Empyrean Iris

Chapter 26

They thronged through the trees as the Gnar'lak began to dwindle. Hot acrid smoke billowed upwards into the air caught in pockets of smoke against the top of the canopy. At some point the smoke became too choking, and captain Vir was forced to pull his shirt over his mouth and nose to keep out the burning air.

He could feel the jarring of hard ground through the Drev's carapace as they broke into the next clearing where Sunny dispatched two of the aliens, and he took another. When the ammunition ran out, and she was still fighting, he had to make an executive decision and jumped from her back and onto the ground, clobbering one of the Gnar'lak over the side of the head with the butt of his weapon jarring all the way up into his hands.

He was just turning in the other direction, when something grabbed him by the back of shirt , spinning him out of the way as one of the Gnar'lak charged. He tripped onto his back and rolled out of the way kicking the legs out from under another attacker.

A skirmish ensued starting with him clubbing the downed Gnar'lak over the head with the butt of his rifle. Another of the bubblegum creatures charged in again, its alien cattle prod raised high over its head. He was about to take the blow on the flat of his rifle like he would use a stick or a quarterstaff, but dove out of the way at the last second, seeing little bolts of blue white lightning snap between the two prongs at the end of the creature's spear.

The Gnar'lak drove downwards with its weapon catching itself hard in the dirt and reddened grass. It tried to pull away, but Captain Vir was too fast, delivering a powerful round kick to the creature's back before dispatching it with its own weapon.

The skirmish couldn't have taken more than five seconds all together, but when it was over, he was holding the Gnar'lak's discarded weapon, and was now back to back with the Drev.

He had to admit, the Drev made him look pretty stupid, whirling the two lightning sticks between her hands like Kung Fu ninja while he sort of just wailed wildly at anyone in his general vicinity, but either- way it seemed to be working. And on one occasion the Drev reached back, spinning them in a circle so he could take care of a group that had closed in inside her guard, and she could take care of a group that happened to be just outside his reach.

Just as it seemed that there was no end to the Gnar'lak forces, their inevitable advance stopped, and Captain Vir found himself winded, but alive and with no one to fight against.

The Gnar'lak began to retreat, their line dwindling exponentially as his team ran after them.

"Don't kill all of them! Leave their commander alive!" He ordered not knowing if this would be their only chance to question one of the Gnar'lak.

Ahead the trees had thinned out to a single line. The distant red prairie stretched out before them. The red grasses had been broken by a line of strange alien vehicles, towards which the Gnar'lak were fleeing.

Most of them didn't make it.

A random flash of movement overhead caught his attention, and he looked up quickly only to find Dr. Krill as he broke out from the line of trees holding a single seed pod in his alien grip.

Captain Vir was running side by side with the Drev now, their feet almost matched over uneven dirt, though captain Vir faltered slightly, head tilted back watching the sky where doctor Krill still floated.

He turned his head in a slow searching moment, large prismatic eyes scanning over the battlefield. Captain Vir skidded to a halt behind a burning hillock looking around for any danger that might be posed to the doctor, who seemed more than a sitting duck that high in the air and without tree cover.

His searching stopped, and then with great purpose, the little alien floated another few feet to the side and he dropped the seedpod. Captain Vir stood slightly, glancing over the little hillock to get a better look, eyes locked on the falling object.