The sky above was dark with ash, the fire-mounds were more active today than they had been in many years, even over the fertile belt, where the ash did not normally reach. The normally bright-blue grey sky was obscured by ash turning the sun orange, and casting the volcanic landscape into a haze of red. The slopes of dark fertile earth were covered in hundreds of layers of colorful moss reds, oranges green yellow, and blue dotted here and there by ash trees with purple leaves and rocket-cap stumps. The profile of their gas giant Nemphis was just visible through the atmosphere and sunlight, a circular crescent of light violet dominating the western horizon.

Night was coming.

The Reconciler stood poised before his troops their fledgling soldiers arrayed on the left and the veterans on the right atop a podium of obsidian with the judgement chambers rising high behind him against the sky black and imposing. The War conclave sat behind him, an array of the thirteen high generals dressed from crest to heel in their most imposing armor, war staves held high beside them.

"The alien invaders speak of peace, they speak of allies. They-speak-HERACY. They would DESTROY our way of life as we know it." The crowed below him roared in anger, "They would DESTROY US." More roaring, "WAR IS OUR ONLY OPTION!"

The crowd of novices bellowed their anger, newly crested soldiers howled with their desire for blood, and in that crowd a small figure arrayed in metallic blue armor howled her anger brandishing her weapon into the air. The body Mod on her arm still stung with pain, still oozing blood, but the weapon in her hand felt good. If she could just SEE. At only 7,6 she was too short to see over the heads of her compatriots who towered at an average of 8,6, but occasionally, she caught sight of the Reconciler and the war conclave through the breaks in line ahead of her, and there she could see where both her parents sat, arrayed in their glorious battle gear. Somewhere, on the other side of the crowd would be her brother, and his mate leading, as a commander, a thousand Drev, and this time there would be her, leading a squadron of 20 at the head of a fledgling unit.

She had fought her way to get here, and she would fight her way further.

"And with our armies, we will send the invaders, CRAWLING ON THEIR KNEES BACK TO THE SLIME FROM WHENCE THEY CAME!"

More cheering.

"Rest now, for tomorrow we War!"

"DISSMISSED!" She turned on her heels with the rest of her line walking to the left and then breaking for their homes on the fertile belt, against the obsidian hills.

Sunny waited for the Conclave to break eager to announce her promotion in the upcoming war, a squadron leader.

She saw them speaking with the Reconciler for a long moment before her brother joined them. At almost 11 feet tall with metallic red armor, he had always been one of the most desirable. Next to him stood his mate in at 10 feet white metallic armor. Drev were always challenging her to duels in hopes to unseat her from her position, she had not lost once.

Together they broke from the line, and sunny came running up saluting to them as she ground to a halt.

She was ignored.

"General," She looked at her father "General." She looked at her mother, "I got a promotion." The two glorious war generals turned to look at her interested for once, "Yes?" Her father asked.

"A squadron leader." She announced proudly.

Immediate and final dismissal, "You brother was Platoon chief at your age."

They walked away leaving her standing under a hazy orange sky.

***

"The Galactic Assembly has made their decision clear." Her platoon chief snarled, "They have made their intentions clear, and as such, we have declared war." She stood back framed by the massive stone as the soldiers stood before her, "In retaliation they have threatened to send their strongest warriors to combat us." A flickering projection appeared overplayed on the map. A grainy image, a bipedal creature like the Drev, but with only two arms, not much she could tell from there.

"And what have they sent us? A joke!" She slammed her fist on the table and the screen above flickered, "6 feet tall MAYBE, it has no armor, no attached weaponry, and only one set of arms." She paused, "And what has the conclave to us about defeating these creatures?" The room leaned forward in anticipation. "RIP THEM IN HALF."

***

They stood silently in the rocks and the crevices of their churning landscape. Here in the fire-lands, the rock slithered and churned over the ground creating the illusion that the world still oozed slowly breathe them, a large viscous river of stone. Sunny could hear the sound of their ships landing. They roared with a thousand tongues of flame, and the Drev were impressed with their display of war.

Sunny crouched with her squadron on a ridge, watching as vehicles poured form the opening of the massive crafts, swarming with troop movements churning like a well-oiled machine. Sunny was excited and apprehensive. This wasn't her first battle, but this would be her first war. She glanced to the side just then eyeing down the line at the rest of her comrades. At the very end was Moss, he had handsome metallic green armor, and the same sort of eyes. At around 9,5 she had admired him for a while now.

He had made it clear they were only friends

"Stand steady soldiers," A calm voice came from the back. She looked behind to find her mother, the general walking up the line. At 10 feet tall, and with proud deep purple armor, looking like the night sky. She was regal in her armor holding her war staff. She came to a halt beside Sunny at her line, "Eyes forward, solider," And then in a lower voice, "Just stay at the back, you will be of greatest use there."

Sunny sunk in shame.

***

They were harder to fight than she would have thought, the battle that should have lasted under a day had dragged on for weeks. Though small and brittle, these creatures were clever. They attacked at distance with their weapons, and were excellent marksmen. They devised more ingenious ways to kill and maim from the safety of their bunkers. Sunny's unit, originally at the back, had been moved up to reinforced the front line, and there she had been determined to show her prowess in war, she never stopped, she never relented, she tore and shot and cut until hordes of the humans and others were wheeling away in panic, she tore with her claws and her hands fighting through the pain of her wounds like a monster. Every-time, she wished to fall back, she remembered the disappointment in her family's eyes, and she pushed on.

Weeks turned into months, one by one they tore through the human defenses ripping the creatures limb from limb as their comrades fled. They were harder to kill than originally thought, with helmets and armor of their own, they were surprisingly resilient, but no match for the Drev. They were approaching the last human line. Sunny was exhausted, strung out, half her squadron was dead. Fighting had devolved into person on person contact, the Drev line was spread thin.

She could hear the sound of the distant human weapons clattering and roaring. Coming up over a rise in the volcanic stone blue armor tinted purple by the ash tinted sky, she stepped down into a shallow bowl eyes locking on target, a Rundi Solider and its Moor counterpart. They both shrieked as she approached. The distant fire-mounds rumbled.

She raised her weapon to deal the death blow despite her exhaustion.

And then something slammed into her form the side. She rocked forward, almost losing her balance as the world spun. Weight pressed down on her shoulders, claws grabbed at her neck. She pitched forward wheeling and spinning as the world around roared. Limbs flew. The human clung to her like some horrible insect. She threw her head to the side eyes falling on the creature. It had a pale moon face, and wide green eyes teeth lined into a sharp snarl under its fake carapace. Its claws rose and fell burning a sharp spine of pain into her neck.

She screamed.

She spun to the side the blade carved at her insides seeking to sever her neck. She threw herself to the side spinning and lurching to dislodge the creature from her back. The sharp burning pain ripped through her skin and she screamed again in absolute agony. The creature hit the ground hard metal spike still in hand. In searing pain, she stomped at the creature, but it rolled to the side.

She could barely think. The creature lurched at her feet, cutting the knife across the back of her heel.

The pain was incredible. The roar was cut off by a choke and she buckled to her knees feeling her feet go limp. All she had was her anger now, and her fear, she had never seen a creature do this before.

The pop and crack of the weapons were growing closer.

The creature was about to move, she reached for it relying on her superior strength gripping the creature in two of her hands. It struggle against her.

She dug in with her claws knowing the humans were coming.

She pulled.

Red everywhere. The creature erupted with a cry that sent her ears ringing. She.... Had never heard such agony from a creature before. It dug into her head and tore into her chest..... Breaking into her mind like a telekinetic weapon making her sick. She let go, and the creature went rolling away across the stone. She bent double feeling sick, the clatter of human weapons rolled over the rocks their grunting and hissing calls.

Sharp cracks, she was knocked backwards as projectiles impacted her armor.

She screamed again limping and scrambling over the rocks, trailing blood behind her.

The creature's cry of agony ringing in her head.

***

Fear.... She had never known it, but now she did, running for her life across the barren landscape away from the approaching line of red glowing red mist.

They had come like the wings of death spreading out to cover the landscape consuming the Drev as they went. They rattled with metal, their eyes glowing with false light, stronger, faster: The dead brought back to life.

She stumbled over the uneven ground and turned. Her father stood his ground against the approaching mass. The thudding of metal footsteps, faces glowed from the darkness. Gunfire roared from the dark, and bodies were torn apart. She could feel the heat of the passing projectiles.

"SUNNY!" A shape threw itself into her path gold armor glowing with the orange spray of blood. The creatures leaped into the sky above them with a power they should never have possessed belying their early frailty. As if dark gods had given them wings.

And they came crashing down like a rockslide.

"FATHER!"

A sliver blade sprouted from the base of his neck, and he crashed to the ground lifeless, armor cracking under the power of the creature. His grand battle scepter rolled form his hands clattering against the ground.

Numb, she scampered backwards across the stone as the dark creatures pursued from behind.

The sky above was clogged with ash, the air with smoke.

She was going to die.

The line around her broke, they were retreating, running for their lives across the open ground. She heard the creatures screaming behind her. And then, a distant call, a sound that she had never heard, and thought she would never hear. Never in their history had it been used.

All at once, in defeated synchronization, the Drev fell to their knees discarding their weapons. Sunny tore hers from her arm and threw it to the side, blood coated the ground.

Surrender.

The battlefield grew silent. Only the sound of the fire-mounds roaring in the distance. Sunny lifted her head fully expecting to die. Everything was so silent, her heart was still. And above her stood the human. Its wide green eyes staring down at her afire with hatred as it stared down the barrel of its weapon.

She was going to die.

And then as she watched, the hatred faded away. The eyes grew wider, it stumbled away from her. The dark god fled from its face replaced by an expression of agony and sickness. The other humans milled about in confusion, though they didn't attack.

She watched the green-eyed creature as it sunk to the ground, and with a soft whimper unlocked the metal from its body and with all its strength, discarded the false limb against the stone. It bounced away clattering against the ground, and there it sat from dark god to helpless beast.

***

The Drev were defeated, an entire race brought to their knees by this strange creature from the stars. Her father was gone, her brother was crippled, and his mate was dead. Sunny was alone.

Her mother remained the only general left, but they did not speak. She had lost all the useful members of her family, why would she speak to Sunny. Despite all she had done, they had lost.

And somehow that was Sunny's fault.

Not many spoke in the days after the war. Some fled the world, alone, others remained.

Sunny stayed quietly watching the stars studying the human technology privately in her grief quietly admiring them. What kind of creature grew stronger as it was ripped apart? She needed to understand.

And all during the night, the human's eyes stared back at her from her dreams