Neil couldn't help but give Sayeeda's smooth caramel back a look, noticing more than a few scars as well. [i]She's making the 'professional' part of the professional partnership harder with half the shit she's pulling[/i], he thought to himself, shaking his head. He then glanced Drake's way, seeing the man giving a hungry look himself. Neil snapped his fingers, drawing his gaze away, guiltily. The pilot shook his head, and then turned back when Sayeeda had a shirt on. As she went over to verbally beat the tied up runaway, Neil had on a face and mumbled. "[sub]She didn't save me any water did she?[/sub]" 

He decided to just take a swig of his canteen, blinking and clearing his throat. That felt much better, though he could use a shower on the ship once they got this guy off planet. Needless to say, Neil's eyes were widened when Sayeeda began to move like a panther on instinct, cutting bonds and shoving them forward. "Hey, what's the big de-" He started, even as he ran. That was when he heard the whistling up ahead. "Shit." 

Behind them, the trees cracked as the drop pods sheared through them and into the ground. He'd seen Terran commandos before, but never in combat, much less when using the actual drop pods. Neil just thanked whatever being that watched over them that he had his equipment still strapped to him. Another earth shaking explosion occurred, and he was flung to the ground with the two of them as Sayeeda threatened Drake. 

"I don't know!" Drake exclaimed, shaken. His mouth started moving rapidly when he saw the gun in Sayeeda's hand. "Look, the only other person who knows I'm out here is Val-kan Hatcher!"

"What in the fuck are you talking about?" Neil piped in, unholstering his rifle and jerking his body to shift his prone position, giving him more room to fire at the commandos once they realized there was no one at camp. Drake looked between the two heavily armored mercs and just spat it out. "He found out what I was doing here and he's been funding my research. He might have tipped off the Terrans if that meant they'd get off his back but...they're here for multiple reasons but one reason is that my research [i]is[/i] legitimate." 

"And what exactly is this you're looking for?" 

"It's hard to explain! I can show you where to go but-" 

Shouts were heard in the distance. Shouts coming closer, it seemed like. Neil wasn't going to fire yet, but he didn't know if they'd pass the three of them by or not. The ground was somewhat soft, even from the lack of water on this old creek. There were various holes in it, and little, strange mollusks with thirteen appendages and two sections of the body, scuttled between each hole, feelers rubbing against the merc's skins. 
[@Penny]