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WolfLord7777

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Chapter 5: An Old Friend
Connor’s men tramped through the thick undergrowth toward the crashed lander. Once they reached it, they placed a charge on its underside and blew a small hole big enough for one man in it. Guns at the ready, they entered silently. Hey began searching the ship, from the back to the front. In the engine room they found seventeen men, fourteen of them White Lions, lying prostrate around it, some of them beginning to stir. One of the White Lions stirred feebly, and seeing armed men, reached for the rifle hanging from his belt. Connor stopped him.
“Relax, we’re FDU, we were on patrol when we saw you crash,” he told him.
The White Lion nodded, and relaxed. Connor frowned for a moment. “Why are you here? Aren’t you meant to be dropping?” he asked.
The White Lion shook his head. “Someone sabotaged the parachutes. Me and my men were still quite high up, and the pilot managed to save us. Four others hadn’t dropped yet.”
Connor frowned again. “How did you get the engine going again? That bolt of lightning must’ve fried all the electrics,” he asked.
“It did,” the White Lion replied, “but somehow the pilot managed to get it going again using that.” He indicated a small black box sitting next to one of the technicians.
Connor walked over to it. ~EMP~ he thought, ~How would he have thought of that? And, why did he have one with him?~
“Saved our life, he did.* Connor turned to see a gnome technician, the only one onboard. At Connors questioning glance, he continued, “The pilot. Poor devil got himself crushed when the cockpit hit that boulder.”
“What was his name?” Connor asked.
“Groal? Troal? Something like that.”
“Roal Atkins?” Connor asked tentatively.
“That’s it! Roal Atkins, senior G15 pilot,” the gnome replied.
Connor was so surprised that he nearly fell over. Turning around, he ran towards the cockpit.
***

10-Jul-2009 12:38:45 - Last edited on 14-Jul-2009 09:42:01 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

It was a strange feeling, walking on a wall. As everything had been turned 90 degrees by the crash, he kept having to jump over doors and lights. Finally, he reached the access door to the cockpit.
The heavy metal door had been warped and twisted, crumpling from the impact against the ground. He pressed the open button. Nothing. So, getting out his trusty blowtorch, which he carried everywhere, along with is knives and sword, and began to cut it open.
Finally, after twenty minutes, he managed to make a hole big enough to crawl through. Clambering through, he cut his knees several times on the ragged edge. Looking up, he gasped. The place was a mess.
Half the ceiling had caved in, and landed on Roal’s leg. Blood was sprayed everywhere, and Connor distinctly saw one of Roal’s fingers lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
The nose of the aircraft had been smashed back through the windscreen, and shattered it, showering Roal’s body with glass and adding to his many wounds.
Pressing his fingers against his neck, Connor felt for a pulse, knowing that it would be futile.
Then, after eighty four seconds, he felt it. A small thump, as Roal's dying heart attempted to fulfil it’* duty.
Plugging his helmet mike into the landers in-built microphone system, he set it to channel 41, the ships loudspeakers.
“Everyone! I need anyone with any basic medical training to come to the cockpit now! The pilot is still alive!”
Faintly, he heard some say that it was futile, and that he would die anyway.
“Let me put that another way: this guy’s my friend and if you don’t help him I’ll shoot the lot of ya!”
~That got their attention~ he thought.

10-Jul-2009 12:38:52 - Last edited on 14-Jul-2009 22:50:55 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Chapter 6: 2226
Roal’s vision slowly came into focus. The first thing he saw was the shape of the main engine, and he realised he was in the engine rom. ~How did I get here? Last thing I remember I was in the cockpit.~ He began looking around, and as his eyes refocused, he saw a White Lion sitting in the corner. He saw that Roal was awake and poked his head through the door.
“Sergeant! The pilot’s awake!”
Roal heard a startled exclamation, then the sound of someone running down the corridor. Then a figure from his past burst into the room.
Connor Halt, one who used to be Roal’s best friend. No more.
Getting up, he strode over to Connor. Connor’s smile faded as he saw the look of grim satisfaction on Roal’s face.
Roal brought his right hand back and curled his fingers, one of which was now metal, into a ball.
He punched Connor hard in the nose saying, “That’s for Philip,” punch, “His family,” punch, “Sergeant Abram,” punch, “his family,” punch, “the families of all the others who died,” punch, “and my right foot!”
Connor reeled back, crying out in pain, his face splattered in blood from his broken nose, his right eye black, and several teeth cracked.
“Watha-“ he began, then spat out a big globule of blood and started again, “What the hell was that for man! I save your life and the only thing you can think of doing is bash me to bits!”
“Firstly, I’ve saved your life before, making us even, and secondly, that was for the events in ’26,” Roal replied evenly, malice still evident in his voice.
“Okay, okay, I panicked alright! I never was the bravest man in the unit and you know how dangerous the nine are!”
“No it is not alright! How did you know it was the nine, we only found out afterwards! You weren’t the only one who was terrified witless, but did anyone else run away? No!* Roal was now fuming with anger.
Thinking back, the thought about the events that had taken place. That just made him angrier.
***

10-Jul-2009 12:38:59 - Last edited on 15-Jul-2009 10:28:29 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

1st October 2226
The rain lashed down on the ten men trudging through the mud and slime. They were Falador scouts, tasked with the job of setting up a portal deep behind enemy lines, to crush the ScapeRune army once and for all.
However, the attempt was doomed to failure and they all knew it. Only five of them had done this sort of thing before. Four of the others were new recruits, still wet behind the ears and unready for this mission. One of those people was Connor Halt.
The last man was a sixteen year-old wiry gnome from the Gno(ck Air Defence. He had been sent to map the terrain for the Gno(ck Alliance, after all, they had no up-to-date maps of this area and Falador might give them fake maps.
~So here I am~ Roal thought ~risking my neck on a hair-brained mission bound to fail, just because we can’t trust our bloody neighbours~
Finally, after hours more trudging, Sergeant Abram told them to stop. “This is a good enough spot. Set up the equipment and get it ready,” he barked.
Grumbling, they began setting up the equipment.
After several hours and several thousand swear words later, the portal was finally set up. They set up in a wide circle around the machine, and prepped our guns. The sergeant sat in the middle of the machine, checking that it was ready to go.
Suddenly there was a ringing booming sound, and everyone’s eyes instinctively turned towards it. That was a mistake. The attack came from the other direction, eight shots firing in quick succession, taking down three and wounding another two.
Shrugging his sniper rifle off his back, Roal carefully took aim at one of the men’s heads. The man looked up, and smiled, just as Roal pulled the trigger.
Time seemed to slow, and as the bullet shot towards him, the man launched himself backwards, out of the bullet’s path. Roal stared, wide eyed.

10-Jul-2009 12:39:06 - Last edited on 24-Jul-2009 10:04:56 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Then a strange sound broke himself out of his reverie. He turned, to see Sergeant Abram, injured, his head inside the circle of the portal. But that wasn’t what caught his and everyone else’s attention.
It was the man sitting inside the portal. Connor Halt. Roal had come to like Halt over the weeks he had known him. In fact, they had become best friends.
But now he saw him for what he really was: a coward.
There was a purple flash, and he disappeared, along with the sergeant’s head. Then there was a flash of pain and his vision went black.

10-Jul-2009 12:39:12 - Last edited on 15-Jul-2009 10:31:09 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Chapter 7: Time To Go
John Harlander, one of Connor’s men, brought his gun to chest height. Something had moved, he was sure of it. Scanning the area, he again saw a flash of grey in the trees.
Sure of himself this time, he pointed his silenced gun in the general direction and fired three times.
Poor man never knew what hit him. One moment he was perfectly fine, next half his head was sprayed onto the metal wall of the lander behind him.
***
Lieutenant Sean Goodwin, commander of one of the forces sent out to find the crashed lander, keyed in his microphone.
“Sir, we’ve found them. Guard neutralised. Orders?”
“Remove the body. Wait until backup arrives, we don’t know how many there are,” the voice of Captain Troy said on the other end.
“Yes sir,” came the crisp reply.
Sean nodded to his men and they spread out in a wide circle around the area, setting up machine gun tripods and armoured wall emplacements.
***
Thirty minutes later twenty heavily armed and armoured soldiers drove through the tightly packed trees, towards Lieutenant Sean’s position.
The Lieutenant looked up from his gun, which he was loading, to see a grizzled veteran standing before him.
“Ah good, I presume you’re the backup Captain Troy talked about?” he asked.
“Yes, we are,” the heavily scarred man replied.
“Good, good. Let’s get started then,” The Lieutenant said gleefully.
***
Roal started. Raising his gun, he scanned the room. He knew what had woken him. A clicking sound, the sound a rocket makes when loaded into its launcher. Walking over to the window, he looked out.
To find himself staring down the barrel of a massive, three manned rocket launcher.
Diving to the right, towards the doorway, he managed to get the door locked shut before the launcher fired.
The explosion rocked the old lander. Massive pieces of metal flew, crushing anyone and anything in their path. The door was broken, and flew back into Roal, sending him flying back through the corridor.

10-Jul-2009 12:39:21 - Last edited on 19-Jul-2009 07:22:23 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Coughing, he got unsteadily to his feet. He could hear the sounds of guns blazing, and men shrieking in agony.
Snatching up his gun, he ran towards the sound of the fighting.
***
The battle was short, and bloody.
Twenty one lives were lost, eight of them from Roal and Connor’s forces. The enemy had retreated to a farther perimeter, to wait for reinforcements. Roal had been hit several times, one in the collarbone, snapping his ID tag off, and twice in the right leg. All three times his armour had saved him.
***
“So it’s agreed then? We get out now before they realise what’s happening and head for Ardougne,” Roal said, looking around at the determined faces of his fellow officers.
Slowly, each one nodded their head silently.
Rolling up the map, Roal began gathering his gear.

10-Jul-2009 12:39:28 - Last edited on 19-Jul-2009 07:23:19 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Chapter 8: Wrong Way
The nineteen remaining men of Connor and Roal’s forces snuck out of the semi-destroyed, smoking lander. They wore jungle fatigues, found in one of the landers storerooms. They consisted of nine white knights, armed with deadly high-tech weapons, eight of Connor’s Falador Guard, carrying basic weapons and armour, and three crew from the lander, one of them Roal, armed with their standard issue two knives and pistol, along with body armour and weapons taken from the corpses.
They moved slowly south, not wanting to attract attention.
Their plan was simple. Head south for about forty kilometres, then change course towards The McMurdo airbase, an old airstrip from the beginning of the war. It had been taken by ScapeRune early on, and was now their furthest north airbase. However, it was usually only lightly guarded, and most of them would have been sent out to search for Roal and Connor’s team. They would then take three 63 carriers, old Ardougne carriers made in 2201, each able to carry up to six men, and head for Ardougne.
Little did they know that they had already been spotted. Five thousand soldiers were already lined up, blocking their passage north. Seven hundred Elven scouts had also been sent to reinforce all passage out via land and air. As a final precaution, the main force of The Feldip hills, the army ordered with guarding the hills as a first line of retreat, consisting of fifty five thousand heavily armed and armoured men and dwarves, was moving to block their passage south.
The two arms of the pincer were now closing in, converging on Roal and Connor’s position.
They were now trapped in an invisible box, a box drawing ever tighter.
Soon, all hell would be let loose.
***

10-Jul-2009 12:39:37 - Last edited on 11-Oct-2010 08:01:26 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The ten men glided silently through the trees. At a signal from the leader, they brought their guns to chest height. Their guns were beautifully crafted machine guns, made of plate steel and attached to an intricately carved ebony handle. Below the barrel was set a drum magazine, able to carry forty one rounds.
Gazing through their sights, they watched their prey slink through he trees, unaware that they had been spotted. Each one of the men saw their leaders hand drop, and nine burst of machine gun fire burst forth from between the trees, pinging of the hard bark.
Behind each bullet trailed a line of red flame, leaking out of a purpose-built hole in its side. The point of those holes was to stop the explosives overheating and exploding prematurely.
***
The world exploded. Connor felt a series of impacts all along his side, then a searing pain as atleast one of the bullets got past his armour. Dropping to the floor, he gasped in pain as the bullet expelled its toxic payload. Dimly, he heard others screaming in pain, and another voice calling his name, the word echoing around in his mind as if it were bouncing of a tunnel wall.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, and dimly, through the blur, he saw his men fall, one by one, until only one was left. The man desperately tried to pick off the attackers, but to no avail. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, but could only have been minutes, he too fell, to join the many dead littered across the ground
Then his vision began to darken, and then turn black, and he lost his hold on the thin thread that was holding him onto life. With one last, enormous effort, he managed to draw something from his pocket.
A small round object, the size of a grenade. He just managed to press the ON button before he died.
His body convulsed, in one last death spasm, then was still.

10-Jul-2009 12:39:43 - Last edited on 26-Jul-2009 09:47:26 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Chapter 9: The Chase
The small buggy roared through the densely packed undergrowth. In it were two people: Roal Atkins, and Jack Webster, the White Lion captain. In the rear gunner’s seat, outside the vehicle, a young White Lion was blazing away with the deadly 9mm minigun, spraying a million armour-piercing bullets in every direction.
To the right and slightly behind them, another buggy, similarly driven, was cleaving a course through the dense jungle parallel to theirs. In between them and the other buggy was a large, twenty man LTV, or Light Transport Vehicle. It too was releasing a sizzling barrage of minigun fire.
Roal, in the passenger seat, yelled over the noise into his in-built microphone system, “The road’s straight ahead!
Once we reach it, bank right and hit the gas! We have a hundred metres to cover before the first bend, and those guys will have a clear shot!”
Seconds later, the two buggies and LTV shot out of the trees, took a sharp right hand turn, skidded, and then shot straight down the narrow road.
About ten seconds later a barrage of rifle and machinegun fire shredded the air around Roal’s buggy, bouncing off their strong steel roll cage.
The men in the other buggy were less fortunate.
A line of white-hot tracer rounds shredded the rear gunner, turning his body to a bloody pulp in a nanosecond. This line of bullets also strafed across the underside of the vehicle, destroying the drive shaft and so disabling the rear wheels of the buggy, and destroying the front tyres.
The vehicle, already doing well over 100 kilometres an hour, flipped forward onto its roof and skidded several metres.
The men inside were still alive, saved by the immensely strong roll cage. Not for long though.
The following enemy buggy ploughed straight into it, causing a colossal mushroom cloud, making a ten foot wide crater in the road and shaking everything nearby.

10-Jul-2009 12:39:50 - Last edited on 29-Aug-2009 06:57:45 by WolfLord7777

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