---[ POV: Flynn ]---

The canyon was engulfed in total darkness. It was late in the night and the moonlight could not reach this deep recess.

Flynn cyber-eye gave him some vision but he knew that the armor helmet was equipped with even better sensors.

The young man had to activate the helmet since he did not wear it when there was no immediate danger. The multitude of small parts that composed the full-face helmet currently subtly retracted and embedded in the armor all around his neck and shoulders slid back in place in one fluid and sleek motion.

The helmet visor was activated and synchronized with Flynn’s personal HUD for optimal information display and layout.

Standing in the opening in the corvette wall, - I really need to repair that ASAP - Flynn scanned his surrounding.

There they were, crouching in the shadows behind boulders or beneath large rock formations; dark silhouettes, about the size of a hunched and twisted human child. Their little, beady, red eyes shone maliciously in the dark. There were about 50 of them, hidden all around.

Flynn could not make their exact appearance but he saw the reflection of crude blades being raised in anticipation. There could be no doubt left; those creatures were belligerent. Even if they outnumbered him by a large margin, Flynn was not worried about his security since they seemed to be from a primitive native tribe.

Their somewhat humanoid-looking shape made him wonder if it was maybe not members of their species he had found in the shrieker cave but they seemed a bit too small for that.

Flynn jumped outside the corvette, raising a small cloud of dust when he landed in the gravel.

"My name is Valerian Flynn! I am an ISF lieutenant. State your name and business if you can understand me!"

The young man’s voice boomed across the canyon, amplified by the speaker of the helmet. He had relayed this message in Imperion - also known as the Imperial Tongue -, the standardized language of the Unified Stellar Empire and the most spoken one in all of the galaxy. It was the first language taught to newly encountered species and the one used to interact with them and assimilate them into the Empire. If there ever was a colonization attempt on this planet, chances were the natives had been taught it or some of them had received translation devices.

No one answered. Instead, Flynn could see the shadowy figures starting to stir and heard startled chirping. They did not seem to understand him but, just for good measure, he reiterated.

"I repeat, I am Lieutenant Valerian Flynn of the Imperial Space Forces. I order you to either lower your weapons, come out of cover and state your business, or be considered enemies of the Empire!"

There was a short moment of silence, then one of the silhouettes rose atop a small butte and raised its wooden spear in the air while letting out an excited and defying scream. The other humanoids answered the call with similar cries, then started to charge in Flynn’s direction from all sides.

The lieutenant took some steps forward before bracing in a combat position, legs wide and hammer raised. Flynn knew he was still lacking any real training to handle the weapon properly but his fight with the shrieker had given him a pointer or two on how to use it and the bare minimum experience to not feel like an amateur anymore.

Since the opponents were so small, Flynn used the controls in the hammer’s handle to tune down the concussive blast of the weapon to the minimum. Using the full thunderous might of the hammer was useful against large or armored creatures such as the shrieker but it would be total overkill with those guys and it only made the weapon harder to handle because of the recoil.

The first creature to reach Flynn came from the front. Now that the young man could see it closely, it really was a small humanoid with long knobbly limbs and a distorted face on which a large mouth bloomed into a grin full of pointy teeth.

Flynn swung the handle of the hammer he was wielding with both hands to strike the imp-looking creature and repel it but as the pommel connected with its chest, Flynn could hear and feel its ribcage break and collapse.

The unfortunate thing spat a mouthful of blood while flying 3 meters back before landing on the ground like a disarticulated rag doll, dead.

Flynn was a bit surprised. It seemed he had underestimated his strength since the only thing he had fought up until now was the colossal shrieker. Of course, it would make sense that those native humanoids would collapse under the attack of an enhanced Imperial soldier equipped with a battle armor and a weapon designed to fight against fearsome and technologically advanced alien civilizations.

It was not the time to dwell on that, however, this only played in his favor.

The second creature came from the left. Flynn blocked its blade with his arm and realized that the blow didn't even pack enough force for the armor shield to activate. He tossed the blade on the side and punched its wielder to the ground. The creature did not get back up.

Two of the little imps were coming on the right and Flynn’s radar picked two more sneaking behind him. Using the hammer to launch a cleaving attack on the right, Flynn rotated on himself to allow the motion to continue and also sweep the assailants behind him. The four creatures he had struck were piled in a mass of pulped flesh and broken bone that followed the movement of the hammer until the young man stopped the attack and they got catapulted some distance away by the accumulated momentum.

One after the other or all at once, it changed nothing. The crude iron weaponry of his adversaries was not even able to scratch the armor and Flynn could barely feel the shock through all the layered protection.

Flynn started to plow his way through the hordes of screaming imps until about half their number was dead. At this point, their malicious and excited chirping turned to fear and anger and most of them started to retreat.

The young man chased the ones closest to him, wishing to dispose of as most as possible so that he would not have to deal with them if they decided to come back to take revenge.

Flynn was about to smash one of the annoying little buggers that had somehow evaded two of his attack already when a bright light flashed to his left. The young man could hear the roar of a raging flame and suddenly felt something impact with him and explode. This time, his armor shield activated as he was repelled and fell to the ground. The flame that had engulfed him receded and he could see the creature responsible.

Some 20 meters aways, at the top of the butte whence the assault was first launched, stood one of them vile little imp with an evil smile on its lips and tongues of fire still writhing and swirling around its fingers.

The creature wore a cloak covered in crow’s feathers, bone amulets, and wooden baubles. It proudly flapped the cloak backward, outstretched its arm in Flynn’s direction, and uttered an ominous litany. Lieutenant Flynn did not understand what was happening but when the creature was done, the ground beneath him suddenly turned to mud and clay.

Flynn was at a complete loss about what was happening so he did not react in time to escape the suspicious trap. Instead, he sank about 30 centimeters into the muddy puddle. He was about to get back up and deal with the mysterious humanoid that had most certainly caused this when the mud and clay suddenly returned to their original state and encased part of his legs and arms in stone.

"What the fuck?!" said Flynn.

He had seen and heard of technologies that could do crazy things but those creatures were nothing more than barbarians.

How the hell is he doing this? Maybe they looted some advanced military technologies from the abandoned colonists' outposts and learned how to use them, somehow? Although, according to Athena, - and I am inclined to agree with her - there never were any colonists in the first place. God, I hate this place…

The incongruities just kept pilling on and Flynn was getting tired of adding questions to his lists without any answers to previous ones.

Maybe they are part of one of those rare alien life forms able to use irregular innate abilities. Humanoids that can throw fire around and change the state of matter; I’m pretty sure that would get the scientists of the Empire frothing from the mouth just thinking about studying them.

Flynn tried to get up but his stone prison prevented him from moving. With a bit more time and a less awkward position, shattering the stone would be easy, but he had no time for that at the moment.

The imp-like creature that got him stuck started to scream at its retreating companions with an angered and scolding tone. It pointed in the young man’s direction while chattering angrily. Most of the humanoids that were fleeing looked in Flynn’s direction and turned on their heels upon seeing he was on the ground and immobilized. They raised their weapons mockingly and started to run in his direction with confidence as if they had never fled in the first place.

Since Flynn’s right arm was free, he stored the power-hammer he was still holding and materialized the laser pistol instead. The only real threat right now was the user of the unknown power so he immediately pointed the barrel of the gun toward the cloaked silhouette.

The aim assist functions of the armor and his eye implant allowed him to fire instantly and with accuracy. There was a flash of purplish light as the laser traced a line between the pistol mouth and the forehead of the little imp. Its excited cackling was cut short and its head shot backward as if it had received a powerful uppercut. The creature fell down on its back with a burnt hole above its face.

Flynn did not waste much time and immediately started to aim at the other twisted humanoids, felling them one by one with accurate shots to the chest or head.

Most of them yelped and chirped, confused.

It took them a moment to understand that the flashing purple light was in fact an unknown kind of attack. When they started to realize it, they tried to flee again but it was too late. Flynn had already killed a couple and could easily dispatch up to three or four of the remaining ones every second. There was not much of them left at this point so the eradication was rather short-lived.

Once Flynn was done, silence finally came back into the ravine. The young man started to get himself out of the ground where he was stuck. He did not really have the time to do so while there were still enemies around but it was not that hard with the power of the armor and symbiotic muscles combined. It took him less than a minute to smash the rock and hardened clay apart and get up.

Flynn gazed at the carnage and sighed. The ground was painted red with the blood of his enemies and there were broken bodies everywhere.

He would have to clean up all this mess and burn the corpses before going back to sleep if he wanted to avoid every scavenger and carnivorous animal in this mountain inviting itself over for a little snack.

"It never stops, does it... When will I ever get a bit of rest?"

Flynn started to slowly drag his feet toward the closest corpse while grumbling about his terrible luck.

The night would be long.