"Can someone please explain to me why the Owls are not responding to our radio calls?" The large stocky male well into his fifties hit the desk in front of him, the small radio mic fell over with the impact.

"Commander we believe the Owls are not responding due to an unauthorised exercise in to the heart of Cardiff Prime." The radio operator ducked to avoid the Commander's hand as he swung it toward his head.

"How did they pull this off? Those good for nothing upstarts have been nothing but trouble. Send Sgt Fields and the Hounds to bring them in, I think its time they had their wings clipped." His snarling smile was frightening and soon the whole of the command room were busy.

It wasn't the first time the Hounds had been called in to find the team of pure bloods, in fact the Commander had started keeping a record. The week before last one of the Hounds had been killed bringing them back from a jolly into the wetlands south east of Cardiff Prime. Days before that three Hounds were injured after an ambush atop of the Cardiff Valley Ridge. Several times the Hounds had spent days in the valley looking for them, and each time the Owls returned back with minimal injuries and since their formation over a year ago they were the only team to have not lost a member. The Commander didn't know if it was just blind luck or if something more sinister was at work, he wasn't a god fearing man so them being blessed or chosen was not realistic.

Sgt Timothy Fields grabbed his radio when it crackled his name, his gut turned and he had a sense he knew what was coming.

"Field's here, where are they?" A faint northen accent could just be heard everytime he spoke, originally from Newcastle Prime he had been sent south with his family after the city fell. The radio cracked again the location of the Owls and with a heavy sigh he responded, "Understood, Hounds are on route." Dropping from his chair he thumped a big red button and the whole building went dark before the red flashing lights came on. Sgt Fields grabbed the internal microphone and his voice echoed out of every speaker. "Listen up, Our little birds have flown the coop again, this time into the city. I want two teams ready to go in five, expect trouble so grab the strike gear and bring the shield braces as well, we have no idea what we will be walking in to." When he was finished he placed the mic down and rubbed his head, "What are my kids up to now."

A few minutes later ten of his men stood to salute as he entered the bunker. "At ease fellas." The men dropped their arms, placed them behind their backs and stood awaiting instruction. "Right here is what we know, some time in the last four hours the Pure Bloods have gone on an unauthorised stroll into Cardiff Prime, we do not know why or what provisions they have taken, all we know is that ten of our youngest pure bloods are missing in enemy territory and it is once again our job to go and find them and bring them home safe. Most of you have been involved in bringing our little birds home before, you know the drill, those of you who are new to this, learn fast, this happens alot and we need everyone at the top of their game. That said we expect to encounter hostiles, of what size we can only guess but keep vigilant and make sure your weapons are armed and ready even before we disembark from the transport. So lets get moving." The Sgt walked off toward the transport shuttle code named the Kat, the twelve man shuttle would propel them at over two hundred miles an hour allowing them to disembark at the fringe of Cardiff Prime within fifteen minutes. The two teams boarded the Kat followed by Sgt Field as he shouldered his rucksack and then pulled the shuttle door closed and locked it in place.

The windowless bullet shaped shuttle came to a thundering hault as the pilot crackled over the radio that they had arrived at the City. In the distance the pilot could see a billowing black smoke plume and he grabbed the radio again to inform Sgt Fields.

"Sgt we have a large smoke plume near the city centre, I would advise caution."

Unshackeling himself the Sgt was first to his feet "Ok Nuke you take Dwane, Rosco, Berry and Raker, the rest of you with me. We have a point of interest so that is where we will converge, stay in cover as much as possible, conserve ammo where possible and do not let your guard down." He dropped the door and signalled for the teams to move out, once both teams were on the ground the radio in the back crackled to life again but the pilots words remained unheard. Just as the teams were about to move out a voice called out to them and they all stopped and stared.

"What took you so long? We've been waiting for over an hour." Luke lead the Owls from the nearest building with a huge smile on his face. "We expected you to bring two shuttles, how are you lot going to get back!"

His checky attitude was usually the first thing the Hounds encountered of the Owls, the Sgt hated hearing his voice, he heard it more than most, but when he had to wade in to rescue them it was just far more irritating.

"What the hell have you idiots been up to this time? And why is there a billowing smoke cloud coming from the town centre?" The Sgt looked at Luke then at Lacy who was a few paces behind her brother.

"Don't panic Dad, we simply destroyed a Screamers nest." Luke wrapped his arms around the Sgt then let go again "It's all good."

"Good... for the love of all things living, the Commander has been going out of his head trying to get hold of you all, all... and who's this..." the Sgt turned his attention to Salt who was walking between Cade and Lacy.

"Dad this is Salt, it's a long story but basically she rescued Cade, helped Giles and Cade escape and bring down the old Three Dragon's Hotel." Lacy hugged her old man instantly after explaining it "Sorry we didn't mean to worry you." She said letting him go again. "Cade and Brett went solo into the city, we went to find them and get them home, but there was a Screamers nest in the Hotel. To be honest we've had little action, Cade and Salt were in the thick of it, but we ran in to some of the screamers which is how Giles ended up with Cade and brought the building down." Before she could say any more her father walked off putting a little distance between them so he could think. Everyone waited then a moment later there was a massive ear piercing scream from within the city, everyone froze.

"Weapons Up, incoming hostiles, protect the little birds at all costs."

The rifles fired off volley after volley as the screamers scurried across the rooftop their high pitched cries shattering the fading night sky. Without orders the pilot turned the Kat around in order to shuttle the youngsters home."You lot get yourselves home now, we will hold on until the second shuttle arrives." The Sgt waved his men into formation.

Lacy grabbed Salt and pulled her toward the shuttle, Duke and Maverick followed quickly behind with the rest of the team using the leap frog formation to provide cover fire as they boarded the Kat. Once everyone was in side and strapped in, the shuttles thrusters roared to life and within seconds the Owls were heading home. The pilot had already requested a second shuttle which was already on route with an eta of ten miutes, with luck the Hounds could hold off that long.

Rosco and Nuke had taken up a position on a small ridge, laying flat Rosco relied on Nuke's directions to pick off targets with his Mk IV rifle, designed to be light weight and easy to use as both an assault and sniper option. His partial blindness was seen by others as a limitation, Fields however saw it as an obstacle that could be over come and in his four years of service in the Hounds, Rosco had the most sniper kills as well as the longest ranged kill seen in any team, an achievement the Sgt was always keen to boast about at gatherings.

Nuke relayed some directions which he followed with precision, the moment he pulled the trigger the gun clapped as the chamber emptied, the deep groan that followed was enough to tell him his shot hit its target.

"Another Screamer down." Confirmed Nuke, as he quickly eyed up another possible target. "Lets take down a few more shall we." He said before providing some more directions.

Sgt Fields and Cole had been running around laying traps in case the screamers decided to charge at them, it was odd behaviour for them to simply linger in sight, it was a though they were waiting for something. The cover fire was doing well enough to keep them at bay for the time being but it wouldn't last much longer, and the Hounds would be ripping through their ammo supplies.

"Sgt, can you feel that?" Cole called over to the team leader, the ground beneath him felt as though it was vibrating, the Sgt looked about and noticed small stones and dirt bouncing a few millimetres off the ground.

"Not good, Cole run..." shouted the Sgt not a moment too late as the ground where he had been standing exploded.

Into the air leaped a discoloured humanoid form with eyes white as snow, its teeth long and twisted, it also had short but thick claws, ideal for digging and when it landed it growled like a bear. Both men stood still, this was something altogether new, its body exploded into pieces as a yellow light tore through it. The smoke trail from the blast led back to Raker the sub-launcher smoking from just being fired, the black haired ex ross-ball player lifted his hand with his thumb up, Sgt Fields responded in kind.

The victory was short lived as more of these tunnelling creatures appeared, one right below Kendo, tossing him into the air as he fell his finger never left the trigger, his attacker broke his impact as he fell, its now dead carcass was like a well used mattress, but he was alive.

Still staying on top of the buildings the screamers seemed at odds with themselves, they seemed to want to attack but it now seemed like something was holding them back. No one had time to consider what that would mean, the other shuttle could now be heared and it was closing fast. Falling back a little to put space between them and these new threats, Sgt Fields and his team managed to bring several more of them down. Rosco continued to pick of screamers with Nukes help and as the shuttle came to a screeching hault the Screamers disappeared along with the other creatures, taking their dead with them.

"I've no idea what just happened lads, but I don't expect it to be the end of it." Waiting to climb in the Sgt looked back over the city, the cloud of smoke was still going, what if the Owls have stirred something they had never encountered, what if the screamers were not the only twisted horror in the world. What ever was going on the Commander needed to know and now. Once inside he secured the door, took his seat and used the short journey back to consider his options.

When the team arrived back the Owls were already receiving a mouthful from the Commander via Streamlink. Having no choice the Sgt stormed into the room.

"You lot out now." His order was clear and after their stunt they didn't want  any extra trouble.

"I was just..." the Commander didn't have time to finish before the Sgt interrupted.

"I'm sorry Commander but this is urgent. What ever happened out there today may have been a good thing." About to interrupt himself the Commander was spoken over as the Sgt continued "I am not condoning what they did, but we have just witnessed a new creature, something very different from the Screamers. What if there are more monsters lurking in the dark than what we know." His voice was both authoritative and concerned and the Commander waited a moment to reply.

"Send me a report as soon as possible, I'll take a look and consider our options then. In the mean time keep those little birds grounded. Also if you can spare them send a team to observe the city, keep an eye on what's going on, if we have new or unknown threats we need to know about them." He paused for a moment. " And Timothy keep those kids of yours in line, we can't afford to lose them."

The screen went black and the Sgt was left in the room on his own. He pondered what his next move would be, he would send the report, that much he knew, but to recon the city, that was no small venture. Yet it was an order, and with what happened today he wanted answers, suddenly he had an idea where to start.

Ten minutes later he walked into the Nest, the Owls own little headquarters on the north side of the Hounds complex. It was once a store bunker until the Commander gave the order for it to be used as a bargaining tool to keep the Pure Bloods from causing any more hassle, or so he had thought at the time. Sgt Fields appearance was not unexpected so the Owls were prepared. Lacy and Luke stood at the front of the group, their eyes fixed on the man they looked up to as both a father and soldier. Before any of the youngsters could start recalling their actions he spoke firmly no hesitation or weakness, the Owls listened without a word.

"What ever your excuses are I don't care, the Commander has had his say, now it's my turn. You are lucky and I mean very very lucky to be standing here and not being picked apart by those screamers. More importantly you did not witness what I just did. Your actions may have just given us the first glimpse of things we have never seen or know anything about. I have to send a report to the Commander and explain why my team are lucky to be home in one piece despite going toe to toe with an enemy we have never seen. I have been ordered to keep you on lockdown, which is exactly what I plan to do. The Hounds however will not be here to watch over you, as I will be taking all of my boys into the City to gather whatever information I can. While I am gone you all will remain here, disobeying me this time will result in the dispanding of the Owls. Do I make my self clear?"

The only sound in the room was Gile's neck clicking as they all nodded in agreement.  Lacy stepped forward.

"Sgt, can we assist in anyway before you leave?" It was a bold move but she hoped that their insight into the cities layout might prove useful.

"No, we will do a sweep of the area before we deploy, what you can do is stop and consider what the Owls are about. You were given the right to form in order to protect yourselves, not go looking for trouble. Any more hassle from you the Commander will pull the plug. It's up to you." Without another word he left the room and the pure bloods relaxed.

"What do you think they saw?" Asked Luke as the began talking about it.

"I don't know but we are going to find out." Lacy had that look in her eye, she had no intention of staying put and with no Hounds to stop them then they would take the spare shuttle and recon the city themselves. This is what the Owls were about, being the front line and not being afraid of it, the pure bloods might be mankinds last hope, but what hope are they if they don't know the world they have to deal with, they would leave soon.

As their commanding officer Timothy hoped his children would listen to his orders but as a father he knew that they would take the spare shuttle, he could disable it and keep them in the base, or they would simply find another way. In fact Duke could probably repair anything he could do to take the shuttle off line. Despite the Commander's concerns the Owls had been receiving the best training the Hounds had to offer, they were almost as good as he Hounds themselves. If it wasn't for the fact that they were all pureblood they would all already be enrolled in the Hounds. They all showed spirit and determination in the training yards and if they applied even half of that out in the field then they would be a formidable team, even their four point fire formation had been used in training the Hounds as the Owls could never be shifted from a position once they put that in place, it had been Lacy who had worked hard to keep them in line. Timothy stopped and thought of his wife for a moment, Lacy was every part her daughter and it scared him, he could not lose his kids like he lost his wife, it was a pain he could never overcome and he feared that day would be sooner rather than later. His hands were tied, all he could do is protect them as much as possible, he grabbed the mic and his voice boomed across the base.

"All Hounds report to the shuttle bunker." He cleared his throat then continued "Grab all specialist gear and assault kits, we are on recon in the city, phase armour preferred, we move out in ten minutes." His voice ended with a crackle as he placed the mic down. What ever hell he was about to walk into he felt assured that the Owls would follow, he had made up his mind, now he needed to get it sorted.

Cade sat with Salt near the east window while the others watched as the Hounds hurried around the base. There was no discussion on what was going to happen. Lacy always knew what everyone wanted to do without asking, no one wanted to sit this out so she had already planned what they would be doing.

"Are you sure you want to go back?" Cade looked at Salt as he asked a question he thought needed asking. Her shrug said it all, in his mind it had taken alot for her to leave in the first place and to now ask her to join them going back in was crazy.

"I don't have your training, I'll probably just get in the way, plus I don't know the city, we blew up the only place I had any knowledge of." She rested her head on Cades shoulder. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It's ok, I wouldn't want to go back in either if I was you, but like you said we have training so this is what we do, even if it gets us grounded. If you come with us I'll stay at your side, but it really is up to you."

Lacy watched from the opposite window, she had seen the connection between them and it reminder her of her own feelings, but as the team's leader she kept them hidden. Salt had explained alot to her on the way back, she had managed to survive ten years within the hotel on her own, Salt was stronger than she realised.

There was also something about her, something familiar but she could not put her finger on it. Her concentration was broken as Luke spoke up.

"And they're off." Lacy looked out of the window and saw four shuttles shoot off in a cloud of dust. Luke looked at her puzzled expression. "What's wrong? Second thoughts?" Luke moved closer.

"No, there are sixty Hounds, which means they need five shuttles for all of them, where is the other shuttle?"

As they collected their gear from their lockers everyone kept an eye out for any of the Hounds still lingering in the compound, it seemed too quiet, even if they had all left, something felt wrong, too easy. It made Bretts hair stand on end, Courtney stayed close to Duke while Maverick and Lacy lead them toward the shuttle bunker. Giles and Luke remained at the rear chatting in an almost whisper. Igor, Cade and Hunter were tasked with carrying the heavy equipment. Salt watched from the window as the others snaked down the path. In her stomach she could feel a knot and she wanted to go but at the same time she didn't, even leaving Cade was harder than she thought, they would be ok without her, she knew they would.

As Lacy got to the bunker she saw two shuttles ready to launch, but no sign of any of the Hounds yet, Maverick stepped into the bunker first, scanning it down the rifle barrel, checking every corner. The closest shuttle had its bay door wide open, and from it stepped the familiar figure of Sgt Fields.

"Took you guys long enough." He said mimicking his sons voice as best as he could. The shuttle he was on began to move forward slowly. The others piled into the bunker and watched their superior stretch out his arm toward the second shuttle. "It's all yours..." He said as the Owls own logo was slowly revealed on the side of the shuttle. "Keep up and follow my orders and you can join us, otherwise stay here." He stepped inside the shuttle and pulled the door shut then the shuttle shot off.

"Well I think he wants us to follow him." Said a small voice from the door way. Salt stood there with some spare gear she had managed to grab on the way down.

"I don't need asking twice." Duke darted for the shuttle. "I'll get her ready to go, get in and strap up, we got some shuttles to catch up with.

Nothing else needed to be said as he others rushed forward. In minutes the Owls were once again racing along in a shuttle, this time toward the trouble, just where they liked to be.