\| Divided Paths |/ - Chapt. 3 - Resolute - Biome (IC)

If 673 could feel disappointment, he would have. His hunt had lead him to a sleek metal...thing lying in a small clearing. Intrigued and certain the smell was coming from inside, the Hithe had located and hastily pried open a doorway in the side of the vessel to find his prize.

Dead, recently too. The creature that lay lifeless in its cot was as familiar as the scent of its ichor, but once again 673's mind couldn't pin it down. Still, a dead, skinny thing wasn't going to answer questions or be any form of entertainment, so 673 turned his attention to the other contents of the metal container.

Nothing however stood out as interesting, the Hithe's reprogrammed psyche ignoring the medical and repair equipment. Frustrated, 673 left the clearing, retracing his path back to where he had encountered Jaci. At least the reptile always gave a good chase.

The darkness consumed all. It was a ravenous beast, swallowing up all in its black maw, allowing no weak light to escape from its inky throat. To Corena, it was as if the entire universe had been devoured, dead stars put out as if the embers of a grand inferno had been stomped out into the ground. Although it restricted her sight, the darkness appeared to augment her other senses. The tangle of wires to her back stuck there as if frozen, chilling her entire being. The sharp odor of burning metal, like ozone, mixed with deep, strong scents of smoke and chemicals in her nose. What was most revealing for Corena was what her hearing could grant her. For the most part, muffled sounds of many conversations traveled from a distance to her. She could not identify what was said, nonetheless the language spoken, but it was apparent that wherever she was located was a place of convergence for a large number of people. The sound was not relieving in the slightest, however - the voices and conversations just beyond her reach were like the ceaseless buzzing of swarming locusts, plagues converging upon dried out crops. Each voice, each unknown word tore away at her resolve and determination to maintain her strength in spite of the given situation.

After what seemed an eternity, an automatic door opened with a mechanical whoosh, and the collective whisper became the roar of thousands. She could immediately recognize Etalun, the ancient language of the Krathunians, sparsely intermixed with Loccalian. Her mind raced, her thoughts like a staccato of bullets from an automatic rifle. The Covenant used the standard Loccalian language for all affairs internally, given their traditions and history. Etalun was only used by soldiers in the few paramilitary organizations that existed and by citizens in rural areas. Thus, Corena wondered why the conversations were in that language, and the floodgates of memory were destroyed.

The last time Corena had witnessed someone speak Etalun was on the Fist of Iasphen, one of several Alkisun Capital Ships, and previous to that, onboard the Eternal Devotion. It was in that language that Relthar Levantus barked complex, thoughtful orders at his troops, the rough sounding tongue echoing down the bloodsoaked corridors of the ship where she had been enslaved. She recalled a conversation she had with the now absent Mischief on that day.

"Do you really trust them?"

Corena stared at this for several moments. "Why?" She asked Mischief in response.

"Regardless of our grievances with the Eternal Devotion, we are not being put into much better hands. The Alkisuns are criminals. You know that as well as I do. They are perhaps worse than Xavre and his crew. How do we know that they will not do something worse with us?" The AI argued.

Corena, glancing down at her plasmatic rifle, audibly sighed. "That's a risk I'm willing to take for my freedom."

Corena gasped at the realization, struggling in vain to get free with her whole body, the motion restricted by steel chords that bound her to the tubes. She tried to scream, but found she had no voice, for her mouth was gagged. Almost immediately as her endeavor to gain freedom began, heavy footsteps pounded towards her, like the beating of war drums. A frigid metal claw gripped her shoulder as the blindfold and gag were removed, and light inundated her vision. When her sight had adjusted, she found her eyes meeting those of Relthar Levantus. She was struck by their ferocity and cold tenacity. She knew immediately that he hungered for revenge, and the Krathunian was starving.

“Why?” Corena’s voice came feebly, the tone strained. It had a quality of sadness about it, as if disappointed.“You told us we were to be free… So, why am I here?”  

“You are a point of weakness,” Relthar growled deeply, though being careful to enunciate every word. He was deliberate in his speaking as though tending a wound and being wary of further exacerbating it. “Everyone has weakness of some form. What it is doesn’t matter - It could be a companion, or a chink in one’s armor.” Two of the fingers of his right hand twitched, and his dull silver armor parted at the chest, revealing a massive laceration. It was closed by the nanomachines injected into his bloodstream, but Relthar’s natural plating was still torn and ripped apart from where Netheun’s blade had cut through. The implications of being cut by a high frequency blade, vibrating electrically, were obvious - While the gash had been incredibly precise, it still caused huge amounts of damage around it. He gestured to all of this, allowing Corena a glance at what was his own point of weakness. “Many, like me, try to eliminate them as soon as they are apparent. In your being here, a vulnerability has become apparent to my dear friend Netheun, and if he has any shred of ambition and self worth he will come here to fix it.”

“You’re using me to lure him out...” She exclaimed, her voice cracking and rusty from dehydration. “What purpose would that serve?”

“Variables, Corena,” He answered, folding his arms as the armor reverted to its original configuration. “Uncontrolled variables are dangerous. I can’t allow any degree of unpredictability in the near future. You will see, in time.” He turned to face three fully fortified Alkisun guards, wielding high caliber shotguns and armor based laser weaponry. “Put all posts on high alert, and activate the automated interior security systems of the shield world.” All three gave a stiff salute, and one left the room, presumably to carry out the orders given. “As for you…” Relthar’s gaze slowly fell upon a sole Jorro’kil - Meris, dressed in a formal black, white, and lavender suit, like that of a politician. He stood out amongst the heavily armed soldiers. “I know you are normally something of an errand boy for Silus, but I need you to stay here and guard the prisoner. Have your standard issue pistol at the ready, for if another Ryun enters this room, I am ordering to not hesitate to fire.”

Meris bowed. “It is an honor to serve you, Krathunian.”

Relthar grunted before turning back to Corena. From a nearby table, cluttered with tools and gadgets, he grabbed a hardlight datapad, and activated the video functions. He directed the camera at Corena for several seconds, before turning it to his own face, and simply stated, “Destiny calls, Netheun.” He deactivated the video function, changing the application to a countdown timer, and handed it to Meris. “Farewell, Corena,” He uttered as he exited the room.

All Corena could do was stare at the timer on the datapad. She didn’t know what would happen when it hit zero, but she knew it pertained to what Relthar had stated about variables. She screamed, as loudly as possible, a plea for Netheun to come and for everything to cease to allow for peace. But nobody outside heard her cries - They echoed fruitlessly throughout the chamber, meeting only stalwart ears that would not falter simply at one's desperate cries. Corena, knowing it was hopeless, closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to consume all once more.

Jaci lay where he was for a moment as he made sense of what he had been asked. The words "who" and "why" he recognized clearly; these were usually amongst the first words anyone learned a new language.

Slowly, he reached out his hand and began to scratch at an exposed area of soil until he had created a small hole full of loose dirt He then spat into this a few times and then mixed the saliva and dirt, making a small amount of mud. He pointed at this, and then to himself. "Jaci," he said, his voice taking a slightly shamed quality, the sort someone might use if they were revealing something embarrassing about oneself. He then pointed back the way he came.

"See marks," he said. "Find big thing but no see thing. Follow marks. Want see if marks is bad. Good to know if bad or good."

He then shivered. He was cold. He had no fur or feathers, and he was hardly dressed for the climate.

Ravage’s talons tapped the ground thoughtfully, before she responded, “Alright, then, Jaci, it seems you aren’t here because you wanted to hurt us.” She chose her words more carefully, to avoid accidentally using a word he would not recognize. She would have folded her arms, if one weren’t currently in a sling, “The big thing that you couldn’t see was my spaceship; it is hidden for various reasons.” She told him. “As for our trail, you may have run into things along the way that put you in danger. If so, I apologize, that was not intended for you; we did not know that anyone else was on this planet.” She said.

She looked at Rune, “Rune, can you find a long, straight branch?” She asked him.

Rune nodded, “I’ll go get one.” He said, before running off to inspect several shrubs that had been uprooted by Xenos.”

Ravage walked up to Jaci and knelt down near him; as close to the posture as a Chimerosu could muster, “We will treat your ankle, sorry for threatening you.” She said, gesturing to his injury with her good hand.

Querois, meanwhile, looked curiously at Jaci from a distance, before a knowing look seemed to come over his face. He said nothing, however, about what he had figured out.

"Your comrade has already revealed one detail on the condition of my ship, I just need more conclusive information." Krevozs said to the other Xenoqqi captives. "I'm sure some of you would like to survive this. This sounds very typical, I'm sure, but cooperation really is your best option. And if you don't cooperate, there are others around here. What's three more dead? Hm?" He asked. His combat blade wavered between them.

"Eventually I'll go find my ship myself, and you'll be left here with my.. companion. I don't know what he'll do to you, and if you don't talk, then I don't care." He looked back up at Survivor for a moment before returning his attention to the Xenoqqi.

Jaci, seeing Rune approaching with the branch, pulled away, looking at the group with some fear. He clearly wasn't accustomed to kind or helpful treatment, and had grown to distrust others.

Ravage took the long, straight branch from Rune, and held it so that Jaci could see it in her one good hand, before gently tapping her own arm that was in the sling, “Your ankle is sprained,” She said. “My arm is broken; we did this very recently.” She told him. “Your ankle needs to be held still, or it will swell and hurt badly.” She realized that Jaci might not know what they planned on doing with the stick. One could easily go for an entire lifetime and never break or sprain anything. “We want to place your leg in a splint. We place the stick next to it, and wrap something around the stick and limb tight, so it does not move.” She did not know if Jaci had ever had such an injury treated before, but it was necessary in a place that seemed to be teeming with strange, potentially dangerous animals, for him to at least move when in danger.

Querois looked at Jaci, before tilting his head, “It is a good idea to listen and let her help you.” He said. “She is a friend. You scared us when you appeared. We thought you wanted to hurt us, so we were scared. You are not the person chasing us, so we are sorry for scaring you, and causing you to be hurt.” With this, he turned around and slithered over to where a matted pile of leaves was being knitted together with something white that was gradually hardening into something solid and stretchy. He tapped at it with several tentacles in different places, before turning to look back at Ravage, “The blanket is ready.” He said.

Ravage nodded, but didn’t take her eyes off of Jaci; he looked like he might try to run if she did so. He might do so even on a bad ankle, and the truth was that she had no ill intentions, when he seemed to simply be a survivor on this strange planet. Despite knowing Loccalian, he was dressed like a non-spacefaring, even tribal race. In addition, she could not see how he meant harm, when he was so genuinely scared. There was a touch of guilt, knowing that she could have that effect on someone.

Behind her, Rune walked over and gently unstrapped Xenos’ saddle, pulling it off, and helping Querois throw the blanket over the spiromander’s back. Abnormally shaped, part of the blanket wrapped underneath Xenos, almost forming a vest of sorts on the upper body. It also had part that trailed over the creature’s hindquarters. Querois proceeded to hold the flaps on the bottom close to Xenos’ body, while Rune placed the saddle back on and began re-doing the straps. When it was finished, the rough-looking blanket looked like leaves caught in a thick web, but Xenos seemed to be much warmer, as the creature stopped shivering.

Rune looked thoughtfully over at Jaci, and looked at Querois, “Should we show him how to make one of these? He is shivering.” He said.

Querois shook his head, “Before we go through the trouble to gather more leaves and make a second blanket, we have to make sure he is willing to let us help him.”

Jaci looked from one to the other, his expression a mixture of caution and confusion. "Why help?" he asked. "And . . . what is 'friend?'"

____________________________________________________

A couple hours earlier

About a mile from where the Xenoqqi ship had crashed, a flock of bird-like creatures took to the air, screaming in alarm. A behemoth was passing through the forest.

Trees swayed dramatically as the monster pushed its way through, the ground shaking slightly under its feet. One tree was unfortunate enough to be standing directly in the creatures way. With a grunt, the creature raised one of its forelimbs, itself being as thick as a tree, placed it against the tree, and began to push. The tree groaned in protest, the roots and base creaking ominously as they struggled to keep themselves rooted in place. Rumbling in annoyance at the tree's stubbornness, the creature pushed harder. With a long groan and a loud cacophony of snapping and popping sounds, the tree was ripped from its foundations and fell with an earsplitting crash, bringing multitude of branches from neighboring trees, not to mention countless shrubs and other smaller plants, down with it.

With a snort, the creature stepped over the fallen tree, plodding steadily and resolutely onwards. It had no clear intention in mind, just moving forwards while keeping its beady eyes open for anything of interest, that is to say, anything edible. And all moving things that were big enough for the creature to see fit into that category. The beat was not picky. If it moved, it could be eaten.

Ravage sighed, “A friend,” She began, “-is someone who is not an enemy. You did not follow us because you wanted to hurt us. There is another person on this planet who wants to kill me, but I do not know what he will do to the people with me. They are my children, and the beast you see is my friend. I would do many things to protect them.” She said, hoping Jaci would understand her words and the sentiment behind them. “I help you because you did not come to hurt us. I do not like hurting others, but I do it if I do not have a choice.” She felt unusual having to pick her words without conjunctions, but it was better not to risk using something this individual wouldn’t understand.

Jaci was silent and thoughtful at this explanation. It was difficult to to see if he had understood or not. However, he no longer resisted their attempts to help him, indeed, he watched with some interest as they worked on him. It was conceivable that he was taking mental notes on what they were doing for future reference.

Once they had finished, he stood, unsteadily at first, and then with a little more confidence. The brace was holding, and the blanket worked too. He looked at them curiously. It seemed as if he was trying to figure out how to say something, but then gave up, and asked them something else.

"Where you go?"

Ravage nodded at the snowy biome past the wall, “Our spaceship was pulled down by a broken gravity beam,” She explained, hoping to quickly give the details of her group’s situation, “It’s smaller, so we were able to land safely, but it looks like larger ships smash against the ground. Right now, we can’t leave the planet, because there was damage and my spaceship is not capable of handling going above a certain height; space would be impossible right now. I can repair those damages, I know how, but until the gravity beam is destroyed or disabled, we can’t safely leave the planet, even if I did fix it. We are going towards that gravity beam so Querois can disable it.”

She looked uneasy, “We have to keep moving, or the enemy that also crashed on this planet will find us, and he will kill me, and might also kill the three with me. He used to be a nice person, but after the things I did, he hates me, and he does not seem friendly, like he used to be.” She walked over to Xenos, muttering to herself, “Of all the planets in the galaxy, why here…?” It seemed that Ravage herself was responsible for this person threatening her life.

Rune looked over at Ravage, “I think that means that we are going. She does not normally walk away like that when she is talking to people.” He said to Jaci. He looked at the strange alien archer, “I do not know who the person chasing us is. She will not tell us. I think she is worried.” He kept his sentences short, not being the most talkative of people in regards to strangers.

Querois balanced on his tail and looked at Rune, and then Jaci, “A normal male Jorro’kil will be stronger than a female Chimerosu; one has bones that are hollow and fragile. Jorro’kil have bones that are very strong. Ravage has a broken arm, and is genetically-altered, but the one chasing us has no injuries, and he is clearly abnormal for his species. I think Ravage believes she cannot win if she had to fight him.” He said. “We are running into a hostile environment with very little in the ways of protection, which is why we made a coat for Xenos, instead of leaving him here.”

Rune shook his head, “I am sorry, Jaci, to be leaving abruptly, but we have to hurry. We have spent too much time in a single place. We are being hunted.”

Ravage had already taken her place on the saddle on Xenos’ back, and looked at Querois and Rune expectantly, a concerned expression on her face.

Jaci stood a bit befuddled. Out of all of this, he had more or less understood the concept that there was someone coming after them, someone very strong. He cast a nervous glance back the way he had come, and then moved a little closer to them. His mind, working with what he had comprehended, had come to the conclusion that if this someone was dangerous enough to make them afraid, he was certainly dangerous to himself as well. His instincts told him that it might be safer to stay with this group; at least they wouldn't try to hurt him. Then again, he wasn't too keen on venturing further into the cold wilderness that lay where they were going either.

Ravage saw Jaci walking towards the group, and realized that she might have implied that he was in danger, also. Although Ravage herself was the primary target out of the entire group, Krevozs might have picked up her scent on Jaci, as little as she had tried to make physical contact him while treating his ankle. Although the scent would have been faint, if Krevozs was extremely serious about hunting her down, he might still attack Jaci and interrogate him. She wasn’t sure how Krevozs had changed over the years, but he seemed less like a refugee of his own people, and more like a mercenary. It was possible that she was exactly correct, and the Jorro’kil mutant had been using his abilities to kill off certain individuals if he was given a good enough price.

Ravage was stricken by the thought that if she had not met her friends and adoptive family, she would have likely done the same, and devoted her whole life to the career of assassination. She had already killed a large number of people, and although it horrified her to do it, she would easily kill in order to protect those around her. She was quick to use her claws in a lethal manner, and had not been far from using them on Jaci. As it turned out, however, Jaci was some sort of native on this planet, and was now dragged into the mess with everyone else. She had a responsibility to make sure that Jaci emerged out of this situation unharmed, regardless if she had intended for him to follow her group or not.

“You are coming with us?” She asked, “Get on Xenos’ back. He will not hurt you, he is very smart. It is not good for you to walk on your ankle.” She said simply.

Jaci looked a bit surprised at Ravage's offer, and gave a quick look of distrust at Xenos. Very carefully he inched forward. Tentatively he climbed on, looking very uncomfortable with his situation.

Ifka's training regimen had proven a success. The Xenoqqi as a species were known for being methodical and orderly, so the specially designed drills had been picked up relatively quickly despite the lack of prior experience amongst the workers. From what Gorth could see from his vantage on a large boulder some had proven skilled enough that the Captain had moved them on from sidearms to the standard carbine.

However training had now halted. Ifka's stuttery little brother had interrupted for some reason, although Gorth was just out of quillshot to hear what he was saying. Whatever it was, it mustn't have been a bad idea as Ifka didn't clip him over the back of the head for it. A few words went back and forth before Ifka beckoned the elderly Xenoqqi over from his perch. She cut straight to the point.

"Judging from the position of the sun and my estimate that we crashed at about midday for this planet, I'm guessing we have about 4 hours till nightfall. What Braaj has just told me makes me consider it in our best interests to head back inside Great Glutton to prepare for the night and hold down the fort so to speak. I need you to round up the patrolling troops and inform them of this."

Gorth saluted, firing up his comms gauntlet and punching in the codes that would allow him to contact the squads patrolling the clearing. Clearing his throat as he moved away from Ifka and her trainees, he spoke clearly into the speaker set of the gauntlet. "Squads one through four are to meet back at the rendezvous point for patrol reports and new orders."

The device crackled for a second before voices could be heard.

"Squad 1 reporting. Nothing of note to announce, heading to rendezvous point."

"Squad 2 reporting in sir. Tripod located and destroyed near the southernmost outcrop, heading to rendezvous point now."

"Squad 4 reporting. New hostile located but escaped neutralisation. Be on the lookout for a quadruped with bright red spines down its back. Field test kit says spines are loaded with some kind of neurotoxin but are too dull to pierce standard gear. Heading to rendezvous point by detour of the medical zone, squadmate Nrog is to be treated for a bite wound."

Gorth frowned. Squad 3 hadn't come in, although without a central relay tower the range of the devices was sketchy at best. They could have simply not received the call.

Hoping that the squad's gauntlet wasn't in the belly of some monster, Gorth punched in the code that would directly link him with Squad 3 on a more secure channel.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Arvikkos, lacking access to his hands wiped his face on his shoulders to remove the late Hueq's blood. Unlike the rapidly cooling corpse, Arvikkos most desperately wanted to live and he could most likely vouch for his other squadmates in that matter too. At least in this situation he could rely on his natural wit and ability to stay calm in a crisis.

Arvikkos was about to reply to his captor's question when Hueq's comms gauntlet lit up, signifying an incoming call. The Xenoqqi trooper's eyes darted from the noisy device to his captors, weighing up on what they may be thinking. He decided to wing it.

"Now, I know you are going to tell me not to answer that and I'm afraid that will end up with practically everyone turning up armed to the teeth because we all pretty paranoid right now. Instead I'll offer you a deal, we show you where your ship is and even help you dig it out in exchange for us not turning out like poor Hueq here. Simple really, and no-one says anything about you being here."

The others nodded vigorously in agreement. Bolstered slightly by having the others with him, Arvikkos smiled, hoping the fact that his mouth was perpendicular to the norm for most species wouldn't alienate his intent.

Querois looked at Jaci, before moving his head in a wild motion that was likely meant to be a shrug, “Ah, do not worry! Spiromanders are ranked very high on the intelligence scale. Why, if they had a spoken language, they would have been given equal status to sentient people!” He then proceeded to laugh maniacally. It was a very mean thing to do, saying something that, while in reality being an actual scientific fact, was spoken with such a tone that one would think it was false. It was cruel in any case to try to make someone who was already uneasy panic. Querois, however, was notably twisted, and if he knew he was violating a social rule, he did not seem particularly concerned with it. He wasn’t actually malicious in a textbook sense; he set nasty traps for his enemies and he would coldly taunt people, but he was very serious and helpful when the need arose.

Rune, noticing this, felt somewhat more comfortable, with the realization that Querois’ typical psychology did not involve true heartlessness. He had a sense of morality, and knew the difference between right and wrong. He also didn’t try to hinder anyone; his advice had been more than helpful since everyone had crashed onto the planet. It seemed it was only his sense of humor that was twisted, or, perhaps his entire personality was creepy and disturbing. Rune had never really seen someone like Querois before, and this, taken into account along with the fact that the Werean seemed radically different from other alien races, filled him with both curiousity and revulsion.

Aware that Querois might actually convince Jaci to reject help; Rune twisted around and gave Querois a harsh look, “What are you doing, trying to frighten this person? His life is in as much danger as ours, now! Try to be more polite to him.” He said, quickly trying to take the sting out of his voice. Querois never seemed to respond well to scolding; perhaps he had been subject to verbal discipline so much that it no longer affected him.

The Werean sneered, “Don’t tell me what to do, Cipher.” He said, twisting Rune’s detective alias into an insult. “You don’t know much about me or my race, even with the things I’ve told you. Keep guessing and making deductions, we’ll see who figures out who first.”

Ravage growled, “If you two start fighting when we have an important mission to do, then things will end badly for all of us. Be quiet and stay alert for trouble.”

With this, she gave a command to Xenos and the Spiromander took off, darting into the snow-covered biome, moving so fast that the surrounding area became a blur.

"Damn and I was hoping to have some fun. Oh well. If you all betray us I guess I could have fun peeling your skin off your bones and feeding it to the wildlife." Survivor said moving his mechanical fingers while his other arm pulled out his sword.

He then picked up a piece of metal from the ground and started sharpening said sword watching them intently. If any of them tried anything they were going to die painfully.

Jaci could have screamed in terror. They were going faster than he could have imagined possible for a creature to go. Everything around him was a blur. Cold wind and snow whipped into his eyes, causing his eyes to fill with tears, which ran down his face, freezing on his cheeks. Jaci squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as possible, tears still managing to find their way out. Digging his claws into Xenos' saddle, he clung for dear life as the world roared by, wind blasting loudly in his ears.

Krevozs looked at the more compliant Xenoqqi for a moment, determining if he was being honest or not.

"Very well. Answer your call. Think carefully about your next actions. The size of your ship's crew has already been greatly decreased. Make sure you don't add to their plight." He said.

With that, he retracted his combat blade and stepped backwards from the captives. "You may loose them if it is required." He said to Survivor, discreetly asserting his dominance in the situation.

Survivor glares at Krevos slowly moving his fingers to start a growl at him.

"You only think you are stronger than me." Survivor finally said as he then put his sword away and checked his guns ammo.

Arvikkos breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that the birdman was apparently the one in charge despite the cyborg giving him the evil eye. Inching over to Hueq's still steadily bleeding body, the Xenoqqi trooper prodded the receiver button on the corpse's comms gauntlet. The incessent beeping stopped, only to be replaced by the crackling of static and the voice of a mildly panicky and very angry Gorth.

"Squad 3 if you do not come in in the next instant I'll assign whatever's left of you to latrine pit duty for the next -"

Arvikkos spoke before the elder Xenoqqi could finish. "Squad 3 reporting in," he muttered into the gauntlet's reciever, moving into a position so that his captors could see his face.

"Finally! You sound less slurred than usual...this isn't Hueq, is it?"

"No sir, I'm afraid to say squadmate Hueq has been killed in action. It appears that some sort of aggressive animal has made itself a nest in the Great Glutton and attacked him."

"...Alright, stand by for reinforcements to root out the problem. We don't want anymore casualties than needed."

"Negative sir, they won't be needed. The beast was killed shortly after when we investigated the commotion. We'll head to the rendezvous point once we search the nearby area for the nest and bring Hueq's body to the mortuary tent. Arvikkos out."

With that the Xenoqqi disconnected the transmission, hoping his words didn't give the veteran enough suspicion to warrant an investigation. Dropping Hueq's limp arm, Arvikkos shuffled into a more comfortable position.

"That should buy you some time. However to keep the story believable, we will have to rough Hueq's body up a bit, I doubt its credibility will hold if his only injury is a clean slash to the throat, animals tend to be more...messy."

For a brief moment Arvikkos noted how callous he was over the death of a squadmate. He shook off the feeling as he didn't really care for the drunkard in any way. The Xenoqqi only protected their own after all, and Arvikkos did not consider the recently deceased Hueq as one of them.

"Now then, perhaps we can lead you to your ship, mr....?"

______________________________________________________________________________

The forest grew colder as 673 neared the border wall between biomes. Light snow fell on the stunted trees that were unfortunate enough to grow out here, while frost covered the forest floor, disguising the dead plants underneath.

673 didn't notice, partly because his hide protected him from the drop in temperature. The Hithe's new quarry hadn't covered his tracks very well, 673 only having difficulty following Jaci's path until it crossed a multitude of other prints.

The smart one had appeared to have followed this group, which varied widely in size and shape just from their prints. Hunkering down to sniff at the tracks, 673 couldn't detect anything of note thanks to the overpowering smell (to him) coming from the most bizarre of the depressions in the frozen mud.

Snout still to the ground, the Hithe crawled off in the direction the tracks led, hoping he would come across something that wasn't a complete pushover for once and sate his bloodlust.

Krevozs glanced at Survivor, but ignored his comment for the most part. This Salinex "The Survivor" would be a useful tool for the time being, but he was clearly unruly; Krevozs could under no terms trust him. Then again, neither could Survivor trust Krevozs, whose ultimate purpose for the Xliveien was to return him to his empire.. for a price. Hopefully the cyborg would stay loyal for a little longer, the mercenary thought, so that he could accomplish his immediate goals more easily.

He looked back to Arvikkos and the rest, but didn't answer the Xenoqqi's question about his name.

"I have no identity as far as you are concerned." He said, and proceeded to stab Hueq several more times, before cleaning his blade in the dirt.

"Lead on." He said to the other three. As they each stood up, he briefly considered cutting their bonds, but thought better of it. He would wait until it was absolutely necessary.

Although they began at a running start, Ravage's group found themselves slowing down to a walking pace as Xenos grew too cold to handle the physical effort along with regulating his internal temperature. As the spiromander whined at the stiffness trying to creep into his joints, Ravage hissed and spread out her wings over his upper body over the makeshift blanket, trying to help him stay warm, while at the same time silently cursing their luck. Chimerosu had thick, insulating down over the majority of their bodies, so only the plating on their stomachs and beaks grew cold, along with the scaly portions of their hands and feet. Werean like Querois were capable of dwelling in the abyss, and therefore were naturally able to handle a wide variety of temperatures, ranging from tropical warmth to the almost-freezing absence of sunlight. In truth, Querois' mood seemed to have brightened a bit with the presence of snow, perhaps due to the need for moisture in his scales.

"Oh, this is not good," He said, giggling as Rune followed Ravage's lead and tried to cover Xenos' flank with his own wings. "The spiromander might not die over this, he's sufficiently warm to survive, but his joints are losing circulation and he's slowing down. If we were to be attacked, he might not be as useful as we thought." He commented.

Ravage growled, "Did you know this would happen?" She demanded.

Querois shook his head, "Part of the issue is the ambient temperature. Had I known it would be this cold, I would have suggested we let him run loose and go alone." He said.

Rune shifted to look at him, "Ravage has a broken arm, and neither of us are made for fighting larger opponents. I could handle Liirlith, but if a gigantic creature like the one that attacked when we first landed here gets to us, we might be finished."

The Werean's eyes widened, "Ohhh....A Liirlith....nasty little things...lethal toxin..." He said. He proceeded to abruptly change the subject, "Well, if you really want to help the poor thing out, just keep up with what you were doing." He said.

It was then that the sound of screaming was heard in the distance, punctuated by a disturbing ripping sound, and followed by an alarming roar.

Querois looked over in the direction of the noise, "Change of plans, if that's what I think it is, we need to hide." He said.

Jaci, hearing the word Liirlith, Jaci opened his eyes and looked around fearfully. He hadn't understood everything that was said, but he had recognized the name of the ones who had made him, abused him, and then attempted to put him down. At the sound of the roaring, he looked around again, but saw nothing. Still, maybe it was something else that the Liirlith had made. Were the Liirlith here, perhaps, and these creatures, who seemed to know about them, aware of their presence? Had the Liirlith decided that he was worth pursuing after all? He fearfully spoke up: "Liirlith here?"

Ravage looked over at Jaci, “We don’t know, but the way this planet is a patchwork, they might be. You know about them?” She asked. Her eyes narrowed slightly with bitterness, “Liirlith are terrible creatures. Innocents, including people that I personally cared about, have died because of them.” Her mind flashed back to Tirri, a little girl that she had met alongside Aarin and Prince Vey. Tirri had adored Chimerosu, among any other aliens in the galaxy, and gone to great lengths to research Ravage’s species, despite there being only a few rare, dusty tomes in print left throughout the galaxy. During an attack that was staged by Jiiran, who was also a creation manipulated by Liirlith, Tirri had been crushed under falling rubble, dying instantly.
 
She wanted to fly into a wild, uncontrollable rage, but resisted the urge, even though she wished to rip out her own heart to make the pain of that memory stop. “I hate them almost as much as I hate Karthla,” She said, her voice becoming grave, as she steered Xenos to turn and run behind a large outcropping of rocks and ice. There, she stopped him, and everyone was still, the snowfall blocked by the landmark, and their breath coming in frozen vapors. For a while, everyone was still, simply listening for any sound approaching in the frozen plains. Then, Ravage quietly spoke again, “I think for a short time, we will be safe here,” She said.
 
She raised her head, keeping her wings across Xenos’ back, and turned to look fully at Jaci, “Liirlith are masters of genetic manipulation, they create experiments and let them run wild, if they are considered a success. They torture and kill the experiments that they don’t like.” She hissed, “A close friend of mine is one of those experiments, and I hate what was done to him. He became as I was, wishing for death if it only meant destroying the foe he hated.”
 
Rune cleared his throat, and Ravage fell silent, letting him speak, “You have told me some of this information, but, I don’t think you’re telling the entire truth,” He said. “Something always seemed strange, how you blamed Karthla for how you are now. It makes no sense, that you would be mutated as an experiment by this ‘Dominion’.” He said. “What really happened, behind that? You blame Karthla and the Dominion to the point of irrationality.”
 
Ravage did not respond, until she sighed, “All my choices, all my mistakes, I wish they weren’t mind, and it seemed, at the time, like it would be better to just blame my enemies for my suffering.” She twisted around her head to look away, and gazed out into the frozen fields, “I am a liar, both to my friends and to myself,” She said, “…And my friends trusted me to tell the total truth, and believed me. I kept telling myself what I wanted to think, until even I believed it, but I know that’s not how it happened.” She said.
 
Rune was silent, before pressing, “…Continue…” He said.
 
Ravage breathed heavily for a time, “It was not some random soldier on Skorge that mutated me. It was my own fault, for stealing an experimental serum in order to save my life when my planet was attacked.” Receiving no reply, she continued, “Krylon had been experimenting on how to fight Karthla, by making a serum that would possibly allow soldiers to possess greater physical strength, advanced healing, and even resistance to their virus, which is the primary reason Karthla were so capable of damaging the galaxy as they did.” She began, “A prototype serum, untested save for in lab animals, had been developed, CES-099, that could successfully cure most forms of illness. It was extremely confidential and all previous trials, hence the number, had killed the animal test subjects, due to lethal side-effects.” She said.
 
It looked painful, that she was discussing this, having blamed a random soldier on Skorge for so long regarding how she had been mutated, but she continued, “When Krylon was invaded by the Dominion, I was crushed under burning rubble. That was no lie, and my feathers were all set aflame, and I was left with severe burns over my entire body. I wanted to live, as much as I suffered, and somehow, I dragged myself to the laboratories where the prototype serum was held. I didn’t think at all about what I was doing, I just took it, loaded it into a syringe gun, and injected myself.” She shook her head, “At first, I felt a surge of strength, and managed to make it off the planet. I cloaked the Stealth Strider, and saw Krylon detonate with a weapon of mass destruction, before I suddenly felt myself grow dizzy, and pass out.”
 
She took another deep breath, and looked at Rune, “That’s what happened, and this time, that’s the truth.”
 
Rune tilted his head, “What of Skorge, you were still there.” He continued to pry the answers.
 
Ravage’s tail twitched, “The negative psychological effects of the serum triggered self-injury, and deeper cuts took time to heal. That is why I looked severely wounded at the time, and my eyes, talons, spines, teeth, and horns weren’t so dramatically changed that anyone took particular notice of anything strange. I wore gloves and nobody noticed that my claws were fused to my body.” She said. “On Skorge, I was shot by a syringe dart that contained a heavy sedative; it was no different from what someone would use if an animal escaped from captivity. In a normal creature, it would have caused the victim to fall unconscious immediately, but my body held it off long enough for me to escape. It was still enough to drop something multiple times my size; however, so eventually I succumbed to it and only woke up a long time later.”
 
She shook her head, “The sedative didn’t wear off immediately, and when I woke up, my eyes and other abilities weren’t working right. While I was asleep, it seemed that the sedative had reacted with serum due to heightened immune response. My horns changed, I sprouted teeth, sharp claws, and spines all along my back. My eyes suddenly changed dramatically in appearance, and a ridge of bone appeared on my face. When I emerged, half-dizzy from the tranquilizer, I wasn’t able to hide it. Still, though, I blamed the Dominion, because it was easier to see then that I was never going to pass for normal ever again, and it was their actions that indirectly caused my problem.” She said.
 
Rune looked away disdainfully, “Those people trusted you, Ravage.” He said. “You could have told them anything, and they would have never judged you any differently. Now, however, if you were to tell them, then they might not trust you like they once did. That is a terrible thing to lie about.” He said.
 
Ravage turned her gaze towards the rocks, listening intently for whatever had dismembered another person in the distance, “I know, but I just couldn’t stand the shame of someone mocking me for my own mistakes that turned me into what I am now.” She said. “I am fully responsible, and there is no pride in that.”
 
Everyone was silent for a time, before Querois spoke up, “I do not know if that Klarmaur is still there, but if so, we would be better off if we fled as quickly as possible.” He said. “Hiding will only work as long as it does not suspect we are here, unless it’s one of the embodiments.”
 
Rune looked behind him at Querois, “This creature is called a Klarmaur?” He asked.
 
Querois nodded, but his face was uncharacteristically grave, “That is only the type of creature. A Klarmaur is one among many different castes created by the Nylggzora. Regardless, any one member of a caste can be deadly if the progenitor chooses to transfer its consciousness into one of its expendable offspring.”
 
Ravage tensed, “It sounds very large and dangerous.” She said.
 
Querois seemed uneasy, “It’s not the large ones that you must worry about.” He said.
 
“It’s the parasites.”