crash landing
;time moved like water on the battlefield. swashes of colors like plants dancing just under the surface.
while she held off the onslaught of creatures striking at various points of the sphere, her body reacted beyond what her mind was concentrating on. her skin began to prickle. raised bumps rushed along her arms, trembling under the attack of the enemies. the atmosphere of the planet was not conducive to her biotics. she was used to the padded, temperature controlled existence of station hopping.
heat flushed along the back of her neck. hungry eyes blacker than unperceived space glanced over her shoulder to catch the end of the drell’s ritual. the beasts tormented. suspended in mid-air. that golden hue flickering around them.
they all dropped in unison.
her skin crawled. a heaviness in her stomach. dryness in the back of her throat. dropping the biotic sphere, she righted herself, caked mud falling off her knees and legs. her fingers tingled.
the monster under her skin craved that power but the voice of something like survival instinct held the reins– only just.
the drell’s words fell on deaf ears, her mind scrambled to fit the pieces together.
something…
coming…
numbed silence, she quietly gave a nod of her head and turned back to her pod. stepping over the doorway, she waited until the drell’s footfalls receded before she turned towards the inner wall to her left. clawed hand pulls back, bitoic crackling as she strikes out at the wall. the metal groaning under the impact of her physical abuse.
lights flickered. and automated voice chimed overhead.
‘35% hull damage.’
blind rage caught up with her. not only was she stranded planetside with a drell, but one that held some great power under those iridescent scales. the drell gods smiled upon her companion.
four centuries.
she had melded with only three drell. one was a mercy killing. keperal syndrome was tearing the great assassin down. the other two were priests out on missions along with their hanar missionaries.
morinth unlocked the hatch holding the first aid. a metal box that clattered to the ground. finger’s undoing the knot at her side, she used a jagged shard of glass that had broke free on impact, to cut the skirt from her gown. knotting the opposite ends together, she created a sling much like asari mother’s used to lay their children in. over one shoulder, she began to dump the tin cans of food. dextro and levero were stockpiled there. bottled waters, packs of medi-gel. replacements batteries for omni-tools.
footfalls outside. her companion was back.
‘i hope that you have an omni-tool. i never bothered to update my implants. went dead decades ago.’
her voice carried as she stepped out of the pod, the frayed ends of the skirt, ravaged and showing off black stockings-clad legs. torn material showed off that pale blue flesh beyond speckles of dirt and mud continuing to cling to her limbs.
‘lead the way. don’t want the next big bad to get here before we have time to ready ourselves.’
She blinked, realizing the asari had no better luck finding a pack to hold essentials either. It was unfortunate to see such a gown destroyed, but some things could not be avoided. Taking her eyes off the asari’s shapely legs, she nodded. “I do. My OT implant is still operative, though something seems to be preventing me from getting any kind of signal. I am hoping the disruption is due to a magnetic disturbance caused by the crash and not the planet itself.”
Feeling the tremor beneath her feet, she inclined her head. On the way to the asari, she’d scanned the horizon. If they headed northeast, the elevation was a bit higher, leading to what could almost be considered a low mountain range. Almost. With a scent of water coming from that direction, it appeared to be their best option. If they were lucky they would be able to locate an unoccupied cave...She slipped her arm into the hole created by the beneath the knots tied in her dress and settled the make-shift sack high on her shoulder. She adjusted the weight to fall on her back, freeing up both hands.
She was running around in no more than panties and a garter belt, the ribbons dangling, no longer attached to stockings. She’d removed the torn stockings and tossed them in her dress-sack in case they were needed to strain water. She could only imagine how dirty and banged up she’d be by the time they found shelter. The scent of water did at least offer hope of cleaning up...if the water did not prove to be as dangerous as the land.
She darted off to towards the northeast , bent lower towards the ground, trying to use the mist as a cover, only peeking above it to check their progress and duck back down. She tried her best to avoid the nasty looking viney plants with what appeared to be covered in thorns. She would have a hard time explaining why she healed so quickly or how she got through the brambles without injury.
The landscape began to rise and they slowly slipped out of the low lying mist. She felt horribly exposed to anything that might be trailing them. At least she no longer felt the tremors under her feet. So either whatever was back there had given up to find easier, slower, prey...or the ground was too hard now to feel its approach.
She came to a stop, sniffed the air and headed in the direction of the water. They would have to find a place to hole up near the water. It didn’t take long for them to find the source. She followed the stream on the left, it ended in a pool at the base of a small waterfall. Nice, relatively pretty area, but there was no place that would offer any shelter. She looked at the asari and pointed up. They needed to climb up, it didn’t look like it was too far, though the rocks did look slippery. But there was little choice, theShe blinked, realizing the asari had no better luck finding a pack to hold essentials either. It was unfortunate to see such a gown destroyed, but some things could not be avoided. Taking her eyes off the asari’s legs, she nodded. “I do. My implant is still operative, though something seems to be preventing me from getting any kind of signal. I am hoping it is y were too exposed to predators and all of them would need to drink.
When she passed by the pool she could swear she saw something moving in its depth. A shiver went down her spine. Note to self...no swimming in that pool. She began to climb, gripping rocks when needed. The rocky slope was doable, but might just be steep enough to keep some predators at bay.
She groaned and arched her back in a stretch after she was back on level ground. There was another pool of water at the base of yet another waterfall. But in the craggy side of the cliff was a large crevice. She released a ragged breath and looked at the asari that had joined her. “That may be our only hope..unless you’ve a mind to keep climbing.” She pointed towards the crevice. “I’m going to check it out. If it can save us another climb like that.” At least if the ground dropped out from beneath them, she’d survive the fall. She dropped the bag into her hand to carry it at her side. The crevice did not appear large enough for her to get through with the bag on her back...but that also meant larger predators would have a hard time getting in.
Sidling in sideways, she pressed between to cold, cliff walls. About 15 feet in, the passageway began to widen, before the ground disappeared. “Stop!” she yelled as she pulled on her powers to slow her fall. A golden glow lit up the area. She sighed in relief the cavern floor was not far down. “There’s about a 10 foot drop or so. You can wait or join me down here. I’m going to see if we are...alone.”
