The cool night air enveloped her in its comforting embrace. Sarhea closed her eyes and breathed deeply as she sat upon a cluster of rocks at the edge of the Toolak Ravine. Blood dripped freely from a nasty gash on her forearm, the latest battle wound in her quest to inflict massive casualties on the menace drones. She savored the dull pain; without it, no gains would be made. And it was of no consequence when she knew that she could help it heal in a matter of days with only a simple touch of energy. She had received the gash on one of her own daggers. The last drone had known it was doomed. It had taken her on a kamikaze run that nearly squashed her. She’d had to make a strategic leap off its back as it made a nose dive for the ground, but she managed to sink one blade into it before jumping to safety. The other was set once the dust settled. The problem had arisen when she discovered the drone fell in a way that prevented her from retrieving her first dagger. She’d had to struggle to move the heavy contraption, and it had not been easy; she’d cut herself on the lodged blade in the process.

It had been nearly a week since the Rigons’ arrival, and to say things had become interesting was an understatement. She understood where the creatures were coming from, knew what it was like to be constantly misunderstood by everyone, but others did not see as she did. Constant conflicts between Rigons and just about every other species were commonplace. She herself had witnessed one situation in which a group of Rigons took offense with a Malkaian over lunchtime seating. She had managed to step in and diffuse the situation before the city guard had arrived. It was a good thing, too. The arrival of the Rigons had placed Commander Raith in an especially foul mood. She still made sure to stay out of his way, but that didn’t mean she did not keep tabs on him. It had been the first time she’d seen him so publically short tempered that regular citizens stepped carefully around him. The constant frustration had even caused her to seek the quiet of the hunt every night since their arrival.

She couldn’t help but smirk as she recalled her first encounter with General Tsa. Yes, he had been foul tempered and had eyed her with contempt. He had been uncooperative at first, but by the end of the process, she felt she had made a new connection. He had not outwardly given her praise or thanked her, but he had not grunted and thrown threats at her like he did to everyone else. The rest of his men afterwards had treated her with respect and finished their interviews without issue. Leesha had been amazed. Sarhea had later heard that Raith had been furious it went so smoothly for her; she wished she could have seen his face…

A gentle prodding of energy urged her out of her memories. Her eyes opened to see her guides suddenly streak off down the ravine. A calculating smirk played at her lips as she quickly adjusted her cloak and the protective cloth scarf that covered her muzzle. It looked like Nakyla was out trying to track her again. Her latest trail of dead drones had been more than the good Commander could stand. The past few nights had seen Nakyla out attempting to pick up her trail. It had been an interesting game of cat and mouse, but her friend was in a dangerous predicament. Nakyla had no energetic guides to give her advance warning of a drone’s approach. She wore a strange device that picked up their presence much too late. Last night, Sarhea had been put in the dangerous position of having to save Nakyla from a drone the Malkaian had not seen until it was already upon her. She had blown her cover, revealed her physical existence, in the process. She was certain that Nakyla had not actually seen her; the cloak and scarf completely concealed her and she’d not said a word, but the encounter had only served to increase the Malkaian’s obsessive pursuit. Nakyla was good at what she did, but she was no match for Sarhea’s energy guided skills. She’d easily lost her friend in the ravine’s maze of crevasses and rocky crags.

The energy’s prodding became more demanding, causing Sarhea to sigh as she finally slid off the rocks. It seemed it was time to get moving. She was not being led back to the city, so there was more hunting to be done. The past week had allowed her to hone her manipulation of the energy around her. Its influence had strengthened dramatically. She could now detect the energetic vibrations of sound, no matter how quiet. She saw the sound vibrations rising up out of the ravine even now. Nakyla was searching the ravine floor. Good. Her friend was safer down there. The drones that used the ravine moved fast and were more likely to speed by without noticing her.

Sarhea cast a quick glance to the right and left as she searched for signs of approaching drones, but the coast was clear for now. She quietly crept along the rim of the ravine until she spotted the red-violet glow of Nakyla’s life force. She was quickly learning that every creature bore a unique energy signature somewhere on a gradient between red and blue, and when she was in tune with the energy as she was now, she could identify someone simply by their signature. She smirked as she watched the tracker at work. Nakyla was looking for last night’s trail. She’d been trying to figure out Sarhea’s patterns, but she would never succeed; Sarhea moved with the energy’s will and no two ventures were the same.

She paused at an outcropping of rocks and watched as Nakyla arrived at the shell of the drone she’d killed last night protecting her. The Malkaian investigated the area thoroughly as she looked for the path that Sarhea had taken. The energy form of her friend suddenly became tense and alert. The waves of energy around her own position began to behave erratically. A sudden rush of energy to her left demanded her response. Sarhea shoved herself towards it as a blast of cool blue light shattered the stones where she had just been kneeling. Defensive red energy flared within as she snatched her daggers from their sheaths. She hit the ground in a roll and quickly rebounded to her feet to face the unknown threat that had somehow evaded her guides’ awareness. She was momentarily stunned to find herself facing a white energy signature.

Sarhea could feel the heat radiating off her skin as she stood defensively before the strong, flaring flame of her unknown assailant’s white signature. The force of her own energy was stronger than it had ever been, yet she felt the uncertainty and confusion of her guides; a deep worry began to fester within, causing her mind to scream for answers. This signature had pursued her before a couple months ago when she’d gone to retrieve her cargo. She remembered it standing out above the usual sea of color that was now common to her. But white was an anomaly, and somehow, the bearer of this signature could evade her guides’ detection and the force of it was stronger than anything she had felt aside from the Guardians’ themselves. And why the hell had it fired energy at her?

So many questions screamed to be answered, but she had no time to dwell on them. Her guides finally began to flow again. They swirled cautiously around her and her unknown adversary. She desperately wanted to release her connection to the guides, to see who was before her, but she could not risk revealing her true identity and she could not allow herself to be captured. Sound vibrated off to her left toward the ravine and soon she recognized Nakyla’s signature cautiously approaching. The Malkaian hesitated when the white signature raised an arm. Sarhea bristled as she silently demanded an escape plan from her guides. She knew that somewhere behind her, there was a deep crevasse she could lose them in. She could also find herself cornered, but that was better than the current standoff that left them all open targets should drones arrive.

Sarhea noticed a buildup of bluish white energy beginning to form on the white signature’s right hand. Her nerves were on edge as she realized it was preparing to fire at her again. Her guides seemed to be having trouble which evasive reaction she should take. The tension finally broke when the charged hand came flying up and her guides lurched to the right. She felt an odd tingle as the blast few by within inches of her cloaked head. She once again hit the ground in a roll before rebounding and dodging back to the left. Another blast hit the ground where she had originally landed. The silence was shattered by the fury of motion and the distorted vibrations of vocal energy as her attackers began calling to one another. Sarhea dodged a forth blast before she finally found her crevasse and dropped down into it.

She slid down the side of the sheer rock walls until her feet hit a narrow ledge. She then followed it until she found the recessed, cave-like depression that sat under the narrowest part of the crevasse. She quickly put away her daggers and tried to calm her nerves enough to release her connection to the guides. It was dangerous for her to disconnect, but she needed to be able to hear and understand what they were saying.

“Where did it go?” came a distant, muffled voice she couldn’t identify.

“I’m not sure. This crevasse is deep and runs a good distance. Why the hell were you shooting at it? This thing has been helping us and it saved my ass last night!” came Nakyla’s angry reply.

Sarhea held her breath as dim light filtered down through the cracks not far from her location. There was no chance of it reaching her, but they were still too close for comfort.

“I wasn’t trying to kill it, I was trying to stun it so we could capture it,” came the snappish reply.

This time the voice was much clearer. She bristled in fury at the instant recognition.

“Raith, that was not part of the plan! We need this thing’s help and shooting at it is not going to gain us any favors!”

The renewed strength of her fury drowned out the rest of their conversation. How in the hell did Raith bear a white energy signature? Who was he to deserve such a powerful force, a force that she had not been able to detect? This was going to be so much more trouble than she had bargained for…

“What is that thing? Did you see its eyes?” came Nakyla’s voice.

“I have no idea. Mouser seems to think it could be a new species. That sample we took him last week came back, well, contaminated, but it bore traces of a creature he’d identified earlier as unknown.”

“Well, I guess this does make a little sense. When were you going to tell me that I was out tracking an unknown? No telling what danger you put me in. You saw how it moved. It seems to know how we will react before we do, and last night, it knew that drone was there before I did.”

Sarhea tuned out the conversation again as her thoughts focused on Raith’s words. She had forgotten that conversation between Mouser and Raith she’d overheard a week ago. New species? She knew she was different, but she was not some unknown species. Her tribe may not have identified themselves by species on her home world, but she sure looked like every Cassarian she had ever encountered. She didn’t know what sample had been found or what contamination they were talking about, but perhaps it was the energy’s doing; perhaps it was helping to conceal her identity so she could continue her work without suspicion falling to her.

“Well, I do not believe you were in any danger if it saved your skin last night as you claim, but we still need to capture it,” came Raith’s voice as more light filtered down into the crevasse.

Over her dead body. There was no way she would be allowing herself to be captured. They would have to kill her first.

“Nakyla, see if you can get down there and flush it out.”

She sensed instant hesitation, but that faded as she took hold of the guides once again, her natural vision fading to energy. It seemed they were going to force her to fight for her freedom. The vibrating vocal energy signaled Nakyla’s response and it didn’t seem too positive. Sarhea suddenly realized that she could see both energy signatures despite the layers of stone lying between them. It had to be due to her heightened agitation. Sarhea watched as Nakyla’s red-violet signature began to slowly descend into the crevasse while Raith’s signature remained above, his weapon primed and ready.

Sarhea greatly disliked being trapped. If Nakyla discovered the ledge and found her recess, she would have no choice but to plow into her friend and somehow disable Raith above. For a moment, that thought sounded especially appealing. It was not long before she noticed Nakyla had found the narrow ledge and was carefully heading her way. Distorted vocal vibrations rang out as the two communicated and she though she couldn’t understand, she knew they were devising a plan. They had left her no choice. When the beam of white light found her recessed hideout, Sarhea launched herself forward. She heard a surprised squawk as she barreled into Nakyla’s form. The impact was thankfully dulled by the energy. She felt Nakyla’s balance falter, but knew her friend was in no danger of falling too much further into the rift. It was Raith above that she worried about. If he managed to hit her with a stun blast, it would be all over for her. She could see him moving into position as she clamored up the sheer walls.

An idea aided by her guides’ leading began to quickly take shape. Her hands found a familiar groove in the rock just below the rim, and following the energy’s cue, she grabbed ahold and swung her feet up first and directly into the unsuspecting Raith’s chest. He tumbled backward under the impact as she pushed off his weight and sprang back away. She hit the ground running, snatched out her daggers and followed her guides to the left along the ravine’s ridge. The energy came to an abrupt halt, nearly throwing her off balance as she skidded to a stop. Blue light exploded before her. She made a frantic 180° turn back to the right as a deep warning began to build within-this was not going as planned! She skidded to a stop once again as directed, but this time, no blast followed. Her mind screamed for answers as the guides hesitated, leaving her with no direction to go. She stood at a place at the ravine’s edge where she knew there was no easy way down. Raith and his primed stunner approached from her left, Nakyla with her drawn energy whip approached from her right-she was trapped.

The two passed quick comments between them as they closed in. Sarhea’s energy focused on Raith. Of the two, he was her biggest threat. Nakyla would not risk injuring her with the whip. She took a defensive stance, her daggers out before her, as she waited for direction. Finally, the two elements of her guides began to move. It was slow at first but quickly picked up speed. They began converging together to form lines of vibrant pure violet and turned to flow directly into her. Sarhea’s eyes widened. No…not this…how could they know about this? Then it hit her…a split second thought, a memory, had been recalled, and due to her connection, the guides had to have picked up on it. If they were leading her do what she thought they were, it meant there was no other option. She fought to keep her hands from trembling as she silently pleaded for another way. She detested the very sight of Raith, but he had his purpose-she did not wish to harm him, not like this…She never wanted to harm another soul like this…

The pressure and heat began to build in her chest as the united energy now rapidly flowed into her. No, she could sense, see, there was no other choice. If she did not heed the direction she was being shown, the energy would rip her apart. She began to slowly lift the daggers. She kept the motion slow and steady as she crossed the jeweled blades before her, the red and blue stones eclipsing one another over her heart. In that instant, the atmosphere around them became charged and everything came into perfect focus. Her natural and energized vision merged, allowing her to clearly see both Raith and Nakyla, as well as their energy signatures.

“Raith, I would put that weapon down,” Nakyla warned.

Sarhea heard the Malkaian’s words as clearly as if she had not been connected with the guides.

“We are about to lose this thing. If I don’t stun it now, this will all have been in vain. We may never get another chance!”

“Raith! You are threatening it! Put…”

Before she could finish, the blue fire shot forth from his weapon. Sarhea felt as if time had slowed as she watched the blast approach her. She tensed, waiting for the inevitable impact that was to come. She found herself wishing that Raith had heeded Nakyla’s warning.

The blast hit her with an explosion of light. She felt the daggers absorb the energy, felt the fire begin to burn through her, and then as quickly as it hit, it was fired back out of her in the direction from which it had come. The force of the ricocheted blast caused her to lose her footing. She felt herself slipping over the edge, and before she fell too far, she saw Raith’s eyes widen just before the boosted stun blast hit him square in the chest. She saw the mix of violet energy and blue fire consume his form as he dropped instantly to the ground.

The scene disappeared from her sight and was replaced by the darkness of the ravine. Her world tilted crazily as the air rushed around her. She was prompted to drop the daggers, and as soon as she did, she felt dull impact with the ravine wall. Her hand caught on a narrow ledge. She gripped at it with all she had, her body coming to an abrupt stop. It had to be the energy’s doing that kept the pain from exploding through her body. She hung briefly before she was once again prompted to let go. She slid down the wall on her back until her feet landed on a small outcropping of stone. The ground was not far below. She jumped down, collected the still energized daggers and began running east down the ravine to where she knew there to be a way back up.

When she reached the top once again, she briefly paused behind some rocks to look back to where she’d left Nakyla and Raith. She could see the red-violet signature of Nakyla as her friend squatted next to the dimming signature of Raith, who was still flat on his back.

She found herself praying that she’d not killed him as she turned and began sprinting northward. She spotted the signature of a ship rapidly approaching. Good. At least they had thought well enough ahead to have one waiting. They would be back to the city long before she reached it. She could only hope the good Dr. Mouser could work his magic.

Sarhea did not know how long she had been running before the lights of Refuge City finally came into view. She’d seen the ship pass off to her right ages ago. She took her usual concealed path back into the city, and once she fell into the safety of her tunnel world, she took off running again back towards the hospital. She had to know what damage she’d done. She released her connection with the energy, allowing natural vision to return, as she neared her destination. A commotion could be heard in the area of the treatment rooms. She paused over the vent opening that allowed the greatest volume to rise.

“Get him restrained!” Mouser’s frustrated voice rang out.

“Wa happund…di w’get it?” came Raith’s slurred, disoriented voice.

A wave of relief flooded over her; her unintended counter attack had not killed him. Whatever he’d done to be granted white energy must have spared him. She peered cautiously out to see Bud and Nakyla frantically attempting to keep a very disoriented and clumsy Raith on the treatment table. He struggled endless against them, mumbling incoherent words the entire time. He finally pushed Nakyla out of the way and swung his limp legs over the side of the table. Before anyone could stop him, he attempted to stand, but fell instantly to the floor.

“Get him back on the table!” Mouser demanded as he loaded something into a syringe.

Bud and Nakyla were already attempting to lift him, but the dazed Raith continued to struggle against them until Mouser shoved the syringe deep into his arm. Once the contents were emptied, the struggling stopped and he fell completely limp in their arms.

“What setting was his stunner on? It appears he was hit with more than four times the safe level!” Mouser exclaimed.

“I’m not sure, but whatever the hell that thing was, it absorbed every last bit of that blast before it shot it back at us. I told him to put his weapon away. Raith, you damn fool!”

“And you didn’t get a good look at it?”

“No. It wore a large cloak that concealed every inch. All I saw were its eyes. Mouser, its eyes glowed blue like…like some sort of machine! It also has a really nasty set of daggers. If it had not saved me the other night, I’d say it was extremely dangerous.”

Mouser paused in thought.

“Machine, eh? I wonder if nanites are involved. That sample Raith brought me definitely belonged to an organic life form, so it is not a machine, at least not completely.”

“Well, whatever it is, we’ve lost it now. I say the chances of us capturing it are slim to none,” Nakyla spat in frustration.

“Is Raith going to be alright?” Bud asked, breaking into the conversation for the first time.

Mouser sighed. “Yes, I believe so. Though there’s no telling how much damage was done to that arm’s circuitry. We won’t know that until he wakes up again.”

Sarhea had heard enough as she retreated back into the safety of the tunnels. Exhaustion and pain had finally caught up with her. She had numerous new bruises and abrasions, and the drain her defensive counter attack had taken on her ensured that she would be feeling the pain for days to come. She slowly stood and made her way back to her quarters.