Armor Up

When it came down to the wire and we were almost ready to go into orbit around our destination, I retreated to our room and pulled all my belongings out from under the bed: everything I'd had when Wolf took me.

My backpack was in good condition still, considering I never took it anywhere. Inside, there were carefully-folded pictures of my family and one with me and Devon. He'd taken it by surprise when we first became partners, so it wasn't the most flattering picture of me. His arm was around my shoulder, smiling that happy-go-lucky grin I'd gotten used to.

I tried not to look at any of them too long lest I become weepy, but just being able to hold and glance at them made me less homesick.

Setting the photos aside, I fished my phone out from an inner pocket and turned it on to listen to some music and play my offline puzzle games. They were a great way to settle my nerves and fill up some of the time spent just drifting in space with nothing to do. Right now, I needed it to do both.

Sometimes I wished I could make calls, but I knew it was better that I couldn't.

A clean cut.

Being able to use my phone to do anything at all made me feel a little normal. Something familiar in this time when nothing else was. I whittled away hours. I also used the notepad function to keep track of things—my thoughts, my experiences, and important things Wolf told me . . . it was like a journal that helped me stay sane.

Wolf called me over the intercom when we reached the planet, so I stowed all my things back in the bag and shoved it under the bed. All except my phone, since I'd eaten up the battery. I took that with me so I could charge it. One of the trade-offs for being able to charge it at all was the fact that it took forever to do so.

We met in the hallway as I was heading for the bridge.

"Are we landing?" I asked him.

"Soon. We should both eat before we do. I will call Critter for you."

"Not necessary," I said proudly. "|He taught me. I just need to charge my phone.|"

Nodding, Wolf let me pass. It didn't take long for me to plug my phone in and then head to the kitchen area. In the time it took, Wolf had already devoured half a slab of meat.

I raided the stockpile of frozen meat in cold storage and pulled out a cut of steak. I would have to wait for it to thaw, but the warming plate in the back would have it done in only a few minutes. I just had to be careful not to forget about it. Wolf, of course, ate his raw, so it wasn't long before he was completely finished.

"I will be on the bridge if you need me," Wolf announced before he left. He wasn't normally this aloof, but I just assumed he was getting in the zone for his job.

Okay, he was pretty aloof under normal circumstances, too. This just hit a bit differently, like he was distracted. I had only seen him work once before: when he was in Gunnison with me. I was still learning all his habits and mannerisms.

And I hoped I would continue to learn more and more about him.

"|Alright!|" I called over my shoulder. I would ask him later when it wouldn't bother him.

It was just one edgy criminal mad that he lost a duel. I wouldn't worry about him too much but I didn't want to throw him off his game, either. That's why I agreed to his terms, too. The last thing he needed was to worry about me.

The kitchen wasn't really a kitchen—not like on Earth. It had one counter with cabinets below. The only tools I had were a knife, something similar to a cast-iron pot, and a hot plate. Keeping it simple made it easy, at least.

I could cook in the field, too. I had to figure most of it out on my own, though. Since Wolf ate most food raw, it was up to me to make sure things were cooked to my standards, which was at least something I'd learned on Earth.

But, like, with a stove. And pots and pans galore.

My cooking experience on Earth hadn't been much to write home about, but I'd picked up a few things living alone in my apartment.

Sure, most of my food had come out of a box. I also spent a lot of time watching cooking shows on top of my regular programs, though, so I had the general idea down.

I just had to sort of figure out how to apply that to cooking with alien food and tools . . .

Thankfully, it wasn't too overwhelming. There were no seasonings, so I couldn't fuck that up. All I had to do was not burn my shit and avoid undercooking it and I was golden.

Wolf had informed me that there was quite a bit I could eat raw, but I just really did not want to risk it. Not when it came to meat, at least: raw meat wasn't a joke on Earth. I didn't care if it made me look like a damn primadonna, I wasn't getting space food poisoning.

I cooked and ate the bland meat with a side of veggies that I found in the back of the cold storage. It was a root, like potatoes and carrots that tasted like dirt. I needed to eat my food groups, though.

However, I was seriously craving some damn McDonald's—or any junk food, really—but the sugar in the fruits was tiding me over. It was probably just the withdrawal talking.

Eventually, I'd move past my trans fat and sugar addiction.

With my meal finished, I was still feeling a little empty so I started snacking on some seeds Critter left out. They were edible in the same way sunflower seeds were, with an outer shell that needed to be peeled. They kind of tasted like candy corn, which made it kind of difficult to eat a lot of them.

I was really going at them, though, probably trying to eat my anxiety away.

Around that time, Wolf returned.

"Are you finished? We will be landing soon," he said.

"Yes. How long?"

"Not long now."

I inwardly groaned. Yautja didn't keep track of time with minutes or hours like humans, so it was hard getting any sort of meaningful answer out of him when it came to that. I should have learned to stop asking a long time ago but old habits die hard.

Wolf canted his head, his tusks clicking inquisitively. "You remember what I said?"

"Yes," I sighed. "Only hunt for meat or explore, and stay within sight of the ship. I know."

He touched my shoulder and said, "I know it is frustrating, but as soon as I have finished my work we will get you a trophy."

Smiling, I leaned against his touch. Though I didn't know how he did it, just having him close by put me at ease, made me feel like I was capable of anything.

"Thanks. I look forward to it."

He nodded in understanding. "We will talk more about it later. For now, I must prepare. I will set out at landfall."

"Then I shall do the same." I stood and followed him to the armory.

There were various pieces of armor and other apparel items within that we could choose from for particular missions, mounted on the walls or stored within cupboards. I really only had the one set, but Wolf had a few and a couple dozen masks, though he seemed to only use one of them as far as I had seen.

Most of his were in various states of disrepair—dents and scratches, chips and stains. All from previous battles. He still had his battered armor from the crash mounted up on the wall. The set that he wore the most was much shinier than the rest, made of a reflective blue-hued metal instead of the matte gray of the others.

All I had was a full cuirass with separate, flat shoulder pauldrons. Wolf only had one pauldron that acted as a mount for his plasma caster—I didn't need one because I just used a handheld that had a holster at my ankle.

Wolf was already at work putting his gear on. It all fit so perfectly, as if it was tailored specifically for the curve of every muscle and shape of every limb, crafted efficiently to move with each flex and twist and turn. I realized I was staring and looked away, examining the ornate and decorative armor that he wore to visit Mhalu's clan.

Figuring I should stop gawking, I took my suit up from its shapeless mannequin and started to dress. He suddenly batted my hands away, startling the shit out of me, and began fastening the straps and buckles himself.

Though there wasn't much conviction behind my words, I protested his intervention. "|I can do it myself, you know|."

"I know," he purred, slightly amused by my reaction.

I was aware of every slight touch from his fingers brushing my skin as he worked the straps, as he tightened the buckles. A blush crept up my skin and I tried to remember what we were supposed to be doing.

For a moment, I stared thoughtfully at the various weapons available, then tried to be slick. "What should I bring?"

"That is for you to decide," he quipped.

I huffed but had mostly expected that response. It was fine, though. I knew most of the basic necessities, then there were more unique weapons that could be swapped out based on preference.

While Wolf started gathering his own things, I pulled down a pack and went through my options. There was my own gauntlet that held my wrist blades—or 'dah'kte' as they called them—adjusted and customized to fit my scrawny human arm.

I pulled it off its mount and loaded a few metallic arrowheads in the slot. I also attached a netgun to it. It was already loaded with four razor nets, but I put a few extras in my pack along with more arrowheads.

"Can you hand that to me?" I asked Wolf, indicating to a familiar, serrated sword. It was closer to him than it was to me.

It was the very same one he'd lent me on his crashed ship all those years ago. My first weapon. It had somewhat become a bit of a comfort to me. Wolf plucked it from the wall and gave it to me. He also handed me the magnetic strip that I could wear on my back so I could keep it handy.

"Thank you," I chirped. He huffed an acknowledgment.

When I was satisfied that I had mostly everything I needed, I had Wolf help me set up my medkit. I still wasn't versed in what exactly all the different medicines did. Plus, their medicine tended to really kick my ass. I didn't want to risk fucking it up and accidentally overdosing.

Before we left, I pointed at a plasma pistol and asked, "Can I have that?"

He gave it some consideration, then nodded and handed it over. "Do you remember how to use it?" he teased.

I scoffed. I had been practicing my melee weapons for a while, but it was sort of like riding a bike. "|I know how to fire a gun.|"

"It is not quite the same as the ones you are used to on your planet," he reminded me.

"No, I know. It runs on a charge and after so many uses I have to let it cool off before it can recharge," I recited.

Wolf seemed satisfied. "That is correct. And the casters?"

"Those have a limited amount of charges," I said, wracking my brain. "And after a while, it becomes useless until you bring it back to the ship for manual recharge."

He shook me by the shoulder and rumbled proudly. "Yes, that is right."

I much preferred the pistol to the caster because it was more like using the sidearms I was trained to use. The shoulder-mounted casters were ungainly and cumbersome—not to mention not very user-friendly.

Feeling smug, I looked over my gear one last time. Everything I could think of was on my person, so I was satisfied.

"Are you ready?" Wolf asked, a hint of concern behind his words.

I nodded, holding my mask under my arm. "Yes."

Nodding, Wolf finished packing his own gear and then headed for the door. "We are orbiting currently, so I will find somewhere to land now."

"|I'll come with you.|"

Maybe I was a bit too quick to offer, but I hated landing even more than I hated just floating. Some people had an irrational fear of spiders or snakes . . . I had an irrational fear of space in general. The landing was always rough.

Wolf had no reason to protest, though, so we went to the bridge together and I hung out next to him, inspecting the planet as it drew closer. There wasn't much I'd retained from my school career about the solar system, but it looked like a primary planet—one made out of rock like Earth.

Most of it was land, unlike my home planet. There were only a few patches of large bodies of water, a rich reddish-purple color instead of the blue I was used to—so much so that it almost looked poisonous. The land itself was a typical grayish color with a spattering of what I assumed was yellow forests.

A sense of giddy excitement welled up within me. I never knew what I was going to expect on a new planet and I always looked forward to exploring. It made me feel like a damn tourist sometimes, but I kind of was.

"This is the third moon and where we will be landing," Wolf clarified, overriding the autopilot so he could steer it himself. "The planet is largely inhospitable."

"|Really?|" I remarked, more to myself than to him.

He chuckled and pointed. "That is the moon. This is the planet." As he turned the ship, a giant mass of angry maroon gas came into view.

The planet's surface writhed as if it were made of swarming insects and flashes of lightning lit up just beneath the dark gas. So, it was actually a gas giant like Jupiter instead of a primary planet like Earth. I'd been looking at the damn moon the whole time.

"Oh." I didn't have any other words to express my surprise.

His point made, he guided us down toward the surface and I braced myself for that increasingly familiar turbulence that was re-entry.

"You will need to keep your mask on. The atmosphere is extremely toxic to anything that is not from the planet. Even the serfs will need respiratory aid if they wish to leave the ship," he explained.

That was a bit shocking since they hadn't needed any sort of respirator on any of the other planets we'd stopped on. Granted, I'd only been to a grand total of two planets so far with most of our stops being clanships, but still.

I gripped the edge of Wolf's seat as the ship was buffeted by the moon's thick atmosphere. Flames tinged the edges of the huge window. Wolf was unbothered, however, and I tried to borrow some of his confidence.

Still, I couldn't help but feel like we were about to be shattered and engulfed by flames.

None of that happened, though. We successfully broke through and fell below the red-hued clouds, which were wispy and almost ethereal. The sky itself was an odd purple color.

I relaxed now that we had passed through the atmosphere and found myself caught up in the sight-seeing while Wolf looked for a flat, concealed area to land his ship. He very well could have landed it just about anywhere, but he tried not to make too much of an impact on the local environment.

That was technically par for the course—it was bad form to make it easy for your presence to be known, whether or not there was intelligent, civilized life on a planet.

We were hovering over a rocky, forested biome. The foliage was yellow, reminding me of a field of sunflowers. Wolf found a clearing amongst a grove of trees and he lightly navigated the ship down.

It was a tight fit and we may have ended up shaving off some branches, but it was going to have to be good enough.

My heart was thudding away inside my chest and I did one last check of my gear. Every strap was tightened. Every weapon was in an easily-accessible place. Supplies were retrieved from the kitchen, tucked away, and secured. Mask on. Nerves and anxiety were spiked—but so too was my excitement. I was jittery, I was pumped. I was ready.

"You remember how to call me?" Wolf asked as we watched the ship's hatch lower.

I nodded and glanced at my wrist computer. "Yes, but I will not need to."

"That is a good attitude."