FanFic: Covert Hunter...ch. 1-3 (more to come)

[zathura2]

Since nobody wanted to read my lazy version, I've decided to post the full chapters. Maybe I'll get a few more reads.
^
^
(wishful thinking.)

Anyways, I'll post 1 chapter per day to keep it bumped...at least for 7 days, lol.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: zathura2 on 2004-08-21 02:19 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: zathura2 on 2004-08-21 05:19 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: zathura2 on 2004-08-22 12:27 ]</font>

[zathura2]

CHAPTER ONE



Our story begins on Pioneer 2, shortly after the legendary defeat of Dark Falz. The island of Gal Da Val has recently been rumored to contain remnants of secret experiments conducted by the scientists of Pioneer 1, as well as evident links to the man known as Flowen. The current Principal of Pioneer 2, Tyrell, has contemplated sending hunters to Gal Da Val island to confirm the rumors, but all attempts at such acts have been thwarted by the Lab. We shall begin with the Principal's plan to overcome the Lab's influence, and send a hunter to the island for investigation. The hunter in question is Zathura. A seasoned bounty hunter and mercenary, with a forgotten past. No one seems to know exactly how old he is, or where he comes from. The only undeniable fact is that he was transferred to Pioneer 2 shortly before it left planet Coral.

*Pinggg* The telltale sign of electronic mail rings in Zathura's ears as he sits down to his first cooked meal in nearly two weeks. He reluctantly reaches over and activates the video on his armband. "Tyrell, I should've known, what do you want so badly that you had to interrupt my meal?" " Hmm...nice to see you too. I have a mission for you Zathura, but we should not discuss it over monitored channels. Come to my office as soon as you can." Zathura slowly finishes his meal, trying his best to savor it's taste, as he knows it will be a long time before he has time to make another. A short time later he don's his armor and takes his double cannon from his weapon rack. He decides to grab his Varista for good measure, and heads out the door towards the Principal's office.

Zathura walks in the Principal's office slightly taken aback by the simplicity of it all. He had previously received all of his missions at the Hunter's Guild or via his electronic communicator on his armband. The office was bare of anything that would make it unique, only computers and holographic view screens adorned it. "hmph" he thought to himself. "Probably reflects his personality." Tyrell took the initiative, and explained why he had called Zathura. " I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to come here instead of talking to you over the communication channels. Have you heard of Gal Da Val island?" "Well, I've heard rumors, I'm not sure if I'm inclined to believe them though. Does this have something to do with the island?" " Well,...I want you to go to Gal Da Val island and investigate it for me." " What!? You can't be serious, no one's allowed down there anymore. Only hunters associated with the Lab have access to Gal Da Val." " Exactly. We need to know what's down there. If the rumors are true, then the Lab has a very good reason for restricting access. I need these rumors either confirmed,...or disproved. I need you to associate yourself with the lab in order to get their permission to go to the surface. I've already contacted Dr. Montague, and he agreed that you would be an excellent addition to their hunting team. However, I did not inform him of your obligation to me." " I see, you've done your homework Tyrell. It's true Dr. Montague owed me a favor, but adding me to the Lab staff? That's going a bit far,...even for you Tyrell." " Maybe so Zathura, nonetheless,...you are the one most fitted for this operation, and I promise I will make it worth your while if you do this for me." Zathura contemplated this for a moment. Principal Tyrell had never asked anything with such serious consequences before. However, going to Gal Da Val island,...seeing it with his own eyes. After all, Tyrell wasn't the only one who wanted to see if the rumors were true. After a few minutes, Zathura agreed. Tyrell gave him a small communicator with a private channel, and installed a small camera into the shoulder of Zathura's armor. " Very well, within the week your belongings will be moved to a location of the Lab's choosing. I will contact Dr. Montague, and you will start your debriefing at the Lab tomorrow. Zathura,...I trust you to see this through." " Understood Principal Tyrell."





CHAPTER 2



" You must be the new hunter. " Zathura finds himself surrounded by a virtual plethora of technology. He had never before seen so many computers, monitors, and equipment crammed into one room. " I understand you performed some odd jobs for our own Dr. Montague some time ago, correct? " " Umm...yes, I did accompany him on several missions. " " Well, as you can see, we reward those who perform well. A recommendation from one as esteemed as Dr. Montague doesn't hurt either." the woman said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. It was obvious to Zathura that she wasn't particularly fond of him, but clearly could not refuse a direct request from Dr. Montague. " This will be your mission director, Elly Person. She will give you vital information regarding the terrain and enemies around you, as well as the location of your mission objectives. " Zathura gave a quick nod in Elly's direction, she did the same. To be quite frank, Zathura recognized Elly from a previous quest. Apparently, she recognized him as well. The lab's director didn't seem to mind,...too much. She shot them both quick glances however that snapped their attention back to her. " Since you are such highly thought of by Dr. Montague, I think it best to forego the usual training we give to new recruits. However, since I want to test your skills in some way before you actually go to the planets surface, I think this will be a perfect opportunity for us to train one of our,...(green) hunters. " Zathura winced slightly at the term, green. He knew exactly what that meant. He would be stuck training a novice. A green hunter with little to no combat training. Zathura started wondering what he had done that would merit sticking him with training a noob. Suddenly the Chief spoke and snapped Zathura back to reality. " We have set up a meeting place so you can meet your new partner. " The Chief hands him a slip of paper with the address. What she had said just then hit him. " Wait, did you say partner? I thought I would be able to do these missions solo. " " As I said, it's the perfect opportunity for our new recruit to get some combat experience and learn how to fight alongside such an established hunter as yourself. "

As Zathura made his way towards the address given to him, all he could think about was if this was going to interfere with his original mission. He needed to find out if this new hunter would pose a threat. As he walked into the cafe, he quickly checked the data disk that was given to him, which included a picture and brief description of his partner to be. A RAcaseal, interesting. He hadn't worked alongside a RAcaseal since his missions with Eleanor and Dr. Montague. As soon as Zathura walked in he quickly spotted his appointed pupil. She apparently didn't even notice him. " Wow." he thought. " She really is green. I could probably walk up behind her with a gun pointed at her head and she'd never know it. " He walked over to her table and sat down. She looked slightly surprised, and then realized who this must be. " Oh, forgive me,....you must be Zathura, my new partner. My name is Iria, it's nice to meet you. " Zathura shook her hand and introduced himself as the aforementioned. He proceded to ask her if she had any combat experience outside of the VR simulator. After this conversation he was even more convinced that she was a liability. It turned out she had only been in service for a few months, and had just recently acquired her hunter's license. They talked for a bit, and were having a nice conversation, when the Chief beeped Zathura and told him that their simulation would begin first thing in the morning, and that the Lab would send a hover car for them. They wound down their conversation and departed for their homes. The next morning at the lab the Chief gave them their mission details. It would take place in the VR simulator, to prevent accidental death. " Your goal today is to reach the boss of the VR temple area, with both team members alive and well. "

At the beginning of the temple, Zathura first summoned his faithful mag Rati. Iria was somewhat surprised, she knew he was strong, but to have a mag in it's ultimate form? He then unhooked his double-cannon from his waist, activated it, and swung it around a bit to get the feel for it. While Iria Readied her Guilty Light. Zathura thought that perhaps it was a good thing she was an android, since the gun was bigger than her, and probably weighed about the same. " Well, perhaps the extra firepower will make up for her lack of experience. " he thought to himself. " You ready?" he asked Iria. Iria simply nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on the door before them. Zathura activated the mechanism and the door slid open. As soon as they stepped through the fighting began. Four dimenians materialized, along with two poison lily's and two grass assassins. Zathura led the assault with his double cannon, eviscerating one of the dimenians, while the other circled around for a backstab. Zathura was about to turn and take it down, when he saw a blue flash of light and heard the sizzling of boiling air. He turned to see the dimenian had a hole the size of a basketball in its chest, and saw Iria by the door shaking,....the barrel of her guilty light still smoking. Zathura smiled to himself, then his face became stern again as he realized that the battle was only beginning. He charged the third dimenian which was conveniantly standing right in front of a poison lily. This served two purposes, the dimenian's body blocked any clear shot the lily would have at Zathura, and they were close enough together he could take them both in a single combo. He stepped up to the dimenian which was already swinging down his blade arm for a head-shot. Zathura blocked with one end of his double cannon, and with the other he brought the dimenian down with an upward slash, spilling purple blood and what passed for dimenian innards. As soon as the dimenian fell, with his blade still high in the air, he took a step forward and brought the high end down in a diagonal strike at the lily. At first it seemed as though he had missed, but a moment later blood gushed from a seemingly invisible wound in the lily's stalk, and the lily fell into a puddle of it own green blood.

Iria had already taken care of the fourth dimenian and the lily it guarded. Now she was working on the grass assassin. " She's doing quite well actually. Maybe she's not as useless as I had first thought. " As this thought ran through Zathura's mind, he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. The grass assassin on his side of the arena had begun to charge him, the grass assassin's most powerful attack. Fortunately there was quite a bit of distance between them, which gave Zathura enough time to react. He waited till' the giant insect was almost on top of him, then kicked off the ground in a powerful frontflip, letting the grass assassin run underneath him. Zathura landed on the insect's back and jammed his double cannon into it's skull. Blood dribbled from the assassin's mouth, and it made a sickening gurgle as it collapsed on the ground. Zathura looked up in time to see Iria get back-handed by her grass assasssin. Just as it was about to deal the finishing blow to Iria, Zathura summoned a foie spell and hurled it at the grass assassin. Direct hit! The assassin's head exploded in a mix of bone and burning flesh. As the debri fell to the ground, Zathura made his way to where Iria was still sitting on the ground. He helped her up off the ground, he could tell she was obviously shaken. " Well, the first room is cleared,...we can wait for a bit if you need to recover, but remember, you're the one that signed up for this. You knew the dangers involved with being a Hunter. If you get hurt, it's no one's fault but your own. " Iria simply nodded at this remark. Zathura then felt maybe he had been a bit harsh, but decided against taking it back, after all, he was only telling the truth. Right? He decided not to dwell on it, and they moved on through the simulation in simialiar fashion. Zathura taking out the more dangerous enemies while Iria stood back and vaporized enemies with her guilty light. Zathura noticed that she was getting a little better handling combat. As far as he could see, the simulation was exactly like real life, except that you couldn't die. That however, was a mute point since the threat of mutilation and loss of limbs kept it as real as he cared to see.

Zathura and Iria finally exited the last room, covered in blood and panting for breath. Well, Zathura was anyway, it was clear that if Iria had lungs she would be pumping them pretty hard right then. As it was however, the only sign of her fatigue was the louder than usual whine of her servo motors as she moved. Then Iria perked up a little, pointed and said, " Hey Zath, isn't that the boss teleporter? " Zathura looked up with a quizzical look on his face. " Zath? Is that what you just called me? " " Oh, yeah...sorry, should I not call you that? " " Actually, I don't mind at all. It's just been awhile since anyone called me anything other than Zathura. Well, come on....let's finish this. " Iria smiled and trotted off to the transporter. Zathura was close behind. They entered the teleporter and activated the mechanism that triggered the transmission. Suddenly, their vision reddened, and slowly came back into focus which left them on a raft moving swiftly along a small river. Rati, sensing danger, cast Shifta and Deband on the two party members. They both felt strong surges of power course through their bodies. They would need it, especially after the exhausting gauntlet that the temple had proved to be. Suddenly, the hunter's radars picked up a huge object moving under the water. " Get Ready, Here it comes!" Zathura yelled. Iria tensed up and tightened her grip on her guilty light, ready for whatever awaited them. After an uncomfortable silence, a huge beast thrust itself through the water and onto the raft, Immediately trying to crush our hero's with it's bone-like tentacles. Fortunately for Iria, it was more focused on Zathura as he was already hacking his way through the beast's tough exoskeleton. Iria resorted to blasting it with her gun. After a minute or so, the exoskeleton over it's true face cracked, giving the hunters the advantage they needed. Zathura motioned for Iria to shoot it directly between the eyes, where the cracks were the most severe. The bone shattered and fell off, exposing the soft tissue that barely protected the creatures sensitive nervous system. Iria took this to her advantage and shot the creature twice, stunning it. While at the same time Zathura lifted his double cannon high above his head, and brought it down, impaling the creatures brain. The giant beast screamed and thrashed for a bit, and then was silent and unmoving. Zathura gave his cannon a quick twist to make sure the creature wasn't faking, then withdrew it completely, softly sighing to himself.

It was then that the beast's body vanished and the computer announced that the simulation was complete. Iria ran to Zathura and hugged him, she felt lucky to be alive, and knew that she wouldn't be if it weren't for him. Then her face became solemn, and she asked, " Are all the creatures on Ragol this vicious? " " I'm afraid so,....but don't worry, we're partners...and as long as I have a breath in me I'll protect you." was the response. Zathura could hardly believe he had said that. Just less than two hours ago he detested working with the android, but now he actually looked forward to their next mission. Why? How had his feelings changed so quickly, and more importantly,...without him noticing. He decided he'd think about it later, after all,...they had an important mission tomorrow. He had to get ready. With this in mind, they stepped through the teleporter back to the Lab.

[mr_rubbish]

First some bad news...

Firstly, throw in some white space. Setting out speech on a new line helps separate it, making it easier to read and easier to follow in conversations.

Secondly, I recommend writing it in past-tense. In the end it's your choice but it will read better, trust me.

Our story begins on Pioneer 2, shortly after the legendary defeat of Dark Falz. The island of Gal Da Val has recently been rumored to contain remnants of secret experiments conducted by the scientists of Pioneer 1, as well as evident links to the man known as Flowen. The current Principal of Pioneer 2, Tyrell, has contemplated sending hunters to Gal Da Val island to confirm the rumors, but all attempts at such acts have been thwarted by the Lab. We shall begin with the Principal's plan to overcome the Lab's influence, and send a hunter to the island for investigation. The hunter in question is Zathura. A seasoned bounty hunter and mercenary, with a forgotten past. No one seems to know exactly how old he is, or where he comes from. The only undeniable fact is that he was transferred to Pioneer 2 shortly before it left planet Coral.
This should be in some way separated from the main story or perhaps set in italics or something to indicate narration.
The bits I've bolded above should have been worked into the story, placed here and done in this fashion feels patronising.

There seems to be inconsistant levels of detail. The fight scene was detailed, yet opportunities for characterisation glossed over quickly. Do not fall in to the trap of writing a story where the plot serves only to provide an endless string of fight scenes.

-----

Now the good news...

Well its... okay. There is the promise of up coming intrigue when he gets to the island, but no there's no 'hook' so far.
You seem to be technical competant, language and grammar are all there. It's the formatting that is your current number 1 weakness. Browse through a novel by your favourite author and note how they format dialogue. You readers will thank you for it!


In closing, remember if the writer is going to be lazy, then the readers will be to!



PS get rid of the 'non-lazy version' comment from the thread title and add the current chapter number so readers will know when updates have been posted.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: mr_rubbish on 2004-08-21 04:03 ]</font>

[zathura2]

First off, let me say that I do respect your advice, and my fics since, original and fan-based, have spaced dialogue. It's just that this was written quite some time ago, and since the chapters are already written, typed, and formatted, it would be too much trouble to go back and space them.

I will however take your advice on the title change, lol.

[mr_rubbish]

On 2004-08-21 05:19, zathura2 wrote:
[snip]It's just that this was written quite some time ago, and since the chapters are already written, typed, and formatted, it would be too much trouble to go back and space them.

just remember that th next person to come along that hasn't read your fic may take a look and get put off by the formatting. *shrug*

[zathura2]

True. Well, you said to look at one of my fav books, and well, I've been reading "1984" by George Orwell as of late, and I noticed that his paragraphs are much, much, much longer than mine, lol.

I know what you mean tho, but like I said, it's too much trouble to go back and space all 7 chapters. Anyways, for anyone that's reading it, the next chapter will be posted sometime this afternoon/tonight.

[zathura2]

CHAPTER 3



The next day Zathura stayed at home. All missions had been cancelled due to unfavorable weather. He was glad, he wanted to get his thoughts together about the previous day. What he said at the end of the simulation still bothered him. As he walked over to the cabinet, he stopped to look in the mirror. It had been about 4 months since he'd actually looked at himself, other than to shave the stubble that appeared every so often. He stood about 5'11", not exactly tall, but not someone a lot of people could look down on. He usually wore his long hair in a ponytail, but today it was unwashed and sticking out a bit. He decided it was time to break the funk and wash up. He forego the drink in favor of a professionally mixed one, and after he had showered, headed for the closest bar. Zathura walked into the dimly lit bar a little on the paranoid side. He didn't know why, but places like this just gave him the creeps. He started to feel glad he'd brought his Varista, though he was sure he wouldn't need it. He ordered a Bloody Mary and sat down in a corner where he could see the entirety of the bar. As he was drinking the Bloody Mary, he felt a strange sensation, a pull, that made him look towards the end of the bar. Sitting on one of the stools was a cloaked figure sitting next to a very large, military style man. At the same time the cloaked figure glanced at zathura, and as soon as he realized zathura had seen him, he nudged the large man and they both got up and quickly left the bar. Zathura felt he recognized the cloaked one, and thought about following them. On any other day he would have, but due to the exhaustion of the previous day, and the effect of the alcohol, he decided to leave it alone. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew them from somewhere. Suddenly, his communicator beeped with mail. Zathura stared at it, halfway thinking about not answering, but figured he didn't want the sound annoying him. To his surprise, it was Iria, she wanted to let him know that the weather on the surface had cleared and they could start their mission if he wanted to. Zathura thought about it, and was feeling surprisingly better about the day. Perhaps if he got this over with he could have an entire day off for once, besides, the principal was sure to start wondering if he didn't check in after two days. He needed information, and hoped this mission would provide some.

Zathura arrived at the Lab shortly after Iria. The Chief was not too happy about this, as could clearly be seen by the expression on her face. However, she got right to the point and debriefed them about their current mission. The chief began, " As you may or may not know, Gal Da Val island is in a state of lockdown. There are three input terminals which control separate locks in the security system. We've been able to locate and activate the locks, thus opening the path to the cliffs, where we believe the center of the research facility to be located. Unfortunately, every team we have sent in have not come back, nor have we been able to contact them after they enter the compound." " So let me get this straight, you want me to take an inexperienced hunter inside the compound and attempt to reach the center of the facility. " Iria seemed a little dissapointed at that last remark. The Chief remained emotionless. " You alone have more experience than most of the hunters we had sent before, and if you believe Iria to be a burden, you may choose to leave her behind. " Iria felt as though she had just been slapped in the face. Her artificial body was beginning to compensate for the emotion that was welling within her, and started to produce tears. Iria quickly disabled that function and straightened her face, making sure neither Zathura or the Chief saw anything. Zathura thought about what the Chief had just said. It's possible that Iria could slow him down,...however, he finally decided that the extra firepower would be welcome, even if he had to worry about keeping her safe. " No, she'll be going with me. " " Very well, then there shouldn't be a problem. " A small smile spread across the Chief's lips as she said this. " The transporter is waiting for you, as soon as you're ready, tell Elly. " " Right. " Zathura turned to Iria. " Do you have everything you need? " Iria nodded yes. Zathura led the way over to the transporter and stepped through, Iria was right behind him.

As their vision cleared, they found themselves on a small cliff surrounded by waist high walls on three sides. There was a gigantic door before them. Zathura found himself wondering whether it was to keep intruders out, or to keep something else in. " Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. " he thought to himself. His communicator beeped at him, it was Elly. "This will be the last time I can contact you before you enter the compound, there seems to be an energy field surrounding it that refracts our communication signals. " " Isn't there any way to compensate for it? " " We're working on it, but so far we haven't figured out how. That will be part of your mission. " " And just exactly what is my mission? " " You are to infiltrate the center of the compound and copy all the data on the central computer. We're looking mostly for log entries by the staff, any information regarding the experiments being conducted there, and of course the reason and source of the energy barrier that blocks communication. " " Alright, any info on what I'll be running into on the way? " " Like the Chief said, the previous teams have not come back, so we have no way of knowing what is in there. Sorry. " " That's okay, alright....if I make it out I'll call. " Zathura disconnected the link. He nodded to Iria to get ready. She hoisted her guilty light and clicked off the safety. Zathura activated his double cannon and activated the door mechanism. The door slowly slid down revealing a large courtyard. Apparently the security system hadn't completely been deactivated, there were still laser trip alarms that would respond to any motion within their proximity. Zathura took a step in, Iria followed close behind. They walked a bit further expecting trouble, but nothing happened. Zathura lowered his double cannon, which proved to be a mistake. The sound of an energy discharge sounded in Zathura's ears as he turned to find the dead body of an ul gibbon that had jumped down from the walls trying to catch him off guard. A split-second later they were surrounded by four or five of them. One of the gibbons spit a fireball at Iria, which she dodged and retaliated with a blast from her guilty light. Carnage ensued. Zathura leaped at the closest gibbon, slicing it across the chest. As it was trying to recover from the blow, Zathura brought his double cannon down on it's head, slicing the gibbon in half. Zathura turned just enough to see another gibbon about to strike him from the back, he quickly pulled his arms back and brought the point of the cannon behind him and impaled the gibbon. At the same time Iria had taken down two as well, and was already aiming at her fourth. The second she pulled the trigger however, the gibbon leaped above the blast and came down on Iria, knocking the guilty light from her hands. Just as Zathura was about to help her, the last gibbon forced it's way between the two hunters. Zathura was relieved to hear the familiar sound of mechguns firing round after round into soft flesh. With confidence that his partner was okay, he lunged forward and struck the gibbon, neatly slicing it's left arm off, and leaving a gash in its side. He then recoiled, and thrust the tip of his cannon into the gibbon's throat, and tearing out half of it in the process. As it fell to the ground, Iria holstered her mechguns and retrieved her guilty light.

Just as the duo thought they had cleared the room, something struck Zathura from behind. Zathura propped himself on his elbow and looked to see what it was. To his surprise, nothing was there. Suddenly the same strange force hit Iria, causing her to stumble backwards. This time Zathura saw a faint ripple in the air. " Thermal Camoflauge. " he said with not a small amount of surprise. He quickly got up, and before the ripple had a chance to disappear he slashed at it with his cannon. A tear opened in what seemed like the air itself, exposing black insides and severed wires. The thermal camoflauge started to flicker, and then died altogether. A sinow zoa stood before them. Iria, relieved to be able to see what she was fighting, quickly brought round' her guilty light and fired two shots into the machine. It sputtered for a moment before collapsing on the ground. Zathura looked at Iria and motioned for her to follow him. They made their way to the end of the courtyard and passed through the door. The next room was devoid of enemies, although it gave them an idea of what was to follow. They saw the sea straight ahead, and the path to the right led to the central control room. It was quite short actually, a couple of rooms stood between them and a thin catwalk. Iria confirmed that the catwalk ended with a teleporter which Zathura hoped led to the control room. As they passed through the rooms, Zathura was surprised to find no enemies. Instead what they found were the bodies of the previous teams and the enemies that had previously resided here. Because of the thick fog that hung over the area, the smell of blood was still thick in the air. Zathura poked a couple of the bodies out of childish curiosity before Iria scolded him, telling him that it was disgusting. They moved on towards the catwalk, and as they crossed it Zathura wondered if the courtyard was the only resistance they would have. After all, it looked as though the previous hunters had done their work for them. Something still didn't sit right with that theory. Something was waiting at the end, he could feel it. As they neared the final teleporter, Iria stopped. " Zathura,...I'm not sure exactly...but I believe whatever is causing the interference with communications is just beyond that teleporter. " Zathura realized she was probably right, and hoped that just once, he would catch a break and complete the mission without a hitch. As they stepped throught the teleporter Zathura realized that his wish was not going to come true.

As their vision cleared, they saw something amazing. Well, amazing if you weren't about to fight it. Just then Iria piped up. " It closely resembles creature known as a gryphon in ancient human mythology. " " Ah, it's alway nice to know I'll be battling against a mythological creature. " The gryphon must have heard their little conversation because it lifted it's head from slumber and looked their way. Zathura could almost see its eyes grow wide with rage at being disturbed. It showed this by getting up and letting loose a deafening roar. It then started moving towards them. As Rati cast its traditional Shifta/Deband combo, Zathura and Iria split. Zathura headed straight for the gryphon, hoping to divert its attention away from Iria. Why he was trying to get a two-story creature's attention was lost on Zathura as he ran beneath the gryphon. At this point Zathura attempted to drive his double cannon straight up into the gryphon's gut. However, when it should have hit it's mark, the gryphon was gone. As he heard shots being fired from Iria's guilty light, he came to realize that the gigantic wings on it's back weren't for decoration. This fact alone would have made the battle tremendously hard, if not impossible, however as luck would have it, the giant photon charges the guilty light fired were enough to blow a hole in one of the gryphon's wings. The creature reared back on it's hind legs and roared in pain. All the while Zathura was sprinting to catch up. He got there just in time for the gryphon to come crashing down, the shockwave created was enough to knock both hunters to the ground. The gryphon saw this as an opportunity and rose it's giant paw to crush Zathura. As the paw came thundering to the ground, a somewhat dazed Zathura found nothing to do but point his double cannon straight into the air. Just as the creature's foot was about two feet away from turning a great hunter into a smear, it stopped. Apparently the gryphon didn't like the fact that it had a double cannon halfway into it's foot. It recoiled, saving Zathura the trouble of extracting his blade. The gryphon howled once more in pain, and with a blue flash, the battle was over. Iria had fired her guilty light directly into the gryphon's mouth. At the angle which the hunters were so placed, the blast penetrated the soft roof of the gryphon's mouth and vaporized it's brain. The now lobotomized gryphon stood for moment, then fell to the ground with a thud, it's head leaking blood and brain fluids. Suddenly, Zathura's communicator beeped, it was Elly. " Zathura, the energy shield just dropped, are you alright? " " Yes we're both fine. What do you mean the barrier just dropped? " " I-I can't explain it, it just dropped all of a sudden. Anyway, have you found the main computer terminal? It should be on the eastern edge of the plateau that you are currently standing on. " " Yeah, I see it. I'll hurry and get the information that you wanted. " " Right, we've locked onto your location and we're sending a transport for you. " " Thanks Elly. " With that Zathura cut off the communicator. Zathura and Iria walked over to the terminal and Zathura brought it online. He then inserted a disk into the terminal and proceded to copy the data. When it was finished he inserted another one, and handed the first to Iria. " I want you to give this to the Chief when we get back alright. " " Umm...sure, but why are you making another copy? " " What copy? " " That disk you just inser...." Zathura cut her off. " Listen, if you want to work with me, you won't tell anyone about this disk okay? As far as you are concerned, that disk you hold in your hand is the only copy. " Not completely understanding, Iria nodded. " Good, let's go then. " Zathura pulled the second disk out of the terminal, and proceded to the telepipe the Lab had provided. Iria waited for a few moments, then followed behind him.

Once back at the lab, Iria gave a full report of everything that had happened. Much to Zathura's releif negelcting to mention the second data copy. Zathura was about to leave the Lab when Iria caught up with him. " Umm...I was wondering if you'd like to get something to eat later. " Zathura looked at her suspiciously. " Only one problem, you don't eat. " " Well, umm...I thought we could just maybe, you know,..talk or something. " " I have something I need to do. " Zathura replied sternly. " Oh, I see. Well, I'll see you later then. " Just as Iria turned to leave Zathura called out to her. " How about I give you a call as soon as I'm finished, it should only take me about thirty minutes, that'll give us both a chance to freshen up. " Iria smiled, and Zathura couldn't help but smile back. Iria trotted off to go home, and as soon as he was sure she was gone, he walked over to a transport terminal, punched in the Principal's coordinates, and stepped through. Zathura came out just in front of Tyrell's office. As he walked in Tyrell almost jumped out of his skin. " Oh, Zathura, it's you. Did you get any information? " " Well, The lab sent me to retrieve this information, so I made a second copy, perhaps you will find this useful. " " I will certainly take a look, erm...does anyone know about this? " Zathura tensed. " No, they beleive there to be only one copy of the data. " " Good, you have done well, however, you should leave so nobody suspects anything. " " Right, I'll be going now. " " One more thing. " The Principal said. " Your mission is not yet over, I hope you understand that, I still want you to find out everthing the lab wants to know, and bring me the data as well. " " Understood. " With that, Zathura left Tyrell's office and stepped back through the teleporter. Once on the other side, he reset the coordinates to that of a local shopping center, so his previous destination could not be traced. He then returned home to get ready for his evening with Iria. He wondered if it was such a good idea, recalling his feelings the day before. Certainly he was not falling in love with an android. " No. " he half chuckled to himself," That's just stupid. There's no way I'd even allow myself to harbor such ideas. " He reassured himself that they were just going to talk. As he walked out the door though, he started to wonder if that was it. If that was the extent of their friendship, and started to wonder just how deep a bond had been created during these past two days. For the first time since he was young, he felt nervous.