Metal Whispers
Title: Hellhounds
Word Count: 482
The pair of beasts skittered to a stop about a half mile away, resting on their haunches like a pair of ugly dogs - the best way to describe them, Quinn realized, as he zoomed Synthius' sights in on them. Though their limbs cocked unnaturally to the sides, almost like those of a spider, there were still only four of them. The hips were sharply angled down, so that the legs rose up and then bent down at a second joint above the knee, segmented and wrapped with overlapping plates of armor like the scales on an armadillo. The torso looked human enough, if not unnaturally thin, but it was the head that was most curious to him. Instead of a visor-like shape that covered the mech's sensors, these things actually seemed to have eyes - wild brown orbs that rolled in their sockets like a chameleon's.
"Holy. Fuck." Chance's curse was, as usual, perfectly timed and entirely appropriate. "What the fuck are those things?"
"I've never seen anything like them," Keelin murmured.
"The better question is, who made them?" Quinn wondered aloud. "Because unless someone's build team has been dropping acid lately, those..." He felt Synthius move, her hands going to her flechette guns, and frowned slightly. "Syn, baby, what are you doing?"
[ I don't like them. ] Her voice was quaking, and the lights across her console flickered nervously, paling to a soft blue-white. [ I'm not reading anything off them. No signals. No impulses. No charges. ]
"That's impossible," Keelin said. "Something that big -"
[ She's right. ] Venus this time, just as nervous. Quinn could see her fidgeting in his peripheral vision, the forearm bays over her gatling guns open. [ I don't think they're mechanical at all. ]
Silence fell as the three pilots stared at the beasts, the mechs shifting uneasily beneath them. One of the dog-things stared back at them, while the other sniffed at the ground and then scratched the back of it's head with one foot, the clank and scratch of its claws hitting its armor echoing across the open space.
"So... what do you guys want to do about this?" Chance asked. Rather than nervous, he simply sounded bored. "Kill 'em and go home?"
[ I completely support this, ] Synthius agreed. Quinn rolled his eyes, flicking through his interface.
"We're not killing anything," he said firmly. "You know the rules."
[ The rules apply to mechs, ] she stressed. [ Those things aren't mechs. ]
[ She has a point, ] Aria said quietly, her timid voice near-silent over the commlink. [ I don't know, those things are making me really uncomfortable. ]
"Ladies, this is ridiculous," Quinn snapped. "You can't just run around killing every foreign lifeform you come across."
[ Why not? ] Venus asked. [ That's what you made us for, isn't it? ]
Word Count: 482
The pair of beasts skittered to a stop about a half mile away, resting on their haunches like a pair of ugly dogs - the best way to describe them, Quinn realized, as he zoomed Synthius' sights in on them. Though their limbs cocked unnaturally to the sides, almost like those of a spider, there were still only four of them. The hips were sharply angled down, so that the legs rose up and then bent down at a second joint above the knee, segmented and wrapped with overlapping plates of armor like the scales on an armadillo. The torso looked human enough, if not unnaturally thin, but it was the head that was most curious to him. Instead of a visor-like shape that covered the mech's sensors, these things actually seemed to have eyes - wild brown orbs that rolled in their sockets like a chameleon's.
"Holy. Fuck." Chance's curse was, as usual, perfectly timed and entirely appropriate. "What the fuck are those things?"
"I've never seen anything like them," Keelin murmured.
"The better question is, who made them?" Quinn wondered aloud. "Because unless someone's build team has been dropping acid lately, those..." He felt Synthius move, her hands going to her flechette guns, and frowned slightly. "Syn, baby, what are you doing?"
[ I don't like them. ] Her voice was quaking, and the lights across her console flickered nervously, paling to a soft blue-white. [ I'm not reading anything off them. No signals. No impulses. No charges. ]
"That's impossible," Keelin said. "Something that big -"
[ She's right. ] Venus this time, just as nervous. Quinn could see her fidgeting in his peripheral vision, the forearm bays over her gatling guns open. [ I don't think they're mechanical at all. ]
Silence fell as the three pilots stared at the beasts, the mechs shifting uneasily beneath them. One of the dog-things stared back at them, while the other sniffed at the ground and then scratched the back of it's head with one foot, the clank and scratch of its claws hitting its armor echoing across the open space.
"So... what do you guys want to do about this?" Chance asked. Rather than nervous, he simply sounded bored. "Kill 'em and go home?"
[ I completely support this, ] Synthius agreed. Quinn rolled his eyes, flicking through his interface.
"We're not killing anything," he said firmly. "You know the rules."
[ The rules apply to mechs, ] she stressed. [ Those things aren't mechs. ]
[ She has a point, ] Aria said quietly, her timid voice near-silent over the commlink. [ I don't know, those things are making me really uncomfortable. ]
"Ladies, this is ridiculous," Quinn snapped. "You can't just run around killing every foreign lifeform you come across."
[ Why not? ] Venus asked. [ That's what you made us for, isn't it? ]