"He was killed by the monster", Tahir answered. The diir nodded with a sad expression while wiping some dust off the skull.
"He says even though thousands of them had been killed by the monsters in front of his eyes, it still hurts every time". Hugo relayed the message the diir told him while a tear escaped his own eye. Due to the connection, the diir's feelings were also being experienced by Hugo.
"We are sorry for your loss", Sara said.
The diir nodded after Hugo relayed the message. "He says it's okay, Tiro knew that he might die but he couldn't live with himself if he let us die at the paws of that thing", Hugo said.
Tahir nodded, even though he did not quite understand the meaning behind those words. "Hugo ask if it knows were the nest or lair of those beasts is located, we need to save Jack, or bring back his body", Tahir asked.
"He says he doesn't know personally but there is someone who does in their tribe", Hugo relayed.
Tahir sighed. "Fine lead the way", he was well aware that it might be a trap set by the diir, however unlike the beasts, the diir were not that big of a threat. Granted they were strong, but not stronger than himself. They were fast, but not faster than a plasma bullet.
The pile of bones and flesh that was once Tiro also indicated that the diir were in no means immune to plasma weapons like the beasts.
.
.
.
On the way to the diir tribe.....
"Are we really going to try and bring him back?" Sara asked Tahir. "I want to save Jack as much as you do, he got taken trying to save my life after all, but do you think it's a good idea to risk the rest of the team?". she asked.
"Sara i am not losing a man on the first mission". Tahir said.
"How do we even know he is still alive?" Pei asked.
"This is Jack we are talking about and he is in his element out here. Do you remember what he said back on the ship?" Tahir asked.
"He said he understands animals to the point of being able to communicate with them" Misty said absentmindedly.
"Yes, so there is a non zero chance that he is still alive and non zero is still a chance", Tahir said.
"I agree". Misty said, touching the side pocket of her suit, where she had stored the flower Jack gifted her.
"If he is still alive, we will bring him back. Those things don't scare me anymore". Hugo said from the front of the group.
Hugo, led by the diir on his shoulder, led the team through the jungle until they came across a clearing. The Paladins were all surprised to find a small village situated there. Small not by area, but by actual building size. The buildings were all huts, with the biggest being about 1.5 meters (4'9") tall with grass roofs and mud walls.
There were diir all around with small children less than half a meter tall chasing each other through the village. The young diir looked identical to the adults, they were just smaller and had shorter horns.
Older diir were seen gathering wood, some cutting up roots, others digging holes for some reason and bigger more muscular diir building or repairing huts. Of course even the most muscular diir was frailer than Hugo or Pei.
The village looked like a real society of normal 'people'. The Paladins felt like they were in the middle of some sort of refugee camp. The only strange part was that none of the diir talked, they only connected their horns for a few seconds or used a sort of sign language the Paladins did not understand.
"This doesn't make sense", Sara whispered to Tahir.
"What do you mean?" Tahir watched two young diir rolling around on the ground kicking and punching each other. The adult diir did not seem bothered so he guessed it was normal.
"This place feels off". Sara whispered. "What would you do if giant aliens suddenly appeared in your home?" she asked and answered her own question before giving Tahir the chance to do so, "I would be suspicious, scared, happy, nervous, heck anything!. But look at them, they act like they don't see us at all".
Sara continued, "I'm pretty sure those ones over there are even having sex!. Then look at their houses, i would overlook it if i had not seen that castle back there. They said it used to belong to their king, so compare that architecture to this. Either they suddenly forgot how to build or someone is lying to us. And why was that castle so big while these things are so small!?" she made sure that Tahir saw she was staring at the diir on Hugo's shoulder.
Tahir took a few seconds to let Misty's words sink in and he could not refute them. He had also noticed some of the points Sara had brought up. "You are right, something does not add up, still worst case scenario we perform genocide and leave the planet without Jack or his body".
He sighed before continuing, "But there is still a chance that they might lead us to Jack and we may find him alive. We were all trained for this but at the same time we were never trained for this. We are in uncharted territory with no intel, we may be behind enemy lines or in our barracks and we would have absolutely no clue".
"We can't even begin to try and predict the moves of an enemy we know nothing about. We can only adapt and watch each other's backs". Tahir said and Sara nodded. She did not expect him to make any big decision based on her observations anyway, she just wanted to make sure he was aware of the precariousness of their situation.
"Mitt says we are going to meet the leader of the remaining diir's. He says the leader was actually the crown princess, and she would have been Queen in a few seasons". Hugo relayed the diir's message. Tahir and Sara had made sure that Hugo wouldn't hear their conversation so as to not alert the diir.
The group soon walked past the village and towards a cave located on the side of a small hill. The cave's edges were smooth, meaning it was not a natural one, also it was only one and a half meters tall, forcing Tahir to crouch in order to move through. After walking for about a dozen meters, Hugo stopped.
"Mitt said he stops here, he said the leader does not allow just anyone to see her", Hugo said as the diir on his shoulder jumped off and ran back towards the village.
"If this isn't a trap, i don't know what is". Sara said.
"I'm sure we will be fine, Mitt and the others would not do that", Hugo said.
"Are you hearing yourself right now dude?" Tahir sighed. "We cannot trust your judgement for the rest of this mission Hugo, we don't know what those things are doing to your head".
Hugo opened his mouth but no words came out, Tahir's words made sense and he would also assume the same. Hugo wanted to tell them that he was still himself but knew it was useless, he even doubted his own thoughts not sure if he was in complete control of his own mind. He could only hope that his team would be able to stop him come worst case scenario.
The group prepared their guns and went deeper into the cave until they came upon an much larger section. "Greetings friends from above", this time everyone heard the voice, and it did not come through their ears but transmitted directly into their minds.