A/N: Little one shot I wrote a while back and decided to put up here. I know I'm supposed to be working on my Mass Effect fic, but I've had trouble writing it out, and found this. Hope you enjoy.
Striker
Dusk. Dark shadows twisted in the sky as the sun set beyond the horizon, and animals scampered to their sanctuaries. They may have been prominent in the middle of the day, but at night, they were vulnerable. Striker watched as several smaller species scurried off. They were not even worth a chase from him, no praise to be earned in their capture and death. His eyes were fixed on the true prize as a lumbering, shaggy beast slowly trudged by, trying to find a place to sleep. Striker made quick glances between its long, curved claws, and its weak exposed neck. In that beast a worthy kill could be made, to benefit the pack.
A bellowing roar in the distance drew Striker's attention. He knew it meant one of his larger, distant cousins was on the hunt somewhere. He knew he had to live up to his name and strike quick, claiming the beast for his pack. Striker flexed his arms, his lips curling in imagination of the rich meat about to be attained, his tail quivering as he prepared for the kill. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was running as fast as he could towards his prey. Moments before impact, he jumped in the air, turning as he did. The lumbering beast only had time to turn its head towards what it thought was just the noise of rustling underbrush. A meaty smack resonated as Striker's armored and spiked tail smashed into the beast's face. The beast swayed for a few moments, before groggily falling over, bleeding profusely from one side of it's face. Striker had done well.
The beast was moaning softly, still wondering in its small mind what had happened. Striker slowly walked toward it, savoring the coming meal. Before he could give a killing blow to the creature, a small but growing noise took his attention. It was unlike anything he had heard, whirring steadily. That's when he noticed the thing. It just seemed to float in the air, and looked like a roughly constructed ball of metal. The whirring continued, unsettling Striker. How dare this thing disturb him before his meal. He let our a series of hisses alerting his pack-mates of the kill, before letting out an angry hiss at the thing. When the object continued even closer, he made a lunge at it, trying to batter the object with his arms. With amazing speed, the object jerked back, and suddenly sped away. The thing had confused Striker, but as his pack-mates revealed themselves from the brush, he noticed the pack leader, an older male, nodding in approval, and letting Striker finish his kill on the beast. Striker grasped the neck with his two long arms, claws scratching into the flesh, as he made a ravenous bite at its exposed, soft neck.
"Whoa, little devil just took a swing at Probe Two!" exclaimed Jochen. Jochen's hands were quick on the control panel, deftly moving Probe Two out of the grasps of the angry animal. He kept the probe at a safe distance, watching as the pack-mates of the creature slowly came into view, and began their feast. His outburst must have gained attention, because he felt someone stooping over him to get a better look at his view-screen.
"Little fellow came at you? Interesting, haven't seen that from anything else on this planet so far", a voice sounded from behind him, which Jochen recognized as Maria's. "I guess you are easily scared by four-feet tall lizards, especially ones a few thousands of miles away." she added, with a small grin.
Jochen made an annoyed grunt, before rewinding to the attack footage, and saying, "Maybe it was something about that," he said as the predator flung itself in the air and smashed the prey with it's spiked club, "that would be a bit unnerving, even at a distance. I'm right or I'm right?"
Maria said nothing as she watched the video, until it reached the climax of the attack. Jochen heard a whisper of, "Awesome", come from Maria as the club smashed the beast. Jochen laughed at this.
"Remind me to never piss you off, I do not want to find out what is 'awesome' then. Besides, what you got on your screen? Nothing 'awesome' like this?" Jochen turned to find Maria grinning again, before he saw her monitor.
"Oh nothing much…unless you consider those giants on the screen something. Look somewhat related to that big, scary lizard of yours. 'Cept mine actually is big and scary. Hasn't done much, though. There was some sort of quadrupedal cyclops earlier, it's gone now. If we get that one to meet with the one I have on the screen right now…well, I'm sure I would be rich after everyone gets their hands on the footage." she said with an even larger grin.
"Yeah, yeah, and expect some Japanese studio to make a movie out of it. Not that I wouldn't watch it…anyway, make sure the latest reports are just the dry-cut science-ie stuff. Dr. Vladek has become more vocal, to put it nicely, about not receiving staff with special training on xenobiology, and instead getting some Alliance ensigns like us."
Far below, Striker rustled about in the brush, settling into a resting spot. His belly full from the meal, he could feel his body slipping into a peaceful slumber. His eyes gazed lazily upward, towards the vast amount of stars dotting the clear sky. One in particular seemed to be slowly moving. The strange floating ball came to the front of his mind, but he was too tired to put any real thought into it. Perhaps it would fill his dreams, as his eyes finally closed, and a quiet lull fell over the area.