“Get into the water!” Alpha yelled as the Clan:LESS horde reached the shores of the lake. Some pulled personal submersibles and scuba gear from their packs and plunged into the waters to pursue their target. Others assembled and launched gunships, tracking Bugz from the surface. On board one such ship, equipped with a massive cannon, Alpha set out to a spot where he guessed she might re-emerge. Flashlight and spotlight beams swept frantically across the surface of the lake as the search for Bugz continued—to no avail. Alpha and his crew saw nothing in the black waves except the reflections of the lights above. After five minutes, the excitement died down, and a deathly quiet settled on the water.

A rumbling began deep beneath the surface.

“She’s coming up!” The radio channel connecting all of the members of Clan:LESS crackled to life with a dispatch from one of the submersibles.

“Everyone train your sights on the target,” Alpha shouted across the waves. He located the radio signal flashing on his map and pointed to a spot on the lake. The rumbling grew louder.

“Give us an update,” Alpha yelled into his mic, his voice betraying a hint of nerves.

Silence spread across the radio channel as the sound of the rumble only increased.

Suddenly, the lake roared. The water frothed and parted as a massive snake tore through the surface, shooting into the sky above. It roared like a giant lion. This fierce, scaled creature looped high into the air and traced a Ferris wheel path against the stars above. The Clan:LESS soldiers stared in frozen awe, and remained that way for several seconds as the creature continued to arc across the heavens.

The snake reached the pinnacle of his flight path and turned back toward the soldiers, slowly at first but soon with an increasing and terrifying speed. He screamed again. In this instant, the beast showed his face to the mercenaries below, his head that of a giant panther crowned with two menacing horns. To some of the soldiers, he must have resembled a saber-toothed devil; others recognized him from the rock paintings flashing on their screens during tutorial videos. Either way, the soldiers did not move.

“FIRE!” yelled Alpha, charging his energy cannon.