Darkest Before.
Klutz races toward his friend's location, knowing the invisible threat could strike at any moment. "Marin!" he shouts as he approaches the tree she is settled in.
"Whoa, Guardian! I see you," she answers back and stands from a small perch concealed by leaves. "Lost sight of the big bastard. You know where it went?"
With a small sigh of relief, Klutz answers, "I thought it was on its way to you."
"Would have beat you here if it was… Damn. Maybe it ran? Think we scared it off again?" she says as she slings her bow over her back and begins to climb down the carved footholds in the tree.
Klutz remembers the rage he saw in the Captain's eyes. Unconsciously, he moves his hand to a pain in his chest.
"Aww hell, Guardian. You're leaking," Marin says with concern as she joins the man on the ground.
"Huh?" He raises his hand to see it dripping with dark blood. Checking his aching chest, he sees the various plasma burns on his robe. One of which broke through the armor underneath, leaving a deep bloody wound. "Yeah, I took a few hits getting over here…"
Spark quickly appears and moves down to observe the wound. "Don't worry, Klutz! I'll patch this up in just a moment." She floats up above his shoulder to meet his eye. "Although, I do have to say, that was a pretty risky move you pulled back there. Pinned down by multiple combatants, yet you exposed yourself willingly."
Starting to feel the pain of his injuries, Klutz grunts and says, "Well, it was a risk worth taking." He looks at Marin with a tender smile behind his visor.
Marin returns a warm, appreciative expression.
"In the moment, I understand. Marin could have been in danger so you didn't want to lose any time. But in hindsight, we know that the Captain didn't target her. In fact it's still out here somewhere…"
Almost too coincidentally, a series of loud pops ring out from behind the man. Just as quickly, Spark is hit by a burst of flaming projectiles. The impact sends her flying backwards into a large bush.
Shaken by the sudden attack on his friend, Klutz pulls out his weapon and yells, "Spark, hide!"
Spark peers through the leaves of the bush. She looks at the blood still spilling out of his body and disappearing into the dark floor below. She pauses for a moment before listening to her Guardian's sound advice and disappearing.
Trying his best to ignore the pain, Klutz pivots around just in time to see the terrifying figure disable its cloaking device. Only a few feet away, it stands proudly with intimidating stature, silhouetted by moonlight.
For a split second, the beast only stares. Its eyes glow with hatred and its weapon wells with flames. Klutz is the first to act, squeezing the trigger of his rifle in rapid succession. The bullets are ineffective as the beast crouches down and dashes forward to close the distance. Its movements appear like a slideshow, illuminated in flashes by the rapid gunfire. Upon reaching the Guardian, it lands a powerful blow with one of its free arms, directly on the man's wounded abdomen. Klutz doubles over from the pain and collapses to the ground, breathless.
Turning its attention to the archer, the Captain looks almost surprised to see she has already increased the distance between them by a good ten feet and readied her bow. Two arrows tucked in her belt and a third one fully drawn, about to be released. The beast is quick enough to shield its face before the first arrow lands. Were the towering creature a moment slower, it would have undoubtedly lost one of its remaining eyes. Blindly advancing, with its vision covered by its armored forearm, the hulking Fallen feels another arrow ping off its helmet. It lets out a sinister, alien laugh. This laugh is cut short by a jolt of pain in its neck. One of Marin's arrows lodged itself deep in a soft gap in the armor covering the area. Ether sprays out dramatically.
"That's right! Bleed, you bastard!" she taunts as the attacker stumbles in place for a moment. Marin reaches to her quiver for more arrows. "Shit… one left," she mutters to herself.
Collecting itself for a moment, the beast tightly grabs the arrow protruding from its neck and snaps it with ease. Fearlessly it lowers the arm covering its face so it can see its opponent.
Marin stands only a small distance away. Her bow lays at her feet. She is unarmed, but she stands tall all the same. She spits a gob into the dirt and scuffs it with her heel.
The Captain points its gun at her. Fire spills from its maw.
"If you're gonna shoot me like a coward, best just get it over with!" Marin shouts loudly and uncompromised.
To her surprise the monster answers.
"No," it says in a horrific, scratching voice, bookended by bug-like clicking sounds. The Captain drops its weapon onto the dirt with a weighty thud. Reaching behind its back with one of its powerful arms, the beast draws a long sword, surging with arcs of electricity. It stands still and menacing for a moment.
Marin holds her ground.
The monster begins walking toward the lone hunter. Anger in every step.
Marin does not flinch.
As the headsman stands before her, the crackling of its voltaic blade seem almost as loud as her pounding heart. It points the blade inches from her throat, small arcs of lightning lick at her chin.
"This is your end," the beast utters slowly.
A wide devilish grin stretches across her face.
For a moment the beast is puzzled by her reaction. Its confusion fades quickly and is replaced by rage. With one of its free arms, it aggressively grabs the woman by the neck, raising her high enough to meet its face. "Why?" it growls.
The beast receives no answer. Instead it is caught off guard by a sudden glow of bright purple light and a strong impact against its back. The impact knocks it forward, almost enough to take it off its feet. After recovering briefly from the strike, the beast turns its massive head to look for the attacker.
Marin seizes the opportunity, and quickly swings the arrow in her white knuckled grasp directly at the monster's vulnerable face. The arrow penetrates deep into the eye nearest to the one it lost only hours prior. Twisting and jamming, Marin revels in her foes cries of pain.
Just as quickly, the partly blinded alien pulls the woman away from its face and plunges its weapon through her midriff and out her back.
The hidden Guardian shouts in shock as the beast pulls the sword from the woman's body.
Unable to scream, due to the tight constricting grip around her throat, Marin clenches her jaw down tight enough to fracture a tooth. This doesn't last long though, as the enraged creature then throws her against a nearby tree. After taking a moment to collect herself, she sits upright against the tree and puts firm pressure on the front facing wound. Blood continues to soak her clothes. Trying her best to ignore the pain, she holds back tears and looks up to see the monster stumble toward the Guardian.
Klutz struggles to stand from his concealed position as he faces the injured Captain. He feels lightheaded and his limbs are numb, but nevertheless, he points his weapon forward and stands his ground. To his surprise, the Captain gradually slows down its stumbled steps before stopping all together. He watches as the once mighty opponent falls to its knees, grasping the shaft of the arrow still protruding from its head.
The creature breathes heavily and yanks the arrow from its eye. Ether sprays out violently and the Fallen drops to its side.
With his rifle at the ready, Klutz approaches the now barely moving Captain. He points the barrel at the exposed section of its gaudy face covering. It does not raise its arm in defense. Instead, the defeated warrior only lays limply, struggling for breath as the stream of Ether spewing from its eye slowly dissipates. Klutz presses the barrel lightly against the dying Captain's head. His finger wrapped around the trigger.
"Why?" it asks through desperate breaths.
The Guardian is surprised and loosens his trigger finger.
Working just to stay awake, the Captain turns its two remaining eyes to face its executioner. "Why-why did the Great Machine choose you?" It turns its head toward the Traveler, just visible above the trees. "Why did it… abandon us?"
The Ether stops leaking and the light leaves its eyes.
Klutz holsters his rifle and shuffles toward his injured friend. "Marin? Are you- argh!" He falls to a kneel beside the half conscious hunter and presses his hands on her blood soaked side. Ignoring the pain of his own still bleeding injury.
Her hands are limp on her lap, slick with red. She struggles to keep her eyes open while slowly turning her view from the still body of the Fallen to the man pressing on her tender wounds. She wants to speak, she wants to say something. She wants to, but the words do not leave her mouth. She closes her eyes and hopes she gets the chance to tell him some other time. To show him.
"Spark! It's safe now, but I need your help," the man says with a shaky voice.
The Ghost appears quickly and begins shining her light on the man's injuries. "Just hang in there, Klutz. I'll have you patched up in a second and then we can-"
The man cuts her off as she begins healing him. "I'll be fine, Spark, but we have to help Marin!" he blurts out, panicked
Spark continues repairing his body with Light. "If you pass out as well, we'll lose more time. Let me fix you first and we'll do what we can for Marin."
Lit up by her lamp, Klutz notices a section of the Ghosts shell is damaged and singed from the attack. "You're right, Spark… I'm sorry." Klutz feels physical relief as his flesh is mendid and life begins to return to his body. Mentally however, he feels no such relief. His concern for his friend only grows by the second.
The Ghost gives a final scan over her partner before turning her attention to the unconscious woman. "Believe it or not, she is lucky. The blade was not very accurate, I guess that thing had bigger concerns when it… What I mean to say is the blade passed through her abdomen quite far to the side. It missed her digestive tract as well as any other major organs."
"So, she's gonna be okay?" His hands, pressed against her wounds. His gloves, covered in her blood.
Spark slowly shifts her injured shell around. "I can't say that just yet… She has lost a good amount of blood and she is losing more as we speak." She senses the man's heart rate elevate. "Try to stay calm, Klutz. At her current rate of blood loss, we should have more than enough time to make it back to the village."
His Ghost's smooth words settle his nerves somewhat. "Call in the ship, Spark." His voice has steadied. He moves his bloody arms around the woman's limp body and cradles her with ease.
"Way ahead of you, Guardian. The landing site is just past those trees, in the field." Spark takes a second to look at her partner. Streaks of red stain the purple robes.