PM. [Even just her initialed name is difficult to rasp out, especially when she is feeling increasingly light-headed. She can give him her full title another time--this much will suffice for now, and she raises whatever passes for eyebrows among her kind to request his name in return. Whenever he can offer it, anyway.]
[Trying to help him claim the weapon means leaving an opening, which in turn means getting struck painfully in the shoulder with a resounding crack. It hurts, but even the risk of major cracks in her shell are preferable to getting killed, so she grits her teeth and whirls around to close the hole in their defense. Blood begins spotting on her gray dress.]