didn’t help her this time. It reared back and she fell short. She cried out as her broken arm hit the ground and gave out, causing her to smash her shoulder and helmeted face into the rocky ground.
The taloned foot came down on her helmet, pressing her into the ground. Her arm was pushed into the back of her mind as she realized she was about to be squashed like one of the Vitallian cockroaches in the cave. She struggled to roll, driving her knee into the ground and pulling the other one up so she could plant her foot. Her neck twisted and her muscles wrenched in protest, but the armored seal held. Before the monsters foot slid off the HUD blinked once then disappeared.
She flopped onto her back and found herself staring up into the business end of the baby dinosaur’s crotch. Even if it was a baby and sexually immature, she had no doubt it was male. She jammed her knife up, driving it deep into the belly.
It chirped loudly, but rather than leap away it dropped its head down and bit onto her thigh. It picked her up, the powerful beak inflicting similar damage to the armor on her leg to what it had done to her arm.
“ You’re coming with me you fucker!” Elsa hissed, tightening her grip on her knife and putting every last ounce of concentration into locking the muscles of her arm, shoulder, and chest. It caused her V-BAR to slice up through the skin and muscle of its belly, cutting the organs beneath as well.
It squawked around its mouthful of Marine drumstick and let her fall. Elsa hit the ground with a grunt, spots in her vision. Immediately the spots were tinted red as the bowels of the creature fell through the gash she’d made and landed on top of her.
Chapter 12
“ You got a death wish?”
Elsa heard the words but couldn’t believe them. She brought her good hand up and wiped the ichor from her helmet. A man stood above her. Not just a man, but the kind of man that she suspected primitive cultures worshipped as a god. She tried to release the viewport and slide it up but it was jammed. She scowled then tried to sit up.
Her first attempt reminded her of her broken arm. She yelped, then chastised herself. Weakness wasn’t allowed now, she wasn’t alone. She tightened her muscles in a show of mental self discipline and used her other arm to help her to sit up, then to rise to her knees. Her leg felt bruised and shaky, but aside from the broken armor plates grinding together it still worked.
“ Gunnery Sergeant Elsadora Quinn, of FIST team 3,” She said after she stood up.
The man grinned. She noticed for the first time he was dressed — if dressed was the right word — in animal hides. He held a sharpened stick and had a bow and a sack full of arrows across his back. “Tarn Bledsoe,” he said with a grin. “I been chasing you for a while. Could have saved you a lot of trouble if you weren’t so damn fast.”
“ Sorry to have inconvenienced you,” Elsa said. “Your name wasn’t on the list of personnel in the research station.”
“ Only a couple of them left,” Tarn said. “Look, you want to stay here and chat or do you want to get out of here before momma and poppa come back?”
Elsa swore. “Let’s go — my unit’s supposed to meet up at the research station.”
Tarn chuckled. “Ain’t much there anymore. Kira and Fiona should’ve brought the survivors from your unit back to Treetown.”
“ Survivors? What happened?”
Tarn shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me. Vitalis don’t take kindly to visitors from other worlds. Your screamers fell straight into the biggest damn flock of wyverns I ever seen!”
“ Wyverns?”
“ Yeah, legendary giant flying lizard.”
“ Dinosaurs? Like a pteranodon?”
He nodded. “Something like that, except these are bigger and meaner.”
Elsa swore again, then realized what Tarn had said. “Wait, you know what a screamer is?”
Tarn shrugged. “Yeah, humans ain’t native to this planet. Well, at least not
The taloned foot came down on her helmet, pressing her into the ground. Her arm was pushed into the back of her mind as she realized she was about to be squashed like one of the Vitallian cockroaches in the cave. She struggled to roll, driving her knee into the ground and pulling the other one up so she could plant her foot. Her neck twisted and her muscles wrenched in protest, but the armored seal held. Before the monsters foot slid off the HUD blinked once then disappeared.
She flopped onto her back and found herself staring up into the business end of the baby dinosaur’s crotch. Even if it was a baby and sexually immature, she had no doubt it was male. She jammed her knife up, driving it deep into the belly.
It chirped loudly, but rather than leap away it dropped its head down and bit onto her thigh. It picked her up, the powerful beak inflicting similar damage to the armor on her leg to what it had done to her arm.
“ You’re coming with me you fucker!” Elsa hissed, tightening her grip on her knife and putting every last ounce of concentration into locking the muscles of her arm, shoulder, and chest. It caused her V-BAR to slice up through the skin and muscle of its belly, cutting the organs beneath as well.
It squawked around its mouthful of Marine drumstick and let her fall. Elsa hit the ground with a grunt, spots in her vision. Immediately the spots were tinted red as the bowels of the creature fell through the gash she’d made and landed on top of her.
Chapter 12
“ You got a death wish?”
Elsa heard the words but couldn’t believe them. She brought her good hand up and wiped the ichor from her helmet. A man stood above her. Not just a man, but the kind of man that she suspected primitive cultures worshipped as a god. She tried to release the viewport and slide it up but it was jammed. She scowled then tried to sit up.
Her first attempt reminded her of her broken arm. She yelped, then chastised herself. Weakness wasn’t allowed now, she wasn’t alone. She tightened her muscles in a show of mental self discipline and used her other arm to help her to sit up, then to rise to her knees. Her leg felt bruised and shaky, but aside from the broken armor plates grinding together it still worked.
“ Gunnery Sergeant Elsadora Quinn, of FIST team 3,” She said after she stood up.
The man grinned. She noticed for the first time he was dressed — if dressed was the right word — in animal hides. He held a sharpened stick and had a bow and a sack full of arrows across his back. “Tarn Bledsoe,” he said with a grin. “I been chasing you for a while. Could have saved you a lot of trouble if you weren’t so damn fast.”
“ Sorry to have inconvenienced you,” Elsa said. “Your name wasn’t on the list of personnel in the research station.”
“ Only a couple of them left,” Tarn said. “Look, you want to stay here and chat or do you want to get out of here before momma and poppa come back?”
Elsa swore. “Let’s go — my unit’s supposed to meet up at the research station.”
Tarn chuckled. “Ain’t much there anymore. Kira and Fiona should’ve brought the survivors from your unit back to Treetown.”
“ Survivors? What happened?”
Tarn shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me. Vitalis don’t take kindly to visitors from other worlds. Your screamers fell straight into the biggest damn flock of wyverns I ever seen!”
“ Wyverns?”
“ Yeah, legendary giant flying lizard.”
“ Dinosaurs? Like a pteranodon?”
He nodded. “Something like that, except these are bigger and meaner.”
Elsa swore again, then realized what Tarn had said. “Wait, you know what a screamer is?”
Tarn shrugged. “Yeah, humans ain’t native to this planet. Well, at least not
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