[h2][center][img]http://i.imgur.com/v3izJII.png[/img][/center][/h2] (Thanks to NMS for the banner!) [u][b]X23[/b][/u] The scorched plain was marked with an amber hue that gave the view before him a visage of hovering on the cusp of perpetual sunset. Long grass-like flora swayed in the breeze, their stems marked with lilac rings that caught the light in such a way as to make it seem as if the flowers had not succumbed to the lengthy drought. Yet they had, only the hardy straw-like plants survived beneath that amber sky, fed by the light of a dying star, a star which was hell bent on taking the planet and all life upon it with it into darkness. But not before briefly housing an abomination in every sense of the word. Sakakt it was named, the thing which eats in the old tongue. The last of its kind, by his reckoning, but it had to end here. If left alone Sakakt showed a resilience and an ability to procreate in even the most unsuitable of locations, like it had found itself on this dry, gasping planet. That was why he had come, or been sent some might say. There was a creature on this planet that posed an unnatural and extra-terrestrial threat to what meagre life remained here, and if by some chance it or any of its spawn found itself transported to a livelier planet? Well, it would wipe out all that life, replacing it with its own malformed progeny. It was in destroying the last great infestation that his predecessor had lost her life, and vacated the position of Hunter. Now he adopted the mantle Hunter, and he had a Sakakt to hunt. The Hunter abandoned the precipice on which he surveyed the vast emptiness around him. It had only taken him a few moments to spot what he was looking for, and spending any additional time to take in the breath-taking beauty of the view would have been a dereliction of duty. Below him, and perhaps half a mile north east, there was a small (from that distance) furrow in the grass. The lilac coloured tips had not waved in the breeze, but been crushed to the ground by something of size and weight. It could only be one thing that made that indent, a creature much larger than any that naturally made their home here on X23, the humble designation of a planet which had been the birthplace of a great empire almost a million years before. The metallic carapace which surrounded him reacted to his movements, and with a burst of speed he first ran and then leapt, carrying himself high into the open air. It took him just four short seconds to fall to the ground below, hydraulics compensating with a tell-tale sound that immediately followed the steely thump of metal coming to a sudden stop. His helmeted head shot up and the HUD displayed information, most of it useless, which he chose to disregard as he once again pushed off the ground in that forceful fashion which saw him hit ridiculous speeds in only a few strides. It was these speeds, mastered by the technology of the Galactic Republic, which would carry the armoured Hunter towards his quarry. He slowed at six hundred meters, stopped at five hundred, his bulky form none-the-less finding cover within the waving grasses as he began to stalk closer to the place where the creature lay. Briefly he engaged his interface and suddenly the dark blue and black figure he made blurred into its surroundings. He had activated some form of optical camouflage, for what good it would do. The creature he sought used other senses more prominently than its eyes, hopefully his armour would serve in fooling the rest. Beneath his armour, the grey face of Hunter had creased into something akin to a stern frown, his large eyes were fixed firmly forward and he engaged his own senses as best he could. Hearing, especially, amplified by the suit to pick up even the slightest of disturbances. Unfortunately the rushing of the wind seemed adverse to his purpose, blanketing out the quieter sounds he expected to hear should the Sakakt become aware of his presence. Slowly, ever so slowly, he reached for the weapon holstered by magnetic locks on his back. It was a bulky looking thing, a rectangular object with handles that made it not look that dissimilar from a cumbersome rifle. Unfortunately as it left its place on its back it became far more visible, its own camouflage technology insufficient to conceal it when not contained on the mag-holster. It was an unfortunate consequence of carrying more powerful ordinance on mission. Still, Hunter was glad of it, clutched between his two gauntleted hands. It fired ballistic ammunition and explosive ordinance, and lots of it. An electric weapon, it could put exactly six hundred rounds down-range within two seconds if the user so desired, and he did. No matter that the magazine would be expended in that exact same time frame, and that he only carried two spares. Saturation of fire was key in bringing down a Sakakt, for reasons that would soon become apparent. First though he had to reach it without alerting it to his presence. Hunter crept ever forward, his senses burning with a slight unease. It was not like him to second guess himself, but he found himself wondering if a creature as cunning as the Sakakt could have made such a basic mistake in attempting to hide itself. Of course, it was not necessarily aware of the advantages he had in spotting the indent it had created, but even a primitive could have identified its location if it happened upon the area it lay. Hunter was about as far from a primitive as one could stray, while still resorting to slaughter in order to resolve problems. So why was he so uneasy? It was simple, the Sakakt was capable of a low cunning, and it might very well be employing it. As was often the case with this iteration of Hunter, his almost supernatural intuition was dead on the money. Perhaps it was why he was the longest serving in almost nine Earth decades. The wind dropped, and in that moment the sound of a careful, yet deliberate, footfall rang in his ears. The grass had been crushed underfoot by a great weight, and it was close, oh so close. He span, standing suddenly, abandoning stealth in favour of being able to hit his target, his camoflague melting away due to the quickness of the movement. It seemed as if he grew out of the undergrowth, rifle in hand, swinging around to meet that sound. The creature knew the game was up, it leapt, its gruesome form suddenly meeting the light of day. Bowed back sprouting tendril like appendages that whipped back and forth, sickly green flesh marked by decay, its hound-like face wrought back in a vicious snarl. Two of its six legs were outstretched, reaching for him, claws ready to tear him asunder. He fired, rounds saturating the air. Hundreds in milliseconds, so much fire, plunging into tough hide, tearing apart those lashing tentacles, brutalising the creature’s exposed chest. It fell upon him, and their collision was catastrophic. They tumbled and flew through the air, his weapon lost in the chaos, bouncing across the ground and back up for a good fifty yards. There was a neat furrow in the wavy grass marking their journey. Hunter struggled, claws were cutting into his armour, tendrils wrapping around his arms and legs, he launched blow after blow into the creature’s rib cage as they tumbled together. Then, they stopped. Their momentum was spent but their fight was far from over. With a herculean effort, aided more than a little by the alien material grafted into his suit, Hunter kicked the creature off him and crawled backwards. He had a moment to take stock as it licked its wounds, and it had many. While the external shell of his armour was a ruin he had escaped unscathed. The Sakakt had not been so fortunate. His initial barrage had cut it open badly as it bled dark blood into the soil, to be greedily absorbed by the starved flora. It was not done though. Both of them knew that they had reached an impasse of sorts, only one would survive this encounter. Hunter drew his pistol as the thing sped toward him, zig zagging through grass which partially obscured its grotesque form. He fired twice to either side of the creature, firing metallic projectiles that stuck into the earth. Before it was upon him he unloaded the clip, firing every mag-round he had into its hide, activating the attraction. The magnetic projectiles clung to one another, threatening to yank the creature off its feet. It pushed on, growling and shrieking in pain. [color=1E90FF]“Ssaalor.”[/color] [i]Enough.[/i] Hunter charged, glistening baton in hand, its edge alight with burning heat. There was no restriction on it, it burned as hotly as it could, so hot that it would not last. The candle that burns twice as hot burns half as long, but half would be enough. Hunter set upon it. There was no clean piercing blow to its heart, he hacked it with reckless abandon. First its eye, then its leg, its tendrils, its back, its organs, its chest, its maw, its tongue. Blood and burned flesh spread across the field as it screamed and screeched, his dark blue armour grew saturated with black blood. Then, finally, there was a finishing blow. The Sakakt had been killed by Hunter. [color=1E90FF]“Shalas ossa sill saorplaas.”[/color] [i]This hunt is complete.[/i]