Sobrihiri

The Oscine touched down in a clearing in a lush forest on Sobrihiri. As it turned out, Team Tachyon had been dispatched there with the goal of hunting down fuvea. Fuvea was an umbrella term for a variety of fauna native to the moon. They were all large beasts that looked like parallel evolutions of Earth's dinosaurs. More than a few species were bad-tempered by nature, and they were by no means in danger of going extinct. Hence, the local authority had declared open season on the bunch that had been terrorizing a small settlement.

Sobrihiri was not a particularly remote world, but very little of it had been settled by sapients. Much of it was still wilderness and danger. Those that did call it home did not appreciate monsters stomping through their backyards, and that was where the Adventurer's Commission came in! Who better to call in when your frontier village needed a t-rex decapitated?

While preparing to disembark, the team had readied themselves for the job. A new set of armour was retrieved for each of the three veterans. "If you insist on only owning one set of armour, you're going to be making a lot more journeys to the repair shop than you need to," as Eloxochitl put it. Millia's protective gear paled in comparison to theirs. Mere weeks out of academy, her equipment reflected her status as an F-Rank adventurer. Her armour was barely a step above that which could be found in a sparring dojo.

She donned her helmet, an open-visor piece with holes to accommodate her horns. The cuirass, while obliging of her generous bosom, was good for little else. The thinness of the material did not inspire confidence in her. What was more, as a single rigid piece, bending forward was a challenge. Best not drop anything.

Millia reached in and pulled out her warding necklace, still fastened around her neck. Mama had been quite transparent about the dangers of being separated from it. By the sound of this mission, the last thing she needed was additional vulnerabilities. She checked the knots and let it settle on the outside of her breastplate, where she could keep an eye on it.

The rest of her armour was similarly paltry. Thin and rigid, it left her joints bare of what little protection was to be offered. The lone piece of her ensemble deserving of appreciation was her weapon.

From its sheath, Millia drew her double-headed great axe. It was a big, heavy, and clumsy weapon by almost anyone's standards. However, its mass could also be its strength. So long as Millia could land hits reliably with this sunderer, she would fare just fine.

As for the others, their armour was a similar design between the three of them. Full suits capable of sealing the wearer off from their environment. Helki's helm deviated in the way its face was shaped like a canine skull. Millia did not imagine that that form did anything for her visibility. Eloxochitl was armed with a cuauhololli club and a plasma repeater. Helki wore a pair of bracer-shields - gauntlets with broad slabs of armour on the outside of the forearms. Slung over her back was a chain gun. Najma armed herself with... nothing? Well, the poster did list her as a mage.

The four left the ship unceremoniously. After all, this mission was only special for Millia. The atmosphere on Sobrihiri was very hospitable, and the demihuman helped herself to a deep breath of fresh air. It was a beautiful day for one's first adventure.

"What's the plan, Eloxochitl?" Millia asked enthusiastically.

The team leader looked at her, almost having forgotten she was even there. "Ah, well, let's see..." she stammered, definitely not coming up with a plan for Millia on the spot.

Her options for the cow girl were limited. They had taken that job before having any idea that she would be joining them. So naturally, with their luck being what it was, the mission had to be exclusively combat oriented in nature. Eloxochitl did not have any personal problems with this - worst case scenario, she would just keep the newbie behind her in a fight - but the adventurer code did. Protocol dictated that F-Rank adventures be relegated to roles such as scouting and transportation. There was not going to be much of that on an extermination job like this.

"We need you to... do reconnaissance for us," the Quetzalcoatl decided.

Najma gave the leader a look through her helmet visor. Really?

Shut up, Eloxochitl mouthed back at her.

"I can do that," Millia stated dutifully.

"Great to hear. Comb this area thoroughly." Eloxochitl used her smart device to highlight a random region on the local map that she knew was well away from the harassed settlement, and sent it to Millia. "When you're finished, meet back here at the ship. Don't get lost, and whatever you do, STAY AWAY from any fuvea. Understand?"

"Absolutely!" Millia was straining to contain her excitement. Dismissed, she started off in the direction indicated by her map. The other three watched her go.

"First mission and you send her into the forest alone?" Najma asked with a critical edge to her voice.

"I can tail her if you want," Helki volunteered. "She'll only know I'm there if she gets into trouble.

"No, come on. Let's just get this over with," Eloxochitl said with an exhausted sigh. "The sooner we finish the job, the less time she has to spend wandering the woods. Besides, she graduated from an academy same as any other F-Rank. She can handle a few hours alone."