Hellion excitedly flew into the ship’s wreckage. The little princess, Mevare, had surprised him time and time again. It was like, despite whatever crap was thrown, or how hard beat she got, that little thing kept getting back up. He was drawn to her in the Undercity, such a small girl in such a dangerous place and somehow commanding a Sentinel of all things? Not to mention how fervently her little retinue fought on her behalf. Yet when Hellion saw the little princess in front of those Legionnaires, something old and buried stirred inside of him. A hope. A dream. A little idea for a better world in the shape of a small, defenceless, girl that had too much on her shoulders. Since then he had decided to follow the little princess, hoping to see some more entertaining sights, but she just kept getting better even as her situation got worse and worse.
Back into the ship, Hellion went to the pile of rubble that had been partially organized. He had seen something he wanted, something that he didn't want anyone else to notice; especially that Sentinel. He saw a Sentinel’s energy blade hilt. A little trinket Sentinels tuck away in safe places in case they lose their primary weapons, a small ignitable blade of pure chaotic plasma held together by a super-powerful magnetic field contained within a miniature atmospheric shield to keep the weapon in a mostly coherent shape. Hellion had seen the prize fall during the chaos, the item would be invaluable to anyone who would use it and its power source would be enough to boost a small ship’s reactor for a full day if it was drained fully.
Rummaging through the debris and finding the prize was easy enough for Hellion, but as he emerged from the pile of trash the little princess had entered the ship. Hanging her head low and lost in thought, she entered her cabin. Yet the princess wasnt what Hellion was cautious of, but the Sentinel that shadowed her. After the small girl had entered her cabin, the Sentinel stood there watching into the cabin for a long time. Its head eventually turned, staring directly at Hellion despite his hiding attempts. Giving up, Hellion stood up out of the rubble and walked towards the Sentinel. “You caught me, big guy. I'm a thief born and bred after all.” he said, pulling out the hilt and showing it honestly.
The Sentinel stared down at Hellion, the light in the main deck flickering steadily dimmer as the makeshift battery slowly died. Yet the Sentinel didn't do or say anything. Simply turning back to look at the sitting girl in the dark room behind it. Hellion stared in with the Sentinel, the little princess was sat completely still like she fell asleep sitting up. Something about it made Hellion uneasy, for some reason the air slowly building around her reminded him of just before she had her seizure. The idea of her getting hurt again made Hellion uncomfortable, it was a feeling he had rarely had harboured towards others. Yet he had his own tasks to do, and the Sentinel didn't seem like it would steal away Hellion’s scavenged prize. Patting the large golden figure on the arm, Hellion asked, “Watch her for me, alright? Who knows what she’ll think in that pretty little head of hers.”
The Sentinel ignored him and continued to watch its mistress.
Before Hellion set out, wanting to track and find the creature who had certainly lived nearby, he ducked his head into the access hatch leading to the lower deck and bridge. “The princess is acting weird again, Seri! I’m leaving!” Hellion called out. As he turned and ran down the slope he heard an echoing, “Wait! Hellion!?” but he was already gone.
Darting out of the ship and heading into the dark reminded Hellion a bit of the Undercity. The towering trees, several meters thick at their base, reminded him of the towering metal support struts sometimes found in the deeper metal caves. Yet the air here felt clean and crisp despite the smell of burn on the wind. Here, despite the dark, Hellion could put his talents as a scout to use.
It took barely any time at all to find the tracks Hellion had spotted before. A set of large hoof-like prints dug deep into the ground. The long gait between steps, a meter or two between the shortest steps, indicated to the sheer size of the creature. Or at least its long legs. Hellion had been on many campaigns before, invaded, defended, or explored so many alien worlds he lost count. Normally a circular hoof might indicate a passive, or at least herbivore, type animal. Yet something was strange about these tracks. Every few steps two claw-like indents would peirce into the ground near one of the hoofprints, a claw scratch would be against a tree, or the occasional violent digging into the dirt. It wasn't unheard of for aliens to adopt strange patterns, but this kind of violent meandering around the crash site confused Hellion. A herbivore, especially one with this type of footprint and such an ability to traverse the land quickly, would likely be a migratory thing to keep away from predators. Yet its tracks seemed to dot the landscape like it was circling the crash site many days before they had even arrived, if not longer. The evidence, as confusing as it was, put him on edge and the size of the creature could only mean danger.
Following the freshest marks led Hellion towards where the ship’s wreck pointed, Hellion decided to mark that as north. Heading in that direction led him back to the stream he had found closeby. While there were numerous indications of an incredible quantity of fauna near the stream, almost all of them had fled after the crash. The only thing that remained was the tracks of this tall, mysterious, beast that refused to leave their site alone.
Suddenly, a crackling echo like thunder rolled in from faraway coming ship’s north. Hellion halted immediately, unsure exactly what such a sound could be. An explosion, a tumbling boulder, or some new beast? Yet the sound reached him slowly and quietly, whatever it was had to be extremely far away. Yet the sudden noise put Hellion on edge. Beasts and critters tend to be easily spooked, a sound like that could easily put Hellion’s mystery predator into a frenzy. So he needed to move fast.
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Hellion wanted to at least spot the creature to know what they were dealing with before he attempted to shoo it away from the crash site. Hellion didn't like to boast, but his eyesight was almost unaffected in these dark woods. The darkness reminded him of his old home planet and his many years in the Undercity caves. “This almost reminds me of when…” Hellion began, but snapped his focus back to attention, his mind was drifting towards old thoughts he’d rather forget.
The mysterious tracks led further north, past the stream and into what felt like a deepening forest. There was a slight slope at all times heading this make-shift north. It was barely noticeable to a normal person, but Hellion’s keen senses could feel the ground descending as he followed the tracks further and further into the forest. If the information Ouapi had tried to give them was accurate, these deep forests were a place the natives avoided like a plague. So that could only mean going deeper into them would become more dangerous, something like this mystery beast that so brazenly trounced through and into the forest would be something intimidating indeed.
Yet as Hellion delved further into the trees, he felt his instincts prickling. His instincts were telling him he wasn't alone, that something watched in the darkness. Few things could prickle Hellion like this, he was no stranger to being alone in a pitch black emptiness, but there was something more about these forests. Something about the building-sized trunks leading up into an inky black above, it reminded Hellion of being deep underwater on a dark night.
Hellion ignored the feeling of unease that was growing, the tracks he followed were closing in quickly. The evidence of his quarry was growing more frequent, it had shown signs of scraping against the thick trees and increasing amounts of digging and posturing in the ground. Hellion didn't stop to think why it was acting so rashly and feverishly.
Hellion came across a new sight, a fallen tree. The collapsed giant completely blocked his way like it was a defensive wall. Its length in either direction disappeared fully into the darkness, yet the trail of the beast Hellion tracked led directly over the obstacle. With no other choice, as he was too far to give up the chase now, Hellion began climbing the fallen mega-flora. Reaching the top was no real issue, the grooves and kinks in the oversized bark were wide as his arm and several centimeters deep. Upon making it to the top Hellion spotted his prey, but not in any state he could have expected to find it.
A small pond was carved out on the other side of the floral wall. A massive boulder sat at the edge of the pond. A short valley of sorts. In the middle of this small oasis was a sight of carnage and gore. Pieces of beast and puddles of blood coated every millimeter around the pond like a giant painter had spilt onto his subject. The pond was colored red with pieces of large haunch or scraps of flesh floating on the surface. At the base of the large boulder was the head of what Hellion thought was the beast he had tracked. A sort of reptilian thing, an elongated snout like that of a bovine creature yet colored with black scales, and sprouting from its head were a pair of intimidating horns that spiraled into twisting spikes and lethal natural weapons.
Something had ravaged the creature Hellion thought would so certainly be their greatest danger. Additionally, whatever had done this didn't even care to eat the corpse, but instead spread its slain prey across this small oasis in some sick display of power. Something else, something entirely unknown to Hellion, was out here and was more dangerous than he could have initially imagined. Suddenly, Hellion realized how foolish his arrogance and curiosity had been. He was far from the shipwreck, so far he doubted he could escape something capable of such carnage. He needed to leave now before this new threat reared its head.
Just as Hellion had made the decision to retreat back to the ship, the boulder rumbled. The massive rock, one that was easily of a similar size to the ship they had arrived in this hellhole in. This massive once-rock began to slowly stir. An arm, a leg, a body, and a form so naturally camouflaged that Hellion’s instincts hadn't even attempted to identify it as anything besides what it wanted to be seen as. This massive monstrosity sat up fully revealing itself. A humanoid form, if it could be called that at such sizes; two large hind legs, two forward arms that stretched as long as the creature’s whole body, a pair of smaller arms unweaved out of its back, and an elongated snout with three sets of glaring eyes. This creature stared at Hellion, reaching a hand down to the head of its kill. It maintained eye contact with Hellion while it casually used the beast’s horns to pick at something in its teeth. Hellion knew this sort of creature could kill him in a single moment, and if it wanted him dead he would have been so long ago. It would be an impossible escape, but Hellion turned and ran.
Fleeing back the way Hellion had come, down the massive tree and up the slight incline. Hellion had no choice but to run. Something like this would be a threat to the ship regardless of how much power it had left. It might be amused or curious with him now, but he needed to return and warn the others.
Hellion heard a sound like thunder cracking once again from behind him. Incredibly loud and close. A cacophony of clattering and hooting coming from directly behind. Hellion spared only a glance behind him as he vaulted over an exposed rock. Behind him, leaping from tree to tree, was the monster. It followed him with complete silence as it flew between the trees, but when Hellion met its gaze it screamed a cry that could bleed ears. Hellion didn't need his sense of hearing anyway, and his experience made him ignore whatever pain came with the bellowing cry, not halting for even a moment in his run.
Suddenly, as Hellion found the stream back to the ship’s wreck, a boulder taller than he was impacted less than a meter to his right. Another glance showed the massive monster hoisting rocks in two of its four arms. Hellion could have been imagining things, but he swore the beast’s face grinned in some sick pleasure as Hellion undoubtably looked at it with fear and doom filling his soul.
Ignoring the barrage, Hellion continued to sprint as fast as his legs could carry him. The monster was toying with him, not unlike it probably did with the beast who was torn into shreds. If this thing wanted him dead he would simply die, so Hellion needed to use its cruel arrogance to his advantage. The ship had little to no power left, but it would be able to protect them for a time.
Just as another rock impacted next to Hellion, nearly grazing his head as it soared ahead of him, the wreckage came into view. Another glance back at the monster showed it pause. It was taken aback by the wreckage, or curious, whatever the reason why it stopped to stare Hellion didn't care; this was his chance to escape. Hoping the shields would activate automatically, and praying that no other fools were outside the ship like he was, Hellion climbed the short cliff leading up to the hole in the ship’s hull that was their doorway.
Just as Hellion began climbing the cliff he saw the monster regain its senses. It rushed with a new intent, and Hellion was its target. Dropping the rocks it held the monster darted with incredible speed directly towards him. The creature, however, was distracted for too long. Just as the monster would have snatched Hellion up from the ground, Hellion barely entered the ship, falling forward onto the main deck.