The three of us were silent until we were outside our house. I nodded for Kensi to step inside, while I had a private conversation with Lady Rothais.
"I have a question I'd like to ask, but I know you have questions as well. So, go ahead and ask." I said.
"How did you know that the arrow's path was clean, and what are you exactly? I saw your eyes start to glow when you were checking Corbin's wound." Lady Rothais said.
"What I am, is years beyond the development of your planet. All I can say is that I'm not human." I said.
"And that's it." She said.
"You said it yourself. My group isn't the first to come here." I said.
"That changes nothing." She said.
"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't." I said.
"That's not helping." Lady Rothais said.
"Isn't it against some sort of regulation to be dating one of your bodyguards?" I asked.
"He isn't my bodyguard." She said.
"Be that as it may, he's protecting one of you ladies in waiting. Which, in all intents and purposes, he's one of your bodyguards. That's dangerous." I said.
"I heard you call Kensi babe earlier, so you don't have any room to talk." She said.
"Kensi and I are equals." I said.
"Equals. How?" She asked.
"Deeks and I are partners, neither one of us is higher than the other." Kensi said, joining the conversation.
"I'm not seeing the difference." Lady Rothais said.
"The difference depends on the situation." I said.
"Meaning." Lady Rothais said.
"If someone isn't targeting us specifically, we protect each other equally. We are on equal footing." Kensi said.
"Okay." Lady Rothais said.
"How can your lady in waiting be fairly protected if Corbin is worried about your safety?" I asked.
There was a moment of silence that stretched on for an eternity. Both Kensi and I could see Lady Rothais understand what we were getting at, and she started to tear up.
"Don't you think that Corbin should be transferred to your services." Kensi said.
"I will take it into consideration, and the moment it becomes available, I will move to have Corbin placed in my guard." Lady Rothais said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Hey, we just got…" Callen began, as he and Sam were returning, but stopped when he saw Lady Rothais wiping the tears.
"Are…we…interrupting anything?" Sam asked.
"No. everything's fine on our end." Kensi said.
I was about to comment, but I realized that we are fine, and shrug my shoulders.
"What do you have?" Lady Rothais asked.
Sam and Callen were quiet for a moment, and then Callen spoke up. "We followed the group to where they made camp, or at least the general area, and took stock of the group."
"What did you learn?" Kensi asked.
"There camp was north of here, and the group is about thirty, or forty, strong. And the armaments are a little advanced for the planet." Sam said.
"Do you know where they have made their camp?" Lady Rothais asked.
Callen pulled out a holo projector, booted it up, and then pointed to the general area. "Here." Callen said.
"That's close to one of the clans that gets raided." Lady Rothais said, amazed by the equipment.
"Does this banner look familiar?" Sam asked.
It took only a second for Lady Rothais to recognize the banner.
"That banner is of the group that raids the surrounding villages. There base is located further north." Lady Rothais said.
There was a moment of silence, and then I spoke up. "Time for a little recon." I said.
"That would be the best course of action." Sam said.
"Mi lady, would you be willing to spare your best tracker, and send them north with Deeks here to scope out the main location." Callen said.
"Yes. How soon will you be ready to leave?" Lady Rothais asked.
"As soon as they're ready to leave." I said.
"Follow me." Lady Rothais said.
The four of us followed Lady Rothais to an armory of sorts, and as Lady Rothais was talking to armorer, Kensi approached and asked. "Is this really the best plan?"
"I need the three of you here in case those people trying, or if Lady Rothais' people try anything." I said, whispering.
"Do you think they're actually going to have the gall to try anything?" Kensi asked.
"Maybe." I said.
"Mr. Deeks." A female voice said.
"Yes." I said, as both Kensi and I turned to the woman.
"Lady Rothais' team is ready to leave as soon as you finish preparing for the journey." She said.
"You were saying." Kensi said.
"Quiet." I said to Kensi. To the lady in waiting. "Lead the way."
Kensi and I followed the lady in waiting in silence as she explained the basic details of the mission.
"Sounds like a party." I said, as the three of us entered the armory.
I was instructed to remove my gear and weapons so I could be fitted with the necessary gear for the outing. Kensi watched as I was getting dressed to go, and then Sam and Callen were led into the armory."
"What are you two doing here?" Kensi asked.
"We were told to come here." Sam said.
"If we're going to be stuck on this planet for the time being, we may as well look the part." Callen said.
Kensi went to grab some equipment, but she was stopped in her tracks. One of ladies in waiting waved for Kensi to follow her, leading Kensi to a more suitable changing area. The clothes were itchy, which my sensors had turned the sensation off, but the armor was something to get used to. Something my sensors could not correct. It feels like a primitive form of body armor, but it still feels off. Lady Rothais, Corbin, a lady in waiting, and myself were waiting by the gate when Sam, Callen, and Kensi were all approaching to see us off. I didn't hide the fact that I had elevator eyes for Kensi, checking her out in her new outfit.
"Maybe some other time, handsome." Kensi said.
"Here's looking at you, kid." I said.
"Humphrey Bogart, nice one Deeks." Sam said.
I winked at Kensi, and nodded at Sam.
"We're off. We'll send word if anything needs to change." Lady Rothais said.
With that, the gates were opened and the three of us walked out.
"What did you learn when you went to the camp?" The captain of the guard asked Callen after the gates had shut.
"Let's take a walk." Callen said and they discussed the details of what he and Sam found.
Kensi walked over to the archery range to practice her aim. The mechanics are probably similar to shooting a rifle, but Kensi hasn't shot a bow since she was a teenager.
Might as well get some practice while I wait for our next move. Kensi thought, approaching the range.
Star Ocean-
The sun was setting by the time we were making camp. In the distance, I can see animals fleeing. I can hear noises start to emanate from beneath us, and I can tell it won't be pretty if we don't find shelter.
"We need to get inside." I said.
Lady Rothais looked into the distance, and ever so slightly, she could heart he guttural howls of whatever I'm looking at.
"Start lighting torches and drop them every ten feet." Lady Rothais said.
"I'll take the lead." I said.
"Whoever is in the lead—"
"It's okay, Roisin. I have a feeling it's going to take more than torches to keep the creatures at bay." Lady Rothais said.
"You better not lead us astray." Roisin said.
"Ma'am." I said to the lady in waiting. To Lady Rothais I asked. "Any place to hide around here?"
"There should be a cave north of here." Lady Rothais said.
"Can these things climb?" I asked.
"That's not relevant. We need to get out of here." Lady Rothais said.
"How far north?" I asked.
"See that hill?" The lady in waiting said, pointing more northwest than just north.
"Got it. Heading in that direction." I said.
The moment I was away from the light of the fire, I kept my eyes off in the distance while I scanned for the cave, I saw a grand total of three caves and started walking.
"I can see three openings." I said.
"The left most one." Corbin said.
"What he said." Roisin said, backing Corbin's claim.
"Heading that way." I said, and we fell silent until we got to the cave.
It was a good hour by the time we reached the cave, and the sun had already gone down, and I could start to see the creatures a lot better. They have white skin, which denotes the don't come out during the day. The don't look human, or humanoid like. They look almost like a canine with reptilian skin: more scales than smooth flesh. These almost look like something out of a movie from a few millennia ago. I just hope they can't fly.
"ROOOAR!"
A loud scream brought me back to reality. I look up to see one of the monsters lunges at me, and I get up a close and personal look at the thing: No eyes, some holes near the top of the head could possibly be ears, but all holes on the monsters' face gets my attention.
How did the monster know where I was exactly? I thought as I side stepped the thing. I reached hand out and touched the monster with enough electricity that would have killed a man, but it just stunned the monster. It wasn't dead because I can still see the things chest fall and rise. None of the creature's buddies come rushing forwards because they can't make out where it is.
So, these things use thermal imaging to traverse their world. I thought as started to generate more heat to throw off the creature's vision.
I readied my scanner, and the with some trepidation, jabbed it into the creature's eye after opening its eye lid. I know I'm on the clock because it won't be long before the monsters will get antsy and try to attack me. On my scanner I can see that the scan had just finished, but my heat signature distraction was starting to wear off. I had barely removed the scanner, and ducked out of the way as another monster that was attacking me head on, but it was met with a torch to the face.
I grabbed my knife, heated the blade, and then drove into the monsters' chest, puncturing its heart. I pulled my knife out, and scrambled back into the cave before any more monsters could attack me. I was attempting to catch my breath when Corbin said. "That's amazing!"
"Ah, it was nothing." I said.
"Nothing. Nothing. That was not nothing!" Roisin exclaimed.
"Easy, Roisin. Mr. Deeks is the exception, not the rule." Lady Rothais said, blocking the entrance to the cave.
"Umm…Can you say for certain that you haven't trapped us in here with those things?" I asked
"How is that relevant?" Corbin asked.
"You'll understand later." I said.
"No one goes into this territory." Roisin said.
"Normally?" I asked.
"Only when necessary." Lady Rothais said.
"Only when necessary? It would have been prudent to explore these caves sooner, but we're about to do it now." I said.
"What's the problem?" Corbin asked.
"A cave system can either isolated or connected." I said.
There was a moment of silence, and then Corbin asked. "This is probably a stupid question, but why would it be bad if the cave were not isolated?"
"Then those monsters outside can hunt us." Roisin said.
"Bingo." I said.
"What?" Corbin asked.
"Sheesh. Yes, those things can continue to hunt, and we're now in their domain." I said.
"Any words of wisdom before we head further in?" Lady Rothais asked.
"If you believe in God, or some divine being, you better start praying to them because it could possibly get pretty bad in here." I said.
Star Ocean-
Back at the settlement, Sam and Callen were preparing to head back to the ship to look for supplies, but as they were heading to the gate they were stopped.
"We need to head out for a couple of hours." Callen said.
"It will have to wait until morning." The guard said.
"Why?" Sam asked.
At that moment, everybody could hear a roar that was almost deafening.
"I think it can wait until whatever that is passes." Sam said.
"But what about Deeks, and the others?" Kensi said, approaching the gate.
"They're on they own." The guard said.
"But…" Kensi began.
"How long until whatever that is passes?" Callen asked.
"Usually, they run amok for about three days." The guard says.
"And unusually?" Sam asked.
"Three weeks." The guards partner said.
Sam waved Kensi off, and walked pulled her away from the gate as Callen said. "Thank you."
Sam waited until they were about twenty feet away from the gate before he stated the obvious. "You know darn well it's suicide to go out there looking for them."
"So, what are we going to sit here with our thumbs up our butts waiting for news that may or may not come?" Kensi asked.
"What other options do we have?" Callen asked.
At that moment, an alarm bell started ringing. The three of them went running to the gate, and then climbed the stairs to the top to see what the fuss was all about. They see monsters running towards the gate.
"What are those?" Callen asked.
"Your worst nightmare." One of the guards said.
"Kensi." Sam said.
"Yeah." Kensi said.
"Still want to go out there?" Sam asked.
"Nope." Kensi said. "Where are the archers going?" Kensi asked.
"Off to the left." The guard said, point to where the archers were setting up.
"See you on the other side." Kensi said, and then took off running.
"Later." Callen said.
"Thanks for the help." The guard said.
"You're welcome." Sam said.