The Armored Division

Thirteen large metal balls fell into the surf causing steam to rise as the cold ocean water cooled their exterior shells. The balls slowly rolled ashore onto the rocky beach, at some point unfurling like an armadillo and revealing the soldier within. At first glance, the soldier would appear to be a machine due to the mask covering the face and the metallic suit worn by the soldier. Deeming the atmosphere to be breathable, each of the thirteen removed their face plate long enough to purge their air supply of stale gases and refill the tanks inside their armor.

They climbed slowly up the embankment and stopped to survey the landscape. The leader of the squad turned to face his team. "This place looks very much like home, but it feels different somehow. Still, it shouldn't be hard to track the Demon with Two Hearts."

"Careful, there, Commander. I also have two hearts. Finding the fugitive and returning him to Gaia is not going to be easy. He has been terrorizing innocent worlds. Your troops are the finest trackers, but we have ways to disguise our true selves from others. We cannot hide from our own kind. That is why I am here." The speaker had removed her helmet. Her amber eyes had closed to narrow slits in the ultraviolet glare radiating beneath the grey sky.

"Quite right, Wisteria. There are none finer than the Armored Division of the Gaian Defense Corps. Still, our armor seems to be a burden on these rocks. There appears to be a cavern nearby where we can store them. Keep your sidearms, men. But keep them hidden. We don't want to scare the locals."

Wisteria let the Gaian troops help her shed her armor. She was relieved to be free of it, but it had carried her through the Great Tear. The Gaian Commander had not questioned the coordinates that he had been given, and she hoped that he wouldn't. Her true mission had nothing to do with capturing a fugitive. It was her own escape that she had planned and that meant sacrificing her status quo for an uncertain future.

Commander Galen kept a watchful eye on Wisteria. He didn't entirely trust the Visitant. They had a history of meddling in the affairs of others. This fact made it easier to accept that Wisteria was indeed chasing one of her own for causing great mischief on innocent worlds. But perhaps, she had another reason for her strange path to this distant and unusual world.

The Visitants had abandoned their home and their population had dwindled to the point where the Galactic League had declared them an endangered species. Although Wisteria had been raised on Gaia, she was still adept in the Visitant ways. And she longed for her freedom from the constant oversight of the Gaian bodyguards. She had one advantage on this expedition. Unlike the Gaian troops, she was not tethered to the travel spheres. All she had to do was exceed their reach and everything, troops included, would return to Gaia.

There was no "Demon with Two Hearts", but it served to create a mission urgent enough to allow her some input in where to look for this mythical monster. Wisteria preferred to think of herself as a Ranger, but her freedom of movement was sorely hampered by beings that knew little of what she was. She wondered at times what they made of her pale blue skin, her lack of hair, and her azure eyes that looked much like those of the felines on Gaia. She marveled at the variety of skin, hair, and eye colors among the Gaian people.

The group marched for the better part of the day hoping to encounter signs of civilization. As the planet's star began to drop below the horizon, the Commander ordered an encampment near a stand of trees. A portion of survival rations sufficed for the evening meal before everyone settled in for the night. Galen kept a watchful eye on Wisteria until she fell asleep, then bedded down for the duration.

A strange growl emanating from the bushes woke Wisteria. She peered into the dark stand of trees. The creature was rather small for a feline, but it was hissing at her by the time she was close enough to see it clearly. She hissed back. The feline seemed confused at first then fled into the woods. She spent the rest of the night scanning the bushes for other creatures that might be a threat.

Commander Galen was surprised to find Wisteria still at the campsite. "I thought you'd be long gone by now."

"I couldn't leave. Something woke me, a small feline, but it ran off. I stayed up in case it returned. But it gave me time to think."

"And?"

"It's time to go back through the rift. I don't want to be more alone than I already am and that is what I would be if I ran away. Maybe we could find more of my kind somewhere? I'd feel less like an artifact."

"Isn't that why we are here?"

"I lied. I thought I wanted to escape, to run away. But I really want contact with someone like me and I won't find that here."

Commander Galen laughed. "But that is exactly what you will find here. Did you really think that I would allow you to risk my team on some strange world? This world is where your people have been settled. Your original home was lost over time. We found a new one for your people. It's time for you to join them."

A small boy raised his hand. Wisteria nodded. "Did the Visitants know when they brought you here that this was your home?"

"How could they? Much of our history had been lost, including the location of our home. The planet had become hostile to us because we abused its resources. Only lately had it become habitable again."

"Why did you switch the people in the story?" a young girl asked from the back of the room.

"To remind you and your children not to judge anyone by how they look. The Visitants may be blue skinned, bald and have two hearts, but they are a compassionate people. Our ancestors were less so. They were greedy and warlike, attempting to conquer the galaxy after destroying their own world. The fact that any of our kind survived is a miracle.