“What was that?” one of the searchers said immediately.
She jumped towards the ceiling.
“It’s a distraction – they went high!” she heard the shout over the comm, and knew they’d been spotted. It had been a dim hope to remain fully unobserved, their sensors would have spotted them. But she’d hoped for a few seconds.
“Cenz, you head for the exit, I’ll distract them,” she said.
“Negative,” came his reply.
She realized he hadn’t jumped when she had; he had remained down below.
It made some sense; they had angles that would put the guards at a disadvantage, but that didn’t make their weapons any more effective.
Then she saw him run out at the nearest soldier.
She couldn’t see them aim and fire from her cover, but the shots slashed through the Coral’s suit like it was made of paper. They pierced a cloning tank, leaving clean holes that the liquid inside spilled out through.
Cenz went out of sight, but shots continued to ring.
Pirra was in shock. Had the Coral just sacrificed itself for her? Had it been expecting her to cover it?
Before she could even overcome her shock, she heard a scream through the comm.
“It’s got me!”
“It won’t go down!” another cried. The shots stopped, and she dared to put her sensor over the cover, risking her hand rather than her head.
Cenz’s suit had gaping holes ripped in it, and most of the water had poured out. But through that she could see part of the powered skeleton of the suit still intact.
There was nothing else in it. None of the rocky body she had only ever caught glimpses of.
And It had one of the soldiers pinned to the wall.
As the other two rushed it, she saw something scuttle by below. Chunks of rock held together with thick pink strands, covered in things that looked like wilted flowers. A pale, clearish plastic suit covered most of it, giving just a glimpse of the rock and polyps beneath. It didn’t walk like a human, but crawled with a sprawling gate, like a bizarre spider.
They were flashing patterns, and she was shocked as her system provided an audible translation.
“Run, Pirra!”
She kicked off the ceiling and grabbed a bar on the side of a piece of equipment to swing herself around and give her the momentum to head towards the door. Letting go, she began to sail through the air.
“Behind!” the voice came over the comm signal.
She saw the two begin to turn, their rifles raising. She couldn’t hurt them back, but she didn’t want to die without at least making a last act of defiance. She raised her own sidearm.
Cenz lunged for one of them. The man was caught off-guard, and the Coral smashed into him.
The other soldier tried to snap his aim to Cenz, but when the being became mixed up with his comrade, he began to lift his rifle back towards Pirra.
She couldn’t take him out of the fight, but she could neutralize his weapon.
Her sidearm barked once, twice, three times. The first two shots hit the man’s armor, bouncing off and doing no harm. But the third hit his rifle itself. Gouging into the side, it deflected off the barrel. But the soldier bit out a curse and dropped the weapon, shoving it away as the chamber flashed and it mis-fired.
The man stumbled back, and Pirra hit the floor hard on her shoulder as her path from the ceiling finally brought her to the floor. Pain jolted through her, but she didn’t drop her sidearm and shoved off towards the soldiers.
Cenz was still embroiled with the man, his strange body seeming like it was a match even for the larger human who surely had enhanced muscles.
The man’s hand was grabbing for something sheathed on his side; a glint of light revealed the knife.
Pirra didn’t know if it could harm the rock that consisted of most of Cenz’s body, but if he stabbed one of the polyps, a part of Cenz would die.
Catching a grip bar on a cloning tank with her hand and breaking her momentum with her legs, she swung her sidearm up to the man’s neck.
“Drop it!” she yelled over an open frequency.
The man’s helmet tilted towards her, but he didn’t drop it. No, he pulled it back for a thrust-
She pulled the trigger.
Maybe the man was certain his armor would protect him, but at point-blank range, with the muzzle against the thin armor of his neck, it didn’t.
The round tore through, but couldn’t pierce the other side. Blowback splattered her hand, and the man went still.
Cenz let go of him, and Pirra raised her handgun to the man she’d disarmed. He had been fumbling for his own sidearm, his composure finally broken – but now he froze.
They were only a couple meters apart, and she didn’t think her sidearm could pierce his armor at even this range. But the man clearly did not want to risk it.
The last one had finally stopped struggling, still pinned by Cenz’s suit.
Cenz rose, flashing to her.
“Thank you. Good work.”
Pirra nodded. Hopefully he’d understand that, but he was without his own system.
She waved to the door for him to go.
“Let’s go.”
She’d taken her eyes off the surrendered man, and saw a hint of movement; the man was going for his pistol again.
“No!” she said.
He got it clear of his holster and fired at the same time she pulled the trigger.
Other Terrestrial 