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dropship. I hope this vehicle isn’t wild enough to need those, he thought as he shuffled to the back of the hold. Oa sat against the warm grate watching the other Marauders warily.
    “See, Jad, you can’t go calling a cycle unlucky before it’s over,” Bota said, motioning to the wounded Awoken. “Those Howlers may have got hold of Coop, but they led us right to a camp. We just made our quota.”
    “You were fortunate it wasn’t another Howler den, the way you all went rushing in there,” Jad replied somberly as he hunched down beneath the long green coat he wore. Patched and faded, the coat concealed various surgical implements strapped to the old medic.
    “It was a close call. One of them was turning, but this one here was doing something strange to stop it. He seems to be a healer like you,” Bota said glancing back at Oa. The Lieutenant was an imposing figure, clad in an array of combat gear. Plates of cloth armor belted tightly over his torso. Slings and bandoliers hung across his shoulders. A belt around his waist supported his weapon and whatever other implements of war he carried in the numerous utility pouches of his pants. Goggles covered the Marauder’s visual receptors and a rag concealed the rest of his face below. Three antennae protruded straight up from a groove cut into the left side of his dome skull.
    “Come up here and give Jad a hand,” Bota commanded. Oa quietly picked himself up and moved cautiously over to Jad. “If you ride with us, you have to be useful. If you’re no help to Jad, I’ll deal with you myself.” Bota stared menacingly as Oa passed by. The young Awoken nodded and sat down next to Jad. Bota yelled up to the pilot, “Kiri, let’s burn out of here! Best not keep Eol waiting. Also, keep in formation for once.”
    “You know I can’t do both at the same time, sir,” Kiri called back. Bota shook his head, muttering something to himself in amusement.
    The engine came to life, rumbling with a deep hum that filled the air. Oa placed his hands down against the floor, trying to gain stability as the Reaper began to rise up into the air. He looked down at the wounded Marauder. There was a grizzly gash in the Marauder’s side where the mangled metal sparked and leaked clear fluid. Jad was focused intently as he worked to mend the wound. The pair of immaculate white gloves he wore sparked with a bright green energy that darted between the glove’s fingers sporadically. At frequent intervals the energy arced directly out of the digits, into shiny dust clouds hovering around the wound. The shimmering specs streamed out of slim tubes on the gloves. The tubes traced back to cylinders strapped to Jad’s chest, and they ran down his arms to each digit of his gloves. The green energy seemed to be controlling the clouds of shimmering dust, guiding them in the process of repairing the broken Marauder. As Oa stared down, his keen eyes could see the alloys being mended while wires and tubes were reattached by the microscopic tools.
    “What are those things?” Oa asked. He turned to Jad. The medic had only one faceplate amid the angular metal ridges of his blocky head. His rectangular visual receptors glowed with a kind emerald light that matched his surgical implements.
    Jad kept working as he replied in a sociable voice, “These are known as microburs. You can think of them as very, very tiny machines that replace the lost materials with new ones that are fed to them. The process is delicate, and the repairs can be messy, but I am one of the better healers still around so this fellow’s scar will hardly be noticeable; even if he won’t be able to feel this spot anymore.” Jad turned to look at Oa for a second before continuing. “You don’t strike me as a medic. How about you show me why Bota believes you are one?”
    Oa reached into the satchel at his side and pulled out the metallic sphere. “I used this, but I wasn’t able to finish my first attempt. I don’t know if I