To Michiru's relief, they made it to the Trash Coast safely, without any more bandits trying to rob them; they passed a few abandoned camps, making her wonder if there was so little to acquire in this area that they had given up and moved on, none of the camps looking as if much fighting had happened there.
If she hadn't been so eager to get to the Coast, she would have suggested stopping for supplies; they still were well stocked though, so she didn't see a need to do so, and apparently, Haruka agreed, not even glancing at the camps as she drove past them.
Then, something else caught Michiru's eye, a rather unexpected construction up ahead; it appeared to be a crudely built bridge, with no apparent sense she could see, just crossing the road they were on, with what looked like a little hut right in the middle of it, making her wonder if someone actually lived up there, and how safe it could be, having a home so exposed to the naked eye.
Just as she wanted to point this out to Haruka, the bridge rumbled audibly and visibly, prompting her to raise an eyebrow; clearly, the blonde thought of this as odd, too, slowing down the car – and it had been quite the good thing that she had done so, Michiru realized, as all at once, a massive gate clanged down from the bridge, blocking the road, Haruka managing to stop the car just before it'd crash into it.
"Hands where I can see them", a rough voice called out to them, "and you up there in the gunner seat, you get them close to that gun and I'll blast your head off!"
For a second, Michiru still hesitated, well aware of how fast she was, figuring that she could draw her gun and fire before the person yelling at them would realize what she was doing; she couldn't see the target though, the speaker hiding somewhere in the little house on top of the bridge, and when Haruka raised her hands, she did the same, deciding that for now, it might be the better move to just go along.
"We don't want any trouble", Haruka called out, keeping her hands in the air, "we just want to get to the coast!"
"You're not Crimson Lance, are you", the voice called back, Michiru by now having identified it as male, the owner still hiding away in the little house though, where she couldn't see him, "if you are, I'll kill you!"
"Do we look like Crimson Lance", the blonde demanded to know, sounding so indignant that Michiru couldn't help herself, but just had to smile, "no, we don't, so let us pass!"
"Not so fast", the man called back, still keeping himself hidden from view, "what is your business at the Coast, if you're not Crimson Lance?"
"I'm a Vault Hunter", Michiru was the one to answer now, an uneasy feeling coming over her seconds later, prompting her to ask herself if he was aiming a gun at her now, "and we have reason to believe that part of what we need to find the vault is at the Coast."
"The Vault will only bring you pain", the man replied, not sounding as if he was very concerned for their well-being though, "if you want some advice, turn around now and leave. Find another vault on another planet."
"We don't want your advice", Michiru replied, now not bothering anymore to sound friendly and soothing, "and by now, you've talked to us long enough to let me figure out where exactly in your little house you are standing. I'll let you know that I am exceptionally skilled with my guns, and even though you might be aiming your weapon at me now, I am confident that I will have mine out and fired before you can pull the trigger."
"Yeah, she is that good", Haruka added when no response came for a while, "trust me, I've seen her in action."
For a few more moments, the man remained quiet; then, the weird feeling Michiru had had stopped, and another few heartbeats later, he stepped out of the house and into view, the heavy gun he was carrying over his shoulder now, his rather long, shaggy bangs hiding his eyes, both women not doubting though that he was looking at them.
"Hey, I know you", Haruka stated, sounding surprised now, "you've been to Minako's bar a few times!"
"Yes, but now I live here", the young man replied, sounding a bit friendlier now that the blonde had made the comment about knowing him from the bar, "so I haven't been there in a while, it's too far."
"And you keep people from going to the Coast?" Michiru wanted to know, frowning, "why?"
"Not people in general", he told her, "just the Crimson Lance guys. I'm not quite sure, I never asked, but this doctor pays me do to just that, and she pays quite well."
At this, Michiru raised an eyebrow, quite sure that said doctor was Ami; she asked herself why she would want to keep the Crimson Lance away from the Trash Coast, but apparently had no problem with letting anyone else go there, and if she had instructed the man to make the comment about the vault only bringing pain, in a rather pitiful attempt to keep bandits away.
"Well, we are not Crimson Lance, so you can let us through", Haruka pointed out while Michiru pondered these things; to her relief, the man nodded, warning them about the vault once more though before he went back into the little house, the gate moving up again moments later.
"Thanks, mate", Haruka called out as she stepped on the gas pedal again, Michiru making sure to wait until they were out of earshot before she spoke up, raising her voice to be heard over the roar of the engine.
"That was kind of peculiar, don't you think", she wanted to know, Haruka slowing down as she craned her neck to look at her, making her glad that this wasn't a busy road, "the way he talked about the vault? There was nothing in Ami's notes about what it might contain, but he sounded rather sure of it."
"Perhaps she told him to say that", Haruka replied with a shrug, not appearing all too disturbed, "to keep people away. Not that I think it would work, not against bandits and certainly not against the Crimson Lance."
"And not us, either", Michiru added with a small laugh, earning a chuckle and a nod from the taller woman; she smiled as she leaned back into the seat again, getting as comfortable as it was possible up there while Haruka drove on, the sniper feeling quite excited again as she all at once was sure that soon, the next piece of the key would be in their hands.
When they kept driving and came upon nobody else, Michiru started to get suspicious; the first few empty camps hadn't seemed strange, but as they drove past a few more, she started to wonder if perhaps, there wasn't a reason for it, one much darker and sinister than simple bandit wars gone out of hand.
"Haruka", she thus called out as they passed yet another empty camp, "this is the sixth abandoned camp we drove past since morning. Isn't this weird?"
"A bit", the blonde let her know, not helping with lessening her feeling that something was wrong, "but not unheard of. They just move on some times, when there's nothing left for them in the area. And of course there's the fights between the gangs…"
"None of these camps look as if there was fighting, though", Michiru pointed out, "I mean, we didn't get a good look at them, but I'm pretty sure I saw enough to—"
A harsh shriek from above interrupted her, and her hand automatically flew to the gun at her hip as she looked up; she immediately spotted the origin of the noise and grimaced as she watched a bunch of bird-like creatures cycle up in the sky, large, leathery wings carrying the sleek, elongated bodies with ease.
"Rakk", Haruka called out to her, briefly making her worry that the blonde had swallowed a bug and was trying to cough it back up, before she realized that this actually had been a word and not some sound of distress, "as long as they circle up there, we'll be fine. If they started to come down though, fire away."
As if they had heard those words, the creatures let out a series of shrieks, Michiru having a second to ask herself if they were communicating – before they, in frightening unison, started to swoop downwards, Haruka letting out a rather harsh curse in reaction, clearly not all too eager to fight these things up close.
When they came closer, Michiru could see why – unlike the birds on her home planet, the Rakk had no teeth, their flat heads ending in a pointy snout lined with hooked and barb-like teeth, a bony plate protecting the top of the head, the fact that their long tails were covered in sharp, curved talons not helping with making them appear any less dangerous.
Not wanting to let them get too close, Michiru opened fire, just as Haruka had asked her to; to her relief, they only sported the bony plates on their heads, the underbelly soft and unprotected, and this was what she aimed for, holding back a noise of disgust when her shots found their targets and blood and what she assumed to be Rakk guts splattered Haruka, herself and the car.
Still, despite how gross it was, she kept firing, trailing them with the machine gun when they tried to get out of the line of fire, again making her wonder if they were communicating and how smart they were; as if to show her that they weren't exactly dumb, one of them veered off to the left and one to the right, and not even her exceptional skill with the gun allowed her to shoot both of them.
"Careful, the tail!" she still heard Haruka cry out, then the one who had gone off to the right came swooping down; and seconds later, sharp pain made her grit her teeth as the Rakk made sure to drag its taloned tail over her protectively raised arm, briefly making her glad that she had brought said arm up in time, not wanting to imagine what the talons might have done to her face.
Even though her own blood was mixing with the Rakk blood spattered onto the car now, Michiru didn't let the injury stop her; gritting her teeth against the pain, she kept firing, and not long after, the last of the Rakk let out a screech as bullets hit and it fell, hitting the road behind them.
"That was the last of them", Michiru called out to Haruka, "let's hope there aren't any… more…"
She made the mistake of looking at her arm as she spoke, and got the first good look at the gashes the talons had torn into her flesh; there were five, close to each other, and they went deep, the world blurring around her when she saw a shimmer of white through the mess of shredded flesh and blood.
Bone, her mind shrieked at her, that's bone, that's how deep that thing's talons went, all the way to the bone!
She swayed, feeling sick, dimly hearing Haruka call out to her; she barely noticed how the car slowed down, then stopped, but what she did notice was a pair of strong arms wrapping around her, then lifting her out of the seat, the world blurring even further at the motion while strange groaning sounds reached her ears.
"Hush", Haruka murmured as she carefully climbed down from the vehicle, somehow managing to do so without dropping her, and she realized that the weird sounds had come from her; she had been hurt a few times since she had started vault hunting, but it never had been so bad that she had seen her own bone, the mere thought making her feel nauseous until she was sure she'd puke any moment.
Don't throw up and don't pass out, she sternly told herself, with the small part of her mind which still worked rationally, you're Michiru Kaioh, you can handle this, get a hold of yourself!
The ground rumbled, making her wonder dully if this was another symptom of shock; then, she felt Haruka tighten her embrace around her, a hint of fear in the blonde's voice as she mumbled "Oh shit", the tone being enough to bring Michiru back at least enough to let her look, her heart performing a leap up to her throat when she saw the monstrosity rising from the ground.
It was huge, that was the first thing she noticed, larger than the tallest building she had seen so far on this planet; as it dug itself out from the earth, she had time to notice the four stubbly legs, the four long, thin arms and the same number of strangely pearly eyes, a cold and alien gaze inhabiting them as the massive head turned and the eyes focused on them.
"Oh shit", Haruka repeated her earlier statement, lowering Michiru to the ground as fast as she dared before she almost yanked her machine gun from the holster, moving to stand in front of Michiru, the sniper struggling to stay conscious as she asked herself why they had been warned about the vault, but not about this, if this thing was the reason why all the bandits at the Trash Coast were gone, and if they would get out of this alive or if their quest would end right then and there.