Tausan yelled from the floor over the din of the discharging pistol.
“If you’ve got any ideas, pasty-face, I’m all ears!” Shawn screamed in response.
Unseen by Shawn, Tausan scurried to his feet. Reaching beneath one of the armor plates on his dark bodysuit, the Kafaran withdrew a short, curved dagger. “Aim for its eyes, Commander, to distract it.”
“Distract it?” Shawn yelled, doing as he was told. “Distract it from what?”
Shawn watched as the beams from his weapon impacted the octal region of the creature, appearing for all intents as if they were being absorbed into the Meltranian’s body. Beside Shawn there was a flurry of moment, and he realized that Tausan was rushing toward the alien. “Get back here, you crazy idiot!”
Trying to maintain his aim, Shawn watched as Tausan grabbed ahold of one of the Meltranian ’s elbows, then used it as leverage to spin to the backside of the creature. The glint of something caught Shawn’s attention, and the commander mistakenly fired a round that impacted with the armor protecting Tausan’s left shoulder, charring but otherwise not damaging it.
“Take care with you r aim,” the Kafaran shouted.
“You think this is easy?”
“Do you think this is?” Tausan grunted, using all his immense strength to keep the Meltranian as immobile as possible.
Shawn watched as Tausan hefted his knife before plunging it into the Meltranian ’s neck. The response was immediate, and the creature lurched its spike-like head back. The intended impact was stopped by one of the Kafaran’s armor plates, but the creature kept jerking its rearward assault until a strike got into a kink in the Kafaran’s armor. Yelping in pain, Tausan was forced to release the creature, who immediately staggered to the ground, the knife still buried deep in its neck. A purple, syrup-like fluid oozed from the wound.
Shawn ceased firing, taking a moment to check on Wilcox , who was lying at his feet. The Marine was unmoving, a large tear in the chest of his suit. And there was blood. A great deal of it. Shawn risked leaning down to check for the man’s pulse. Just as his fingers brushed Wilcox’s throat, the Meltranian leapt to its feet.
Shawn once again began firing his weapon, which was just as useless as before, and quickly depleted his pistol. Tossing the empty weapon aside, he reached for the fallen Marine’s pulse rifle. Heeding Tausan’s warning, Shawn flipped the weapon from energy rounds to conventional projectiles. Firing in long bursts, round after round hitting the advancing creature. Some seemed to penetrate, while others appeared to bounce off. With a limited amount of ammunition, Shawn knew his options were quickly running out. Even if he could open the airlock and get back into the corridor, Wilcox would be killed by the instant vacuum that would form. If he wasn’t already dead. Besides, with his own helmet on the floor and between himself and the Meltranian, it would mean a quick death for Shawn as well.
The Meltranian lurched to within striking distance, raising two of its clawed hands in a move that Shawn knew to be the precursor of a death stroke. As the two mighty arms began their descent, a dark, armored forearm wrapped itself over the Meltranian ’s eyes and jerked the creature’s head back in a move that would have snapped a human’s neck instantly. Shawn watched as Tausan, momentarily recovered from his injury, firmly grasped the knife embedded in the Meltranian’s throat. In one swift, powerful movement, the Kafaran pulled the knife along the valley of two plates in the creature’s skin, and with his multi-jointed wrist, neatly decapitated the Meltranian.
Purple blood sprang from the mortal wound as the Meltranian ’s lifeless body crumpled to the floor, leaving Shawn gaping up from the floor at the Kafaran who still held the Meltranian’s head as if it were a trophy. Holding the
“If you’ve got any ideas, pasty-face, I’m all ears!” Shawn screamed in response.
Unseen by Shawn, Tausan scurried to his feet. Reaching beneath one of the armor plates on his dark bodysuit, the Kafaran withdrew a short, curved dagger. “Aim for its eyes, Commander, to distract it.”
“Distract it?” Shawn yelled, doing as he was told. “Distract it from what?”
Shawn watched as the beams from his weapon impacted the octal region of the creature, appearing for all intents as if they were being absorbed into the Meltranian’s body. Beside Shawn there was a flurry of moment, and he realized that Tausan was rushing toward the alien. “Get back here, you crazy idiot!”
Trying to maintain his aim, Shawn watched as Tausan grabbed ahold of one of the Meltranian ’s elbows, then used it as leverage to spin to the backside of the creature. The glint of something caught Shawn’s attention, and the commander mistakenly fired a round that impacted with the armor protecting Tausan’s left shoulder, charring but otherwise not damaging it.
“Take care with you r aim,” the Kafaran shouted.
“You think this is easy?”
“Do you think this is?” Tausan grunted, using all his immense strength to keep the Meltranian as immobile as possible.
Shawn watched as Tausan hefted his knife before plunging it into the Meltranian ’s neck. The response was immediate, and the creature lurched its spike-like head back. The intended impact was stopped by one of the Kafaran’s armor plates, but the creature kept jerking its rearward assault until a strike got into a kink in the Kafaran’s armor. Yelping in pain, Tausan was forced to release the creature, who immediately staggered to the ground, the knife still buried deep in its neck. A purple, syrup-like fluid oozed from the wound.
Shawn ceased firing, taking a moment to check on Wilcox , who was lying at his feet. The Marine was unmoving, a large tear in the chest of his suit. And there was blood. A great deal of it. Shawn risked leaning down to check for the man’s pulse. Just as his fingers brushed Wilcox’s throat, the Meltranian leapt to its feet.
Shawn once again began firing his weapon, which was just as useless as before, and quickly depleted his pistol. Tossing the empty weapon aside, he reached for the fallen Marine’s pulse rifle. Heeding Tausan’s warning, Shawn flipped the weapon from energy rounds to conventional projectiles. Firing in long bursts, round after round hitting the advancing creature. Some seemed to penetrate, while others appeared to bounce off. With a limited amount of ammunition, Shawn knew his options were quickly running out. Even if he could open the airlock and get back into the corridor, Wilcox would be killed by the instant vacuum that would form. If he wasn’t already dead. Besides, with his own helmet on the floor and between himself and the Meltranian, it would mean a quick death for Shawn as well.
The Meltranian lurched to within striking distance, raising two of its clawed hands in a move that Shawn knew to be the precursor of a death stroke. As the two mighty arms began their descent, a dark, armored forearm wrapped itself over the Meltranian ’s eyes and jerked the creature’s head back in a move that would have snapped a human’s neck instantly. Shawn watched as Tausan, momentarily recovered from his injury, firmly grasped the knife embedded in the Meltranian’s throat. In one swift, powerful movement, the Kafaran pulled the knife along the valley of two plates in the creature’s skin, and with his multi-jointed wrist, neatly decapitated the Meltranian.
Purple blood sprang from the mortal wound as the Meltranian ’s lifeless body crumpled to the floor, leaving Shawn gaping up from the floor at the Kafaran who still held the Meltranian’s head as if it were a trophy. Holding the
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