We’re getting there.
And how it looked! There was nothing like a face (although, ask a fly what a human’s looks like), — only a set of connected ovoids, each the size of the hopper itself. Spiraling corkscrews of corruption and violence sprang from them, coupling with the ovoids and each other in an endless, writhing frenzy. It was not obscene solely because concepts like ‘lust’ and ‘decadence’ at least assume a raw desire for life, and a standard of decency to transgress. This thing had neither of those, and as it reached out with its burning tentacles Tobias could feel that the monster welcomed the sensation of finally having its flesh scoured by plasma exhaust.
And scoured it was. The monster burned so terribly that Tobias thought he could smell its charred stink through the suit, the hopper cabin, and the vacuum outside. But it held onto the hopper, despite the way that its flesh sublimated away from the cleansing flame. Indeed, it began to pull the vehicle down, ever so slightly. It was dying — if dying meant anything to this thing — but it would kill Tobias first, if it could. It was only this certainty of death — which flashed across his battered mind in a flash — that drove Tobias to the next step. And even then he quailed as he reached out with a shuddering hand and slapped the emergency boost button.
The shudder was justifiable, because the only thing he could count on now was pain. The boost would give him a 10G burn, for fifteen seconds. On Earth, this would be considered rough, but not horribly dangerous, given the limited duration. On the moon, where humans still struggled to maintain muscle mass and strong bones, it all came down to whether or not his suit could handle the strain.
Agony rippled through Tobias as the hopper burned its way free of the enemy and did its own uncontrolled tumble through the lunar sky. But he smiled nonetheless, for he could feel a great unraveling as the monster in his head lost its grip. And as it fell away from it, the awful cohesion the monster had demonstrated likewise came undone. The strange energies of the plasma drive were simply too eldritch for it to withstand.
Tobias had time for precisely six seconds of savage exultation before the hopper crashed.