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From, General Astron of the Sillatiq empire.

To His Majesty, emperor Resaec of Sillatiq empire

Written on the Fifth day of Muanut, 310.

I write this letter in haste, as our current situation has become complicated. I don't know if you know this, but this 'special' training was your wife's idea. Remember Edrive's retirement celebration? Everyone was surprised by it. A party has never been thrown to celebrate the captain of the guard's retirement. But none of them have been so close to you like Edrive was, and still is. I remember how you were so upset that you might never see him again, that it left you bed ridden. It wasn't until someone had the idea to make him an advisor that you perked up again, but I'm getting off track. It was at that party that your wife, Garmtera, approached me. She expressed concern that in the last few years, many of the top guards have gotten too old to perform their duties, and that they had to be replaced with newer and inexperienced staff. I told her that I had similar worries but didn't know what to do. After some back and forth, she had an idea. I would train a special unit just for defending the castle. I liked it; thus, we began to discuss how to plan it out and what this 'special' unit would be like. That's when she had another idea, instead of training a whole new unit, I could just do normal army training, and at the end I can hand pick the top soldiers to be guards for the castle. After about a week of planning, our plan was set. We would allow any bear, from anywhere in the empire to join. Their social status, gender or age didn't matter. I didn't care if they were criminals! We went to you with the idea, and you accepted it.

I'm sure you remember the first day this 'special' training started. Four hundred, fifty-eight bears showed up on day one. I had them all together in the castle courtyard and gave each one of them a blue piece of cloth. I then told them that they had to hand me two pieces of clothes and that anyone who didn't, would be kicked out. When you saw how much blood was in the courtyard, you wanted me to go softer on them. You should know that once you left, Garmtera came up to me and said that I should be even harder.

After three months of basic training, I let them choose which part of the army they would like to join. After five months of that, the eighty-six bears that remained were some of the best in the entire Sillatiq army. For the last month, I took them out and trained them in field experience. They will know what it's like to wake up before dawn and march for the entire day, only stopping for five-minute breaks every other hour. They were expected to either bring enough for themselves to last the whole month, forage and hunt, or starve to death. They will know what it's like to set up tents during the rain, walk through mud and sleep on the ground.

We would tour the Sillatiq countryside, ending at the Daaxxi border, then march back to our capital city Meakii. We are currently about three days from the Daaxxi border. I planned this so that the marching would end in the middle of Muanut, just when the trees begin to lose their leaves. Armies would never march during the harsh snow storms the area is known for, but I thought they should experience walking during the cold months.

I wrote all of this to remind you of my current situation. I would also like you to read the whole thing through before deciding on my request at the end of this letter. Five days ago, a scout discovered a fence next to the Heflog river. No town would form so close to the Daaxxi border, and the soil here cannot be used for farming. With this in mind, I believed that this fence belonged to bandits. I prepared for battle. I sent two scout teams, one to gather intel on the bandits behind the fence, and one to see where they originated from. The second team came back before the first day ended. They told me that they found no tracks whatsoever. I was so shocked by this that I didn't even think that they were wrong, I simply asked them to show me why they thought that. They had led me around the fence, and it was far longer than I originally thought. We walked around the whole thing and at no point did any of us see tracks. I had no idea how and had to put all of my hope in the team I sent into the bandit camp. Two days later, one of the scouts came back. I immediately thought the worst, but he quickly put my mind at ease. He told me the leader, Vektris, sent him back early. He thought it was too important to wait until the last day for me to know.

At first, the scout gave me basic information, there were ten, they had excess metal, they slept in tents, things like that. Then he told me what I thought was the reason he came back early. He said that out of the ten bandits in the camp, half were women. I thought this was what sent him back. If half were women, then chances were that they weren't bandits, but the scout still looked nervous. After some final thoughts on wording, he finally told me. His exact words were, “They aren't bears, sir." I didn't understand what he meant and no matter how hard or how many ways he tried to explain, I still couldn't understand. He finally gave up and said that I need to see them myself to understand.

He led me to their camp, but before we got there, we saw one. We hid in the foliage and watched. It was a female, and she was looking at a tree. The scout explained that she was collecting sap. They had a metal nub that they put in the tree, they then put a jar under it and left it there for days at a time, which let them collect the sap. I have been trying to describe this creature the best I can, but I still struggle to articulate it.

Take a bear, now shrink it to about chest height. Now thin it out, really thin it. Remove all of the fur, except for the top of the head. The front of the head fur is short, cut above the eyes and the back is long enough to reach the middle of the back. This is the weirdest part of all, flatten the face. No snout, just face. This doesn't do it justice, and the only way to understand is to see it. I'm sure that when you read it you pictured something terribly ugly, but in all honesty, it was weird. When she finally left, I told the scout to return to the mission and come back with the others. When I got back to our camp, all I could think of to do was sit and think. I knew that once the scouts returned, words of these furless creatures would spread. As such I took the initiative. I told my troops what was happening, I also told them that even going near the fence would result in immediate execution.

I write this letter two days after the scouts returned. They arrived in the early morning; their mission was a success. They could describe in detail all ten of the…creatures ' schedules. They seem to be clearing a plot for a building. Most likely permanent housing. They also say that they are weak. The scouts saw that they needed three in order to remove a stump that one bear could have pulled. With this in mind I feel that I must make some things clear.

We don't know what their intentions are.

We don't know where they came from.

We don't know what their relations are with other nations.

We don't even know what they are.

We do know that they are trying to set up a permanent building.

We do know that they have a surplus of metal.

We do know that half of them are women.

We do know that one bear is as strong as three of them.

With this all-in mind, I would like to communicate with them. If they are neutral, which I think they are, then we can use them to our advantage. They are able to move thousands of pieces of wood and build a fence, without leaving any tracks. They also have a lot of metal, so much that they are wasting it on collecting sap. Finally, if we can find their homeland, we can try to form an alliance and fill our ranks with their soldiers. Yes, they're weak but numbers are what's important. With this in mind I believe that I can get resources, information and even soldiers.

Now that you understand the situation, I have one request. At the end of winter, I would like you to send three hundred soldiers to me. If things go over smoothly, then we'll need soldiers to help carry resources and maybe even guard an envoy. If they turn out to be aggressive towards the Sillatiq empire, then the three hundred soldiers will be used to 'persuade' them to help us. If you do decide to send them, please do it when I ask. This will give me thirteen and a-half weeks to work with. I hope you agree with my idea and send the soldiers at the end of winter.

Your loyal soldier and friend,

General Astron.

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Once I finished writing, I headed over to the scout tent. The entire camp was busy. Instead of soldiers training to fight the bandits, they were removing debris and gathering material to build houses. Ever since I saw one of the creatures, I knew that we would be in it for the long haul. I gave the order to build permanent structures and that we will be staying here over the winter. All around me bears were moving. Making maps and instructions in the dirt, hauling logs, digging holes, everything. While I let them figure out what they wanted to do, I did have most of the scouts do the hunting and gathering. One exception was Lupdoa, his father is a carpenter and as such he was taught the art from a young age. I found him removing rocks from an area.

“How's it coming along Lupdoa?" He immediately got up and faced me, but he relaxed once he realized what I said.

“Oh, it's good sir, how can I help you?" I held out the letter.

“I need you to head back to Meakii and deliver this letter to the emperor, that's what you can help me with ''. His eyes widened and he dusted off the dirt from his hands by brushing them against his sides.

“Yes, sir! When do you want me to leave?" I was annoyed by the question.

“Today, gather all you need and head out" Why else would I hand you the letter? If I wanted you to deliver it tomorrow I would have handed it to you tomorrow.

“Should I return when I finish?" Gods, I hate questions.

“No, I remember when I announced my plans about contacting those…" I still didn't know what to call them.

“The furless one?" Apparently Lupdoa knew what to call them.

“Yes, the letter contains those plans. Once the emperor reads the letter, he'll have questions. I think that someone with the most experience will be best suited for that". Lupdoa seemed to be digesting what I told him.

“I see. I'll get my stuff and leave camp".

“Good, say goodbye to some people, and don't worry about finding me, I expect you to leave within the hour". With that I turned around and headed back to my tent to grab my bow. I needed to clear my mind and prepare to make contact with the 'furless ones' tomorrow. Besides, I would be a lousy general if I left all of the work to my men.

And one woman.

---

“Holy shit, what are we doing man". It's been five days since the area for the lab was marked. We've been making good progress all things considered, but it was still a long way to go before the lab could be teleported. Apparently, some didn't care.

“What do you mean 'what are we doing' we are clearing the area." I thrusted my shovel into the dirt, trying to dig out a stump and turned to Carter while he wrestled with one of his own. It was just the two of us, unfortunately since that means I had to talk to him.

“You know what I mean! We were sent here to study this, not molest the ground". He wasn't using a shovel, instead he had a hoe, so I had the joy of him making a sex joke every ten minutes.

“'Molest', that's an interesting word choice. Do you think that what we are doing is wrong?" I was finally able to get the shovel under the stump, but I stopped to look at the engineer. He was in the middle of raising the hoe over his head when he slouched his arms and looked at me. He opened his mouth and made a few syllables before he finally thought of a response he liked.

“I don't know man." How well thought out.

“It's like, we were sent to study this planet and we haven't been here for more than three weeks. And now, they want to send a full fucking lab here like its nothing. Don't you think it's wrong?"

“Wrong? I think it's strange, but it's not wrong, why do you think it's wrong?" I was really surprised by this, and even wanted to hear what he had to say about it. He 'tch' and looked around like he was about to say, 'this guy for real'.

“We know nothing about this planet. For all we know, during summer it rains fire. We shouldn't be bringing an entire fucking lab here. And that's not the only part, there could be an entire civilization out there". I rolled my eyes at that.

“It was just a bird, man. It wasn't a 'space ninja'". If we didn't already drink all of the alcohol we smuggled in, I would think he was drunk, but I know he's just stupid.

“I'm not talking about that John. We know so little about this planet. For all we know we could be on space Yellowstone campgrounds, or something. And for the record, it was not a goddamn bird, it was too big". Looked at me like I just called his mom a whore.

“Then what was it? What did you see in the trees, in the middle of the night when you woke up to take a piss". I knew the answer, it was nothing, but he was too proud to admit it.

“I don't know, it was too big to be a bird". He dragged his hand through his short, dirty blond hair. I smirked and had an idea.

“It could have been a space bear. You know they can climb trees". He gave me a glare.

“Yes, I know bears can climb trees, everyone does." He was getting really upset at that. I kept in a chuckle and prepared for the killing blow. I grabbed my shovel and went back to work.

“Alright, I was just making sure, didn't think you did because you're an engi-"

“Shut the fuck up". He was staring daggers into me and I couldn't contain myself and I burst out laughing.

*************************************************************************************************************

After I calmed down, we both returned to work in silence. Sara eventually showed up with a bag of water bottles.

“Hey. Want to take a break". We both grabbed a water bottle and all three of us sat on the ground and began to talk.

“How's Sophia?" I asked between swigs of water. Sara rolled her eyes, not at me, at the question.

“Oh, she'll live. She acted like we had to amputate her whole arm." She drank half of her water in one go and returned to looking at nothing. Carter put him down and responded.

“You should have. She should know to be careful around boiling pots."

“It is kind of funny that she burned herself on the syrup pot". I took another drink and followed Sara's eyes to the grand nothing of nature.

“Yeah, I guess it is." A nice silence of nature washed over us. But I guess Carter didn't like it because he ruined it.

“What are you looking at?" And in that moment, I knew what I had to say.

“Space ninjas". I expected him to scream. Instead, he acted like he didn't hear it. Sara, on the other hand, let out a chuckle.

“God dammit, knock it off".

“You're the one who said he saw it!"

“It was just a theory". This back and forth went on for a while before we heard Musa's voice, from a distance.

“Dinner!" Was all he said.

“Alright, let go gentlemen". Sara got up and patted her jeans while Carter and I got up. I followed Sara's example and rubbed my jeans. Carter just walked back.

“Don't want to freshen up before dinner, mister engineer?" Sara asked.

“Piss off". We both laughed at that, and near the end Carter let a grin slip.