The next day we prepared for the trip down to Cryercya. I could feel the fear racing through me. Leaders aren't supposed to show fear to help those who were under them, to encourage them. That does not mean it is not there. I knew they could feel it too, as if our minds were linked. I could see anxiety and fear in their eyes, like a helpless wild animal that has been tied up by a hunter, knowing it will die soon.

"We better get to the ship. Drake will be wondering where we are. Everyone grab a weapon before we go. It is un-telling what we will encounter down there." I grabbed an energy blade and a pair of blaster pistols and headed for the ship. A team of soldiers were waiting for us with two other ships, Phoenix and Pegasus, one on each side of our ship. Drake was by our ship.

"Good morning," Drake said to us as we approached him and our ship. "Your objectives for today are to locate the Reptyle nest, gather more data on the types of Reptyle, and if possible, bring back one to examine ourselves. Odds are that if one has a weak point, that others will have one that looks like it. It would be good to bring an egg back, but only one. If there are others, destroy them, but not at the cost of stealth. I have a gift to help you." He handed us small spectacle-like machines. "These are eye scanners. Anything you see with these scanners will be recorded in to the Sky Loft data base, where the data will be classified and sorted. Good luck to you all and God help us."

"Thank you, sir," I replied saluting. "Let's go. We have no time to waste."

We boarded the ship, hearing the vessel roar to life as the engine started. Listening to the hisses of air locks release gave me a calming feeling. Years ago, when my father died in a war, they told me that if he would have stayed with the ship, he would still be with us. I knew better than that though. I was very young when he died, but I knew my father was very cunning in strategy and always thought ahead to plan out his move, and he was always right. He never failed in his plans. I believe he knew that, whether or not he stayed, he would not survive. If I knew anything else about him, it is that he never went down without a fight. Never the less, when he died, I clung onto the one thing that my father loved and shared with me, and that was ships. Any interstellar craft that I found, I would build a model of it and collect my creations. They were the one thing that consoled me when my father died.

"Go ahead and take off when you're ready, Buck," I ordered.

"Sky Loft 1, this is Aviary requesting permission for takeoff, code 5067." The giant door to the hangar opened, revealing the vast, deep reaches of space. We took off, closely followed by the other convoy.

"Phoenix and Pegasus, this is Tye of the ship Aviary. Stay close to us. They may not be expecting us, but we want to be safe. I am heading this mission so if any questions arise, find me before acting. If you have to act, don't do anything stupid. We are going solely to learn about the Reptyle, so don't be too eager to shoot. If we are attacked, fire at will, by all means, just keep moving."

When we arrived, immediately a perimeter was made. Each ship carried about ten soldiers so we ordered half of them to stay with the ships. The rest came with us. "It will be better if we split up. I will take Farrona and half of the troops. Buck, you and Data take the other five and go east, we will go west. Search the mountain mainly; they will likely be in a cave or something. Those with the ships, search for heat signals on the radars. Fall out!" We traveled west and found a place to climb the mountain easily.

"I see something up there," Farrona said and pointed. I turned my head just in time to see it run off.

"Follow it," I ordered. We scrambled after it, but it was gone. There was a cave not far from us. "Follow me, but be on the lookout for large dark figures." We advanced toward the cave, cautious of anything that may spring from the cave. When we entered the cave, we found that an eerie light lingered about the cave, and grew brighter the farther in we went. "Buck. Data. We found something; we are going in to check it out. I will send you our coordinates if we get in trouble. If we are not back by nightfall, I came prepared so leave without us. I will send you our coordinates in the morning."

We advanced towards the reddish glow in the tunnel like cave. The walls were covered in a slimy material that seemed to ooze from the walls. The farther in we went, the thicker it was. Farrona would not let me go without an update of how thick and disgusting it was. We began to hear random screeches and clicks and growls as we went farther still, as if some sort of language. We reached the end of the tunnel, finally, but what was at the end was unbelievable.

There was a giant stone-like room, almost like a huge bowl shaped hive with a flat bottom, and tunnel like holes place miscellaneously along the side. A sort of alien torch, but with a glowing fleshy bulb rather than flame, illuminated the room. They appeared in such great number, it was magnificent, but at the same time repulsive. Farrona let out a yelp before I could stop the rest from coming out. I could hear the screeches and clicks of the Reptylian language far below us. We were standing on a small balcony made of the stone like mineral native to the planet. The rock was black and very metallic in look and feel, like natural black steel.

The creatures we saw below us were stranger than I ever remember seeing, even on this planet. We saw large winged creatures, with even larger leathery wings, a long spiked tail, and two arms with seven razor-like talons on each slime covered hand, at the tip of each finger. We could see Scouts riding the winged beasts, releasing cries to other Reptyle as they build something, I could not see for the swarm around it. I only saw the creatures bring in materials and leaving without them, placing them in an organized pile, in the shape of a ring, with a hollow center.

Finally, they finished. Then the commotion started again as some of the creatures climbed into the structure, it wasn't until they came back out that I realized what they were doing. It was more than just a structure, it was a nest.

And they just laid eggs.

"We have to get down there," I declared. The question was, how. I observed the chamber for a way down. I saw a place where a climbing hook could be mounted, and we could climb down. "Does anybody have any climbing gear?" I asked.

"I do," stated one of the soldiers. He handed me the gear. I waited till most of the creatures left to other duties among their hive. I then threw the hook at the ledge. We climbed down to the huge makeshift nest. We attempted to climb inside, but it was slippery due to the slimy residue of the creatures.

"How do we get the egg now?" Farrona asked. "We can't get in the nest."

"I don't know," I replied. Then I noticed movement in the tunnels. "Hide!"

As if right on cue, thousands of Reptyle swarmed into the room, whatever weapons they had were ready. The flying ones were swooping down to the relative area in which we were hiding, but it didn't help the swarm. We noticed a trap door where we were standing, but we would have to reveal our hiding place to get to it.

"Why can't this ever be easy?!" Farrona cried. I ignored her and threw that hook at the ring on the door and opened it.

"We will have to be quick. If we are discovered, don't hesitate to fire," I ordered "You first Farrona."

She jumped in and let out a cry as she landed. I jumped in next, and landed on Farrona. "Ow!" she cried.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "Where are we?" The room was pitch black. All that could be seen was the ground we were standing on under the trapdoor, and a feint light at the end of what must be a tunnel. "Stay there!" I ordered the soldiers. "We are going to scope out this tunnel down here! Don't move!"

We walked towards the light. It was one of the torches that the Reptyle had placed. I looked up and saw another trap door. I pushed it open and found hundreds of large, glowing orange orbs, placed randomly around a bowl like structure… this is the nest. I quickly grabbed one of the eggs and ran down the corridor. One of them saw me. I heard a banging on the door behind us, and then everything fell silent. I heard a brief volley of gunfire, but then silence fell again, but that did not keep us from running. We ran past the trapdoor, and just in time.

Because the roof collapsed right behind us.