Six Years Ago
The training room hummed with artificial light. Pam stood in the center, small hands clenched into fists. She was eight years old and her knees already ached.
A silhouette loomed across from her. Tall. Broad shoulders. The outline of a high-ranking officer's uniform.
Her father.
He moved without warning. Pam tried to sidestep but her feet tangled. She hit the floor hard, cheek pressed against cold metal. Blood trickled from her split lip.
The silhouette didn't move. Didn't speak. Just watched with eyes she couldn't see but felt burning into her.
Pam pushed herself up. Her hands shook.
Again.
...
Present Day
Juli's boot connected with a cadet's jaw, sending him sprawling into his teammates. "That's fifteen for me!"
"Fourteen, idiot!" Kade slashed through another cadet's guard, claws stopping just short of drawing blood. The boy collapsed from the impact. "And I'm at sixteen!"
"THAT DOESN'T COUNT!"
"Does too!"
Pam stood in the middle of the chaos, head tilted slightly. "Tessa, three o'clock. Two targets moving to flank."
Tessa's rifle shifted in her hands. Two small plasma bullets burst from the barrel in quick succession. Both flankers dropped, clutching their stunned limbs.
"Thanks," Tessa whispered.
Another team charged from the left. Pam's eyes narrowed behind her glasses. She stepped forward and swept the lead cadet's legs, following with a palm strike to his chest. He went down gasping.
"Team 14 eliminated," she said calmly. "Keep moving. We're losing time."
Juli landed next to her, grinning. "Did you see that spinning kick? That was at least twenty points of style!"
"Style doesn't win tournaments," Pam replied, but her lips twitched upward.
The scoreboard above flickered. TEAM 14 ELIMINATED. TEAM 9: 3 ELIMINATIONS.
They pushed deeper into the jungle. Vines hung thick overhead, and the ground grew softer, muddier. Juli's foot sank into a particularly deep patch.
"Ugh, this is gross."
The ground trembled.
Kade's ears flattened. "Everyone stop."
A roar split the air. Trees crashed aside as something massive emerged from the undergrowth. It stood on four legs thick as tree trunks, covered in dark green scales with bone ridges running along its spine. Horns curved from its skull like twisted metal. Its eyes fixed on Team 9 with predatory intelligence.
"Thornback," Pam breathed. "The real deal."
"FINALLY!" Juli cracked his knuckles. "I've been waiting for this!"
"Same!" Kade's claws extended fully.
The Thornback charged.
Juli and Kade split left and right. Tessa fired a magenta ray that scorched the creature's flank. It barely flinched.
"Tough hide!" Tessa called out, her voice wavering.
"No kidding!" Juli leaped onto its back and delivered a devastating axe kick to its skull. The impact echoed through the jungle.
The Thornback shook him off like a bug. Juli tumbled through the dirt.
Kade pounced from behind, raking his claws across its hind leg. Sparks flew from the scales. The creature whirled and nearly caught him with its horn.
"What is this thing made of?" Kade hissed.
"Thornbacks have triple-layered dermis," Pam explained, circling the fight. "Bone density three times standard megafauna. Natural shock absorption in their musculature. They're built to endure."
"COOL STORY!" Juli shouted, already charging again. "I'M STILL GONNA KICK ITS HEAD IN!"
"Did you not hear what I just said?"
"Nope!"
Kade joined the charge. "If the knucklehead's going, I'm going harder!"
They both slammed into the Thornback simultaneously. Juli's kick and Kade's claw strike hit its jaw from opposite sides. The creature's head snapped to the side.
It stumbled. Crashed to one knee.
Then stood back up, shaking its head. Its eyes blazed with fury.
"WHAT?" Juli stared. "That should've worked!"
"My claws barely scratched it!" Kade's tail lashed in frustration.
Tessa fired another volley. The plasma bolts left scorch marks but nothing more. She gave an awkward, nervous grin. "Um, I think we might need a new plan?"
Juli punched the ground. "This is so dumb! Why won't it go down?"
"Because you're not listening!" Pam's voice cut through their complaints.
The Thornback charged again. Juli and Kade scattered, both cursing.
Pam watched them scramble. Her jaw tightened. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a metallic ball, identical to Tessa's but with a different symbol etched into its surface.
Her thumb hovered over the activation button.
Do I really need to use this?
The Thornback nearly crushed Juli under its foot. He rolled away at the last second, breathing hard.
Pam pressed the button.
The ball unfolded with mechanical precision. Metal segments extended and locked, forming a thick handle. The blade emerged last, a massive double-headed battleaxe that gleamed with fluorescent green and silver. A small serpent emblem coiled around the base of the handle.
The weapon hummed in her hands.
For a split second, she saw him. The silhouette of her father. Those hollow silver eyes staring back at her from the polished blade.
"WHOA!" Juli's jaw dropped. "PAM HAS A GIANT AXE!"
"THAT'S SO COOL!" Kade's eyes went wide, tail straight up.
Juli swayed on his feet. "I think I'm gonna faint."
Tessa blinked rapidly, stunned into silence.
Pam adjusted her grip. The weight felt familiar. Too familiar.
"Move," she said quietly.
Juli and Kade jumped aside without question.
Pam charged. The Thornback roared and met her head-on. She swung the battleaxe in a vicious arc, putting her whole body into the motion. The blade caught the creature across its chest with a sound like thunder.
The Thornback's roar cut off. It staggered backward, legs buckling. Blood seeped through the cracks in its scales.
It tried to rise but collapsed again, breathing heavily.
"Now!" Pam commanded. "Finish it!"
Team 9 moved as one.
Tessa fired a concentrated ray that struck between its eyes. Kade leaped and delivered a spinning slash across its throat. Juli soared through the air, leg cocked back.
"YOU'RE GONNA GET YOUR HEAD KICKED IN!"
His heel crashed into the Thornback's skull. The combined assault sent it crashing down for good. Its eyes spun in dizzy spirals before closing completely.
Silence fell over the jungle.
Juli landed and immediately grabbed Kade in a headlock. "WE DID IT!"
"WE'RE GONNA WIN THIS THING!" Kade shouted back.
They jumped up and down, faces inches apart in celebration. For a moment it looked like they might actually kiss.
"Idiots," Pam muttered, but she was smiling.
Every wrist device on the team buzzed simultaneously. Holographic displays flickered to life, showing a series of symbols and patterns.
Vela's voice boomed across Verdara. "Congratulations to all teams who have defeated a Boss Thornback. You have earned coordinates to one of three artifacts. The coordinates are encrypted in advanced pulse code. Decipher them and claim your prize."
"Pulse code?" Juli squinted at his wrist. "That's just a bunch of dots and lines!"
"It's based on morse principles," Pam said, already studying the patterns. Her fingers traced the sequences in the air. "Give me a minute."
Above them, the scoreboard updated. TEAM 9: BOSS DEFEATED.
...
Somewhere in the sky, engines screamed.
A figure cut through the clouds, diving at terminal velocity. They wore a sleek helmet and a dark red and yellow bodysuit. A compact backpack clung to their spine. Wind tore at their suit as they plummeted toward the jungle canopy like a meteor.
The figure's arms spread wide. They weren't slowing down.
The massive scoreboard above erupted in red light.
INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED.
Sirens wailed across Verdara. Instructor voices crackled through speakers in panicked bursts. Cadets stopped mid-motion, staring at the sky in confusion.
Juli's head snapped up. His eyes widened, then narrowed. The bright red of his irises seemed to glow in the jungle shadow.
Something was very, very wrong.