06-09-2016, 08:49 AM
Once you got deeper into the island, small clumps of mangroves and salt water ponds made way to the rocky badlands where the slopes of the orange mountain started. Since it made the vast majority of the island, I had wondered how a small army could hide itself here, but that came abundantly clear when I saw the first set of cave mouths ahead of me. I thought about all the tunnels there crisscrossed through the entire mountain. You could get lost for weeks in there, assuming you made it out at all.
Luckily for me, the “amazing” scientist of the USSMC thought to give every marine a self filling map since a soldier is not generally in the mindset to be drawing maps when they’re getting shot at.
Not that it will help when I’d find myself getting shot at.
I glanced back to the town that was half a click behind me. The inhabitants didn’t stop me from leaving, but that didn’t mean much. If the threat was real, it seemed unlikely that it would be void the second I was outside of the of their little hovel space. It would be nice if I was wrong on that, but I was very rarely wrong. And that was ignoring that there was possibly a bounty hunter who would know about the recent asskicking I gave the Empire and the bounty that came soon after.
Well, I wouldn’t have been a space marine if it was an easy job.
Going into tunnels was not fun. In general but for me in particular. It’s not because I’m claustrophobic. If I was I wouldn’t have been able to get into a spaceship, let alone any of the close quarters combats I’ve had to go through. But hallways were ambush central, even with the best gear or men there was always the possibility you would run face first into the enemy without any clue they were there. It kept me on nerve, it’s happened way to often to me at too many places. It was worse underground, as there was no natural light after the first turn. You were plunged into darkness, and you were now stuck either using a flashlight to announce your position to everyone in a mile or grope the walls in the hope that your hand doesn’t grab a booby trap or the open maw of a demon.
Or use the universe’s most worthless night vision goggles which have a battery life of twenty seconds. Fucking UAC assclowns.
But luck was on my side this time. Not too far in someone had set up strands of light across the ceiling of the cavern, which provided both enough light so that I didn’t kneecap myself on a stalagmite and a guide to where I might find my target. I followed them further into the the earth, in the hope that it’ll lead to something. Something that won’t kill me.
Unfortunately, I literally ran face into the trouble I first expected. A man wall of flesh and metal if the fact that he wasn’t knocked over when I collided into him meant anything, and the that his face was more biotics that it was skin. Not that there was much skin to see, as almost his entire body was covered in some sort of bodysuit made of kevlar and metal plates. He looked like someone took a military kit and uniform and turned it into a second skin.
Both of us wonder who this other fucker was, then in an instant knew it didn’t matter. He reached down for two SMGs at his side, but my fists were already up. Knuckles collided with his stupid looking helmet as I drove my fist into his face and knocked him down onto the dirt.
Both of us scrambled for cover and bullets flew.
“So you’re the fucking bounty hunter I heard of! Funny, I thought bounty hunters wore long coats and fatigues, not gimp suits!” I yelled alongside the screaming of my heavy assault rifle as it showered the stone the bastard hid behind with lead. He lifted his small machine guns over his cover and blind fired across the cavern space with about as much effectiveness as you would expect blind fire to be. If he wanted to keep himself unaware of his surroundings, then I was happy to oblige as I tossed a grenade where he stood while I ran straight for him.
He fled from the explosive and right into my line of sight. I held down the trigger of my weapon as I hosed him down, but he seemed quicker than any human had a right to be as he not so much rolled as he cartwheeled away from me and through the hail of bullets unscratched. He kept both SMGs unloading as he flop-flopped like a jackass, but the bullets at only the effect of smashing into my armor and only giving me a few more bruises. For once, omniphysics worked out in my favor.
But when he landed back on his feet, he dropped his two peashooters and ripped a long katana from the sheathe on his belt. I was stunned, I was too busy trying to hold my laughter in.
“Did anyone ever tell you not to bring a knife to a gunfight?” I held down the secondary trigger of the of the heavy rifle as racks of micro rockets slid into firing position and I let them fly. Rather than dodge the hyper-technological enemy held his sword out in front of him, and in a blink that sword was swung through each rocket, only a trail of blue energy as any evidence of where it was, and those those rockets were then several half rockets that exploded after they split past him, the explosions only singed his back.
And I stood there like a slack-jawed fool.
“...Alright then” Was the only thing I could say, but rather than come up with something witty I decided to let super shotty say something for me. I pulled the double barreled wall painter out and leveled it at the punk. He rushed forward, closed the gap, and when I squeezed both triggers he managed to get away from the cone of death enough that the pellets only scraped sparks across his helm and oddly sturdy suit.
Now it was a brawl.
Furious swipes from the bounty hunter narrowly missed my vital organs as I I kept out of range, large rends in my armor revealed where he landed the blows but shallows cuts across my skin was the worse he could do safely. He kept the handle close to his body which kept me from being able to rip it from his hands, but if there was some sort of cooldown on that super speed attack then I was on a timer before he turned me into Doomguy tartare. I kept him away with a few shots from the pistol, which he blocked with the blade of his weapon, and when he overextended I rushed into the inside of his swing and wrapped his head in a headlock.
The two of us wrestled for control, I held his sword away from me while he tried to free himself. Neither one of us could keep control for long before we swung it back or just swung the other into terrain. My pistol was was close but never quite able to put a bullet through his head while he kept trying to skewer me or escape out of my headlock.
This went on until I heard another set of footsteps come in. I gave a glance over to the entrance of the cave I entered in through and found a massive suit of power stare down at the two of us with cannons for hands. Which he had pointed at us. I shoved the other guy away as a massive concussive shell sailed between the two of us and I stumbled into cover. A short relief before I heard more metalic boot run towards us.
“Fuck my my life” I shouted as I wheeled the rocket launcher out.
And yet I couldn’t help but laugh. A three way fight in a close quarters combat in small cramp corridors was exactly what I needed!
Luckily for me, the “amazing” scientist of the USSMC thought to give every marine a self filling map since a soldier is not generally in the mindset to be drawing maps when they’re getting shot at.
Not that it will help when I’d find myself getting shot at.
I glanced back to the town that was half a click behind me. The inhabitants didn’t stop me from leaving, but that didn’t mean much. If the threat was real, it seemed unlikely that it would be void the second I was outside of the of their little hovel space. It would be nice if I was wrong on that, but I was very rarely wrong. And that was ignoring that there was possibly a bounty hunter who would know about the recent asskicking I gave the Empire and the bounty that came soon after.
Well, I wouldn’t have been a space marine if it was an easy job.
Going into tunnels was not fun. In general but for me in particular. It’s not because I’m claustrophobic. If I was I wouldn’t have been able to get into a spaceship, let alone any of the close quarters combats I’ve had to go through. But hallways were ambush central, even with the best gear or men there was always the possibility you would run face first into the enemy without any clue they were there. It kept me on nerve, it’s happened way to often to me at too many places. It was worse underground, as there was no natural light after the first turn. You were plunged into darkness, and you were now stuck either using a flashlight to announce your position to everyone in a mile or grope the walls in the hope that your hand doesn’t grab a booby trap or the open maw of a demon.
Or use the universe’s most worthless night vision goggles which have a battery life of twenty seconds. Fucking UAC assclowns.
But luck was on my side this time. Not too far in someone had set up strands of light across the ceiling of the cavern, which provided both enough light so that I didn’t kneecap myself on a stalagmite and a guide to where I might find my target. I followed them further into the the earth, in the hope that it’ll lead to something. Something that won’t kill me.
Unfortunately, I literally ran face into the trouble I first expected. A man wall of flesh and metal if the fact that he wasn’t knocked over when I collided into him meant anything, and the that his face was more biotics that it was skin. Not that there was much skin to see, as almost his entire body was covered in some sort of bodysuit made of kevlar and metal plates. He looked like someone took a military kit and uniform and turned it into a second skin.
Both of us wonder who this other fucker was, then in an instant knew it didn’t matter. He reached down for two SMGs at his side, but my fists were already up. Knuckles collided with his stupid looking helmet as I drove my fist into his face and knocked him down onto the dirt.
Both of us scrambled for cover and bullets flew.
“So you’re the fucking bounty hunter I heard of! Funny, I thought bounty hunters wore long coats and fatigues, not gimp suits!” I yelled alongside the screaming of my heavy assault rifle as it showered the stone the bastard hid behind with lead. He lifted his small machine guns over his cover and blind fired across the cavern space with about as much effectiveness as you would expect blind fire to be. If he wanted to keep himself unaware of his surroundings, then I was happy to oblige as I tossed a grenade where he stood while I ran straight for him.
He fled from the explosive and right into my line of sight. I held down the trigger of my weapon as I hosed him down, but he seemed quicker than any human had a right to be as he not so much rolled as he cartwheeled away from me and through the hail of bullets unscratched. He kept both SMGs unloading as he flop-flopped like a jackass, but the bullets at only the effect of smashing into my armor and only giving me a few more bruises. For once, omniphysics worked out in my favor.
But when he landed back on his feet, he dropped his two peashooters and ripped a long katana from the sheathe on his belt. I was stunned, I was too busy trying to hold my laughter in.
“Did anyone ever tell you not to bring a knife to a gunfight?” I held down the secondary trigger of the of the heavy rifle as racks of micro rockets slid into firing position and I let them fly. Rather than dodge the hyper-technological enemy held his sword out in front of him, and in a blink that sword was swung through each rocket, only a trail of blue energy as any evidence of where it was, and those those rockets were then several half rockets that exploded after they split past him, the explosions only singed his back.
And I stood there like a slack-jawed fool.
“...Alright then” Was the only thing I could say, but rather than come up with something witty I decided to let super shotty say something for me. I pulled the double barreled wall painter out and leveled it at the punk. He rushed forward, closed the gap, and when I squeezed both triggers he managed to get away from the cone of death enough that the pellets only scraped sparks across his helm and oddly sturdy suit.
Now it was a brawl.
Furious swipes from the bounty hunter narrowly missed my vital organs as I I kept out of range, large rends in my armor revealed where he landed the blows but shallows cuts across my skin was the worse he could do safely. He kept the handle close to his body which kept me from being able to rip it from his hands, but if there was some sort of cooldown on that super speed attack then I was on a timer before he turned me into Doomguy tartare. I kept him away with a few shots from the pistol, which he blocked with the blade of his weapon, and when he overextended I rushed into the inside of his swing and wrapped his head in a headlock.
The two of us wrestled for control, I held his sword away from me while he tried to free himself. Neither one of us could keep control for long before we swung it back or just swung the other into terrain. My pistol was was close but never quite able to put a bullet through his head while he kept trying to skewer me or escape out of my headlock.
This went on until I heard another set of footsteps come in. I gave a glance over to the entrance of the cave I entered in through and found a massive suit of power stare down at the two of us with cannons for hands. Which he had pointed at us. I shoved the other guy away as a massive concussive shell sailed between the two of us and I stumbled into cover. A short relief before I heard more metalic boot run towards us.
“Fuck my my life” I shouted as I wheeled the rocket launcher out.
And yet I couldn’t help but laugh. A three way fight in a close quarters combat in small cramp corridors was exactly what I needed!
![[Image: oGzCtPC.png]](http://i.imgur.com/oGzCtPC.png)