“You should respect your elders sonny, remember what they’ve done for ya.” Came the raspy old voice, before the old man leaned on his cane and reaching down for the groceries. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his back, and had to sharply stand up straight. With a knowledgeable hand he pressed on the location of the pain, and it was gone.

“I know sir, I’m sorry.” Esker bent down to pick up the elderly gentleman’s things for him. Mainly food, but there was a can of Zistraks and a filament for the stove at home. “Here you are sir, I’ll be more careful next time.”

The old man smiled, and said: “Thank you soldier, it’s nice to know such endearing and helpful people are the future of the Empire.” He took the basket, turned for the residential district, and hobbled away.

Rhodanichi Eskerbert Arwen dusted the mud off of his uniform and proceeded on his patrol of the commercial district of Natalis. He waved to a couple of children, and they shouted and waved back. ‘Esker’ was very popular in Natalis, mainly because he was the only native of the city to be enlisted on its Guard Unit. He was a promising young soldier who had been tipped by the higher ranked officers of his unit to go far, and may even be a general one-day. But the 23-year-old knew that this would never happen unless he was transferred to another location. This coastal region was dead in the water. Well, almost in the water, he thought. There was never anything to see or do; it was probably the most boring place on earth. In fact, Natalis was often referred to as ‘Mea Nihil’, or ‘Our Nothing’ because of its peacefulness.

It was a truly beautiful city though, surrounded by plush green hills and amazingly tall forests, with a valley to the south and the ocean to the north. A river came from the valley and flowed effortlessly through the town. It had been here that the band of seekers had first laid down their roots and set up a home for themselves, all of eighty years ago. That small band of seekers had grown in size, and was now in talks with other nations in the hope of creating an Empire. The goal of this combined Imperial state would be to free the world from the evil monsters that were the creations of the ancients. Everybody talked as if it had already happened, referring to the seekers as the Empire, referring to the leader as the Emperor. It was wrong to assume that things would just happen that way, he thought. Esker sighed, and continued to walk along. He was about six-foot tall, with a cleanly shaven face and broad shoulders. He was very attractive and although he didn’t know it, almost every female in the city walls admired him in someway. Even now as he walked past the medium-sized flat roofed building which served as the grocery store, the girls sitting outside discreetly giggled and laughed as he went by.

“NH to N12, come in Esker.” It was the metallic hissing of his radio.

“N12 to NH, reading you loud and clear.” He replied.

“Just thought you ought to know that we’re about to start packing up here, and the General has ordered all patrol groups in your sector to come in and report in around half an hour.”

“Thanks Brava. Hey listen, I don’t suppose…”

She cut him short: “Don’t you ever give up small-fry?” she laughed.

“Well, in a word, no…”

“Ha, well keep trying, you’ve got to do better than that. Over and out.”

He imagined her winking to her work colleagues as she ended that transmission. It was part of the reason Esker didn’t get asked out by girls a lot, everybody knew that he and Brava would get together sooner or later, they were meant for each other, and they both knew it. He looked at his watch; it’d take him about ten minutes to get back to base. He decided to walk around a bit more.

---

Brava brushed her black hair back away from her face, and stared a bit longer at the image on her computer screen. She’d never seen anything like it before. There were hundreds of them, thousands maybe. It had to be a recording or something. She hit the ‘Stop’ button on the recording machine, but the image didn’t stop moving.

“Sir, you need to look at this…”

General Rooget crossed the distance of the room, and leaned on her desk. “What is it lass?” He spoke with a slightly scratchy accent.

“Outside the city, there’s thousands of them!” Her eyes were stretched wide, and all she could do was point at the screen that showed the monsters amassing on the western side of the city wall. Rooget was silenced. She wasn’t sure, but she thought his mouth was open. It would’ve been rude to say anything.

“Call the Emperor, get him on the telecom.” He yelled at his secretary. “NOW!”

After a few minutes the call went through, and the would-be-founder’s secretary explained that he was currently in a meeting about the foundation. After Rooget had tried his ‘charms’ on the secretary, she hurriedly put the call through.

“This better be important General.” Snorted the Emperor.

“Have you seen the western wall!?”

“Sigh, no, I haven’t. Isn’t it the same as the northern, eastern and southern walls?”

“Sir, take a look at it through camera W17. A horde of creatures have gathered outside.”

The line was quiet, and then: “So I see… what do you suggest we do then General?”

“Sir, Admiral Fredericks is the…”

“I am aware of Fredericks’ battle skills. He is currently in Elpis trying to sell the idea of allaying with the Empire after foundation, and he is currently unavailable.”

General Rooget now realised he had the chance to glorify his army and himself by saving the city of Natalis from the evils of the ancient age. “It would appear that I have no choice but to gather my men and fight, is this what you want me to do?”

“If that is what you see fit General. The city’s fate is in your hands.”

The transmission went dead.

---

Esker sat down, and looked around the room. He had been called in earlier than was planned, and now he sat in the debriefing room waiting to be sent home. The other guards that had been on the same shift as Esker accompanied him in the cold room. He leaned forward, and tapped one of them on the shoulder. “Any idea why we were called in early Nestlis?”

“No, none mate. Probably just a timing screw up.” He turned away.

Esker leaned back in his seat. Then suddenly the swing doors to the room burst open and General Rooget stormed in followed by the Red Guard, who were the equivalent of the city’s army. His black moustache quivered as he walked briskly into the room, and his uniform was as neat as ever. The greying man was renowned for his powerful stare, and it was this expression he wore now.

“What the hell…” exclaimed Esker to the soldier sitting next to him.

At the front, Rooget waited for his troops to sit down. As they took their time, he became impatient. “Okay everybody, calm down, sit down, and for heavens sake shut up.”

The room was quiet and still immediately.

“Gentlemen, its time to prove your worth. Several stryder biomonsters have accumulated on the perimeter of the western wall of our beloved city. We know these monsters are dangerous, we know they hunt in packs, and we know that they have attacked other villages and towns without warning before, and also without an apparent motive.”

The room was drawn on his words. Everybody listen tentatively to what the General might say next.

“The Emperor has requested that we mobilise out forces and counter the threat of the monsters. Guard Units, welcome to the Red Guard.”

Esker’s unit was stunned into silence. Every now and then an outstanding officer from the unit was promoted to the Guard, but now everybody was getting promoted at once, who would guard the streets? Esker shook his head. What kind of thought was that? Who cared? He had just been promoted to the elite of the elite soldier forces!

Rooget continued: “You’ve all had basic training on how to operate a skimmer, so these are the vehicles that will be in operation. Any questions? No?” No one dared ask a question, for fear of being demoted so quickly. “Alright then troops suit up and head to the garages. Oh, Esker Arwen? I need to speak with you first, and Nestlis Turner, you too.”

Nestlis looked back over his shoulder at Esker, who just shrugged his shoulders. Everybody exited, and the two were left alone with the General. He spoke to Esker first.

“Listen son, we have enough skimmers, but not enough squadron leaders…” Esker’s eyes grew wider. “We wouldn’t normally ask a rookie to do this, but since you have probably the best record in the Natalis Guards, we figured what the heck. For this assignment you’re leader of Golia Squadron five. Your wingman, so to speak, is Nestlis here…” He turned to look at the black soldier. “With your experience of a skimmer you’ll be a valuable asset to the mission-“ A siren was audible from the corridor. “Your squadron are the other eight members of your Guard unit, so there are no unfamiliar faces. Now go, good luck and god speed.” They turned and raced down the hall, hearts pounding.

---

Esker stood by his skimmer while the technician gave it one final look over. A skimmer was a small one-seater all terrain vehicle. Its name was slightly misleading however, as it didn’t skim over the surface, but rather sped over it on quad caterpillar tracks. The sleek wedge-shaped vessel was now being loaded with armaments: tracer cannons for this mission, but the could also carry such heavy artillery such as sub-cannons and ground to air missiles. The words ‘Golia V-1’ were imposed in gold lettering on the side of the craft. He had to pinch himself again to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Over to his right was Nestlis, who was probably thinking the exact same thing. He was about to call over before he heard his name being called himself. It was Brava, running into the garage and over to where he stood. Without warning she threw her arms around him and kissed him right there and then.

“Whoa, what was that for?” He stuttered.

“Good luck!” She grinned.

Esker blushed, but tried to shrug it off. “What do I need luck for? I’ve got Nestlis as my cover. Hey you best watch my back buddy, I don’t want those guys taking mouthfuls out of my hind quarters!” He called over.

Nestlis looked back and grinned. “I’d be more careful about those women.” He nodded at Brava. “They’re nastier than the nastiest monsters. They make your average randy male stryder look like a farmyard coolia!” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

“Its all good Captain, everything is in top working order.” The technician had finished his analysis and the loading crew had kitted the skimmer out with ammunition.

“Thank you sir.” He signed the release form R. Esker and ticked ‘Guard’ as his rank. The technician headed off, only to find himself being chased after by Esker. “I’m a Captain now aren’t I?” He laughed and changed his rank on the form, before returning to Brava.

“It’s a bit of a dump really, isn’t it?” She was unimpressed by the garage. It had a high roof and three dirty grey walls lined with missiles and sub-cannons.

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad.” He said.

“You coming, hot shot?” came the call from Golia Five’s number two.

“Just a minute Nestlis…” He yelled over, and then turned back to Brava.

“You make sure you come back, y’hear?”

“Hey, you know me. Mr. Careful.” He was riding on adrenaline now.

“The day your Mr. Careful is the day you have responsibilities, like a family or something.”

“I might just hold you to that.” He put his helmet on and clambered into the seat of the fighter.

“Remember you’re not a hero!” She yelled. “Don’t do anything dangerous!”

There was a whoosh, and the skimmer’s engine started. It hummed for awhile, before Esker revved it and then it settled into a constant buzz.

“Don’t worry! Danger’s my middle name!” He yelled, then he turned back to the controls and pulled the plexi-glass canopy down over his head. With the push of a button the brakes came off, and he rolled down the service ramp and onto the concrete floor. Now the caterpillars made a squealing sound as they dragged across the surface. He drove through the garage doors with Nestlis in pursuit, and they both followed the dirt road into the sunlight, beyond the giant wall, and out of the city.

Brava sat down, put her head in her hands and started to weep softly with fear.

“Actually, its Esker…”