Fuji
Nov 25, 2007, 03:52 AM
This is a fanfic I started writing a few months ago, I got up to five chapters before I kinda stopped and then started again so, here is what I wrote and I've been thinking of continuing it here. Feedback is welcome, tell me what you like and don't like.
“…how’d I ever get myself into this mess…?
There I was, staring down six bloodthirsty Deljabans…their breath was heavy in-between those demonic high pitched grunts, a grunt to probably call out to other allies in the area that they had a piece of fresh meat corned like a rat. I clutched my Soda Accas as tight as I could, I could have sworn that the purple handle on the blade was turning a hue of red…maybe I was gripping it too hard. The sweat was nearly drowning me as I looked for any opening to get the hell out of this situation, maybe if I wait them out and let them make the first move a hole will open in their formation and I can make a mad dash for it…
No…don’t be stupid…there’s only one way out of here and none of those damn “clients” I was escorting were going to do a damn thing to help me now. But the bigger question was…where the hell was Reidar?
But where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced myself yet…
“Name?”
The soft voice rang in my ears…
“I said…Name?”
How could I possibly concentrate on her voice when…
*SMACK!*
“HEY! What the hell was that for?!” I exclaimed as a large red welt in the shape of a female hand began to puff up on my right cheek.
When I looked up I saw a rather annoyed look from the Guardian Headquarters attendant, you know here eyes were closed and her mouth was furrowed into a frown of disappointment…that sort of look. I held my right hand to my face…it stung like hell.
“Maybe next time when I ask you for your name you’ll answer me instead of gawking at my chest, you damn pervert! Being a Guardian is serious business, so stop fooling around and acting like you’re still in Training School.” She hissed at me with a sort of woman-like venom, what could I say…they were pretty big.
I slowly began nodding and smiling in an almost futile attempt to lighten the mood, but when her agitated expression proved it to be just that, futile, I grabbed the rim of my hat and tried desperately to hide my face as I hastily passed her my Guardian ID Card. I didn’t really want to open my mouth again and get into more trouble. She sighed heavily and began to process the information on the card with a half smile, she must have found my sudden nervous disposition amusing or something because girls usually don’t smile after they smack you across the face.
“Fujikuro Yamanaka, ForteFighter 3 Star Rank out of 10…pretty good mission record you’ve got here, except for this one mission concerning a girl named…”
Before she could finish I cut her off…maybe I came off as a bit rude but it wasn’t a subject I didn't enjoy talking about.
“Look, lady, I’m sorry about offending you early…but…can you just give me the mission I was ordered to do and not look into my history? Is that possible?” I rushed the words out of my mouth, it probably sounded slurred.
It had been a whole two years since that happened…I had just graduated and become a full fledged Guardian…
“Don’t let them…”
I could still hear her to this day…
“Don’t let them…”
Could still...
“Fujikuro..."
“FUJIKURO, STOP DAYDREAMING!”
Back to reality I suppose…she had grabbed me by my long ears and shouted right into my head, it felt like my brain had started vibrating.
“Jeez…what is it with you?! Are you trying to kill me?!” I grumbled as I began clearing out my ears.
A half giggle escaped from her mouth as she handed me my Guardian ID Card.
“All the information on your mission has now been uploaded to your ID Card, upload the information on your Partner Machinery device for the full schematics on your mission. You’ll be investigating the Linear Line System that was abandoned not too long ago…something about a new SEED infestation. Also, you’ll be escorting a team of Scientists as well, they will be taking various samples of the area and collecting research data on the creatures you encounter. Given the possible dangers involved you will also be working with a partner, a CAST by the name of…Reidar.”
How I wish I had just given her the card back and told her to take this Guardian Job and shove it…
End Chapter 1
I had never been comfortable around CAST hunters, they were always so demanding and commanded his respect without knowing anything about him…and it always seemed to be those male CASTs, which he never understood because the last time he checked metal didn’t have testosterone. However, the case was the complete opposite when it came to female CASTs, in fact his closest and most trusted friend was a female CAST. Now that he thought about it…maybe thats why all the male CASTs hated him…
Nah!
I wanted to hurry to my Guardian Room and access the data for the mission, not because I was excited about working with a CAST or because the mission sounded intriguing…but more because I wanted to know when I’d have to meet another stubborn CAST and how much time I’d have from now till then to waste away at Gawik’s. Truth be told, if it were up to me I’d live on Moatoob instead of this cramped flying Guardian Colony in space, maybe it was just my Beast heritage that made me long for my sandy home planet…or maybe it was the Moatoob’s unique Moatoob Cocktail, I always thought of how to explain it to non-Moatoobians…I guess its somewhat like a mix of Tequilla and Vodka with a slight hint of Koltova Juice.
All I could think of was Moatoob as I wandered aimlessly through the 4th Floor PPT Transport level of the Guardian Colony. Even when I got on the elevator that would take me to my room…I remembered when I was a small ‘Beastling” and would complain of the sand getting everywhere. My parents would always tell me to be greatful to be in the sandy arid desert rather than the freezing climate of Vio Tonga.
But whenever I remembered those past memories…she always came to mind…
Every…single…time…
“Please don’t let them hurt me…”
I won’t let them hurt you…
“Save me…please…Fujikuro…”
I’ll save you…no matter what it takes…
“Fujikuro…Fujikuro…”
“Fujikuro?”
I snapped back to reality…the elevator doors were open, I was standing in front of the open door of my room and the familiar face of the most trusted friend was now staring at him with a rather confused look in her eyes.
“Hmmm…Rune, what are you doing here?” I asked, somewhat confused to find her in my room…not that I minded or anything but usually when I was out I locked the door with a keycode.
A wry smile crossed over her face, it always amazed me how real her skin both felt and looked considering she was made out of metal and mechanical technology. After removing her translucent orange shades she held them up and playfully hit me on the head with them.
“A four year old could figure out the keycode to your room, if not because of you telling it to me numerous times or because of the fact you etched, albeit very small etching, it into the bottom right corner of the door because of how poor your memory is. Besides, I heard you have a pretty big time mission involving the new SEED infestation on the abandoned Liner Line. I also heard your partner is a male CAST…should make things interesting for you.”
…thats what I hated about CASTs, they were always too damn smart. I had just found out about the damn thing ten minutes ago and Rune already knew more about it than I probably did.
I put my hands up in playful frustration then ruffled her blonde hair…even though it was synthetic hair crafted to feel like the real thing, Fujikuro could always tell it wasn’t real. Even if it was, Rune was changing her hair color every other week at Lumilass so any real texture was probably lost long ago.
“Hey, Rune, do you, by any chance, know anything about a CAST named Reidar? He’s the CAST that is supposed to be my partner and I’ve never heard of the guy and I don’t remember all the names of male CASTs I’ve offended…figured you might know something.”
Rune’s eyes went blank for a moment, the first time this happened when we first met I nearly flipped out and thought I had killed Rune with what I had asked her but now, however, I knew that she was simply searching the data banks implanted within her cybernetic brain and that usually required her eyes to do that funky little trick. I always wished I could do that around Halloween time…would be fun to freak those humans out with, especially that Guardian Headquarters clerk…might even comfort me if I pretended like I was in a coma or something…
“Stop daydreaming about women, Fujikuro, I’ve found all I’m going to find on Reidar…”
How the hell did she always know what I was…
“You get a certain twinkle in your eyes, now sit down so I can go over this with you.”
…I give up.
I sat down on the long bed area, I so rarely slept here…usually I would just pitch up residence at one of the local Guardian Rest Areas that were scattered throughout the Universe for hunters like me that were usually out on a mission and needed a place to stay, either that or I had to make camp in the wilderness…I prefer the wilderness, being a Beast and all.
Rune hopped onto the desk next to the video phone and connected a long wire from the video phone into a small socket in the side of her neck, a large projections, life sized it looked, of a red CAST male projected from her eyes…he was wielding a giant axe that was made by the Tenora Works company from Moatoob. Fujikuro always found it ironic when a CAST used weapons made by a race they deemed useless.
“There is no actual information on Reidar except that his favored weapon is a Tenora Works Ank Pikor, it doesn’t look like he has a preferred elemental photon so he simply uses a non-elemental model and relies on pure strength to power through any enemy regardless of weakness. In terms of his Hunter record it appears to be flawless…every mission completed, but every mission he has been given, up until now of course, have been solo missions…Reidar has never worked with anyone on a Guardian’s mission. Upon doing a more extensive search of the databanks, it appears that he underwent a long and tedious investigation because it was rumored he was working as a double agent for the Endrum Collective when they were still in existence…”
A flawless hunter…never worked in a team before and has now been assigned to me, a Beast that every male CAST I’ve ever met has hated and wanted to kill…
Just…great…
End Chapter 2
I was sitting in Gawik’s, sipping at the Moatoob Cocktail I had been dreaming about all day, after going over the specifics of the mission the GUARDIANs had given me. Basically, it seemed that a newer and stronger breed of previous SEED creations had begun sprouting up in areas on the Linear Line that had already been purified of the SEED infection. An AMF team had been sent but…they hadn’t been heard back from and were assumed dead, which is why they had assigned Reidar to the mission as well, he had been in the AMF organization for a long period of time before becoming a Guardian. There was no specific reason as to why they assigned me to the mission…unless they thought that THE incident had something to do with the new SEED manifestations…
It was getting late and the rougher crowd of Beasts were starting to fill into Gawik’s…I’d have had Rune come with me but as you can imagine the majority of consumers at Gawik’s don’t really cater to CASTs of any gender. So, I paid the tab, 1000 meseta for a drink was probably overkill on Gawik’s part but what did I care, this mission alone was going to net me well over 20,000 meseta…I could spill a few on booze.
As I walked back to the PPT Transport I couldn’t help but start wondering why the GUARDIANs would assign me to this mission. Sure, my mission record was…almost…spotless but there were plenty of 10 Star Ranked Hunter Classes out there that they could have picked from, so why would they pick a 3 Star ForteFighter out a sea of talent that is seemingly so much stronger and better suited? This mission sounded like it was of significant importance…so why wouldn’t they hire the absolute best to go with this Reidar character? It made no sense…and it was starting to bug me as I boarded the PPT Transport to take me back home.
Whatever…I’d do the mission, get my meseta, and drown everything else in booze and forget that this stupid mission with this big shot CAST ever happened.
It was really amazing, as soon as my head hit my pillow…I was out like a light.
Linear Line…
The place had become desolate since it was infested by those damn SEED creatures. My sister, Fawn, was with me, she had just graduated from Training School herself…everyone has such high hopes for her. I couldn’t believe it myself, she was almost five years younger than me and she was already graduating with her big brother…the youngest brother and sister to ever graduate from the Academy, Mom and Dad were so proud. Everyone kept saying our Hunter rank was too low to come here, what did they know? Our instructor recommended us personally, we may have only been Hunter Star Ranked 4 but for our age that was astounding.
But when we got into the Linear Line…and we saw that first…that first…beast…I froze in my tracks and so did my sister. It’s hands were like two giant blades and its skin was a coarse black…and those…those eyes, gigantic glowing yellow eyes…I couldn’t move, my sword felt like it weighed more than a sack of bricks. My sister…she started crying and screamed when she saw that the Beast was eating a Hunter that used to be one of our instructors…
I screamed too…
That’s when the beast noticed us and let out a spine chilling shriek that silenced both my sister and myself…especially when we saw ten more beasts crawl out of the woodworks and begin to surround us. I heard a different kind of shriek come from behind us…all I saw was a whitish yellow streak and before I knew it I was on the ground and couldn’t move. I was face down on the cold floor of the Linear Line…I could still see and hear everything…but I couldn’t…I couldn’t move…
I heard her screaming…I saw them surround her…
“Don’t let them…don’t let them hurt me!”
“Please…Fujikuro…SAVE ME!”
“SAVE ME, FUJIKURO!”
I…I couldn’t move and Fawn looked too frozen with fear to swing her dagger…I…I watched her die…
After that…I blacked out…
End Chapter 3
Fawn…it all came back to her…the guilt still lingered with every breath I took and the look on her face was burned into my mind and that scared scream of horror when she realized her fate…I was useless…completely useless…
There was about 15 minutes before Reidar was to meet me in front of the transfer terminal that would take us to the abandoned Linear Line, my mind was wandering…what if I froze up again like the last time I was here? Sure I had been on dozens of missions since then and I was more experienced now…but what if…what if I freeze up again and fail Fawn again…what if I fail the memory of my beloved sister?
Hell awaits me if I fail…but does it also await me if I succeed?
My palms were sweating uncontrollably…what if this CAST just kills me on the spot and I don’t even get a chance to figure out what this all has to do with Fawn? What if I'm overpowered just like I was when I came with Fawn? What if I wasn't strong enough...what if I embarrass our parents again...
What if…what if…what if…
A strong mechanical voice, very deep, jarred me from my thoughts…
“Fujikuro…get up, we have work to do. I don’t care that you’re a Beast if you don’t care that I’m a CAST…the mission is all that matters. Got it?”
I looked up at the mostly reddish colored CAST…he was a towering figure and it looked like he was crafted for sheer power and strength because his arms were almost the size of my entire waist. I stood up slowly and had to really look upwards to get a good look at his face. His eyes pierced through me, they were red like fire as he looked down on me like I was a small child of pure insignificance. I could hear the gears churning through his body as if they were working overtime just to keep his massive frame moving…if nothing else I was glad he wanted to keep things focused on work and not killing the scared little beast standing in front of him. I turned my attention towards the PPT Transport Gate…the Shuttle had arrived.
“According to the report, the research team we will be escorting should already be onboard the Shuttle, I hear they are equipped with donated Handguns from the AMF…wanna bet the barrels are backed up and they backfire?”
I thought adding a little joke in there would ease the mood, maybe made the CAST like me a little more…until I remembered Reidar worked for the AMF and had their insignia plastered all over his outer shell. Smooth move Fujikuro…real smooth.
“Let’s concentrate on the mission and not your lack of humor. I want this mission to be over with as fast as you do, but you don’t see me taking shots at the sister you let die here…”
I could feel my eyes slowly start to dilate when he said that, I could feel the muscles in my arms begin to flair as if I was about to transform and snap this guy in half. He thought he was so tough because he was bigger than I was…I’d like to see this cocky punk deal with Boguo Val Beast that’s twice even his size. With its superior defense even the mighty Reidar wouldn’t be able to lay a scratch on me…I should…I should let go and rip him limb from limb…it would be child’s play too. I could feel the blue aura overtaking me…my muscles began to explode when suddenly…I fell to my knees…a sharp pain in my arm?!
“The GUARDIANS warned me that when your sister was brought up or something angered you enough you usually couldn’t control your own Blast Badge…so they gave me a tranquilizers to stabilize the Badge’s influence over you and relax you so that you wouldn’t senselessly snap on me instead of saving that strength for when it was needed like a normal GURADIAN would.”
How embarrassing…
After that I hurried into the Shuttle with Reidar close behind me, as I had thought the researchers were all onboard and all had a small black hoister for an AMF handgun…I wonder if they were actually blocked up like I predicted too? If they were I’d be on one hell of a roll…and in one hell of a problem considering the mission required them to live. Reidar, however, showed no emotion at all…he just stood next to my seat the entire time, never even glancing at the researchers. I imagined that after all the hostilities with humans and CASTS he might feel more hate towards Humans than he did a Beast like me. My grandfather had once said we beasts were slaves to the humans once…but that couldn’t be right, with our inherent ability to use a Blast Badge one Beast could take out an army of humans.
As the Shuttle now screamed off towards its destination my mind wandered back to Fawn…usually I spent her anniversary by myself in my room with a bottle of the strongest alcohol I could find. Our family on Moatoob had all but shunned me since they saw me coming back and my younger sister Fawn dying…as a showing of weakness of the lowest level. Luckily, all of Moatoob didn’t feel the same, Moatoob had somewhat changed from it warrior outlook since the Wars ended, I still loved Moatoob…but my family hated me…and I didn’t blame them. I remember when I gave my parents the news…
“De…dead?! How…it was your first mission…how can…why didn’t you protect her and die with honor in battle?! You let your sister fall and be sacrificed and you come back home…and shame us?!”
“Mother…please…I…”
“No, Fujikuro Yamanaka, you won’t talk or joke your way out of this…your sister is dead because you were too damn arrogant, you couldn’t even attempt to avenge her death…you just came running back to Mommy and Daddy like you were still a Beastling. Fujikuro, Moatoob may feel pity for you…but as far as we go...
…we have no son.”
I could feel a small tear welling up in the corner of my right eye…but the sudden announcement allowed me the chance to wipe it away before it formed.
We have now arrived at the Linear Line Station, this sector has been quarantined due to SEED infestation. Exercise the most extreme of caution…
Fawn…I couldn’t avenge you then but I swear…
I’ll avenge you now…
I shot up out of my bed…
…that dream, I hadn’t had that since the night after it happened…when I looked at the clock/calendar on the vision phone I realized a startling truth. It was 3 am in the morning…today was the exact day my sister had died.
I was helpless to save Fawn back then…and now I was heading back into the place she was killed on the anniversary of her death. I had no doubt that this mission and their reasoning for picking me…involved Fawn and how she died.
End Chapter 4
I hadn’t been back to the Linear Line in so long…not since the incident. As I stepped off of the shuttle and into the wreckage of what used to be a Linear Line tram service I instantly recognized the smell…it smelled like death, rotting flesh, and blood. I must have zoned out for a moment because I felt Reidar shove me forward because I was blocking the exit from the shuttle. It was a good thing there were no inhabitants at the entry point…for a moment I felt like I was frozen, frozen in that moment when Fawn died.
No…I can’t let myself fall back into that, I’m here to avenge Fawn…here to make things right, there is no time to wallow around like this. I looked up and saw Reidar watching the scientists come out of the shuttle, they all had on what looked like bio-suits, and it wasn’t necessary but…leave it to a scientist to go overboard. They carried their donated handguns like little children…I doubted if any of them had ever seen combat before. I hollered at Reidar…
“Rediar, you lead the way for the Scientists and I’ll cover the rear in case they somehow get behind us…that way if we are attacked then it should be easy enough to protect the scientists. We can’t let our guard down, supposedly the new SEED infestation has increased the hostility and the strength of the surrounding creatures by ten fold…we need to be on our guard.”
Reidar nodded his head in agreement without saying another word…I counted the scientists, there were ten of them, funny…that I’d remember how many we started with…
At first we moved forward through the old Linear Line with no resistance from the surrounding creatures, in fact for a moment we thought that perhaps they had somehow been exterminated. A few of the scientists speculated that is was possible that with such little food supply that the creatures could have easily starved to death or since there was no source of water…simply dehydrated and withered away. But, many of the scientists were not so hopeful, a majority of them believed that with the SEED infestation the creatures would now become so hostile that they would indeed resort to cannibalism and devouring their own offspring for a source of food and survival…a chill fell down my neck as they explained that. It all started when we found the first corpse…
Reidar had stopped in his tracks and looked straight down, his axe now drawn and at the ready. I could hear the loud whirr of the generator in the axe, it was a distinct sound that only Tenora Brand weapons made, I knew because it was a similar sound to what my Soda Accas made, only the sword didn’t need one as big as the axe because the blade was thinner. He motioned for the scientists to come forward, I pushed on my Nanotransformer and held my sword at the ready…after hearing about the cannibalistic tendencies of these creatures everyone was now on edge because sitting right in front of us…was a prime meal. One of the scientists began to examine it and collect various samples of organs and skin tissue…he began to speak out loud.
“Codename: Deljaban, probably the most common of the inhabitants…their claw like hands make for perfect close combat weapons, also, look at their stomach…it is capable of generating a poisonous substance that it forms into a ball and regurgitates at amazing speed, being hit by the poisonous burst…would likely kill you in one shot. Our scientists have actually been trying to replicate the gaseous burst for our own use and with this sample we can perhaps finally perfect what we have been calling…Megid.”
Watching the scientist dissecting every organ and piece of the “Deljaban” didn’t bother me, I had been in combat before and seen far worse…but there was a general uneasiness about all this. Something didn’t seem right at all, I unconsciously gripped my sword much harder as I felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of my face…that’s when we heard it…
Those demonic high pitched grunts…that’s right, not just one high pitched grunt, numerous grunts and they were getting louder with each passing second. I hurried beside Reidar as we started to shout at the scientists to get back behind us. I started to breath heavily as the heavy grunts began to get closer and closer…at this point we could hear the Deljabans dragging their claws across the ground…they were just starting to come into view…there were at least six of them. Suddenly, the Deljabans began to move at an amazing speed…they were right on top of us in seconds! It didn’t look like they had any eyes…so what were they using to see us…wait, those grunts…they kept grunting…dammit…they were basically using sonar I bet! They just wait for those heavy sounds to bounce off anything and destroy whatever it hits…dammit, I bet they have an uncanny sense of smell too, they must have smelled the corpse. No time to think about that now…
I had to raise my sword fast to meet with the hands of the Deljaban…I was shocked when they collided with a spark, the Deljaban’s hands were…were photon blades?! How was that even possible?! They don’t have anywhere near the generator technology for weaponry we do…so how…
I pushed off and managed to force the Deljaban back a bit…but he was so relentless, our blades met again but this time…this time I managed to slide my blade down and cut off one of his arms, the momentary distractions from the pain allowed me to slice right into his stomach. I watched as the poisonous fluid seeped out…god they smelled. I continued to at least fend off the Deljabans, they seemed to grow more ferocious when I had killed the previous one…however, and my eyes shot wide open when I heard a new noise…
One of the scientists fired their handgun…they had gotten behind us…
To Be Continued…
End Chapter 5
“…how’d I ever get myself into this mess…?
There I was, staring down six bloodthirsty Deljabans…their breath was heavy in-between those demonic high pitched grunts, a grunt to probably call out to other allies in the area that they had a piece of fresh meat corned like a rat. I clutched my Soda Accas as tight as I could, I could have sworn that the purple handle on the blade was turning a hue of red…maybe I was gripping it too hard. The sweat was nearly drowning me as I looked for any opening to get the hell out of this situation, maybe if I wait them out and let them make the first move a hole will open in their formation and I can make a mad dash for it…
No…don’t be stupid…there’s only one way out of here and none of those damn “clients” I was escorting were going to do a damn thing to help me now. But the bigger question was…where the hell was Reidar?
But where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced myself yet…
“Name?”
The soft voice rang in my ears…
“I said…Name?”
How could I possibly concentrate on her voice when…
*SMACK!*
“HEY! What the hell was that for?!” I exclaimed as a large red welt in the shape of a female hand began to puff up on my right cheek.
When I looked up I saw a rather annoyed look from the Guardian Headquarters attendant, you know here eyes were closed and her mouth was furrowed into a frown of disappointment…that sort of look. I held my right hand to my face…it stung like hell.
“Maybe next time when I ask you for your name you’ll answer me instead of gawking at my chest, you damn pervert! Being a Guardian is serious business, so stop fooling around and acting like you’re still in Training School.” She hissed at me with a sort of woman-like venom, what could I say…they were pretty big.
I slowly began nodding and smiling in an almost futile attempt to lighten the mood, but when her agitated expression proved it to be just that, futile, I grabbed the rim of my hat and tried desperately to hide my face as I hastily passed her my Guardian ID Card. I didn’t really want to open my mouth again and get into more trouble. She sighed heavily and began to process the information on the card with a half smile, she must have found my sudden nervous disposition amusing or something because girls usually don’t smile after they smack you across the face.
“Fujikuro Yamanaka, ForteFighter 3 Star Rank out of 10…pretty good mission record you’ve got here, except for this one mission concerning a girl named…”
Before she could finish I cut her off…maybe I came off as a bit rude but it wasn’t a subject I didn't enjoy talking about.
“Look, lady, I’m sorry about offending you early…but…can you just give me the mission I was ordered to do and not look into my history? Is that possible?” I rushed the words out of my mouth, it probably sounded slurred.
It had been a whole two years since that happened…I had just graduated and become a full fledged Guardian…
“Don’t let them…”
I could still hear her to this day…
“Don’t let them…”
Could still...
“Fujikuro..."
“FUJIKURO, STOP DAYDREAMING!”
Back to reality I suppose…she had grabbed me by my long ears and shouted right into my head, it felt like my brain had started vibrating.
“Jeez…what is it with you?! Are you trying to kill me?!” I grumbled as I began clearing out my ears.
A half giggle escaped from her mouth as she handed me my Guardian ID Card.
“All the information on your mission has now been uploaded to your ID Card, upload the information on your Partner Machinery device for the full schematics on your mission. You’ll be investigating the Linear Line System that was abandoned not too long ago…something about a new SEED infestation. Also, you’ll be escorting a team of Scientists as well, they will be taking various samples of the area and collecting research data on the creatures you encounter. Given the possible dangers involved you will also be working with a partner, a CAST by the name of…Reidar.”
How I wish I had just given her the card back and told her to take this Guardian Job and shove it…
End Chapter 1
I had never been comfortable around CAST hunters, they were always so demanding and commanded his respect without knowing anything about him…and it always seemed to be those male CASTs, which he never understood because the last time he checked metal didn’t have testosterone. However, the case was the complete opposite when it came to female CASTs, in fact his closest and most trusted friend was a female CAST. Now that he thought about it…maybe thats why all the male CASTs hated him…
Nah!
I wanted to hurry to my Guardian Room and access the data for the mission, not because I was excited about working with a CAST or because the mission sounded intriguing…but more because I wanted to know when I’d have to meet another stubborn CAST and how much time I’d have from now till then to waste away at Gawik’s. Truth be told, if it were up to me I’d live on Moatoob instead of this cramped flying Guardian Colony in space, maybe it was just my Beast heritage that made me long for my sandy home planet…or maybe it was the Moatoob’s unique Moatoob Cocktail, I always thought of how to explain it to non-Moatoobians…I guess its somewhat like a mix of Tequilla and Vodka with a slight hint of Koltova Juice.
All I could think of was Moatoob as I wandered aimlessly through the 4th Floor PPT Transport level of the Guardian Colony. Even when I got on the elevator that would take me to my room…I remembered when I was a small ‘Beastling” and would complain of the sand getting everywhere. My parents would always tell me to be greatful to be in the sandy arid desert rather than the freezing climate of Vio Tonga.
But whenever I remembered those past memories…she always came to mind…
Every…single…time…
“Please don’t let them hurt me…”
I won’t let them hurt you…
“Save me…please…Fujikuro…”
I’ll save you…no matter what it takes…
“Fujikuro…Fujikuro…”
“Fujikuro?”
I snapped back to reality…the elevator doors were open, I was standing in front of the open door of my room and the familiar face of the most trusted friend was now staring at him with a rather confused look in her eyes.
“Hmmm…Rune, what are you doing here?” I asked, somewhat confused to find her in my room…not that I minded or anything but usually when I was out I locked the door with a keycode.
A wry smile crossed over her face, it always amazed me how real her skin both felt and looked considering she was made out of metal and mechanical technology. After removing her translucent orange shades she held them up and playfully hit me on the head with them.
“A four year old could figure out the keycode to your room, if not because of you telling it to me numerous times or because of the fact you etched, albeit very small etching, it into the bottom right corner of the door because of how poor your memory is. Besides, I heard you have a pretty big time mission involving the new SEED infestation on the abandoned Liner Line. I also heard your partner is a male CAST…should make things interesting for you.”
…thats what I hated about CASTs, they were always too damn smart. I had just found out about the damn thing ten minutes ago and Rune already knew more about it than I probably did.
I put my hands up in playful frustration then ruffled her blonde hair…even though it was synthetic hair crafted to feel like the real thing, Fujikuro could always tell it wasn’t real. Even if it was, Rune was changing her hair color every other week at Lumilass so any real texture was probably lost long ago.
“Hey, Rune, do you, by any chance, know anything about a CAST named Reidar? He’s the CAST that is supposed to be my partner and I’ve never heard of the guy and I don’t remember all the names of male CASTs I’ve offended…figured you might know something.”
Rune’s eyes went blank for a moment, the first time this happened when we first met I nearly flipped out and thought I had killed Rune with what I had asked her but now, however, I knew that she was simply searching the data banks implanted within her cybernetic brain and that usually required her eyes to do that funky little trick. I always wished I could do that around Halloween time…would be fun to freak those humans out with, especially that Guardian Headquarters clerk…might even comfort me if I pretended like I was in a coma or something…
“Stop daydreaming about women, Fujikuro, I’ve found all I’m going to find on Reidar…”
How the hell did she always know what I was…
“You get a certain twinkle in your eyes, now sit down so I can go over this with you.”
…I give up.
I sat down on the long bed area, I so rarely slept here…usually I would just pitch up residence at one of the local Guardian Rest Areas that were scattered throughout the Universe for hunters like me that were usually out on a mission and needed a place to stay, either that or I had to make camp in the wilderness…I prefer the wilderness, being a Beast and all.
Rune hopped onto the desk next to the video phone and connected a long wire from the video phone into a small socket in the side of her neck, a large projections, life sized it looked, of a red CAST male projected from her eyes…he was wielding a giant axe that was made by the Tenora Works company from Moatoob. Fujikuro always found it ironic when a CAST used weapons made by a race they deemed useless.
“There is no actual information on Reidar except that his favored weapon is a Tenora Works Ank Pikor, it doesn’t look like he has a preferred elemental photon so he simply uses a non-elemental model and relies on pure strength to power through any enemy regardless of weakness. In terms of his Hunter record it appears to be flawless…every mission completed, but every mission he has been given, up until now of course, have been solo missions…Reidar has never worked with anyone on a Guardian’s mission. Upon doing a more extensive search of the databanks, it appears that he underwent a long and tedious investigation because it was rumored he was working as a double agent for the Endrum Collective when they were still in existence…”
A flawless hunter…never worked in a team before and has now been assigned to me, a Beast that every male CAST I’ve ever met has hated and wanted to kill…
Just…great…
End Chapter 2
I was sitting in Gawik’s, sipping at the Moatoob Cocktail I had been dreaming about all day, after going over the specifics of the mission the GUARDIANs had given me. Basically, it seemed that a newer and stronger breed of previous SEED creations had begun sprouting up in areas on the Linear Line that had already been purified of the SEED infection. An AMF team had been sent but…they hadn’t been heard back from and were assumed dead, which is why they had assigned Reidar to the mission as well, he had been in the AMF organization for a long period of time before becoming a Guardian. There was no specific reason as to why they assigned me to the mission…unless they thought that THE incident had something to do with the new SEED manifestations…
It was getting late and the rougher crowd of Beasts were starting to fill into Gawik’s…I’d have had Rune come with me but as you can imagine the majority of consumers at Gawik’s don’t really cater to CASTs of any gender. So, I paid the tab, 1000 meseta for a drink was probably overkill on Gawik’s part but what did I care, this mission alone was going to net me well over 20,000 meseta…I could spill a few on booze.
As I walked back to the PPT Transport I couldn’t help but start wondering why the GUARDIANs would assign me to this mission. Sure, my mission record was…almost…spotless but there were plenty of 10 Star Ranked Hunter Classes out there that they could have picked from, so why would they pick a 3 Star ForteFighter out a sea of talent that is seemingly so much stronger and better suited? This mission sounded like it was of significant importance…so why wouldn’t they hire the absolute best to go with this Reidar character? It made no sense…and it was starting to bug me as I boarded the PPT Transport to take me back home.
Whatever…I’d do the mission, get my meseta, and drown everything else in booze and forget that this stupid mission with this big shot CAST ever happened.
It was really amazing, as soon as my head hit my pillow…I was out like a light.
Linear Line…
The place had become desolate since it was infested by those damn SEED creatures. My sister, Fawn, was with me, she had just graduated from Training School herself…everyone has such high hopes for her. I couldn’t believe it myself, she was almost five years younger than me and she was already graduating with her big brother…the youngest brother and sister to ever graduate from the Academy, Mom and Dad were so proud. Everyone kept saying our Hunter rank was too low to come here, what did they know? Our instructor recommended us personally, we may have only been Hunter Star Ranked 4 but for our age that was astounding.
But when we got into the Linear Line…and we saw that first…that first…beast…I froze in my tracks and so did my sister. It’s hands were like two giant blades and its skin was a coarse black…and those…those eyes, gigantic glowing yellow eyes…I couldn’t move, my sword felt like it weighed more than a sack of bricks. My sister…she started crying and screamed when she saw that the Beast was eating a Hunter that used to be one of our instructors…
I screamed too…
That’s when the beast noticed us and let out a spine chilling shriek that silenced both my sister and myself…especially when we saw ten more beasts crawl out of the woodworks and begin to surround us. I heard a different kind of shriek come from behind us…all I saw was a whitish yellow streak and before I knew it I was on the ground and couldn’t move. I was face down on the cold floor of the Linear Line…I could still see and hear everything…but I couldn’t…I couldn’t move…
I heard her screaming…I saw them surround her…
“Don’t let them…don’t let them hurt me!”
“Please…Fujikuro…SAVE ME!”
“SAVE ME, FUJIKURO!”
I…I couldn’t move and Fawn looked too frozen with fear to swing her dagger…I…I watched her die…
After that…I blacked out…
End Chapter 3
Fawn…it all came back to her…the guilt still lingered with every breath I took and the look on her face was burned into my mind and that scared scream of horror when she realized her fate…I was useless…completely useless…
There was about 15 minutes before Reidar was to meet me in front of the transfer terminal that would take us to the abandoned Linear Line, my mind was wandering…what if I froze up again like the last time I was here? Sure I had been on dozens of missions since then and I was more experienced now…but what if…what if I freeze up again and fail Fawn again…what if I fail the memory of my beloved sister?
Hell awaits me if I fail…but does it also await me if I succeed?
My palms were sweating uncontrollably…what if this CAST just kills me on the spot and I don’t even get a chance to figure out what this all has to do with Fawn? What if I'm overpowered just like I was when I came with Fawn? What if I wasn't strong enough...what if I embarrass our parents again...
What if…what if…what if…
A strong mechanical voice, very deep, jarred me from my thoughts…
“Fujikuro…get up, we have work to do. I don’t care that you’re a Beast if you don’t care that I’m a CAST…the mission is all that matters. Got it?”
I looked up at the mostly reddish colored CAST…he was a towering figure and it looked like he was crafted for sheer power and strength because his arms were almost the size of my entire waist. I stood up slowly and had to really look upwards to get a good look at his face. His eyes pierced through me, they were red like fire as he looked down on me like I was a small child of pure insignificance. I could hear the gears churning through his body as if they were working overtime just to keep his massive frame moving…if nothing else I was glad he wanted to keep things focused on work and not killing the scared little beast standing in front of him. I turned my attention towards the PPT Transport Gate…the Shuttle had arrived.
“According to the report, the research team we will be escorting should already be onboard the Shuttle, I hear they are equipped with donated Handguns from the AMF…wanna bet the barrels are backed up and they backfire?”
I thought adding a little joke in there would ease the mood, maybe made the CAST like me a little more…until I remembered Reidar worked for the AMF and had their insignia plastered all over his outer shell. Smooth move Fujikuro…real smooth.
“Let’s concentrate on the mission and not your lack of humor. I want this mission to be over with as fast as you do, but you don’t see me taking shots at the sister you let die here…”
I could feel my eyes slowly start to dilate when he said that, I could feel the muscles in my arms begin to flair as if I was about to transform and snap this guy in half. He thought he was so tough because he was bigger than I was…I’d like to see this cocky punk deal with Boguo Val Beast that’s twice even his size. With its superior defense even the mighty Reidar wouldn’t be able to lay a scratch on me…I should…I should let go and rip him limb from limb…it would be child’s play too. I could feel the blue aura overtaking me…my muscles began to explode when suddenly…I fell to my knees…a sharp pain in my arm?!
“The GUARDIANS warned me that when your sister was brought up or something angered you enough you usually couldn’t control your own Blast Badge…so they gave me a tranquilizers to stabilize the Badge’s influence over you and relax you so that you wouldn’t senselessly snap on me instead of saving that strength for when it was needed like a normal GURADIAN would.”
How embarrassing…
After that I hurried into the Shuttle with Reidar close behind me, as I had thought the researchers were all onboard and all had a small black hoister for an AMF handgun…I wonder if they were actually blocked up like I predicted too? If they were I’d be on one hell of a roll…and in one hell of a problem considering the mission required them to live. Reidar, however, showed no emotion at all…he just stood next to my seat the entire time, never even glancing at the researchers. I imagined that after all the hostilities with humans and CASTS he might feel more hate towards Humans than he did a Beast like me. My grandfather had once said we beasts were slaves to the humans once…but that couldn’t be right, with our inherent ability to use a Blast Badge one Beast could take out an army of humans.
As the Shuttle now screamed off towards its destination my mind wandered back to Fawn…usually I spent her anniversary by myself in my room with a bottle of the strongest alcohol I could find. Our family on Moatoob had all but shunned me since they saw me coming back and my younger sister Fawn dying…as a showing of weakness of the lowest level. Luckily, all of Moatoob didn’t feel the same, Moatoob had somewhat changed from it warrior outlook since the Wars ended, I still loved Moatoob…but my family hated me…and I didn’t blame them. I remember when I gave my parents the news…
“De…dead?! How…it was your first mission…how can…why didn’t you protect her and die with honor in battle?! You let your sister fall and be sacrificed and you come back home…and shame us?!”
“Mother…please…I…”
“No, Fujikuro Yamanaka, you won’t talk or joke your way out of this…your sister is dead because you were too damn arrogant, you couldn’t even attempt to avenge her death…you just came running back to Mommy and Daddy like you were still a Beastling. Fujikuro, Moatoob may feel pity for you…but as far as we go...
…we have no son.”
I could feel a small tear welling up in the corner of my right eye…but the sudden announcement allowed me the chance to wipe it away before it formed.
We have now arrived at the Linear Line Station, this sector has been quarantined due to SEED infestation. Exercise the most extreme of caution…
Fawn…I couldn’t avenge you then but I swear…
I’ll avenge you now…
I shot up out of my bed…
…that dream, I hadn’t had that since the night after it happened…when I looked at the clock/calendar on the vision phone I realized a startling truth. It was 3 am in the morning…today was the exact day my sister had died.
I was helpless to save Fawn back then…and now I was heading back into the place she was killed on the anniversary of her death. I had no doubt that this mission and their reasoning for picking me…involved Fawn and how she died.
End Chapter 4
I hadn’t been back to the Linear Line in so long…not since the incident. As I stepped off of the shuttle and into the wreckage of what used to be a Linear Line tram service I instantly recognized the smell…it smelled like death, rotting flesh, and blood. I must have zoned out for a moment because I felt Reidar shove me forward because I was blocking the exit from the shuttle. It was a good thing there were no inhabitants at the entry point…for a moment I felt like I was frozen, frozen in that moment when Fawn died.
No…I can’t let myself fall back into that, I’m here to avenge Fawn…here to make things right, there is no time to wallow around like this. I looked up and saw Reidar watching the scientists come out of the shuttle, they all had on what looked like bio-suits, and it wasn’t necessary but…leave it to a scientist to go overboard. They carried their donated handguns like little children…I doubted if any of them had ever seen combat before. I hollered at Reidar…
“Rediar, you lead the way for the Scientists and I’ll cover the rear in case they somehow get behind us…that way if we are attacked then it should be easy enough to protect the scientists. We can’t let our guard down, supposedly the new SEED infestation has increased the hostility and the strength of the surrounding creatures by ten fold…we need to be on our guard.”
Reidar nodded his head in agreement without saying another word…I counted the scientists, there were ten of them, funny…that I’d remember how many we started with…
At first we moved forward through the old Linear Line with no resistance from the surrounding creatures, in fact for a moment we thought that perhaps they had somehow been exterminated. A few of the scientists speculated that is was possible that with such little food supply that the creatures could have easily starved to death or since there was no source of water…simply dehydrated and withered away. But, many of the scientists were not so hopeful, a majority of them believed that with the SEED infestation the creatures would now become so hostile that they would indeed resort to cannibalism and devouring their own offspring for a source of food and survival…a chill fell down my neck as they explained that. It all started when we found the first corpse…
Reidar had stopped in his tracks and looked straight down, his axe now drawn and at the ready. I could hear the loud whirr of the generator in the axe, it was a distinct sound that only Tenora Brand weapons made, I knew because it was a similar sound to what my Soda Accas made, only the sword didn’t need one as big as the axe because the blade was thinner. He motioned for the scientists to come forward, I pushed on my Nanotransformer and held my sword at the ready…after hearing about the cannibalistic tendencies of these creatures everyone was now on edge because sitting right in front of us…was a prime meal. One of the scientists began to examine it and collect various samples of organs and skin tissue…he began to speak out loud.
“Codename: Deljaban, probably the most common of the inhabitants…their claw like hands make for perfect close combat weapons, also, look at their stomach…it is capable of generating a poisonous substance that it forms into a ball and regurgitates at amazing speed, being hit by the poisonous burst…would likely kill you in one shot. Our scientists have actually been trying to replicate the gaseous burst for our own use and with this sample we can perhaps finally perfect what we have been calling…Megid.”
Watching the scientist dissecting every organ and piece of the “Deljaban” didn’t bother me, I had been in combat before and seen far worse…but there was a general uneasiness about all this. Something didn’t seem right at all, I unconsciously gripped my sword much harder as I felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of my face…that’s when we heard it…
Those demonic high pitched grunts…that’s right, not just one high pitched grunt, numerous grunts and they were getting louder with each passing second. I hurried beside Reidar as we started to shout at the scientists to get back behind us. I started to breath heavily as the heavy grunts began to get closer and closer…at this point we could hear the Deljabans dragging their claws across the ground…they were just starting to come into view…there were at least six of them. Suddenly, the Deljabans began to move at an amazing speed…they were right on top of us in seconds! It didn’t look like they had any eyes…so what were they using to see us…wait, those grunts…they kept grunting…dammit…they were basically using sonar I bet! They just wait for those heavy sounds to bounce off anything and destroy whatever it hits…dammit, I bet they have an uncanny sense of smell too, they must have smelled the corpse. No time to think about that now…
I had to raise my sword fast to meet with the hands of the Deljaban…I was shocked when they collided with a spark, the Deljaban’s hands were…were photon blades?! How was that even possible?! They don’t have anywhere near the generator technology for weaponry we do…so how…
I pushed off and managed to force the Deljaban back a bit…but he was so relentless, our blades met again but this time…this time I managed to slide my blade down and cut off one of his arms, the momentary distractions from the pain allowed me to slice right into his stomach. I watched as the poisonous fluid seeped out…god they smelled. I continued to at least fend off the Deljabans, they seemed to grow more ferocious when I had killed the previous one…however, and my eyes shot wide open when I heard a new noise…
One of the scientists fired their handgun…they had gotten behind us…
To Be Continued…
End Chapter 5