'Shopping For Blood' 1:6th scale Sci Fi photostory!

I've been meaning to do something with my 6th scale guys for ages and as it was so lovely and sunny today, I took Carus and Jarran outside for a bit of a photoshoot. :D
I'm used to doing photostories with my other models but I've never done one in 1:6 before. I know most people seem to do them like comics with speech bubbles and the like but what can I say, I like to type! XD


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'Jerran.'



'Jerran.'



‘Oi, you, come on, get up you lazy sod. We’ve got work to do.’



Trying to ignore the frustrated nudges from his Captain's foot in his leg, the engineer looked up.

‘Eurgh...remind me why we’re here again?’



‘We’re here Jerran’ replied his Captain irritably ‘because we’re low on supplies’

‘Yeah, I get that but we’re only a couple of hours away from that refuelling station – can’t we just pick up some stuff there?’

‘...and pay though the nose for it? You want to spend all our hard earned credits on overpriced, reconstituted, Syndicate issue nutrient bars? I don’t think so. This planet has an abundance of plant life – I scanned it whilst we were in orbit and besides, it should only take half an hour to collect some stuff, then we can leave again’

‘I suppose so...’

‘Then you suppose right. Go on, I’m heading over there, just beyond that ridge - my scanner’s picked up a cluster of edible fruits or roots or something and I want to check it out. You get started here and keep your communicator on – I don’t think there‘ll be any problems but you never know.’

Carus looked around warily. She could have sworn she’d heard something moving amongst the trees. Although she’d have been bringing it anyway to assist her in cutting down foliage, she was thankful for the serrated blade of her staff.



‘Yes Cap...’

As he watched Carus fade into the distant heat haze, Jerran stood up and stretched, taking in the surroundings. Her scans were right, this world did have a great variety of organic life but that didn’t interest him in the slightest. He hadn’t been planetside in a long time and the sensation of real sunlight on his skin was exhilarating after the many months exposed to nothing but redistributed heat from the engines back on board the Transient.



He’d do what the Captain asked him to do of course and gather some supplies but he was going to make the most of this trip if it was the last thing he did.



Using his handheld scanner he identified a selection of fruits that seemed edible and chucked them roughly into the container. This was even duller than cleaning plasma conduits and that was saying something. A trickling sound to his right alerted him to the presence of a small stream. He followed it for a few hundred yards until he came to a small but deep looking pool, filled with what looked at first glance like fish. He scooped one up and threw it back into the water when the scanner identified it as a primitive form of amphibian.



‘Eurgh, sorry Cap but I am NOT eating frogs.’





Satisfied that he’d gathered enough food, he returned to the clearing and lay down again. The grass was warm from the midday sun and comfortable to boot. Just a couple of minutes...



Meanwhile...



As she’d suspected, there was a plentiful supply of plants suitable for eating where Carus’ scanner had picked up the readings. Some she recognised from pre-packaged stuff she’d eaten in the past but others were completely alien to her.

Speaking of which...she wasn’t alone.



Something observed her from the dark and hidden depths of the undergrowth nearby. It sniffed the air and snarled softly as it detected its prey. Alone and unsupported, this would be an easy kill...



...or not.



Quick as a flash she was on her feet, staff in hand. She didn’t recognise the species but it certainly didn’t look friendly.

‘Back off!’


The creature paused for a moment at the sound of her voice and crouched, its sharp clawed digits sinking into the dirt as it readied itself to strike. Unfortunately for it, Carus was also prepared.

‘I said, Back. The Hell. Off!’







It only took one slash with the blade but it was down and, as Carus hoped, out. She pulled a face and stared down at the motionless corpse several feet away. She could still smell the creature’s fetid breath and now, the stench of its blood.



Whatever it was, it was clearly a threat and she needed to let Jerran know. She took her communicator out of her pocket and opened a channel.



‘Jerran, it’s Carus, do you read?’

‘.....’

‘Jerran? There’s something out here, be on your guard!’

‘.....’

‘Are you there? Fraak, you better be ok or I’m going to kill you myself when I get back!’

Glancing back only once at the creature’s body, she set off at a sprint towards the clearing where she hoped she’d find Jerran still in one piece.



Unbeknownst to her, her engineer was still lying quite happily on the grass, soaking up the sunlight.



For some reason he’d neglected to activate his communicator’s vocal receiving signal so he was blissfully unaware of all the trouble he was probably going to be in when his captain turned up. As the sun was now in his eyes he switched positions so he was more comfortable, completely blanking the device as its little LED blinked on and off in his pocket.



When Carus finally arrived, breathing heavily from the run, her worst fears appeared to have been confirmed at the sight of him just...lying there.

‘Oh no. Jarran!’



She raced to his side and dropped to her knees, expecting to find blood...



and scratches...



and chunks missing... and...oh.

‘Err...Captain?’



Carus’ eyes widened and she sat back quickly.

‘What was that all about?’



‘Didn’t you get my message? There’s something out here, dangerous, I...I thought it had got you.’



Jerran patted himself down and grinned. ‘Nope, I’m still here!’

‘Well good, because you disobeyed my direct order by not having your communicator on when I specifically told you to and there will be consequences.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I get it...’

‘Do you? Really? You could have been killed, hell, I could have been killed and the first you’d have known about it was when it got cold and you finally realised I wasn’t back yet!’

She pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation and turned away. ‘Come on, we’ll need to go back, I left the supplies with the body.’

‘Body? What body? You never told me about any bod-arrrrgh!’

Carus wheeled around just in time to see another of the creatures launch itself at Jerran from the undergrowth, teeth and claws bared.



Before she’d had time to react, it had already closed its jaws around his side, prompting Jerran to cry out in anguish as he was pushed to the ground.



‘Oh no you don’t!’ Carus roared as she plunged her blade deep into the beast’s back. It screeched in pain but she didn’t care.





Normally she was very wary of interfering in the ecosystems of other planets but these things were really starting to piss her off and besides, no one messed with her crew but her! With a grunt of exertion, she pulled the animal off Jerran and knelt down beside him.

‘You ok?’



There was a lot of blood and he'd gone very pale but he was conscious, which was always a good start.

‘Yeah’ he said weakly ‘I’m just fine. Got a gigantic fraaking hole in my side but yeah, just great.’



Carus smiled and helped him to his feet. ‘Glad to hear it, now let’s get you back to the ship.’

‘What...ah, what about the supplies?’

‘Oh screw the supplies, you’re more important.’

‘Wait, can I get that in writing?’

Stifling a laugh she poked him gently on the shoulder and steered him towards the ship.

‘If you make it through my questionable medical training then maybe.’



‘Carus?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Next time, can we just go to the fuel depot? I’ve decided I don’t like outings.’




Fin! :D

All feedback greatly appreciated! :D It's nice to shoot in a larger scale for a change - all the foliage that normally looks way too big in 1/12th works reasonably well in 1/6th!

Oh and I ended up not using these shots in it at all but I really liked them so here, look. XD





;D

For those that don't know, Jarran is a Hot Toys TrueType Narrow Shoulder body, Carus is the Doctor Who Martha Jones figure and the creature is...well, I don't know exactly but it's from the Primeval range. XD All of Jarran's clothes were made (badly!) by myself but most of what Carus has is recycled from other figure's gear - the red thing was her original jacket with the sleeves removed and stitched up, the leggings are, incredibly a pair of Breyer Trad jhodpurs but I made the black long sleeved top.