[ IP ] Man 's best friend

Winslow Studwick stood on a hill, far away from Omega-6H, his old town. The town was destroyed the previous night by a Hildosk, a native to their home planet of Khiddaz, with the body of a deadly beetle and six long legs of a giraffe. The Hildosk was still there in the town, using its claws to dig into houses and moaning every once in a while, so it could get its bearings. It faced Winslow, albeit from far away, but Hildosks are very fast runners. Winslow turned around, walked awkwardly down the hill, and guided his only companion, a dog, to do so too. The dog's name was Bishop, and he was an unknown species of dog to Winslow and everyone on Khiddaz. In fact, Bishop was the only dog in the galaxy at the time. Bishop's family was eaten a week after he was born, and Winslow's family adopted the dog. After that, Bishop stood by Winslow's side for almost a decade. Winslow loved Bishop and Bishop loved Winslow. 
 
 Eventually, the pair reached Chance's Canyon, the dividing point between the two nations of Khiddaz: Burkland, an interstellar United States of America, and Patilia, a nation that fell apart and became a land for roaming nomads and bandits, with small towns and cities placed everywhere. Winslow thought about leaving back for Omega-6H, as the Interplanetary Peace Corps. would be there, but Winslow felt like adventure. Ever since he was a young boy, he dreamed of exploring the universe, from the distant ice-world of Weinpei, to the swampy lands of Lugifeerq. And the trek across Chance's Canyon would be the first step to exploring the grand universe. Winslow looked to his dog; he was wagging his tail and looking up to his master. Winslow knew exactly what Bishop meant; he smiled. 
 
 `` Okay boy, lets go down into Chance's Canyon,'' Winslow said. 
 
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 If it was n't for the several small tribes of Burklandic and Patilian alike, strategically placed in the canyon, then Winslow would have been a goner. There was a weak point in the rock, causing him to slip down and snap his leg in half. Bishop became scared and stayed put on the ledge he was on. He began to bark, a basic distress signal, and a man came to Winslow after about five hours. The man was a doctor named Vinny Garner. He healed Winslow's leg within a week, and helped bring Bishop down. Even after he was healed, Winslow still stayed in the village, getting to know the people and see some authentic Indian cultural items from Earth. Inevitably, Winslow would have to leave, and it pained the people of the village to see him go. It pained Winslow as well, but he had to go and explore the universe. Before he left, Vinny gave Winslow medicine, extra food, a lot of water, and a tent-pod, a little box that has an average sized tent in it. After leaving the village, Winslow felt like he was on top of the world, where nothing would stop him. 
 
 `` Bishop,'' he spoke to his dog as they walked further into the wilderness. `` After living in the village for a little while, I feel amazing. I feel like we could take on a million soldiers, several aliens, and a bunch of bandits!'' 
 
 Bishop barked. 
 
 `` I agree. Ah, there's nothing we ca n't do!'' 
 
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 The past eighteen months of Winslow's life have been grueling. Every few weeks he'd come across a town, an IPC outpost, or a crime lord's moving base of operations. Winslow knew the situation in Patilia was bad, but this was *awful*. Most of the time, he and Bishop were in the desert, so they had to sleep deep under the ground so Hildosks, Paikums, Zheizaims, and more would n't pick their bones clean. The towns he went to were under attack and poorly defended, and the IPC outposts promised Winslow that they would take him to Watkins-Wu ( a space station ), but something awful happened beforehand, often destroying the shuttle, or killing everyone who knows how to do anything with the shuttle. Normally, Winslow would be scared, and he still got scared, but he was more annoyed. He wanted to fix the nation, but he did n't know how, and one measly person could n't do anything in a nation the size of a hemisphere. He just survived in the wilderness; that's it. No giant exploring missions, or ice worlds, or battling unseen monsters. And the bandits, hostile nomads, rogue IPC soldiers... It was all awful. Winslow and Bishop's only hope was the capital city of Kaur, which was still socially intact. So, eighteen months in, they had a solid goal, and set out for the city. 
 
 They were at the border of Kaur's district and the district of Nibhanupudi. A sandstorm was occurring, and Bishop hated sandstorms. He kept trying to run away, and it was hard for Winslow to find his dog in the storm. Soon, Bishop ran deeper into the storm, only for him to run back, whimpering. Winslow thought it was just the storm, but then he heard the creak of metal and whirring of machinery. A pale blue light shone through the sand, and the frame was more visible. It had eight legs, almost as high as a Hildosk's leg. The robot's body was huge, in a diamond shape with a light blue circle in the front acting like an eye. Concealed under the body were two clearly visible guns. Winslow pulled out his pistol, and Bishop hid behind his master's legs. The sand cleared, revealing three humans, each wearing dark robes and white helmets. Each of them pushed a button on the side of their helmets, revealing their faces. The man in the middle was Patilian, but the ones on his sides were from Fukui and Huang ( both from the planet Oung ). All three of them raised their guns towards Winslow; he did likewise. 
 
 `` We do n't want to hurt you,'' the middle one said. `` I'm sorry if we intimidated you. We're going to Kaur, but we do n't accept animals. We're merely scouts. Please put your gun away.'' 
 
 Winslow looked at Bishop. He was n't going to kill his dog, his best friend, just so he could go to the city he could see behind the robot. 
 
 `` I'm sorry,'' Winslow said, keeping the pistol steady. `` Bishop and I can go to Kaur on our own.'' The duo began to walk, but the middle man raised his gun again. 
 
 ``'I'm sorry', but we're going to bring order to this Hell of a nation, and the first step is creating laws for its people. We can-'' Before the man was finished, Winslow shot him. The other two activated their helmets and started firing. Winslow and Bishop fled to a large rock, but Bishop did n't make it. The dog was shot through the chest while he was running. Winslow took a risk and shot at both of them. The Kukuian was shot in the face, but the Huangese was only shot in the side. The Huangese remotely activated the robot's guns, leading to a barrage of lasers against the rock. Winslow took a glance. The Huangese was lying on the ground. Winslow took another risk and tried to shoot the robot's eye, but he missed and his hand was shot off. After ten minutes, the lasers shot straight through the rock, hitting Winslow at the base of the back, killing him. The robot shut off automatically and walked off to Kaur. 
 
 A few moments later, another traveler from Burkland, Grayson Morrison, discovered the body of Bishop. Grayson ran, and knelt near the dog, causing it to move its head. Grayson gasped.
