Luthienne! She was the survivor of ISV-Kran who fought in the Tournament, isn't she?

Nice story.

Very nice! The Skaarj's utter contempt for humans is funny and continues to baffle me. I guess that goes with their racial superiority complex though. They all think they're better than everyone around them, including their own people, so if one of their flunkies/cohorts get killed by a Terran it was probably because that chode wasn't tough enough.

Now, I'm all excited about what's going to happen next!

Thanks for sharing!

Another awesome chapter! Short but oh so sweet.

Rhiannon got a little plucky for a little bit and I have to say that I liked it. I did find her blabber about the Marine busting a fat cap in those douches kinda weird but she's not exactly right in the head. Mach is such a damn weinny though. My God. How did he even survive civilization, let alone the No Man's Land that is Na Pali.

I noticed this one bit:

"...they had to be close to water because the tunnel reeked of the smell of fish and mud" -To say that something "reeks" connotates the sense of smell so saying "the smell of" is kind of redundant.

Thank you for sharing!

"...standing but leaning to the side..." -Maybe 'hunched over' would have worked better. This seems a bit wordy.

It was a shorty but oh so good.

The mysterious Marine's dialogue is short and to the point. It reminds me of Kurt Russell's as Sgt. Todd in Soldier. Soft-spoken and to the point even when discussing dire stuff. Far more sarcastic though. Lol. The last line really killed me.

All-in-all, a great chapter. I noticed these kerfluffles though:

"...the bone-deep slash on its side." -'In its side'. If it's bone-deep then it's definitely inside. 'On' makes me think 'surface'. But that could just be me.

"...the Terran that had slashed him face..." -Lol. I was confused for a minute. I could see you using 'him face' in speech since we're talking about Skaarj but I was like 'Nobody's talking!' Heh.

"His snarling question could only be understood to the Terran..." -'by the Terran' works better.

Thanks for sharing!

Holy crap!

I can't believe Machiel fell for the old bait-and-switch. What a dumbass!

Btw, I loved the opening line about the two being like a pair of scolded dogs. It was an awesome image to open the scene on.

You have a way with cliffhangers and that's a fact.

I wonder who could possibly have saved them. Heheheh. :D

A short one but a good one. You really describe the panoramic vistas of the planet so well that I'm almost there. Very well done.

I laughed uproariously at the image of the tiny lizard with a four-foot hunk of meat in its mouth. Haha. That cheeky little bastard.

Rhiannon really is freakin' stupid but she is an Office of a commercial starship, so I shouldn't expect too much.

Thanks for writing!

Who could that lone figure be, I wonder! Oh, I'm buzzing with anticipation. I'll say it again, you really know how to craft a bitchy character. Lol. Mach's description of Rhiannon had me LOL'ing all over the place.

Excellent work, 'Juicy!

You always know how to fill out a world-I'm totally unfamiliar with the story of this game, but even then, I don't feel anything lacking from the world, because your descriptions are so complete. Wonderful work, as always.

I'd have to give you an A for your descriptions in this one, 'Juicy. I could practically smell the ozone and twisted metal as I read it.

You also, as always, did a bang-up job with the character interaction. Though, I have to say, you've once again made a character I love to hate. Man, that Ries woman is a massive bee-otch!

Thanks for writing!