Kobol, Colonial Raptor crash site, City of the Gods; 1230 hours.
Tessa woke up to the bright Kobol sun being high up in the sky, the light beaming into the raptor through the cockpit windows and shining onto her face. She found herself lying on the floor while facing the cockpit as she groaned before rolling over to her back, and then to the other side. With her back towards the sun, she just looked straight at the wall in front of her and remembered Elosha banging all over the ship for hours.
At least until just before the first rays of sunlight appeared just over the mountains in the distance.
"I'll be back, little Cylon!" bellowed Elosha as she glared at Tessa through the broken glass of the canopy, after having jumped back onto the stubby nose of the crashed vessel, "even if you leave, I have your scent. I will hunt you down, and I will drink your blood."
"I… I…. frack you." Tessa's voice trembled in fear as she looked at the yellow eyes that were staring back at her, and then she looked at the fangs, and back at the yellow eyes, "you… you can't come in here."
"And you can't stay in here," smirked Elosha, "you still need food. After all, you were made to be just like us… which means you get hungry as well. You will stray far from the Raptor in search of food, and then… when night arrives, the last thing you will see is my face before I bite into your neck and drink your blood; such sweet nectar of the gods. I'll let you live though, my personal food source. Either way, you'll be mine…. Little Cylon."
Elosha crackled with laughter as she hopped off the Raptor's nose before she ran to her left. Tessa sat tensed while she waited for Elosha to run as far as possible. After thirty minutes, she visibly relaxed before giving out a scream of despair. Shaking her head as she brought her knees to her chest, she closed her eyes and prayed that she'd get strength to live through what was happening to her. After another thirty minutes, Tessa yawned, and then lay on the floor. She was exhausted, and knew that this was the only time that she'd be able to sleep peacefully.
'The Blood Demons are afraid of sunlight,' she thought to herself as she closed her eyes, 'I'm safe, for now. I'll activate the beacon again when I wake up, and pray that someone will hear it. I don't care if Cylon or Colonial, I just want to get out of here.'
Back in the present day, the fact that Elosha was close by hiding in the shadowed areas was back in the forefront of Tessa's mind. She groaned while pushing herself back up, her back still facing the canopy while rubbing her eyes, and yawning. Tessa slowly got up, stretched her hands over her head, and then turned around before slowly making her way to the cockpit. Using her arm to shield her eyes from the bright sun, Tessa took the pilots seat, and then pressed the button that activated the ship itself. She waited for a few seconds before leaning forward and then pressing another button that activated the beacon.
"Five, four, thee, two," whispered the humanoid Cylon to herself as she looked out of the broken glass, and then at her surrounding area. She then looked at the button again and whispered, "One."
Tessa turned off the beacon, hoping that any ships nearby would pick it up before she sat back on the seat. Releasing a sigh, she closed her eyes as when she heard her stomach rumbling. Shaking her head, she got up and then walked to the Electronic Countermeasures Console and activated the DRADIS console. She set the DRADIS to check for any ships in orbit, and the to check for any sort of movement on the ground.
Nodding her head once she found nothing, Tessa rushed to the cockpit and shut down the power. She knew that her radio was gone, so she was relying simply on the beacon; so she was going to be activating it once again in a few hours to conserve power. Tessa then walked over to the hatch, pressed the button on the side, and watched the metal door slowly swing up… revealing sun lit grass outside the ship. She then got onto the stubby wings, and closed the hatch before jumping down to the grassy ground. She then turned and faced the ship while she was walking backwards, her heart was racing, and her body trembling when she realized that she was finally out in the open. She then spun around slowly as she walked backwards and looked carefully at the surrounding areas; she saw the tall grass all around her, trees and mountains in the distance, the ruins of the old City of the Gods relatively close by, and then there was the Raptor in front of her after she made a complete turn.
Taking a deep breath, Tessa steeled herself in the knowledge that she was going to be safe in the daylight before she started walking towards the ruins. From her memories of flying over the city when they landed in their now destroyed heavy raider, Tessa remembered there being a river a few kilometres from the city itself. Checking to make sure that the sun was high in the sky again, Tessa then made a run for the city.
She wanted to make sure that she got back before the sun started to set.
"Take a bath, explore the city for some weapons, preferably some wood; maybe some live animals if I can find any, and then I need to get back and find a way to build a fire," she told herself as she continued her run, "then, if I caught some animals, I can eat. Hopefully I'll be back in the shelter of the Raptor just before the sun sets over the horizon. Please God, help me."
It was an hour later, with Tessa running at full speed, that she arrived at a river that flowed past the edge of the ruined City of the Gods. She looked around to make sure that she was alone, and then the sun was still high up in the sky. The young woman knew that it was still day, but she feared the shadows that were cast by the ruins behind her. Tessa looked around again, using her eyes to scan the surrounding area carefully before she took off her clothes.
Even knowing that she was alone, Tessa had this feeling that she was being watched. He knew that the eyes of a humanoid Cylon was sensitive enough to chart a hyper-jump with just looking at the stars themselves without any instrumentations. It was only when they needed to jump long distances did they need telescopes. But even so, their eyes were enough to gauge distance and everything else needed to make the complex hyper-jump calculations in their minds.
However, the hybrids were just a little faster at processing that information.
Back on Kobol, Tessa felt Goosebumps on her legs as she took off her trousers, folded them, and then places them on a boulder. She looked around one more time before she walked over to the river bank, and then dipped her toe in the water. Smiling at the cool sensation of the water, Tessa waded into the water and then submerged herself for a few seconds. In those few seconds, she was able to see fish swimming in the liquid before she blew bubbles out of her nose and the broke the surface of the water.
And she just gave a loud sigh before she washed her hair, and then her face. Tessa washed her arms, and then her shoulders while looking the fish that were swimming. Using her eyes, her strength, and her speed…. Tessa grabbed a fish that was the size of her fist, and then threw it onto the grass. She knew that the Raptor had emergency supplies which consisted of, among other things, a knife, which she could use to cut and clean the fish. Tessa grabbed three more fishes before submerging herself again.
Knowing that she was the only 'living' thing on the surface of Kobol, Tessa waded to the river bank before walking out. She placed the fish near her clothes before she lay down on a dry patch of grass. She knew that the Blood demons won't be coming out until night fell, as was the same with Elosha, so Tessa wanted to make the most out of it. It was an hour later that Tessa put on her clothes, and then grabbed the fish. One the way back to the Raptor, Tessa collected some materials to create a fire that she could use to build a fire.
It would be two hours later that Tessa had a fire going after cleaning the fish. She would cook all four of the fish, eating two as her lunch, while leaving the other two for dinner. Tessa knew that she had to come up with a routine if she were to stay here for the rest of her life, and this was just the beginning. The Cylon knew that she had to come up with something long-term, that even though she was afraid of the Blood Demons out there; she needed to survive.
A day's walk South from the City of the Gods, at that same time.
Three teams had already left for their respective targets, leaving the team of Starbuck, Major Neely, a Number Eight, a Number Three, and a Number six, with two other Earth officers, and three Colonial civilians; one of whom was a scientist, and the other one an archaeologist. Major Neely, with the help of Captain Weiss, the translator, told the Colonials and the Cylons to stay close together.
"The Major says that he knows none of you are happy with those choice of words," said Captain Weiss as he translated what Major Neely was saying. He saw a smirk on Starbuck's face before he continued, "but this is a new situation for all of you, and for us as well. We barely know the terrain, and the dangers that exist on this planet. Which is why it's safer to be in a group than go our separate way. If you need to go anywhere, use the buddy system.. in other words, go in two's. I don't care if it's a colonial-colonial combo, or a Cylon-Colonial combo; you need to go anywhere in pairs. All of us will be working together for the next few days, so let's make it a good experience."
"Or as good as it gets," quipped Starbuck as she glanced at the Number Three who was standing next to one of the Earth officers. She then looked at Major Neely and told him, while Captain Weiss translated, that she and the other Colonials will be good, "as long as the toasters don't give us a problem."
"Oh, there will be no problem from us," smirked the Number Three at Starbuck, "if anyone here starts shooting, it'll probably be you, Starbuck."
"Just try it, Cylon," came the reply from the blonde Colonial officer while the Earth officers watched; they only intended to interfere if the talk went out of hand and turned into action. Thankfully, nothing happened to escalate the situation, both sides mostly releasing some steam before the Major waved his hands, and told everyone to move it.
"This is going to be a long week," mumbled the Major as he led the group with Starbuck next to him, and Captain Weiss behind them. The remaining Earth officer took up the rear with an armed Number Eight; the group walking silently, the only sounds being the undergrowth making sounds as the heavy boots and shoes stomped down on them.
IN the meantime, two Earth officers remained in the cave that contained the Stargate. They were setting up the naquada generator to the Stargate, before connect the laptop to the ring; all using the light from the MALP. Once the gate was powered up, and the laptop software activated, the two officers dialled Earth.
"General Landry," said Sergeant Stevens once the Stargate was activated. She stood in the light of the MALP so that General Landry at the SGC could see him, "the four teams have set off for their recon mission. We'll be staying in contact every eight hours, sir."
"Good," said the General who was looking up at a screen while standing behind Walter. The screen just showed the Sergeant's face and just plain blackness behind him that was temporarily lit up by the blue hue from the event horizon of the Stargate, "eight-hour check-in's. Be careful out there."
"Will do, sir. Stevens, out." The Sergeant nodded his head and then leaned forward. He turned off the camera, and the light to save battery. Then once the event horizon was disengaged, the entire cave was plunged into darkness, leaving the two men to turn on their flash lights before walking out of the dark cavern, and into a connecting tunnel. They made a left turn on an inclined rough surface with visible daylight at the end.
The two of them walked towards the mouth of the cave, brushing the vines and branches that covered the entrance, and then stepped out into the sunlight. They looked around at the trees that were all around them, and took in a deep breath of the fresh air that carried the smell of the green trees all around them. The Sergeant and his partner then turned and took out their knives. They then began to process of cutting those vines so that the mouth of the cave would be unobstructed.
Once that was done, the two of them stood guard at the mouth for a little while. It would be a few hours later that Sergeant Stevens told his partner that he was going to check out the surrounding area.
The other officer nodded his head as the Sergeant walked off, his M16 firmly gripped in his hands.
Unknown to the newly arrived explorers, they passed through unharmed to their respective locations since they were lucky. They were on another side of the City of the gods where the blood demons hadn't woken up, at least not yet. It was unlike the northern side of the old City of the gods, which at night would be crawling with the Blood Demons, who would be hopeful of coming across anymore of the 'humans' they had acquired a taste for.
However, it would be very soon that the breeze that was travelling through the forests would change direction. It would carry the scent of human far towards the area were the Blood Demons would later wake up and walk; or the scent would be carried through the moths of caves which were connected to deep underground tunnels where the Blood Demons were sleeping.
It would take time for those demon to catch a hold of that scent since the humans would have moved off from where their current locations. But the shifts in wind, especially at night, would carry their scents through the air.
It was how the blood demons had found the humanoid Cylons, and why the Blood Demons hadn't found Tessa. When the winds shift at night, she would be in the safety of the Colonial raptor, and she would be using the brown coloured lubricant of the Centurion to cover her scent.
Tessa only had to deal with Elosha for now.
The problem was, that the others were unaware of the dangers. And all it later took were the teams to rest once it was night. The stayed and had their meals separately, the Colonials in one space, and the Cylons in one space; with the Earthers seated between them; eating MRE's, and telling translated horror stories by a fire.
Unknown to them, the winds shifted, and carried the scent of food; human, Cylon, and the MRE's into the surrounding areas. The scent diluting the further it went. It would be many hours later, just before the sun rose up, and the blood demons preparing to slumber, that the scent of fresh meat was caught out of the air.
And the Blood Demons bared their fangs, and smiled. Then they slinked back into their caves, licking their lips as the sun rose up into the sky
Colonial Raptor, The City of the Gods, hours earlier before the discovery of the scents; 0100 hours.
Neither Tessa, nor the vampiric form of Elosha glaring at her from the stubby nose of the Raptor, was aware of the newcomers to the planet. As far as the former was concerned, she was the only 'living' thing on Kobol. Tessa was sitting in a corner looking back at the vampire's yellow eyes, and then at her fangs.
The humanoid Cylon began unconsciously rubbing the side of her own neck while Elosha licked her lips. Shaking her head, Tessa then stood up and took a step to the Electronic Countermeasures console, and fired up the DRADIS for a few seconds. Elosha tilted her head as she observed the Cylon, she then shifted her feet and crouched down to see a section of the DRADIS screen.
The vampire then smiled at the unsmiling Tessa who turned off the screen, and then rubbed the back of her head before turning to look at her. Elosha could see the Cylon deciding what she should do, she could see the reaction of her body as she tightened her hands into fists, she could hear the Cylon starting to breathe faster, she could smell her sweat; Elosha smirked as she stared at the Cylon up and down.
"You're scared," hissed Elosha before smirking at the Cylon, "you're probably wondering if you could beat me, little Cylon. And… and before you say anything, I want you to know that as of this moment, I'm on top of the food chain. I am eternal, little Cylon. I will stay here and watch you until you go mad, I will continue to bang my fists on the ship until you come out and beat me…. Oh yes, there's an interesting idea. Come out of the ship and face me, little Cylon."
Tessa gritted her teeth as she stared at the vampire. She remembered what she told herself only last night, that even though she was a Cylon, she didn't know if she was stronger than the Blood Demon who was looking back at her. The fact was that Tessa wasn't sire of all the talk of Blood Demons in 'The Protector' was true. However, given that she was looking at a Blood Demon in front of her, it was very likely that some aspects of the show were based on facts.
And that brought about even more questions than answers.
However, in the back of her mind, there was the niggling feeling that this was just a simple disease of some sort. One part of her was saying that the creature she was looking at was not a Blood Demon, but a woman with an ailment.
Tessa would then remind herself about the Centurions who were literally torn apart by the Blood Demons. She took in a deep breath as she remembered watching her sisters and brothers, even the Cavil's, die horrible deaths while she was spirited away by her Centurion protector. The same Centurion who sacrificed itself for her.
Those thoughts pushed the feelings that this could just be the result of a virulent disease future down into her mind.
'I'll be in fear for the rest of my life,' thought Tessa to herself as she glared at Elosha, 'and if what she said is true. If what the TV show stated was true, that Blood Demons really are immortal, then I will be in trouble. I can't live like this… I cannot live in fear, like this. I know I said that… that I may not survive if I take her on, but I cannot live like thins for the rest of my life. This place would be safe if not for her… this whole area seems to be safe. Except for Elosha, that is.'
Tessa narrowed her eyes at the Blood Demon. She tensed her muscles as Elsoha tilted her head to the right, and smiled.
'She knows something,' thought Tessa to herself as she glared at Elosha while setting her jaw, and then jutting out her chin, 'the show did state that these creatures had enhanced senses. She could see better than a normal human; she's faster, more agile, has greater strength, better sense of smell, hearing… name it. But Cylons are also supposed to be better than humans. Come on, Tessa… you can do this. Kill this… this thing now, and we'll be free and living in relative peace. As long as you don't go into the distant forests at night, then you'll be safe. But Elosha has to die first… and… and she'll die."
"You'll die," said Tessa as she ran towards the cockpit. The smiling Elosha stood up just as Tessa jumped out of the broken canopy, and tackled the hissing and growling Elosha. The both of them fell to the soft ground, Tessa on top of Elosha as she grabbed Elosha's neck with one hand, and squeezed hard. She then pulled her left arm back, before delivering one punch after another to the side of Elosha's face. Tessa screamed as she continued to punch the creature as hard as she could, she was using all her strength while hitting the side of Elosha's face, "die! Die! Die!"
All Elosha could do was laugh out loud as her head snapped from one side to another because of Tessa's punches. After a few more, Elosha grabbed one of Tessa's hands, and then the others once. And squeezed tightly. She enjoyed herself as Tessa's face twisted in pain while she tightened her grip on her hands before rolling to the left until Elosha was on top of her. Tessa saw the older woman bare her fangs and then lean forward. Elosha pierced the skin of the humanoid Cylon with her razor sharp fangs, and then she pierced the Jugular vein while Tessa was writhing under her trying to get away. Elosha bit down harder as blood filled her mouth. The blood demon moaned, enjoying the taste of Tessa's blood.
'This is better than all the ambrosia in the Colonies,' thought Elosha to herself as Tessa continued to fight.
Tessa could feel herself weakening. Elosha's grip on her hands was strong, and she could hear her gulping down blood. The humanoid Cylon decided to make one last ditch effort to get the blood demon off her. Tessa yelped as she leaned up quickly and bit into Elosha's ear. She heard the blood demon squeal in pain before the grip on her hands were loosened. Taking the chance, Tessa punched the side of Elosha's head after letting go of the ear. Elosha rolled off the Cylon who quickly got up while holding the side of her neck. Tessa pressed down hard so that she could stop the bleeding, and then she heard a growl.
Elosha licked her lips before wiping Tessa's blood from the corner of her mouth. She looked over her shoulder, and then back at Tessa with a grin on her face.
The Raptor was behind her. Tessa was cut off.
"Stupid, little Cylon," chuckled Elosha before she leapt at Tessa. She blocked the weakened punch from the Cylon, and then grabbed her neck. Elosha picked her up, and then flung her away from the Raptor. She heard the Cylon landing with a thud, and walked towards her.
Tessa knew she had made a stupid move. The Blood Demon coming at her was much stronger than a normal human, and much stronger than a Cylon. She had seen them kill her friends…. In fact, she had already reminded herself of that fact before making this decision to come out of the safety of her home, and face the blood demon. She told herself that the others were beaten because of the sheer numbers of the Blood demons that came after them.
But she was mistaken.
She thought she could handle one, but now… she suspected that the others had been toying with them. They attacked in a group to hide their strength. Tessa grew pale as she realized she was wrong about a lot of things.
"Run, little Cylon," hissed Elosha, "I want to hunt you. Run!"
Tessa turned and ran as fast as she could. She ran towards the ruins, hopeful she could find a place to hide. But Elosha was close behind her, keeping pace while declaring loudly that she could smell the Cylon. Tessa continued running past the ruins, she was already feeling weak from the blood loss, but she wanted to push herself. She wanted to survive. Elosha was still keeping pace, laughing at Tessa's stupidity as she ran towards the river. Tessa hoped that she could use the water to remove the scent of the Centurion's lubricant. She jumped into the water, and then turned while looking at Elosha still running after her. Shaking her head, Tessa waded to the opposite bank and quickly got out of the water. She then turned while getting up and saw Elosha jump into the water, and then disappear underneath the surface. Not wanting to stay, Tessa turned and ran towards the trees in the distance. She looked over her shoulder as a figure erupted from the river and landed on the bank.
'The Blood Demon,' she thought to herself as she shook her head, while tears gathered in her eyes. There was non-one to help her as she ran closer to the tree line that led to the forest. When she saw the trees, Tessa remembered wood being used by the Protagonist of the show to defeat the blood demons, 'wood… in the show, Blood Demons died when they were impaled with wood.'
Getting her second wind, Tessa ran much faster, and by now she was already panting harder than ever before. She felt her legs burning, and her heart racing as if it was about to burst through her rib cage. She then entered the forest, with Elosha close behind her. The both of them were weaving between the trees, pushing through the undergrowth. But Tessa was already getting slower while she looked around, and smiled when she found a fallen, thick, branch. She turned, and raced towards it, and then picked it up. Tessa turned and screamed while raising the branch up to her ear. She was about to swing when she stopped… Elosha was gone.
She was alone in the forest.
Tessa brought the branch down and looked around, while still panting. She could feel her heart hitting her ribcage, she could hear the sound of blood as it rushed behind her ear. Tessa spun around and stared at the trees all around her… her eyes wide in panic while wondering where Elosha could have gone. Tessa's heart stopped when she heard a sound, but it wasn't coming from the g round level.
It was coming from above.
Tessa screamed as Elosha jumped down onto her, the impact pushing the Cylon to the hard ground. She screamed in pain as Elosha punched her viciously while trying to feel around for the thick branch that fell out of her hands. Tessa could feel the blood flowing from her nose, and the side of her mouth. She was getting weaker as Elosha viciously turned the Cylon's head to the side, and said, "this is it, little Cylon. Thank you for the game, it was exciting. But.. I know I said I wanted to have you around as food… oh well, to hades with that. I can take the animals, but you… you killed the Colonies. It's the one part of me that wins outs when it comes to deciding whether you live, or die. Goodbye, little Cylon."
Tessa's mouth opened wide in pain as Elosha bit down on her neck, hard. Tessa felt herself getting weaker when she finally saw the thick branch. She then reached out for it while Elosha was making sickening slurping sounds as she bit down harder, and Tessa gasped.
In a last ditch effort, Tessa used any strength she had left, and used her legs to propel her towards the branch. With Elosha still on top, moaning as she continued to slurp on Tessa's blood; to Elosha, the taste was exquisite… so much so that she wasn't paying attention to anything else. The Cylon smashed the branch on the hard ground, and then stabbed Elosha's side. The former priestess let go of Tessa's neck and howled in pain.
Taking her chance, Tessa pushed Elosha, who was grabbing a hold of her bleeding side to the ground, and then she swiftly raised the jagged piece of wood. Tessa plunged it into Elosha's chest, and then watched it horror as the body turned to ash… and then dust.
Severely weakened, Tessa couldn't process what just happened. All she knew was that she was safe as she rolled to her back. Watching the stars that shone brightly through the tree cover, Tessa felt her eyelids getting heavy. She didn't know if she was going to survive the night, so Tessa turned to faith, and prayed that she could see the morning.
If she survived the night, Tessa knew she would be relatively safe from now onwards. She could live in peace, away from the other Blood Demons. She was free. All the while she could transmit the distress beacon in the hope that someone would find her. If not, then this was her home.
Tessa then closed her eyes while she lay sprawled on her back with the hard ground beneath her.