“Are you lost?” Halley asked as he stepped into view.

            The man looked at him but Halley still couldn't see his eyes clearly. It was as if his face was dark and opaque in features, not reflecting light to be seen. “I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I'm right where I want to be.”

            “You must not be from around here, though. People here will have little to do with strangers,” Viro added as he also stepped into view.

            “That's good,” wisps of smoke starting to waft out of the man's clothing.

            “Good?” Halley didn't like the sound of that, but in a way he did. It meant action. “Are you aware you might be burning?”

            “Good because I would hate for us to be interrupted. And yes, I am aware,” he burst into flames and his clothing fell away like burning leaves to reveal a humanoid body formed out of a dark gemstone. Pyranium is a gemstone that can ignite and burn laser hot for a very long time. It's often used to fuel starships since a chunk the size of a baseball can burn and create energy for over a year. At that size it would be perfect for small starfighters. How a person came to be formed of it was anyone's guess, but they had little time for guessing. The man burned brightly and rose into the air. A man made of gemstone that burns, who flies didn’t look like a good combination.

            “Well that's a wasted wardrobe,” Viro commented.

            “What can I say? I love to see the looks on people’s faces.”

            “So you're looking for us specifically or just a fight?” Halley asked moving his shield in front of him.

            “Isn't it obvious?” the gemstone man extended his hand and a jet of flame engulfed the area where they stood. Neither of them stood still to be burned. Halley flew around to charge his attacker with the power of his shield. The fiery attacker proved just as agile, flying easily out of the way.

            “I'll just assume you want both,” Halley said, “So who are you, or don't we get to know?”

            “I am Pyrus, the pyranium man, not that it will help you any.” Bolts of fire flew and hit buildings that quickly caught fire.

            Viro didn't like the people here but he wasn't about to let them burn. He turned his attention to the flames, intent on creating an anti- fire virus that would smother them. Viro was a living virus of alien origin within the confines of his armored suit. He had the ability to extend a portion of his powers beyond the suit and create any kind of virus he wanted. His viruses could do just about anything he could think of.  As he attemped this, a metal cable wrapped around his ankle and whip jerked him through a wall of the inn. Fortunately, his containment suit could take a hit like that without issue. It was nearly unbreakable, but if ever breached, the true form of what he was could destroy an entire world. The ground trembled as a large robot stomped into view. It was thick and heavy and looked something like a twelve foot tall ape with a strange grin for a speaker grill. Viro couldn't decide if it was a friendly look or just a creepy one. The cable had come from the palm of one of the robot’s big three fingered hands. The big metal ape stomped right through the opening in the wall.

            “Greetings, I am Abnur. I am here to kill you today.”

“So you're a friendly assassin. It must be my lucky day,” Viro grumbled. “That settle’s it, you’re definitely creepy.”

            As the mammoth assassin reached out a metal hand, the floor creaked and crumbled beneath it, finally collapsing. The machine smashed into the basement below. Viro flew out over its head as the upper portion of building fell in and buried it.

            “No one cared about that building anyway,” Viro grumbled some more. He had created an erosion virus for the wood of the building without the robot even noticing. Now he had to stop the fires before they could destroy the colony.

            Halley blocked a stream of fire with his shield and tried to take the fight higher into the air, hoping to lower risks to the colony.  “So how did you filthy pirates know we were here?”

            “Who says we're pirates?” Pyrus laughed as he sent several missiles of flame at once. He was becoming a better shot the longer the battle lasted and Halley could feel the heat from yards away.

            Below, Viro concentrated on emitting a wide spread anti-fire virus to the buildings. It flowed from his armored hands in a light green cloud. That cloud flowed out over the flames and into them. It took a lot out of him to do it, but the structure fires went out and any new jets lost effect. Hopefully, that would give the people of the colony a little comfort. Viro imagined that the colonists had to be cowering in the corners of their homes. They probably were out of practice on what to do about a small fire, never mind a full scale emergency.

 The rubble of the inn stirred and flew in all directions as the metal monster emerged. Viro knew he only delayed it. Now he had to figure out what to do with Abnur. He moved into the center of the road a few buildings away. He didn't have enough energy to protect the buildings from physical demolition, so he had to concentrate on another effort. A pair of metal orbs as big as Abnur's head rose from the its shoulders. They hovered around the robot for a moment and then flew towards Viro.

            “And now the friendly assassin wants to play ball,” he mused. “Alright, Abnur, let's finish this.”