Book.1 - Part1. - Damn Near Empty

"DAY 6 IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN ALIEN JUNGLE. MY HANDS ARE STILL BRUISED FROM THE MORNING'S FIGHT. I'VE ONLY 3 BULLETS LEFT IN MY HAND CANNON AND MY PULSE RIFLE NEEDS A 3 HOUR CHARGE BEFORE I CAN PUT IT TO USE AGAIN. ALL I HAVE LEFT IS THIS FUCKING RECTO-SABER AND THE FRAGMENT GRENADE I MANAGED TO FUSE TOGETHER AT DAYBLAST. FML!"

My mind was elsewhere, focused on complaint. I wasn't paying attention to what was in front of me. I was completely caught off guard when I slipped and tumbled down the ridge of the mountain. 

The fall was long and harsh - it rattled every bone in my body - but when I reached the bottom I was still in one piece.

I laid there on my side, my head throbbed as I returned to consciousness. I tried to focus; I tried to ignore the pain and get present. My armor managed to protect me from serious injury, yet everything still pulsated, a latching affliction. My lower thigh stung of pins and needles as I heard the faint sound of scratching. It beckoned me to quickly rise and survey myself in search of the source. At the same moment the pain doubled, and then quadrupled. My teeth ground together in agony as I grasped at the area from which the pain radiated. Something was inside of my thigh plate. I pulled at it, frantic to free my leg of its tearing grasp; it was a small, hairless feline like creature. Its claws were long and sharp. . . and they. . . were bloody.

From its over-sized eyes it looked up at me innocently like a harmless thing, like a child. Then, its mouth sprang open, exposing rows of jagged filthy cracked teeth. A Jambar! I was immediately stricken with terror, I threw it aside and then, all at once, the jungle came alive!

Until now they hadn't shown themselves, not even a glimpse, but I'd known they were there; I could feel them restlessly tracking me. The trees rustled violently and a shrieking sound of pure savagery echoed about horribly. It made my ears feel like they were going to explode. Those things, they sought to confuse me, and they did just that.

Then, they struck at me! Viciously!

They shot from the trees like missiles, wildly latching their sharp, gnarled claws into my armor. These tiny creatures were almost weightless, I could barely feel them landing on me. They used a crusted spike that jutted from the tip of their rat shaped skulls to try and burrow into my thick armor. They wanted to be inside me, they sought to crack through my armor like a shell and feast on my soft flesh. For a moment I thrashed about like a bull trying to fight them off, grabbing at them, ripping their small, rough bodies from me as fast as I could, but they did not slow. More shot forth, dozens grasped onto me at once, all of them screeching terrible sounds, all of them digging into me. I had to move, had to get mobile.

I lunged forth, running. With every ounce of strength I ran as quickly as I could while continuing to try and free myself from them. I heaved them away, as far from me as possible, but like felines, their effortlessly quick reflexes allowed them to reorient in mid air, they always seemed to land on their feet, scurrying back up the giant trees.

The last one was inside my lower torso. It was larger and stronger than the others. It was using all four of its legs to force its attempt of entrance more efficiently than the others. It penetrated my armor and tried vigorously to pull its melon-sized body through the fist- sized hole it created. I grasped its hind legs and tail before it could lodge itself completely into me. I squeezed it within my grip, its body bulged between my fingers, then I slammed my unsheathed recto-saber into its rough belly. It squealed a horrible sound. I strew it to the side, it didn't land on its feet.

Suddenly, the Jambars vanished from sight, but I knew I was not free. I could hear them in the trees, hundreds of them, shooting through the high foliage like bullets. They were chasing me. My body was bleeding in multiple places, yet I was moving faster than I ever had in my whole life. If I tired and slowed they would instantly crash down upon and overwhelm me in seconds, running seemed to be my only true defense. The sounds they made was deafening, they made me nauseous. My vision started to blur. . . they were so fast. No more did I care the about pain. I only wanted to survive, needed to survive.

To be continued...