Garna’s sky is filled with ships.

The first time I saw that, I was filled with fear. Now I am filled with nothing but sheer determination. The imprisoned my family. They starved my Luba.

I will make them pay.

The SINTRA flagship touches down in the open field before me. I am alone, my fists balled up. No more hiding. No more letting other people take the brunt of the pain aimed in my direction.

It all ends here.

A walkway extends automatically, and the metal doors slide open.

A man dressed in all black armor, with dark eyes to match, stands in the opening. The only splotch of color on him is the venomous green logo of Takeshi Biotech imprinted on his chest.

“So my readings were true,” he says. “You are here. Finally.”

In the field behind him a dozen more ships touch down. Armed soldiers pour out of them like ants out of a hill.

“I’m glad to see you’ve decided to surrender. It makes everything so much easier.”

He saunters down the walkway, feeling confident.

“That’s close enough,” I say.

He smirks at me. It makes my skin crawl. “Why? We’re going to be a whole lot closer, you and I.”

“Why are you doing all of this?!” I cry. “This destruction. What is it good for?!”

“Silly girl, you really have no idea what I’m doing, do you? The power you possess is immense. It will bring me favor with the Council.”

“What’s the Council?”

He throws his head back and laughs, but his eyes remain cold.

“That is not for you to know. It’s safe to say that there is a whole lot going on in this universe that you are not privy to. Look at you. Garnan filth. This whole planet disgusts me, to be honest. I cannot believe you would choose to live in such squalor, in such filth. After all humanity has accomplished, you choose to live here?!”

He brushes his shoulders off. His armor is immaculately cleaned. I can see myself reflected in it.

“My business here will soon be concluded. Thankfully. I will make you pay for every day I had to shack up here, oh yes.”

He takes a step towards me, and my eyes dart to the edge of the forest. I need to stall him for another second or two.

“I was the one who busted up your weapons on New Exon, you know,” I say. “What makes you so sure I’ve come to surrender?”

He licks his dry lips. “You are aggravating, girl. I’ll give you that much. I never would have imaged a simple, country girl like yourself could carry so much power inside of her tiny body, but here we are. And yes, you got the Zorans involved.”

His dark eyes are now filled with fury.

“An unexpected complication. It risks peace with the Federation, it risks everything we’ve worked for… but so be it. If I can use you the way I intend to, it’ll all be worth it.”

He takes another step closer, and I lean back.

“How did you travel to New Exon and back so fast, though?” He says. “I still haven’t worked that out.”

“How about you tell me what you have planned for me, and I’ll think about telling you,” I say.

He smirks, showing off his perfectly white teeth. “You don’t want to know, but I’ll humor you. When I have extracted your powers — and I’m not going to tell you how, that’ll ruin the fun — I’ll be the richest man in the universe. Richer than the other Council members. I’m sure that even you have figured out this is all due to the Rift, right? Don’t look so surprised. I know. I know more than you do. I will use your power to travel through that damn thing. Untold riches await me there. A whole new galaxy for us to command, to conquer. No Federation rules, no restricting laws to comply with. Finally our research into cloning, into AI, into genetic manipulation will be unshackled!”

“Ah, I get it!” I say. “You’re a psychopath! Why didn’t you start with that? You would have saved the both of us a whole lot of time.”

“Very funny,” he says without the hint of a smile. “I think I’ve humored you long enough. Let’s go.”

He reaches for me, and I jerk my hand away. My mind finds Davor’s across the open field, and the message I deliver to him is simple.

Go.

A cacophony of sound is unleashed at my command. Luba’s coo, Anshi chirp, and Rinjin squeal.

“What the?!” The general says, looking over his shoulder.

A stampede unlike Garna has ever seen is unleashed. A massive horde of Luba charge at the SINTRA soldiers, while the aid workers take shots at them from high up in the trees.

“Surrender,” I say. “We’ve got you surrounded.”

The general laughs, a shrill and awful sound. “You have a bunch of fucking cows. One burst of my rifle will decimate them. Watch.”

He reaches down for his rifle, but his hand touches nothing but air.

“Looking for this?” I say, holding up his gun.

The Alpha Rinjin shrieks at the general from between my legs. The crafty buggers are on our side, and they move quickly through the high grass, stealing the weapons from the soldiers without them noticing it, tying their boots together, or simply flinging mud into their faces and clogging up their visors.

Next to move are the Anshi. The lovebirds swoop down and menace the soldiers, using their sharp beaks as weapons instead of berry-stealing devices.

The general’s jaw is hanging open as he watches his well trained army reduced to rubble. His men scatter, running in every direction.

“Stand and fight, you cowards!” He bellows. “They’re just a bunch of animals and farmers!”

This is only possible because of Davor’s connection with the animals. It seems that his wings aren’t the only things the Rift has gifted him with. He’s able to communicate with the wildlife here on Garna, and together, we’ve asked them for help.

And they delivered!

They rallied to our cause in a way I didn’t think was possible.

The general turns to me, his dark eyes filled with anger.

“You!” He bellows, his voice so filled with hatred it makes me wince. “I’ve had more than enough of you!”

He jumps towards me, his hands reaching for my throat. I could shoot him with his own rifle, but there’s been enough violence on Garna already.

A flash of blue comes to my rescue.

Davor swoops down, his massive wings spread out as he lands with a heavy thump right behind the general. He flings his arm around him and throws him backwards into the dirt, smashing the man’s face on the ground.

The general crawls up to his feet, his shiny armor now covered in dirt, and he spits out a gob of blood.

“Give up,” I say. “Your men are scattered. You have nothing left.”

He chortles. “I haven’t even begun, farmer. I will show you fools the true power of Takeshi Biocorp!”

His body suddenly jerks and moves in unnatural ways. A bonecrunching sound reaches my ears as his limbs grow longer and longer, his hands turning into claws.

My mouth hangs open as the general transforms before my very eyes. His face becomes grotesque, every feature growing, no mutating, into something truly hideous.

“How…” I stammer.

Has he been touched by the Rift as well? No, that can’t be it. This must be a result of the genetic engineering he was boasting about. If this is Takeshi Biocorp’s finest, than they are even worse off than I thought.

There is no hint of humanity left in the general. Now he’s a hulking mass of flesh and muscle, an abomination with claws the size of baby Rinjin.

He swipes at Davor, moving deceivingly quick for his massive frame. He rakes open my mates chest, and blood spurts everywhere.

My mate cries out in pain as he tumbles to the ground, and time seems to slow down to a crawl for me. Seeing the red blood drip down his blue chest sends me over the edge.

All the pain, the hurt, the anger that I’ve been feeling is unleashed in one terrible fury. My eyes see red, and the power coursing through my veins is so strong my toes leave the ground.

I’m levitating as the general rushes towards my mate, snorting heavily as he licks his lips. Four giant fangs protrude from his mismatched mouth. He raises a claw, prepares to strike the killing blow.

No!

The general’s ship unravels as if it were made of wool. The metal comes undone, and the tentacles rush towards the savage beast. I wrap tendril after tendril around his outstretched claws and hoofed legs.

He looks up me with a dumb expression on his monsterous face, snorting wildly. He tugs at his bonds, but they do not give.

Seeing my mate get injured has sent the connection we have into overdrive. I use that fuel, that rage to unravel every ship that belongs to SINTRA, and reshape them into cages right there on the spot. The Luba, Rinjin and Anshi help me shepherd the defeated SINTRA soldiers into their prisons. Once they are ll inside, I weave the metal together, locking them up tightly.

I form a tight cocoon of metal around the monsterous general, because I don’t trust him not to hurt his own men in this state.

Once the final strand of metal has been woven together, I collapse onto the floor, absolutely and totally exhausted.

My mate rushes to my side. “Are you okay?!” He asks.

“It’s you who I’m worried about,” I say as I watch fresh drops of blood slide down his blue chest.

“This? Barely a scratch,” he chuckles, hugging me tightly. “Stay with me, Leah. Leah? Leah?!”