"You told me before that nobody would come for you, why is that?" Connor asked, handing Ugly a bottle of water from his pack.


    "They do not know that I am alive. Even if they did, I am not important enough. I am just a soldier. A wounded soldier." The Sharlah said. His wound was looking better, although the slug was still inside. He had talked Connor through the process of disinfecting the it with his medical supplies and it was actually healing.


    "Do you have a name? I can just keep calling you ugly if you like that better."


    The Sharlah did something that Connor hadn''t seen before. It smiled and two rows of razor sharp carnivore teeth were uncovered. It was unsettling. "Vigas. I am Vigas."


    It had been two days since arriving at the mine and until now Connor felt like he was stuck. He couldn''t leave Vigas alone, even with his hands zip tied and he couldn''t take him far from the mine due to his injury and the fact that Connor didn''t know if he could be tracked somehow. He had finally decided on a plan of action.


    "Vigas." He said, returning from a short trip outside where he had previously heard the sounds of battle in the distance but the guns had gone silent overnight. "I need you to come with me. You''re going to wear this over your head." Connor held up a pillow case and the lethal smile disappeared from his face.


    <hr>


    "WHERE IS HAND VIGAS?" Fleet Lord Skald screamed at his bridge as two days of simmering rolled into a boil.


    "I am sorry Fleet Lord, I cannot find him. He is either dead or something is interfering with his suit''s interface." A young sensor tech replied with genuine fear in his voice. He had probably just been let out of cryo and trained within the last few weeks.


    "WHY WAS HE ON THE SURFACE?"


    "I forwarded the report to you yesterday Fleet Lord, it was from his shuttle crew and stated that Hand Vigas insisted on being involved in the assault. They tried to stop him."


    Skald roared and ripped his chair from it''s bolts before throwing it across the bridge and storming back to his quarters.


    <hr>


    Vigas didn''t try to run, he didn''t try to fight, he kept up on the long walk through the forest in spite of his blindfold, and he even stayed quiet. It was only when he felt the rope slipping between is zip tied hands that he started to struggle but it was too late. Connor pulled hard on both sides of the rope and slammed him against the tree before quickly tying them into a knot.


    "What are you doing human?"


    "Just sit down Ugly, I''m sorry, Vigas. Just relax there while I take a walk. I need to check on something and you can''t go with me. Here''s some water." Connor said and poured a few large drinks into his mouth. "I''ll be back soon. Oh, and I need this." Connor lifted the pillow case, reached for the translation device in his ear and pulled hard on it. Vigas screamed as it''s hair thin legs retracted and came free.


    <hr>


    "Fleet Lord, we have a distress signal for Vigas. It is not showing a precise location, I believe he is moving, but we know where he is. It must have been some kind of interference." The sensor tech called out to Skald''s personal quarters.


    "I''m coming. Prepare five shuttles and gather a rescue force in the shuttle bay." Was all he had said in reply. Hand Vigas was the only Sharlah in the fleet that he truly trusted. He was the only one who knew of the rebellion before it had happened and he could have easily turned Skald in to Overlord Cygnus for a handsome reward. He would sacrifice half of the fleet to save that particular Sharlah.


    <hr>


    Connor watched from 400 yards with his naked eye as Vigas first struggled against his bonds and then finally gave up and slumped against the sturdy Iron Oak tree. It was one of only a few shade trees in the old pasture where his neighbors used to keep their sheep before the old man couldn''t take care of them anymore. Thankfully he still kept it mowed, at least a few times per year. The grass covered Vigas'' legs as he sat but Connor could still see most of his body and the entire area around him.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    There was a rumbling sound punctuated by a sharp crackle in the distance. Faint at first but it grew into a rolling thunderclap as four Sharlah dropships streaked into the area and flared into a hover.


    That lying son of a bitch. They ARE looking for him.


    Vigas pushed his back against the tree and climbed to his feet. He looked around frantically but he couldn''t see anything with the pillowcase over his eyes. He tried to call out but his voice was still low and raspy, even when he screamed. There was no way they could hear him over their thrusters.


    They''re landing, but in the wrong place. They don''t know exactly where he is. These Sharlah, they''re not what I would have expected. They''re.. not very good at this."


    The Sharlah dropships belched out their soldiers and waited in the landing zones for them to return. Connor couldn''t see them after they descended into various clearings behind the treeline but he knew what was happening. They would sweep the area to find Vigas. Connor considered his original plan of sprinting down to the tree and retrieving him but it was just too dangerous now.


    Maybe they won''t find him. I hope they don''t. I''m not done with him yet. I need to find Laura. He almost told me where she was.


    He could see flashes of movement as the Sharlah patrols worked their way closer. Vigas continued to call for help until one of them finally heard his cries. The soldiers fanned out on the tree line, cautious of the potential danger of crossing into the open pasture. One of them raised his wrist and a hidden flap opened up to reveal a communicator. It raised the comm to it''s mouth and spoke into it.


    Oh, that''s where it is.


    Connor could feel the bugs crawling all over him as he lay there under the leaves of a recently fallen tree. Spiders and ants were everywhere under him and it was difficult to stay still. Mosquitos buzzed millimeters from his ear before landing on his neck and taking a drink. Every instinct told him to scratch and swat but he couldn''t do that. The Sharlah would probably cut him to pieces if they spotted him first.


    Ten minutes later another shuttle landed in the pasture with it''s door facing the trees and remained as cover. He could see Vigas perk up and start yelling to the new arrivals excitedly. One of them was behind the nose of the shuttle and through his scope, he could just barely make out that it was wearing a crimson red helmet like the one that he had seen in the movie theater.


    That one is important. It''s not like the normal soldiers. Is that a cape? It''s wearing a cape. Definitely an officer.


    The Sharlah from the new shuttle began advancing forward with their weapons raised while red helmet stayed in the middle of the pack. He was larger than the rest, more muscular probably but it was hard to tell under the armor. They stalked over to the tree where vigas was tied and removed the pillow case from his head. They relaxed when they saw that it was really him and nothing had happened and the troops in the trees moved forward out of cover to sweep the area. He could see Vigas talking to the red helmet trooper and pointing off into the distance, probably telling them about him.


    Red helmet pointed at the shuttle that he had come from and put his hand on Vigas to usher him over to it. Connor felt a shot of adrenaline race through his veins and his heart hammered in his chest. He couldn''t let red helmet get away but if he fired, they would probably just nuke the whole hillside where he was.


    One shot, that''s all I get.


    He lined up red helmet between his crosshairs but he was always behind another Sharlah. Connor''s heartbeat made the crosshairs bounce up and down and his breath quickened. His usual tricks weren''t working to calm himself down.


    Come on, come on, THERE.


    Connor jerked the trigger like a novice shooter and the shot went several inches to the right and buried itself into the ground behind them. The Sharlah raced for cover as he recovered his sight picture and took a deep breath. Red lasers ripped into the trees around him, sending splinters and leaves flying over his head.


    Focus. Breathe.


    The world went silent. All that mattered was the picture in his scope. He could see his heartbeat still but it was predictable. His hands were steady. His breathing was controlled. Deep breath in, hold it, find your target. Red helmet was gone now, but another Sharlah was still there. He was confused, he didn''t know which way to run. They were shooting in every direction now.


    Squeeze the trigger slowly. It should surprise you when it goes off. If it does, you hit a bullseye.


    The entire top of Vigas'' head blew apart in a spray of blue gore that painted the ground behind him. His lifeless body dropped like a ragdoll as the lights instantly went out. Connor raced to his feet and jumped into a controlled slide down the hill opposite of the pasture. The return fire had reached a fevered pitch and he wasn''t even sure if a single tree remained on the hillside when he finally reached the bottom. He didn''t take the time to look back, there was no reason to, he would never return to that spot. Connor sprinted to the creek and dove into the water, holding his rifle close and cringing at the sight of water leaking into the barrel as the current carried him away. He would be back at the mine entrance soon and he could clean his weapon there.