Scorch noticed the cruel twisted grin on the features of the lupine displayed on the monitor. Her time as a pirate had been quite lucrative and she could afford state of the art equipment. The real time communications array that allowed for such long distance communication over light years of space had been one such matter that she had.

Why was it that each time she dealt with Mercer she wanted to scrub her eyeballs until they were raw and bleeding? She hated the creature though he was too well protected. He always managed to use Serena to blackmail her.

All she could do was grit her teeth and bare it as she set the new course though before firing up her engines she was on her rather expensive communications network and received the image of a black robot a short time after.

“Mistress, I hope you are doing well.”

“92, I have business and won't be back until tomorrow. That damn bastard is making me retrieve a plant for him.”

“Bastard … I assume you mean Lord Mercer. Eighty-two times this month whenever you called someone a bastard his name was affixed to it in some way. Rotting bastard, dirty bastard, cheap bastard ...”

“Cheap? When did I – oh, that's right,” Scorch grinned. “How's Krissy?”

“Krisna? She's still trying to take me apart Mistress so I called in some back up and she seems quite distracted with that mutual agent friend you both made.”

“Tell her I love her and will see her when I get back.”

“It shall be done Mistress.”



She cut off communications and set a course to Lympha. She put it the data in her computer doing a search … not too well mapped, Vena, blah blah blah … it was a swampy cloudy place, great she's probably spent the following weeks cleaning up her armor, better take the cheaper suit encase the servos get mucked up.

No males … she skimmed the little information she had in the ship's computers. Oh, that's neat! The natives outside Vena ate whatever was available. No wonder Mercer is sending me.

She was being sent after the rare plant called the Jewel of Vena that grew in the swamps. She didn't understand why it was called a Jewel when it was a plant though the myth had been on a day when the heavens parted the seeds of life came to the world and so too did the Jewel arrive. It was so rare that the natives didn't bestow it to outsiders and it was said to have fantastic restorative properties.

The Venir, bat-like creatures lived near them so it took her quite a while to sneak to the planet using the ship's scramblers to stay off of radar as she brought the ship in low beneath the cloud cover.

After scanning for what seemed like forever her life sign detectors indicated a group of the creatures so she landed after looking for a place to land she geared up, the ship sinking a bit and listing to the left.

Leaving the vessel she looked it up and consulted the hand scanner that she had downloaded her ship scans of the immediate area to.

Seeing that the natives were hostile she had been armed fairly well. A retractable blade was in the right gauntlet of her green armor and she had her trusty plasma pistol, a rifle and half a dozen various grenades among a few other surprises. But the former pirate did not excel in any of them. She had been alright at best.

“Well, it's time to get started,” she says to herself as she starts off making slow progress in the swamp.

"Home at last." Vena had changed during her absence and Ania, for better or for worse, had conflicting feelings for the nearing settlement while her autopilot guided the ship through the densely clouded skies and closer to the designated space harbor of the capital. Minor subtleties which newcomers might easily miss appeared to her within mere moments, the expanded area around the harbor itself in order to accommodate for the great many foreign visitors and merchants whereas the former administrative building of the royal family had been rebuilt into a castle more or less reminiscient of the french architecture with major influences from the indigenous builders as to better fit in amongst the remaining structures.

Nothing could compare to finally returning here after several years and the reason for that were neither her wife nor any sworn allegiances to nobility, thinking along those lines had been sickening at best while the blue skinned female averted her eyes from the city and dipped into the midsection of the vessel, preparing for her departure whilst briefly glancing out the view window found here.

"No welcoming committee .." Not that any was to be expected after running away with the first space faring craft her people ever created and losing the same by crashing into an enormous hulk amidst the vastness of space. Frequently sending the researchers on the planet whichever exotic plant she could find while keeping a sample of them herself might've prevented the huntress from being exiled entirely.

Once landed Ania immediately set out for the busier streets draped in her shining armor, planning on roaming the town for a little while as though she wanted to ensure not much else had changed and was kept in order since leaving her home world behind.

Many inhabitants paid for peace with their blood and the one of their enemies and yet more species had arrived in the wake of the least civilized moment of their history and appeared to be flourishing well, implementing further operations and practices without disturbing the local populace though whenever another member of her own species passed by they naturally exchanged fleeting glances bestowed unto their charms, summoning a mild smile to her face in the knowledge that the exquisite women hadn't changed in the slightest.

But home in itself wasn't inside the walls and most likely wouldn't ever be.

Ania grew up in the swamps and lived there for most of her adventurous life as did many who decided to either stay behind or settle down in the relative safety of the city, but few could ever hope to fathom the things she'd seen throughout her travels.

Perhaps peace and quiet could be found there in her former hunting grounds, a dangerous place for even the younger predatory aliens often ventured through the area in search of a challenge to prove their worth, more or less fighting amongst tribes as to see who would inherit which roles in the future, but at the same time the site of an extraordinary growth called the Jewel of Vena.

Her mother often told the tale of a Goddess whose life's essence flowed through each and every fibre of the incredibly beautiful plant of which the people derived their regenerative qualities from, but nobody truly knew whether or not her words were truth or fiction.

In the wilderness, however, the arrival of an outsider hadn't gone unnoticed while Scorch pressed on through the swamps and before long the sound of a snapping branch rang through the air, quite distant initially until another occured shortly after from a different angle, somewhat closer than before as though they were closing in on her position from multiple sides.

Even the water itself stirred with life whenever her eyes fell on the extensive reservoirs of water throughout her rather burdensome journey, whether fish or something far more hostile couldn't be discerned for in their movements they roused the surrounding mud and dirt, concealing their form.

They were wary and stayed in the shadows, only moving when her broken line of sight allowed for any maneuver of the sort for the red head had been the first human they ever laid eyes on, pondering on an adequate strategy while being mostly ignorant of the impressive equipment by her side, another unknown they simply weren't familiar with.

She cursed Mercer. The bastard had her out here searching for a plant. She was no botanist though she had the right equipment having a small stasis chamber in her backpack to preserve any samples she collected.

Her computer logs had only a few life signs analyzed too of the native creatures that were studied but only a few. She was fortunate that the Venir bat had been among those that had been studied. The way it worked was that the sensors picked up on things that registered the same body temperature, breathed the same, oxygen, nitrogen or what not, what they released and so forth so it did not always work. If something was near exact it could misread it though it was usually right.

It had been the only lead to go on. She hated this. The green armor was soon smeared in mud as she clumsily walked through pools of muddy water, each boot sinking in deeply requiring more force to extract it before taking the next step.

When she hit regions of swamp water that was too deep she had been forced to go around. She hears a snapping branch and is on edge only due to what she had read about the natives. The sensors don't pick up anything which isn't a surprise since there were few life forms attuned to the logs she found. The natives were confusing too being able to breath both air and water threw off the readings.

Maybe it was an animal. She continues on gripping her rifle tighter though she hears another snap. More follow as she realizes she was fucked. The rippling in the murky water she mentally prepares herself.

Knowing that the natives can breath water and the sounds are closing in around her she suspects that it is a bunch of these natives. She flicks the setting on the rifle to wide angel though it could be a pack of some unknown animal she has her doubts. She then scans the terrain looking for a good defensive point thinking that maybe she could scare them off or at least had a better chance picking the field of battle before it was selected for her.

An area that wasn't too muddy and had been on solid ground worked best where she could set her back to something. A ridge, a tree or rock. Though would she have time? If not quick find she would have to settle on an area soon ...

Heat and humidity were playing over her senses whereas the previously crystal clear water turned to an obstructing sludge in her wake, virtually sucking her in with each and every step though the occasional glimpse of luck offered up a more or less solid surface before proceeding with the same old pattern, except that before nothing sought to pursue her.

Sheer coincidence guided Scorch through the remainder of her voyage of exploration for an appropriate safe haven which the former pirate discovered in form of a ridge and adjacent overhang, the roots of surrounding trees apparantly keeping the landmass together judging by the great many protrusions that surfaced from within the wall of mud, constantly saturated given the heightened moisture in the air, but it would serve her needs better than staying out in the open.

Several long moments passed and nothing happened, not even the faintest snap of another branch in the distance and yet movement riddled the swamps from the direction leading back to her ship, the exact same path she'd taken mere moments ago. They approached in the cover of dead silence, soon emerging from the dense treelines whereupon they displayed their extraordinary mobility in their native environment, flexing their powerful thigh muscles in the process which propelled them from tree to tree without touching the ground nor being slowed down by the vast pools of water, their claws digging into the bark for additional support.

They slowed in their urgent approach upon setting foot on the diminutive isle themselves, halting completely several meters from their intended target, eyeing the unknown creature with more or less curious eyes. Surprisingly enough the natives were shorter than the red haired newcomer, their bodies not quite as developed as the mature woman before them as though they were younger than her and varied in coloration, not more than five in number the group had been composed of azure and minty green predators.

Leather graced their frames in varying amounts, makeshift clothes which were fabricated from smaller wildlife and displayed their performance in the hunt in their early days, less successful ones seemingly not nearly as triumphant but not shunned by anyone. They were stitched together delicately, mainly covering their privates and midsection though they didn't seem to have any symbols of any particular affiliation with the local tribes, rendering them virtually indistinguishable outside of their appearances alone and yet for the time being they couldn't be considered more than a threat.

Not quite as surprising had been the fact that none of them were males, that detail seemed to match at least though Scorch would notice something in the tentacles of one of them, the flexible appendages seemingly taking on the role of her arms.

She was holding onto a thin piece of wood, smirking faintly upon being struck by the realisation that the armored vixen caught onto her scheme, snapping the branch amidst her supple limbs which created the same sound ringing through the air earlier.

They were playing with the human female and before long one of them stepped forward daringly, tentacles twitching in anticipation and not even her firearm held the creature at bay, quite possibly lacking any knowledge on these tools given the fact their domain laid far from the city walls.

Excellent! It was something at least and she headed towards the promise of solid ground that was ahead. Splatters of mud had resided upon the chest arms and face of the armor in thick globes and each leg was thoroughly coated by the time she reached that over hang.

Her heat was beating in her chest for she had been almost certain in her belief that the native life was closing in on here though it would be here that she would make a stand.

The swamp was just too hard to move through and she had run the risks of being attacked when her maneuverability had been lowest.

But she was far from a combat machine. She was well equipped and in a fair fight she could hold her own though the odds were against her from the start.

Five. Their were five of them and the odds were stacked against her from the get go. They were spread out so the wide angled setting would get two at most. That feature drained power quicker though so she set the weapon back to it's single fire capabilities.

Technology seemed to be on her side here and while the natives had not taken hostile action just yet they seemed to be about to take it soon. She was not a blood thirsty pirate though and she knew that if she kill or wounded one they might desire vengeance yet if they sprang in the numbers made it tough. She really didn't know what to expect here and as the one that menaced her came forth she aimed her rifle to a point above her shoulder and fired a warning shot quickly aiming the weapon at one then another to get them to back up. At least she had hoped it would give them something else to worry about.

Unbeknownst to Scorch, their senses operated on a far superior realm of perception compared to their human counterparts, turning the gesture meant to intimidate into an elaborate threat. Nothing more than a flash indicated the projectile leaving the muzzle of the rifle pointed at the closest of the five, stirring the surrounding hair near the shoulder of her intended target, causing the slightest tingling in its passing whereupon the sound of another round being chambered had reached their ear drums. They were young overall, their appearances similar to teens on Earth should humans ever have tails and an abundance of tendrils for arms, but their development had already reached such an admirable state.

She spun around wide eyed, glancing toward the chosen path of her shot before casting the fiery red head another glare, less than comforting at the time though for the moment they appeared to be breaking off as if they felt the growing tension in the air and the feasible outcome of their actions, slowly departing the premises, but in the blink of an eye circumstances began to change.

Unfortunately her plan didn't have the desired effect and while her attention laid on the closest another member of the group swept in from the side at breakneck speed, hurling a barrage of tentacles at the more or less entrapped woman given that there wasn't another route to escape save for breaking through their assembly, twisting her supposed advantage into a prison.

Throughout the approach of their kin the remainder of the five joined the fray, inarguably provoked by the hostile act which surely wouldn't go unpunished, utilising her distraction of having to change from one target to another seemingly without any regard for the deadly tool in her grasp.

Whether struck or not the predatory aliens wouldn't back down in their ferocious invasion, forcing the former pirate into close quarter combat with an overwhelming number of tentacles at their disposal, instinctively targetting her joints and guts in an attempt to immobilize her rather than killing the human female in their midst straight away. They weren't immune to pain, but given their incredible regenerative qualities any injury would simply heal depending on how severe the wound had been.

Most of the assailing appendages, however, reached for the weapon in her hands rather than the well equipped woman herself, presumably more interested in the firearm after Scorch provided an insight on the raw power the device possessed. Physically their prowess ranked higher than hers and would prove far easier to deal with at range, undoubtedly impossible to fend off should they happen to get a hold on her.

Worse, however, had been the knowledge that the sound of any fired bullet carried throughout the swamps, resounding off the great many trees in their surroundings and alarming anything in the proximity of their presence.

Shit! Not the desired effect at all as they came at her, with five to one odds this little matter favored them. She was better dealing with things at range then close up after all and she worked better at range though that shoot clearly called out there was little choice in the matter.

She did not think the matter through though most of her weapons generated sound. Juking left then right, she was agile enough though there were too many tentacles and some snared her by the left arm. Fortunately they had been too interested in the weapon and she kept discharging it blindly until they got a hold of it.

Plan B … the blade extents on her right gauntlet and she makes a swipe at the tentacles there before closing her eyes and loosening a grenade from her belt. It had been a flash bang, hopeful it would disorientate them long enough for her to run by though once the ground got too swampy she would be at a disadvantage. With any luck she would be able to fire off some rounds with her plasma pistol abandoning her rifle to them rather than getting caught up in a pointless tug of war with so many of the natives baring down on her.

Out of the corner of her eyes Scorch would find that several projectiles connected with their target, the resulting noise resounding off the surrounding scenery. Her blade connected with naturally yielding flesh, slicing through any unsuspecting appendages with ease, but ultimately the natives overwhelmed the feisty human female through sheer numbers and force for the wild assembly refused to back down even the slightest bit, their ignorance of her collective armaments alone possibly the crucial element in her escape for when the grenade fell they didn't anticipate the blinding effect.

In the wake of agitated shouts and hisses they hadn't interfered with her swift getaway, occupied with the matter at hand which had been their stolen eyesight and their obtained object of desire.

Spinning around Scorch observed the unfolding spectacle, plasma pistol at the ready while any inflicted wounds were healing right before her eyes, punctured skin replaced by the picture perfect smoothness the young females exhibited prior to engaging their opponent and without any bleeding in sight as though her blade never truly lacerated their great many tendrils. Furthermore the severed flesh begun to regenerate, slowly but surely restoring the damaged limb to former stature while she could clearly observe her handiwork in the detached lengths of supple flesh in the mud below.

Rather than chasing after her, however, merely one of them had obtained the desired firearm, rubbing her eyes in gradual recovery of the flash bang's effect with two of her eight tentacles. Unlike what she might've expected to see they soon lashed out at each other, communicating in an alien tongue in an apparant argument between the one in possession of the rifle and another azure creature who soon indulged in the realm of confrontation, hits being exchanged by them whereupon the others had joined in without hesitation, each of them eager to gain the prize.

The distraction allowed for a relative safe departure from the scene for the time being although circumstances could always change here, the struggle for dominance a constant reminder of the ruthless nature on the planet and where such extraordinary predators existed, surely competitors reigned freely in the wilderness beside the amazon warriors and their relatively low population amongst the supposed plethora of species in the swamp.

Her eyes looked back in astonishment at the rate those wound had been healing and to think she had been concerned about harming them. She figured that the natives had to have a way of dealing with each other and judging by their tech level it had to be a primitive means.

She loosened her left gauntlet letting it fall away. She might need her hand free even though it seemed that they were too distracted fighting against one another allowing her to get a head start for now at least. Maybe they weren't going to pursue her now, maybe they would realizing she was still at a disadvantage in this terrain.

With the blasts though other things might have been attracted so finding a place to hide was in the cards right now. Wait and allow matters to calm a bit, possibly even wait until dark and move then guided by the infrared of her armor.

She had some meager supplies in her pack, mostly just the status chamber for the plant once she found it and some tools. She had her scanner, the pistol and five grenades left though one was a flash bang and one was a stun grenade the other three had been simple fragmentation grenades.

First things first was to get some distance. Now that they were arguing it would have been a bad idea to grab their attention and unify them but she kept an eye on them for as long as possible as she continued onward.

For the moment they were seemingly caught up in a more or less chaotic brawl, tentacles exchanging blows in a swirl of emerald and azure hues connecting with their respective counterpart with expert precision and near lightning speed, blocking and attacking all the same when the reminder struck that they hadn't even reached adulthood. Injuries healed swiftly and in the blurred spectacle it had been hard to tell whether anyone managed to gain the upper hand or not straight away.

Before they vanished from sight completely the supposed champion forced the others into submission, basking in her victory while mimicking Scorch from earlier, pointing the rifle at her spent and beaten opponents with an amused grin as though she were mocking the red haired vixen before firing another shot into the heavens above experimentally. However, none of them seemed to notice or care about her departure, indulged in the demanding display of power amongst their fellow sisters in battle.

She had been let off the hook, but certainly wouldn't be that lucky a second time for the swamps were hot in certain, sparsely covered areas whereas more lavish growth rendered the terrain far colder, either of these circumstances confining lifeforms to the waters of the vast swamp throughout the day and nobody could predict what would happen after nightfall, especially someone who set foot on the planet not too long ago and knew almost nothing of the local populace.

But the feisty woman found herself lucky in spite of most recent events as she pressed on through the wilderness, the flapping of wings in the canopies of the trees above alarming her to the presence of the Venir, quite possibly attracted by the noise or agitated by the same which hinted at her proximity to the desired Jewel, perhaps they were even part of the same assembly she'd scanned before descending to the surface.

They were truly a shimmer of hope amidst the gloomy nature of the world and likely the least deadly of anything she'd encountered thus far, her every step sapping the energy from her very being for solid landmasses outside of any inhabited settlements were arguably rarer than the rarest plant Scorch had come to find.

Slowly her steps were getting harder to carry out, the bottom of the waist high body of water slowing her advance to a crawl until suddenly her boot had gotten stuck in the mud, an incredible suction entrapping the human female in the middle of nowhere as her every attempt of wriggling free remained unsuccessful. Nearby the water rippled with motion, however, the timid waves laden with foreboding.

With the visual of the Venir she has second thoughts about holing up somewhere. The bats displayed that she was possibly close to her goal and the sooner she reached it the sooner she could be away from this horrid planet. Mercer would be happy with his plant, or not for she could care less about whether he was happy. As long as she fulfilled the tasks presented before her it did not matter provide he kept to his word.

Fortunately her little run in with the natives had only been a slight diversion. It could have been worse though she continues on forcing her way through the much when the land disappeared entirely. Each step forward became harder than the last until her leg sinks into the mud.

The suction great enough to hold her fast for the time being as she tugs, her hand disappearing beneath the mud both gripping her leg to assist pulling herself free. Her leg was coming loose albeit slowly though she halts upon seeing the ripples in the water before tugging quicker and more fanatically with more haste.

The mud and gunk probably ruined a few of the grenades though her pistol was in a shoulder holster and should have been fine.

“Fuck! Come on! Come on!” She murmured to herself as she pulled with greater eagerness.

Something didn't seem right for every inch gained resulted in her leg being seemingly devoured by nature itself and the harder the former pirate struggled to break free the more her body sank into the miry ground. Nothing appeared to help and given the relative uselessness of the majority her grenades in close proximity and their state under the filth which had been caused by her movements, there wasn't much more she could do before losing her pistol to the water.

Suddenly Scorch brushed up against flesh with the back of her hand while tugging on her leg, something alive which stirred beneath the slightest touch and wriggled away from the contact of their skin, shifting her limb in the process whereas the unknown assailant had begun to close in at a more urgent pace.

Both the approaching end and the suction were part of the same entity which would soon dawn on her, spanning more than several metres in overall length judging by her initial notice of the approaching menace.

It breached the surface, revealing yet another nightmarish chapter of the swamps for the serpentine creature possessed an extremely slender skull of sinister dark hues, lacking any eyes whatsoever though it turned out to be carnivorous without the slightest shred of doubt, his mouth graced by powerful mandibles akin to what the human female might recall from insects, merely far bigger than their respective counterpart. She caught a glimpse before her world had been turned upside down.

Sheer muscle strength heaved her foot out of the encompassing mud prior to letting her fall backwards in the sudden tug bestowed unto her limb which swiftly submersed her entirety beneath the waves, either trying to drown her or fight the intruder in his own element considering that the natives were capable of breathing both water and air.

Surrounded by the same revolting sludge Scorch didn't have that possibility while the grasp on her leg tightened since what appeared to be the tail of the creature constricted around her, denying her lower body the freedom of movement.

The creature descended upon her in one fell swoop as it plunged beneath the surface, threatening to slice into the flesh of her neck upon realising after several long moments that her armor would prove to be impenetrable, befalling the sack of meat there instead in hopes of ending her struggles quickly before anyone tried to usurp the highly appreciated meal.

Unable to free herself Scorch soon came to the realization that the creature ahead of her making the ripples in the muddy swamp water was the same thing holding her fast. Pulling her downward as if she had been mired in quicksand.

Perhaps this thing had been some sort of trap like a Venus flytrap slowly digesting her. Eventually she had been sunk low enough in the water where the plasma pistol got wet and would be useless until it dried. Soon after the thing submerged catching her up in fright as she saw the thing.

Suddenly her hands come up though it is the left one that grows warmer as she generates the heat there to unless. But before she can get the shot off her legs are pulled out from under her generating a splash as she falls back and struggles to get her head above water though the worse of the armor, the suit she was wearing now, did not have a contained air supply. She could only guess the creature was more comfortable fighting in the water given that the natives could breath water.

Underwater she was at a disadvantage. Among the obvious such as not being able to breath there was th3e fact that she could not generate a flame though even above the water she still needed time.

Hit to thing had tried to bit her but could not pierce the armor and it was her hope that it did not discover that her left arm down to the elbow was now unarmored. She was quite removed from a hospital if she were mangle or injured severely not to mention the chance of infection was quite high given the filthy water.

Maybe it would release her seeing that it could not eat her. Her wrist blade was already out as she tried to poke or cut away what was holding her which triggered this response, either she had hurt it though it was more likely that it waited and that part of it had a measure of protection she could not get through.

Water resistance would be a bitch so she had to thrust with the blade whenever she sensed that the creature was near if it seemed determined for if she were going down it wouldn't be without a fight.

An ear numbing squeal filled the surrounding sludge upon burying her blade in the flesh of the creature as though she were slicing into butter, causing the creature to recoil from the sensation for it couldn't see the approaching threat, rather hearing it thinking that it wasn't anything metallic and lethal, withdrawing momentarily without actually releasing her captured lower body.

Moving through the water with grace, however, an extraordinary sense of smell revealed the weak spot of its prey whereupon the menacing head lashed out at her unprotected left arm, mandibles carving deeply into her skin which left it open for another assault though alongside the resulting pain Scorch would feel something else, an incredible tingle spreading throughout her hand and the area around the inflicted wound.

It injected her with a fierce poison which oozed from the previously unseen maw, a muscle relaxant or worse considering that by the time she managed to strike again her left hand had been completely numb and the sensation reached her elbow before long, except that the outskirts of lacerated skin had begun to sting severely. Bleeding and weakened through the drug pulsing through her veins chances were that she would meet an untimely demise.

Likewise anything the swamps contained in their liquid form intermingled with her bloodstream, flowing into her entirety without any chance of receiving treatment all the way out in the wilderness, but at the very least her assailant had been dealt with as the lifeless corpse loosened its hold on her entrapped legs and allowed her to return to the surface.

The Venir in the distance were the constant reminder of her proximity to the desired plant, invoking the memory of her task and whatever else Scorch gathered of the unusual growth she was supposed to retrieve here.

Perhaps confirming the supposed restorative properties of the Jewel would serve her best, not that returning to her ship would yield many different results in the long run should the rumors prove to be false.

The screech had been encouraging at least though she had shifted though the visual options available in her helmet. Infrared wasn't working, no surprise seeing that it was probably cold blooded. She was attempting to find a means of seeing it under water but had to rely of her normal vision as nothing seemed to work.

“ARRGHH!” Her arm had been lacerated and she punched out at it with the bladed gauntlet trying to get free. It had backed off, her legs released and she popped back up, her arm already tingling, the creature still out there or perhaps it was waiting now rather than expend effort against struggling prey. There were creatures she had been aware of that allowed their prey freedom until they succumb to a poison where upon they moved in.

All thoughts of severing the limb had been gone. The blade was mired in muck and the poison had already spread to her elbow and it was probably too late any way. Whether poison or a paralytic the creature did not strike yet and she had to grip her wounded hand to keep it above the water. Pain burned through her and there was nothing on the ship that would really help. There were a few treatments against poisons though they were mild ones. Of course she had more things against infection which was good given the swamp water.

She sees the Venir though her scanner was lost in the scuffle so she could not confirm that this was not just a lone Venir out hunting. They were communal animals from what she read so they were probably clustered around.

Still, a legend was probably the only thing capable of saving her at this stage. Her pistol was gone, her grenades if still good weren't going to be much of a factor and she was minus and arm. She could only pray that she could make it to the plant before expiring though given that the creature had released her she was either a ways from solid ground or pain made it recoil for the time being.

Frantically she looks around then presses onward in the direction she hopes the plant was in, there was not much of a choice now. Either find that plant or die in addition to Selena's fate hanging in the balance.