Nick

"So uh, what now?" Nick asked, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

Ryder's plans are pretty questionable at some times, so it would be nice to know.

The strange glowing scales traversing Ryder's body flickered excitedly.

"We figure out where we are, n' find a new portal. Then, we hop on home and go destroy the U.S.C.M. in cold, heartless, revenge. Then we celebrate, and I will be in charge of confetti!"

He exclaimed, a familiar grin spreading across his maw.

I wonder if there's anything significant about our bioluminescent scales. I'm noticing they're controllable, so maybe there's something important about them.

"Okay. So find out where we are?" he asked.

"Yup."

"And that's it?"

"Yup."

Nick paused.

"Well, good enough for me!"

They left the wet, humid shoreline, heading for what Nick could only hope was toward something that could give them even a single clue where they were.

"Did you hear that?" Ryder said, suddenly.

Nick exited his haze of thoughts. "Huh?"

They had came to a stop in a small ditch with a trickling creek flowing through it. The creek was concealed by briars and greasewood.

Ryder said nothing, sinking lower to the ground.

What is it now?

He followed Ryder down, shuddering as his belly brushed the soaked grass.

Nick's ears flicked at a sudden noise.

Voices.

His breathing slowed as he listened patiently.

Footsteps. But these were familiar. Human footsteps, and the clacking of thick metal.

Nick almost jumped up and ran when he heard the first voice, startlingly louder than he'd thought it'd be.

"Captain Ricardo told me we're supposed to search for evidence of foreign specimens and you're playing Tetris?!" A woman's voice accused.

"Yup." a man responded.

"You're only even here because of the risk of me getting killed. You're supposed to be guarding me." she insisted.

"And there's nothing to guard you from. So what do you want from me?" came the irritated reply.

The woman grumbled. "Nevermind. Let's just keep looking."

Their footsteps eventually faded away.

Ryder chuckled.

Nick blinked. "What is it?"

He began laughing so hard he rolled into the creek, eventually choking on his laughter.

"What?!" Nick insisted.

"I got a good look at their uniforms." He finally managed.

"Who were they?"

The cyan dragon grinned a toothy smile.

"Why the United Systems Colonial Marines of course. Looks like we don't even have to leave to give a butt-kicking."

Oh boy, here we go again….

"We're going to follow them aren't we?"

"Darn answered that question."

They'd followed the sound of the two's conversation, making sure to stay a reasonable distance away to avoid detection.

All the way until nightfall.

"I still can't believe it. A portal to other worlds! I can't wait to see what we find next." The woman continued.

"Doctor Holly, ma'am, can we keep walking please? We've already seen the same kinds of plants and animals back on Earth. What's so different about this place?" The bored soldier yawned.

"Jeremy, the planetary scans for this place indicate completely different biomes ridiculously close to each other. I.E., there's a freaking desert next to a frozen wasteland. And that's only the beginning! This planet has THREE moons. Which brings the tide and ocean levels up by an extremely significant level. This place shouldn't even exist! But here it is. I'm so excited!" Holly exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down.

Jeremy, the soldier, grunted in minor distaste and checked his weapon as Nick and Ryder crept along through the trees, avoiding the clearing the other two were entering.

The woman gasped out in surprise suddenly.

"What?!" Jeremy exclaimed, pulling out his rifle and pointing it at the shadows wildly.

Nick slowly tread backwards, farther into the undergrowth. Ryder shot him a look, shaking his head.

She hasn't spotted us. He realized, relaxing his shoulders.

Holly was pointing to something on the ground.

"Tracks. And it's something big."

We didn't walk through there…

"And there's a light shape of scales, so it's possibly reptilian."

So there's maybe dragons other than me and Ryder here…. That's minorly concerning.

She kneeled next to the track in the ground. "I'll make a 3D cast with my PDA. You just keep watch. Whatever made this track might still be around."

Jeremy nodded, slowly walking away with his rifle ready.

I wonder how they got here, and why they came anyways.

I mean, they had to have destroyed the Gateway, which would explain why I'm…

Yeah. So how else would they have arrived? Is there another gate?
And again, why would they come here? If they destroyed the first gate, wouldn't they destroy a second?

Maybe it was a spur-of-the-moment-decision to blow up the original one.

And this time they're here for something.

He shuddered at the thought.

I sure hope not.

Eventually Holly signaled Jeremy back, and the two continued onward.

Nick and Ryder decided to stay behind, to discuss what they'd heard and seen.

"I don't like it. Not one bit." Ryder muttered.

Nick nodded. "Me neither. What do you think they're here for?" he asked, suspecting a few theories.

Ryder scratched his chin. "Well, since this place is uninhabited by humans, at least, as far as I've seen, I'd assume they're doin' some of that R&D stuff or experimenting with a biological weapon. Maybe both."

Uh-oh.

"Well, why here? There's plenty of uninhabited planets?" Nick pointed out.

"Yes, but those ones are open to anyone that lands there, and none of them are perfect, like Earth was. Except for this place. It's not been found by us spacefarers, and since it's the only entrance, they can have a secure facility built over it. It's so dastardly I can't believe I didn't notice it before!"

"You're right. And what about those tracks that researcher found? What if they, I dunno, weaponize it…?"

Ryder grunted. "Hm. Yeah. Probably that too. I mean, they did it with dogs. And now they have cyborg dogs. Cyberdogs! That's a good name."

Nick ignored the last part of his answer. "But what do you think it is?"

Ryder shrugged. "For all I know, the most probable would be another dragon."

"Wait. So if they-"

"Yeah. Cybernetic dragons."

Nick exhaled sharply.

"They could win the war with something like that. And who knows if they're sentient like us? Maybe this wouldn't just be an R&D expedition, this would be slavery!?"
"Maybe we have to make sure that doesn't happen then."

Nick glared at him.

"What?" Ryder asked.

"You're going to make this worse with suggestions like that."