[color=8dc73f]"Here little Mr. Bug, come here, just laaaaaaaaaaaaaaand on my arm and you can get all of the delicious Earth blood you can-AHA"[/color] he exclaimed giddily as the hairs on his forearm bristled and the small bloodsucker stiffened from the voltage running through it. After a second, the insect fell to the ground dead and Kostia's arm returned to its non-electrified state. He shook the arm loosely, as if trying to remove the last bit of static electricity from it. It still felt weird to use his Lunos - he could never shake the feeling that every metal thing he touches will shock him like he had been running around with wool socks on carpet. He shuddered at the thought, then got up from his place at the bonfire and entered the small brown tent that was home to the entire scouting party of four.

[color=6ecff6]Were you frying bugs with your Lunos again?[/color] Anna piped up from the corner of the room where her cot lay, setting her novel aside for a minute. [color=8dc73f]Shocking,[/color] Konstantin corrected her, [color=8dc73f]I was shocking bugs. Frying just sounds horrible. Speaking of whiiiiiiiiiich...[/color] he turned to the large older man in the center, who was busily milling about an electric stove. There was a large pot on one of the heatplates and a smaller one on the other. The man, whose name was Joseph, turned towards his younger companion with a calm fatherly smile. [color=f9ad81]Settle down, Kostia, food will be ready when it's ready. If you're bored you can go out and help Mark collect samples,[/color] he said in a low bass rumble. Konstantin wanted to say something, but could find nothing satisfactorily witty. Instead, he turned on his heels and marched back outside into the heat and humidity of the jungle.

The first thing he saw when he went outside was... Nothing. Or rather, he saw smoke for the brief moment he could keep his eyes open. He started coughing reflexively and felt his eyes fill up with tears. The young man quickly took a few steps to the side and stood rubbing his eyes for a few seconds before his vision started coming back. After a few groggy blinks he had adjusted to the light and could easily identify the culprit of this unpleasant incident - the goddamned bonfire, lit to smoke out the bugs out of the camp (and doing a pretty poor job of it, too) was billowing smoke towards the tent due to a shift in the wind direction. Kostia approached it with red watery eyes, contemplating a fate that would fit such a troublemaker of a fire. [color=8dc73f]Ugh, I wish I could just stomp you out... But Joseph would probably be mad and force me to stand outside as a human bug zapper or something. Stupid fire...[/color] he muttered under his breath.

Konstantin's nefarious plan of bonfirecide was interrupted by a sudden realization. There was a sound in the jungle. Well, there were always sounds in the jungle, but this one was not a native sound. It came from the west, maybe northwest and was getting louder. The scout stretched to his full height and listened. It was definitely something man made. And coming closer fast. A... motor? Yes, it was a motor. Sounded like one of those bigger airships, not the little Wasps that would zip around all the time. He trained his eyes on the direction of the sound and sure enough, a speck of metal in the distance was quickly turning into a square and then the square started getting less square and more cube-like until finally Konstantin could see the shape of a Hauler. It was going way above the usual speed for this type of aircraft, which was still way slower than most nimble single-pilot aircraft, passing the camp just a lick to the west of it but still making an eardrum popping noise. The sound started to lessen as both the craft slowed down and got further away. It seemed to have stopped moving forward after a few seconds and the buzz of a hovering Hauler could be heard faintly by the scout, but the machine itself was hidden by the treetops. "It can't be that far away," Kostia thought, "I wonder what the rush is all about?" Then he noticed it - in the direction the Hauler had gone, a small blinking red light. It was just barely visible through cracks in the greenery of the jungle. [color=8dc73f]"Oh..."[/color] his voice trailed off as the realisation came to him.

[color=8dc73f]Anna, Joseph, keep the food warm for me, I need to go check this out![/color] he yelled as he ran off roughly in the direction of the flare. It could not have been more than a couple kilometers away, how did he miss it? Kostia cursed himself under his breath as he navigated the treacherous terrain of the jungle as best as he could. Luckily, the area was mostly known to him already and all the adrenaline helped remember quicker and safer paths. It took no longer than ten minutes for him to get there, but by that time most of the fireworks were over. There was a very obvious gap in the treeline that let a little more light than usual find its way to the ground. In the middle of a pile of wood, vines and metal was the culprit of this gap - a downed Wasp. Or rather, what remained of it. The scout diverted his attention skywards, where the cargo door of the Hauler was slowly closing. Odd, the Wasp did not appear to be on fire, why would the rescue opperation be rushed like that. Confused, he stepped forward towards the pile of rubble and then he realised.

There was a very distinct sound, one that he had heard before and probably one of the reasons his team insisted on him carrying a weapon. He lowered his eyes again and saw the trio at the other side of the clearing, two of them still looking cross at the big metal hunk in the sky. The third one, to Kostia's dismay, was looking straight at him. It was as if both of them were slowly hypnotizing eachother. A few moments passed and neither animal nor man made a move. Then the feline turned to its companions and let out a very distinct "trrr" sound to get their attention. The young man could not speak mog'romp, but he kind of got the intention of the message and it spelled MURDER in big block capitals. The other two now also focused on the lonely boy on the ground. What was he supposed to do? He could never outrun them. And climbing a tree was about as useful as diving deeper to avoid a shark. He had only one option and that was head for the Wasp and hope the people in the Hauler above notice him.

He made a run for it, giving all his tired legs could give at this point. The Wasp was closer to him than to the predators, but they were far far faster. With just a few meters to go, he noticed a blur at the corner of his eye. The one that spotted him first decided to call dibs on the prey. Fangs blaring, it went for Kostia with a horrible hunger in its eyes. Instinct kicked in. The scout's eyes turned a beautiful golden colour and all the hairs on his head turned into a spiky mess. He ducked and the mog'romp's fangs missed, but the legs made contact with the man's stomach, forcing an "Oof" sound out of him. In a panic, Kostia focused all of his electricity into his abdomen and released the charge.

The tumble was rough, but luckily, he didn't get injured. Konstantin got up as quickly as he could and saw that his attacker was still dazed, having trouble getting on its feet. The other two stopped at a respectable distance - hungry, but afraid to approach further. He knew they were persistent and he also knew he could not keep his Lunos charged forever. Right now he focused on gathering as much energy as possible, hoping to scare them off if another attack was incoming. His hope of surviving lay in the Hauler above. He wanted to look up or shout for help, but something in the way the alpha beast looked at him gave him the impression that it would be an admission to the fact that he knew and the animal could guess. The fact was, if help did not come soon, Konstantin was as good as dead.

[@NuttsnBolts]