Baal was breathing hard as he finished climbing the last of the obstacles. “Get your ass moving, recruit!” He heard one of the instructor’s bellow. Through the haze of exhaustions, he could place which one it was before he forced himself back into a loping run.

  He could see his breath fog in the cold morning air, orange in the light of the rising sun. He and several other rescued beast-kin that requested to join the rangers had been roused two hours ago and had been running the damned obstacle course the odd simian lizard race the rangers called Monzards had built overnight. His limbs burned from the constant effort and he swore the instructors took a sadistic pleasure in watching them suffer.

  “You can quit anytime you overgrown teddy bear!” a voice barked from his right. It was Corporal Ha’ren, a particularly brutal Horonak that singled him out on day one. Baal let out a low growl, earning a chuckle from the man.

  “If you don’t like it, then prove you can actually fight on the mat. Still waiting for you to beat me, recruit,” Ha’ren said, his voice filled with condescension. Baal bristled at the reminder of the last time he had been soundly trounced by the smaller man. He had underestimated Ha’ren. Then he wouldn’t make that same mistake again.

  Baal had decided to join Hissak and the others in the rangers after he had watched the prioritize the beast-kin wounded over their own, even some with dire wounds insisted the civilians go before them. Part of him was beginning to second guess that choice. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind, focusing on returning to the front of the course.

  When he got there, he got in line only for sergeant Ni’lan to holler “That was the last run of those you running the course finish up on the double! The rest of you line up and get ready for chow!”

  Baal glared at Ha’ren as he panted, his fur wetted by the morning dew. His visage softened when he spotted Heessin, a young felanid child, sitting on O’gren’s shoulders, Hrroll walking next to him, her tail wagging as they moved. The pair had grown close over the two months since the rangers landed.

  Hrroll originally wanted to pay him back after she literally clawed out one of his eyes when he dove on top of her and Heessin, shielding them during a mortar strike during the attack to establish a beachhead. He was surprised how quickly the shy Heessin had latched on to the giant of a man. But soon the trio became almost inseparable while O’gren was off duty.

  ***

  “Like shoulder ride?” O’gren asked Heessin in a poor attempt at the beast-kin’s growling mewling language.

  The girl let out a giggling purr and replied, “yes, I can see everything up here!” O’gren looked to Hrroll, who gave him the equivalent of a beast-kin grin and translated.

  Chuckling to himself, he grew somber, “my platoon is scheduled to head out for another patrol at fourteen-hundred.” He then jostled Heessin, adding in another accented attempt at the new language, “lee if Monzards done toy?”

  Heessin’s purring grew to the point that he felt like his head was being shaken. “TOY! TOY! TOY!” she exclaimed excitedly.

  Hrroll chuckled, her tail whipping behind her. “I think that’s a yes,” she said.

  As they changed direction back to the Monzard’s barracks, O’gren asked, “how are your classes going?”

  “They’re going good, though it’s a little overwhelming. I didn’t know how much was different between humans, Horonak, and even Beast-kin. I mean, I knew you were all bald, but the fact your blood is poisonous to even some members of your own species is surprising,” she replied.

  O’gren smiled, glad he had encouraged the woman to learn to be a medical assistant and eventually become a full-blown doctor. “Ta’lek said that I could join you on one of your non-combat missions. ‘Winning hearts and minds’ I think she called it,” Hrroll said hopefully.

  O’gren grimaced. Before he had joined the PA corps, he had been in the general infantry, or GI, as everyone in the rangers called it, and he had been on a few of those ops. They usually went one of two ways. Either they worked great or, as was more often the case, ended with a lot of dead rangers. Before he could respond Henderson called, “Ogre, out for a walk with the wife and kid?” O’gren held in the urge to shake his fist. He hated the lazy nickname every one of his units had cooked up, but knew he was stuck with it.

  “Shut it Mr. Clean!” O’gren barked back, earning a chuckle from the two men beside Henderson. Then O’gren noticed that Hrroll’s ears were pinned to her head in embarrassment, even as her tail somehow wagged faster before she grabbed the traitorous appendage.

  Heessin turned to Hrroll and asked, “does O’gren not want you as a mate?” Making O’gren look to the now whining Hrroll for a translation.

  Instead, she responded to Heessin in Beast-kin, “I don’t know, but that‘s not something for you to worry over, little one.”

  Heessin’s tail began to twitch in agitation. “Do you not like O’gren anymore?” she asked, her voice coming out tinged with a pathetic mewl.

  “What wrong, little one?” O’gren asked, concerned at her shift in attitude.

  To his and Hrroll’s surprise, she spoke in halting standard, “you like Hrroll, Heessin?” her words barely intelligible through the worry and the young girl’s accent.

  O’gren instantly answered, “of course I like both of you. Why would you think otherwise?” Looking to Hrroll to translate and finding her staring at him in shock. When she didn’t respond, he asked, “Hrroll?”

  She shook her head, then nodded, relaying what he had said to the worried felanid. Heessin’s mood shifted, and she began purring and nuzzling O’gren’s head. “Good. He makes a good papa,” she said, then her face scrunched up, “even though he’s human.”

  Hrroll chuckled and relayed the details to O’gren, who joined in. “Papa, huh?” he asked the young girl. She nodded, her purring returning to where it had been before Henderson interrupted their walk.

  “You are a good papa! You protected me. Make sure I get lots of tasty food and fun toys. Though you go out to hunt too much, you should stay in the den and play more.” She rattled off, much to the amusement of both the adults.

  “O’gren, family time’s over. We just got a call to reinforce a forward patrol that got hit by an IED and is currently under fire. Suit up, skids up in twenty.” Wolf barked from a balcony on the FOBS. The massive ship in the center of the base they called home.

  He gave Hrroll an apologetic smile as he gently lowered Heessin to the ground. “Sorry little one, papa needs to go out and protect our pack from the bad people, and I’m going to need to help heal anyone that’s hurt. So you need to go back to our quarters and stay there.”

  Heessin glowered at them but nodded, rushing to give O’gren a tight purr filled hug before taking Hrroll’s hand. “Have a safe hunt and come back with meat,” Heessin said, Hrroll translating the saying to, “come home safe and sound.”

  The pair bid O’gren farewell before Hrroll brought Heessin into the ship. The corridor was awash with activity, the odd insectoid race that maintained the vessel darting around either carrying bundles of supplies and both human and Horonak rushing around to their assigned stations.

  Heessin huddled close to Hrroll, still not used to the crowded and enclosed spaces in the FOBS. Hrroll let go of the girl’s hand, opting to put her arm around her shoulder. “Let’s get you settled. Then I need to check in with Ttchal to see where they need me,” Hrroll said. Hurrying to the quarters the pair shared.

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  After getting Heessin situated and putting on an entertainment program for the girl on the room’s wall display, Hrroll hurried to the medical wing, finding just as much controlled chaos as the rest of the ship. “Good, you have arrived. I want you to assist Cchikkl with triage, then begin taking care of the less critical wounded. The patrol was hit hard and we expect many to arrive soon,” the insectoid doctor said, its clicking hissing language being translated to human standard via a box dangling over its thorax like a pendent.

  “Understood, Ttchal.” Hrroll replied, looking around her nose twitching as she tried to find Cchikkl in the cacophony of smells in the room. When she finally found them, she hurried over, dodging through the rushing orderlies until she was in-front of a smaller insectoid going over a data pad.

  Cchikkl’s antenna twitched, and they said, “glad to encounter you trainee Hrroll. Please follow me to our assigned location,” the translator said. Hrroll nodded, having gotten used to the odd cadence and grammar the translator seemed to favor.

  She followed the insectoid to a room filled with empty cots. She knew that soon it would be filled with wounded, steeling herself against the coming stench of blood and antiseptic.

  Glancing at the clock, she saw it was only seven O’clock. If the patrol hadn’t been attacked, she would have been able to spend another three or four hours with O’gren before he would have needed to get ready for patrol. She sighed, her ears flattening and tail going limp.

  “You seem distressed, Trainee Hrroll. Are you concerned for your hatchling?” Cchikkl asked the translator, failing to inflect the obvious concern the nurse had.

  Hrroll shook her head then nodded, “that’s part of it, Cchikkl. But I’m also both disappointed about my time with O’gren getting interrupted and him being sent into danger again.”

  The insectoid chittered and manipulated its mandibles in a way that reminded her of one of the giant predatory spiders she had seen while being the servant of Major Bezos. The action sending an involuntary shiver down her spine. “Worry not. The attack was repelled. The power-armored warriors are simply there to provide added protection for the medical transports,” Cchikkl assured.

  They didn’t have time to speak more as wounded began flooding in either walking on their own or being carried on stretchers. Hrroll and Cchikkl began cataloging the wounded tagging the most critical cases and, much to her dismay, some of the ones that they could do no more than ease their passing. Even the advanced medical tech the rangers used could only do so much for a soldier missing half of their body being held together by little more than their skinsuit and a prayer.

  The time blended together and soon the triage area started to empty only for Hrroll to catch yelling from the intake hall. “…Left him! Get your damn hands off me! Ogre’s still out there and I’m not gonna leave him!” the familiar voice of Henderson barked.

  Hrroll rushed over, finding the trooper attempting to force himself off the stretcher. The man was out of armor and missing his hand and part of his leg. The skinsuit acting as a tourniquet to keep him from bleeding out. “Henderson…” she said, when he kept fighting. She pushed down on his shoulders, saying, “Thomas, what happened to O’gren?” she asked, her voice a whining growl.

  “Hrroll?” he asked, then with renewed vigor shouted, “you need to get them to let me back out there we had to pull back but O’gren missed exfil trying to drag a few more of the GI’s back to the transport.”

  “Calm down and give me the report trooper!” she barked, imitating the tone she had heard Ni’lan use to great effect.

  “Sorry ma’am. O’gren and I were under fire trying to evac a group of wounded. I took a hit from an explosive round.” He said, then chuckled. “Glad those med suites have the good stuff.” A frantic grin on his face.

  He started to giggle hysterically only for Hrroll to growl. “Where’s O’gren?!”

  “Sorry, good meds.” He giggled before he continued, “Ta’lek got there first and Wolf called for us to fall back by the numbers. I was worthless and Ta’lek had to drag me back. Unfortunately, O’gren got lost in the chaos. He’s still out there and the imps were advancing.” He again made to get out of the gurney only for Cchikkl to hit him with a tranq.

  “Good work distracting the patient. Now please return and continue non-critical care.” Cchikkl said. Every fiber of Hrroll’s soul wanted to rush out of the ship and find O’gren Great mother. Please bring him home to me. She prayed internally before redoubling her efforts on taking care of wounded.

  ***

  O’gren gritted his teeth as he pulled the last of the wounded GIs into a cave. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would give him concealment from above and funnel any assaults right into his buzzsaw. “We gana make it, sir?” one of the GIs asked, seemingly unable to discern that O’gren was only a private while the man in question was a private just like him.

  Not wanting to deal with an argument, O’gren nodded. “As long as I’m alive and able to shoot y’all will be fine,” he assured adding, “remember the creed, we don’t leave a brother behind. They’ll come for us.”

  O’gren had a few still able to hold a rifle post up on either side of the cavern, the entrance being slightly narrower than the interior. “Don’t shoot until I open up. My suit can take more punishment than your ballistic armor,” he ordered, hoping they would be overlooked until reinforcements arrived.

  ***

  Wolf was on the hanger deck arguing with the pilot when Heessin appeared as if from thin air, as she seemed to enjoy doing to O’gren’s platoon, startling the pilot but only earning a sigh from Wolf. She looked up at the armored man and asked, “is papa O’gren back yet, uncle Wolf?”

  Wolf looked around, finding a chagrined looking corporal rubbing his neck a few feet away from the girl. After only a month, she had learned the ship’s layout and had been caught several times in secure and dangerous areas of the ship. O’gren was the only one that seemed to be able to convince her not to do what she was doing right now.

  Taking a knee, Wolf was glad his suit could translate the beast-kin dialect she used. Once he was level with her he said, “O’gren is still busy out there but we’re going to bring him back soon,” Wolf assured, shooting a glare at the now uncomfortable pilot.

  “Sir, I don’t have authorization to fly another run in that area. Sam sights have been reported in the area. We were almost hit my a missile coming in. Unfortunately, sir, all the birds are grounded until further notice,” he said.

  Wolf turned back to Heessin when she started mewling pathetically, the pilot using the distraction to escape the irate lieutenant. “What’s wrong sweety?” he asked, letting his suit translate the words into the beast-kin equivalent.

  “I want to see my papa!” she cried, her eyes growing wet, ears tight against her head and tail shifting erratically.

  “Shhh, honey, we are doing everything we can to bring O’gren back to base, but the bad people are making that difficult,” he tried hoping to reassure the girl without outright lying.

  “Sir, I double checked the head count. Ta’lek is confirmed missing as well,” he reported scrutinizing the kneeling man.

  Wolf was silent for a moment before he turned to his sergeant. “Get the men situated while I report to command and see if I can organize a rescue team,” he ordered before turning back to Heessin. “Can you go with Ni’lan while I get people to go look for O’gren?” he asked softly.

  The girl nodded and sniffled, “yeah, they’re papa’s brothers and sisters and protect us from the bad humans.” She said, as she let Ni’lan guide her out of the hangar. Wolf stood pinged the command channel, waiting for a response.

  “Go for command,” a haggard voice called over the comm.

  “This is Lieutenant Wolf from fourth platoon. I have two troopers still in the combat zone and am requesting a QRF for an emergency exfil,” he said.

  “Copy, Lieutenant, we will task a team as soon as they are available. All QRF teams are currently in the field. The imps hit us hard on all fronts and we have no available assets at this time. We also are going to need to send your team out for another protection detail in five, so don’t unbutton your suits just yet. Copy?” the voice sighed.

  Wolf bit back a curse before saying, “understood.” Pinging Ni’lan, he relayed the new orders and moved to join what was left of his platoon to rearm and prep for another shit-show.

  ***

  Ta’lek hugged the ground as an imp patrol all but walked over her. The underbrush was the only thing keeping her hidden. She waited until her audio sensors told her they were out of range and she shimmied her way out from under the bush he had used as cover.

  She waited, debating whether or not to cycle her comms to get a bead on O’gren when she spotted a branch broken at an odd angle. Following the break, she spotted another. “O’gren, you smart fucker,” she muttered, the obscure part of E&E training coming back to her.

  She followed the trail until it ended at the mouth of a cave. Deciding to risk a laser-link, she called, “Friendly coming in!” before duck-walking into the cavern.

  She heard more than saw O’gren as he stood, a thermal blanket falling off his armored frame. “Good to see you corporal,” he said with a sigh before spotting wounded and moving past O’gren to begin triage.

  “Is that the rescue, sir?” the same private asked, earning a curious look from Ta’lek, but she soon returned to treating the few wounded with the little she had on her.

  “Sorry, Jacks. That’s no joy. Though she is an excellent medic, and a crack shot with a rifle. Our odds of surviving just went up a few percent,” he assured. Jacks gave him a dubious look but didn’t argue.

  “Don’t worry. My water bonded won’t let anything happen without a fight.” She called softly from the side of a groaning woman whose arm looked like ground meat.

  “Water bonded?” Jack asked, earning a chuckle from O’gren.

  “Don’t worry bout it. It’s a Horonak thing.” He said before laying back down and pulling the blanket back over himself returning to imitating a rock.