Rescued from the metallic scorpion creature, we are huddled around this table with the creature's tail.

"I cannot believe we have to bring this," I say to Epps.

He chuckles nervously beside be, sighing and shaking his head. "This shit is all crazy."

"Amen." I smile at him slightly and nudge him. "Everything will be ok.

"I'll be alright. But it's you we are all worried about, miss." I chuckle a bit and rub my eyes a bit, exhausted. The past few days have been overly stressful, dire and all about life-and-death choices that have been forcibly thought through.

We both looked at the others around the table, and I shake my head. "I still cannot believe we brought it."

I look at Will, who is in a focused conversation on the tail. I ponder back to his shock and confusion when I protected everyone. My eyes were not normal at that time. They were a vibrant blue instead of jade green.

Will Lennox's Point of View

"It's like a self-regenerating molecular armor," the man who is helping us with this tail says. I point to the hole in the tail and say:

"Look at the scorch mark where the sabot round hit. Melted right through." I think for a bit and turn to Epps and Elektra and ask them,"Hey, aren't sabots hot-loaded for, like,
a 6,000-degree magnesium burn?"

They glance at each other and Elektra, like she always does when she thinks, rubs her left middle-fingernail against her thumb and thinks for a bit.

"Close to it. It melts tank armor," she answers and stands up, taking only small glances at me. Epps senses something between us.

"So this metal skin must react to extreme heat." She nods with a small smile, and we lock eye contact.

She stands somewhat stiff before she yells, "Heads up!"

I turn to see the tail had almost stabbed Epps, who exclaimed, "Whoa!" then, "I thought you said that thing was dead, man!"

All of us pin the tail down.

"Strap it down! Strap it!" Ellie yells. Other men came out with straps and helped us out.
"That thing is wicked!" I exclaim.

The man helping us says to another man, "All right, get on the horn
with Northern Command. Tell them that our effective weapon is high-heat sabot rounds. Recommend we load them on all the gunships. Go."

I pull Elektra aside and look her in the eyes. "El, I don't know what happened . . . Or-Or why you did those things but . . . Whatever you can tell us please . . . We need to know."

She sighs shakily, looking away. "Sorry, Captain, I . . . Sorry." She turns and walks away.

My eyes follow her. "Epps." He stands next to me.

"Yeah, I noticed. Something's up."