Carpathia IV: Episode 143 - Wave
Swamp
Now safely up a grove of the swamp trees, the team gazed down at their slimy pursuers, wriggling and writhing around the base. Fortunately, the tree that Tamati climed was vast, with branches wide enough to stand on without the need for any sort of support. He was able to lay Joust down on one and make him stable enough to scan, even if Joust's arms and legs dangled over the side. Trex passed the medkit to him and he set about treating the burns.
Tamati: I'll have you in decent condition soon, Commander. It looks like the lightning hit near you rather than on you, which is lucky.
Joust: Well enough to make a tasty snack later.
Tamati: We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Meanwhile, Trex thought it might be useful to get to know the runabout team.
Trex: Pleasure to meet you, Corporal. I'm Lieutenant Trex Fisk. This is Lieutenant Tamati Sione and the one he's working on is Commander Joust.
Shep: I suppose you know me and my team well enough. I'm Corporal Shepseskaf Maseret.
Shep went about introducing the other six members of his team.
Trex: That's seven total. Your ship's file says you're supposed to be a team of eight?
Shep gave a grim nod and glanced at the sea of toothy noodles below.
Shep: Unfortunately, we know that those things can skeletonize a person in under ten seconds.
Trex made a sympathetic grimace.
Trex: Yeesh, I'm sorry to hear that.
Shep: Things weren't quiet for long after we crashed. We just had time to collect ourselves before those things started tearing at the door. When they got in, they ignored us at first and went straight for the engine room. They ate the silmarite that was powering the engines and then started going after the other systems. We got out of there and I initiated the autodistress signal with my communicator. I wasn't sure if anyone had received it.
Trex: The good news is that there was obviously just enough power left to run that distress signal. It was rather faint when we got it. But you say these things eat technology?
Shep: They are interested in some of it. We ran after they started eating the shuttle and they came after us when they got tired of that. We could only slow them down by chucking our gear at them. They seemed to like our communicators the best. They chased us nearly five kilometers into the swamp before we ran out of stuff. That's when they ate Specialist Henderson and we started climbing the trees. It was the only thing left we could try. At the time, we didn't know they couldn't climb.
As Shep finished his tale of escape, Joust sat up and tried to give his wings a wiggle. Indeed, they moved, but more like a rusted car door. Trex pulled out her communicator and one of her weapons and began to tinker.
Tamati: How do you feel?
Joust: Pretty good. Pain's mostly gone, but my wings are still stiff.
Tamati: That will take a little time and the resources on the Shadowdancer.
Joust: Then we should start working out a plan. There's just too many to shoot or even blow them up. We're only about two kilometers from the runabout and the shuttle. You said you ran five? How did you get back this far?
Shep: It's been slow going, but we've been making our way through the treetops. When we heard you scream from the treetop, we threw one of our disruptor pistols at them and ran here on the ground. They slithered after it to eat it.
Tamati: They'll eat anything, won't they?
Shep: They favor just about anything with an energy signature, some more than others. Squishy people come second.
Joust: That leaves us with one key problem. The closer we get to the shuttle, the more likely they'll know there's another giant snack nearby and they'll go straight after that. We might not be able to contact Nalma before they notice.
In Trex's direction, they all heard a rather loud click noise. Turning to see what she was up to, they found that Trex had frankensteined some sort of mess together between her communicator and her weapon.
Joust: Trex, what are you doing?
Trex held aloft her creation so that they could all see it clearly.
Trex: Cooking dinner!
Trex gazed upon the befuddled faces staring back at her and started explaining.
Trex: Okay, I see you don't quite get it. Fair enough. First, I disabled the recoil inhibitor on the disruptor so that every shot will pack a nice punch. When it's activated, I've set it to keep firing as long as there is no humanoid presence within its line of sight. That's where the communicator comes in. it helps modulate the firing rate and, as you said, the creatures seem to like them, it will provide a nice, bouncy, tasty meal that they're going to have a hard time catching.
Dead silence, for several seconds, before someone finally spoke up.
Joust: Trex, that is...
Tamati: Completely batshit?
Joust gave Tamati a smirk and a side-eye.
Joust: I was going to say weirdly brilliant, but that... works.
Trex: I should make another in case we need it. Obviously we need to save at least one communicator for, you know, communicating.
Joust: I'll give you mine. Tamati, you keep yours. While Trex is working on that, we'll need to plan our escape. Is everyone ready?
Joust glanced at each, and they gave him a nod in return, until he got to Shep, who kept his eyes fixed to the ground, looking like he was about to hyperventilate.
Joust: Are you okay, Corporal?
Shep took one more deep breath before he finally looked away from the ground.
Shep: I'll be okay, Commander. Just say the word and I'll be with you all.
Joust responded with a grim nod and a warning.
Joust: Be sure you keep up, because we're only going to get one chance at this.
Trex: Ready, Commander! After doing the first, the second was a cinch.
Joust: Alright, Trex. When I give the word, throw it. Are you ready?
Trex climbed down a few branches to a spot where she had a clear throw outside of the tree.
Trex: Ready!
Joust: Throw it!
Trex threw the makeshift device as far as she could outside of the tree. Before it even hit the ground, it started it's jumping jack hijinks. The hungry critters on the ground immediately followed, trying to catch it.
Joust: Let's go!
The group scrambled down the tree and ran as fast as they could through the swamp.
Crash site, Nimbus
The job done in the crashed runabout, Minnie and her team now used the Nimbus's systems to analyze their findings while Nalma stood sentry outside. Several hours had already passed since Joust left and he had to give yet another update of nothing to Captain Valro.
Nalma: Unfortunately, Captain, nothing yet. When the next window opens, I think we should take the shuttle and go looking for them. One moment. I have something coming in.
Nalma tapped his communicator once, hoping the new message was from Joust. It was, but only bits came through.
Joust: ...shuttle... coming... ready...
What little he heard was frantic and panicked and he knew he had to act right away. For all the good it would do with the spotty communication, he relayed a message back.
Nalma: Prepping the shuttle, Commander!
Nalma snapped his communicator closed and ran into the shuttle.
Nalma: Teek, get her started!
Teek: Yes, Lieutenant!
Minnie poked her head out from behind her computer.
Minnie: Commander Joust?
Nalma: I only caught a bit of his message, but there was definitely urgency in it.
Minnie: We might have to run before we finish safety sequences then. I'll monitor the engines. Quenya, go with Nalma in case Commander Joust needs more help.
Quenya: Yes, Chief!
Quenya darted out of the shuttle to join Nalma, who was already peering into the distance.
Nalma: I see them. They're running hard.
Nalma pointed and Quenya followed his finger. Indeed, they were in a full sprint as though they were in the most disorganized 100m dash ever staged.
Nalma: Let's meet them halfway. They might need help.
Quenya nodded and they both dashed toward Joust and the rest. It wasn't long, however, before Quenya noticed something odd. Joust gesticulated wildly as he ran, like he was pushing them away.
Quenya: Lieutenant, I don't think Joust wants us to come to him!
It was not hard to see why. Now coming into view was a twisting, writhing, living wave following behind. Nalma, perhaps, couldn't see as clearly, but Quenya could discern hundreds, perhaps thousands, of snake-like creatures in the wave.
Nalma: You're definitely right about that! Let's go!
Nalma and Quenya turned and bolted back to the shuttle. Nalma pulled out his communicator and did his best to talk while leaping over branches, rocks and swampy puddles on the ground.
Nalma: Teek, take off as soon as I seal the shuttle door!
Teek: I'll be ready, Lieutenant!
Quenya reached the shuttle door first and jumped inside, followed by Nalma. After, Quenya poked her head out to see how the others were doing. It didn't take long for her to ascertain that Joust and the others weren't going to make it to the shuttle before the wormy wave caught up to them. Without thinking, she jumped out of the shuttle and ran several steps away before skidding to a halt.
Nalma: Cadet, get back in here!
Quenya didn't hear. Something else consumed her mind, as she planted her feet onto the ground and swirled her arms around her body. Nalma was just about to shout at her again, but stopped, awed by the masses of water as they were sucked out of the deep pools to either side of the shuttle and gathered around Quenya. When she gathered enough, she thrust her hands out in front of her, just away from the others fleeing toward her. The wall of water she gathered circled around them and slammed into the leech wave behind them. The creatures blasted backward, flying in every sort of direction.
It bought enough time for the team to outrun the creatures. Quenya staggered and, after a few heaves, dropped to the ground. Nalma erased all thoughts of what he just saw from his mind. There was only one thought worth thinking now. Get Quenya, and that he did. He dashed out, scooped her up into his arms, and brought her back inside again, just before Joust and the rest scrambled inside.
Nalma: Seal the door!
Trex hit door control and it slid shut. Teek, waiting for this as he was, lifted the shuttle from the ground the instant the seal light turned green.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
Falke2009
