? Come across any Zykra?" the woman asked him.

  He shrugged. "Not really."

  "That tracks... We haven't seen many, even in the caasiok remains. We suspect they're regrouping for a final assault. One we intend to be ready for. Charge up and get on guard duty. Looks like you lost your service weapon. We have some spares kept near the charging port."

  She tilted her head towards a collection of stacked generators near a tent with a few people keeping guard. Handing out weapons and ammunition.

  "Yes sir." he said and marched over. Glad to be back at the usual grind. The weirdness of the last day put behind him.

  Zephyr leaned back on the dunes next to Selene.

  "How much longer?" she asked.

  "Several hours." Evo answered.

  "This is so boring. I want to sleep."

  "Can't. Must protect queen."

  Zephyr turned over in the sand and propped her chin on her hand; "Is she your queen though?"

  Evo turned his head towards her. "Redundant. Ordered to serve."

  "I bet you wish she was. I bet your queen sucks."

  The moth turned away.

  "Redundant. Why must humans communicate so much?"

  The silver armored woman in skin tight white leotard flopped her helmeted head against the sand as if she was throwing a tantrum.

  "I'm boooored."

  "Human boredom is compulsion towards productive activity. Perhaps you could search for healing compound."

  She sat up then; "But you said I had to protect Selene and the eggs."

  "You can fulfill both objectives. Simply do not stray so far. Take these."

  He opened his cape revealing a few giant flies clinging to his side. The size of human fists.

  "For what?"

  "Collection. Will absorb fluid and apply."

  Zykra medicine was freaking weird.

  "Alright then. I'll scope out some of these caasiok chunks."

  The moth nodded. "Easier to detect at night. Emits glow."

  So that was his plan. To wait until the night and then send her out. Clever little moth. The flies flew off his side and clung to her in various spaces.

  "Not there!" she protested as she waved a fly away. It landed on the top of her head instead. Zephyr groaned annoyed. Then set off towards the next largest chunk of caasiok.

  A pond of blood was collecting in a bowl shaped section of sand dunes. About thigh-deep. It was resisting being absorbed the thirsty sand.

  This shape was more of a T section, as it was two side-by-side hallways. Divided by a ribbed section of carapace wall. Cracked with exposed purple flesh. Zykra were so gross.

  She sloshed across the pond and climbed onto the broken section of caasiok. As she did 3 scantids leapt out at once.

  One was sculking in the dark of the caasiok, and the others splashed out of the purple blood pond behind her.

  "OH!" she shouted out in fright, she whipped around.

  'Thud' 'Thud'

  'Thud'

  The scantids all bounced off her intangible blue shield that apparated around her. It always activated when she was scared. It spanned about 3 feet around her.

  One of them bounced off the caasiok and went back into the pool. The other caught the side and clambered back up before running towards her. She kicked it—impaling the top of her silver boot into it's mouth like a dagger. The giant grasshopper thing shook for a second before going still on top of her foot.

  "Ew. Gross."

  She scrapped it off on the wall next to her.

  Just then the third scantid that was still on the caasiok with her collided with her back.

  "Oh no!" she said aloud as she reached behind her and grabbed it by the head. She pulled quickly and in doing so pulled the head free by accident. Strings of purple viscera were still connected to the body as she dropped it. The main bodies legs ran frantically, going nowhere. Then stilled.

  Killing giant bugs would never not be disgusting. She'd have to get used to her new strength with this armor on.

  The final scantid finally fished itself out of the blood pond and leapt at her.

  "You guys don't learn do you? I almost feel bad."

  Though she said that—if she wasn't wearing the armor the thing would turn her into a pile of gore on the floor in seconds. She back-handed it mid-air. Breaking it's body against the wall next to them. Dead instantly.

  Then she realized. Oh yeah. The flies.

  "All flies accounted for?" she asked out loud. Lifting her arms and checking herself. Yep. All there. They were pretty good at avoiding danger it seemed. Like real flies.

  There was no glowing white fluid here though. She'd have to check another section. Zephyr could get used to this violence thing. It wasn't so bad when you were strong as hell.

  Evo sat and waited near Selene. The green queen.

  Though he called her that, queen Selene may be a more adequate title. Only queens really called each other by their broods colors. And only as a way to disrespect one another. And Evo found himself doing it due to the conflict between the two queens. Ku'senai and Selene.

  But that conflict seems to be largely dealt with. And spending time with the queen he couldn't help but see her redeeming qualities. Yes. She had potential to be a great queen. She responded to those below her in a way most queens did not. Evo felt that he could perhaps convince her the necessities of certain evolutions. Unlike Ku'senai.

  Redundant.

  It did not matter. As he told the silver warrior. His allegiance to the purple queen, queen Ku'senai—was unwavering. Already decided. There was no changing that.

  There were human voices approaching. Most not optimal. Unlikely to be Selene's allies. They would have arrived with the silver human. Most unfortunate. He had calculated the odds of being discovered and was mostly comfortable with them.

  But even low odds could prove to be fatal if one was unfortunate.

  His antenna began to swish through the air.

  Zephyr heard a buzzing sound as she clambered onto the next broken section of caasiok.

  All the flies on her were buzzing their wings on her. Like little alarms.

  That must've been the signal to return! Someone was near Selene! She turned and leapt from the caasiok. Flying through the air at an incredible speed.

  When she arrived it was too late. There was a tiny moth corpse in the middle of the flat plateau of sandstone. His body torn to pieces by gunfire.

  And the soldiers were moving towards Selene who was leaned against the bottom of the sand dune. Examining the broken section of caasiok with eggs.

  Anger bubbled up inside her.

  The little moth-guy was cute. And he didn't hurt anyone. Even if he was a Zykra. And those soldiers were getting close to Aboleth and Selene... Actually, if they went for Aboleth first she could just— No. Enough of that.

  No more.

  She picked her side. Win or lose. If Selene turned bad, she could react then. But until that moment Zephyr would have faith in her that she wouldn't.

  "Hey!" she shouted out as she ran over. The world blurred for a moment. She panicked—she hadn't meant to go so fast. Zephyr slid across the sandstone to a stop a few meters from the soldiers. Past the purple pile of moth pieces.

  "Oh wow." one of the soldiers said. There were five of them. All in standard enforcer gear. No sergeants. Corporal at the highest it seemed. "That's some... Fancy gear. Special ops?" they asked.

  "Not a lot of armor on it if you ask me. How's that supposed to protect you? How does it even insulate you?" another asked.

  "Looks skanky to me." the female soldier among them said. "In any case, we better collect the asset. I think we're all going to get some bonus's and promotions after this one guys..."

  She couldn't let any of them live. They would report what they saw. Her. Selene. The eggs. None of it could get back to the Protectorate. But what she was about to do could play against humanities best interest as a whole. If she made the wrong judgement call. Which she was notoriously bad at.

  "I don't like the way you're just standing there... And what's up with the flies?" the fifth soldier said, slowly raising his firearm. "Say something. Now."

  The gauntlet manifested itself on her arm. And a blade of light emerged from it a few feet long. It lit up the space around Zephyr, as the sun had sat and it had grown dark.

  Zephyr made her decision. Full send. No backing out now.

  "Something." she said. And leapt at the soldiers.

  Behind the chapter...

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