Wayward

As Above

As Tib, Lark and Alex worked to get their plan to fruition above, Max Kellerman and his survivors from the initial crash worked to do the same. Kellerman couldn't even find the words to express how much he didn't like the situation he and his marines were in. They had no comms, halfway up a jungle infested mountain, and the native wildlife they knew nothing about could surprise them at any moment. Kellerman at this point knew he could only trust two things: his marines and his training. "Max, have you noticed that those things seemed to stop following us a while ago?," Mozkov said through her thick Russian accent. Kellerman held up his hand signaling his small band of survivors to stop. "You're right, Kira," Kellerman said as his mind began to turn with explanations and the actions to take for them. "We stop here and rest for a moment, either something's spooked them or they've given up, either way there's no reason to keep pushing forward for now," Kellerman ordered his group of three marines. "Kalil, how are you holding up?," Kira Mozkov said as she walked over to the one marine who had managed to grab the comm equipment they would need to be able to send a signal out with. That is once they had reached a good enough elevation, which Kellerman had figured would be the top of the nearest mountain. "I'm fine, just worried why those things stopped chasing us," he said with a look of concern he didn't bother hiding. "They probably just went back to the crash site?" another marine said. "Possibly, Bozeman, that seemed to be a territorial reaction more than anything," Kellerman said turning to her. "Well I am the wild life specialist for a reason, Max," Bozeman said with a eye-roll. Brigete Bozeman was probably the only marine that had gotten on Kellerman's last nerve in the past few years. "Lose the attitude, Ensign." She gave a nod as Kellerman turned away from his band of misfits to survey the surrounding area. Kellerman wasn't showing it, but the stress was really starting to get to him. This place reminded him too much of Draylon 5 and his time spent there to begin with, but not only that, it just seemed off, like this place hated whatever was foreign to it. First the mysterious engine failure and then wildlife acting in an almost supernatural behavior. It just wasn't right. It made him feel as though something was always lurking just out of sight, though that may just be paranoia setting in. He was beginning to wonder if they we're going to make it at all. He hated that he was starting to doubt himself. He was trained for this but at this point he was starting to wonder if he even was cut out for a command position. "Max, you OK?," Mozkov said quietly as she walked up beside him. Kira had been with Kellerman longer than anyone in this division. They had fought on, what some people would consider, too many campaigns together, and they probably trusted each other more than anyone else in the Terran Space Force. "Yeah, Mozkov, just really don't like this place," he said as he turned to her. As his gaze met hers, Kira saw that look in Max's eyes. She'd seen it only once before. "Max," she said with a tone that told Kellerman all he needed to hear. "How much longer do you think then?," he said while turning his gaze up to the mountain ridge while quickly collecting his mindset. "Maybe another six hours, depends on how long you want us to stay here," Kira said while looking back at the other two marines. "How long do you think?," Kellerman said. "An hour, at most," she said while looking back at Kellerman. He nodded his head, and turned back to the trees. As Kira walked back to the others, Kellerman noticed something, he had not paid much attention to until now. The trees here were green and not that pinkish purple they were at the crash site. Stranger yet, was the fact that there wasn't as much foliage as one would expect with how this jungle was brimming with vines hanging from the medium sized trees. How did the biome change so drastically so quickly? The fact that they were in a completely different area was obvious now, but there still remained the questioned of why they had stopped being followed. Was it a matter of territory, competitors, or predators, and if it were predators, what could this place be harboring to scare away something like the creatures they had just escaped? Usually Kellerman would turn to the "wild life specialist", but he was beyond frustrated with her and her lack of caring far before they even set foot on the observatory craft that got them here. At this point it seemed that they would move forward and deal with situations as they arose. For now though, as Kellerman sat down with the rest of his group, their only mission was to survive. 

"Clouds are rolling in," Kalil said as he tightened one strap on his pack that was holding the comm equipment. "They've been going in and out, Kalil, you would know that if you looked up once in a while," said Bozeman. "The clouds aren't our biggest threat at this point, keep your eyes peeled," Kellerman said with authority. The group had moved out of the jungle and into the rocky outcrops that started just before the peak of the mountain. A fog bank had come rolling down the mountainside but Kellerman motioned for his group to move forward. Survival was up this mountain. Kellerman didn't say it but he felt like they were being watched. By what, he didn't know, but he knew that it was going to be something they didn't want to deal with judging by everything they had ran into on this cursed piece of rock. Maybe that thought of a predator scaring away those cat like creatures that had been following them was about to come fruition. "Hey, Max, look at this," said Bozeman. Kellerman stopped and looked at what she was talking about. It took a moment to find what she was calling attention to through the fog that was present, but when he did it made his skin crawl. The area beside them, about fifty feet away, was covered in some sort of webbing, like a spider web, only this was massive. "We need to go we've only got a few more hundred feet until our AO," Kellerman said as he tighten his grip on his plasma rifle and quickened his pace. Then something chattered. Kellerman and his group stopped dead in their tracks and looked around as the deathly stillness had been broken. Kellerman looked back at them and signaled them to move forward quietly and carefully. Suddenly a rock moved in front of them as a spindly leg came from below it, then another and another. The rocks burst upward as a large spider like creature came out and began crawling to them. Kellerman saw it was coming too fast for him to get a shot off, and in a split second, turned around and ran while yelling, "Go!" Bozeman and Mozkov were able to start distancing themselves, but Kalil began to stumble over with his comm equipment. "C'mon," Kellerman yelled as he grabbed Kalil by his vest handle and lifted him back on his feet. Kellerman was beginning to run out breath but could hear the creature screeching right behind him. Up ahead he saw Bozeman stop and look back at him. "Shoot it!," he yelled at the top of his lungs. Before Bozeman could even take aim Mozkov was already shooting at it the creature, catching Kellerman and Kalil off guard. Kellerman pushed Kalil downwards as he himself fell to the ground to avoid the deadly plasma bolts flying over his head at the speed of sound. He could hear the creature scream and fall silent. Kellerman pivoted around to see the grotesque creature smoldering. "Next time don't aim for my helmet," Kalil said as he pushed himself off the ground and dusted himself off. Mozkov checked over Kellerman and Kalil as they both got off the ground. "Look at this thing," Bozeman exclaimed. Kellerman turned around to actually take a good look at their assailant. It was horrifying to say the least.  Spindly thin legs, spines everywhere, and definitely more than eight eyes, though Kellerman wasn't going to stop and count them. "So do we keep going up?," Kalil said turning to Kellerman. Kellerman stopped and looked at his group. Bozeman was visibly shaken, Kalil was beaten up from the falls, but Mozkov was her normal cool, collected self. "Bozeman, do you know if there would be anymore of these?," Kellerman said. "Judging by its size and the behavior of arachnids," she began, "it's a fifty-fifty." Kellerman stopped. He looked back at the peak which lied still only a few hundred feet above now. He looked back at his band of survivors. "We have to keep going," he said meeting all their gazes. "It's our only option," he said again as he turned around and began the trek back up. His group followed close behind. Kellerman kept looking at the peak as they kept going. That place would be salvation if he could get his group there. Kellerman turned around and looked at the creature. He knew they were all hoping, including himself, this creature would be their final test in this place.