Thomas walked back to the dormitory building with Javqua. The plushie in his hand felt like it weighed a million pounds, and he began complaining yet again.

“You can’t blame the arcade machine - how would it know that you prefer blue over pink?” Javqua countered, and Thomas grudgingly agreed.

“I can get a blue one for you if you want.” She offered, but Thomas shook his head. “Thanks, but you don’t need to do that. Besides, then I wouldn’t feel a sense of accomplishment.” He added.

“Do you want it?” Thomas said after a little while, and Javqua turned to look at him, confused.

“Why would I want a pink plushie?” She asked.

“Well, urm...you know, because it’s a feminine colour,” Thomas said, and Javqua chuckled.

“Nice one Tom.” Seeing his confused reaction, she stopped.

“Wait, are you serious? Humans consider pink to be a feminine colour?” Javqua demanded.

“Are you serious? The rest of the galaxy considers pink to be a masculine colour?” Thomas asked, flabbergasted. He focused very closely on Javqua’s features, trying very much in-vain to see if she was messing with him.

Javqua was finding it very hard not to laugh at the incredulous look Tom was giving her but managed to keep a straight face. Their pause went on for what felt like forever until Thomas spoke again. “Are you serious?”

“Yes! Only the bravest and strongest of sentients would willingly wear a colour so bright and noticeable to enemies and predators!” Javqua stated, rapidly gesturing with her claws.

Thomas had no idea what to say. She was being serious. “Well then, I think pink suits you well.” He said earnestly.

“Wow...you really think-”

“Race you back!” Thomas pushed the plushie into Javqua’s claws, grinning madly, before legging it down the road.

“Wha - you can’t run from me!” Javqua yelled as she sprinted after him; Xenos around her let out cries of alarm as they parted like the Craven River, as she began picking up speed.

Thomas looked behind him to see Javqua slowly catching up to him. He began running faster until he stepped on his shoelace and stumbled, barely managing to stop himself from falling.

As he regained his balance, Javqua rammed into him at full speed. Thomas heard a pained grunt from her as he toppled over.

Javqua focused - looking down at the ground, her claws nicking the soft, rubbery bio-road.

Tom was only a few tail-lengths ahead. She could do this. She leaped, making sure to keep her claws and tail far away from anybody else, towards the figure in front of her. Her body flew through the air, and she landed on his back, knocking him to the ground.

She only wished that she had taken his weight into consideration. He may have been tiny by all but human standards, but he was like a stone wall.

A feminine squeak escaped Thomas’s throat as his body was tackled to the floor, creating a soft thud. Luckily, the impact didn’t hurt, although he was a bit winded. Lying there for a moment, he heard a groan emitting from the large mass on his back, and he had a sudden realization that turned his face bright red.

Rolling over onto his back, he looked up at a panting Javqua, who was leaning over him. Slowly untangling himself from her, he stood up and offered her a hand, which she promptly took. “Tom? Your face is red agai-”

“It's nothing,” Thomas assured her as he began walking again. Javqua on top of him - it was...he hastily cleared his mind as Javqua huffed.

“How do you weigh so much at such a small size?” She questioned, and Thomas shrugged.

“I’m athletic, but I’m not that heavy- '' He said before suddenly remembering. “Oh! I did hear something about how humans apparently have really dense muscles and bones compared to other Xenos.” Thomas exclaimed.

“Or you're just fat,” Javqua said bluntly. “I’m not fat!” Thomas protested.

The two continued to banter as a figure watched from afar - in the safety of their room.

Valus nervously rewatched the footage of the human - Thomas, leaping into the air to hit a target. Three antennae. Three whole antennae into the air! Just high gravity Xenos at their best, he thought to himself with a sigh.

Not only that, but the sound the human made when he landed on the ground! How could such a tiny being make such a loud thud? His antennae twitched nervously, and he forced them to stop.

He didn’t have time to untangle them if they did get knotted. Once again sighing to himself, he thought of what the headmaster wanted of him. It was weird in all honesty - surveilling two of the youngest predator students.

Sure, the headmaster was a Xenophobe, but there was no way he wanted to do any sort of harm to two of his own students… right?

Valus ordered his drone to return back to his dormitory room as he held his head. He just wanted to become a photographer. How’d he get involved with all this?

You already know the answer. A voice in his head whispered. You let yourself get dragged into this situation, like always.

No, this is different. I’m doing this for the Headmaster. He likes and respects me. Valus tried to convince himself unsuccessfully.

Does he really? The voice continued, and Valus paused.

“No.” Valus said out loud as he stood up.

It was time for him to finally strike back. No more meek Valus. I’m going to be myself, do my own things, and make my own choices.

His first ‘real’ choice?

Find out why the headmaster wanted so much information about these two students.

Alex and the other R.E.K marines pushed further through the abandoned streets, closer and closer to their waypoint - a science facility that served as the base of operations for the terrorists. Any progress was hard to make; enemy combatants seemed to just appear out of nowhere, crawling out of their hidey holes to fire at his unit.

Each encounter was short yet devastating, as Alex shot with deadly accuracy, burning perfectly circular holes through the insurgent’s heads and chests. He’d sometimes raze off limbs, leaving grown men and women rolling around on the dirt and grime, screaming themselves ragged.

On some occasions terrorists would just stand there, limbs missing, skin charred and burnt; seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened as adrenaline made them numb to their pain as they went into shock.

That was until REK marines would put them out of their misery with a shot to their vitals. Alex did his best to push depressing thoughts from his mind and keep pushing forward; he would distract himself by thinking about his reason to keep going.

He had joined the marines to protect his planet, his people, and humanity as a whole. But more specifically, he was doing this for his younger brother, Thomas.

The small boy of six, with messy blond hair and big blue eyes; big blue eyes that filled with tears when he announced to his family that he was leaving to serve in the marines.

You’ll come back, right? His younger brother’s question echoed in his head.

Of course. He had responded.

I’d never leave you.

“THERE IT IS!” A marine roared, snapping Alex back to reality. He turned to see a short marine pointing at a partially ruined building in the distance - their waypoint.

The flashbang went off, and the marines entered the building, looking for insurgents. There were none.

The lobby was eerily empty, devoid of any human life.

The lights were on, at the very least.

The marines began going up the spiral staircase, ignoring the elevators. Alex held his breath, waiting for terrorists to pop out at any moment, to begin firing down at them. But there was nobody.

Charlie was in front of him, and Alex could see how tense he was - completely focused, his gun trained on the stairs above. They continued, making their way up to the third floor - then the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh...

Then the roaring began. Inhuman shrieks and the sound of heavy footsteps, only slightly muffled behind a thick metal door.

Then, their comms were activated. “The insurgents have released living weapons! I repeat the insurgents have released living weapons! Retreat immediately!” An urgent-sounding male voice pleaded, and the marines began running back down the stairs, many holding a look of near panic.

A symphony of screeches and roars started, and as they reached the fifth floor, the metal door of the seventh floor was thrown down the middle of the spiral stairway - its crumpled form flying down past them.

Any thoughts of staying at a good pace were gone as they practically sprinted down the stairs. As they made it to the ground floor, Alex could hear a scream from one of the marines still descending the metal steps.

Looking back up, he witnessed a scene that would haunt his dreams till the end of his life. A black chitinous creature, ripping into a female soldier. Its razorblade-like tail embedded through her abdomen to keep her attached as its maw tore a massive chunk out of her armoured neck.

The kill definitely wasn't instant, as he could still hear her choking breaths and slight whimpers, unable to scream any longer.

Without a second thought, he fired a cacophony of energy bolts at the abomination, hitting it square in the forehead. Its charred form still clung to the dead marine with a vice-like grip even as it went lifeless.

-------

Running through the streets was hectic. Waves of the creatures would flow out of alleyways, creating a tsunami of bodies, all scrambling to get their claws on succulent human flesh.

Each encounter ended with a wall of laser fire, taking minutes on end - but it always came with a cost. With each encounter, another Knight or two was lost, torn apart, gone. No matter how good their defense and accuracy were, they just couldn't stand up to so many of these “Death-Crawlers” as Charlie aptly named them.

By the time they made it to the pick-up zone, there was only a handful of them left. Someone popped orange smoke grenades, and they tensely waited for their ride, Cerberus 1-1.

As the VTOL dropship landed, a horde of Death-Crawlers had found their position. The doors of the craft swung open, and they all began running to the ship as gunners unleashed a wall of blinding light into the scrambling masses.

The staccato bra-a-ap of laser fire was the only thing keeping Alex's fatigued body moving. Finally making it to the ship, he scampered aboard with the others.

As the ship took off, a moose-sized Death-Crawler plowed through a wall, a much smaller, monkey-sized one not far behind. The door gunners let loose on the being as it ate up round after round - unable to notice the smaller Death-Crawler jump towards the open side door.

Charlie was the only one to notice. Shoving Alex out of the way, he was grabbed by the creature. Losing his balance, he fell. Reacting quickly, Alex whipped out his hand in the hope of catching his friend-

Only for his arm to get cleaved off by the Death-Crawlers tail. Right before he blacked out, the last thing he saw was Charlie's trashing body being ravaged by a crowd of Death-Crawlers, as they began to speed off into the distance.