[dcs_p]Turning to the north, she watched her teammates as they pulled “leaves” off one
another while John struggled to retrieve his slugthrower from his backpack. Then
she saw them.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]One of the creatures emitted a fourth squeak. Its large grey form trampled
through the white mist, followed by six others. They seemed to be large insects,
about 1 meter in height with elongated bodies and six legs. The front legs were
raised off the ground, with angled claws coming down from hinged joints that
looked like sickles sharpened for harvest. Their backs appeared to have dense
hair with mottled grey to black markings. The pack leader ran directly towards
Rex Harris, whom was covered with the green glowing creatures. It knocked him
over after running into his legs, then crawled on top of his body. It appeared to
be dancing as Rex screamed for help. The green leaf creatures stopped glowing
and leaped off of Rex, landing near his body and resuming their disguise as
leaves.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Michelle screamed. She had never seen animals like these before. Her firearm,
now less than 4 meters away, seemed impossible to reach. She was now so
covered with the glowing “leaves” that she could hardly support her own weight.
She walked slowly, resembling a zombie, struggling not to fall over. Her arms felt
like great weights. Suddenly she heard a shot. John had retrieved his
slugthrower.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Rather than turn back, Michelle continued forward, taking step after step
carefully. The green creatures did not hurt her, but they so thickly covered her
body she could barely bend at her joints. Another shot fired out behind her,
followed by a loud hiss. What is happening!? Another shot, and another. More
hissing. [/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]”Maybe John is killing them.”
Suddenly the leafy creatures jumped off from her body. Michelle leaped to her
Mech’s right foot, where her gyrojet pistol rested atop the Hatchetman’s metallic
boot. She turned around, pointing the weapon wildly at anything she saw moving.
The forest canopy was filled with movement, loud hisses coming from up in the
darkness. What seemed like eyes glinted in the black upper branches. Michelle
fired. A glint of silver flashed upon her target. She fired again. Once again,
another flash in the darkness.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Suddenly a large mass fell from the canopy just meters in front of her. It landed
amid her fallen friends. At once she noticed John’s body and screamed, “No!”
His corpse lay only meters away. He had apparently fallen after receiving a
gunshot to the neck. [/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Michelle looked up again to the forest canopy, seeing several “eyes” in the
darkness. She looked back down to the floor, where her gyrojet-slewn victim had
fallen. It was an enemy pirate infantryman, sporting a jump-capable exoskeleton.
She looked up into the canopy again. Leading her target, one of the “eyes”,
Michelle fired her gyrojet pistol just as the eye flashed back at her. It was the
last time Michelle Wright fired a weapon.[/dcs_p]