[b]En-route to the border of the safe zone and the jungle wastes[/b]
The shuttle was built for high-ranking Timbeross officials, complete with a minibar, a holo-television, an MP5 player and even cup holders. It could be comparable with the old Earth-style limos, with black leather seats lining the walls, dark tinted windows and the cockpit screened off. All of these lay unused by the shuttles four occupants, all of non-human origin. Three of the Tkria looked completely out of place on modern Brahmin while the fourth looked uncomfortably human next to his ancestral brethren. Toonak grumbled to his guards, who nodded understandably. Loyal to their last breath yet clever and powerful, they were the model Tkrai and more than capable of killing anything that threatened their Chief.

Yera nervously tapped his small fingers off of the seat. The translator was supposed to escort Toonak all the way back to the jungle and it was clear the Junker tribesmen disliked him. 'Chief Toonak, would you like a drink? The human loozy-juice is most enjoyable' he asked suddenly, gesturing to the mini bar. The Chief crinkled his bat nose in disgust and shook his head. 'I would rather live on my own excrement for the rest of my days, child' he answered coldly. Things went silent across the shuttle again as the Chief ignored the translator. One of the guardsmen looked down his nose at the shorter, domesticated Batman and showed his teeth in displeasure. 'You live not how your ancestors told you. You call yourself Tkrai yet cover your skin in human cloth. And your size! Look at you! You're most tiny for a Tkrai! The Mother has spat up bigger pieces of clay from her godly listening-holes than you'. He spat on the last word and Yera looked at his feet.

'Dirty domesticate, you are. You bed humans and drink their poisons' growled the other guardsman. Yera nervously scratched at his clothing. 'You misunderstand, brothers. J-just because I work with the humans does not make me a domesticate. I ease relations, stop wars between our species! I am raising a young family in the capital, I work for a Tkrai-founded organisation that seeks to break down the barriers of oppression and racial hatred with cooperation between our species!' Yera stopped his outburst and stared at the larger tribesmen with his wide, nervous eyes. They both glared at him while the Chief continued ignoring his presence. The translator felt deflated as he moved down the shuttle to be away from the tribesmen who hated him so.

[b]Several hours later...[/b]

Toonak awoke with a jolt. The shuttle was making a slow, lazy turn down to a landing pad but something didn't feel right. His guards sat stiffly on either side of him and the domesticate sat down the row, his head turned away from them in sleep. 'Chief?' asked one of the guards, noticing him awake. 'Something is not right. We are not out of the Human's reach yet. Why are we stopping?' he whispered, glancing out the window. The ground was slowly becoming closer and with his tired, old eyes, he could see the blobs of several humans on the landing pad. 'Domesticate!' barked the Chief to the Yera. The translator awoke immediately and sat up, his ears twitching. 'Chief Toonak?' asked Yera, slightly annoyed he had been awaken from his sleep. 'We are stopping. Why are we stopping? We are not yet home!' said the Chief, a tinge of fear appearing in his eyes. 'I am sure we are just stopping for a fu-' the translator gaped out the window. 'Oh.' It was the only thing he could say.

'I am sure this is just a misunderstanding. I will just go speak to the pilot, I'm sure things will be all right'. The translator approached the screen and knocked on the window. There was no answer. 'Excuse me, Mister Pilot sir, we appear to be landing. Why is this?' he asked in English, knocking again. There was still no answer. He glanced back to the small group of tribesmen and shrugged. Toonak murmured a command to his guards and they stood to their feet, clutching small spears. 'Oh! My chief, this is most unnecessary! I am sure there has been a misunderstanding, please do not cause fighting with the humans!' yelped the translator, almost tripping over his feet to approach the chief. 'Quiet, domesticate! Where is the escape from this metal beast?' growled one of the guards, glancing around restlessly. 'Th-there is only one escape. The sliding door at the side.' answered the smaller Tkrai, his gaze fixated at the ground. 'The humans have betrayed us' announced Toonak. 'I feared this from the start'. 'Please, my chief, do not make a rash deci-' the translators speech was cut short by a blow from one of the guards. The translator crumbled to the floor, out cold.

'Dirty domesticate' spat the guard. There was silence in the shuttle as the Chief sunk into his seat and the guards wearily approached the door. The shuttle was now preparing to land and was slowly sinking to the ground. The lights flickered and went off. 'The metal fires...' murmured the guardsman, glancing at the ceiling. 'My chief, your life is worth a hundred of ours. We will protect you to the death. Right, brother?' the guardsman looked at his brother in the dark and they clutched their spears tighter. 'You have done well, my children' whispered the chief. 'May you hunt well in the sky'.

There was silence again. But this was a different kind of silence to the ones before. The sounds of a human city whizzed past outside and there was darkness, inside the shuttle and out. The guards had accepted their fate and were prepared to take down as many humans as possible. The door whizzed open and both warriors screamed a battle cry. They were momentarily blinded by a bright, artificial light and that was all it took before bullets entered both of their bodies. They screeched and screamed as they hit the floor with a thud. Blood pooled out below their bodies. 'Tango down' came a sarcastic whisper from the door. 'Shut up, you prick' said his friend. There was the sound of boots thudding on the shuttle and four mercenaries stepped on in the darkness, all fully geared in night vision.

'Chief Toonak, we're going to have to ask you to come with us...' said a voice in the darkness.