Auri is focused as we start towards the settlement, Kal and I close behind her with our riffles drawn. I glance around every so often, making eye contact with Kal and Ty. All three of us were on high alert to protect the squad the best that we can.
I raise my rifle instinctively when Fin stopped, scanning the thick vegetation for any signs of life.
"All right, Finian?" Tyler asks, coming up beside Fin.
"...Do we know if there was any native fauna here?" Our gearhead asks.
Zila glances at him. "Is there a reason for your query?"
"I thought I heard something," He admits, my suspicions confirmed.
"Most of the fauna on Octavia wasn't very complex," Auri says from beside me, drawing my attention. "At least from the early surveys and reports from the Biology department. There were mice in the labs, though. And chimps, too. My dad worked with them."
While Auri, Tyler, and Zila tried to explain what chimps were to our puzzled gearhead, I took a few cautious steps towards where Fin heard the sounds. I don't see anything, but it doesn't help my growing unease.
"Enough, Finian. Even if there were chimps here, that was two centuries ago, and..." Tyler ends the conversation
"Weapons," says Kal simply, and when we continue, we've handed out blasters to everyone.
We continued on for hours, our suits blue from the pollen that clung to us, much like it clung to everything else on the planet. Finally we crested the hill, giving us our first view of what was left of Butler.
I stepped up to where Auri was, seeing her tears at the sight.
"If the Hadfield had made it, I'd be down there." She spoke quietly, but her voice still carried in the silence.
"But you're not. You're here with us." I shoulder my rifle and rest a hand on her shoulder.
Scarlet approached us too, offering words of wisdom as always.
I stepped back and let Scarlet do her thing, Kal coming up to my side. I smiled up at him softly, leaning against him for a moment until we started walking again.
"So," Fin starts again after about 20 minutes of walking. "About these chints—"
"Chimps," Tyler says, long-suffering already.
"Whatever. You still have any of those?"
"They're extinct," Cat says. "Just like you're about to be."
"Very funny, Zero. Anyway, are you sure you're not making them up? They sound ridiculous. I mean, hairy dirtchildren who fly spaceships and have almost identical DNA to you lot?" He scoffs. "I don't think they exist."
And all hell breaks loose.
A mass of black fur and yellow teeth launches from the undergrowth and tackles Fin, sending him sprawling.
Seeing the flowers blooming in its eyes and all along its back has me stunned for a second.
Kal was the first to act, raising his rifle and trying to aim for the chimpanzee.
I do the same, but the chimp rolls Fin around, banging on his faceplate and using him as a shield.
"Get this choomp off of me!" Fin wails.
Panic overrides my rational thinking as I see Kal fall, cursing in Syldrathi.
"Kal!" I sling my rifle over my back, drawing a blaster to fire at the plants grabbing his ankles and rifle.
