Smash Up

At the remote base, Max and the med techs had just finished readying Nora's avatar. Due to lack of space, it was out in the open in a small fenced area next to the research shack. The window overlooking it was near the psionic unit Nora would be in. She was nervous about driving her avatar but there was no choice.

Lucas was sitting in his link unit. It was decided he would try right away to get back to the prison room to see if everyone was all right. "There's nothing to it," he said trying to encourage Nora.

"Sure, Lucas," she replied.

"See you there. Soon." They bumped fists. Then with the help of one of the med techs, he closed himself in.

The new plan here was after giving Nora a little time to adjust to her avatar they would transport her by Samson to an area inside the forest next to the canyon but near the human base and the trap where Lucas and the rest fell. After hiking in a short distance, she would secure compressed ropes with an auto winding mechanism into the ground. After triggering the trap, she would lower the ropes and pull them up, moving as quickly as possible since the traps set off alarms inside the base.

But the best laid plans...

"What the hell was that?" Nora asked, looking up from the map of the canyon she was studying with the others. A loud noise. It sounded like a car crash, except the ground shook beneath them. Everyone raced to the windows at the opposite end of the shack.

"Oh shit," Norm exclaimed, summing up their new predicament.

A Hammerhead Titanothere was angrily charging, forcefully ramming into the Samson, attempting to assert its territory. Already twisted and gnarled in front, the beast nudged the vehicle with its broad snout. Pieces of the shattered cockpit glass fell to the ground. Seemingly unhappy with its work, the beast backed up and slammed into it again. The Samson teetered to one side. The animal let out a very loud territorial roar, then eyed the crumpled up aircraft, ready to give its "prey" yet another blow. Which it did. Then, apparently bored, it snorted and looked up toward the shack. Though semi-covered with vines and branches, the greenery could look out of place to the animal.

Barely moving his lips, Norm said, "Don't. Move."

The Hammerhead took a few steps toward the shack. It lowered its head in a threatening way, appearing to stare at them through the window. Everyone froze in place. With its head still lowered it took several more steps. It was close enough now that the heavy thuds the animal made when it moved could be felt underfoot in the shack. No one there was really quite sure if any of the RDA's design engineers had taken into account what would happen if these research shacks were suddenly pummeled by the local fauna. Suddenly, Norm really wanted to know and he made a mental note to look it up in the operations database next time he had the chance. It was a very uneasy feeling being in such a vulnerable and potentially life-threatening situation.

The beast took a few more steps and grunted. No one so much as blinked. If it decided to charge now, they were in serious trouble. Their exopacks were not exactly within arms reach. To make it worse, a mad scramble for them would surely send the already wound up creature into further fury.

If a Titanothere had the ability to glower, this one certainly was. It was really pissed off about something. All Norm could think now was where's a Thanator to help distract when you need one?

The Hammerhead finally lifted its head up. Fortunately, it was uninterested. It turned around and trotted away, letting out another roar, this time for victory. Other than letting out a collective sigh of relief, the three scientists and two med techs remained motionless, looking on helplessly at what was left of their only mode of transportation.

"So. A little setback, eh, fellas? Let's just call Drew and get him over here," Nora said.

Max rubbed his eyes. Suddenly weary, he sat down. Seeing his rather dejected expression, Nora asked, "Ok, guys. What am I missing here?"

Slack jawed, Norm was still staring at the destruction. "You're looking at our comm center," he said. "This was the last remote area built and it went up rather hastily. These were meant only for very short research excursions into the bush."

"Oh no," whispered Nora.

Max asked, "You know what this means, right?"

Nora didn't answer. Alongside Norm, she just stared at the pile of rubble that was once an SA-2 Samson Tiltrotor.