Jace let out a yell of pure joy as he zipped through a cloud. Below him, his gryphon, Streak, did the same with the sharp cry unique to the species. There was nothing the two liked better than disobeying orders and doing daredevil acrobatics in the dark skies of Titan. Through the hazy atmosphere, Saturn loomed, a spectacular sight to the average person on Titan, but an everyday view for Jace. Even so, nothing came close to the image Saturn's rings, no matter how often you saw it.
   The heads-up-view in his helmet bleeped, cutting through the bliss. The squad leader wanted him. Jace groaned. Streak sensed his disappointment and shook his mighty head with a growl of his own. Jace smiled and patted Streak's neck before bending over and locking his forearms back into the harness. He didn't need the steering bars attached to the saddle, but he grabbed them anyways. The sarge would have a heart attack if he saw Jace flying with no steering. Jace had been tempted to do it a few times, but that was unfair to the sarge. It wasn't his fault Jace had been assigned to his unit, it was procurements.
   He turned Streak below the cloud cover and joined back up with the squad. The sergeant, William Maze, transmitted a diagram of flight formation to Jace's HUD, the dot next to the leader blinking, telling him that's were he needed to go. His squad mates cleared accordingly.
   Like him, his squad mates were decked out in fully robotic armor suits, black with hints of gray and glowing red streaks on either side of the "face". They each sat on a gryphon, or maybe crouched was a better word. The lower legs were held by clamps as well as the forearms, keeping the rider bent over and making a smaller target and narrower profile, allowing for faster speeds. The harnesses themselves were robotic.
   Gryphons were named for the medieval creature described as half eagle, half lion, because that's exactly what they looked like. They were amazingly fast and incredibly smart. Like people, they each had their own attitude. You couldn't just grab a gryphon and ride it. Your personalities had to match. In some cases, like Jace and Streak, the bond seemed almost telepathic.
   Jace moved into position beside Maze and prepared for the barage. Maze unsnapped his arm and motioned for the rest of the squad to go ahead before snapping it back. Maze waited for them to disappear in the orange clouds before opening a channel.
   "Honestly, Engle, how long is it going to be before you understand that we are on duty! You can't just fly off to your heart's desire! You joined the Skyguard, you're expected to follow protocol and orders! The only reason I haven't had you expelled is because if you actually did your job, you would  be one of our best!"
   Jace listened in silence, not really paying attention. He'd heard this several times before. What the sergeant didn't under stand was that he hadn't joined, he had been pressed when the government decided that all orphans were only fit for military duty, no matter what job they might already have. If you were sixteen and without parents, you were either in the military or dead. The only upside for Jace was the chance to bond with a gryphon and fly. Of course, he couldn't tell Maze that. He'd think he was whining.
   Maze finished his talk and asked if he understood. Jace nodded, and they flew in the direction the rest of the squad had taken. They would meet up with them on the outer wall of the domed city of Xanadu, on the Xanadu Plateau. It was the only settlement on Titan.
   Below, black ice fields sat among large methane lakes passed by with the occasional volcano spewing either black water or long trails of lava. Titan was a desolate landscape. Jace often wondered what triggered the idea to settle here.
   The large dome of Xanadu was just appearing when he felt a tingle down his spine, the kind he felt right before hooligans decided to jump him, or when a turn was going to be too sharp. He was about to call out a warning to Maze when he realized Maze wasn't there anymore. His head jerked around when he heard a gryphon shriek, and saw Maze in the claws of another gryphon with a rider wearing blood red armor. There was just enough time for Jace to think bloodmen before Streak roared and he turned in time to see another dive for him. He reached for the pistol on his leg. His hand had just closed on the hilt when something hit him from behind. He was knocked loose from the saddle and could only watch helplessly as the ground hurtled towards him. He hadn't even touched the ground when he felt a lancing pain in his arm. Everything turned white, then black as he hit the surface.

   Jace could hear a steady beeping over the sounds of bustling people trying to be quiet. His eyelids felt heavy, and he struggled to open them. He caught a glimpse of spotless white walls before they closed again. Everything hurt, and it took him a second to remember what had happened. His eyes snapped open when he did and he jerked into a sitting position, only to lay back again with a massive migraine and a groan.
   "Ah, good. You're awake. We were worried for a second you wouldn't make it."
   Jace realized he was in a hospital. The speaker had a soft voice. Jace would have told the man he had thought the same, but his throat felt like it was on fire.
   "You will have a head ache for quite some time, but everything else will be fine in a matter of hours. You've got quite the loyal gryphon. He dragged you back here before your wounds became fatal, then refused to let us move you out of sight until the majority of your wounds were treated."
   Jace dragged his eyes open again. The speaker was a middle-aged man, standing on the side of the bed with a tablet.
   "The wounds, to be precise, included concussion, numerous fractures, internal bleeding, and, well..." his gaze dropped to his arm.
   Jace struggled to look. His left hand was fine, an IV line inserted into his wrist. His right arm, on the other hand...
   Jace fell back, shocked, and stared at the ceiling. His right arm was gone, ending just above were his elbow should have been. The stump was bandaged and strapped to the bed.
   "The shock is natural," the doctor went on. "But you will be receiving a prosthetic soon. You may feel phantom pain from time to time, but it will disappear when the new appendage is attached." He checked his tablet. "Until then, try to get some sleep. You've been through a lot, so don't expect to be out of bed soon." he walked out the door.
   The doctor's words swam around Jace's head. Just before he drifted off to sleep, a thought struck him. The government killed any orphans incapable of work, even if they would soon be back at health. So why was he still alive? Who had decided to keep him alive, and give him a prosthetic, at that? He would probably find out later. All that mattered was that he had survived.

   Tyri stood by the window offering a view into the boy's room. Unlike the others, this one had a trackable identity. Jace Engle, age eighteen, had been two when Earth capsized. His parents had given themselves to let him live his life, only they hadn't known how corrupt the government would become, thinking orphans weren't worth anything. Jace was known as the public outcast, constantly being bullied and practically living in the streets. And he had a massive aura.
   She would pay for his prosthetic, then give him the choice of coming with her or continuing his life. He was a charming boy. Once people got to know him, he might have a good life. She would just have to wait and see.