Rachel breathed a heavy sigh as Maria crossed her arms; eyebrows raised, expecting a further explanation.  “I’m supercharged on moonlight. If I put some effort into moving, I’ll hurt myself.”

“Damn … screw these moons,” Maria growled, slouching further into her seat.  “Makes me sick and wrecks your body. What’s goin’ on out there? Figure anything else out?”

She leaned back, closing her eyes and rolling her neck around.  “Not really much; we have no real clues to go off of. You know where I sent the others.”

Vision opening, she pushed her cheeks to the side while examining Maria’s relaxed posture.  “Feeling better?”

Maria groaned, stretching out her arms.  “Yeah, but I gotta stick in this exact seat … this sucks.  What about you?”

Half a chuckle left Rachel’s throat before her ears shot straight into the air, pressing against the roof; something was leaping through the jungle at an abnormal speed.  The sounds were cutting in and out, and it seemed to appear out of nowhere a mile to the north.

Maria’s movements slowed as her mind accelerated; it was as if she was listening to a short-ranged version of Scarlet’s back to back shadow teleports, but this was not their adorable little Vampire.

Whatever this is, it’s jumping from tree to tree, bouncing off to propel themselves forward … they’re heading right for us.  Fiona’s a hundred meters away, still talking with animals; I can’t hear Scarlet within a few miles either. It’ll be here in … less than thirty seconds at that pace.  Friend or foe?

The air current shifted within the vehicle as she moved to leave, cursing as she broke the handle with her haste.  Maria’s brow creased with concern at her quick movements. Rachel’s jaw locked as she gently forced the door off its bearings, tossing it to the side.

“Rach…”

Locating the nearest tree, she jumped; the Humvee’s shocks creaked as the frame rocked back and forth.  The sound was mixed with Maria’s cursing, and the soldiers glancing toward them, guns rising.

Rachel flipped around midair, grunting as she landed.  The quick shifts in and out of moonlight are messing me up.  I need to focus … how is it moving like that?

Using only a small fraction of her strength, she changed directions, launching toward the sandbags holding a fifty-cal down.  Her execution was much better this time; she hardly felt the force of the landing. The bags released a puff of sand out of its seams as it absorbing her impact.

Every man’s head darted toward her; Taliesin was the quickest to pose the question.  “Rachel, what’s…”  He cut off as she smoothly interrupted him, studying the treeline to the north.

“Unidentified threat, ETA fifteen seconds, mountains, fast.”

“Prepare for combat!”  Taliesin shouted, turning north.

Safeties already off, the men readied their weapons, releasing sharp curses; more than one man licked their lips, swallowed, and tensed their muscles before relaxing with a deep breath.

Rachel’s surroundings began to crawl as her eyes widened, mind accelerating.  She waited for the strange object to appear, positioning herself on a sturdy sandbag.

Her wide field of vision noticed dark blue clouds beginning to cover the tops of the mountain; it was the color of the earth’s sky, making a shiver run down to her tail.  The black and blue skyscape was surreal, painted against the white snow-capped peaks.

When did that get…

Her focus snapped to a bright and dark orange glow, launching between the trees like a ghost; the moment it came into eyesight, it let out a distorted shriek that sounded oddly similar to a girl’s murderous battle cry.  She heard the shudder that passed down every man’s spine.

She followed the figure closely; it had five strange vine-like tendrils waving atop its head, lying back with the air pressure.  It wore some type of gray cloak with a banner-shaped undercoat, and metal shoes that made little sound with each step against the trunks they touched.

Its face glowed with an orange light, giving the mixed impression of a jack-o'-lantern and a little alien from Mars.  It wasn’t more than four feet tall; the only things that shone in the darkness were its two alien-like red eyes, and its orange face and three claw-like fingers, only partially visible behind its purplish-gray cloak.

It went straight for the nearest Green Beret.  Not quite as fast as me, but the soldiers won’t be able to follow it.  Foe, it is.

She launched toward it as saffron-colored energy flared to life around its glowing fingers, activating Wenet’s Minor Protection.  The alien’s head slowly shifted to observe her; just before Rachel tackled it, it dispersed into orange smoke, flowing around her.

Some kind of partial energy-based creature?  Okay, but I’m not so easily shaken. Let’s see what you have; just how fast can you dissolve and reform?

Spreading out to flip around, Rachel activated Lunar Step, negating her momentum.  Using Lunar Burst for the first time, she started to feel the thump of battle hit her chest; a grin split her lips.  She shot back as the haze solidified, gravity shifting as her ears pulled back, wind rushing past her body.

The honey-comb-like energy-swords materialized, ready to strike one of the men atop the fifty-cals.  The Beret just now pulling the trigger, sending a spray of bullets and sound spraying below them.

Rachel tackled the alien; the creature was caught completely off guard, releasing a high-pitched squeal.  They shot toward the ground, mud spraying around them as they tumbled through the muck, Rachel’s arms locked around its waist; its swords vanished with its shock.

They struck a tarp, sliding under it before grunting as they hit the heavy crates.  The creature hissed with several sharp hiccups; the alien’s energy-blades rematerialized, rushing toward her head.

Not good enough!

She ducked under it, pushing forward with Lunar Burst surrounding her fist.  Her knuckles connected with its chest, making it release a clicking grunt as it was sent off the ground; its material somehow absorbed a lot of her impact.

That’s fun!  What’s this material?

Mud flew around them as it slammed against the steel crates; clumps of dirt blinded her vision, so she used her ears, hearing the sizzling sound of its swords burning the air vanish again.  

Focus based weapons?  Too bad for you! If you don’t want to get buried alive, you better get off the ground!

Rachel shot forward, hand reaching for its throat; it dispersed, but she was prepared, starting to recognize the sound of its body preparing to change.  Feinting, she shifted her feet against the tarp, redirecting her force into a roundhouse kick mixed with Lunar Burst.

It reappeared at her side, leg catching it square in the chest; the cloth absorbing most of her force again, but she was steadily increasing the power, sending the alien face-first against the mud.  It was a little difficult, but she dashed toward it, the earth exploding around them. Grabbing its arm, she forced it off the ground and tossed it back at the steel crate.

“C’mon—fight back!”  She laughed.

The hiccup sounds it made must have been it coughing because it escalated, and she felt it dispersing again, but the Green Berets had recovered.

Time to dip!

She dove beside one of the metal crates as the berets released a spray of rounds at the rematerializing alien.  She couldn’t see it with her eyes closed, but she could hear everything.

The creature jumped into the sky as the bullets bounced off its cloak, ricocheting around the area.  Rachel quickly ducked further behind the crates; the noise was too much for her to filter out, forcing her to fold her ears down as she huddled against the cold steel.

The shooting soon stopped as the howling of wind increased, and Fiona’s angry voice yelled around the area; she darted in front of the soldiers’ faces, waving her arms.  “Stop, stop, stop! Hey! I got it! Stop! Sucking firemonkys … Rachel, where are you?”

Getting up, Rachel wiped away the mud from her face and body, laughing as she waved at the Fairy.  “I’m here, Fiona,” she took a long breath before showing her a smirk. “What would we do without you?”

“Put holes through the entire jungle,” Fiona mumbled, glancing around.  “Bullets were flying everywhere … wait, I think it’s hurt pretty…”

“The hell y’all doin’ out here?”  Maria yelled, face shifting between indignant and nauseated as she stomped toward them.  “¿Qué demonios es eso?”

“Something that flew at us like a bat out of hell,” Rachel mumbled, grimacing as she extracted clumps of earth from her hair.

The creature was floating at the bottom of Fiona’s Wind Prison; it tried to disperse and phase through, but the wind simply repelled the smoke.  Its distorted shrieks could barely be heard behind the barrier.

Fiona circled the alien, humming thoughtfully; a cute red panda-like animal was floating beside her.  She whispered, “I think this thing’s hurt, Maria.”

Maria grumbled while closing the distance, having a bit of trouble with the mud.  “Dammit … everyone’s friggin’ hurt these days.”

“Friggin’?”  Rachel asked, directing an amused smile her way as she joined her.

“The damn pixie asked me to stop saying the F-word … there was a bet.”

Fiona gave her a thumbs-up.  “You stop saying the F-word, and I learn how to rap!  That’s part of the deal.”

“I feel like a chump for losing that game … shit, this thing’s dying fast!”  Maria grunted, horn flaring to life.

Rachel frowned as she examined the glowing orange alien; it didn’t seem to be leaking any liquid.  Its cloak was filled with bullet holes, obviously unable to deflect all the heavy rounds, but she couldn’t see any signs of it dying other than its flailing limbs.  The orange energy-swords weren't returning.

Taliesin and his men kept their weapons trained on the trapped monster.  “What the hell is that thing?” One of his men asked.

“Dying … freak,” Maria grunted, lurching forward as if trying to vomit; the alien had stopped moving, staring at the Unicorn with wide eyes.  “This damn—moon … this is so messed up…”

“The moon—right…” Fiona mumbled, shooting down with concern; she brought their second prisoner closer to Maria.

Light emerald green dust billowed around Fiona as she bit her lower lip, aura mixed light brown; the ground trembled, causing the men to curse with surprise.  A massive earthen dome covered them, throwing a few boxes back and blotting out both the moon’s rays. The inside was illuminated by Rachel, Maria, Fiona, and the alien’s glow.

“Is that better?”

Maria took a deep breath, cracking her neck.  “Hell yeah … thanks, Fi.” She turned her frown toward the motionless creature, sniffing.  “The thing was in some kind of metamorphosis … it was literally killing itself, but it’s stable now.”

Fiona breathed a sigh of relief, dust turning a light lime green.  Shortly after, she made an entrance for Taliesin and Thomson to enter.

Thomson hummed with interest as he caught sight of the creature.  “Should we have attacked it? Perhaps that was the wrong move.”

“No,” Rachel replied, drawing everyone’s attention as she continued to clean herself off.  “It had some kind of energy blades; it was about to attack one of Taliesin’s men. It has an impressive ability to escape; it’s kind of similar to Scarlet’s teleportation.  Fiona’s Wind Prison seems to be doing the trick, though.”

She turned to Maria.  “It was dying from a metamorphosis?”

“Yeah, it felt strange … I had to use so much energy to keep it alive—like twenty percent.  Better be grateful ya’lil bastard!”  She growled, pointing at the alien; it responded by dropping to its butt, crossing its two black legs as its cloak closed to obscure most of its body.

Rachel took a deep breath, emotions pacifying as she studied it and did her best to remove the dirt on her ears.  Its hood was still in place, showing a martian-like glowing head that sat atop a short, sturdy body. Its cloak seemed to be fastened to its banner-like vest and fell to its armored calf, the bottom edges showing wear.

There was some kind of random embroidery done on either side of the cloak and the hanging banner that covered its front. The alien’s glowing orange claw-like fingers flexed as it stared at them blankly.

When Scarlet gets back, she should be able to discover its emotions.

Rachel bent down to clean her legs.  “It’s certainly strange-looking; can you communicate with it, Fiona?”

The Fairy shook her head regretfully.  “Nope … look at those things on its head; it’s like there’s a small fern growing out of it.  You know, it’s kind of cool looking … it glows like a firefly.”

Taliesin folded his arms as he walked around it.  “What’s up with its clothes? They were able to deflect bullets, but it doesn’t seem that stiff.  It looks as soft as silk, but it has the tension of a tarp.”

Thomson bent down to study it; most of the creature was hidden behind its clothing.  “I think its feet are in some kind of metallic shoe, too,” he mumbled. “There could be some kind of chemical reaction in its face and fingers that make them glow.”

Rachel moved to her fluffy tail, removing the chunks of dirt that were stuck to it.  “It’s probably intelligent; still, to attack us right off the bat? It could be in communication with the other insects; this could be one of their warriors for all we know.”

“It doesn’t look like the one out there,” Fiona commented.  “This little guy,” she pointed at the red panda-like animal hovering beside her, “says it’s different than the insects.”

“That thing’s so fu—freakin’ fuzzy and cute!”  Maria cooed as if just noticing it; she let out a very un-Maria like squeal that made both Fiona and Rachel raise an eyebrow.

One of the Berets shouted from outside the dome, “Captain, everything cool?”

“Yeah, Erin, all good; keep watch.”

“Got it.”

“Its … is that hair?”  Taliesin asked. “Looks like something out of a hentai show…”

“The hell’s a hentai?”  Maria asked, standing under Fiona with her arms raised.  “Hey, I want to hold it—c’mon, give it here.”

Taliesin cleared his throat, face reddening a little.  “Yeah … don’t worry about it.”

“You sure?”  Rachel smirked.  “I’m sure Maria would have a hernia.”

“Seriously?  Eh … let’s not get into hentai, please…”  Fiona mumbled, glancing over at the panda as it curled defensively, paws covering its face.  “He thinks you’re going to fry him in insect blood, skin him alive, and then eat his eyeballs … ew, don’t say stuff like that!  I’d rather listen to Taliesin discuss hentai … no, she’s cool.”

“Should have kept my mouth shut,” Taliesin sighed.

“Yeah, I’m cool!”  Maria cooed, ignoring their conversation.  “Are there scary things in the jungle that eat you?”  She asked as Fiona lowered him into her arms before petting it.

“Yeah, a lot of things.  I think they don’t get too big, and their only defense is this poisonous barb in their tongue, but it’s hard to get past a lot of the armor the creatures around here have.”

Rachel cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself.  “What about this thing, Fiona? That animal said it isn’t with the insects?”

“Ah, right,” Fiona flew over to her.  “No, he says that the orange ones are fighting the Azure Frost.  It’s like the fog, covering everything.”

“Hmm,” Rachel pursed her lips.  “I’m guessing it doesn’t think of us and the insects as this Azure Frost, right?”

Fiona turned back to the creature; it was releasing a low purr from Maria’s gentle strokes.  “Are we the Azure Frost, or are the insects? Umm … nope … he likes the left ear, Maria. Man, don’t be a perv … some animals,” she huffed, nose twisting.

Rachel giggled before turning back to the firefly-like creature, chewing lightly on her left cheek.  If these things are fighting off some crazy fog-like ice thing … probably that blue cloud covering the mountains.  Are we in the middle of a war?

We have the insects, these creatures, and the Azure Frost to deal with … great.  Things are turning out to be a lot more complicated than I hoped. We don’t even know which side to take—if any … our only objective is the crystal, but how does that play into this?

It all seems utterly unrelated at the moment … perhaps this Azure Frost is the cause.  We’ll need to figure something out. We have that fog coming down the mountains … it wasn’t on the first aerial sweep.  Fiona or Scarlet could get a better scope of the field. Scarlet can still bring back some important news, too; Fiona would be the better choice since it’ll be morning soon.

Rachel smiled as she heard Cross return through the crystal; he was dragging something through with him, likely the supplies.  At least Scarlet will have her blood when she gets back.  He can also return with what we learned.

“Cross is back.  We should probably send him back with the intel we’ve gathered.  We’re likely caught up in some kind of three-way war; although, saying that about the insects might be pushing it.  This firefly-guy could eviscerate the insects we’ve seen.”

“I think we should get a bit more information out of the—bear … damn, that sounds weird to say,” Taliesin muttered.  “Like—does it know how to stop the Azure Frost?”

Thomson had kept silent, circling the alien, studying every movement.

Fiona asked the question.  “Eh … nope. The firefly-guys are trying, but not having much luck, it seems.  This perv’s been running away with his burrow … like a family, and they were split up during one of the insect patrols.  Oh … there is something that stops it? The sun? Well, that’s cool!” She grinned at Maria. “Maybe you can shine!”

“We’ll see,” Maria grunted, still stroking the panda’s back.  “I don’t have any sunlight attacks.”

“Not now, but we’ll see,” Rachel hummed.  “This is still great news; it means we’ll have time to plan during the day and rest up.  The firefly-people will be busy dealing with the Azure Frost and preparing for the next attack.  We should send someone to check it out, and we should be prepared for an attack.”

“I can handle it!”  Fiona assured, flexing her thin arm.  “Kinda silly, though, but I’m lyrical, bet I put ‘em in the dirt, drivin’ by, poppin’ nines, Pakistan, I’ll bomb ‘em first, back to the lab with mother Earth; Maria got the shovel, puttin’ in work; super fly, I need a cape!”

“Okay, okay,” Rachel said with a forced smile.  “I get it; you’ll check it out.”

Maria nodded.  “Not bad, Fi, not bad; I like the Pakistan touch.  Hits hard.”

“I can’t believe you’re corrupting her,” Rachel sighed.

“Corrupt?  She’s lit! How you feelin’, Fi?”

Fiona did a twirl in the air.  “Now? I’m feeling so fly, like a G-Six!  We get them bottles poppin’; we get that drip and that drop; now, get me two more bottles cause you know we don’t stop!”

“Hell, yeah!”  Maria chuckled.  “We goin’ hard when we get back.”

“Okay, I’ll join you two, but let’s focus first,” Rachel said, forcing a chuckle as Cross walked in, listening silently as he dragged in a cooler.  “Fiona, your Wind Prisons will work for a while, right?”

“Thanks, Maria,” Fiona said with a bright smile, “yeah, I know I can find a boyfriend!  Umm, yeah, Rachel, but they’ll only block as much damage as I tie them off with. I can refuel them when I get back,” she whispered, flying in close to Rachel.  “If he goes crazy, he might be able to break free.”

“I’ll keep my ears on him,” Rachel assured.  “Lock off the entrance when you leave; I’ll watch outside.  Having two prisons might be best … it might be able to escape if there’s air holes, and you won’t be gone too long.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, and if worse comes to worst, then I’ll break it open myself.  Find out what’s going on and report back.”

“Sure thing, Captain Rachel!  Seven-eight-six is where I be; I’m a soldier in my hood, it’s an army; on me, east coast, Miami bound, after dark, no hooks, no marks, all G’s; bang on ‘em, let go of that Desert Eagle; Mythic-Gang, Exotic Family, and Military Boies; ask about me in the streets, I’m an east rep, home of Maria and Felix, but I’m next; that’s the city by the sea; so, ask me where I’m from, I’ll tell you MBC, cuz I’m from Miami Beach!”

“I … don’t know what all that means, but okay,” Rachel mumbled.

Fiona saluted with a bright smile before ushering everyone out.  “It’s like Christmas is coming early … Azure Frost, it really does sound Christmasy!  Alright, time for Airforce Fiona to take off … c’mon, out, out.”

Rachel watched her seal the entrance, watching the firefly-like alien cock its head.  Life has gotten so strange.

Seeing Fiona off, she explained the situation to Cross; Taliesin filled in a few places.  Maria seemed like an utterly different person with the red panda-like animal, patting it affectionately.

Her vision shifted between the two prisons; the insect was still testing the edges of the Wind Prison, and beyond the thick earth blocking off the alien, she couldn’t hear much movement.

If those pumpkin-like creatures attack in force, we could be in trouble.  I don’t know if we’d be able to protect the soldiers and block them off from going through the crystal … what’s the right play?  I suppose it depends on what news they bring back.

She watched the fog continue descending the mountain, but it was slowing as light began breaking past the jagged peaks; fifteen minutes passed before Scarlet returned, and in that time, Rachel didn’t hear any other alien creatures rushing them.

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