=== Armament 2: Slig's Regiment===
=== Chapter 11: Udra===
= 1 Year Ago =
A Paramite bit deep into Udra's side. He screamed in pain as he tried to get the thing off. Reint heard his cry and aimed very carefully. He shot the Paramite so that it instantly let go of Udra. Udra fell to his knees, holding his stomach.
"Udra!". Marek called over to him, "Get over here quickly!". Udra nodded, picked himself up and ran towards Marek, his mechanical pants whirring noisily as the Paramite hisses could be heard. Gunshots were heard nearby. Reint and Krisso were picking off as many Paramites as they could. Reint reloaded. Suddenly he noticed something, "Hey Krisso, on your right!". Krisso turned around as three Paramites were running towards him. With a quick burst-fire shot from his rifle, they fell down to the ground.
Meanwhile Udra reached where Marek was. He leaned against a tree, wincing as the pain rushed to his side. Marek looked at Udra's wound, "You OK, Udra?". "I'm alright, just a bit shaken that's all", Udra stood up, "Come on, let's get out of this place".
Udra and Marek headed for a nearby boulder in order to reload their weapons and look around. "This place is some kind of canyon", Marek looked around sighed. Udra looked concerned, "This is more like a death-trap, it's like those things knew we would be here".
A Mudokon with a spoocebow walked up to them, he held it at waist height. "What business do you have here?", the Mudokon snarled. Marek stood up slowly, not making any sudden movements. "Listen pal, we have orders to get rid of the Paramites here for the Glukkons to build a factory", Marek gestured towards the field, the Mudokon gave him an indifferent expression, lowering his bow.
Udra stood up, "We can do this two ways, either we can blast all these Paramites into bits, or you can help us move them. We work for the M.A., we promise that the native Mudokons in this land will not come to any harm". As much as the Mudokon might want to shoot the Slig, he knew that the Slig was being sincere. Besides, if he killed the Sligs there would only be more replacements brought into the area. More violence towards the native Mudokons and unwanted bloodshed would be catastrophic.
The Mudokon turned away, "There's hundreds of Paramites here, you won't be able to shoot them all to death. Why don't we get the chanters to make them move to a new area?". Udra nodded, "Thanks, I'll see that the Mudokons get treated well, you have my word".
There would be no hostile takeover. The Merchants Alliance was created in order to unify the native Mudokons with the Industrial Glukkons. Happy workers are busy workers. Instead of slave labor the Mudokons were free to choose whether to join up or not.
Marek whistled to Reint and Krisso, they walked up to him. "Change of plan, we're letting the natives handle this". Reint nodded, "Alright. Let's call our boss then".
Marek called Kolon and informed him of what happened. As Marek hung up the phone, he smiled, looking at Udra. Udra smiled back, but the smile faded from his face, his muscles and nerves going numb.
Marek's expression turned to shock as he watched Udra collapse to the floor, Udra didn't make a sound... he just slumped to the floor, all muscles gave way and he hit the floor face down, not moving, not making any noise.
"Udra, you OK? Udra? UDRA?!".
Reint and Krisso came running, Reint quickly took out a first-aid kid.
=== Chapter 12: Trapped ===
= 1 Week Later =
Marek and Reint were talking in a medical facility. A Vykker entered the room. Reint stood up, with a concerned expression on his face, "Doc, how is he?". The Vykker hung his head, "I'm sorry, but he's in a pretty bad shape, he had a very bad reaction to that bite, we believe it was some kind of infection". Marek looked at the Vykker, "Is he going to live?". The Vykker nodded, "He is stable, but I'm afraid there are worse complications then that", the Vykker motioned towards a health-chart next to Udra's bed.
"His muscles and nerves SHOULD be working fine, but there is something wrong, it's as if his brain has gone into a kind of stasis... nothing we can do will get his attention. This kind of infection is very serious can cannot be cured with standard medicine". Marek looked worried, "Doc, is there anything we can do?". The Vykker shook his head, "Without specialized equipment and medicine, he's going to be stuck in that state. Even I don't know how long it will last, weeks? months?".
Reint felt a tear forming underneath his mask. He hung his head and looked depressed. Marek focused on the Vykker once more, "Listen, whatever equipment he needs, we'll pay for it. We have plenty of cash from the Glukkons". The Vykker walked away, "I'll see what I can do, come back in a week and we'll talk some more about his condition".
Reint sat on the chair next to Udra's bed. He was clearly on the verge of a breakdown. Marek put his hand on Reint's shoulder. "Come on man, there's nothing we can do for him now. Let's go back to the Barracks and think this through".
Reint nodded and stood up, the pair left the room. Reint turned his head towards Udra, after all this time... how long would it take Udra to get back to normal?
= 1 Year and 1 Month later =
Udra blinked, he moved his arms in order to raise his body. The Vykker nearby gasped. He yelled for the nearest Intern, "Get in here quick! He's awake!".
= 1 Month ago (Present Day) =
Marek and his squad were flying towards Farda's location. They lowered altitude and headed towards the ground. They equipped their walking pants. Reint approached Marek. "Wait. I don't like this. Farda is up to something". Marek nodded, "I agree, it is not natural for a Glukkon to request protection from a small squad like us… especially at a time like this".
Yars walked up to Marek. "Are you saying he wants us dead?", Reint shrugged, "I don't know but something just doesn't feel right". Krisso approached them, "Alright, we'll just keep our wits about us. Let's get going".
They walked to the east. A chilling breeze was blowing from the north. Marek adjusted his pistol and walked forward. "How far?", Reint checked his navigator, "About three miles". Marek and his squad kept walking for a while, before stopping to set up camp.
Shortly after, Reint began tinkering with his rifle, motioning Yars over. Yars and Reint were talking about rifle tactics when a noise nearby made Marek stand up.
Another twig snapped, Marek's squad turned around, their guns pointing towards the source of the noise. Suddenly one thing was made clear… they had been set up.
=== Chapter 13: Deception===
"Well well well, what do we have here then?". A tall Slig with an older style of visor approached them, his gun at the ready. Marek glared, "This was Farda's doin right?". "Not as stupid as you look then", the tall Slig smiled, "Now, which one of you is Marek. "That would be me then, are you gonna kill us?", the tall Slig laughed, "Hah, naw, you're worth more alive... but I wouldn't hesitate, if yer tried anythin funny". A few seconds later, two more Sligs arrived, marking Krisso and Reint with their weapons, making sure nothing would happen.
They had failed to notice Yars at all, who sneaked behind the taller Slig. Within an instant the tall Slig's metal pants and gun were sliced in two. "Get 'em", Krisso yelled. Reint and Krisso both rushed the nearest Sligs and knocked the weapons out of their hands. Krisso punched the Slig until he fainted. Reint gave the other one a smart smack over the head with his Sniper Rifle.
Once the Sligs were subdued, Marek stood over the taller Slig's body. The taller Slig yelped. "You can either go to your boss and tell him what happened or you can just smeg off, Your choice". The Slig leader decided to run away as fast as he could.
Marek looked at Reint. "A set up, how could we have fallen for this?". Reint sighed, "To be fair, most Glukkons aren't smart enough to think of something like this. Farda must be really desperate for some quick cash". Yars glared at them, "That crazy dook, he tried to have us killed? What do we do noW?". Krisso smiled, "Farda took a risk by hiring those other Sligs, now he'll be at a disadvantage". Marek looked at Yars, "We're still going to Zorbs', only now Farda will be in a prisoner's garb, ready to see Lady Margaret. Same mission, different situation".
Reint looked around, "We should try and get some rest, I'll secure this area with some mines just in case".
It was now morning, everyone had slept reasonably well. Time to find Farda.A few miles further, they found him just outside of one of his facilities, unguarded.
"Farda, well this is a surprise". Marek walked up to him. "We know what you tried to do, you took a risk and your gamble was wasted. Now you'll be going to Miss Margaret soon enough". Farda glared at them, "How dare you do that to me? I'll make you pay for this". Krisso smirked, "Unlikely friend, now come with us or we'll knock yer out". The Glukkon glared at them, but followed. Marek looked at the Glukkon, "You drastically underestimated our abilities. I promise you won't make the same mistake again". Farda cursed under his breath, but kept walking.
About an hour later, the Sligs and Glukkon were walking north. Farda was getting nervous, Marek looked at the Glukkon's nervous movements and had a good idea what was going to happen. He saw some Sligs with weapons in the distance and his suspicions were confirmed. "Ambush!". Marek yelled and ducked down, picking a spot to shoot from. Reint took out his rifle, aiming at the horizon. No sooner had Marek yelled then a few Sligs started shooting towards them. Yars picked off a Slig in the horizon, and Reint shot out a fuel tank nearby, taking out a Slig. The other Sligs ran away, Krisso smiled, "Cowards... Come on let's continue".
=== Chapter 14: Bulk Order===
Marek and his crew continued walking. Suddenly they saw a tank ahead of them. "Wait", he held out his hand in front of them. "Looks like a roadblock". They looked around, "Damn, there's about five Big Bros and quite a few Flyers... now what?". Krisso raised his hand, "We could just take em out quick, before they have a chance to attack?". Yars stepped forward, "I do have a secret weapon". Everyone was shocked. Reint looked at him, "What is it?". Yars took out a little syringe, injecting himself with it. "This should take effect really quickly, just remember... I'm the one with the BlitzKnife on the back". Yars muscles began convulsing and growing at an alarming rate. Yars pressed a button on his pants, and suddenly two extra legs appeared from the base. The other legs also became somewhat fortified, appearing to be larger than before. He was steadily growing in size from normal Slig to... "A Big Bro!", Krisso stepped back. Yars smiled, his voice slightly deeper now, "These are some special steroids that the docs gave me to test out. They take effect quickly, but they won't last too long. Let's go get 'em". They took their positions. Reint was looking at the flyers. "If I can just shoot one of them, it'll cause confusion".
A few minutes later a plan was formulated. Krisso gave the signal. Reint shot at the flying Slig overhead, which crashed into the ground. One of the Sligs on the ground started running in confusion. Marek and Krisso ambushed some other Sligs on the other side of the ravine. Marek turned towards the nearest one, "Freeze!". The Sligs raised their arms and pleaded for them not to be shot. Marek smiled and knocked them unconscious.
Yars snook behind some Big Bros. He used a BlitzKnife silently on the nearest one, taking his weapon. He then fired upon the other Big Bros, taking them out one by one. His training had paid off. The other Big Bros tried to attack Yars, but his immense training meant that he was much faster than they were. Despite his size, Yars was pretty much undefeatable in this regard. His size was decreasing slightly though, so he had to make sure to finish the other ones off quickly, before his muscle mass returned to normal.
After a minute of fighting, the other Sligs ran away. Krisso smiled, "Yet again, we prevail. Let's get Farda". Yars walked up to Marek and Krisso, he was now the normal Slig size.
They previously hid Farda in a hole in the ground and tied him up. He was getting pretty annoyed, but he wouldn't escape very far anyway without guards. They continued walking towards Zorbs. "Now, only a few miles away now. Let's get you to Zorbs". Farda shuddered, "Darnit, I'll make you pay for this".
=== Chapter 15: Moolah Matters===
They arrived at the entrance to Zorbs. Zorbs was like a massive financial cooking pot. Stock brokers and suppliers often came through here for both loan applications and also more serious financial matters like bankruptcy and corruption. There were two Big Bro Slig guards on the doorway. They greeted Marek's Squad.
The massive steel door opened with a massive clunk. Several mechanisms on the sides of the doors clicked and swung into place. It took about a minute for all the mechanisms to finish turning, and the massive gates opened.
Krisso pointed his gun towards Farda, "Get in, now". Farda grumbled and moved towards the gates. Reint looked towards the Big Bros. The Big Bros watched the Sligs enter and then closed the gates behind them. The light in this place was quite dark, only a couple of lamps were dotted around the area, lighting the area up with a light green glow.
Marek crossed his arms, "Right, where to now?". Reint looked at the service map, "This way". He lead them towards one of the high ranking Zorbs officer's quarters. They found the room and then entered, pushing Farda inside. They spotted an executive Vykker sitting on a chair. "Well, what do we have here?", the Vykker asked. Krisso pointed towards Farda, "A mutinous, bankrupt Glukkon. We caught him sending a squad to ambush us, that's punishable by 10 years in Welwacks Prison". The Vykker nodded, "Yes, yes... that's correct". The Vykker made a phonecall, "Yes, Prison Officer? We need to escort a Glukkon there, send up one of your men. Okay, thanks".
Marek's squad left the office, Reint shrugged, "Well, now we have to report this to Kolon... Come on let's head back". Yars looked at Reint and followed. They headed to the exit, said goodbye to the Big Bro guards outside and then equipped their flying pants. They headed back to Magog Mineralz, unsure about how Kolon would react.
=== Chapter 16: Fight or Flight===
It was night-time and the group were still flying. Marek had suggested getting to Magog Mineralz as quickly as possible. "We can't risk another ambush, we need to hurry back and tell Kolon what has happened so far". Krisso shrugged, "Okay, but we really need to find a place to sleep soon". Before they could continue the discussion, Reint spotted something in the distance. "Everyone, hide!". The Sligs hid behind some trees, hoping to see what Reint saw.
There were a group of five flying Sligs which flew past them, obviously looking for something. Yars looked towards them, "Do you think they are after us?". Marek shrugged, "I don't know, but I don't want to find out... let's get out of here". Marek's Squad headed to Kolon's factory as soon as the other Sligs were out of their line of sight.
As they approached the landing area, Atto was waving his light batons excitedly. "You're back, early as well!". Marek gave him a cryptic glance, "Don't ask... We ran into some problems". The group equipped their walking pants and continued to the barracks. We'll talk with Voll in the morning, in the meantime let's rest. The squad settled into a restless sleep. Yars kept waking up in a cold sweat.
The next day, Marek and his group headed to where Voll's office was. Voll was pacing in his office, talking to a rookie Slig. "... and that's why you should never, EVER press the blue button on your pants!". The younger rookie jumped back, "Yes sir!". Voll grinned, "Dismissed rookie". The rookie ran past Marek's Squad with his hands over his head, eagerly not happy with what Voll told him. Marek entered the room, Krisso, Reint and Yars followed him. Voll looked surprised, "What happened out there?". Marek looked anxious, "Farda... he betrayed us!"
=== Chapter 17: The Hunter===
Voll was shocked, "A Glukkon betraying a Slig? This is bad news". Krisso nodded, "Yes sir... Several Slig bodyguards and ambushers were in cohorts with him". Voll looked Krisso, "I don't believe... you mean to say he ordered them to attack you?". Yars nodded, "Yes sir, I saw it with my own eyes".
Voll shook his head, starting to get worried now. "In that case, you four need to lay low for a while. Try and find a place to hide while this whole thing blows over. It's still going to be a few weeks before Farda is sentenced... He can still order people to attack you if he wants to". Voll looked towards Marek, "If you stay here, you put all of us in danger". Marek nodded, "Understood sir, we'll move out soon".
Voll gave them a salute and Marek's squad left the room.
It took them several days to pick out a good hiding spot, a deserted cave a few miles south-east of Magog Mineralz. Voll had been specific to ask them to find a good place to hide. "Somewhere dark, where they can't see you at night".
Marek and the squad were tired, they lay down and went to sleep. A few hours later, Marek stirred. He looked up, only to see an unfamiliar face above him. "This is going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me". Marek felt his arm being crushed, Marek tried to yell out, but his mouth was gagged by a cloth. He looked around to see the other Sligs were bandaged and tied up by their arms.
The Slig chuckled, "They were easy to subdue, nothing a few tranq needles can't do". Marek was holding his arm, "Damn you". The Slig raised an eyebrow. He kicked Marek in the upper body, the metal pants leg causing severe internal damage. Marek clutched his chest and gave a yell of pain. The Slig walked towards him, holding his gun to Marek's head. "Now, you die".
=== Chapter 18: The Unexpected===
The Slig twitched as ten thousand volts of electricity pulsed through his body. The unmistakable clicking noise of a taser was heard. The Slig slumped to the ground, unable to move. An unfamiliar Slig stook a tranquilizer needle into the other Slig's body.
"Are you alright?", the Slig said. Marek nodded, "Yeah... you saved my life, who?". Marek looked at the Slig. "No, it can't be... you... Udra?". Udra nodded, "I'm back in action, the four are reunited once more".
Udra walked around the cave, giving the other Sligs a wake-up drug. Krisso and Reint both shouted "Udra!", and ran towards him. After so long they were finally reunited with their friend. Reint put his hand on Udra's shoulder, "You're back!". Udra nodded, "Yeah, I'm here to stay. I heard you guys had fallen on bad times". Krisso nodded, "You could say that. By the way, here's a new member of the team". Krisso pointed towards Yars. Yars bowed, "My name is Yars sir, I've heard a lot about you". Udra nodded, "Nice lad, I bet you must have done well at target practice to get here, what weapon are you using". Yars saluted, "Sniper rifle and BlitzKnife sir". Udra raised an eyebrow, "BlitzKnife eh? That must be new, I didn't hear about that before my coma".
Udra sat down, "So... what have I missed?". Udra seemed somewhat distant today, maybe he was just as nervous as they were. Marek told him about what happened.
"No way, Farda betrayed you?", Udra was visibly shocked. Yars nodded, "Yes, that's what happened. Now we're on the run... I'm worried about those bounty hunters. We've got a big price on our heads that is just too tempting to outsiders". Marek got up, "Come on, we'd better move".
=== Chapter 19: The Hunted===
"Where the heck are those guys". Sacar was pacing up and down the hut. Caram was reloading his shotgun, "Sacar, get your head straight. We're going to find them soon enough". Caram stood up, come on, let's go find something to eat". Sacar nodded and left the hut.
"Grey Operations unit 47, report". The voice was hard and cold, like a military commander. "Hawk","Owl","Raven","Parrot". The commander laughed, "Great, you're all there. You know what to do?". The soldiers saluted, "Yes sir". The commander stepped forward, "Go and fulfil your duty". The squad saluted and moved out. The commander was checking the reward notice again. "Not bad for killing four Sligs, I'm looking forward to all that moolah". He rubbed his hands and moved away from the training area.
Marek's squad were moving towards a nearby canyon. They could see several signs of activity, the flowing river, some Fuzzles and some broken twigs. Krisso looked towards the canyon, "We'd better be careful, there could be traps anywhere". Krisso stepped forward and looked around further into the canyon. It would be a bad place to be ambushed. The group split up and went in seperate directions.
Krisso stepped into the canyon, he felt the chill of the wind. The sound from the wind was somewhat spooky. He spotted some Paramites and a Chippunk. He managed to walk past them without being spotted. He could see the light from the other side. Yars equipped his flying pants. He went over the canyon to try and see the other side. Udra and Reint took seperate sides of the river. They were careful to keep stopping and look out for possible enemies.
=== Chapter 20: The Cruelty of Fate===
Krisso arrived on the other side of the canyon. Thankfully he had made it across successfully. Reint and Udra came next. They arrived from the nearby river banks, carefully making sure they were not spotted. Yars arrived shortly after, he was using his flying pants to go across from the sky. Reint looked around, "Where's Marek?". Krisso shrugged, they looked around to see if they could see any signs. Yars looked towards the south, "Isn't that smoke?". Udra nodded, "Let's see what's going on". They headed to the smoke.
Marek was bleeding, the Scrab had injured his arm as it tried to ram into him, his mechanical pants were on the floor and an internal fire was causing smoke to appear from the screws. "Damn you". He raised his revolver, but the aim was affected by his injury. His other revolver lay on the floor, knocked out of his other hand. Marek tried to lift his arm to aim at the Scrab, but only managed to scrape the top of the Scrab's skin. The Scrab's next attack was into Marek's left arm once more, the arm strength totally left him at this point, the tendon ripped and the lower half of his arm became nothing more than ripped skin. Marek tried to pick up his other revolver as he was on the floor.
As Udra and the other Sligs walked closer, they heard a loud bang. They looked at each other and ran towards the shot. As they looked through the leaves, they heard another cry of pain and a gunshot. When they stood up they saw the Scrab, lying dead on the floor. Marek was bleeding heavily, his left arm was ripped out of his socket. His right arm was pierced with the Scrab's sharp beak. Things looked bad for Marek, even if he survived, he would probably never hold a gun in his hands ever again.
Yars let a single tear drop from his mask, "Marek... No!".