A Winter's Tale: Entry Portal --------------------------------------------- The wind howled up the ravine and over the lip, blasting loose ice particles into Krel's face. "Yahn," muffled Krel into his shoulder-mounted comm-device "this storm is too strong! I can't see a thing!" Yahn stifled the crackle at his shoulder, while sloshing up the ridge toward Krel. He was too far behind to see exactly where Krel was located but knew that he only needed to follow the fairly deep footprints up the rise. He felt uneasy about their distance, with an unsettled feeling in his stomach, but brushed it off as the trail turned upwards. A periodic and ever-so-slight tremor seemed to make itself known, but then again...it was hard to tell much of anything in such a raging blizzard. The waist-deep drifts signaled a long, tumultuous history of battering winds and snow. Visibility was limited as a torrent of violent gusts beat down upon the terrain, scattering snow like a million feathers. Yahn looked around, trying to make sense of the blinding storm. "Yeah...it is pretty bad," muttered Yahn, "but we've got to find that Out-Rigging station, to get some kind of break. It's gotta be here, somew..." From far below, Krel could hear a chilling yell pierce through the wintry onslaught. He knew it sounded like Yahn, but also shared resemblances with another. He whirled around and tried to peer back down along his trail of heavy footprints. With lightning-instincts, Krel drew his blaster and yelled into the comm-device. "Yahn! What was that? You okay?" Nothing. Krel struggled to remove his gloves long enough to punch the radar buttons, in efforts to locate Yahn on the portable locator-device. Why hadn't he checked a visual sooner, he questioned to himself. He was not able to hone in on Yahn's coordinates but locked onto something else, wait...TWO! Then he could hear it faintly...the sounds of labored breathing, pulsating through his comm. He was barely able to detect the thud of heavy footfall as shadows started to become visible from back down the quickly disappearing trail he had labored to forge. Who or whatever it was, was coming up the ravine toward him...FAST! Krel feverishly fumbled the locator back into its holster and grabbed his gloves. He had to do something quickly or whatever it was, however many of them, would be upon him. It would be impossible to get away undetected or fight alone in the hammering storm, but...he had another idea. --------------------------------------------- The grey-white, gangly fur was now covered with what remained of Krel's friend. Yahn had managed to put up a good fight considering the stealthy, striking attack-ability of Morg Mining Post 7's most feared inhabitant...the Pallid Stalker. Most battles didn't last too long, anyway. Without an army of skilled warriors or powerful weaponry, the Pallid Stalker had a quick way of dispersing its prey with little resistance...especially lone prey. The Pallid Stalker was a violent predator with decent eyesight, but a sense of smell that could cut through virtually any tempest...and this time was no exception. They found their meal...and meals were hard to come by at such excruciating heights. The pale, dingy fur shrouded lean musculature that made a Pallid Stalker quick and deadly. For the most part, a Pallid Stalker appeared as an awkward genetic-experiment-gone-wrong cross between a panther and a polar bear...but a second-look revealed quite a different picture. This creature was right at home in such a frigid climate. A fierce hunter skillfully adapted to low-visibility encounters. Now, Yahn was gone. But that was beside the point... --------------------------------------------- Scrambling to tighten gear straps, and look over his shoulder at what could only be assumed a rapidly ascending enemy, he knew it was time to enact his spur-of-the-moment plan. With a flying leap, Krel plunged himself over the ridge. The blinding snow and blistering wind smashed his face and stole the air from his lungs. If the chilling air didn't snatch his breath, the sudden impact of his descending body smashing against the steep slope did. Downward he tumbled violently, trying to stop the insanity of his fall. Krel flung his roped-anchor upward, in hopes of embedding it deep within a rapidly passing crag. About the time vertigo displaced any cognizance, he was jerked suddenly to a swinging halt. The anchor worked! Had it not been for the harness sewn into his outerwear, Krel may have lost an appendage or two...but at least for now, he was safe. Bruised, but safe. Not too bad, thought Krel. The springboard-ridge, from which he fool-heartedly flung himself, was now high above and barely visible in the blinding updraft. Good thing too, because now he was able to confirm the identity of his foe...two Pallid Stalkers. They were peering out over the edge, screaming a deafening roar...but they couldn't spot him and didn't seem too interested in getting close to the lip's edge, either. All things considered, he was in great shape for just having had a run-in with the feared beasts...even if the encounter was a distant one. Better than Yahn fared. Most people never made it past the initial shock of seeing a Pallid Stalker because by then, it was usually too late for anything else. The force of his fall had been enough to blanket him nicely against the snowy wall. The Pallid Stalkers wouldn't be able to traverse such a steep slope and that was fine with Krel...even if they did see him. But then, he saw something else... Krel blinked with disbelief. At first, he thought perhaps he was slipping into a state of unconsciousness with the waves of sleep that sought to overtake his body but even then...it was fairly visible, from his new angle. A small outcropping appeared a few hundred yards further below him. Under a powdered-white mound, he could see the faint, reddish glow of an Entry Portal. It was time to cut the cord and take a closer look...
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