Kirizzo watched from his position behind the pillar as the two humans observed the exit portal in front of him. Their behavior had been extremely odd. Kirizzo felt that perhaps a problem had arisen in the alliance the creatures had formed with each other. Perhaps he was about to witness a falling out among them.
The smaller human still carried the alien items that Kirizzo had gathered for it. Kirizzo hoped that this gift served to further convince the four-limbed creature that his presence would be beneficial. He would need any goodwill he could get when the time came to find transport off the planet.
Kirizzo felt a mass disturbance in the tunnel they watched. He decided to attempt to aid the humans again, to further demonstrate that keeping him around was to their advantage. Kirizzo moved behind the pillar so that he could not be seen, and he extended a single limb forward, pointing toward the doorway.
The larger human observed his motion and transmitted some information to the smaller one, whose primitive weapon was ready. Kirizzo predicted the ambush would succeed. Their outlines were obscured by the clever suits they wore that broke up their visual signatures. To creatures with no mass sense, Kirizzo decided this must go a long way toward disguising their presence.
Momentarily, the third one emerged from the tunnel. It seemed from its movement patterns that it did not suspect anything was amiss. Kirizzo watched as the newcomer walked into the pillar room, then fell to the ground, incapacitated. The other creatures moved forward to inspect their enemy.
Kirizzo felt surprised. Why didn’t the pair take advantage of their position to destroy the third one? Perhaps the race did not eliminate others of their own kind but simply permuted their alliances from time to time.
Now the larger alien took a device out of his carrying shroud and applied it to the back of the head of the disabled creature. Kirizzo detected an EM spike and an electrical interaction between the device and the embedded equipment in the disabled creature’s skull. Kirizzo thought perhaps the victors stole knowledge from the head of their enemy. Or at the very least, they were forcibly disabling their foe even further.
Once the electronic vandalism was complete, the larger alien motioned to Kirizzo and the smaller one. He moved toward the exit with his body bent forward oddly. Kirizzo guessed this must be their battle posture. It did serve to shrink their silhouette, perhaps to reduce the possibility of being seen. He filed the observation away for future use and followed them toward the tunnel.
In the exit passage, the bipeds increased speed, lengthening their strides and pushing off strongly with each leg. Although they seemed rather ungainly to Shiny, his estimation of their balance did come up a notch. He kept up with them easily, working his many legs without conscious thought.
He emerged after them onto the surface of the planet. The weather was still calm above; a few motes of moisture floated in the sky under the yellow sun. The spiny plants still looked strange to Kirizzo. On his home planet, life thrived on volcanic heat below the surface, not solar radiation from above.
The larger biped took only a moment to acclimatize to the surface conditions. Then they resumed running, heading off into the vegetation. Kirizzo hoped that some transportation had been cached away somewhere nearby. It would take a significant amount of time to go any large distance on foot. He wondered about the physical endurance of the creatures. They didn’t usually seem to prefer moving so quickly, so would they eventually tire and slow to their more normal speed?
When they moved into the forest, the group did slow. It appeared to be more because of the inhibiting mass of spiny growth than any fatigue. The leader took out a sharp implement and raised it as if to clear a path but then hesitated. The pair moved their mandibles for a moment and then the larger human put it away. Kirizzo theorized that they didn’t wish to leave an obvious sign of their passage.
They marched deeper into the forest. Kirizzo thought that if they had a vehicle here, this would be a sufficient distance from the site to avoid visual detection. Perhaps they feared some other form of sensor with a wider perimeter. Kirizzo continued to hope that faster transport would be forthcoming. The language barrier would have to be broken as soon as they had a chance, he decided.
Suddenly a large mass exploded into movement within meters of their position. Kirizzo turned his optical receptors toward the disturbance and caught a glimpse of shaking vegetation. Then a large creature burst from the leaves, headed straight for Kirizzo.
The creature sported a wide maw that bristled with spiky mineral deposits. Kirizzo realized that it would enjoy a considerable advantage if the opening were to be fastened upon any part of his own body. He maneuvered to avoid this, his many legs thrashing in the vegetation as he tried to flank the thing.
Kirizzo’s move saved his torso from the jaws of the monster, but as the huge mouth clamped down it caught two of his legs. The thin brittle limbs snapped off near his body, spraying black goo on the spiny leaves of a shrub. Kirizzo felt the throb from each of those legs that his muscle sensors gave when the flexors in his body contracted completely.
The smaller of the two aliens worked its mandible and scrabbled for its weapon. The large alien had unlimbered its long projectile thrower and leveled it toward the thing that had bitten Kirizzo’s two legs off.
The Gorgala readied a seeker projectile to destroy the threat, but he held his fire. His supply of weapons was limited. He scrabbled away at full speed, running around the base of a large plant.
The muzzle of the larger human’s long weapon flashed. Kirizzo felt the ghost of rapidly moving mass pellets tunneling their way through the thing that fought him. Immediately its movements became erratic. Kirizzo continued to retreat, hoping that the wounds would render it inactive. He saw that the smaller biped used its weapon as well. It did not appear to be a projectile-based weapon; Kirizzo could not detect what principle it worked on. Perhaps it emitted radiation on a wavelength he could not detect.
The thing seemed to be mortally wounded. Like Kirizzo, it leaked its internal fluids out onto the fuzzy leaves on the forest floor, but it did not have attendant modules to tend to its wounds. The small spheres moved over to Kirizzo’s severed limbs and began a temporary repair. Kirizzo realized that the bipeds had lost interest in the native creature and had moved over to see how he fared. Perhaps they did value his presence, since they watched the modules working carefully, or perhaps they were simply curious. Kirizzo indicated the previous direction of travel with one limb, urging them to continue.