2. Alone Together

Complete story — includes the ending

After an accident with a teleporter pod, Ben and a Highbreed officer named Reinrassig III are stranded on a desert planet called Turrawuste. The pair are forced to work together to fend off the dangerous alien predators on the planet while making their way to the routing station, much to Reinrassig's chagrin. As they make their way across the desert, the two save each other from danger from the violent native alien wildlife, even risking their own lives to do so. The night before they reach the routing station, an alien creature attacks them, severing Reinrassig's right hand. This prompts Ben to transform into Swampfire to reattach it. However, Reinrassig does not take well to this, claiming Ben made him impure. When Ben goes to leave through the portal the next morning, he asks Reinrassig why he is choosing to stay back. Reinrassig says that he is doing so because his Methanosian right hand has rendered him impure by Highbreed standards, and that only pure Highbreed can continue with the invasion.