The Stone Empress - Jim Shaw - Bog

"Everybody keep your heads on a swivel. This terrain is perfect for ambush," Dane said adding, "we don't want to get caught out here with our pants down.""Haughn seeing how you're the fastest gun, why don't you take point," Dane suggested, "I know I'd feel a lot safer knowing you were our eyes and ears."Haughn nodded and proceeded to go on ahead of the group, out to a dozen meters. Ins'y'ack followed him out halfway and then maintained a consistent distance so he could keep watch on Haughn and the group. Haughn had been at point for about two hours doggedly trudging along the ancient foot path. He was getting tired and each time he had to climb over a fallen tree blocking the path or gingerly pick his way through a maze of half exposed tangle of roots, he found himself questioning the logic behind this expedition. There just had to be an easier way to get to this gate. He knew the trees were hundreds of feet high and the canopy was far to thick to bring a ship down through them, but still, where there was a will there had to be a way. He had lived his whole life by that premise.He was just about to stop and wait for the rest of the group to catch up so he could switch off with Dane, when the glint of polished metal caught his eye. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stir."Blaster! Take cover," he yelled.Haughn Felick quickly drew his blaster and fell to the ground. He had the glint lined up in his sights, when he realized what he was looking at was not a Vashek trooper aiming a blaster at him. It was something else. What was it?He looked back at the group. They had almost caught up to him. He decided he had better find out exactly what it was before they reached his position. If it were a trap then he'd have to defuse it, or at the very least identify it.He got to his feet slowly, careful to keep his blaster trained on the shiny object in the distance. Carefully and deliberately he picked his way to approximately where it was. He stood there on the edge of the path studying the area, trying to source out the object. It was a ways into the bush and still somewhat obscured by the thick feathery bushes that grew close to the ground.Again, he looked back at the group steadily closing on his position. A sense of urgency began to grow in the pit of his stomach; he looked back into the jungle to where the glint was. If it was danger, he had to neutralize it before the group got to him, before Aurora got to where he was. He had no other choice but to venture off the path and go into the raw jungle itself, even though Ins'y'ack had expressly forbidden it.He looked once more at the group, at Aurora in particular, who were by now almost upon him. He could tell they saw where he was and knew what he was about to do. There was alarm on their faces as he stepped into the bush, but he couldn't concern himself with that right now. Something cracked underfoot.What the...? Haughn was startled by the sound of a speeder bike's engine. He was right the first time; they were under attack! Yet something was off, something didn't quite feel right. The engine sounded stationary, it was neither closing in on them nor going away.Haughn looked back at the group. They were screaming and running towards him."It's alright," he yelled, placing his blaster back in its holster, "I think it's only an abandoned speeder bike that someone left running."He didn't see what the others saw. If he had, he surely would have been consumed by the same terror.