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The ride on Vyse's ship was mercifully brief, as Oddclaw felt his claws sinking into the bark of the long middle mast at seeing the ocean far beneath. He bandaged up his arms and belly before they got on to let the blood clot itself, using the medical supplies from his pouch, despite the wounds being surprisingly shallow from his clash with Vyse. Rushing waters sweeped past in fresh waves as Eyeclaw shrieked with cackling joy whilst standing at the bow of the small vessel. The captain gave a hearty grin as he saw the base soon approach, a shining silver rectangle upon a lonesome shore with a single radio tower and a wide fence around it. Thankfully there was enough space within its perimeter to land his vessel as the guards came out to accompany the higher staff, the ramp coming down as both raptors and human staggered towards the welcome party.

"H-h-heh, helloooo," mewled Oddclaw.

"OH dear are you alright Odd?" asked Jane.

"I...I...I do not like flying."

"Oh, ohhhh dear...your elder seems to be taking it well!"

"I...I do not-hrrrk, know how he...he is um..."

"Would you like to sit down? Also you have to wear these."

She handed him a pair of shorts with a space in the back for his tail as he asked:

"Wh-...why?"

"Because you're in our territory," said Thomas, "so you follow our rules, keep your genitals packed inside or you aren't coming in."

"Oh, okay...does Eyeclaw have to wear them?"

"No, he actually keeps his junk inside. But you better tell him not to relieve himself in the base, you do that outside is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

He walked over towards a crate to sit himself down and regain his senses whilst slipping on the pair of shorts, explaining all this to Eyeclaw with a small chuckle from Vyse.

"Hahaha, still looking for your sea legs huh?"

"Yes," said the raptor putting the shorts on back to front, "I......this feels wrong."

"You put them the wrong way round," said Jane politely before looking up at the newcomer. "Are you mister Vyse?

"Yep," he said smiling a flashing grin with arms on hips, "no need to call me mister, it's just Vyse, nice to meetcha guys!"

"My name is doctor Addison, Jane rather, I'm the neurotherapist on site and this is-"

"Thomas Brightman, Major-General."

The man from the army shook Vyse's hand as Oddclaw stood up after finally putting on his shorts properly, seeing the 5'7'' newcomer square up to the sour kangaroo who added:

"Your arrival is...rather unexpected."

"Heh, yeah I get that a lot," said the sky rogue, "you uh, you're not with the Valuan Army are you?"

"No, I never heard of it."

"Oh good! So uhhh you caught three of those thieves I was after right?"

"We have, what authority you serve?"

"I'm with the Blue Rogues, and those thieves you caught have stolen from us and I aim to get them back."

"We do not operate on vengeance laws here mister Vyse, we shall interrogate them and nothing else."

"Well yeah course," shrugged Vyse with obvious eye roll, "but I mean I gotta take 'em to the proper authorities over at Nasrad after this."

"Nasrad..." the general flicked the word in his mouth whilst digging his tongue against his teeth. "Is that your hometown?"

"Actually no, I live elsewhere but I freelance on behalf of pretty much anybody, we're sort of uh peacekeepers."

"A mercenary?" inquired Brightman.

"Ehhhh not really," said Vyse shrugging, "it's not about the money with me, I just wanna keep the skies free."

"Well, you might wanna talk to the other visitor we've met, she fought off your thieves and captured them."

"Other visitor?"

"Come on in, but keep your weapons sheathed."

Nodding as he walked behind the guards, Oddclaw stepped in with Eyeclaw alongside him and Vyse ahead of them. Jane stepped in beside them, curious to see the aged raptor's reactions as they traipsed through long steel hallways and wide opening doors that made the elder gasp with wonder. Oddclaw however was feeling rather paranoid at coming back here, rubbing his claws frantically as Eyeclaw cried:

"Th-THIS was the place you were trapped in?!"

"Yes."

"Such...s-such shining stone, EVERYTHING is shining stone!"

"I told you it was a shining mountain did I not?"

"How do they live inside this place without going mad?!"

"They have their ways."

The elder soon noticed that his younger charge's demeanour had become stilted and sullen with an air of anxiety wrapped round his scent.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently.

"Yes...sorry I am just fearful."

"Why?!"

"I do not want to be trapped here again."

"They are your friends, are they not? So trust them!"

"Yes...I know, I-i know they have no reason to keep me but I do not know how these hairless work."

"Well that Hairnose understood us," said Eyeclaw tilting his head, "and he was the one who helped you escape."

"H-hairnose?!" squeaked Odd.

"Well we cannot keep calling them all hairless we have to give them some names surely?!"

"Yes, I...hah...hahahaha, y-you yes, you are right we should."

Calming down as he conversed with Eyeclaw, they soon reached a rather familiar room that Oddclaw tensed up at. The padded room he had first woken up in on his first year of arrival at the human base. Guards protected the corridor on each side as Vyse and Brightman entered, leaving Jane and the two raptors outside for the sky captain to see their captives.

"These the men you are looking for?"

"Yep! That's them alright, the Zivilyn Bane!"

"The what?!"

Inside the containment room were three men in loose-fitting pantaloons and red tightly-wrapped clothes around their bodies with goggles and turbans. One of them stood up on noticing the newcomer and stropped towards the viewing window.

"Well look who it is, the one-eyed blue-boy!"

"Wow," said Vyse with jaunty swagger, "did you pay for that insult or you come up with it yourself?"

"Better than anything YOU pay for."

"Maybe you should see an eye doctor," the sky pilot tapped his blinking monocle, "can't even see I still got THIS one. So where's your boss? He planning to spring you out, or he out to save his own skin again?"

"The boss isn't gonna let us rot," insisted the thief, "soon as he finds out where we are he's gonna come running!"

"That's not gonna happen," said Thomas, "anyone who tries to attack this base will be shot to pieces."

"Pfft, with what?! This place couldn't even hold off a pack o' salamanders!"

"It managed to keep a dinosaur here for three years, let's see how well you last."

"Where, is your boss?" demanded Vyse with firmer tone.

"I ain't tellin' you SQUAT!" shouted the thief.

"You crossed a line when you stole from us, now tell me where you're hiding him or else!"

"Or else WHAT?!"

"Or else."

A cold female voice came from the corridor outside as Jane pulled back to let the new visitor in which made the thieves shrink back. The hard slam of thick gleaming steel from a green cannon's length sent shuddering vibrations through the wall. She said nothing, but the piercing stare from her emerald visor glowing from the room was enough to make the prisoners cower further as Vyse stammered at the newcomer's presence.

"Wh-who, who...okay, WHO are you?"

"This," replied Thomas, "is the second visitor we had, the one who caught your thieves."

"Wha......okay, maybe one of you could catch me up on what went on and how you caught these guys?"

"Certainly, I think it's best we all get up to speed."

Two hours earlier...

"We know," said Jane, "we're heading there now by boat."

"She also said there was someone there," replied Oddclaw, "someone made of stone that came out of the big stone."

"What?! Hold on wait, are you saying there's a PERSON there?!"

"Yes. There is also an odd tree on the island with leaves shaped like clouds on it. I do not know any tree that has that."

"Tree? Leaves like...clouds, I..."

She covered her mouth briefly as she stared towards the island in a growing shock of fearful anticipation.

"Oh my god. Oddclaw, are you still with your tribe?"

"Yes, my leader will not let us leave, he is keeping us all close."

"That is a good idea, stay with your group and keep them safe. I'll let you know if we find anyone."

"Okay. Be careful Jane."

She clicked off her radio as the wind rushed through her hair, the boat streaking across the waves as they approached the island in the centre of the crescent-shaped continent. They had never had the chance to explore it, due to the lack of interest and no viable food sources they could tell, but Jane would have been quite excited for this adventure if not for the rather disturbing news that Oddclaw had given her.

"What's his status?" asked Brightman walking up beside her.

"He said there was a tree," she replied turning round to him, "with cloud-shaped leaves on the island...I think he meant an actual ship."

"A what?!"

"Well, trees are made of wood, like a ship, traditionally, and sails look like clouds don't they?"

"You really think that's what he saw?"

"There are no white leaves from any vegetation in this world sir, I must stress caution."

"Rest assured I'm ready for anything. After travelling back in time I have to be, for the sake of all of us."

The boat had three soldiers behind them ready for action, the journey across the sea taking at least an hour to reach the isolated island. It was not especially large from a distance, a small mountain and a forest surrounding its base with a large sandy shore that took up at least a quarter of its landmass. They landed from the east, having one soldier behind to keep watch on their vessel as they noticed the smoke wafting from the trees and the smell of burnt sulphur. Brightman came packing with a protective vest, his handgun and an assault rifle whilst Jane kept behind him ready to obey his orders.

"Massood, you take the north, Oliveira you get south."

"Yes sir."

"Addison stick with me, do not stop unless I tell you to."

"Alright."

The three soldiers pushed forth into the small jungle, hearing the buzzing of giant insects flitter past them as they parted ferns and took cover behind trees for precaution. The closer they came to the smoke the stronger the scent which became volatile in its strength. Jane felt the insides of her nostrils burn from the chemical stench, as they found the runway impact left behind by the object in its crushing wake. A swathe of foliage ruined and blackened to near-ashen trace, and at the end they soon saw the ship itself that had mystified them earlier.

"...god, no is this..."

Dr. Addison struggled to explain the sight of a steel smooth-surfaced UFO, with orange plating and an aggressive set of wings with weaponised tips. It was so familiar yet also incredibly alien to the humans, as if someone had peeled a cellophane reel of a sci-fi movie into their world.

"This, sh-should not be here," stammered Jane.

"WE should not be here," added Brightman keeping his rifle raised. "Let's not approach it, it might have some defence system if we get too close."

"Bu-I-ju-...oh h-hohhh god I thought we would be able to handle anything."

"Stay with me Addison. You knew the risks."

"I know dinosaurs exist, I KNEW that time travel was theoretically possible, Einstein said it and we PROVED it, but this...th-this is just beyond our reach!"

"So was jumping millions of years or bringing a soldier out of World War Two, but we managed that didn't we?"

Jane clasped her hands to her face shaking through her fingers. Breathing hotly to her palms as if trying to blow back her tears of rising panic she took a moment to calm herself. She did not turn towards Thomas when she asked staring at the ship:

"Do...do you ever regret us...doing all this?"

"I often do," said the general. "But this is our job for the sake of humanity, and someone has to do it all so that our world will be safe."

"But do we sacrifice THIS world in return?"

"You know our end objective. This world will be stable once things are set-...you hear something?"

The sounds of disturbance. Something flocked from the trees to the west of them as they heard the muted sounds of clashing steel. They made a silent motion to travel onwards, keeping their profile low as they cleared the bushes with their rifle barrels. Metallic noises came louder with each step until they reached a clearing, finding six men in red clothing all wielding swords surrounding a single opponent in sleek amber-chromed armour that hugged tightly to the body like a wet suit. The head was crowned by a crimson helm, the left arm brandished with three sharp spikes that ran up to the elbow

"Best give up now, there's eighteen of us and only one o' you!"

The lone person did not speak, pointing at all six with the left hand before signing five and one finger.

"Th-there's more of us out there you shut up!"

"Des, he hasn't said a single thing."

"IT'S ALL IN THE BODY LANGUAGE KEV, YOU SHOULD KNOW!"

"Please do not start this in front of the gang."

"WHATEVER! This metal lunkhead better give up now or else these blades of ours are gonna be tin openers on ya!"

"Listen, why don't you just walk away, go back to your weird funky Valuan ship and we'll call it off huh?"

Brightman's team spread themselves out to reach maximum coverage as the armoured human revealed a green steel cannon fully enclosing their right arm.

"Listen you can wave that thing all you want but if you wanted to shoot us you'd have done it by now-"

FZHHHHH!

".........h-holy...j-jeez."

One of the men's scimitars had melted completely down to the handle from a shrieking plasma shot, smoke drifting out of the arm cannon much to the horror of the would-be thieves. Instead one of them hurled what looked like a grenade shouting:

"CHOKE ON THIS!"

It flew through the air, arcing towards the space-suited knight who stared serenely at the floating cylinder before the newcomer leaped and swung a vicious roundhouse kick, tapping the ball of its foot against the device and straight back into the crowd of men.

"LOOK OUT!"

A shattering explosion filtered out like a burst tube, tearing through the earth and scarring some of the trees with blackened fire before the space hunter rushed into one of the thieves, slamming the back of his head with the arm cannon and straight into the dirt. Another thief rushed from behind but the hunter backflipped stomping their feet on the fallen man's head and somersaulting over the assailant's head. He stumbled forwards with surprise, turning fast to swing his sword but it clashed hard against the arm cannon with a shrieking clang as the hunter grabbed his arm and twisted it violently, forcing him to drop his weapon.

Two more men charged with shining scimitars as the visitor pulled the man's arm hard enough to swing him like a club, almost dislocating it from his shoulder as he slammed legs first into his comrades wildly. The last two men who were not staggered or wounded yet, threw two grenades one after the other before rushing on either side to outflank and trap the hunter within. Much to their shock however, the enemy curled tight into a foetal position and locked into a bizarre steel ball that reached up to their knees before rolling with a sudden boost, flashing gold across the amber to evade the blast of dual explosions.

"WH-WHAT THE-"

"L-LOOK OUT, BEHIND YOU!"

Something glinted behind one of the men's shoes as a small bomb had been dropped, not too close to cause any mutilation but far enough to create a shockwave that knocked him off his feet. The ball charged with illustrious force against the other man, who tried to roll as the hunter unfurled from their orbular state to skid screeching with iron feet like a baseball runner. Long sleek legs scraped into the dirt, planting thick grooves as the hunter vaulted straight into the thief's crotch, planting a sharp piercing metallic knee that almost stabbed him straight in the coccyx. The choking wheeze he made was inhuman, a shrieking cough as he felt something pop just between the back of his thighs. Then came the second pop as the hunter's other leg came driving straight up with their foot, sending the thief a good eight feet into the air and falling down with a crunching sob, the shape of his body now resembling a kidney.

Were it not for the sounds of combat they would have heard the soldiers from the trees wincing with a thick suck of their teeth at the sight, including that of Jane who gasped and bit her knuckles softly.

"H-hohhhhhhh shit...wha-what should we do?!"

"Nothing," said Brightman, "this isn't our fight, plus I would rather have to deal with one armoured pilot than six men with swords."

"I...wh-who's the good person in all this?!"

"The one that won't shoot us."

"YEEEAAAAAAARGH!"

The first thief whose face was covered in dirt now came roaring to stampede across the way, brandishing his sword with a leaping strike to somersault into a whirling blade of death towards the space hunter. The being did not flinch, simply raising the arm cannon horizontal in a crossguard to deflect the sword and force the man away who backflipped off the armoured chest. Landing on his feet, he rushed towards the hunter just as two more of his fellow thieves staggered up to attack from each side of their enemy. The pilot waited, bracing their feet to leap like a dolphin out of water ten feet high straight above the three men, before spiralling to face upside-down and aiming their cannon. A small purple missile plummeted from the gun-shaped arm, dropping like a bomb to blast a semi-harmless shock that sent the men flying, crumpling separately into a burning wounded smoulder of charred clothes and near-broken ribs as the hunter landed perfectly on both feet.

"GAAAAAAAAARGH!"

One foe came screeching from behind ready to swipe at the steel head, to find that they were striking at the wind as the hunter reverted straight back into a large orb like a pangolin, rolling between the thief's legs who only just noticed the small bomb planted between his feet.

"A-A-AAAAAAAHH!"

He jumped out of the way before it could explode saving his crotch the horrendous firey blast, but not saving them from the hunter who uncoiled behind him. He could not even acknowledge the crunching crack of his pelvis until five seconds after the steel boot had crushed the seat of his pants straight inside it, falling to the dirt with the whimpering of a mouse. It was at that point the men decided to leave.

"W-WE GOTTA GO!"

"WHAT?!"

"WE NEED BACKUP DAMMIT!"

"N-NO, LORD BANE SAID-"

"I KNOW WHAT HE SAID BUT WE CAN'T TAKE THIS JERKWAD ALONE!"

"YOU...Y-YOU BETTER BE READY YOU FREAK, WE'LL BE BACK WITH OUR BUDDIES AND THEN YOU'LL BE SORRY!"

The three remaining thieves who had managed to stumble onto their feet went straight off into the western forest, leaving their other three friends behind in the close proximity of the armoured enemy. It was at this point that Brightman decided to make his presence known.

"Stand down! We're not here to fight, we just came to investigate the crashed ship."

"I know."

The voice that came from the suit was female. Strong, cool, focused with such authority that it surprised Jane with disbelief until she spoke again.

"Are you military?"

"Yes, Major-General Thomas Brightman of the T.E.A.R, formerly U.S. Army. Are you the one who owns that ship back east?"

"I was forced to land. Attacked."

"By those people?"

"No. They landed after I did."

"Alright. You have no intention to fight us?"

"I had no intention of arriving here. I won't fight."

Brightman stepped out of the bush with his rifle aimed for a few seconds, before asserting the woman's body language and holstering his weapon.

"Wh-who are you," stammered Jane, "and h-how did you get here?"

"Samus Aran. A portal brought me."

The hunter stood rather intimidating in her armour at a height of 6'3'' in red and orange tones apart from the green visor over her eyes and the steel jade cannon of her right arm. The humans and raptors all regrouped at the meeting room with the exception of Kevin who had gone back to his lab, as they stood around the table of operations when the rogue offered his hand to the hunter.

"Well, thanks for nabbin' 'em either way miss Aran, I'm Vyse of the Blue Rogues."

She accepted the gesture and shook in return asking:

"You hunted those thieves?"

"Yep, chased 'em out all the way to here, landed over on the south landmass and met these two dinoboys. Why are you here?"

"A ship I'm hunting. I must destroy it."

"You were following a ship too?"

"Yes."

"Huh......did you uh, happen to go through a weird vortex all kinda blue and green?"

"Yes."

"Ah..." Vyse rubbed his hair with a smack of his lips as it all came together. "Okay so, don't be alarmed but I THINK we're both in a different world, now I'm not just saying that cuz I think your armour and this place are super different from what I'm used to, but the way your ship looks I mean not even the silvites got tech like that!"

"A dimensional flux?" inquired Samus. "...technology is different, so I agree."

"Wait, wait," Andrea leaned forwards with hands on the table, "you...are you two just accepting this fact, that you just got sucked out of YOUR world-"

"Worlds," corrected Samus.

"Huh?!"

"Plural. He's not from my world."

"And I'm definitely not from hers!" added Vyse.

Dixon sat down to breathe heavily from the implications of this, something that most of the people round the table were just starting to comprehend as Jeremy asked with hands up:

"Wai-wai-wait 'ang on is...is this like when you sucked me out of that war?"

"Yes, no, maybe," stuttered Andrea, "it's not exactly the same-"

"WELP, you two are stuck then, time to shift up another room thanks to your bloody tamperin' around with shite-"

"Wait, what?!" said the rogue. "No, no we can't be stuck here, you made the vortex you can make it again surely!"

"I don't KNOW how I did!" shouted the scientist. "I've been looking for a way to get ourselves back home, we're all trapped here! This wasn't like how it went with Jeremy, something was different, I know it was different-"

"Oh come on, you can't not know how your tech works, did you make it?!"

"Yes."

"Then you gotta understand SOME of it, give yourself some credit!"

"Look, it is MUCH more complicated than that so don't give me your-"

"Can I see your device?"

"Huh?!"

Samus walked forwards to stop in front of Dixon. Whenever she spoke Oddclaw smelt everyone's nerves increase due to them finding her impossible to read.

"Your device. Can I see it?"

"Are you a scientist?" Dixon asked.

"I have experience with alien technology."

"This is not alien technology...unless, you aren't human underneath that suit?"

"I am human. This...is alien to me."

She spread her arms around the room as Dixon found no reason to argue against her. Were it because of her fearsome suit or sharp clear tone she did not know as she turned towards Brightman for assistance as he stated:

"I am sorry miss Aran we do not allow civilians access to our private areas."

"Does former military count as civilian?"

"Well, no but unless you-"

She tapped a part of her suit and pulled out a small card from a slot in her waist, a steel pocket that closed up as Thomas looked it over.

Galatic Federation Police

Name: Aran, Samus

Date of Birth: 08-06-2055CY

Place of Birth: Colony K-2L

Ship Register: Special Ops VIXIV IV

Rank: Captain

The ID card was unusual to say the least, almost holographic showing a young blonde woman with short blonde hair and green eyes. He handed it back without being able to disprove the veracity.

"My apologies Captain, I did not realise you were former military."

"No need for formal, not here on official business. May I see your portal device?"

"Yes, uhh doctor Dixon, could you show her through?"

"Right," said Andrea sliding her hands to behind her, "come with me, captain."

"Samus will do."

The hunter walked off towards the direction of the labs leaving both raptors and humans to stare at each other in brief silence until Eyeclaw squawked with a feverish enthusiasm.

"Sh-sh-she, she was th-, tha-"

"Eyeclaw what is it?!"

"She smells like...like, the STARS Oddclaw! Sh-sh-she, she is...she is the one I knew!"

"Wh-what are you talking about?!"

"I-i-i must speak with her, please, when she returns I beg you to allow me to speak with her!"

"Whut's wrong with 'im?" asked Holt.

"He wants to speak to Samus," replied Oddclaw, "he...he thinks she has answers for him."

"Of what?!" cried Vyse. "I mean, she don't look a chatty Cathy to me so don't get your hopes up."

"I will try, but what about you? Why are you here Vyse?"

"OH, right, I uh guess I should explain things huh? So, the thieves I'm following they all work for this guy called Lord Bane."

The rogue sat onto a seat and put his feet up on another chair grinning wistfully.

"They wanna make the big money so they stole someone from me. I have to get him back."

"Wait," said Jane, "you say they stole someONE? Not an object but a person?!"

"Well, yeah."

"Tha-...th-that's kidnapping!"

"Right," Vyse pointed a fingergun at her, "and if there's one thing I hate, it's kidnappers cuz they're the worst kinda thieves!"

"Well that means it's very serious, we have to help!"

"Well that'd be great but honestly I can handle them, you don't have to put yourself out too much if you got your own problems."

"Criminal activity is not accepted," said Major-General with stiffened sneer and rigid neck, "if anyone is committing such acts in our reach then we shall do everything to assist."

"I agree," replied Oddclaw stepping forth, "we do not allow thieves here, we will help you Vyse."

"Wow..." gasped the rogue with smile, "well I really would appreciate some backup thanks! I was with a gang but they all didn't fall into the vortex like I did so yeah, thanks a lot sir!"

Vyse stood up and gave his utmost salute of respect to the army man, as well as a flashing grin to the raptor who smiled back with a full row of teeth before remembering himself and closing his mouth to look away shamefully. He hurried out the door with Eyeclaw following him in curiosity, eager to learn more of the strange laboratory base. Passing humans by who were understandably nervous of the two beasts wandering through the corridors with only themselves to chaperone, the elder looked everywhere around him at the multitude of unusual scents and sounds which amused Oddclaw.

"I thought you would be fearful," he said to Eyeclaw, "to be in the hairless grounds again."

"You trust this tribe so I will put my trust in you, was I wrong to?"

"No! Not at all, I am thankful you put your trust in me but...I expected some fear."

"They can do no worse to me now than they shall ever do to me before, Oddclaw. I do not fear anything now. You know why."

The ancient beast gave a delightful grin which frightened him slightly as they found the Third Energy laboratory, hearing Samus and Andrea speak inside it as they stood in front of the shining inactive gate.

"Third Energy?" asked Aran.

"It's our development," began Andrea, "to create a third generation of reactor which releases no harmful substance nor be exhaustible. An alternate clean energy."

"Does it work?"

"If kept stabilised yes. Third Energy initiates a reaction from particles in the planet's atmosphere and transfers that into energy. Oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, they get ionized and we extract the electron movement as the release of energy into a chain reaction which creates ozone peroxide compounds. At a low rate, it produces infinite energy from the air. At a high rate, it can be used as a mass-destructive weapon which, unfortunately our predecessors became obsessed with."

"Hmm." Samus walked forwards with cautious step, tracing her steel-gloved hand across the periphery of the gate's circular construct as she murmured:

"Reminds me of Aether."

"What's that?" asked Dixon.

"An old planet. Friends live there." She turned back towards the scientist. "This caused a flux in dimensions?"

"Yes," she replied, "if it reaches extraordinary power levels, it can result in the manipulation of time and space. We have this new system trying to comprehend how to deal with Time, and we did manage to make that work once. But unfortunately it seems only to now alter Space."

"Bringing me and Vyse here."

"Right exactly."

Oddclaw entered the room but they took no notice as the hunter began to investigate the machine more fully, looking over the consoles and seeing their power output handle itself as Andrea explained further about their numerical alterations along with the dozens of calculations they've struggled to find the sweet spot in.

"Eventually I tried to go by Fibonacci because if THAT doesn't work even by a little then I won't-"

"I can reverse it," said Samus blunt.

Dixon felt her heart flump against the pit of her stomach.

"Wh-......what?!"

"I know how to reverse what brought us here.."

"You-...you have to be joking, you, you understand this, I thought you were a-a-a-a mercenary!"

"Bounty hunter. Hyperdrive technology follows the same principle, just change numbers with different engine."

"Really?! ...wait, hyperdrive?"

"You've seen my ship," said Samus turning to her.

"Not up close!" squawked Andrea.

"Space travel takes years without hyperdrive. Your machine still has processes running?"

"Yes, it takes months to cool back down."

"Then reverse its previously-stored reaction. That will send me and Vyse back to our worlds."

"And how are you gonna do that?"

"With another hyperdrive engine. Steal one from the ship I'm chasing."

"Wha-...WHAT?!"

"The ship I'm hunting runs on nuclear fusion. Energy absorbed from fusion is routed to engine nacelles, converted into electro-plasma, then funneled through plasma injectors and into warp field coils."

"......okay, THAT I understood," stated Dixon, "but I don't see how making a warp drive will reverse the process."

"Hyperdrive technology displaces a ship," continued Samus, "into a subspace bubble, which distorts the spacetime continuum. That way the ship can move faster than light."

"So...how are you going to get that for us?"

"Carefully. Space pirates won't appreciate it, but they've done far worse."

"What are...spayss pie-rits?"

It was then they finally noticed Oddclaw and Eyeclaw standing at the doorway as Samus enlightened them, her visor gleamed purest emerald beneath the fluorescent lighting.

"Monsters. Obsessed with improvements at any cost."

"So they're outlawed scientists," said Andrea.

"They are killers, scavengers and thieves. Even sacrifice their own if they can get results."

"Thieves?!" asked Oddclaw. "Then we will help you! Vyse as well, both of you are hunting thieves we will stop them together."

"Not necessary. The military will assist."

"I can help!"

"You're a civilian, this is not your fight."

"I am not a sivih-lee-un, I am Oddclaw, son of Oddscar! I am a hunter in my tribe and this is MY world, I was BORN here and none of you humen were!"

"Leeeet's just discuss this," said Dixon interrupting between them, "at least with Brightman first. He is our head military but Oddclaw DOES have authority from his tribe to hunt and protect."

"Thank you, Andrea."

He smiled calmly at her as she nodded in return, staying in her lab whilst Samus walked back towards the meeting room. Eyeclaw nudged his young friend to push him up against the suited warrior who noticed their fidgeting causing her to stop and address her.

"Um...m-my elder would like to speak with you."

She turned to look at the two raptors, giving Oddclaw the feeling that he spoke out of turn with a commanding officer as he continued with fidgeting claws.

"He believes you are from the stars, and he has...he has um, many, dreams about them, he has visions and terrible nights and he wants to ask you about the stars because YOU are from the stars. I will translate, if that is alright."

"...alright," she nodded. "Ask."

"Are you a hunter of the stars?" asked Eyeclaw.

"...yes," said Samus cautiously.

"HAH! I KNEW IT! I always KNEW there existed hunters above...but I expected them to resemble me."

"There are many hunters, not just me. Some like you, others like me."

"Who or what do you hunt amongst them?"

"Killers, thieves, those who abuse law or try to destroy peace of the galaxy."

"Ah! You do not hunt to eat, you hunt to protect?"

"Yes."

"Do all hunters hunt to protect?"

"Some hunt to survive. Others hunt for fun."

"I see!"

Eyeclaw pushed himself forwards leering down at Samus with eager grin but she showed no anxiety to him. He stood a foot-and-a-half taller than her as she sensed the look in his eye being of wild glee with thankful relief painted itself across his teeth. It gave her an idea as she tapped the side of her visor.

"I have hunted stars for cycles, catching them as they blind me, wrack me with pains that twist my mind in awful ways! But each one I catch is but a victory to me, though I did not wish it such."

"How do you hunt these...stars?" she asked as her visor glimmered a green scanning line.

"They come like a fleeting flash...striking through my eyes and ears as I hear the rushing scream, hurtling towards me like the river in a night of skywater! I see the colours of fire and grass, water and earth blend into one violent SHRIEKING frenzy and I find...I find it hurts. Even when I win, even when I succeed in catching that star I find it hurts. Every time. So I want to ask...hunter...have you ever tried to catch a star? And is there a way..."

The raptor leaned closer with eyes turning mournful as if desperate to see her face.

"To ever stop it from hurting you?"

"...does this happen often?"

"I can barely remember a time when it did not. It happened many cycles ago, I was once like any other hunter but now...I know I will not survive the end of this cycle but...I at least want to know if I can make the pain stop."

Her hand tensed up in trying to give a good answer. Despite his height above her he looked incredibly frail, almost timid as he twitched his claws with a shuddering whimper in expectation of a hopeful answer. She gave her best response.

"A hunter does not live in peace. We suffer so that others can live in peace. Are your tribe happy?"

"Yes, they are."

"That is because of you. You kept them safe, by hunting the stars you suffer so they do not. It is a burden we must pay, as hunters, you and I."

"Did...did you choose this life, hunter of the stars?"

"I did not, at first, just as you did not choose this life. I cannot stop your pain, but I will share you mine."

She stroked along his wizened cheek as he leaned into her fingers, chirring with a quiet ease as he nuzzled against her visor. He felt a strange tranquility come over him as he strutted proudly with acceptance.

"Thank you, fellow hunter. I...I never thought of it as that, I suppose someone must protect my tribe and suffer for them but, knowing they do not suffer on my behalf means...I can fight for my last cycle."

"Then you will not be alone."

Samus placed a hand on him smiling beneath her helm.

"I would be honoured to join you in your last hunt."

Eyeclaw smiled with a deep sigh of relief and walked off to rest. Oddclaw gave his gratitude stepping up to her.

"Thank you. That means a lot to him."

"I've known those like him," she said nodding, "but he suffers from something worse. Has he been examined?"

"What?"

"Medically. He sounds epileptic."

"That......that is the word Jane used for him, that eh-peh...ehpeh-lepticking, is that, what you call it?"

"Yes."

"Oh. He does not want to be healed. He does not trust the humen, they...they did things to us years ago."

"Such as?" she asked.

"Experiments," he replied looking downcast to his feet. "Not these humen, but others, before I was born. Eyeclaw told me they gave him pills, the stars disappeared and he was lost...in the dark. He could not speak...he could not remember his family's scent, their faces, their voices...he wanted to die."

"Is he dying...now?"

"Yes, that is why he came. When one of our tribe is about to die, they leave on a journey, sometimes with family."

"Are you his family?" asked Samus.

"No," said Oddclaw, "they are back home. I am...um...he teaches me."

"His student?"

"Yes...stoo-dent."

"I was a student once. I understand."

"YO guys!"

The sound of Vyse came hurtling down the corridor as he waved at them.

"Sorry to bother ya but uh, major wants us to talk about what we're gonna do with both of us."

"It's general," corrected Samus, "not major."

"Wh-whatever," the rogue flapped his hand above his head as he sauntered down the hall to walk past them both, "the big guy and us, we gotta figure out WHAT to do, who are you hunting?"

"Space pirates."

The skyfarer stopped in mid-walk, foot almost raised and heel to the ground as he turned on a dime towards Samus.

"Woah, pirates?! Well I know a lot about them, I been chasing pirates since I was a kid!"

"Really?" she said.

"My dad set up the Blue Rogues to fight against pirates, we scout the skies keeping people safe from all kinds of bandits!"

"Mercenaries?"

"Yeaaaaah I guess you can call us that, but we don't care about the money. Come on let's get down to business."

They reconvened in the meeting room, apart from Eyeclaw who was now sleeping in the corner to rest up for his journey. Samus started with her prerogative as she tapped a few buttons on her arm to show a holographic display of a rather fearsome sleek vessel.

"Space pirate frigate Otomakas. A mobile science lab containing a destructive virus."

"Whut sorta virus?" asked Jeremy. "Lahk summat causin' flu?"

"Digital. It's more accurate to call it an A.I. capable of infiltrating and destroying entire networks. The Galactic Federation called me to exterminate."

"So this virus'll bugger up machines?"

"Yes, across the galaxy."

"Hoo..." Holt wiped the sweat comically from his brow with pretend understanding. "That's uh, that's rough."

"Imagine," replied Thomas, "a machine that broke into radio waves and completely destroyed the entire comms network of a base."

"O-OHHH, OHHHhhhhh ohhh christ that's buzzing that."

"They have landed in this region," continued Samus, "I must destroy their A.I. and their science team."

"Woah-woah, you not gonna give 'em a trial, take 'em back fer capture?"

"They will not be captured. They will fight to the death rather than face prison."

"...fuckin' 'ell."

"What about you Vyse?" asked Jane.

"I'm hunting a guy called Lord Bane," said the rogue spinning round in his seat, "he's kidnapped a friend and I have to get him back."

"Why did they kidnap your friend?"

"Well I'm gonna assume they wanna sell him for profit to somebody."

"Trafficking?! Oh that is awful, is this Lord Bane dangerous?"

"He's one of the most wanted criminals in my world so uhhh yeah he kinda is! But I can handle it-"

"I will help."

The hunter's voice cut through the air no matter who was speaking as Vyse looked up with a shocked gratitude.

"Y-y-you...you will?! But what about your virus thing?!"

"The longer it takes to rescue a hostage, the lesser their chance of survival. The virus can wait, I damaged the space pirates' lab enough they will not be leaving soon."

"That...well, th-thank you, really welcome aboard Samus!"

"Do you have any soldiers to assist?" she asked Thomas Brightman.

"We can offer a small group," said the Major-General, "we make a rule never to have more than four out at any time due to the limited size of our base."

"Understood. We will hunt Lord Bane first, rescue the hostage, bring him back here for safety then hunt for the Otomakas. Any objections?"

"Yeh," said Vyse with hand up. "You're gonna need my ship if we're gonna get anywhere fast, unless your ship's good to go."

"It's not, repairing itself."

"WELP!"

He swung himself out of the seat and onto his own two feet, smacking hands together to wring them with excitement.

"Looks like you're riding on my wings ma'am! Just that there's kind of a limited capacity so uh, one, two, four military dudes-"

"I will join you too!" said Oddclaw.

"No."

Thomas stepped forwards on the tiptoe to give extra height against the raptor in deference to authority.

"You are not trained enough for this mission."

"This is MY world, I can hunt better than any of your tribe."

"It's not a question of hunting, it's a question of survival, strategy."

"I escaped your tribe, walked through a desert, went across the sea and over the Skylands to get home, THEN my brother tried to kill me again and I still survived that!"

"I have authority, YOU do not, not even in your own tribe."

"YOU have no aw-thor-ritee outside your base!"

"He is right."

Again the hunter's voice cleaved through the squabble coldly.

"You have no authority outside this base, nor does Oddclaw have authority inside it. I will choose the team, this is my mission."

"Wait wait wait," added Vyse, "why don't you pick two, and I'll pick two, that way it's fair for our missions together!"

"Agreed. I will take one of your best snipers, and Eyeclaw."

"Alright, I'll take Oddboy over there and uhhh how 'bout you old guy?"

"You wot?!" cried Jeremy from the back.

"Yeah you seem like you know what's up, you wanna come an' take down some pirates?!"

"Hahahaha...awww dab I used to dream about fightin' pirates when I wuz a kid."

"Well now you can do it for real, you wanna buccaneer?!"

"Fuckin' DO I!" Holt tramped forwards smacking palm into fist with excitement. "Sign me up lad!"

"I will call for one of our snipers," said Thomas promptly, "I know someone who will handle this mission well."

"Thank you Major-General," replied Samus with salute.

The plan was now set. The team was assembled as they began to pool their info into one detailed expedition. Jeremy loaded up with a military shotgun whilst Oddclaw checked his current ammo stock and cleaned his weapon through. Brightman sent for a sniper known as Jareau, a brown-haired woman with the longest rifle that Oddclaw had ever seen up to this point, to join Samus and explain potential tactics. Eyeclaw slept off in the corner waiting for when they would leave, keeping one eye partly open to sense the mood of the room with quiet contemplation. He would not know what sort of beasts they would face, but a smile came to him as he braced his claws. Tomorrow would be the greatest day of his life.