-The hunter found himself in a less than pleasing area. A large path surrounded by smooth rock walls that rose over thirty feet. No hand holds or ledges to walk on. The hunter rolled his shoulders and activated his cloak. Nothing would prevent him from continuing. The path curved up a head and the hunter could see a wooden wall. Hunter grabbed his Smart Disk and walked slowly. He reached the half way point when he heard a loud growl. He turned to see a large grey creature drop into the passage. It was the same creature he had saved Leon from just a few hours ago. An El Gigante the villagers had called it. The monster roared, but didn't move. Hunter's cloak had it fooled. The hunter decided that there was little need to slay this creature and continued to the wooden wall. A large bucket flew at him from the top of the rocky wall. The hunter spun and threw his smart disk. It sliced through the bucket neatly. Unfortunately, water was in bucket which fell onto the hunter. His cloak sparked and shut off. A muscular man stood on top of the cliff. He smiled sinisterly.
"Krauser!" The name sounded hoarse as it came from the hunter's throat.
"Sorry! Have to prove myself in all. I'm sure you can handle this." He laughed as he jumped out of sight.
The hunter caught the returning disk and looked towards the way he came. The creature had him in its sights and was approaching. Hunter muttered a small string of curses that only his people could understand. Both plasma casters activated and opened fire. The blue bolts slammed into the creature's chest and caused it to stop. The creature looked down to his smoking chest. He roared louder and continued. The hunter knew the weak point of this thing, but getting to it was the trick. The hunter activated his disk and charged. The plan was to roll under the creature and throw the disk at the exposed back. The hunter started his roll, but this creature was faster than the last and grabbed him in mid run. It tried to squeeze him to death. The hunter heard his armor groan under the pressure. He slammed the disk into the large fingers and proceeded to cut it off. The creature roared in pain and flung the hunter into the wooden wall. He smashed through it and rolled into a larger area with a pair off wooden huts behind him. Hunter stood up as the creature smashed its way through the wall. The hunter put his disk away and activated his wrist blades. The prey had changed for the moment.
High above the planet, a pair of eyes watched the exploits of the hunter. A creature similar to Hunter had watched with curiosity the actions of this lost brethren. The actions this one had taken was against the code that all hunters followed. He had reviled himself to the prey and had yet to claim his trophies. Nor has his existence been erased in a timely fashion. Joining with prey to capture a greater prey was accepted in certain situations, but this was not one of them. All the hunter had to do was capture a sample and leave. The creature stood up and shut the screen off. The hunt would continue, but with a change in hunters.
Hunter backed away slowly as El Gigante came at him. He quickly looked around for an advantage. Here, a few wooden ledges had been built to help support the scattered mining equipment. The hunter charged into one of the small hut. He spotted a small blue grenade and grabbed it as he jumped out the window. The creature smashed the hut into splinters. Hunter pulled the pin on the grenade and tossed it. The grenade exploded in a flash of bright light. El Gigante grasped its eyes and stopped moving. Hunter charged past and jumped onto one of the wooden ledges. He jumped up and kicked off the rock wall. He landed on the creature's back and dug in with his blades. The creature roared and slammed its back into the rock wall. The hunter held fast and started to move up to the opening on the creature's back. The hunter managed grab onto the large parasite as El Gigante slammed into the rock wall again. Hunter fought back the pain and grabbed a small fire bomb from his bandoleer. He clamped it to the parasite and leapt clear as the creature slammed into the wall. The bomb exploded as the creature's back was against the wall. The fire and the force of the explosion was forced through the body and the front part of the chest burst open in flame. Hunter ran clear as it fell to the ground. Hunter scanned the creature before looking for the exit. In the last hut he found a box of handgun ammo and a rusted key. He pocket the ammo and moved to the end of the passage. A large metal door towered above him. The key fit into the lock and the door swung open. Hunter's back and ribs felt like fire as he walked through the doorway and shut it. He need to heal before meeting Leon. The hunt would continue after.
On a large path that overlooked a deep ravine, a large door opened. Leon held his TMP at the ready as he led Ashley through. They had run into a small army of villagers through their path. Leon worried why Hunter hadn't met them as planed. He walked down the narrow path and spotted The Merchant standing on a wooden lookout point. He waved and pointed to a small stone building near another large door.
"Your friend stumbled through about thirty minutes ago. Looked a little tore up."
"Thanks!" Leon and Ashley ran to the building. The metal door was open and they could hear heavy breathing from inside. Leon slowly stepped through and spotted hunter laying against several metal lockers that had been knocked down. "Hunter?" Leon told Ashley to wait at the door as he approached the hunter. "Hunter?" The hunter's armor was covered in dust and dents. Several parts looked like they had been bent in and then pushed back into place. Leon tapped the hunter's shoulder. The hunter's arm shot up and the wrist blades touched Leon's throat. Leon gulped slightly as he felt the cold metal. "Grumpy?"
Hunter snarled and retracted the blades. He pushed himself up and took a deep breath. The healing chemicals he had injected were doing well to mask the pain as his newly set ribs healed at the accelerated rate the enzymes were forcing them to.
"How you doing? Run into trouble?"
Hunter nodded. He activated his wrist computer and played back the roar of El Gigante.
"They had more than one of those things." Leon shuttered a bit. "Great! You good to go?" Another nod and the trio set off to find away out of this hell.
The trio stood before a very large set of doors made of wood and metal. A face of a woman was in the center of the of the massive lock. Her left eye glowed red.
Leon took a closer look. "This light looks like its some sort of retinal scanner. High tech for such a primitive village."
"How are we going to get past?" Ashley had no sooner finished her question, when Hunter walked up to the door with the answer. He brought his fist back and punched the lock with all of his might. Their was a creak of wood and a groan of metal, but the doors held fast. All Hunter had done was leave a small dent in the lock and bruise his fist.
"Plan B?" Leon motioned to a small path to the left of the doors.
Hunter looked to the door and tried to figure out how long it would take to blast through with his plasma casters. His energy reserves were at fifty-three percent. The doors were very thick and the metal was woven into the wood perfectly. The job was doable, but the cost in energy was high. Hunter looked at Leon and nodded. The alternate path was the best option at the moment. The hunt was taking far longer than the hunter had guessed. He would need to recharge his power cells soon if he was to insure his victory.
On a rocky cliff overlooking a large castle. A cloaked ship descends and lands. A doorway of light opens and a large creature steps out. Similar in shape of Hunter, this one stands a foot taller. He looks at the castle and begins to scan the area. His hunt would soon begin.
