Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 2

Humans Are Space Orcs

"Commander!"

"Krill, hell am I glad to see you."

Overhead, the dark shape seemed to coalesce from the night, into a familiar human form. Though Krill couldn't see his face, he would have known his voice anywhere.

"I',worried that you had died, commander."

"Only just avoided it." He whispered,d "now enough with the reunions and time for an escape."

Krill watched him crawl along the bars of the cage and down the other side, floating over to be at the door when it opened. There was a sharp hiss and the door popped inward, revealing the man in the half light of a distant, glowing orb.

The man looked, a mess.

His hair had grown long and scruffy around his ears and cheeks. He was sporting a short beard, and - "What the hell are you wearing."

"Hey, they caught me on laundry day alright, I had to improvise.

" Krill shook his head but floated form the doorway, "What happened, how did you end up here.... How did you escape?" He had to admit, he was both impressed and surprised at the commander's escape, it was leaning towards smarter than he would have usually given the man credit for, but by now krill had learned that while commander vir was an idiot, he was an intelligent one.

"Got sucked into a wormhole, spat out on some tropical desert sort of planet thing. Got attacked by a blue raptor and was rescued by the omnidroids."

"The omnidroids?"

"You know those big tall grey guys with five limbs?"

"Ah yes, that sounds like what happened to me..... And this escape plan of yours." He was almost jealous that Adam had managed to escape before he had, but he supposed the human had some inherent advantages that he just did not.

Adam crouched low, dragging krill to the side as a group of giant scorpions scuttled past in the distance, not something that the two of them wanted to get involved in.

"I spent the first few days testing to see how much they watched me, and how much it would take to get them to come running. When i Had everything mapped out I moved to the top of the cage, so I wouldn't make them suspicious the first go around. Luckily for me they sort of noticed and set up a little hanging nest for me up there." He flexed his hands, "Then I used the iron eye to bend the bars and escape. Now I am letting out all the other animals on my way out of this place."

Not bad, not bad at all, though Krill would call it less of a plan and just characteristically flying by the seat of his pants, but he had a new motto for the commander that he thought encompassed his behavior really well.

It's not stupid if it works.

He grabbed Krill by the upper arm and dragged him behind, "Come on, we've gotta get out of here before."

Sirens.

And flashing red lights.

"Shit!"

Commander Vir and Krill dived into the bushes watching as a large creature made of waving tentacles rolled past.

The sirens above their heads were deep and booming, and almost as soon as they had gone off the entire park was alive with voices and the whirring sound of drones.

Three of them cut past chasing down the tentacle ball as Adam and Krill crouched in the shadows.

"Krill, you have a big brain, do you remember the way to their docking station?"

"I.... well yes of course I do."

"Alright, than we head there?"

"And how exactly do you plan on getting out of here." Krill wondered as they continued to slip their way through the bushes.