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 [:: Inloading Data-Packet; Lt. Tomas Foley :: ]

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With all the energy he could muster in his tired frame, Tomas raced headlong towards through the winding narrow earthen path back towards the stream they had departed. His rapid haste kicks up a storm of mud and stones as he vaults a series of fallen tree trunks and low shrubs. At his side moved the nimble form of Ran, easily keeping pace whilst calling out for them to hurry their pace. 

Further behind him, he could hear the hissing of Gamma’s bionics as she kept up the brisk pace, upon her back the heavy vox caster clattering and clanking to announce it's presence to all around, destroying their chances at slipping away.  At the groups tail end, wheezed and labored the form of Viktor, who blindly lets loose errant and unaimed burst from his rotor-cannon back towards the lumbering form of the megarachnid, the creatures hissing seeming to draw ever closer as they flee from it.

Tomas scans the horizon, spying the earth path before them branch off in several directions, inwardly he knew he had to get Gamma someplace where she could finish her repair work on the vox-caster. As overhead, he could spy through the breaks in the canopy that far in the sky the all too familiar contrails of Valkyries and Vultures that moved about on station. 

A stifled curse escapes him, as he throws a glance over his shoulder, his vox flaring to life as he barks an order,

“Gamma, at this next path split, cut hard right and put as  much distance as you can between us and the megarachnid. Viktor, I want you to wheel off left and check your damn fire, you're too heavy to keep up this pace. Ran, it's you and me, we carry on and draw the creature away. We gotta buy time for Gamma to get the vox-caster working, can you do that cog-girl?”

Gamma’s voice curtly clips back as they reach the split in the path, the Skitarii wheeling off right with her unbroken bionic assisted pace leaving her to pull away from the group. 

“Confirmed: I only need several moments to intone the litany of repair and then activation: Once I have roused it's machine spirit, I will link our vox net into the wider communication’s array.” 

Without skipping a beat, Viktor pulls away from the group, his path sending him off away from Ran and Tomas as his vox clicks in response, the man half gargling his vox bead’s mic as he half mumble-shouts his words.

“Yessir Lieutenant, Viktor too slow, will hold fire. Once the creature passes, I will double back and rally with Gamma to ensure Vox works right. May The Emperor bless you with all speed.”

Tomas throws another glance over his shoulder, unholstering his hot-shot laspistol, he manages to squeeze off a few shots. The bright crimson bolts strike the creature's carapace, and leave only a carbon score upon it's metallic-chitin hide. However, Ran mirrors him, releasing several of those golden bolts from her archaic pistol, the combined annoying flea bites from their shots appeared to be more than enough to goad the creature into giving chase to the pair. 

With the foliage flying by them, it stood as a stark surprise when they cleared the tree-line, emerging into the creek-bed. Without missing a step, the pair slide down the muddy embankment, carrying on their rush, as large shattered branches are cast past them, their forms smashing down into gouts of water. 

Tomas throws a look to Ran, who he found was staring at him, clearly waiting for a plan. He swallows dryly, trying to take in everything around him, and what he had on his person. 

Ran speaks with panting breath, an almost casual gesture as she indicates to the Lieutenant.

“Tomas, the Youkai on the monsters' back, I need to get to her. I can convince her to cease this pointless chase, buying us a chance to escape. I do have a plan; however, I need to get a hold of her physically, any suggestions?”

Feeling the fire crawl up his legs, at all this running he has been forced to do over the last evening, he catches sight of various natural growths and low hanging branches ahead of them. His hand slides to his belt and pouches, his thumb brushing over the form of an unused photon flash grenade. Inwardly he felt the seed of a plan start to sprout, much to his chagrin.

“Oh Throne, yeah. I think I can get us some time. You better damn well be right about your hunch with that Youkai. Hope you are light on your feet, as at this next tree. I am gonna boost you up to those low branches,  use them to climb up, get up there and wait. I’ll stun the big bug, you take that chance to get the little rat on it's back.” 

Ran spares him a worried look, as she starts to pull ahead of him, moving to get into position. Her eyes pulled further beyond him, as the audible crash of timbers announced the megarachnid had reached the creed and was now firmly behind by far too close by far too few meters.

“I hope you're right about that, are you going to be able to stall the beast while I slap some sense into Nightbug?”

The pair finally reach the low-hanging branches, Ran skids to a halt before them and pivots waiting for him with a clear nervous bounce in her step. Tomas skids to a halt, clasping his hands together, as Ran steps upon it. With all his might the stormtrooper vaults his companion upward, Ran’s hand ensnaring several of the branches as she hauls herself upward into the canopy.

With her secure, he wheels about to take stock of what he was up against. The sight did not do much to improve his mood as he called up to her vanishing form.

“Well I am not much of a liar, but for both our sakes right now, let's just pretend I got a plan. ”

As lumbering down the creek, was the hulking silver-white form of the megarachnid. It's mandibles flared out in a strangled hiss as thick globs of spittle flew forth as it hisses a challenge to him. The creature's talons cut neat furrows through the muddy stream in a slough of water, as it approached.

Releasing the clasp that bound the photon-flash from his pouch, he levels his pistol up at the creature, sending out a few searing bolts of superheated energy to pepper it's hide. The bolts did precisely little as the heavy insect reared back a vast scythe-like talon, sweeping it at waist height across the creek-bed. 

Tomas throws himself into the creek bed, the water splashing upon his face, the stinging muddy water trying to blind him as he feels the talon sweep overhead with a gust of air. The sound of cracking timber announcing it's passing as it falls another tree in one sweep of those unnatural blades.

With the photon-flash firmly in his grip, he pulls the pin free, casting his gaze upward as he spies another of those talons jabbing down towards him. As he rolls aside, he throws the grenade upward, the spiraling munition pinwheels through the air before the towering xeno-beast. 

    Completing his roll, he arrives face down in the creek, his only words thrown up to the wind in hopes that Ran can hear him and understand what is coming.

    “Flash!” 

    With that a small nova of light, comparable to a daybreak erupts in the creekbed. The searing and blinding multi-spectral rays of light erupt before the many eyed chitin maw of the towering megarachnid. The light causes it to shriek and reel back, it's many legs flailing as it bucks backward, the crack of timber shattered by it's reeling filling the air with a cacophony of din of it's panicked shrieks.

     Not wishing to waste this boon, Tomas hauls himself up to his feet, sparing a glance upward, as much to his relief, he sees the leaping blur of movement that was Ran. She clears the length of a stout branch and sails across the void between her and the megarachnid’s back. She vanishes for a moment behind it's crest, before she sails past, Wriggle now firmly in her grip as she carries them both off the creatures back and onto the opposite embankment. 

    He gives a wry grin, and levels his pistol at the flailing form of the insect, squeezing off several shots at it's underbelly, which bite a touch deeper leaving deep scores in its hide. The blind form of the megarachnid uneasily rises to its talons, sweeping out in the direction wildly that it heard the shots come from. Given their clumsy and unaimed angles, Tomas merely withdraws further into the brush, moving away from the creek away from Ran’s direction as he squeezes off the occasional bolt to stir the creatures ire towards him. 

    As he moves deeper into the forest, he could spy the veiled embankment in which Ran and Wriggle had vanished, come alive with brilliant light. Mixed glowing hues of veridian and gold strobed and erupted from the place where they fell. Inwardly he hoped that was the hall-mark of a productive conversation as he baited the megarachnid further into the forest where it's size and bulk play out detrimentally in the denser tree clusters.

    Several long minutes stretched on as he put as much distance as he could manage between him and the heaving beast, finding himself able to even hunker down in a low depression in the earth as he worked to catch his breath. Beneath the cover of a large bush’s expanse, he sat down panting ears perked as he can hear the megarachnid closing in ever so slowly, it's shrieking hisse jarring and unsettling at his core.

    He does have to fight the urge to jump from his skin as his vox-bead buzzes sharply in his ear, the winded voice of Viktor rumbling over the link with surprising clarity. 

    “Lieutenant! If you are still alive! Gamma has managed to repair the vox-caster, she says there is traffic from Valkyries and support craft, we can patch you through to them when you're in a safe position.”

    Tomas swiftly keys up his vox-bead and lowers his voice, the heavy stilted step of the creature growing closer. 

    “Aye, I can hear you Voidsmen, tell Gamma to get me set on their frequency and relay for me. I need to get some sort of gunship over here to pop this bug. You two just stay back, if you can try to find Ran, she was dueling with the Wriggle girl when we split up. I currently am stuck with the bug, and I’d rather not be.”

    Viktor promptly provides an acknowledgement, the static returning to Tomas’ own vox-bead as the frequency was rapidly adjusted, at first the faint crackle and hiss of the dead air was all he was given. However suddenly the electric haze cleared, and from it sprang a bustling channel, pilots speaking with officers elsewhere on the ground  as they tried to work out places to ferry armsmen and guard units.

    Tomas nearly sang a hymn then and there, when he caught vox chatter from the idling gunship, the pilot and co-pilot expressing confusion over what was unfolding down in the forest below. He wastes no time in broadcasting to them, whilst yelling over the impact and shriek of the super-heated bolts of energy streaking just inches above his head. 

    “Flash Traffic! This is Lieutenant Foley, 495th of Sigma Lance.  My team is caught in a blind down here by a damnable xeno-beast and by the Throne could I use some air-support! Anyone on the Frequency? Over!”

    A single moment of silence seemed to stretch forever, as the pilots quieted, listening as Tomas spoke, before  level and flat static laced voice returned to the vox-network. In the skys to his east, beyond the dense canopy, Tomas can make out the distinctive orange-red lights of the a Vulture gunship start to weave in its place, doubling back around as it heads towards Foley in his general direction. 

    “Confirmed lieutenant, this is gunship Stalwart Fury signing on, your signal is weak but we can read you. We are on station providing air-support to ground elements, and Him preserve us you’re the first person we’ve heard from. Do you have a means of marking your target? Orbital uplinks are inoperable, and we are working manually here.”

    The sound of the megarachnid draws ever closer, by now even the sound of it's clicking mandibles echo in on the trees as it stalks through seeking its prey. Tomas hastily in turn rummages in his combat webbing, muttering a storm of prayers as he tries to find something to benefit him in his moment of need.  His hand bumps unto a cylindrical object nestled safely in his webbing’s pouch and he breaths an audible sigh of relief. Inwardly he counts his blessings that the Quarter-Master had indeed made sure to restock them on the starship prior to their escape, as he withdraws a heavy strobo-flare. 

Whilst drawing the device, he gave it a quick once over, checking over it's condition since the crash praying it was undamaged. The heavy device was squat and cylindrical, heavy broad spectrum luminator sub-arrays lining it's sides. A thick activator stub rested upon it's top, he primes it and depresses the activator and leans out from his cover in the blind. 

Stooped low, no more than a few meters from him was the towering form of the megarachnid, it's mandibles clicking as it peered down and around various trees on it's search for him. Those long talons reached forth to uproot the towering trees overhead as it hauled it's way forward, slowly and methodically. From this distance, he could even see the ever so faint dull gleam from its near dozen eyes as they sweep to and fro taking in every detail of the terrain in turn.

    “Confirmed, Target will be marked by strobo-flare, understood? I hope you boys got your visors on, my marker is active, and on target. Over.”

    With that throw back the brush that had provided him such shelter, rearing back with a mighty effort, he lobs the spiraling and flashing device over towards the xeno beast. The bouncing strobo rolls it's way down a slight incline and comes to rest in the open, it's luminators giving off a dull red glow, as it's luminator sent out strobing multi-spectral light visible in the pilots auto-sense visors. 

    However, the downside to such is that as soon as he emerged, the many eyes of the xeno were cast upon him in an instant. It's mandibles flare outward as a hail of spittle and a shrieking hiss escape it's maw. It rears back it's forelimbs, stabbing down towards the Lieutenant as it aims to hew him in twain with a staggered two prong strike. 

    Spying the strikes, Tomas moves his frame away as his arms come up to shield his torso from the blades, only to find himself a fraction too slow. He watched as the leading edge of the nearest talon made contact with his left arm just below his elbow. The once venerable carapace gauntlets he wore are parted like air, in an uneasy moment of silence, he hears the whispers soft sigh of the armaplas material surrender it's resistance to the xeno-blade arm. His eyes caught sight of something spiraling away from his form, as a detonation of the pain wracked his mind, and burning hot fluids spattered his face. 

    The strike propels him a fair distance away and crumples him against a nearby tree, he thrashes to right himself as he reaches to check the state of his wound, only a mute coldness greeting him. His worst fears are realized as his hands pass through open air, where once his forearm occupied. His gaze is turned upward, spying the creature as it casts a confused glance back over it's wide abdomen, it's voice shrieking out as it calls to the Youkai that controlled it, the beast remaining motionless for a moment as no response comes to it, much to it's visible confusion. 

    In these precious seconds, Tomas digs it's fingers into the dirt and kicks himself away from the tree, crawling away from the creature as he aims to put as much distance between it and himself as he could manage. Despite the pain, he knew full well that the clock was ticking and each nano-meter he was away from the creature was another chance at a new lease on life. 

    The flicker of movement must have caught the creatures attention, as it turns back to his withdrawing form. It's body swaying as it prepares to reap it's tally, however Tomas cried out his praise to the Throne as a distant whine grew louder and louder with each passing second, giving the beast one final pause.

For soon the forest was filled with the roaring shriek of over-charged turbines, a choking downburst of air erupts on the forest floor all the while peeling back the canopy of the trees in an artificial wind-swept maelstrom. The once moonlit forest is now drowned in a stark and harsh chemical light as several searchlights flick to life with an almost thunderous crack.  Now caught within the converging beams of light, the creature turns away it's crested head to shield it's gaze from the searing intensity now focused upon it.

    Overhead the angular and compact form of a Vulture gunship dips and bobs as it's vertical lift systems engage, redirecting the engine's thrust downward as the gunship begins to hover. Beneath either of it's wide wings nestled two vast rotary cannons with bloated drums of munition attached via a feed belt. The air was filled with a whistling electronic whine as the barrels started to build up speed, shortly before the twin Punisher Cannons erupt in a fusillade of fire.  

The electric shriek of the automatic buzz-saws roar turn the trees into explosive puffs of timber, and the grass and foliage blow into a moist sheen of green that hangs in the air. 

Unabashedly Tomas curls himself up into a ball, trying to minimize his target as the hailstorm of shots impact upon the creatures hide. The blizzard of solid slugs tearing off great chunks of it's hardened hide, but producing no massive effect due to the creatures unnatural resilience.  Caught between the relentless rain of shells, and the tight confines of the trees around it, the megarachnid begins to haul itself back, clambering over the trees as it works to withdraw before the fury of the gunship.

     The vast silver-white of it's chitin hide fleeing merely draws the attention of the Vulture pilot, who promptly redirects the engines thrusts and continues to hove at pace with the towering creature’s form, exchanging bright tracer-streams of Punisher cannon fire with agonized shrieks from the creature as they race off for the westward horizon. 

    Tomas uncurls himself, laying in the wet dew of countless macerated flora, with a deep warmth leaving him from his left arm. He works to haul himself against the ruined remains of a now fallen tree, working to free his tourniquet from his webbing as the crushing fatiguing strikes him like a shock-maul to the head, his comms bead crackles to life as the pilot speaks up once more. 

    “Stalwart Fury, to Foley. We are signing off-station, and heading to trail xeno contact.  Attempting to vector in Thunderbolts for anti-armor action, as we can’t scratch this damn thing with our guns.”

A breathless minute passes as he works to seize up his arm’s ragged end and stop the bleeding before the pilot continues.

“We’ve been in contact with elements from the Asharii, from what we understand they and some members of your Sky-Raiders have managed to secure a forward operating base command is rallying at. If you want I can vector in a Valkyrie from Bulgraff’s guard unit and pick you up at that nearby stream-bed, which looks clear enough to extract from.”

Finding his grip weakening, and unable to cinch it properly over his arm, he opts to take hold of the strap with his teeth. The flaring pain and choked yell he released as the sharp hiss of the devicing tightening over his agonized arm gave him a ragged voice as he formed his reply.

“Aye, I need a bird to pick us up. I need a medicae officer on station when we land as well, I got caught pretty bad there. Thank you Fury, Throne bless you and your hunt.”

The pilot gives him an affirmation, before he is left in silence once more upon this strange world. His ragged and tired frame slumps against the stump as he finds himself staring up at the pristine and now visible midnight sky. 

For the first time since they made their ill-fated landing, he was able to catch his breath. He felt a calm serenity watching the stars and the brilliant moon overhead, their dull like not like that of any world he’d ever been on. There was something entrancing about the scene, his friends were safe for now, rescue was coming for them.

He gave a stifled laugh as he thought over a sudden irony that had struck him. He’d spent his entire youth and life up until now, staring down at the earth on countless jumps his regiment had performed. Hardly ever had he been given the chance to lay down and merely watch the stars and skies above as they turn softly overhead. 

The coldness in his chest still tinges him, the grey edges of his vision requiring him to blink harshly to keep them from spreading. It was here in this state he lay for quite some time, faintly in the distance he could hear shouts and calls for his name. His vox crackled and Viktor’s voice ebbed acrossed with growing concern.

“Lieutenant? Are you there? We saw the Vulture complete it's strike. His will, I pray you're alive, Give us a sign?”

Raising his crimson slick hand, he toggles his vox-bead, adjusting his position to be seated, as he aims to relieve the Voids-men's growing apprehension.

“I can hear you Viktor, got caught pretty bad, I need someone to help me find something I dropped. If you got any pain-suppressants, I wouldn’t mind if you brought them over, yeah? We got a Valkyrie headed for the creek-bed, we can rally there and wait for extraction. We aren’t out of the woods just yet, so keep alert.”

He lay there for some time in his own reflections on his venture so far, before the dull crack of a fallen branch at his back catches his attention. Far too out of the fight, with pain sinking into him, he merely clenches his teeth and calls back to the unseen figure.

“Hells teeth, if you're that Nightbug, let's finish this. I’ve still got one good arm and my pistol’s just over there. Your big bug friend got my other, but I’ll be damned if I need more than one hand to-.” 

A flash of movement at his side betrays the black and gold hues of Ran, a look of muted horror splayed across her face as she makes her way to his side. She looks between the empty void of his left arm and his blood spattered face whilst her mouth works wordlessly trying to say far too many things all at once. Tomas gives her a weak chuckle, feeling a sense of quiet tranquility drift over him as he is drawn into her arms.  With a few moments of hesitation, as she tries to figure out her course of action, she starts to double check his first-aid work for errors. 

“Oh Throne on Terra, you're a sight for sore eyes. Don’t worry about me, it's not as bad as it seems; I think. You win your fight?”

Ran stares daggers at him as she works to properly set his tourniquet, frantically starts to dig in his armor’s webbing for his trauma kit, her tone harsh and tinged with an edge of undisguised fear as she works with shaking hands.

“Be silent you daft fool, I told you not to put yourself in unneeded risk. Damn you, it didn’t even set right. I promise you, if you perish here and now, I will hate you for the rest of time.”

Tearing open his trauma kit, she hauls out his pain-suppression vials, jabbing one of the needles into his bicep, causing him to wince as a tiny bolt of fire blooms at the spot. After a swift check over of his injuries, she glances out towards the newly formed clearing, eyes darting to and fro.

“Where is your arm? Damn it Foley, tell me you at least found it. You're hopeless…” She grows quiet, staring down at him, her jaw working in agitation as she allows him to rest on her lap. Her voice wavering as she speaks up, “... I did win, she will trouble us no more. I beat her and forced her to call off that terrible beast. She claims it was from the outside world, I’ve never seen a monster like that before in this realm.”

Feeling the welling bloom of the pain suppressor spreading over his body, he feels the fire of pain dull down to a muted smolder, trailing off as it falls into a dull chemical ease. He gives a half shrug and nods up to her.

“Eh, Gamma made mention that the thing was something from a sector of space far from ours as well. Some sorta long lost xeno-beast that was fought in the distant past. I wouldn’t fret over it too much, so long as that Nightbug lass agreed to call that beast off us, aye?” 

Ran casts her gaze up, hearing the dull whine of a Valkyrie’s engines far to the south, it's angular silhouette drifting on the horizon as it makes its way to the evacuation zone at the river.  She takes stock of the Lieutenant’s state, opting to encourage him to stand with her aid. She keeps her voice low as she tries to split her focus.

“Who can say, she claims to have dominion over the insect, but I doubt that she fully has control of it. I suspect it will seek out revenge upon us at some point in the future. But that is then. As for now, I need you to rise, we have to get to the dropship. What do you want me to tell Gamma and Viktor? I am worried the voids-men will feel some measure of guilt over your injury.”

With Ran’s aid, Tomas manages to rise shakely to his feet, leaning heavily upon her as she supports his movement. He provides her with a shake of his head as the pair move search the glade, and after kicking aside several broken and shattered tree-trunk portions, they manage to find and recover his recently departed arm, before making their way back along the shattered path towards the stream.

“Eh, let him fret for a bit, I got pain-suppressors in me right now, asking me for talking points is about as effective as asking a grox for directions.”

Their trip to the stream’s edge was quiet for the most part, as Ran bears his weight, on the course back Tomas speaks up, throwing an earnest look bearing newfound respect for the retainer.

“You know, I’m glad your Mistress assigned you to me. You're not half bad for a spire-born retainer.”

“You don’t have to thank me, I told you that.”

“... Well how about you hand me my arm, I have a hand free.”

“Be silent, before I strike you.”

Ran gently guides him from the broken forest,however despite this brief reprieve and this small victory, inwardly he knows that the madness was all that awaited them here. All the while, their mission here on this backwater world had just begun.