The night was dark, darken than it had been many months. The new Alpha moon was still 3 nights from rising and the Omega moon was hidden behind the clouds giving off little light.

Jack was creeping through the fragrant undergrowth of the Hitacu forest, trying to hide the glare of the OLED screen stitched into the sleeve of his jacket, the scenes brightness was amplified by the darkness around him. He brushed past a thicket of weeds causing them to empty their small bags of pollen, the scent engulfed him, forcing the memory of his childhood to jump to the forefront of his thoughts; Summer days chasing his three brothers through the forest at the back of his fathers home, playing ultarin tag with the new lasers they had built. But that had been back before the swarmers colonized the outer planets of the system and started spreading further in. Now childhood innocence counted for nothing, it just meant tender meat and easy food.