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Jack Harkness-Jones deftly stepped over a twig, stirring the smoky mist with the toe of his boot. The full moon filled the night with a pale glow between the black trunks of the trees, bathing the forest in ethereal light.
Jack moved slowly through the gray haze, sometimes taking a minute between footfalls. He needed no speed, only stealth. His quarry would not be moving after it had eaten. He knew it would be sleeping. An hour stretched into three and still Jack crept forward. The bracken thickened, forcing him to circle the denser pockets of brambles.
He held his rifle vertically, angling the long steel barrel towards the sheltered sky to avoid tangling his most prized object in the bushes. The oak stock felt solid and reassuring in his grip, the cool of the metal trigger guard seeping through his gloves. A rustle in the bracken froze him in mid-step. A long moment passed and Jack let his hovering foot gently lower to the ground. The faint odor of ammonia drifted through the trees to his nostrils.
This scent had been what Jack has found at the kill site. He knew this was not a Blue… oh no… whatever had crept into their domain was something else entirely and he hoped like hell it was only the one, even if it was highly sought after. The past couple of years had been good, the money from the Blue Bears helping build the ranch as he and Ianto found a good rhythm. Little Pearl now a precocious three year old, her brother Charlie now Seven and a half, he and his best friend Dickie to share their eighth birthday soon. Jack wanted to get them their first little guns… if the other parents agreed.
Jack then focused on the prize as he heard noise ahead. The beast was before him. Shifting his weight gradually, Jack inched forward until a shaft of moonlight gave soft definition to the monster lying barely a dozen yards from him. Its forearms were over-large and muscular, wrapped around its massive head and serrated horns. The broad shoulders and thick chest flowed into two coiling tails, each tipped with a poisonous barb. The bristles and fur covering its back were blacker than the night around them.
Jack judged the total size of the beast was somewhere between a Meizzar bull and a Blue bear. (To us… a VW beetle) His quarry found, Jack now began the studied examination of his prey. The huge horns like muscular forearms wrapped around its head made a neck-shot impossible, and the broad shoulders suggested muscles thick enough to halt his bullets before they could find internal organs. Instead, Jack decided upon a place on the beast's side under one of the extended forearms, where the skin pulled tight just under the joint.
He moved a few yards to the left, allowing the angle of his shot the best chance of piercing deep into the beast's chest. Satisfied with his position, Jack crouched down to finish his final preparations. The five chambers in his rifle were loaded with Blue Spinners, designed for deep penetration. Jack gauged the short distance between himself and the beast and decided to replace the final three bullets with Hollow rounds filled with the metallic acid of a Gengal Snake. At this range, he knew that if the beast did not fall on the first two shots he'd need it distracted by as much pain as possible to allow him a chance to finish it with the Sonic Blade. He placed this final weapon within easy reach before him.
The wicked-looking stabbing point of the wide-edged axe blade barely reflected the light of the moon on the tempered surface. Thus prepared, Jack lifted his rifle to his shoulder and took aim. With practiced ease and steady hands, he aligned the sights with the shadow just below the beast's forearm. He breathed out, breathed in, held it, and fired.
The report of his rifle shattered the still night. The body of the beast shuddered and lurched. The creature rolled and screamed, smashing the brambles around it even as the second shot roared. The beast's howl was like the whine of a teakettle. Despite the two bullets deep in its body the beast stood and straightened, its vivid green eyes unerringly turning to Jack's hiding place.
It launched itself forward with a gurgling scream, using its coiling double tails and powerful forearms to gallop directly towards him.
Jack watched the bellowing beast approach and aimed his final shots carefully. One shot to the space between the shoulder and neck, one in the stomach, and one in the elbow. Each shot rocked the massive beast, but still it charged forward. Jack dropped his rifle and snatched up the Sonic. He stood, taking a defensive stance as the beast continued to bear down on him.
For a moment, Jack's blood chilled in the face of that furious advance. Had all his shots missed their marks?