At the front was a large beast, a mother grieving the loss of her little ones to the hands of an unknown species sent to do nothing but extract the poison from their glands. At the back was another beast, similar to the first in terms of looks and aggression. At first glance, one could tell that the second beast was the father of the slain litter. Like the mother, it too was grieving the loss of its young but instead of weeping, it acted out on aggression. With one swing of its jaw, the beast ripped apart the upper body of an Ethisian soldier, leaving its lower body standing momentarily with a fountain of its blood gushing out. The other soldiers immediately turned around and were met by the bloodshot red eyes of the male beast. Now, surrounded on both sides, the soldiers and Mech Pilots quickly halved their efforts to fight both creatures. Commander took on the male, which appeared more aggressive and dangerous, while Elenor focused on the female. The pilots and soldiers remained in the center and watched the two High Grades get into action. The first to attack was Commander, an Ethisian who was well versed in the skills of Eneraflux. Whenever he needed, the Ethisian would increase the input of his energy, rather than output. That way, he’d more than double his strength and body’s resilience, stamina, and durability. With a surge of energy coursing wildly in his body, Commander shot himself off the murky watery surface of the forest and slammed fist first on the beast. The creature was barely knocked back but rather enraged even more. Lifting its jaws, it unleashed a powerful roar that shook the foundations of the forest. Despite this, that didn’t stop Commander who leaped once again with another attack to its face. Different from the first time, Commander swung his sword as hard and fast as he could on the creature’s face. Using all his strength and might, the Ethisian was able to penetrate deep through its thick hide until he touched the bone. The impact of his attack was so great that it sent the male beast falling to the ground with blood gushing all over. The beast wailed and cried which sparked another negative reaction from the female beast. Seeing its male counterpart fall, the female beast began to stomp heavily in order to make its attackers lose their footing...and it worked. Neither the Mech Pilots nor soldiers were able to stand, leaving them vulnerable to its next attack. *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* Four feet, with a bone-crushing force, fell on top of about eight soldiers and two Mechs, killing them almost immediately. What was left of them was nothing but a marsh of blood, armor, and guts left to dissolve in the water. "No!!" Elenor cried, feeling horrible that she let more people die. Because of this, she too used her extensive amount of knowledge and experience in Eneraflux to fight back. With her sword in hand, the Ethisian started to run circles around the beast, making it stomp, jump, and kick aimlessly. Doing this for a few minutes, the Ethisian built enough speed and force and began slicing the beast. The first slice cut halfway through its right front leg, causing a considerably large enough wound. The beast wailed while it lifted its leg to relieve itself of the pain but as soon as it did, Elenor returned with another slice, this time making sure to sever its bone completely. The beast’s foot was cleanly sliced off its body, causing a severe amount of blood to pour out. Before it could even think of retaliating, it felt a sharp, stinging pain throbbing on its undercarriage. Before it knew it, a large incision was made from the bottom of its belly all the way to the start of its ribcage. The incision was long but not deep but it still hurt equally. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵 As quickly as it noticed, the beast shifted its weight to its tail and swung at Elenor. The weight and force of its tail were so great that it shredded the trees and shrubs behind it. The wind it generated split the waters apart and the longer it swung, the more speed and force it gathered. The beast’s tail stopped midway through its course, the one responsible for stopping it being none other than Elenor. But it came at a cost. The female Ethisian’s armor was destroyed completely; all pieces shredded off her body. This came at a completely dangerous disadvantage to her for her suit was the reason she and her escorts were able to breathe in the planet’s harsh conditions. Without it, she had barely a few minutes left to breathe, that was if she could either find another suit of armor or vials of breathing fluids. Puffing up her cheeks, the female Ethisian took in her last breath and pushed the beast’s tail away from her. With only a few precious minutes of air left, she had to quickly get rid of her target—not just for the lives of the soldiers and pilots but also her own. Taking her sword in her hands, Elenor leaped from where she stood once more and shot straight for where she left off. The beast took note of this and moved aside quickly, leaving Elenor open to an attack. Lifting its head, the beast opened its jaws and swooped down for a bite. The Ethisian luckily shifted her weight around, swung her sword, and knocked its front teeth out of its jaws quickly. Just as she was about to land, Elenor noticed the Yrrejite scientist who lay unconscious in her Mech that was slowly sliding down the beast’s throat. Upon notice, she decided to instead go for its neck to save the Yrrejite from the beast’s throat which would most likely compress and crush the mech with her in it. A few minutes turned to mere seconds; the High Grade’s lung capacity, though large, started to give way since she expended so much energy. With a new goal set, Elenor landed and shot off the and swung again, this time carrying her sword in one hand and a beast’s tooth in the other. The beast brought down its head again with full speed, its bleeding jaws ready to bite and swallow the Ethisian whole. Elenor began to spin in midair, her sword moving so fast with her body that it cut through the dense environment, creating sharp ripples. The ripples even made a whooshing sound as she shot straight into the beasts’ mouth but she didn’t stop there. Like a bullet, Elenor continuously moved upward, her sword cutting deep into the roof of the creature’s mouth. Her sword pierced through the tough, cartilage-like tissue like butter and stopped once it penetrated into the base of its skull while the tooth she couraged gagged its throat momentarily. The Ethisian would have gone through but her body began to suffer the consequences of expending so much energy without an air supply to her muscles. Quickly, Elenor’s vision began to blur; her chest burned with a painful fiery sensation while her muscles grew weak and unstable. With no other choice, the Ethisian fell on top of the Yrrejite’s Mech, and yanked her body out while consuming a few ounces of breathing fluid, giving her a few more minutes of air. While doing so, the Ethisian activated every live weapon in Mech while it slipped deeper into the beast’s throat and jumped out of its mouth along with the Yrrejite. While in midair, the Ethisian looked back and witnessed a bright, bulging glow form in the beast’s throat, followed by its neck swelling until it exploded. Brutally, the beast’s head was blown off the nape of its neck, killing it instantly. At the same time, High Grade Commander had singlehandedly killed his beast by following Elenor’s initial approach...gutting it while it still lived. "Your suit!!" Commander called out while rushing to Elenor’s aid. Covered in blood, saliva, mucus, and other bodily fluids, the Ethisian was pushed back by the other High Grade who couldn’t deal with the smell at the moment. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? You’ll die due to lack of air." "I know that!!" Elenor barked back while ravaging through the few remains of the previously stomped soldiers. Luckily, there was a helmet still intact along with a pack of breathing fluid that would last her until she got back to their ship. "That isn’t important now. We’ve killed the beasts but I fear more will appear. "Also, we need to wake her up. She knows how much we need and where the glands are. I don’t wish for us to kill more beasts than we need to." "You’re right," Commander added. With his understanding of how wild beasts behaved, he considered certain occurrences that could worsen their situation. "If we’re not quick enough, carnivorous beasts will be drawn to us by the scent of blood. We’ve made ourselves even more vulnerable than we were before." The Ethisian reached into his suit and pulled out what looked like a flare gun. He pointed it to the sky and fired, signaling for their ships to come to him to aid his soldiers and the Yrrejite Mech Pilots.