3 Threat of the Unknown

Based on the History and Brief Introduction of the Known Galaxy Volume 3, the members of the Caix Tribe are known for their fierce nature and their ability to transform into creatures. This ability puts them in the Phasing Class, a very special class of humans that can transform, thanks to their unique genetic code. Hence, they're one of the most dangerous Classes to exist, second only to the Carnage Class.

"I'm Aggros, Panzer Class and the leader of this expedition team— Bracket Delta. Nice to meet you, recruit."

"Lev, Pietrus Lev," Lev said.

Aggros then extended his hand but instead of receiving a handshake, his hand was in the form of a fist. Lev quickly understood that he wanted a fist bump instead of a handshake so he did what he had to do, form his hand into the shape of a fist and press it against Aggros's fist.

However, everyone started laughing as soon as he did that. It's as if he did something weird without him knowing. "What a novel way to greet someone. Where did you learn that?" Aggros asked, amused by Lev's action.

'What? All I did was a fist bump? Didn't he want a fist bump?' Lev was perplexed, the only thing he could do was look around, cluelessly, while trying to figure out what he did wrong.

"Usually, you grab the hand with your open hand when someone extends their fist." The guy beside Lev spoke, sort of like a whisper. "But then again, your way of greeting looks way cooler, why didn't anyone think of that in the past?"

'Ahh, so it's like receiving a fist bump with a handshake? That's a super weird greeting, to be honest. I wouldn't have thought of that in my life. And even if it were to happen, it will be super awkward, to say the least.' Lev said to himself, reverting to his usual quiet manner since he might do something wrong if he were to act.

"I'm Lineus, Flash-Class and the scout of the team, if you have any questions or you need any help, just give me a heads up. I'll try to explain everything I can." Lineus said, forming his hand into a fist and fist-bumping Lev before he could react.

"That right there is Erina, a Cleric Class. Then we have Ion, a Plasma Class, and that's Seidrich, Fighter-class."

Aggros has darker skin compared to the others, and his bulk is incomparable to everyone. It would be an understatement to say that his body is constructed of pure muscle since there was not an inch of fat in there. And yet, even with his build (at least 6"1 with an approximate weight of 220 pounds), he could still move without difficulty. Lev assumed that his bones had also adapted to his body mass, and that made him a formidable Panzer Class human— which is defensive and tanky in nature.

As for Lineus, he's on the smaller side of the spectrum. With the height of 5"1 and the weight of 86 pounds at most, he's the lightest and smallest of the bunch. Then again, the Flash-Class doesn't really need the bulk nor any unnecessary weight on the body because their sole purpose is to get in and out of places. This made them an effective Class for reconnaissance missions. If Lineus hadn't spoken to Lev a few seconds ago, he would've mistaken him as a 'she' due to his slender body and feminine facial features.

"A minute more before impact. Our mission is to harvest Purple Blood from the Tree itself. Lineus will lead the way while the rest of us will follow. On your wrists are communication devices that Lineus will update consistently. This way, we'll be able to see what he sees and act accordingly should a situation arise. Once we get to the Tree, I want everyone to stand guard. There's a good chance the natives will attack us. As to which Tribe we're dealing with, we can only assume the worst. I haven't received any updates from Captain Zed so it's best we proceed with caution."

Everyone, including Lev, nodded in response.

As soon as they nodded, the space pod where they were in started shaking violently. They finally broke through the atmosphere and it won't be long before they arrive at the surface. The interior of the space pod started heating up as well but not to the point where they felt uncomfortable. Even then, Erina decided to use a portion of her abilities to cool down the interior of the space pod. She sweated more than the rest in the end.

CRASH!

Just like any other landing, Aggros didn't really know how much damage they caused to the surface of the planet. They'd just gauge it as soon as they come out. "Everyone, gather around. We don't know what's waiting for us outside so brace yourselves. Lineus, lead the way,"

With a nod, Lineus grabbed the handle to the only entranceway to the space pod and held his breath. As far as he knows, the natives might be waiting for them outside, ready to fire away at the slightest of movements. And if he were to open the door so suddenly, it would cause everyone to go trigger-happy on them.

Click!

Everyone held their breaths as Lineus slowly opened the door. Aggros, who had been right beside Lineus all along, stepped forward, ready to shield everyone from the expected volley as soon as they opened.

Slide!

Then there was silence, just the whirring sound of the space pod dying down as they all stepped out. They've actually uprooted a couple of trees and skidded at least seventy meters before taking a halt. The green landscape and beautiful scenery were ruined, thanks to them, and Aggros couldn't help but feel a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder due to the damage they caused.

"Based on my compass, the Tree is at least five kilometers from our landing site. Let's proceed as planned."

Unknown species of trees, critters that appeared and disappeared in the background, and the cold breeze that felt so unnatural, Lev took it all in while admiring the spectacular view. He still couldn't believe that he'd set foot on an entirely new planet. He wanted to document everything he saw and keep a record of all the experiences he felt at that moment. It was just so surreal, so mesmerizing.

"Don't get too lost to the beauty of this place, you don't want to lose focus. We still don't know a lot about the 912—Yggdrassil and the planets that support life here. If you're not careful, you might die." Erina said with a straight face, her blond hair and lavender-hued eyes directly in front of Lev. In that instant, Lev felt like he was lost in the beauty of her, not in the beauty of the place. He immediately got back to his senses though as he shook his head.

"Thanks," Lev responded, following everyone, his position right by the group's tail.

"By the way, your hair, is it synthetic?" Erina asked, pointing at his hair. "I've never met someone in my life with naturally white hair. And your ashen irises, it looks weird, but in a good way."

"It's natural, or at least, I know they're natural as far as I could remember," Lev said. Now that Erina mentioned it, he still didn't know what he looked like in this world, or wherever he is right now.

"It's nice, something new in this already boring voyage." With a sigh, Erina mumbled and unsheathed a small wand from her backpack.

She was right, the voyage in and of itself was really boring. In fact, they've been traveling through space for so long that all they wanted right now was to go back home and have a good night's rest— or spend some time with their family.

"Stay on your guard, we don't know what would— "

Beep beep~ beep beep~

beep beep~

A constant beeping sound could be heard from the communications device strapped on their wrists. At first, Aggros assumed that it was just another message from the higher-ups, asking for updates on the voyage. But upon checking the notification, it was much worse than he initially thought.

There was one message on their device and the one who personally sent it was none other than Captain Zed. The message read— 'Caix Tribe, category 3 threat, turn back.

"The Caix Tribe? Oh no— " Ion said as his collar suddenly transformed into a helmet with specialized goggles. He also extended his hand and on it, unknown energy could be seen forming as if he was about to fire a beam. However, he put that energy ball of sorts into his Plasma Gun. "Leader, we have to go," Ion said, his Plasma gun at the ready.

"No... we can't, we have to get Lineus first," Aggros responded with a sense of urgency, increasing their pace and going toward the general direction of Lineus.

"But we can't do anything about him. We have to go, leader," Erina insisted, stopping on her tracks.

When Aggros and the others received the message from the captain, they also received two more notifications which worsened their situation. The second notification was that of Lineus, confirming what Captain Zed had told them, and then the third notification came from Lineus as well— not directly from him though, but from his communications device as it lost its signal.

And a lost signal could only mean two things— either Lineus was abducted and his communications device was removed, or he was killed and the communications device was damaged in the process.