Chapter Text
Something exploded on his landing pod.
It knocked him off course severely, hitting the pod beside his as well; turning his squad from one team of four into two teams of two in an instant, as massive cliffs and deep bodies of water divided the two landing zones. Both pods bounced when they hit the ground, rolling, and with practiced timing he popped the door and dropped out before it flew off the cliff with him in it. His companion - apparently his odd man out with no reliable records - had faired a mild bit better, having lodged on a rock and managed to get out.
There was a small moment, where he froze, and he felt the hairs raise on the back of his neck, mechanical eye tracking the tensing movements of the other man’s arms-
He may have been old, but his reaction time hadn’t aged a day.
He dove and rolled behind one of the nearby clusters of rock, as the shotgun slug embedded itself in the ground he’d been occupying mere moments ago. He growled under his breath, charging up a shot in his weapon, listening carefully for movement before peaking over his cover and firing.
His assailant let out what he could only describe as a ‘squawk’, before vanishing, however a plume of upturned dust indicated the direction of his retreat, and the Captain swore, vaulting over his cover in pursuit. They danced like this, weaving between trees and rocks, firing off recklessly at one another. He may not have had as much speed or maneuverability as his opponent, but his years of experience and careful strategic placement allowed him to keep pace with the other man.
And then finally he managed to get in close, knocking the gun out of his hands and snagging him by the coat before he could pull his little vanishing act again. He lifted the stowaway up by the back of said coat, a feat of strength which pulled a satisfyingly startled noise out of him, and shook him like it might rattle his brain back into position.
“I don’t know what fool-hardy nonsense brought you onto my vessel, but if you think you can attempt something like that and just slip away, I’ve got some news for you!” The thought of shooting him was tempting, but he knew the type, he probably had a record, a nasty one, and he was sure there were law officials who’d be happy to take him off the Captain’s hands if he could get him back.
His captive ceased to squirm at the same moment a ball of fire came floating into view just a few yards ahead of them. A ball of fire with a face.
“Oh fucking hell.” the Bandit muttered under his breath, before slapping at the Captain’s gloved hand awkwardly, “ Put me down you stupid old bastard, I’m no use to either of us hanging in your hand like a limp di-“
He tossed the Bandit back in the direction of his discarded shotgun, hoping he would stick the landing gracefully enough to recover before they were shot at. He managed well enough, though he did throw some colorful language in his general direction.
And then it was chaos.
He couldn’t afford to expend much thought towards the Bandit, beyond making sure he didn’t go dying on him. Clearly, his unusual companion was as accustomed to combat as he was, a former soldier perhaps; because within moments they were fighting alongside one another as easily as breathing. Providing covering fire and watching each other’s backs, forgetting their personal strife in favor of surviving. There was something thrilling about it, that the Captain chose not to examine too closely, he didn’t want to become too comfortable in the Bandit’s presence, couldn’t afford to.
They worked their way across the clearing, popping open crates with the help of his hacking device, snagging supplies as they went, until they came across an alien structure which seemed to react to their presence, putting out an energy field of some sort. The hum of building power told him whatever it was doing, might take a few minutes to accomplish, and their enemies were growing more numerous and volatile by the second. He would’ve had them fall back to a distance from the device, but the energy field must have attracted the attention of someone else as well. Their one route away from it was now blocked by a giant pair of insects.
“I’ll take the one on the right; she’s prettier.” the Bandit joked, dashing forward between the creature’s legs to slash at the lower joints with his knife.
Sighing, the Captain positioned an air strike over the other insect, “Idiot.”
Between the Bandit weaving around them with well placed shots, and the Captain’s powerful distanced blows, the two giant beasts fell, and their smaller enemies seemed to fall back for a moment, giving the two of them a chance to breath. And then with a loud whump, whatever had been charging finished, collapsing the energy field. The Captain glanced down at his synthetic arm, noting the way all his cybernetic-prosthetics felt...odd; it was a familiar sort of odd, like the first time he’d used one of those fancy transporters on higher-end vessels, which they’d packed so much tech into there was no room for normal means of traversing between the decks. He turned toward the alien structure, aware of the Bandit fidgeting at his side.
The sounds of their foes stirring for another push up to their position snapped him into action. He reached back and grabbed the Bandit by the coat before he could slip away and pulled him toward the device.
And in a flash of white light, they were gone.