Zephyr had been hovering in the same position for seventy two hours so far, silent and barely visible against the sky. It was close to sunset, and his quarry still hadnt moved. He kept all his attention firmly upon the gigantic and dangerous mechanospider beneath him, as he had been doing for the previous week. Hed followed the dreaded thing, barely resting lest he lose his quarry in his sleep. He was running low on supplies, nearly out of fuel. His rotors were clogging with dust, and his patience, however bountiful during hunts, was thinning. But he just wasnt going to let this opportunity pass. Not after the first time.
Many years ago, hed first encountered the spider. A simple, leisurely hunt for a pack of wolf-like machines, famed for their skill and cunning, had turned bad when the pack had been ambushed for the spider. It shocked Zephyr, because even he hadnt seen it. Not wanting to share his prey, hed attacked the spider, firing a single high power bolt straight into its head. Apart from a slight mark, the shot had accomplished nothing. This came as rather a shock to him, but try as he might, he couldnt hurt it. Every normal weakpoint, the leg joints, the eyes, the abdomen, all resisted his shots. The spider seemed to ignore him, allowing him to carry out his fruitless bombardment for another several days before he left. He didnt think too much of it at the time, except that, one day, he would achieve revenge
Zephyr snapped back to the present, muttering to himself no time for that now . He watched as a long, snaking column of a common, four legged beast wandered past, and the spider which lay in wait. It had lain in wait for three days, somehow predicting that the herd would pass this way. If he didnt hate it so much, Zephyr probably would have felt a healthy dose of respect for the spider. But, just now, that seemed rather irrelevant. His mind, weary from the waiting, wandered back to his second encounter with the beast.
Hed been on business, hunting a group of ravenous beasts whod been attacking messengers and freight runners. Hed driven them into a pass, and collapsed the walls at both sides with powerful explosives, and was picking them off at his leisure. Then the spider had climbed over the rubble at one end of the canyon, and had started massacring his targets. Hed recognised the creature the second it had entered the valley, the odd scar on its head the only reasonable damage hed done to the creature. Hed fired upon it time and again, even collapsing another wall, but the cursed thing hadnt even stopped snacking. That when he saw it, when it was pouncing on the last in the valley. A small, nigh on unnoticeable area of the back of its head. He only noticed it, because the armour there seemed much thinner than in other areas. So he took a chance, and fired. The shot had missed, scathing the side of the patch. This hadnt been enough to kill it, much to his regret, but had been enough to catch its attention. Hed been forced to flee, as it sprayed copious amounts of sticky thread into the air, which if caught in his rotors would spell the death of him.
And now he was back. He focused again, watching. The target was a tiny patch, no larger than the palm of his hand. Itd only be visible for a few scant moments during the leap, and even with tremendous luck last time hed only glanced it. This time, he needed to follow its every slight movement, tracking the place the target would be during that tentative second of dive, firing at the exact right time to strike he blinked. The spider leapt. Panic rushed through his veins, but was quashed as soon as it rose by his hunters pride and instinct. He fired. He watched the shot, as if in slow motion, fly from the end of his gun, the burning energy flying through the air. He watched as it flew straight into the creatures outstretched neck straight through the target. the mechaspider screeched and died, falling prone just before the herdbeast before it. In an unsubtle irony, it proceeded to kick the corpse before making its way along. Zephyr smiled.
Gliding down on his primary rotor, Zephyr activated his saw blades. Thered be plenty of collectors in Polyhex whod pay well for a head that large on their wall. He carefully and painstakingly removed the head, holding it up to look at after his labours were done. He traced a finger down the line of its head, feeling the wound hed inflicted so long ago. And thats an end to that. He sighed, deploying a portable cargo net hed picked up to carry the thing. And heard a growling noise behind him. He groaned, and muttered Here we go again
((My first TF related story, so a bit of a shot in the dark. shorter than the things i usually write, but its just a test run. comments and constructive criticism appreciated))
Many years ago, hed first encountered the spider. A simple, leisurely hunt for a pack of wolf-like machines, famed for their skill and cunning, had turned bad when the pack had been ambushed for the spider. It shocked Zephyr, because even he hadnt seen it. Not wanting to share his prey, hed attacked the spider, firing a single high power bolt straight into its head. Apart from a slight mark, the shot had accomplished nothing. This came as rather a shock to him, but try as he might, he couldnt hurt it. Every normal weakpoint, the leg joints, the eyes, the abdomen, all resisted his shots. The spider seemed to ignore him, allowing him to carry out his fruitless bombardment for another several days before he left. He didnt think too much of it at the time, except that, one day, he would achieve revenge
Zephyr snapped back to the present, muttering to himself no time for that now . He watched as a long, snaking column of a common, four legged beast wandered past, and the spider which lay in wait. It had lain in wait for three days, somehow predicting that the herd would pass this way. If he didnt hate it so much, Zephyr probably would have felt a healthy dose of respect for the spider. But, just now, that seemed rather irrelevant. His mind, weary from the waiting, wandered back to his second encounter with the beast.
Hed been on business, hunting a group of ravenous beasts whod been attacking messengers and freight runners. Hed driven them into a pass, and collapsed the walls at both sides with powerful explosives, and was picking them off at his leisure. Then the spider had climbed over the rubble at one end of the canyon, and had started massacring his targets. Hed recognised the creature the second it had entered the valley, the odd scar on its head the only reasonable damage hed done to the creature. Hed fired upon it time and again, even collapsing another wall, but the cursed thing hadnt even stopped snacking. That when he saw it, when it was pouncing on the last in the valley. A small, nigh on unnoticeable area of the back of its head. He only noticed it, because the armour there seemed much thinner than in other areas. So he took a chance, and fired. The shot had missed, scathing the side of the patch. This hadnt been enough to kill it, much to his regret, but had been enough to catch its attention. Hed been forced to flee, as it sprayed copious amounts of sticky thread into the air, which if caught in his rotors would spell the death of him.
And now he was back. He focused again, watching. The target was a tiny patch, no larger than the palm of his hand. Itd only be visible for a few scant moments during the leap, and even with tremendous luck last time hed only glanced it. This time, he needed to follow its every slight movement, tracking the place the target would be during that tentative second of dive, firing at the exact right time to strike he blinked. The spider leapt. Panic rushed through his veins, but was quashed as soon as it rose by his hunters pride and instinct. He fired. He watched the shot, as if in slow motion, fly from the end of his gun, the burning energy flying through the air. He watched as it flew straight into the creatures outstretched neck straight through the target. the mechaspider screeched and died, falling prone just before the herdbeast before it. In an unsubtle irony, it proceeded to kick the corpse before making its way along. Zephyr smiled.
Gliding down on his primary rotor, Zephyr activated his saw blades. Thered be plenty of collectors in Polyhex whod pay well for a head that large on their wall. He carefully and painstakingly removed the head, holding it up to look at after his labours were done. He traced a finger down the line of its head, feeling the wound hed inflicted so long ago. And thats an end to that. He sighed, deploying a portable cargo net hed picked up to carry the thing. And heard a growling noise behind him. He groaned, and muttered Here we go again
((My first TF related story, so a bit of a shot in the dark. shorter than the things i usually write, but its just a test run. comments and constructive criticism appreciated))
