I'm back, ladies and gentlemen! I'm back and [hopefully, depending on your opinion] better than ever! So, this is the long awaited sequel to my first fanfic, 'Warriors of Steel'. If you haven't read WoS yet, then I absolutely suggest reading it and/or my one-shots [though the latter is not essential to the storyline].
DISCLAIMER: I most certainly do not own Ninjago. It's probably a good thing that I don't, otherwise it may end up a tad too graphic for a PG audience.
I sincerely hope you enjoy chapter one of WoS: Vengeance of Flame!
Chapter 1: The Warpath
Rain drops poured onto the soft ground that covered Wildwood Forests. The entire forest was covered in mud, making traversing the forest a whole lot worse for Kai Smith.
He adjusted the small scope on top of his standard issue Ninjagan-made L-19 assault rifle. Kai, who was a member of 3rd Battalion, 12th Ranger Division, moved as quietly as he could wearing full combat gear through the densely wooded area. He brushed across a thicket, causing several thorns to cut holes into his ACU.
A resounding series of cracks could be heard as Kai made his way out of the thicket and removed the thorns from his leg. He silently cursed himself for being so clumsy, and raised his rifle. 'Just a few hundred feet,' he thought to himself, 'and I'll be home free.'
He continued scanning the trees, making sure to watch his step so he didn't land on any tripwires. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye, and whipped sideways just in time to see Private Yomi Tokawi get snared inside of a trap that Kai had set up only a few hours prior.
Kai made a psssh sound and raised his rifle, pulling the trigger and letting a BB round hit Tokawi in the gut, therefore 'killing' him and keeping him out of the game.
The standard BB made less sound that the real bullets used in combat, but it still made noise. Enough noise to draw the attention of the other Rangers who were hunting Kai through the woods. The crunching of boots could be heard behind Kai as he swiftly broke into a sprint.
He turned for a few seconds to see if he was being trailed, and his foot hit a tripwire, causing a net to come from below.
Kai had moved in time to keep his entire body from being snared, but his legs were still caught and he was hoisted up at a fast rate, now hanging upside down from the net.
The soldier cursed and reached for his knife to cut himself loose, but before he could he caught site of two more enemies, one Lars Panrocka and a new recruit Kai was yet to meet personally. Kai pulled his arms up with his rifle in tow, and fired four rounds. One missed, two hit Lars in the chest, and the fourth caught the recruit in the helmet.
Kai quickly reached down and grabbed his knife from his belt. He began sawing away at the net, dropping his rifle. He could see no less than five more people heading towards him, so he sped up his process. His gloved hands went fast, cutting pieces of the net off.
Eventually, he was able to cut himself loose. He dropped to the ground, and spun around, pulling his P12S handgun from its holster. He began firing at the enemies, hitting each at least once. He emptied the magazine and stood up, taking off once more. He could almost see Colonel Rogers holding the bell only around 60 yards away.
BB rounds began flying around Kai, smacking into trees and whizzing by him at high speeds. The soldier reloaded his P12S and turned around, firing away at random targets. He wheeled around and slammed right into fellow soldier Skylor Chen, who had been hiding right around the tree near Colonel Rogers.
The girl gave Kai, who was now flat on his back, a grin, before raising her rifle and firing off two shots. Both hit his chest causing Kai to jump slightly from the pain.
"Nice try, Smith," Skylor said, offering Kai a generous hand up, "But you know I'm the master of disguise. I can vanish from your eyes!" She said as Kai took her hand.
Colonel Rogers, who still held the bell, walked over to the two with a grimace on his face. He was wearing standard ACUs with no combat gear nor armaments. "Private First Class Smith, if you can't survive a training exercise then you won't survive the Dark Island." Rogers said, setting the bell down on the ground.
Kai sheepishly rubbed the band of his head. "Sorry sir, I just don't know Wildwood Forests that well."
"And you think you'll know the jungles of the Dark Island any better?" Rogers replied, before shaking his head in disappointment and picking up the bell. "Be back at Fort Justice in 20 minutes for debriefing. I'll see you there." He muttered before walking north towards the fort.
Skylor and Kai both saluted. "Yes sir!" They said in unison.
"Jeez. Looks like Mad Dog Rogers is pretty upset. Wonder what's gotten on his nerves?" Kai said, watching the man walk away.
Skylor merely shrugged. "Who knows with him? Maybe he's just worried that we'll hurt ourselves."
A cry from behind interrupted their conversation: "Can anyone help me down from here, or are you just going to leave me hanging for the night?"
They both turned to see Private Tokawi struggling to remove the net from his legs. Quickly, the new recruit rushed through the mud to help him.
"Looks like 'Hothead' ain't cut out for the jungle after all." Came a voice from Kai's left. Turning to identify it, he found Lars Panrocka looking back at him with a slightly grin on his face.
"Cut it, Panrocka. It's not like you made it very far either." Kai countered, now sporting his own smile while brushing the thick mud from his shoulder patch.
Lars threw up his hands in mock surrender. "You got me, Kai. I might as well just stay here at good ol' Justice and let you guys do the fighting."
The recruit and Yomi, now finished with their task of removing the latter from the tree, watched the engagement unfold. "Maybe both of you guys can stay here and get chewed out by Rogers for not getting back to base in time." Tokawi said, before nudging the recruit lightly. The recruit looked confused for a minute, before nodding wildly and chuckling. They both wheeled around and began their jog back to base.
Skylor removed her brown-green camouflaged helmet and watched them go. With the rain hitting her red hair, she asked her comrades, "Hey, who's the new guy? Kid doesn't look older than 18..."
Kai shrugged. "I dunno, but he passed Ranger school, which means he must have something going for him. At least I hope so, unless the integrity of High Command has deteriorated so much that they just let anyone in now." He said, earning a chuckle from Lars.
"Let's just get back to Fort Justice," Skylor said, eager to return, "Lest Ol' Dog Rogers reprimands our asses."
The jog back was uneventful, with the trio just barely making it back to the large complex known as Fort Justice. The base was situated on a fairly small hill in the center of Wildwood Forests. It was a good place for training exercises, which is what the Rangers had been doing for the last few weeks. Great guard towers holding snipers and machine-gunners stood hovering over the base like guardian angels.
The trio quickly made it back to the barracks, laughing and smiling. Tanks and armored cars lined the buildings, with Rangers from 3rd Battalion chatting, marching, and moving about to get out of the rain.
Kai made a quick pit stop at his bunk, setting his muddy rifle and helmet next to his cot. He sighed, looking out the nearby window at the falling raindrops. 'Am I really ready to head the Dark Island? It's not like I've ever left Ninjago before.' He asked himself, waiting for an answer. An answer from someone, anyone, would suffice. His conscience, his brain, maybe even God.
When he received no such answer, he sighed again and dragging his hands down his face. 'What am I doing? I signed up for this job, and when they have a task for me to complete, I have to do it.' With this thought in mind, Kai took a deep breath, straightened out his ACUs, and made his way to the debriefing room.
Pushing open the white door, Kai was surprised to see the 20 troops in his squadron already there. 'Am I late?' he asked, quickly stepping into formation with his squadron.
Colonel Rogers was leaning over a map on a wooden table, a grimace on his face. The shadow from the dying lights made him look 20 years older than he actually was, and 20 years wiser.
Slowly, the Colonel pushed himself up and looked at the squadron. He placed his hands behind his back, stood up straight, and addressed them directly. "Gentlemen and Ladies, you've done an excellent job in training for the past few weeks." He paused, seemingly pondering what to say. "I-I've got some fairly… bad news." He shifted, a sad look plastered on his face. "I've been promoted."
The Rangers looked around at each other, seemingly confused. This was great news! Of course it was sad to see Colonel Rogers go, but it was a good place for him. Skylor spoke up. "That's great, sir! Congratulations!"
The Colonel forced a smile. "I've been put in charge of the entire 1st Ranger Regiment." He began fidgeting with the pencil in his hands behind his back. "But… but that's not all the news I have." His forced smile fell off of his face, and it was back to sadness. "The invasion of the Dark Island starts in two weeks. All 8,000 men in the 12th Ranger Division are being airdropped into the city of Haelram, which is a large coastal city 50 miles south of the Darese Capital Jankikai." He paused again, glancing down. "Most of you aren't expected to survive."
There was a harsh and sudden silence that fell upon the Rangers. The knowledge hit them like a brick: sudden and blunt. Two weeks? That meant that the invasion was being rushed by the Ninjago Government, since the original plan put the initial landings in two months.
Colonel Rogers returned to the map, setting a single hand on it. "The 3rd Battalion is being placed under the command of Lt. Colonel Hendrix. Now, I understand that some of you may not think Hendrix is the best commander… but I expect for you all to treat him with utmost respect."
Kai could almost feel himself scowling. Lt. Colonel Hendrix was known as two things: a hard ass, and a suck up to high command. It was widely believed that he had only received his rank for being a desk jockey and secretary for Major General Liam Jones, head of the12th Ranger Division.
Colonel Rogers stopped his speech. Carefully, as though stricken with age, he stood up, faced the Rangers, and threw up a salute. In response, the Rangers all stiffened, and returned the salute to the Colonel.
"Good." Colonel Rogers said, dropping his hand. "Dismissed."
"I still can't believe Ol' Dog Rogers is leaving." Lars said as the trio of Rangers made their way through the rain and towards their barracks. "I mean, I'm happy for the man, but that was so sudden."
"And can you believe they're putting Hendrix in charge of the Battalion? All he's going to do is get us killed! I don't think that man's had to shoot a rifle in his life!" Kai loudly complained, sulking as raindrops thudded against his back.
Skylor only shook her head once. "I think you guys are overreacting. Hendrix isn't all that bad, I'm sure of it! He didn't get his rank for nothing." She stopped, turning to her compatriots. "What I think we need to do is unify ourselves and get ready for the invasion. There are dark times ahead, and the 3rd Battalion needs to be ready for whatever comes our way."
The other two soldiers sighed before nodding in agreement and waltzing off towards the barracks with many a new thought swirling about in their minds.
Well, that was Chapter 1! Remember, Constructive Criticism is allowed and accepted with open arms. I take any sort of criticisms and adapt them into the next Chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, and Chapter 2 will be coming out some time in the next week.