The soldier watched the house from a high point, eyes cold and calculating.

He had her, for a moment or two.

But Tempest Kronos had always been protective of his family. It would seem that his robots shared that trait.

The prince didn't understand that. The only person he would think to protect so much would be his darling sister.

His sweet, defenseless, sister.

~'~'~

The siblings entered a small room. A table sat in the center, a large robot that looked like several boxes stacked together typing away at it. "This is the command center." Reynard said. "This is where we plan out missions-"

"Tell me it isn't true!" They turned to see the robot from before. "Tell me we aren't working for these runts now!"

"It was Tempest's last order." the fox snapped. The robot grumbled. Reynard nodded and pressed a button. The table lit up, revealing a hologram of a map. "We're here, at the foot of the Crilams Pinnacle." He pressed another button, zooming around to the other side of the mountain. He pointed to a group of creatures. "The arachaen carrying your mother is here."

Feather stared at the map with a frown, before her eyes landed on something. "Here. There's a tunnel. We can go through there and cut them off."

"That's Quilten Pass!" Harris shrieked from the doorway. "You can't go through there!"

"Why not?"

Reynard pressed a few more buttons. "The pass is home to these." An image popped up: a large creature that looked like a giant squid. "Chompers. They're wriggling masses of tentacles and teeth. Carnivorous, and always hungry."

"You can't go through there on foot, but you can use the speeder." Terran said.

"That old thing hasn't flown in years!" Reynard protested.

"You worry about getting the human. I'll worry about the speeder." he said, turning and walking out of the room.

"Can we trust him?" Feather wondered aloud.

Reynard nodded. "Terran might be a bit rough around the edges, but he's the most loyal and hardworking robot I've ever met. Come on." He led the siblings out of the command center and into what looked like a hanger. Terran was messing with what looked like a large plane. A winch full of rope sat in the front.

"How do you deal with an ara...arach...?" Lowell said.

"An arachaen?" Reynard said, going to a chest. He pulled out a box of darts with a gun and a harpoon. "You sedate it, then drag it to a stop."

"Done!" Terran called. He turned his attention to Feather and her brother. "Listen. I'm too heavy for this thing, so one of you had to co pilot. Which one?"

"I'll do it." the redhead said.

"You're a horrible driver!" The blonde protested. "Why can't I do it?"

"Because you're too young!"

"I have experience!"

"This is real life, not video games!"

"Please?"

He aimed puppy eyes at her. Feather sighed and nodded. "Fine." Lowell cheered and clambered into the passenger seat as her and Reynard placed the supplies inside, as well as the stun gun.

"You know how to do this?"

Lowell nodded. "It looks simple enough."

Reynard nodded and started the engine. The speeder lifted up and zoomed through the open door.