Skavit let out a soft groan as he climbed the metal beast with the help from Arizona, both the claws on his hands and the ones on his feet scratching its dark gray paint until he finally got on top, a soft huff coming out from his pink nostrils as he adjusted his gear and body armor, taking the time to inspect the upper half of the vehicle. The spot where he climbed up from was smooth for two feet, until the metallic foundation, from which the large LRAD jutted, caught his attention. The most noticeable part of it was its double half-spherical shape, two curved shells facing opposite directions, their interiors being bright white. Between them, there was more metal, probably to cover the electronics and wiring that he was taught not to touch.?

  Further ahead, there were more intricate electronic devices, from small lenses hidden here and there around the vehicle’s form, allowing the drivers to have a better view of their surroundings, to a large antenna for communications. Toward the front, the hull sloped downwards, with enormous lights facing forward and two hatches for the drivers to evacuate.

  But regardless! This wasn’t what the vermin were focusing on; rather, it was the view from this elevated point. They were at the top of a small hill, surrounded by undergrowth, which was the standard for the continent. In the distance, the Fhin Outpost stood tall, colorful concrete structures contrasting with the stone buildings surrounding it. Riding the machine made the rodent feel powerful, like he could crush anything in his path, just as Arizona had promised.

  “Gah! There we go.” Arizona huffed out as he got on top of the vehicle, before promptly turning around and reaching down to help someone else from his Fireteam. Soon enough, three more people climbed up: “Larvae” Jenkins, the Fireteam’s leader; John “Marine”, the Machine gunner; and finally, the one everyone called “Sirius Junior”, the rifleman of the team.

  Because it couldn’t be helped, Skavit just went along with the odd nicknames, even though they made him more confused. Regardless, aside from “Sirius Junior”, no one else was really using a helmet; the other two were wearing field caps while Arizona wore his boonie. Everyone would take a seat at the top of the vehicle, gripping onto something while the Sarge did the technicals inside the vehicle.

  “So… what’s the reason we’re… here?” Skavit asked reluctantly, looking up at the grenadier for a few seconds before turning his gaze away to the view in the distance.

  “Oh, this is just for show, really.” The human replied with a sniff, leaning back while the vehicle hummed underneath. “This is the first time your people are going to see a killing machine like this one, so we’ll be making it a small parade out of this and…” He continues before the words coming out of his lips began trailing away into silence, his brows furrowing. “And… with all respect, we’ll just… show that we are the ‘Masters’ of this big gal and how you’re with us too.” The grenadier finishes, his tone shifting to a more uncertain one, clearly afraid of offending the alien rodent.

  “Oooooh! I… see!” Skavit squeaked, straightening his posture, pointy ears twitching while his tail swayed from side to side, unable to hide their excitement at the whole idea. Unfortunately, though, time would burn through most of it, long minutes going by, the whole chatter still going on inside the armored vehicle.

  “Hm… Hey, Corp, can you give me the binoculars real quick?” Arizona asked the broad-shouldered blonde while taking a few looks at the vermin, clearly noticing the boredom and anxiety building up in the small creature.

  “Aye aye, but if I hear a dropship closing in on us, I’m taking out your skull and beating you to death with it, Iced Tea.” The Corporal replied, with the item being taken out from his hip and handed over, with the grenadier grasping the almost brick-shaped tool and taking a quick look at its sights, pressing a few buttons on the top of it to change some settings before turning to the rodent. “Hey, Skavit, check this out.”

  “Hm?” The vermin turned his head to the human, looking directly at the item being offered to him. It was rectangular, the sides being half-circles with a few indentations for human fingers to grip it. The top had several buttons, right where those digits would rest for convenience. He’d look between the human and the binoculars before reluctantly grasping them, staring down at their sights curiously. “What’s with all the pressies?”

  “Oh, those are to get coordinates and laser targeting.” The grenadier explained, as if he wasn’t talking to an uplift in the making, taking a second for him to realize that before reaching forward. Grasping the binoculars with both hands, he’d guide them towards the brown rodent’s face. “Here, just look through it, and I’ll explain.”

  Skavit initially felt awkward with that against his face because his eyes, unlike those of humans, weren’t fully facing forward. His kin’s eyes, however, were more to the sides of their skulls. Eventually, he’d give up and tilt the thing, staring through only one of the digital lenses while he closed his other eye, and it was damn worth his time. The view through the binoculars was simple at first, just being an expansion of his own normal view, making things seem closer while some green human words and symbols shifted and changed as he looked around, while others remained the same.

  “Alright, so, for coordinates, we just split the terrain and land into big squares, then split them into smaller ones as many times we need for precision.” Arizona calmly explained, still gently holding onto the binoculars and just guiding him around while making sure the rodent wouldn’t accidentally press anything dangerous. “We assign them a number, and eventually we get one so precise that we can give accurate information on where we should attack or where one of our gunships can hit.”

  “Ooh! So, can ye hymans hit anything?” Skavit asked, squinting at the sights, claws idly brushing over the grenadier’s fingers, taking in the vast expanse before locking in the Fhin Outpost itself, the several stone buildings made by his kin that surrounded the overall area of the outpost and the landing zone for the flying metal beasts. He could also see the others of his kin walking around the small town surrounding the base, going on with their lives, and even spotted the colorful soldiers of the royal Ziff-Tredan Clan patrolling the streets.

  “ anything. It also has one option that detects heat.” Arizona explained, taking a quick glance at where exactly his fingers were for a second before shifting them, and with the press of a button, everything in Skavit’s field of view became black and white. At first, there didn’t seem to be anything really interesting aside from the same wide fields and tall grasslands, but with a monochrome tone. “Here, look at me.”

  “Hm?” the vermin hummed as the human’s hand gently turned the binoculars and Skavit’s head towards himself, revealing some bits of gray and white, especially on his head, arms, and other spots not covered by his clothes. “Ooooooh! This is- This is really cool!” he blurted out, looking at the grenadier from head to toe through the scope before turning his torso around to check out how the others looked.

  “How this even-” He squeaked until abruptly being interrupted by the infantry carrier vehicle bursting back to life, softly humming and weakly shaking, which was enough for the rodent to briefly lose his balance, falling on his side towards the middle of the metal beast while letting out a small squeal. Arizona snatched him by the back of the neck in case the vehicle began moving until Skavit could recover his posture. While at it, the human was quick to snatch the binoculars right off those claws.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “You good there, buddy?” The grenadier asked while already handing the binoculars back to Jenkins, who witnessed the entire ordeal with a side-eyed look. He promptly picked the item up with an annoyed grunt.

  “Yeyeyeye erm…” Skavit blurted out, squirming under Arizona’s grip helplessly, trying to recompose himself out of the human’s grasp with little success. Then, the human gives the vermin a tug, lifts him up, and finally settles the rat down on his butt over a more stable spot closer to the center. “Ya didn’t need t’do that.” He squeaked out, crossing his arms as he grumbled.

  “Sure, sure-” the brunet replies with a teasing tone to his words before abruptly going quiet, wincing slightly as he then reaches up to a device over his right ear. He presses a few small buttons before glancing towards Jenkins, who’s himself checking out the rest of the squad.

  “We’re ready, start movin’.” The fair-skinned corporal replied to something in his ear, a hand over it, while John ‘Marine‘ took a firmer grip on his gun, keeping it closer to his chest with the muzzle pointed to his right and down towards the ground. Jenkins shifted on his spot, just a little further back to make sure he wouldn’t fall off like Skavit almost did. “We’ll be on our way to the outpost. Y’all remember those cool recruitment ads of the Marines, right? Hope each of you kept them to heart, because today y’all are the cool guys with guns, so just smile and wave… especially you Skavit.”

  The vermin’s pointy ears perked up, eyes widening as his head twisted to the corporal at the mention of his name. The rodent quickly nodded and straightened his posture; his right leg anxiously tapping the side of the vehicle as it hung in the air. “Er- I mean- waving as ye do doesn’t mean anything for… my people.” He blurts out shyly, trailing the last few words away as he thought of a replacement for ‘us’.

  “Hm…” Jenkins hums, with quite an awkward silence lingering at first before he quickly straightens up. “Well, just do it anyway, they’ll eventually figure out that it’s meant to be friendly.” He replies, shrugging the matter off while the rodent keeps on anxiously kicking his feet in the air.

  Fortunately for the rodent, he’d have enough time to deal with that problem as the armored beast’s tracks crushed the tall grass as it ran down the gentle slope of the hill towards the outpost. Soon, the scenery slowly changed. Stone huts and houses half dug into the ground appeared here and there, the tall grass gradually becoming smaller until finally some patches of dirt and even small pathways made of stone guided them deeper into the slums.

  But of course, the most important of all were the people. Vermin of many colors, most wearing simple clothes and robes as they went on with their day, before getting promptly distracted by a metal beast almost as tall as their entire house. The most amusing part of this was the reactions, with most getting jump scared by the gigantic machine. The metal beast was quiet, even for the Aidin’s sensitive ears, its humming almost inaudible to humans, while Skavit himself could only hear a faint whistle until getting around eight feet away from its hull. Soon enough, though, these small scares would be gone as the news spread through the town, a small crowd gradually building up on the streets.

  It was then that the vehicle slowed down , both to do a small parade as planned and to not end up crushing a stray rodent on the way to the center of the outpost. For a moment, it felt like almost the whole town around the outpost stopped as more rodents gathered on the large main street leading towards the core of the outpost itself. Hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at the whispering, mostly from ordinary, whole families coming to an ever-increasing crowd to see the new, large machine drive through the simpler parts of the small town.

  Meanwhile, Skavit waved alongside his brothers in arms, ears twitching as the crowd grew restless and curious. The sight of their kin, one of their own, on top of the beast sparked a sense of wonder and pride in a way… although a little too much, with some getting dangerously close to the vehicle in order to inspect it.

  “Hey, Skavit, your cue here.” The corporal blurted out, glancing back at Arizona and the interpreter, with the grenadier then nudging the rodent with his elbow while smiling, trying to cheer him up. Meanwhile, the alien rat was getting restless himself, ears twitching more quickly alongside his whiskers as his tail swatted and brushed against the metallic top of the vehicle.

  He’d quickly raise his voice, though, while fixing his posture. “” Skavit roared over the chatter of the crowd, getting the attention from most of the eyes around the crowd, even making some of those who were on their tracks to touch the vehicle stop. “” he squeaked, but that didn’t sound very convincing.

  “So… what are you saying?” Arizona whispered, leaning in closer to the rodent’s ear, taking glances between him and the crowd while tightening his grip over his weapon, but still keeping his finger off the trigger.

  “Telling to back off.” Skavit blurted out, his body tensing up a little while taking more glances at the crowd of anxious rodents, with things starting to get out of hand. “” the rat shrieked, his voice making some vermin step away, but it was still a concerning situation. The ones closer to the vehicle wanted to pull back, but the crowd was unmoving, not allowing them to give more room. Those in the back of the crowd, wanting to get closer to watch, pushed those at the front forward, closer to the vehicle.

  “” someone screamed, and from within the crowd, white and red banners rose. Rodents wearing simple metal armor with the same color scheme stepped through it, being way less gentle in their approach. Kicks, shoves, and more shouts followed, the Royal Guards of the Ziff-Tredan Clan making their presence known and scaring the ordinary rodents. Despite their aggressiveness, the guards kept their weapons sheathed, blades and spears crafted out of bone and cold metal.

  “” An unfamiliar voice echoed, closer to Skavit, making his ears perk up as he looked down. Three feet away from the vehicle stood yet another Royal Guard, wearing a bucket cylinder helmet with the white and red colors, ears poking out from holes at the top. He seemed to be the one leading the other twenty or so guards, scaring away the crowd, squeaks and hisses echoing in the background.

  “” The interpreter replied, squeaking while watching the guards brutalize the crowd. Meanwhile, his squad mates seemed to be quite concerned with this kind of rat brutality, surprised by all the commotion.

  “They really aren’t that gentle, huh.” Jenkins blurted out, letting out a small sigh before he abruptly froze for a second. Reaching out for his ear, he tapped on something and listened. “Mmmhm… hey Skavit, ask them to make a corridor towards the outpost.”

  The interpreter quickly nodded, turning his attention to the knight, his hands beginning to gesture towards the east. “” He’d squeak, a claw pointing at the stone path up ahead.

  The knight replied, “”, and turned to his warriors who were still pushing and shoving the crowd back with loud squeaks, shouting orders. Gradually, the warriors formed a spear formation.

  Finally, some of the tension on Skavit’s brothers in arms soothed, with Arizona quickly going back to waving at the crowd idly, his grip on the gun more relaxed. At a slow speed, the scenery changed, some of the crowd slowly disappearing, going back to their own business as the vehicle got ever closer to the eastern half of the town, which was property of the humans.

  The buildings gradually became more sophisticated, the stone architecture becoming more complex, while less of that grass was around. From stones of various sizes stuck together with simple beige cement to more intricate patterns of well-rectangular bricks and stones. The quality of the cement itself became more obvious until finally, a single house that was the closest to the Fhin outpost itself stuck out between the others. It was truly alien in design, perfectly rectangular with neat windows and even two floors! Unlike the others, it was made with human concrete and resembled the designs inside the outpost.

  Something else would soon divert Skavit’s attention, though, as the vehicle reached a gap, leaving the crowd behind. It was a thirty-foot-long patch of concrete between the town and the outpost’s walls, created for the safety of the residents of the outpost. Right ahead of them, the gates would slowly open up for the vehicle, with the rodent taking a last glance behind, watching the knights putting themselves between the now small crowd and the gap.

  Then, the gates finally closed.