Hunting

Dustin adjusted the strap holding his rifle across his back and double checked that the emergency flare pistol was still securely strapped to his hip. The whole situation seemed silly in the **** - grav-chute jumping out of a shuttle into the middle of a reserve and then proceeding to hunt a predatory bird weighing several tonnes, but that was what the mission called for. Beside him, Yril’k flexed her muscles; the Vex’ess warrior had opted to forgo any weapons besides her own in-built ones on this expedition. Given that Dustin had seen her punch those bladed arms of hers cleanly through an armoured training dummy, he could hardly object.

The third member of their group slotted their weapon - a strange, stocky cross between a shotgun and a nightstick - neatly into it’s holster and nodded both heads. “All set.” The voice came from the head on the left; the right hadn’t spoken yet. His comms officer had been clear on that part - the Uxu would only use their right mouth to talk with those they deemed worthy, hence this whole hunting business. Remembering the discussion he’d had with Emely and Meli the day after the barbecue date proceeded to push his thoughts back to a certain Feliax getting grass stains on the back of her dress - as well as her knees and palms - after he’d done his best to oblige her request; he shifted his weight to one side and used double checking the clips of his grav harness as an excuse to adjust himself.

As he finished, the shuttle door slid open with a hiss. The wind at this altitude whipped past, icy cold and with a slight dampness due to nearby clouds. “All clear for fifteen hundred feet down to the plains, Dusty.” Rye’s voice came through clearly on his communicator. “Jump when you’re ready, and good hunting.” Swallowing his concerns, he stepped forward. If they were to win the Uxu’s trust - and thus some recruits from the martially minded species for Sola’s gunnery teams, he needed to lead this mission successfully. With a last check on the harness clips, he stepped out of the door onto open air.

The wind whistled in past his ears as he fell, dropping like a stone; the ground rushing up towards him was terrifyingly distracting, but he did his best to focus on the gauge on his wrist. Back in the time before gravity control was a thing, humans had been jumping like this out of primitive flying machines with only a piece of canvas to stop them turning into a large splat on the landscape. Now however, you had the far more elegant grav-chute - albeit, a device that had the flaw that you needed to be far enough away from any craft with antigrav engines before activating it. As he thought that, the light on his gauge blinked green and he thumbed the controls.

His spread-eagled descent slowed gently, and he found himself pivoting upright as the chute opened, a ring of controlled gravity adjusting his fall into a smooth drop down until with barely a bump his feet touched the ground and he hit the button to deactivate the device once more. A moment later, Yril’k dropped in beside him, followed by Nux, their hunting companion. While the others got their bearings Dustin pulled a folded bag from one trouser pocket, opened it, and began the process of collapsing and storing the harness of his chute.

With the device stowed, he took a moment to observe their surroundings. They were in the great plains - basically nothing but dry scrub and spindly trees as far as the eye could see, barring a few mountains in the distance. Their prey lurked out there somewhere - a giant bird that filled roughly the same role in the ecosystem as lions did back on Earth. Which meant… He pulled the map and compass from another pocket and double checked his bearings against the only real landmarks - a massive lone mountain far to the North, and the main range of them to the East. “We go this way” he said after a moment, checking that the others were ready before setting off across the plain.

The hike was hot, dusty and long, and Dustin was glad of the pressurized water containers they had with them. The bottles weighed a lot, but considering they compressed ten litres of water down to a bottle only marginally larger than his forearm while allowing it to still be drunk from without a hydro-jet giving you unexpected tonsil surgery he would take the weight. And in any case, as he gulped down the clear liquid the weight reduced any way. The sun baked down, but he led on; the Uxu respected clear leadership and this was not the time for second guessing himself.

Fortunately, his map-reading skills paid off. Ahead of them, more or less exactly where he had expected to see it the heat of the plains gave way to the rising shimmer of water evaporating. As soon as he was sure it wasn’t a mirage, he called a halt. “Alright. The river is up ahead. That means our targets should be around - they find other animals coming to the water to drink make easy hunting grounds. However, they’re not the only things we have to watch out for. Even the herbivores could be dangerous if a herd decides we’re in the way. So we go carefully and slowly until we can get eyes on the local wildlife.” The others nodded, following his lead as they crept forward.

Dustin paused again in the shade of one of the spindle trees. Handing his pack and gun to Yril’k, he shimmied up into the high branches; the bark was rough under his fingers and made for good handholds as he climbed, before reaching a vantage point from which he could survey the banks up ahead. A single glance told him all he needed, and he descended far more rapidly than he’d gone up. Dropping the last few feet to the ground, he took his gear back and then beckoned his companions into action. “There’s one of them moving in to hunt a lizard herd. When it breaks cover, it should drive the herd safely away from us and give us a good shot if we’re quick.”

The area near the river had lusher grass - or at least, grass-like plants - than the rest of the plains, which covered their approach as they crouch-ran towards the spot he’d picked out. On arrival, Dustin dropped down and unslung his gun. Speaking softly, he pointed to either side of him. “Yril’k, you head out towards the plains. Nox, towards the river. These things cry out when they start their attack - that’s our signal. One shot each, then more if it’s moving towards you. If it heads into the plains, hold fire so that Yril’k doesn’t get hit.” Three heads nodded, and the group spread out.

When the bird emerged from the brush, a screeching cry sending the younger and fitter of the herbivorous lizards scattering, Dustin marvelled at it’s form for a moment through the scope of his gun. It stood at a good fifteen or twenty feet tall; plumage a sparkling mix of greens and a glittering brown that had blended it surprisingly well against the grass and reeds that surrounded it. Beyond that, it largely reminded Dustin of a pigeon in appearance - if a pigeon had also had the legs of an ostrich and a beak tipped with a pair of curving fangs. Sighting quickly on the less-feathered part of it’s head and remembering Meli’s words - that beak was like armour, and the feathers further down like a bullet proof vest - Dustin fired.

The retort of his rifle was echoed by a second to his left, down by the river. Red blossomed on the creature’s side, but the wounds seemed superficial, and it screamed again. Ignoring it’s prey for now, the beast turned and began to bolt towards Dustin’s hiding place. Sighting quickly, his gun spat fire once more and the creature turned. This time, it was heading away from the river - he hoped Nox remembered about holding fire and that he was doing the right thing as the beast barrelled down on the location where his security chief was hidden.

His concerns were unfounded; no further gunfire came forth - and suddenly a blur exploded out of the scrub at the creature’s feet. Yril’k’s form swarmed up the leg of the beast, one hand catching just below it’s flightless wing to turn her ascent into a pivot around and onto the bird’s back. Through the scope of his gun he watched as the animal shifted, clearly about to turn to try and throw the woman off - and the Vex’ess warrior pounced. It was a full six limbed spring from the beast’s back to it’s neck, bladed arms extending before plunging down with a brutal efficiency. The bird threw it’s head back to try and scream once more - but only blood came out as the beast stumbled. One step, two - and then it slumped forward, Yril’k flipping nimbly from it’s back as it crashed to the ground. Dustin rose up from his concealment and glanced over to where Nox was stood, both mouths open. Then, turning to the human ambassador the right head spoke. “We have seen enough, hunter from Earth. Your mission will have our people’s blessing to recruit from our host.”