T'Larc saw the rockets hit her and was surprised at the force of the tiny objects. She fell roughly down the hill and he felt anger stir in him when he saw the Humans following her and trying to pick her off whilst she was wounded. How dare they attack his Bond-Sister! With a roar, he charged up the hill and scattered the Humans left and right – skidding around and snapping his teeth savagely as they retreated back to the cover of the trunks of the trees.
"T'Priel, are you hurt?" He pulled her to her feet. She wavered for a moment then shook her head, as if clearing a fog from her mind.
"No, just rattled." She hissed in pain and held a hand to her broken armor, which was leaking bright orange blood.
"Rattled?" He narrowed one eye and fired his cannon into the trees, not particularly aiming. While the Humans were occupied with the flying shrapnel, the two Hunters hopped around the rock formation that provided them with cover and hid the Arms container from open view.
T'Priel sat down for a moment, still trying to catch her breath after the impact of the rockets. Even with three lungs she felt herself grow dizzy from lack of oxygen.
T'Larc punched his access code into the container's holopad and pulled out another silver canister, though this one had a raised button on the end and a needle on the other.
"Hold still," He growled, "This will hurt." He pushed the needle between a crack in her armor and pressed the button. There was a hiss of compressed air and a liquid was shot into the open wound.
T'Priel snarled and clawed the ground in pain, but felt the tissue regenerating under her armor. After a moment, the numbing effect of the chemicals erased the pain altogether. She flicked the dirt out from under her claws and straightened her bruised spines.
"Ready?" T'Larc asked her, charging his cannon again. She grinned and charged her own,
"Ready to take on the armored Demon himself."
The mention of the invincible Human soldier made T'Larc pause for a moment. He had a sudden thought; what if the Human forces sent him here? They were guarding the only entrance to the facility… a facility that the Humans wanted to enter. Badly.
He glanced across at T'Priel and saw that she must have been having the same thoughts as him.
"T'Larc, before we go back into battle, promise me one thing." She said softly.
"Yes?"
T'Priel blinked her huge green eyes, fear flitting behind them. "Don't let me die alone, Bond-Brother." T'Larc nodded.
"I swear to you," He growled, "We fight for victory, or till our death." He clasped claws with T'Priel and she nodded shortly,
"Victory… or death."
He tightened his cannon on his arm and looked around the bluff once more, ducking his head back as projectiles ricocheted off the rock.
"They're slowly advancing down the hill…" He paused, "… very slowly." She grinned, "I think we scare them, Brother."
"Good. Let's give them a reason to be scared. Make your way around the bluff to the ledge where we were dropped from the ship… I'll occupy their attention by attacking one of their transport vehicles. When I've managed to draw them into a group, open fire."
"How do you know I won't hit you too?"
"Don't worry about me." T'Larc growled, "It would take more than a hit from a Fuel Rod Cannon to destroy me." T'Priel nodded and started loping off.
"And T'Priel…" She stopped and looked back. T'Larc narrowed his eyes, "You must not be seen… no matter what happens."
She nodded curtly and disappeared into a cluster of trees.
T'Larc said a small prayer to the Prophets for victory then activated his shield and charged around the bluff. The Marines dove for cover, attempting to fire at the charging behemoth as their ranks scattered.
He roared and fired his cannon at the nearest soldier; the force of the point-blank weapon ripped him apart and his dead body landed twenty feet away, followed by his smoking limbs and weapons.
Ignoring the stinging of the Human's weapons T'Larc spun, picked up a Human and threw him into the ranks of his comrades.
:Fire now!: He told T'Priel. Barely two seconds later, the ground exploded beneath the Human's feet. Two or three bodies hit the bloodstained ground and were still… the others scrambled to find cover behind rocks and trees.
That was when things started to go wrong.
T'Larc growled and started advancing on the nearest Human who was scrabbling backwards in the dirt, ignoring the stones that cut his palms as he moved. The Hunter stopped shook his head, making his spines crack.
"Boo." He snapped in his own language. The guttural rumble that the Human heard had the effect on the Human that he wanted; it sprang to its feet and turned tail into the trees. T'Larc gave the Hunter version of a smug grin; it would be around about now that the Humans would realise that they'd been backed into a corner.
A sudden green-brown blur amongst the tree trunks surprised the Hunter, and smashed over the logs lying not three feet away from him. A Marine, driven mad with terror, had jumped into a Warthog and floored the accelerator. It lurched over the hill, slamming into T'Larc with a sickening crunch. He shuddered, roaring in pain and folded to the ground; his legs crushed.