[center][h2][b]Ilshar Ard’sabekh[/b][/h2][/center]

The unpleasant wave of sensation hit Ilshar an instant earlier than the putrid nerve-clusters in his body could interpret it, drowning him in a surge of vague but stifling unease that would have made someone less hardened freeze up on the spot. As it was, his body was already halfway behind a rock, a proper lithoid one, before he recognised the sense of vulnerability for what it was. Open. Defenseless. A clear target. Augmented senses screamed danger at him, and the message they sent was every bit as clear as the whizzing bullet and the peremptory words that followed it. The feeling did not fully subside even when the rock was safely interposed between most of his body and the now even more sinister treeline, and every inch of himself he left exposed to keep watch over the woods made him keenly aware of itself.

He was about to growl something in response to Rasch, when the staccato of a new series of shots interrupted the gurgle in his amorphous throat and left his shard-toothed maw hanging open in bemusement. The pure human - Kleo, was it - seemed determined to antagonise every force on this worm-forsaken world, to the point Ilshar was beginning to doubt if she was some sort of double agent embedded in their ranks to sabotage them. Most humans were Leaguers, after all, weren't they...

[b]"[i]Kadharra![/i] Hold still!"[/b] he cursed, churning as loud as his voice would carry. Perhaps the force in the trees would hear that and take it as a sign of goodwill on his part, but to pray for such a fate would have been hubris at this point. Regardless, he had to make some attempt to defuse the situation, and the only vocal channel was with Rasch. The tarrhaidim let go of his gun and raised both empty hands, splayed wide oped, over the rim of his covering rock. The gesture was universal enough; it remained to be seen if the hidden guerrillas would trust it for what it was.