Lex turns a corner and runs smack into the guard whose weapon Scorvo commandeered.
“Hey!” the guard yells, spying Scar behind her.
The angry guard reaches for the baton on his belt. He never gets a chance to use it. Scorvo wraps a muscular arm around the guard’s neck and squeezes. The man’s eyes bulge in his face as he struggles with his invisible assailant. Seconds into the struggle, a pair of sharp blades exit the guard’s chest. Blood erupts from between his lips and he sputters. Scorvo retracts his secondary blades and allows the guard to fall heavily to the floor. Kneeling beside the guard, Scorvo drops his cloak.
Lex watches in awe and disgust as Scorvo uses his dissolving solution to make the guard all but disappear. Scar observes the expression on Lex’s face with genuine concern.
“Are you okay…Lex?”
“I’m fine. I’ve never seen a person liquefied before. That’s all.”
“Let’s hope you don’t have to see any more,” Scorvo hisses. “Let’s move.”
The sound of numerous pairs of feet, running down the hall, draws Lex’s undivided attention. She backs up a step, anxiety etched on her face. Scar places a hand at the small of Lex's back, sensing her growing fear.
“Those are marines. I know the sound that boots make on metal. They told everyone it was a fire drill to get them out of the building. They’re coming for us.”
“Damn!” Scorvo yells, surprising both Lex and Scar.
The yautja warrior opens and closes his mandibles in obvious embarrassment.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Lex says with a chuckle. “Cause right now…We’re pretty screwed. There’s at least five or six marines headed our direction.”
Scorvo reactivates his cloak.
“I like those odds.”
“What?”
The first marine to round the corner loses half of his face as Scorvo fires on him with his shoulder cannon. The man’s body spins away, and careens off of a wall, before crumbling in a heap. Yells go up and the remaining four marines charge without concern for their wellbeing.
Scar unloads on them with the weapon Scorvo stole from the fallen guard. Two go down before they even know what hit them. A third marine gets off a volley of shots. One shot catches Scar in the right shoulder. Scar roars and guns the man down. Green blood seeps from his wound and he roars a second time—much louder. The final marine backs away, while raising his weapon to fire. Scorvo relieves the marine of his head with a powerful swing of his wrist blades. The marine’s head rolls several feet and then bumps into the leg of a meal cart. The dead man’s mouth gaps open in a final agonized scream.
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“Oh my. Seriously, Scorvo?!” Lex cries.
The sound of more boots.
“Elevator! Come on!” Lex screeches.
The trio take off running—cloaked Scorvo in the lead. A blast erupts near Lex, throwing her to the ground. She is temporarily stunned, but mostly unharmed—suffering only a small cut on her right cheek. Scar helps her up with one hand while aiming down the hall with the other. He prepares to activate the red button. Two can play at this game. And it is a game the yautja play very well.
Launching a grenade down the hall, Scar manages to wipe out four marines who were converging on their position. Then, he opens fire with the automatic weapon. The screams of the fallen marines fill the corridor. Lex struggles to hear over the noise, cupping her ears with both hands.
When Scar is sure that no marines are left standing, he crosses to Lex. Picking her up and throwing her over one shoulder, he offers Lex a quick apology.
“We can move faster if I do not have to worry about you,” Scar says.
“Uh. Okay,” Lex replies, feeling more than a little exposed.
Running side by side, Scorvo and Scar head for the elevators. Scorvo presses the call button for the elevator and deactivates his cloak. Lex averts her gaze.
“I really wish you wouldn’t keep doing that!” she whines.
Scorvo peers at Scar before offering him a tiny shrug. The elevator slowly descends. When the doors open, there is no one inside. Most of the employees will be outside being accounted for. Good. Scar enters the elevator first, followed by Scorvo.
“Can you put me down now?” Lex questions.
“Not until I am sure we are safe,” Scar says.
Lex is prepared to protest when she notices the Scar on the yautja hunter’s left shoulder. A scar resembling the mark of his clan—just as Scorvo had said.
“Oh wow! Maybe you were born for something special,” Lex whispers.
Scar hears what Lex mutters, but is too preoccupied to pay much attention or respond. The elevator arrives with a loud ding. The doors open and a throng of frustrated people are milling about a few feet away. Thankfully, most of their backs are turned. The others are too deep in conversation to notice the elevator opening.
The yautja warriors allow the doors to slide closed again. However, after a moment of reconsideration, Scar and Scorvo turn to each other with matching grins. Who are the humans going to tell about seeing a pair of yautja warriors, if the entire building is reduced to cinders—along with the humans in it?
The doors open once more. Scar and Scorvo charge out of the elevator and into the midst of the milling throng of humans.
-
-
Entering the parking lot, Scar slows his run to a fast sprint. Scorvo keeps pace, his dreadlocks trailing behind him like a comet’s coma. It won’t be long before the detonation. Lex bounces on Scar’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She uses one hand to maintain a safe perch, while using her other hand to hold down her skirt. It is still some distance to Scorvo’s ship.
They reach the ship with barely moments to spare. Scar lowers Lex to the ground with an apologetic grin.
“I am sorry. I just needed to be sure this time.”
Scorvo rolls his eyes in irritation, demonstrating yet another human habit he has picked up from Lex.
“Inside. Now.”
The trio hurry inside and Scorvo makes haste to the front of the ship. Scar glances around, taking in all of the familiar symbols and yautjian décor.
“It’s like being home again,” Scar mutters breathily.
A low hum resonates throughout the ship and Scar grips Lex’s elbow. He stares down into her face with a look which is both gratefulness and desire.
“Thank you…For coming—”
Scorvo’s wrist device explodes from deep within the scientific building. The small yautja vessel is already in flight when the shockwave reaches where the ship had previously rested. Cars and vans are thrown about like Tonka Toys before exploding along with whatever they happen to slam against. Anything alive in a two mile radius…Isn’t alive anymore.