The jungle was alive and boisterous as I made my way through. There was moisture in the air my damaged receptors couldn’t properly analyze, but I monitored my joints closely. Trees twisted around, joining to a canopy high above. The ground was slick and covered in roots. Birdie followed close, straying only to chase small animals to eat. I registered a smaller theropod following closely, but keeping its distance. I tagged it but otherwise let it observe.
The jungle was an overgrown cluster of thick trees, with natural pathways carved through the foliage by the inhabitants of this ecosystem.
I was a kilometer away from the first pod when I registered something else, this time above me. I extended an arm to birdie and held my hand out, to which it reached out to nibble only to find the metal unappetizing.
“Wait here.” I kept my volume low as I climbed the nearest tree, digging into the bark with my digits. As I climbed I noted the moving object hovering in a circle a click above me. I carefully balanced myself on a branch and breached the canopy to see a craft lowering down to my position. It was shaped like a curved hexagonal teardrop. As it lowered, it kept the rounder end facing me. I dropped from the canopy just as I pulled the handgun from the case with one hand, unsheathing the Wave Blade with the other, seeking cover in a cluster of bushes. The craft hovered just above the canopy, shaking the foliage as multiple insectoids dropped from the shuttle. Reverse jointed legs caught themselves on the branches and trunks of the trees as Birdie and I dove for shelter. They carried sleek gray armor around their chests and larger set of arms, as well as around their legs. Oval helmets covered their faces, and those who carried what I scanned to be firearms held other devices that they scanned their environment with.
One in particular turned towards me. It clicked its mandibles and waved its antennae as its comrades turned together, freezing.
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I pointed the handgun, a reticle appearing in my sight. I took aim, waiting for them to make the first move.
It never came. Instead, they snapped their heads around them as the foliage shook. A hiss rang out, guttural and deep. Weapons were pointed to one direction as a large feathered shape rose, an elongated neck bending for the creature to see the insects. It stood seven meters tall, covered in dense quills and held wicked claws outstretched, fifty centimeters by my scanners. A threat display.
A resounding cry sounded from the creature as it took a step towards them, a hollow sounding shriek. It waddled forward, surprisingly lithe as two of the insects opened fire. Bright bursts of energy flared from their weapons, similar to my own, yet different. These were bursts of energy instead of beams, and they scorched the feathery coating of the large theropod. It charged directly to the two and swung its claws directly as their arms. The claws did not cut, but rather hooked around their arms and into the handles of their weapons, disarming them as it trampled over their bodies. My sensors caught the crunch of their exoskeletons as the creature stamped its foot down, turning towards the others. Smoke rose from its singed fur, and I noted charred flesh.
It whacked away attacking insects as it charged round an area, circling a small mound. I analyzed it, using thermal vision to find the mound warm, with round hot spots. Eggs.
It was defending a nest.
Motion sensors pinged as I turned my sensors back to the theropod as it finished stamping against the dead squadron of insects. The creature leaned down to sniff at the mound, croaking in distress.
It was then that Birdie snuck next to me, crouched low. It dropped something down to the ground, wet and hollow.
A broken egg.
My head swiveled to look at Birdie as my motion sensors picked up something massive behind me.
“Oh no.”