Lance stared in awe as the star fell towards the Faewood. Earlier in the small hours of the morning, the thing that had appeared next to Rehtyna had sent stars falling to Ahkoolis, though thankfully none had crashed in the Faewood to her knowledge. Were they just simple meteors, or something else entirely? She hoped that it was the former, Lance’s mind went to scary places when she thought too hard on these falling stars and what they could be. What if this was how Pillar-Born came to Ahkoolis in the final days of an age? An unsettling thought, one she’d have to report to the Hall immediately should it turn out to be true. Lance was pretty sure it wasn’t related in any way to Pillar-Born… but she could not know for certain.

Lance did not think anyone in the Bastion had any real idea as to what these falling stars were, besides a simple meteor shower, even the Harkhall claimed that it was nothing more than the heavens shedding their heavy tears. Indeed, were it not for the appearance of that mass next to the moon, most people would have likely written it off as just a simple shower, as opposed to the end of the world.

The Harkhall had made sure that the watchers would keep a tighter… er, watch on things until the people calmed down. There were already talks of the ‘End Times’ or ‘Decuma’s Death’ on the mouths of every elf in the Bastion.

Really, it was as if they expected Pillar-Born to simply sprout up from the ground because of this ‘moon monster’. Absolutely ridiculous. Yet, who was to say? Lance had just been contemplating Pillar-Born falling out of the sky after all. Maybe Pillar-Born would simply sprout up from the earth at the appearance of this horrific creature. Was this truly one of the signs that this age would end? Lance dearly hoped not, the last thing she wanted to do was prowl about the coming wastelands… assuming that she would even survive the Ascension. Most people wouldn’t, if the histories were accurate. What histories remained from the previous ages anyhow. She adjusted herself on the branch, night-captain Muro just below her on another branch as he too observed the falling star, perched like an owl ready to take flight.

“It’s gonna hit the Faewood.” Lance told him, pushing her long black hair back into her dark hood “Not anywhere important, but in our forest nonetheless.”

In the direction it was falling… it looked like it might hit the very edge of the woods, perhaps in the sparse wilderness between the Faewood and Akan-Dar. That would be at least a day’s worth of running before she and Muro could reach it, assuming they didn’t run into problems along the way in the form of human poachers or un-sanctioned Akan-Dari merchants. Even without such issues, the trek to the estimated crash site would take up much time, even for them.

Muro would make the journey if he had to though. Lance had a feeling that if that star were to crash anywhere in the Faewood, Muro would immediately head for the site, no matter how long it took to reach it. Not that Lance was any different, she wanted to get a look at one of these stars herself.

Maybe if Lance saw that it was indeed nothing special, she could scrub these ludicrous thoughts of ‘Pillar-Born’ and the ‘End-Times’ from her thoughts. By the Pillars, she dearly hoped that this was nothing to fret over…

The stars had begun falling from the sky during the early hours of the morning, streaking off across the horizon towards the more… harsh lands of Ahkoolis. A fair few of them possibly landed in the Fiendwood… If they did, the Fiendwood could have those stars. The journey past the Fiendwall and over the Greatbridge into the true Fiendwood was simply too dangerous a trip to make. It would be unwise to seek them out in such a wasteland, especially since the only reason she would go would be to just sate her curiosity. A foolish thought that, going into Kazon’s realm.

“It might not land here.” Muro said after a moment, scrunching his brow “But if it does, we’ll go look into it.”

Lance nodded, though Muro didn’t see it, his eyes firmly on the still-falling star. It was pitch dark in the Faewood tonight, making the equally black cloaks they wore nearly indistinguishable from the all-encompassing night. As Watchers, that was what was needed, to not be seen. If she hadn’t received the proper training from Muro, Lance may not have ever been able to see him in this blackness.

Nor the shape of another night-watcher approaching from the ground. From the green light of Rehtyna, Lance was able to make out his eyes above that mask, those bright blues wide with terror.

“Captain! Is that you up there!? I have an urgent report!” The man shouted as he began climbing the tree.

The elven newcomer moved as a shadow on the forest floor, still difficult to see despite being out in the open. His head swiveled to and fro, as if looking to see if he had been pursued before climbing up the tree quickly. The watcher scrambled as if a pack of wolves were scraping up the bark to reach him. The elf finally reached Muro’s branch, perching next to the captain with fear shining through his eyes as he scanned the forest floor.

It was impressive that the watcher had been able to pick Muro out from the dark, especially to call him by name… though Muro always let his watchers know the general area of the Faewood where they could find him each shift. The fact that Muro was built more like a human than an elf likely helped in that, most elves were slighter than humans, but Muro was at least just as broad as a human blacksmith. The captain turned his head to the elf and simply nodded before the falling star suddenly began shrieking through the sky.

Lance nearly jumped, it was as if it had suddenly decided of its own will to change its course… It was almost like it was being steered, though that just could not be…

She goggled when the star finally smashed into the Faewood, far off toward the dark horizon. Thankfully that was well away from the Bastion, but many elves loved to explore the wilderness outside the safety of the Bastion’s root wall. Hopefully none had been present where that thing had landed… and hopefully none of the trees had been killed by the impact.

“By the Pillars!” The new arrival shouted in terror before Muro silenced him with a look.

“You, give me what you have to say, and make it fast. Lance, find where that thing crashed and investigate it. Report what you find to either me or the Harkhall, if I’m not available.” Muro said quickly, standing tall on his branch.

The new elf looked shocked a moment, looking around but not spotting Lance on her perch. She always took pride in how perfectly hidden she could make herself… only Muro had ever been able to make her out in the darkness. Lance took a deep breath before hopping off the branch, not sparing another word for the captain before darting off towards the crash site.

Lance knew these woods like the back of her hands, if her guess was right, it crashed either in or around a large break in the trees. Excitement filled her as she darted towards where the site must have been located. It had been so long since anything interesting had happened in these woods, killing the rare lesser-fiend and warding off Akan-Dari cutthroats got boring after two-hundred years.

This was something entirely new, and Lance wouldn’t skip out on the chance to kill her boredom. Not that she would have defied Muro’s word of course, it was just that the occupation of watcher had become a bit… stale. She loved being a night-watcher of course, but two-hundred years of practicing the same occupation was bound to become boring eventually. Not that Lance would want to do anything else as a job.

Watcher was her place in elven society, Lance had no interest whatsoever in being a Tree-Hunter, Bramble-Guard, Tree-Bringer, or any of the other countless jobs she could take up in place of this one. Truly, she loved and adored the watch…

Yet… she wanted a break. Two-hundred years and she hadn’t taken a single day off, save for special occasions of course. Perhaps this fallen star would provide her some measure of excitement, and that way she could also sate her curiosity for what these falling stars really were… and after she gave her report back to Muro, Lance would ask to be let on leave for a while. It was time to explore the greater world outside the Faewood, Ahkoolis must have had some sights to see after all.

Perhaps she could become an adventurer for a few years before returning? That would likely wet her appetite for new things. By time she got back, being a watcher might begin to feel fresh again… at least she hoped so. She again found herself hoping that the moon creature wasn’t a sign of an impending apocalypse, it would be hard for Lance to bring herself to enjoy adventuring if the world was falling apart around her.

…

…

…

Hoplite had tried to ease the landing, but these shuttles weren’t made for gentle groundings. They were exceptionally sturdy, so he didn’t worry too much about it sustaining any damage. The only downside to this hard landing was that any nearby enemies would hear it from a mile away, possibly more. He supposed that his allies could have as well, but odds were that the Final Kind would find him first. It was safe to assume that the Dragon had pumped out more pods than the Sparrow.

The grassy clearing he had aimed for was split in twain by the crashing pod, kicking up moist soil and sending thousands of grass blades soaring through the air. He could feel his teeth rattle in his skull from the impact as the shuttle slid deep into the forest. It punched through half a dozen trees and sent them crashing to the forest floor, wooden shrapnel flying before finally the pod slid to a stop, the nose tilting the last tree it collided with forward at an angle.

Hoplite stood from his seat as soon as the pod stopped, approaching the sealed metal doors and pressing the keypad next to it. They slid open with a groan as Hoplite grabbed the Magnus, emerging from the pod and scanning the surrounding forest for hostiles. When he spotted none, he eased up, bumping his chin to check for any nearby radio signals. If there were any signals within a ten mile radius, his suit would pick up on and play them automatically, allowing him to switch between each signal it detected. That included any sort of emergency distress beacons that would play from nearby Ternan shuttles. He had turned his own beacon on already, hoping that any nearby allies would be able to pick up on his broadcast.

He bumped his chin, seeing a display pop up in the corner of his screen that read: NO SIGNAL. No beacons, and as for any potential radio signals... Unfortunately, all that could be heard was static. Perhaps these tall trees were causing interference? Perhaps they were… Unless there were simply no signals to pick up on. Hoplite supposed that he could try and reach the top of one of these tall trees, but the sheer weight of his suit would break most branches if he tried to climb them.

He could always take the suit off… but without the assembler, it would be incredibly difficult and time consuming to put back on by himself. Hoplite knew that eventually, he would need to remove the armor in order to take care of his more human needs. The Phalanx was built for engaging in and ending conflicts relatively quickly, not for long missions behind enemy lines, such as the other models that Hoplites utilized. It had no built in system for waste disposal, a most unfortunate design flaw, given his current situation.

Hopefully a combat engineer would have made it planet-side, surely they would be able to reattach his armor easily once it had to be removed . In truth, having any extra pair of hands to help him with removing the Phalanx would do, but an engineer would be preferable. Hoplite was sure that he’d find one eventually, it was just a matter of rendezvousing with Ternan personnel… He scrunched up his brow as he made his way back toward the drop pod, an unsettling thought occurring to him.

They had all evacuated hours before Hoplite had made it to the surface, and depending on this world's rotation, they could all be on the opposite side of the planet. Hot frustration bubbled up within him, but he quickly bottled it. Hoplite couldn’t allow himself to feel that way, he had to begin searching for his fellow soldiers and frustration would only serve to frustrate him.

The forest around him was buzzing with life, fireflies floated through the air, illuminating small portions of these dark woods. Crickets and frogs both sounded off with croaks and chirps seemingly in tune with one another. The surrounding trees were deciduous and tall, each one easily reaching over sixty feet in height. From the light of the fireflies, he could see the deep green hue of their broad leaves. A light breeze blew through the forest, shifting the horribly familiar leaves.

Frogs? Fireflies? Crickets?

These trees and particular species of grass?

They were all from Earth. Hoplite had been trained on the homeworld, so he had become familiar with the flora and fauna inhabiting it. What were these doing here on a backwater world with no orbital defense stations? This couldn’t be a human colony, there wasn’t even a token defense fleet around it…

But how else could this be explained? Perhaps there had been the beginnings of a colony here, but they only got as far as terraforming before they had to leave. Maybe the Final Kind found this fledgling colony and had destroyed it? No, that couldn’t be it. They would be colonizing this world instead if they had. A lot of habitable worlds shared a common template when it came to lifeforms, perhaps these weren’t all exactly from earth. There could be differences that he couldn’t spot on the surface.

He would think more on this another time. For now, he would just concentrate on exploring the surrounding forest. He returned to the pod, grabbing extra ammo for his weapons and stuffing them in his tac pouches just in case of a prolonged firefight. After that, Hoplite re-emerged, sealing the pod doors shut behind him.

Time to get started.

He began heading south, in the direction the pod was facing. As he passed through the trees he kept his eyes peeled, one eye looking through each camera as he went. As he passed each tree, he lightly marred its surface with his Sectis knife. He was intentionally moving in a straight line so he could easily head back to the pod if need be, but it always paid to play it safe. If somehow he ended up losing his way, he could simply follow the marked trees all the way back no problem.

He went on like that for an hour, keeping a brisk pace and only spotting nocturnal forest critters. Nocturnal forest critters that were from Earth. Hoplite internally chastised himself, that would be an issue for later. No hostiles for at least an hour south, time to run back and repeat this in each direction-

There, displayed on his back camera.

A humanoid shadow peered down on him from a branch high above him, almost out of his camera's view. Whatever it was, it had no idea that Hoplite could see it up there. He was unsettled to realize that, if the shadow hadn’t moved, Hoplite likely wouldn’t have been able to distinguish it from the blackness above. The leaves of the trees had blocked out most of the green moonlight from the forest below. He had only been able to see the thing after the branch it was moving across ever so slightly shifted beneath its weight. Hoplite turned, aiming his shotgun up at the exact position of the thing, finger on the trigger.

“Identify.” Hoplite ordered.

The shadow didn’t reply, instead stiffening to blend in with the surrounding darkness. Which it did to great effect. He bumped his chin, activating his thermals and seeing a humanoid shape, crouching high on a thin branch above. Didn't seem to be a creature from the Final Kind, the shape was simply far too human. Not that there weren't traitors to Terna within the Final Kind's ranks of course, rare as they might be.

“Identify or I will open fire in three, two-”

“Wait!” A muffled voice shouted from above.

Hoplite removed his finger from the trigger, but kept the Magnus firmly trained on the stranger. Was it someone from the Sparrow, or the hypothetical lost colony? He needed answers and he was going to get them.

“Down here now.” Hoplite ordered, tone commanding.

The man then dropped to the forest floor, landing cleanly on both legs without shattering them. Did this person have reinforced bones? A normal human couldn’t drop from such a height without at least breaking something… Hoplite bumped his chin, turning off the thermals and activating his flashlight to illuminate the stranger, who gasped in terror as he was engulfed by the brightness.

“You said you wouldn’t open your fire upon me!” The man shouted, scrambling back while raising his hands over his eyes.

“I didn’t.” Hoplite said simply.

He was a tall man, clad in black cloth that covered him head to toe, leaving only his bright green eyes visible. Hoplite felt relieved to see another human, but why had this person tried to sneak up on him? Did he think that Hoplite was Final Kind? It was really dark beneath these trees, perhaps he had mistaken Hoplite for a yugoro in the dark.

“Identify.” Hoplite ordered.

“L-Lance Trinkit.” The man squeaked, lowering his hands but maintaining a tense posture.

Lance Trinkit? What a strange name.

“Rank?” Hoplite asked, lowering his Magnus and standing at rest.

“Rank?” Lance asked, his thin dark brows creasing slightly “I… I just watch.”

Hoplite stared.

“So you’re a civilian?” Hoplite asked, approaching Lance slowly.

He didn't want to scare him away if he was a civilian, they tended to run away from Hoplite if he got too close too quickly. Lance stood his ground thankfully, staring up at Hoplite's helmet with slightly shaking legs. They were merely five feet apart now, the difference in height now apparent to Lance, who had to crane his head far back to look into Hoplite’s helmet.

“I-well yes but not-” Lance started.

“What happened to your colony?” Hoplite asked “Did the Final Kind destroy your ships? Why didn’t they wipe you all out afterwards?”

“...Colony? Final Kind?” Lance asked “Golem, I know not what you speak of, I was ordered to investigate the falling star and came upon you by chance. Ancient one, why do you walk again?”

“Golem?” Hoplite asked, his own brows knitting together in thought.

“Are you not a golem?” Lance asked “What are you?”

“A Hoplite.” He replied “Take me to who’s in charge.” He ordered.

“I cannot simply take a golem-” Lance began.

“Now.” Hoplite ordered again, voice low and dangerous.