Echo Team

Tarx sat on the rock ledge and levelled his blaster rifle, aiming down the sight at the metal head.

"Just a little closer Garn"

Garn was trying to get in close to take the whole group out silently he had never failed when it came to stealth but he wasn't infallible. Garn looped his arm around the neck of the grunt metal head. Squeezed and pushed a button on his wrist. A large blade sprouted and pierced it's neck. Garn dropped the creature. There were two more a stalker and a juice goon the stalker had powered down it's camouflage and was standing guard at the entry to the camp. The Juice goon was a strong bipedal metal head with an electric staff he had seen one soldier private skyx shocked and mauled to death by one of these things. Garn reached the stalker. He jumped on it's back. Covered it's mouth and stabbed it several times in the back. The juice goon began to act odd. It sniffed the air and shifted from one foot to the other. Had it detected Garn no way he hadn't made a sound. Either way Garn had noticed too he silently ran to the creature sliced it across it's un-armoured back. The goon turned and Garn stabbed it in the gut with his side blade. Then he activated the other one and continuously thrust both into the goon's belly. The goon fell down dead and Garn stood victorious covered in purple blood. He kicked the face down goon onto it's back and cut out it's skull gem. He did the same with the rest.

"Jeez why do I even come on these missions with you Garn?"

Garn looked up at Tarx.

"Yeah you are kind of dead weight aren't you."

Tarx laughed

"I wouldn't take it that far."

Garn waved Tarx over. Tarx pushed a button on his shoulder. Two small jets activated on his back pack propelling him down to the lower ground where Garn was.

"Let's see if we can't find Sevet and Gorx."

Tarx, Garn, Sevet and Gorx the four man elite squad named Echo team originally commissioned under lord Damas they left when he was denounced by Baron Praxis. Now they were a ghost squad they had no allegiance they had no interest in "settling down" in Spargus. They couldn't return to Haven city so they built a small base in the grassy unsettled regions outside Haven's walls. Together they hunted down major metal head encroachments which threatened either Haven City or Spargus. This nest was one such encroachment. The nest was twenty miles from the pumping station. That made it a avoided both Crimson Gaurds and Wastelanders using a special cloaking field that masked their lifesigns and their gear's elecronic signitures untill they were done and the enemy were blown sky high leaving only dust and echoes behind. Hence Echo team

Tarx was a pinpoint sniper. Trained by Errol himself for peak efficiency and outfitted with visual enhancement implants in his retinas. He is also the leader

Garn was the stealth specialist and a trained assassin outfitted with an AI interface within his helmet linked to his cerebral cortex. He could get up to date data on his enemies instantly.

Sevet was the explosive expert he had blown up everything from elephant grunts to entire nests.

And Gorx the brute. A master with any weapon and trained to physical perfection he is a master of armed and unarmed combat. Gorx is also a trained technician.

Garn and Tarx came to a hill at the bottom of which were six grunts all calm for now. Tarx lifted his blaster rifle. Activated the silencer and fired six shots and all six went down in less than ten seconds.

"That's six to me how many you got Garn?" Tarx asked sarcastically.

Garn frowned under his helmet.

"Just wait the day's young I'll catch up."

Meanwhile at the bottom of the rise.

"Bring it on you metal headed piece of crap I'll rip the hell outta you. Yeah that's right we bad you dead c'mon you lily livered piece of crap I got enough for all of you."

A large explosion rocked the ground and Gorx ducked behind the cover of the boulder.

"I really don't think it's wise to upset them" Sevet cut in

Gorx chucked a grenade over the boulder.

"really that's nice. C'mon sucker I'm over here you couldn't hit the broadside of Praxis' ass you blind four legged bonehead."

Sevet rolled his eyes.

"Like talking to a wall."

An explosion blew Gorx off his feet.

"Damn!"

Sevet stood up with his plasmite RPG in hand.

"That's why we don't taunt the enemies with mortar shells when we are only covered by a boulder!"

Gorx gave him a thumbs up.

"OK I'll keep that in mind."

Gorx got to his feet. He picked up his custom made Vulcan fury heavy machine gun. It was bright red with blue flames and the word Gorx written in bright orange writing. He began firing the gun into the midsection of the distracted slinger. It fell down dead with at least twenty bullet wounds. It was odd for these kinds of metal heads to be out here they were usually centred on dead town and areas like that keeping a permanent foothold.

Sevet punched a grunt that got too close and fired a grenade into a group of five maniac heads. Gorx fired his gun in a wide arc head-shotting several maniac heads and three rapid gunners but still more came.

Then the ground began to shake. Gorx began to sway.

"Wow mama this one might be even bigger than me!"

At six foot ten with biceps the size of tricycles, that was an achievement. Sevet nearly lost his footing but placed his hand on the boulder.

"That, my friend would be exaggerating just a little."

Then out of the ground burst a metal-pede, followed by two spyder gunners on each side.

"this…could get messy."

"Hey Gorx" Gorx turned to Sevet "We're going to need a bigger gun."

Gorx turned back to the metal-pede

"I hear that."

The metal-pede ran at them. Then it stopped as two rapid fire blaster rounds hit it in the eye. The beast swayed violently from side to side, roaring in agony. It clicked it's mandibles and swayed it's tail. Then Garn jumped down from the cliff sword in hand and plunged it through the creatures upper and lower jaw.

"What's wrong nothing to say?"

he said as he flipped of. In mid air Garn pulled his other sword and sliced downwards taking off the Spyder gunner's blaster arm. The gunner wailed in agony. The other gunner turned to shoot at Garn but garn landed on his hand, supporting his full body weight. He spun his body round and swiped the legs of the Spyder gunner. The gunner fell and took the blasts. Garn then pushed the body towards the spyder. The corpse acted as a mobile shield. Then Garn jumped up and over the body and positioned his blade towards the ground and landed on the gunners head. Then he flipped of it's head and positioned his blade to the sky and sprinted under the midsection of the Metal-pede. The beast bled profusely and then fell down dead. Sevet and Gorx stared in awe. Then Tarx voiced what they were all thinking.

"We've established this. Metal-pedes only count as one."

Tarx ran down the hill. His rifle was still hot from the pin-point shots on the pede's eyes.

"Now how about you girls stop lasing around like Yakows and set the explosives God do I have to do everything around here?"

Gorx put his rifle on his back and Sevet followed.

Gorx, Sevet and Tarx stood at the entry to the nest.

"All right I want explosives" Tarx pointed to numerous corners of the nest. "Here, here, here, there, here, here, here and there."

Then Tarx began to look a little confused.

"Where the hell is Garn?"

Tarx looked over Gorx's shoulder to see Garn trying to pry the skull gem out of the Metal-pede with his sword, to no avail.

"Yo bonehead over here a minute we can make trophies later."

Garn turned to Tarx.

"Sure boss"

The team set the explosives on the purple fleshy columns of the nest and the egg sacs housing the metal head's young.

"All right everything set?"

Gorx was busy setting the last super nova class explosive. Then the egg on the pillar behind him hatched and the grunt inside bit into his shoulder. Gorx yelled then grabbed the grunt by the head.

"You little bone headed piece a' crap." Gorx smacked it's head off the wall. "yeah you like that then how's this feel." Gorx bit the creature back. "what you don't like that? Then how the hell d'ya think I felt." Gorx held the creature by the throat then thrust the barrel of his machine gun into it's gut and said.

"I'll see you in hell bitch!"

He fired the full one hundred and twenty round magazine into the grunt. Then the gun clicked, empty. He pulled the grunt back then threw it at across the room. Gorx looked at the other's shocked and confused faces.

"Uh It's all-right it's uh dead."

Tarx looked at Gorx

"Ya think?"

The body hit one of the other eggs. Sevet's eyes widened as the whole nest of five hundred metal heads began to shiver and the eggs began to crack.

"Oh…Hell no!"

Gorx stood petrified.

"Uh Gorxy do bad?"

Sevet grabbed him by the back of the neck as they ran out the nest

"yes Gorxy do bad, Gorxy do bad!"

Tarx ran at the back. He ushered Gorx, Sevet, and Garn out of the nest as a series of growls and roars filled the air. They ran back up the hill Sevet and Tarx covering the retreat.

"What is it with you and getting yourself into un-winnable situations?"

Gorx smiled and laughed.

"It may be un-winnable for you baby but for me this is just plain ol' fun ooh rah"

The team ran up the hill and through the clearing past Garn's three metal head kills. Garn leaped the ledge in one bound. And Sevet was given a boost by Gorx who grabbed Tarx by the waist and threw him onto the ledge. Then Gorx pulled himself up. The team made their way to their modified Hellcat cruiser. It was jet black with red flames and on the back was a rather insulting hand gesture with the words Baron Praxis written underneath. and it had one more turret position so it could seat two people instead of the traditional three. A small army of grunts, stalkers, slingers and even another metal-pede had awakened in the nest and were preparing to chase down the intruders. But thy never got a chance as they were caught in an explosion that consumed the entire island.

"Woo hoo yeah baby burn suckers burn!"

Garn turned to Tarx.

"Hey uh boss you owe me a pede trophy."