Jane floated slowly across the barren wasteland. She was in no rush so she valued caution over everything. There was nothing but time on this planet. Endless, endless time. Jane kept her hand on her belt where the sac of spores was tightly secured. They were her lifeline if things ever went sideways in the wasteland. But she did not want to use them unless there was an ambush and it was absolutely necessary.
She was growing stronger everyday here. She could feel it. The atmosphere that was once so oppressive now felt just like that of Earth's.
Today she was challenging herself to her greatest task on this planet yet... She wanted to kill a Rognarr without using the spores. She did not know if she had the strength to do so yet, but she wouldn't know until she tried. Jane scanned the wasteland, looking for a solitary Rognarr. They were rare, but not impossible to find. Just like many animals on Earth, Rognarr herds seemed to have Alphas who were in charge. When their strength was challenged, they would fight their opponent and either win or die.
The third option was to flee, disgraced by the rest of the herd. The beasts valued strength over everything, so a Rognarr who ran from a fight would never be welcomed back. Often its own herd would hunt it down themselves. If Jane was lucky, she'd find one such solo beast and put its lonely existence to an end.
Suddenly, there was the unmistakable sound of claws scraping on rock. Jane turned towards it quickly and saw a Rognarr climbing the rocky terrain nearby, trying to get within jumping distance of her. Its large red frame moved rapidly and its yellow eyes were laser focused on her. Jane flew a bit higher, feeling the push of the harsh gravity the higher she went. She scanned the area and did not see any other movement nearby. She smirked. "Let's do this."
Jane clenched her fist and started to fly downwards at the Rognarr at full speed. As she approached, the beast leapt into the air with both arms out and claws extended to greet her. Jane flipped upwards, over the beast's head and came crashing down on it with both feet. Jane landed on the surface, atop the Rognarr, creating a massive crater. The impact did not slow the beast down and Jane had to quickly leap away to avoid the snap of its jaws.
The battle raged on and the two seemed almost evenly matched. The teeth and claws of the Rognarr were incredibly lethal and needed to be avoided at all costs. Jane could not afford a grappling match with such a beast either. She only had one arm so attempting to wrestle with a Rognarr would be a death sentence. Now that they were in close proximity, she would not be able to simply fly away from this battle. She would have to finish what she started no matter the cost.
Her advantage came from her intelligence over the savage beasts. Rognarrs fought wildly so they were vulnerable to counter strikes. They relied on their powerful legs for leaping across the wasteland, but rarely utilized them properly in a fight. A well placed kick by Jane always seemed to catch them off guard. And of course, Jane had her weapons. The bombs secured to her waistband and the blade fashioned from a Rognarr claw.
But she wanted to defeat this beast with her own two hands. If she could do that, then maybe she would stand a chance against Omni-Man if he ever returned. Maybe she could actually kill her father. The thought alone sent her heart racing even faster. She could picture him as the Rognarr before her. She dodged claws and imagined them as his red gloved hand instead. She landed a swift upcut on the beast's jaw and imagined the feeling of Omni-Man's jaw cracking against her fist.
Then, the sounds of more beasts approaching. Jane turned quickly and saw two more Rognarrs approaching from the distance, barrelling hungrily towards the fight. "Shit!" Jane cried out. It looked like her original plans were done and this conflict would have to be wrapped up quickly. She grabbed a handful of the spores and tossed them directly into the first Rognarr. It let out a furious screech as the bombs burst, releasing toxic smoke all around it. The beast fell to its knees, completely disoriented. Jane did the same to the other two that were approaching.
With all of them weakened, she pulled her knife from her belt and viciously cut each of them down. Slicing through their thick skin was no easy task, even with their own claw. Jane made quick work of them. The spores did not last long and by the time she got to the last one, it was already beginning to recover. Jane opted to not waste more of the valuable weapon and subdued the beast after a brief struggle. Covered in blood, Jane sat among the dead Rognarrs, catching her breath.
"Dammit," she muttered. Had the Rognarrs planned this? Had the other two been hiding somewhere to ambush Jane or had they happened upon the fight randomly? Jane doubted they were smart enough to plan such an attack but she could not be sure. In her years here, she had learned a lot about their behaviors and animalistic ways. However, she was always limited by the distance she needed to keep from them. Maybe they were getting smarter and she just couldn't get close enough to tell.
All she knew was that now, she had to go back to the colony. She did not have many spores on her anymore, but they were enough to get her back home. Jane sighed and got back to her feet. Time to go. She hoisted the smallest of the Rognarrs up onto her back as she took flight. The smallest one was still much larger than her and it would be more than enough. She and her people would eat well tonight.