Fantasy Kaizoic: Earth Reborn

[Chai_T3a]

Seeing the puddle of blood on the floor was enough for him to stop his search. He turned his head quickly to avoid the sight. His stomach was beginning to feel weak. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stay much longer in this room without throwing up.

Walking hastily out of the tent, he quickly closed off the flap. He looked into the jungle, trying to find comfort in the calmness of the place. It was deathly quiet. The only sound he could hear being the occasional rustle of the trees. The nocturnal creatures must have went to rest.

Albeit calming, he did wish that he'd be able to hear something. It never seemed to be quiet at camp. People doing their jobs, chatting with each other, the sound of construction, it made the place full of life and character. Rufus's camp seemed to be the complete opposite of that, at least right now. The lack of activity wasn't really helping at quelling his fears for Red Team.

"They'll be back." He whispered to himself. He wasn't completely sure if he believed that though.

With a shaky sigh, he made his way into the half completed house. It wasn't much protection from the frigid air outside, but the last thing he wanted to do was go back into the tent. He'd wait here until Red Team would come back, or until it became to late to attempt to make it back to camp himself. Judging from the state of this place, he didn't want to be here past nightfall.

 

[Da Doofus]

After what seemed to be an eternity of haunting silence, a figure began to approach from the fading path. A blue visor glowed, revealing enough to show it was human at least wearing an antique helmet.
In his hands was a standard issue rifle, and a Pulse Magnum strapped to a gun belt tied around his waist.
He approached, and saw Kairo.

"Holy shit!" Rufus gasped. "You're alive!" He aimed the gun around the clearing.
"Where is he? Where'd he go?"

 

[Chai_T3a]

Upon seeing Rufus's helmet, Kairo felt immediate relief wash over him. With every passing moment, he was beginning to become less and less hopeful that someone would show up. Rufus had come at just the right time.

He perked up a bit, a small smile forming on his face.
"Don't worry. He's gone." He said, pushing himself off the wall and heading over to Rufus.
"Can't tell you how glad I am that you're here."

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus's expression was hidden by the helmet, but his body language indicated relief.
"Wait." He paused. "What do you mean he's gone?" He glanced at the camp. "The team scare him off or something? How'd you get away?"
He squinted at the scene, now noticing the damage.
"The hell happened?"

 

[Chai_T3a]

"The Guest left me here." He answered. "Don't think he wanted to hurt me or anything. He just needed someone to help ensure his escape."
He looked back at the camp, the smile from his face seemingly vanished.
"I don't know what happened here. But red team's gone. And there's blood in the tent." He said, his voice choked up a bit at the last sentence.
"Tell me they're with you."

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus stood silent for a few moments, allowing this news to process.
Then he shook his head.

"No. I haven't seen em since yesterday morning." He glanced at the camp once more. "You think he-" he gestured at the destruction, inferring the possibility of the Guest's involvement.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo shook his head, completely sure of himself that the Guest wasn't involved in this. He was with the Guest the entire time, and he found it very unlikely that the reptile would send him here just as a cruel joke.
"No. There's no way he could have done this. I was with him the whole time." He said, his expression still conveying unease.
"It was something else."

 

[Da Doofus]

The ex-smuggler sighed, and offered the rifle to Kairo.
"Something that can tell what a weapons crate looks like, huh?" He said, glancing at the scattered lids that appeared to be torn off.
"Take it. No back up's coming. Stryx doesn't know I left after you."

 

[Chai_T3a]

"You went by yourself?" Kairo asked, concern laced in his voice. Spending a night out here alone was nothing less of suicide. He was beginning to feel guilty for getting himself into this situation. Of course there wasn't much he could have done about it, but the thought of how worried the others must have been tugged on his soul.

"You didn't have to risk your life for me." He took the rifle that Rufus handed to him. He wasn't any good with the thing, but it would still be better than nothing.
"Not that I don't appreciate it."

 

[Da Doofus]

Even behind the visor, it was clear Rufus had rolled his eyes.
"Sheesh. Don't be such a damsel in distress about it." He drew his own pistol and entered the perimeter. "Stryx got too busy keeping a riot from starting now that the cat's out of the bag about the lizard. So I snuck out so someone would be doing something useful."
He saw a storage box that had more armor than the rest. It was still shut despite the scratched surface around the lock.

He smiled.
"Knew that lock would hold." He chuckled, kneeling down to open the box.

 

[Chai_T3a]

"Sorry. Next time I won't be concerned about your well-being." He followed along, a bit of a smile creeping back onto his face from Rufus's reply. This guy really knew how to stay calm even in such a dire situation, and it was definitely rubbing off on Kairo a bit as well. Having some company here that wasn't the Guest definitely helped a lot.

"What's in there?" He asked

 

[Da Doofus]

"Something I was saving for emergencies." Rufus finished entering the code, and the lock beeped in a musical chime.
The hinges loosened, and Rufus threw open the case to admire the hardware within. Once he reached in to grasp it, he already strained to lift it from the interior padding.
Stomping backward, he pried the weapon loose and held it in the light of the moon.
Chrome-plated steel, and a twin-barreled firing mechanism extended for range.

A Sanford Industries Plasma Bore.
Only a few hundred were deployed in the wars due to its expensive manufacturing costs. These energy based heavy weapons fired explosive projectiles of condensed plasma. Some stories in the old refugee centers spoke of just one soldier wielding one being able to blow half of a Hypo's skull off.
Another told of the Titannelid terrorizing Egypt being brought down by a pair of Plasma Bores.

 

[Chai_T3a]

To Kairo, the crate might as well be containing all the money in the world, cause seeing this beast of a weapon definitely was on par with it

He shook his head to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Was that really a Plasma Bore he saw in front of him? He wasn’t an expert on weapons, but this thing was pretty much known worldwide. Kairo remembered marvelling over the weapon back at home. He’d spent hours as a kid staring at images of the thing, trying to figure out how it worked. It’s ingenious design and power was an engineering breakthrough.

“Oh my god!” He looked over at Rufus, his expression resembling that of someone who’d just won the lottery. His fear and concern pushed to the back of his mind.
“Where did you get this?”

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus shrugged and flicked off a speck of dust collecting on the holographic ammo counter.

"Knew a guy who wanted to steal some parts from another guy. He hired me, and I got this as a . . ." He coughed. "Let's call it a bonus."
He gestured to the Cricket.
"Help me load this thing. We're going back to camp, right now."

 

[Chai_T3a]

He still was in a state of complete awe as he listened to Rufus’s explanation. There was a slight nod as a reply to Rufus’s request.
“Yeah. Ok.” He walked up to grab the weapon. Helping the man carry it onto the Cricket.
“You’re absolutely crazy, you know that?”

 

[Da Doofus]

"I like to call it 'daring'." Rufus chuckled, hauling the thankfully inactive weapon aboard the Cricket.
"So here's my idea," he grunted under the Plasma Bore's massive weight. "One of us drives the Cricket, and the other watches the rear with this baby in case one of those nocturnal things is still out here."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Being given the option to use the Plasma Bore was the most tempting offer he'd received in a while. Like a kid with a new toy, he desperately wanted to try it out. Main problem was, he also didn't trust himself with a weapon like that. Remembering how he'd reacted in confrontation with the Guest, it would probably be best if someone else was to take the gun. He wasn't much good at driving either, but how hard could it possibly be. Just press the pedal and steer the wheel.

"It would probably be suicide letting me use that thing." He opened the front door of the cricket, throwing the rifle onto the front seat before taking the wheel. "I'll drive. But you better let me play with that thing later." He teased, a bit of a smile forming on his face. It would be great to head back to camp.

 

[Da Doofus]

"Sure." Rufus stepped in the back and secured the door hatches. He made no mention of the bloodstains and rifle cartridges inside for Kairo's sake.
"First giant animal trying to kill us we encounter, you have first shot." He clicked his tongue and patted the back of the driver's seat.
"Till then, get us going. I want to be back before sunrise."

 

[Chai_T3a]

“Gotcha.” Kairo started up the Cricket, double checking just to make sure he hadn’t forgotten to take the gear off parking. The faint sound of the engine revving to life could be heard. That was a good sign. With how the camp looked, he would’t have been surprised if the vehicle didn’t start.

He pressed down on the pedal, the Cricket responded accordingly. From the side mirror, he could see the camp get smaller and smaller.

There was a part of him that felt like he was leaving something behind. As if there should be something else in the Cricket. He definitely wasn’t wrong to have that thought, there should have been 5 others heading back with them on this journey. But he tried his best to stay composed. There was no way the two of them would find red team alone. Heading back to camp to deliver the news would be the best way to help them. That is, if the camp hadn’t fallen into complete anarchy.

He gripped the wheel a bit tighter.

 

[Da Doofus]

They began their ride back through the jungle, this time in an armored vehicle and a weapon designed to kill creatures the size of buildings.
It would seem the odds were in the pair's favor this time.

After breaching the jungle interior, it was a sure, but loud route through the foliage. Between the rumbling engine and the snapping of branches under the plated wheels, it was not a gentle drive.

Reaching the path away from the tree effigy, Kairo would be halted by an obstruction on the 'road'. A bundle of fallen trees that blocked the cleared path. They didn't appear to have fallen there purposefully, more mere coincidence that an animal most likely uprooted them as it traversed the forest.

Rufus noticed the stop and glanced outside.
"Shit." He grunted. "Go around I guess. This thing plows through jungle well enough." He assured with a small nod.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo nodded, turning the steering wheel. He diverged off the makeshift and into the dense forest surrounding it. The crunching sound of snapped branches and squished plant's becoming even more prominent as he drove through the area. He was pretty sure that anything within a 5-kilometer radius would be able to hear the sounds they were making.

"I was just here a few hours ago." He mentioned to Rufus, keeping his eyes peeled forward. "Real coincidence that thing decided to fall right about now."

 

[Da Doofus]

"Well I don't want to jinx us by worrying about being sabotaged." Rufus snapped. "Been enough shit happening this week as is."

Once Kairo had the Cricket crash through the walls of treeline, he would notice the ground was suspiciously soft on the wheels.
They were driving over very soft dirt.
To the right, the site of the blockage could be faintly seen behind branches. A crater in the ground which uprooted the trees from beneath. As though something had tunneled up to the surface recently, or dug down below.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo could feel that something about the ground was different. It was less compact under the wheels, almost as if the Cricket would sink under the sand from the weight alone. The crater to the side also caught his attention. It was definitely what caused the upturned tree, but upon closer examination, something seemed unnatural about the thing. Almost as if it had been caused by something.

It was just a hunch, but he was pretty sure the crater and the soft floor seemed to somehow related. As if something dug a tunnel through the road and exited out of the crater. It was a far-fetched theory. But after everything that happened today, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was right.

He picked up the speed a little bit, wanting to get away from the area as fast as possible.
“Good point.” He said, not wanting to tell him the ridiculous theory.
“Let’s just...get outta here.”

 

[Da Doofus]

The Cricket would not make much distance before the ground collapses beneath it. Before either Kairo or Rufus could fathom what was happening, they would see the front end of the vehicle being swallowed by dirt.
Tumbling into the underground, the armored vehicle shook and rattled as it became buried in the tunnel's collapse.

Kairo was knocked from the driver's seat, and felt pain in his skull when he impacted against the metal interior. Rufus fared no better, as he was being tossed about in the rear compartment without any safety harness to keep him in place.
Kairo however, would be feeling his consciousness begin to wane from the head injury. The last thing he would hear and see were the sounds of strange clicking and growls from outside the Cricket, and a hook claw the size of a man pierce the hull of the transport.

After that, his vision would turn to darkness, and he would find himself dreaming.

 

[Chai_T3a]

It happened in the span of a second to Kairo. Again, just like the knife pressed to his throat, he had been continuing on as normal, before everything around him seemed to fall apart. This time literally.

Stinging pain was the only thing he was able to feel at that moment. Even simply trying to think would aggravate his head. He wanted to turn his head to check on Rufus, but he didn't seem to have the energy to do so. He didn't have the energy to do anything at the moment. He could feel himself slip further in unconscious as the seconds passed. Even with adrenaline rushing through his body, he didn't seem to have what it took to stay awake. The hook claw that pierced the vehicle gave him one last scare before his consciousness finally faded away.