As the alpha for her team, Micha Bailey took her responsibilities deadly serious. It was essential to know where each member of her team was, the terrain of each mission and the location of the target and/or any enemies. Slipping up was to risk the only people that mattered to her. She had buried one of them recently because of such a lapse. That said she knew there was a difference between trust and paranoia. The distance was simply not as wide between the two as most people thought.

  Any time she hit the ground running, the nine-foot-tall shawling that was her second in command was right behind her. with nearly four hundred pounds of muscles on his long frame few would consider a shawling like Ni’yell good for anything but brute force and close ranged combat. Strong as he was those were not his only abilities.

  At one with the shadows, he was capable of a skill known only shadow walking; which allowed him to cross a room, street or world as easy as breathing. Few knew or cared about the risks. She had made him teach her everything about that and man other skills. She knew that being caught between reality was a death sentence; just as she knew there were purely twisted beings that lived in the in-between places. Ni’yell was highly intelligent, dexterous, and quick on his feet—in and out of a fight.

  He was also capable of fine motor skills necessary for things like weapons maintenance, hefting heavy objects or cooking complex meals. He and Rennick spent many hours discussing philosophies and other subjective subjects. When Markus Hanaur had selected him as a member of his team, Ni’yell’s purpose had been to guard only and it was a task he had done with single-minded dedication. It kept him isolated and he had been fine with that.

  Now she was in another dimension’s version of Tortuga trying to get back to the shuttle that had gotten them on the black site planet in order to get their target away from prying eyes.

  Spotting six bodies disentangling themselves from the shadows. She knelt in the center of the courtyard, unmoving. Still, as a statue, she monitored their approach. Twisting fractionally, she lifted a finger and pointed forward. Raising two fingers she lifted her gun. All three teams paused to secure their positions and Delta team adjusted their position so that they were facing back the way they had come and waited. Just as she knew that Beta team was going to find high ground and Charlie would be as close to Beta team as they could get. All three teams waited for Micha to give the command.

  Rennick

  Rennick felt Ni’yell tap his shoulder a second time and adjust his position to cover Rennick. Rennick shook his head and pointed up. Without hesitating Ni’yell slipped up the wall, disappearing on to the roof. After a moment he hung over the edge and dropped his hand. Standing, the target over his shoulder, Rennick ran at the wall climbing high enough to reach Ni’yell’s outstretched hand. Ni’yell lifted both Rennick and the target to the roof. Quietly, Rennick set down the target between them and reached for the rifle in Ni’yell’s outstretched hand. Together they shifted onto their stomachs and readied their weapons.

  As six people came into the center of the courtyard, Rennick quickly scouted his surroundings and located three locations that could be trouble. From Ni’yell’s pause, he suspected there were more. With two fingers Rennick pointed to his eyes then motioned towards the locations he had spotted. Ni’yell quickly located them and lifted his fingers to motion to another four locations. Rennick frowned. Had they been ready for them like on Naquila? For one heart rending moment he was back on that godforsaken plant. The sounds of bullets, explosions and wails of the wounded ringing in his ears. He could smell the gun oil, the powder in the explosives, the blood, sweat and tears, but the there was one shot that in its absolute silence rang above the rest.

  The shot carried the heaviest weight and had been the unraveling of the Head Hunters. That shot had also cost them the gentlest member of their ragtag team and a large part of the Alpha’s heart. Ni’yell tapped his shoulder a question in his eyes. Rennick ignored the question and turned back to the landmine in front of them. Panning his scope back to his team leader, he watched the group approach Micha. She never moved. One man separated from the others and approached her. He heard Charlie Team shift beneath him. Micha continued to stand motionless even as one man spoke to her. As he reached behind him pulling a second clip into easy reach, Rennick noted that she lifted her hand to her helmet.

  “All teams locate and eliminate!”

  Rennick felt Ni’yell shift right even as he shifted left. Having teamed up for the last five years they rarely needed to speak, they simply worked in concert, and that was the way she wanted it. Trained in many forms of martial arts Rennick was lethal in close quarters. He had done it and done it well, but his heart was not in it. He remembered the day that Micha piked up on it and did something about it. Apathy, she had stated, was lethal on the battlefield. Somehow, she managed to get her hands on nearly every available weapon Keliv III had access to; from small to heavy. They spent three days witling down the selection until he put his hand on his first sniper rifle; the SPR-J6000.

  The elegant beast lay before him in all its destructive glory. The first time he fired that beauty and nailed the bullseye at close to six thousand feet he had come alive. The next six weeks he spent in a crash course on sniper rifles and all the gear that went with them. How she managed to get the grizzled ol’ bear to take the time to teach him how use a long-range assassin properly he had no idea, but he had had all the etiquette hammered into him. Short range, long range, ocular scope, rifle mounted scope and no scope; he learned to fire in rapid succession as well as with careful precision.

  Much as he was able to handle the energy version of the long-range assassin, his true love was the high-powered bullet. No fancy additions, no charger, just him, the rifle and the bullet.

  Rennick zeroed in on the first of his three targets and pulled the trigger, knowing Ni’yell would do the same. Around him the pop, pop, pop of different rifles sang its own melody. Each time he fired he knew it was the end of his target and he never waited for confirmation. He just zoomed in on the next and trusted his map to inform him if he missed. His first target taken care of he fired the second shot than swept his rifle towards the next roof top in order to eliminate the rest of his targets.

  Ni’yell

  Ni’yell exhaled, locked in on a target and fired the rifle with lethal precision. One by one he cleared the rooftops as bullets sang around him. It had been a challenge to learn to use the shadow to find his targets and line up his shots, but Micha had insisted he learn just what he was able to do with what she referred to as shadow melding.

  He still remembered the first time he had met the human female. She was tiny and oddly attractive; like a pixie. Little more than half his size he had pitied her, certain that she would not survive long. He had been shocked and saddened when she was given to Markus for training; believing her chances of survival even slimmer. Even as the other humans around her showed fear and confusion, she stood silently with her head up, her arms crossed and her hip cocked like she was wearing armour. When she looked at Markus for the first time, her eyes widen fractionally and Ni’yell thought he saw fear, but whatever she felt was gone much too quickly to be certain.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Markus had been furious to discover that not only had he been given a weak human to train, but that the human was female…the weaker sex. The first time that Markus had spoken to her it had been to ask her name. She had lifted her chin, saying nothing. Outraged, Markus beat her. Ni’yell watched Markus walk away and was certain that she was not going to survive the night. As he turned to follow Markus, he caught sight of her getting up. Arm busted, she had struggled to reach a sitting position. He had seen tougher men take a beating from Markus; they all broke, she did not. No tears, no complaints just incredible stubborn determination.

  Through subtle suggestions, Ni’yell convinced Markus to allow him to tend to her wounds. It did not take long to realized the reason she had not answered was due to a lack of comprehension. He still remembered the look on her face. She had watched him, unafraid, as he knelt before her to reset the bone in her arm. The snap echoed in the silence; as loud as an explosion. She only flinched once then murmured.

  “It will take more than a beating to break me!”

  He had not understood the words until much later.

  There had been naked fury in her eyes every time she clashed with Markus, but she learned to dodge his attacks. She never asked for anything, but she watched everything. Ni’yell had started doing what Markus would not; teaching her. He never actually said anything to her; he simply practiced where she could see; allowing her the opportunity to watch and learn. At other times he dropped food where she could reach it. Her determination and willpower to survive were impressive. As impressive as her ability to learn quicky.

  Each time she attempted a move and got it wrong he would repeat it. Again and again, she persevered; unwilling to let Markus, or anyone, have the last word. Word of her tenacity soon spred about the compound and she quickly earned the grudging respect of many of the grizzled warriors too old to continue to run missions and too long on the battlefield to just give it up. They taught, she learned. More, she shared knowledge that eased old bones and extended flexibility and range of motion. Markus knew that it was happening but underestimated the impact it was going to have on the tiny fire cracker.

  Looking through the scope, Ni’yell grinned, it would have frightened most people as the shadows dance across his skin, but not her. He picked off two attackers and remembered the moment when she had risked helping him. She had been on Keliv III nearly a year and Markus had been livid at being passed over for another physical upgrade and had taken it out on Ni’yell. Short of being willing to challenge, all he could do was take the beating. Brutalized and left for dead, Ni’yell tried to get up and blacked out. When he woke it was to find he had been moved. Confused, he tried to lift his head to see where he was. Alone in a make shift shelter, Ni’yell noted the clever use of the natural materials around him to remain unnoticed. Secure in the knowledge that he was safe for now; Ni’yell closed his eyes and had started assessing the damage when she had returned. She simply began cleaning and setting bandages. She worked quietly and quickly.

  “Medic is coming,” She shrugged, responding to the confusion on the shawlings face. “Markus a moron and one of these days it is going to get someone killed.” Her broken common made her seem less intelligent than she was, but she refused to care what others thought.

  She often used broken common, but he understood enough. Once Medic arrived, he set to work mending the worst of Ni’yell’s broken bones and repairing internal bleeding and organs. Through the haze of pain, he noted that something exchanged hands, but whatever Medic had given him left him off quilter. For a moment, she stood there staring at him in the small space they shared. Then she tossed a blanket over him and rolling over, went to sleep. After that, she always seemed to be just out of sight. There had been a nebulous peace as Mackayla began pulling her own weight on missions. As long as Markus was happy everyone breathed easy. Until the night that Markus had called her to his tent.

  Ni’yell knew Markus’ flavor of pleasure, had cleaned up the mess after he had finished. In a twist of moods, Markus had found he was banned from the brothels near camp and too short of funds to go further. Then he remembered there was a readily available female that was free. Ni’yell had swallowed hard at the demand, had tried to dissuade the madman and tried to warn her, but she never looked at him. She was barely in there thirty minutes when he heard the first sounds of fighting. Still, he hesitated.

  When Markus started yelling, he automatically responded entering the tent moments after Rennick, the panther on their team. There was no denying the deep satisfaction at seeing Markus pinned to the ground by the same blade that he used on countless others. Ni’yell watched as she buried her blade in the other shoulder. Clothes torn and barely covering her, she walked head high towards him and Rennick. He barely heard her words as she walked past.

  As she and Rennick left the tent he made his way to Markus. Squatting next to him, Ni’yell made no sound.

  “Get these out of me!” Markus whined. Whimpering, he licked his lips.

  The smell of blood and urine filled the tent as the man Ni’yell had feared wept in the mess of his own making. Disgust must have registered on his face because Markus attempted to sneer. The realization that Markus had lost his place at the top of their small dog pile sent a rush of relief and euphoria through Ni’yell.

  Kneeling, Ni’yell placed his hands on the blade handles. Tugging, the blades came out causing the man to howl in pain. Wiping them on Markus, Ni’yell stood and turned to leave.

  “Please!” Markus squealed, “Help me!”

  Ni’yell never looked back. Survival was something you did on your own…

  Micha

  “Charlie, stay with Beta. Beta, follow close. Delta stick with me.”

  Carefully the lone figure began to move forward. Micha intended to complete the retrieval of this target if for no other reason than to see the look on the High Chancellor’s face when she and her boys brought him in. Grimacing passed the muscle burn from a grazing shot, she pushed forward. Without hesitation, she knew where each of her boys was and trusting Delta to catch up with her, she picked up her pace.

  Small though Micha's team was they managed to accomplish every task given to them as if their lives were on the line and heaven knew that the Council preferred she fail. With the quick efficiency that came with the practice only time and too many suicide runs were able to provide, she and Delta team weaved around cars, passed alleyways and across streets; keeping a clear path for the other two teams to follow. Each time they passed a group they had to quickly assess them and determine their threat level. Those considered red level soon found themselves greeting the gate keeper of the next life.

  Eyes alert, Micha monitored her surroundings and shifted around the corner on her left and spotted their shuttle. For a split second she was thankful that they had gone with the alternate landing zone. Lifting two fingers she motioned forward and felt Delta team move ahead. Once Delta was in position, she turned towards the other two teams. Crouched, Micha watched for any signs of attack as Delta double-checked for tampering and readied for takeoff. She waited for Delta team to finish their search before calling the last two teams to join them. Receiving the all-clear from Delta, she turned her back on the shuttle and motioned the rest of her team forward. Lifting her rifle, she waited until everyone was behind her then started backward so she could keep an eye on the entrance to the alley. Feeling someone behind her she dropped her rifle muzzle and stood.

  Turning, she removed her helmet. “Let’s get out of here, boys.”

  Micha watched as everyone strapped in and the shuttle ramp was lifted. “Mitah, get us off the ground in one piece. Those fools said that they had the means to stop us from leaving.”

  “Maybe they were their means to stop us,” rumbled the burly voice of a giant that barely fit the shuttle.

  “Maybe Mitah, but, keeping you alive means expecting the worst all the time. Ni’yell, can you cover the shuttle?” settling into the harness, Micha closed her eyes even as Ni’yell took on a shadowy appearance. “Unless there is trouble, wake me when we get back.”

  She sighed when she heard a knife leave its sheath. “I can’t afford to rip these pants.” With deft quick movements she dropped trou and sat back down. Next to her, Desohta quickly numbed the wound on her thigh than cleaned and stitched it shut. When he finished, she stood carefully and righted her pants. Across from her, their target groaned. Knowing he was secure, she closed her eyes. They were going to have to get information from him, but that would wait until they were back aboard the ship that brought them to the edge of the Corgat System.