Big Guns

Crow still looked at her strangely, more with pity than curiosity now. He had her moved to strictly patrols, until her therapist deemed her stable enough for another big mission like that. Not that she was unstable. Totally not. So she had ripped faces apart. Big deal. They deserved it. Drifter had given her a new gun, out of mostly sympathy.

"I know you wanna get out there, Sister," he had told her, sliding the submachine gun towards her. "But you've just been through something horrendous. I'd say I can't imagine what you've been through, but I probably have." He'd shrugged, patting her shoulder. "This one's on me, kid. Let yourself breathe for a bit, take things easy."

So she was. Drifter had given her something strong, called Exit Strategy. She liked this one. It was a little better than Breakneck, and the recoil wasn't too bad, she supposed. It was louder, that was a drawback. If she had to shoot enemy Cabal, she only got one surprise hit in before everything in the vicinity knew where she was. But it was powerful, and Yetta liked having that power in her hands. 

She had just finished investigating a lost sector, seeing if there was anything to clear out. She hadn't spoken to Devrim about a patrol yet, preferring to just explore the EDZ for the millionth time. She counted that as her patrols, usually. She knew she had to pick an actual patrol up soon, Crow would be checking up on her soon, to see how long it took to finish one. She looked at the empty loot chest, sighing softly. Whichever guardian had cleared it out had cleared the chest out too. 

Not that she could really complain. That hadn't been her fight. But still, just a little bit of Glimmer left behind would have been nice. Soft, squeaky chirping drew her attention. Birds didn't come this far down in the caves. Never. She whistled softly to Cherry, nodding her head towards the sound. The warbeast grunted, and sniffed it out.

The chirping turned into shrill shrieks as Cherry got closer, with the same kind of rasp to the noise that Eliksni had. She shouldered her gun, and walked over. 

. . .

Yetta didn't know what she was expecting when she peered into the rubble. A bird, on the off chance. A new kind of enemy, maybe. Unlikely, but perhaps. A hatchling wasn't it. Four blue, curious eyes blinked up at her, and the hatchling settled, clicking softly as it reached claws out to her. "What the fuck…?" Yetta murmured. "Hey little guy," she soothed gently. "Where's your family?" Dread settled low in her stomach. Eliksni never abandoned their young, never left them alone for too long. She looked at the scattered bodies, the feeling getting stronger.

She sat with the hatchling for a second, on the off chance that maybe its parents would come back. Maybe the hatchling had been hidden for safety. Her eyes never left the bodies. An hour passed, two, then three. And the hatchling shrieked after three hours, obviously hungry. She picked it up, holding it at arm's length. What does one even feed a hatchling?? Ether, right.

The question is, where would she get it? There had to be a settlement nearby that wouldn't shoot her on sight, right? Setting her sack on the ground, she rummaged inside for some rope. Something to tether this hatchling to her chest, just for the time being. The hatchling settled for a second, nibbling at her neck in search of food. With a soft "aha!" she found the rope, and began tying the hatchling to her chest, making sure she wasn't pinning any limbs down uncomfortably. Where would she go? Lost sectors. They always had a settlement of hostile Eliksni inside. If she could just convince them that she didn't want to hurt them…

Grabbing her gun, she bolted out of the current sector she was in. "Crow wants you back in an hour," Jason reminded her.

"He can wait," she grumbled. "This is more important."

"Why not take it to the Eliksni Quarter?" Jason flew alongside her as she ran. "They'd be more welcoming."

"Hatchling's hungry. Gotta do a pit stop first." She stuck to the trees, Cherry galloping alongside her. The hatchling cooed with every jump, clicking with glee as the trees zoomed past. 

She kept her eyes on the rocks, looking for that symbol…there. There it was. Jason put her weapons away, and dissipated from view, and Yetta walked in, hands raised in a show of peace. The cave's chill sunk deep into her bones, and she could hear the scattered chitters of hiding Fallen. She could hear their guns training on her, and she undid the rope around her chest, and held up the hatchling. "I just need some ether," she cried. "One of your own is hungry. I'll be on my way shortly!"

Something jumped down behind her, cold metal pressing to her neck. "How did you get that?"

. . .

She had been interviewed, over and over, while they looked the hatchling over. How did she acquire a hatchling? Where were its parents? And ever time, she gave the same answers. She found it hidden in rubble. Parents were most likely dead. The fact that she herself wasn't dead yet testified to their patience. Cherry sat beside her, nipping at any hands that reached out to remove him. 

Yetta had been left alone, as they talked over her answers again. She understood the hesitance. Guardians cleaned out lost sectors daily, nay. Hourly. And to see a guardian who just…found a hatchling? That was a little suspicious. Jason flew in front of her, beeping. "Crow's been calling."

"And he can wait. Like I said, this is more important."

"He won't like that answer."

"Tough shit. Tell him I found a hatchling, and needed to get help ASAP. Just waiting to know if I can leave now." She propped her feet against the table legs, and leaned back, nearly falling over when somebody cleared their throat.

"We've decided," the Eliksni began, in broken English. "You are either a very good liar, and a merciful killer, or you are telling the truth."

"Second one," she said. "Wouldn't really say the first one. I've ripped Scorn faces apart before."

Her company perked up. "Scorn? You target Scorn?" The Eliksni crawled closer, as if afraid Yetta would break out a gun and shoot her on the spot. "Scorn chased us from our home. You have killed them? Many?"

"A few." Yetta slid off of her chair, sitting on the ground. "I really hate them. Looks like we have that in common."

A three fingered hand was outstretched to her. "You are different than the others," her company said. "Better, kinder. What is your name?"

"Yetta, Yetta Toal." She grabbed the paw, and shook.

"I am Skethris. I recognize the hatchling. She was my sister's hatchling, the sole survivor of an attack on our campsite." Skethris pulled her into a hug, tightly. "I heard my sister had died. I thought her young died with her. She is lucky to have been found by you."

Yetta hesitantly hugged back. "You're in hiding?"

"There are not many of us left. We just want to live."

"I know a guy, technically."

"Misraaks. We have heard of him. If we could make it there, we would. We have no ship, no supplies to last the journey."

Yetta's mouth twisted. "How many of you are there? I might be able to get you there. Real quick."