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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4949842" data-attributes="member: 143">Thanks, Richard!I'm heading out of town for a few days so here's the Friday post a bit early. * * * * * Session 5 (May 12, 2008)Chapter 13Jane rubbed her thumb over the screen of her xPhone.  The image there had vanished; the device’s power cell was depleted.  But Jane didn’t see it; in her mind, she was back in the canyon in the Canadian Rockies. Gunfire exploded through the canyon, as the humans and aliens traded fire.  The alien that had killed Carson fell as several bullets struck it; it collapsed backward and disappeared amongst the rocks at the top of the cliff.  The second sectoid fired off a shot that narrowly missed Vasily, kicking up a tall fountain of earth where it slammed into the valley floor.  The Russian shifted fire and blasted off the rest of his clip, sending the alien scurrying back into the cover of the rocks. The two aliens further down the canyon had come forward to join the fight.  One went down, hit by bullets from Jane and Sandoval, but the second fired its pistol.  The shot hit the cliff face less than a foot ahead of Jane, showering her with an explosive burst of dust and stone shards.  She fell onto her back, screaming as she clutched at her face.  James ran over to her, firing shots from his pistol as he ran.  Buzz had fallen back behind the Skyranger, his own pistol out, looking for a clear shot.   The alien further down the canyon staggered as Sandoval clipped it with the last round of a three-round burst.  But it didn’t go down, and kept coming closer, firing off blasts from its handgun that slammed into Sandoval’s cover, vaporizing huge segments of rock.  The soldier dropped, covering his face with his hands as he vanished inside the roiling cloud of pulverized stone dust.  Vasily reloaded and fired several bursts at the sectoid up among the rocks.  He cursed as his shots all missed.  The alien rose up long enough to take a bead on Vasily, but before it could fire, it crumpled as a shot took it in the head.  Vasily looked over at Catalina, who smiled and blew off the tiny wisp of smoke rising from the barrel of her pistol.  But then his eyes widened as he saw the wounded alien coming up behind her.  She saw the danger in his eyes and spun to face it, but before she could take a shot or seek cover the alien shot her in the chest.  Her scream died before she hit the ground. The Russian looked at the alien.  Its face was utterly unreadable; if it felt elation, anger, or even fear, he could not see it.  He felt as though time had slowed around him as he lifted his gun, squeezed the trigger.  Nothing happened.  The weapon had jammed.  He could hear yelling, cries of pain.  Something surged over him, blocking out everything but a red flare of rage as he rushed up, the bulky handle of the stun rod coming into his hands as he unslung the cumbersome weapon from across his back.  Something flashed by his face, missing him by scant inches, close enough that he could feel the heat from it.  Then the alien was right in front of him.  He stabbed the head of the rod into its gut.  There was an angry hiss, a sizzling noise, and then it was down, prone and unmoving. Everything came back to normal speed, the surge of input hitting his senses like a hammer.  He glanced back at Catalina, who was moving, though weakly.  Buzz was bent over her, fumbling with a bandage. Vasily reached up and touched his communicator.  In a voice that sounded distant from his own, he said, “Alpha Team to Skyranger, three casualties, repeat, three team members down.”</blockquote>

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