KIMBERLY

	I raced to my Harrier, opening the hatch as fast as I could. Apparently my urgency had caught the attention of the others and they followed suit, going for their own MUTTs without a second thought.
	“Captain?” James called out to me over the local channel.
	Jackie came up in his Dingo, his squad behind him, “What's got you up in a tizzy so late?”
	“Carter picked something up with his magic,” I answered curtly, checking outside of the bank through the hole we had made at the entrance. There was nothing yet, but Carter's magic was never wrong. Something was definitely out there.
	“Make that two,” Carter cut in.
	I saw Tiggs running across from his tent to the truck, pulling his coveralls up by their straps before hopping in through the door. A moment later he was on the radio, checking in.
	“Nothing on the shortwave. Whatever is out there, they're maintaining radio silence.”
	“Pair up and keep in each other's sights, I don't want any friendly fire,” Carter said.
	“James, with me, Eddie, trade your spitfire for my torch,” I said, exchanging weapons with him. I looked at James and pointed at the building across the street. It was one of the skyscrapers. If the enemy was there they'd have shot at us already, I figured, “We'll head there and set up overwatch.”
	He nodded his MUTT and followed close behind me.
	“Two of you take positions beneath Captain Kilroy. The last two stick with the truck and keep it tight, we'll stay here and cover the entrance,” Carter said. 
	“That'd be us, Garth. Leg it,” Jackie said. He and Garth followed James and I into the skyscraper, our larger Harriers breaking through the steel-framed glass entrance with a crash. For our size, we quickly made our way in, heading through the lobby that looked like it had seen a typhoon blow through it. All four of us stopped when we reached the elevators, finding embedded in the wall beside it another model of MUTT. It was definitely made by Harrier, but this one had a slimmer chassis, though making out exactly what it was proved hard to do in the dark on top of it being completely mutilated. From all we could see with our combined headlamps it was in Federalist blues, or what was left of it. The cockpit had been completely torn open. I didn't want to look inside. 
	“So they were here, but something happened to ‘em,” Jackie stated the obvious. 
	James’ eye looked from the broken machine back to the entrance, “I don't like this…”
	I had the same gut response. I ignored the feeling I had for now, “Jackie, you and Garth keep an eye out. We'll go up a few flights for a view of the street below. Come on, James,” I said, giving his Harrier a tug on the shoulder. He reluctantly followed, the two of us heading for the stairwell. 
	I punched a hole into the doorway to make it wide enough for our MUTTs to fit through, finding the concrete steps suitable for our weight. I led him up three flights, making another hole in the door to the fourth floor where we piled in, making a mess of the halls all the way to the end where we would be right above the building's lobby.
The room seemed to be some kind of conference room, and thankfully it was taller than the hallway leading to it, allowing our MUTTs to stand fully upright. The windows were large here, and lined the building vertically, with concrete pillars separating each column of glass panes going all the way up the front of the building. At least we would have some cover if the enemy shot first.
	I could see the bank across the street, Eddie and Quill on either side of the hole we had made. They had their eyes turning from the north side to the south at the top and bottom of the road. My eye traced the mainstreet all the way to the hill north of here, finding nothing in particular. James was at the window beside me, his aether rifle ready to send a barrage of beam fire in either direction.
	“We're in position,” I reported to Carter.
	“Four spikes. Whatever they are, they're heading for us,” He said.
	“What direction?” Asked Jackie.
	“North and south. They're close to the downtown gateways.”
	“I don't see anything,” Said James.
	“Is it really a new stealth unit?” Tiggs wondered.
	“Stealth units? Shit,” James grumbled.
	“North side, they're entering the downtown area.”
	“I don't see them!” James cried.
	“Screw it!” I hollered, firing a volley of spitfire at the road, the glass in front of me shattering from the sudden heat. Apparently that was enough to get everyone else's attention and they began lighting up the area around it with beam fire, the aetheric energy shattering more glass and cutting through the smoke I had made to burn into the buildings behind it.
	“They scattered. Retreating north. South side is approaching, fifty yards from the bank on the mainstreet,” Carter called out. I turned to look down south, still unable to see anything. I fired anyway, making a line in the street where I thought they might've been.
	Once again the others followed my lead, more beams and my spitfire coloring the black night with bright red lights.
	In the commotion I heard a howling scream, something like a large animal writhing in pain. All at once the firing stopped, “What the hell was that?” I heard someone on the radio. “I saw something dart out of the smoke!”
	“Whatever it is, it’s not the Brekkies,” Jackie stated the obvious again, though in that moment I forgot to feel annoyed. I felt sweat trickling down my cheek. What was it, some kind of monster? “I’m gonna check it out,” He said, taking to the streets heading south.
	“James, keep a close eye on him, I’m going to reposition,” I said, moving to the south side of the room. I reared back with my left arm and slammed my MUTT through the wall, making for the corner room of the building until I found a window facing south.
	“I don’t see much out here,” I heard Jackie report. I could see him looking around the crater where I had launched my spitfire, the burns from the beams scarring the streets around it.
	“If we hit ‘em, they didn’t leave anything behind for proof,” Jackie said, looking back toward our group.
	“They’re regrouping. One of them is heading for the bank, the other three are circling east,” Carter’s voice was ragged, I could tell he was using up too much mana for his divining.
	“Tiggs, give the commander a beer or something,” I said, “We can’t afford to lose our eyes on these guys.”
	“A beer, now? Are you kidding?” I heard one of Jackie’s men complain.
	“Do you guys not understand how mana works?” Tiggs was dumbfounded. “Carter needs mana to use divining magic. The quickest way to get it in his system is alcohol.” 
	“What happens if he's drunk?!”
	“That doesn't really matter right now, does it?!” I hollered, glancing between the north and the south.
	Carter radioed in again, “Eddie, right center of-”
	I saw flames spew out from the bank, Eddie waving the torch back and forth as he advanced out of the hole. Whatever was attacking us, he had caught it by surprise and set it aflame, its body becoming visible as it recoiled and ran from him, stumbling over itself before rolling back onto its feet and disappearing into the moonlight.
	“What the hell was that?” I asked, trying my best not to sound as scared as I felt.
	“Big lizard.” Eddie commented, clearly unsure himself, “Really big lizard.”
	“That thing was bigger than your MUTT!” James exclaimed, “Holy shit… what the hell!?”
	“Did it have a beak…?” Jackie asked.
	I saw him run for the bank and felt the need to ask, “Why? What is it?”
	“Did it have a beak?!” He was more forceful this time.
	Eddie turned to him, “Hard to see through the fire. It walked on two legs.”
	“Shit. Hey miss Star captain, we need to regroup. We can't let them separate us.”
	“What the hell are these things?” I asked one more time.
	“Look, I don't know. I only heard about them before the war even started, but we need to stick together. They're bigger than us and a helluva lot stronger, and just in case you couldn't tell, the bastards can hide in plain sight!”
	“What, like, turn invisible?” Said James, looking at me.
	“That explains why only Carter can see them. Some kinda magic,” I said through my teeth, “Carter, where are the other three?”
	“They're staying back, it seems the first one getting torched has them rethinking things,” He explained.
	“Where are they? I need as exact of a location as possible,” I replied, looking down at the bank again. I saw Garth book it back into the cover of our temporary shelter.
	“About fifty feet southeast of us behind the highrise, standing by the southwest corner.”
	I could see exactly where he was talking about, I could even swear I saw invisible claws being dragged through the concrete of the building's corner. Were they sharpening their claws in anticipation? I didn't care to know, instead taking a moment to line up my shot before letting loose with the spitfire. Fireballs rained down onto the corner, striking whatever kind of monster was standing there, burning a hole right through it. It reeled back, toppling over itself as it fell into a heap on the ground, its skin turning opaque. I could only barely make out its silhouette in the dark.
	“Got one!” I said proudly, only for the body to be dragged back behind the building. From the sounds of howling and the carnage that followed, I could only come to one conclusion. The others were eating it. What the hell were these things? My mind skipped right over the disgust at the cannibalism straight for the absurdity of it all. Why would they go about eating their own dead this close to us? Were they starving, stupid or did they not develop any survival instincts because of their size and invisibilty? That question led me to another: what the hell kind of animal can cast magic anyway? Was this a result of them being surrounded by aether in the Oasis?
	I was tired of the questions. I let another volley loose, blasting the corner of the building, the street behind it and the walls of the building beyond that. Whatever they were back there I was gonna drive them out or kill them myself.
	I could just hear Carter yelling to me over the spitfire, “They're falling back, they're climbing the western wall!”
	I kept firing, following where I thought they might be. I doubt I hit any of them, but I charred the walls in quick fashion.
	“They're in the Oasis, they're in full retreat,” Carter said, “Good job, Kim.”
	I panted, feeling a bit of the heat coming off the spitfire through my chassis. I must have thrown more fireballs than I realized.
	I took a deep breath, “Carter.”
	“Yeah?”
	“We should get the hell out of here.”
	I could hear him sipping whatever booze Tiggs had got him before he replied, “Agreed.”

	Not wanting to waste any time, James and I leapt out of the building, landing on the streets below. We all decided to leave immediately, James, Garth and Jackie packing up the camp while Eddie, Quill and I watched the entrance with our trigger fingers itching to let loose a tide of flames on whatever ugly beast showed its face – figuratively. Carter was drinking coffee, resolving to stay awake until we were well out of town and back in Oceana Venture territory, or at least far enough from Polk Fremore. Heading any further south so close to the Oasis, with these things behind us and the enemy in front was in no uncertain terms a death sentence and I planned to make that known to the guy who gave us the job, at gunpoint if I had to.
	I remember the men back during the Mexican war spreading rumors about a pride of griffons nearly taking out an entire armored company. For the longest time I didn't believe them, not because of the monster, those had become common knowledge these days, but that there was no way an animal, even a monster from the other side could take on a MUTT. There was never anything officially stated, that was just the men bullshitting one another just to spook their friends, right? Now I wasn’t so sure. 
	That wreck in the building across from the bank I now realized had been destroyed by one of these creatures, its rider meeting that terrible fate, and who knows what happened to the rest. I also realized as we were leaving that town I never saw any corpses. 
	I prayed that meant most people had gotten away but there was no way of knowing. As we marched north we gave the Oasis a wide berth, concluding it would be easier to spot either the enemy or those… things by the tracks they left in the red sands and the dust clouds they kicked up. We marched all night, exhausted by the time daylight crested the horizon. Carter was checking every half hour to make sure there were no spikes in mana behind us. Somehow I thought we actually lost them. We continued moving just to be safe until noon when we had made it several more miles.
	“Captain… we need to stop… I'm dyin’ of heat,” Groaned James, and he sounded it.
	I looked for anywhere we could set up a camp, finding a rock formation not far from us further west.
	“Carter, let's make camp there,” I said, heavy with exhaustion and started heading for it. The others followed wordlessly, eager to rest after the all-nighter.
	“We'll take some time to recuperate. I'll contact Oh-Vee and let them know the situation,” Said Carter, “No sight of the enemy, attacked by unknown monsters, returning to base.”
	I was a little relieved that Carter was also willing to mention those… things.
	“What about the new orders?” Jackie pointed out.
	“What new orders? We never got any new orders,” Carter replied. Everyone understood what he meant, nobody was about to protest. I think they felt a little more respect for him after that. I worked with Jackie and set up a watch, giving us all ample time to rest between shifts. Carter managed to get some shuteye, after I personally made sure he did. I laid in one of the bunks at the front of the truck. Tiggs kept an eye on the periscope, looking for any aether activity in the off chance that someone, friend or foe, decided to show up.
	“I'm gonna need to modify this thing so I can watch for mana spikes, same as him,” He said, turning to me. I shrugged, my eyes closed as I tried to catch some shuteye.
	“Do it when we get back,” I said quietly, too exhausted to put too much effort into talking. Carter snored beneath me on the bottom bunk having fallen asleep about an hour ago. Even he was too exhausted to act while sleeping.
	Garth was on watch by now, Eddie having just traded shifts with him. I could smell the rations they were cooking outside and felt my stomach grumble. I didn't care, I just wanted to sleep. The marching, the heat from above, the grit of the sands in all our equipment and fighting those damned monsters last night and all I wanted to do now was get some damned sleep.
	I heard Tiggs pour himself some water, probably from that enchanted pitcher he had the foresight to bring with him and felt thirsty. Damn it all.
	I got up, quietly as I could to not disturb Carter, and stepped over to the cabinet across from me where the gremlin stood, grabbing my own glass and holding it out for him. He nodded and poured me a drink as well, the two of us enjoying the conveniences of magical appliances. Despite how much I thought I loved my new MUTT, I had to admit conjuring water whenever needed was a much better use of magic. If only we had a way to conjure food, I silently mulled over the thought.
	“Well. Pretty exciting stuff,” Tiggs said quietly.
	I nodded, “I could go for boring right about now.”
	“True, but then we'd be out of a job,” He replied with a smile.
	“Then I guess it would stop being boring again,” I retorted, “We'd all be scrambling to find ways to earn some cash, like last time.”
	Tiggs shook his head, took a drink and sighed, “That wasn't so bad. We managed it pretty well, I think.”
	“Yeah, guess we did. Managed to get the airship, the MUTTs and the new job. If we're not careful we'll manage to lose it all out here.” I muttered, resting the cool glass against my neck. It came as a sharp and sudden sting before the chill relieved me from the heat. I drank the rest of my water and put the glass on the counter for later.
	“We'll be fine, we've been through worse,” Tiggs assured me.
	I scoffed, “I don't know about that. I'm gonna go check on the others.”
	“Alright. Take it easy, okay, Kim?”
	“Sure, Tiggs.”
	The wall of heat hit me as I exited the truck, and I shielded my eyes from the sunlight as best as I could, heading for our circle of MUTTs and tents, where anyone who wasn't sleeping was making their lunch. I saw Garth in his Dingo positioned up on the rocks above. Occasionally he would look down his sights at something out in the bush before lowering it and moving on to the next direction. James and Quill were cooking up rice and beans, enough for all of us it seemed. James was smoking again, his smaller frame shaking a little in the wind. 
	It seemed to me he was still feeling the excitement from last night, and upon seeing me he wordlessly offered up a plate. I took it without arguing, getting a spoonful in my mouth, quickly chewing it up and swallowing without even bothering to taste it. I gave him a nod and took a seat beside him. Quill was chewing on some tobacco, turning from the cooking pot every now and then to spit. I only now realized that I had never really gotten a good look at either Quill or Garth until now. Quill looked about in his forties. He was a stockier man, and his beard was long, but well trimmed with specks of gray throughout it and his buzzed hair. He had a scar across his cheek that ran back over his ear, half of which was missing.
	He was an old veteran, no doubt, though which war he had fought in was anyone's guess and he didn't seem like the type to tell. He was the only one from Jackie’s group that didn't seem like a native Australian. I suspected his accent was picked up over the years, but every now and then he would fall back onto a different one. After seeing him up close he looked more like a Scot to me than an Aussie.
He was silently eating up his rice, much too occupied with his food to notice my staring. I took a bite of my own food again, downing more and silencing my hungry belly.
	“How are you guys holding up?” I asked. 
	James puffed smoke straight up, “Never better,” He said, sarcasm ever present. Good, if he could be sarcastic then he was no worse for wear.
	“Tired. Think I'll go lay my head down,” Answered Quill before he stood up and left for his tent, taking his food with him.
	“Something wrong?” I asked James.
	He shook his head, “Some of his friends died back at New Vaelyn. Heard Garth and him talking about it earlier. Guess it just set in that they're gone.”
	“Are they going to be a problem?” I asked under my breath.
	“We get back to Oh-Vee and they won't be,” James said, which didn't exactly sound encouraging to me.
	I finished my plate in silence, an hour passing us by before Jackie came out from his tent. He plated up some rice and beans for himself before he scarfed it down quickly, stood up and headed for his MUTT.
	“Where're you going?” I asked him.
	“Gonna relieve Garth so he can have a rest before that sandstorm hits,” He said, pointing out west before hopping into his Dingo. I followed his finger and barely saw a cloud on the horizon that by my guess wouldn't be here for hours. It wasn't time to change the watch, either. He must have been giving Garth a break. From what James said, I imagined both of his squadmates were going through it. He was a good man.

	A few more hours passed, and James had gone to his tent for some shuteye. By some miracle I had managed to fall asleep in my own tent. That is until the wind began to pick up and the dust began to shred the lining, tearing it open and pelting my face. I lifted the blanket I had over my head, blocking the sand while I wiped it from my eyes, nose and mouth. This place was quickly becoming runner up for places I considered Hell, I thought. I should have gone back to the truck.
	“Dust storm's comin’!” I heard Jackie shout warning from atop the rocks. Yeah, I could've told you that, I thought, looking west again to see the rising cloud of sand heading for us. It would be here soon by the looks of it. Before I even knew what to do I heard Jackie shouting again, this time more urgently.
	“Movement! South!” I heard him scream from his cockpit before firing off a beam from his rifle, “Contact!”
	Immediately, I scrambled to our MUTTs, shouting for everyone else to get up as I went. James made it to his MUTT first, while I made sure Eddie, Garth and Quill were up and out on their feet and getting their asses to theirs.
	I hopped in my Harrier as fast as I could, doing my best to close the hatch before any more sand could be blown inside.
	Everyone took up positions in front of the truck, shielding it from any incoming fire.
	“Where are they?” I heard Quill ask, a lust for blood in his voice. “They're interruptin’ my beauty sleep,” He growled.
	“I don't see anything through all this dust!” James said, the wind blowing sand up in front of us, “Is it the Feddies?”
	After a few moments the wind died down just enough for us to see an empty desert.
	“Don't tell me you got us up for nothin’ Jackie!” Garth yelled, turning back toward the rocks, “I just got to sleep dammit!”
	“I'm tellin ‘ you, I saw movement!” Jackie swore. My heart sank, and in that moment I think everyone else realized the same thing.
	Those things were back. They had tracked us all the way out here. Somehow I think all of us thought that because there was daylight they couldn't do us any harm, like a child thinking phantoms could only scare you at night.
	“What do we do?” James said, turning his eye to look at me. I could tell he was starting to panic.
	“Keep close, stay focused. We'll just drive them off,” I answered as calmly as I could, giving his Harrier a gentle tap on the shoulder, “You got this.”
	“And then what?” Said Garth, clearly not happy with our chances.
	“Then we'll kill them,” I heard Carter come on the radio, “There's only three of them. They're spread out. South and both flanks.”
	“I can just see the dust hitting them, but they're too fast for me to keep them in my sights!” Jackie shouted.
	“Shoot anyway, dammit! It'll give the rest of us a clear direction!” Garth yelled, prompting Jackie to fire a beam directly south of us about five hundred yards away. Everyone but me began firing their weapons, James, Garth and Quill all searching in crossing firing lines while Eddie peppered the area with his spitfire. I waited with my torch, ready for their approach at either side.
	Tiggs moved the truck back, getting it closer to the rock and out of our way as best he could, readying it for a hasty retreat if it came to that.
	“Did we hit?” Asked James.
	“If you have to ask then probably not,” Jackie barked, “Keep shooting! I see it about two hundred meters out!”
	He fired again to give us an idea of where exactly it was, his sight over the smaller dust clouds much better than ours.
	James waited for Garth and Quill to fire first, both of them crossing their shots back and forth before he fired three straight down the center. That same horrid howl as last night graced us with its disturbing, guttural vocals, and I heard Jackie cheering over it. I saw the monster for a brief moment before the dust kicked up again, its frame at least twice the size of our MUTTs. Eddie never was a kidder, and he certainly wasn't joking last night. That was a damn big lizard.
	“Left and right, one hundred meters!” Jackie called, firing two shots in either direction. The team split their fire, Garth and Quill left while Eddie and James fired right. Another howl, this one more shrill erupted much closer than before. It sounded like Garth and Quill had hit theirs, where was the last one?
	“It's getting closer!” Carter shouted, “West side, fifty yards!”
	“The dust storm!” Jackie shouted, and all at once we were enveloped in a cloud of red and yellow sands.

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