Warring Enigma: Blackstar Emergence
Chapter 2: Firebird of the Tomb
Faint beeping persisted in the background, clicking of insects around serenaded my introduction to consciousness - or was I dead?
Almost hoping I was - I could sense myself waking, eyes gradually opening visual perception of the outside world. And would you know - I was still in the dead middle of the fucking desert?
[AFFLICTED INJURIES HEALED]
[VITALS STABILIZED] Flashed on the HUD briefly before soon disappearing.
Relieved to see this, I did feel good as new - also no more like I hadn't slept for three years. Shooting up from my deadman sprawled posture, I immediately looked around the area, scanning - no signs of Gothboy or the presence of a rescue crew. "Huh - guess they showed up. He's gone." I surmised, not precisely surprised - just relieved I didn't need to deal with them anymore. Cloak probably helped me keep hidden from sight. "Getting on my nerves anyway. Good riddance." I shrugged, LRS disengaged, not needing it for now.
Not immediately noticing, I saw the Sun was much higher than before I had last seen it - it meant it had been morning, and I had been unconscious for nearly 12 hours. I think that's plenty enough for being in a barren ass desert - I still had to get out first. Based on satellite imagery and my UITs onboard computer - I was 140 kilometers from U-City. I was in for a hell of a walk. However, I questioned the validity of my need to travel there in the first place.
"Could use some supplies - and maybe a place for the base of operations. Ammunition is going to be another story." I commented, thinking ahead. I shook my head and signed. Wishful thinking - but I hope to Cthulhu my ship turns up eventually and Genysis if the planets align.
From the nav-map, visible on the motion tracker indicator, I briefly referred to the satellite imagery and then set a marker point on what I thought was the best entry point to the city. Following the AI-generated path, I began moving Northeast - nothing but 80miles of desert and small woodlands between me and the city.
To help alleviate the mind-numbing boredom ahead, I started whistling. I wondered what kind of music I'd find on this planet's global database - the internet. It took a bit to skim through all the genres: Rock, R , Jazz - uh, techno-synth variety. Yeah, I was going, to be honest - it was all pretty shit. I thought the music in my era was terrible. Curiously, one of the Hero Association's most popular, a generic K-pop-looking asshole, was a famous singer and performer. A Class a-hole named Amai-mask - naturally, he had blue hair because, of course, he would.
"Well. So much for that." I chuckled, slightly annoyed but finding it somewhat humorous.
It was a surprisingly lovely day out; calm and breezy - hot, 90 plus degrees Fahrenheit and 50% humidity. Good thing I was in a hermetically sealed suit with mechanical cooling. Quiet; only the faint crunching of sand beneath my boots while crossing a primarily barren desert with only a few reptilian and small rodent critters roaming about - also bugs, lots of them. I almost wished I had an encounter - a long stretch of silence before a shitstorm hits. Swear I was beginning to have visions - and not the 'being in the middle of the desert kind.
Found myself glancing up now and again at the sky. Mostly it was because I was hoping - still very annoyed my ship was separated and waiting, possibly in futility, for it to return. However - there was something else tugging at me, like I was being watched from afar. So far, the scanners weren't picking up anything, nor was there anything in visual range. I was going to maintain vigilance for the time being - it did sound like something was flying, wings flapping, and data showing distant air fluctuations hinting at that. Damn, hallucinations returned.
" What the hell?" I muttered, eyeing around me as the desert surrounding seemed to warp and change. I heard whispering, like people speaking an esoteric tongue - sky darkened, a small medieval-looking town fogged up in smoke began to manifest, corpses strewn about and heavily mutilated. What the actual fuck? I wondered, more puzzled than disturbed. That disturbing voice I heard in my mind uttered incomprehensible inoculations before all faded.
I shook my head, trying to eliminate it from the rest of my mind. Coming back to my senses, I had to pick myself up from the ground, evidently having stumbled after wandering for 100 meters. Why is my mind so fucked up?
As I continued walking, covering a little over 15 miles, I was picking up reading on my sensors. Raising a questioning brow, I opened the notification bar and displayed a window on the HUD. It turned out it was some radio transmission - based on the channel frequency; it was military designated. I already knew it wasn't ICAS or any earth-based PMC - or even WarCorp, for that matter. It looked Kusari-based, or well, Japanese, given the strange timeline of this planet. I figured I'd give it a listen.
[TRANSMISSION REPLAYED]
[3.4 KILOHERTZ RANGE]
After the indicators flashed on the HUD, the transmission played. Initially, there was static, but the AI software cleaned it up. " Mission to control base. This is Gamma Actual. Do you copy? " A male voice spoke, sounding late twenties. " Reporting strange anomalies due west. Origin unknown l. . . " it was briefly cut off.
"Strange anomalies? That's interesting." I commented, puzzled but also notably intrigued. I waited for the rest of the transmission to clear up.
There was a bit more static before stabilizing. " Sit-rep. ..communications equipment issues. Unknown EM signature disrupting radio transmission. . . ancient artifacts found, relation unknown. Archaeologists and Geological survey teams found. . . a tomb. " The transmission cut out again, admittedly to my chagrin. Suddenly, as it played again, the sound of intense gunfire erupted and heated exchanges. " Control base. . . Captain Iida reporting. . . the outpost is being attacked. Strange, avian type creature. . ." A loud, almost demonic cawing is heard with sustained gunfire and explosives echoing in the background. Pain screams, and panic runs rampant. "Copy. We are sustaining heavy losses! Please send help. . . contact the Hero Association, send a hero. . . anything! Possible monster attack! " Fighting raged until it suddenly ceased, now eerily silent. Only one final, almost boomy caw echoed. Bird-like demonic laughter finishes the transmission.
I blinked, somewhat surprised. But now I'm much more concerned. "Well, shit. Something tells me that story doesn't end well." My sarcasm was not trying to be subtle.
Something big, mean, and clearly a very demented bird attacked this outpost. My curiosity, however, was placed more on what this outfit stumbled upon. A tomb? Artifacts of some kind? Something tells me the attack is linked to whatever the bird is guarding - unless it's just an asshole.
Calculating the time it took the signal to travel, I utilized computer computation to trace the transmission's origin point and its distance. After a few seconds of rapid-fire number crunching, the outpost was approximately 12 kicks from my current location. Plenty of time for shit to happen during that. Setting a marker point, I headed northeast - curiously, its location not deviating too much from the forest I had to run for ultimately. I wasn't sure if it had any significance to this.
Making my way there, I couldn't help but stew over my encounter with the goth boy - as in what he potentially could have told his employers about me. I didn't tell him my name, but he knew what my armor looked like and that considerably enough burdened me. Passing thoughts of regret occasionally floated - I debated whether or not I should have killed him. If this had been back where I'm from, that mistake could have gotten me killed - or worse.
Following a particularly dull 45 minutes of trekking, I was within a few hundred meters from the marker point. The marker point began to pulsate, gradually increasing in intensity as the distance dropped. After a short time, something eventually appeared in the visual range - there was fire, parts of the notably large outpost still in flames on the horizon.
"Huh - do I see things? Mirage?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes in confusion as I briefly magnified my vision. "Didn't mention anything about a fire? Ammunition set-off? Electrical ignition? Something's off."
Increasing my pace a bit, I hustled over the rest of the way. I could hear the flames crackle from where I was, seeing more of the damage as I got closer. Stopping short a couple of dozen meters from the front entrance gate, now clearly a mess of steel wire mesh and bent poles, I drew up my ARM-11 and scanned ahead . I looked at the sky, thinking I heard something flying - so far, nothing detected.
The place was undoubtedly fubar; much of the fire that had likely burned earlier died down and left everything visible charred or blackened from ash and smoke. Moving forward through the severely busted, basically, scrap metal gate, I entered the outpost. Based on accessible data and satellite imagery, the outpost was 150 x 160 meters in area, almost square, a collection of a dozen or so buildings and smaller structures: barracks, briefing room, comms building, motor pool, everything you'd expect. All arranged in function-based sections with a grid pattern - or I imagined it was since everything was now burned to shit.
According to scans and just visual perception, I counted 117 KIA as well as a couple dozen missing. Along with all the corpses being charred cadavers or heavily mutilated, all the gun nests, vehicles, a couple of transport trucks, and primarily militarized buggies were destroyed, some still burning.
"Jesus. What, a fucking dragon swoop in and napalm this place from above." I commented, looking around to find humor in the situation - I wasn't fazed by death, but I had to admit I had seen nothing this grisly in a while.
Negotiating around the field of death, it was pretty clearly trying to identify the remains was a no-go; even the teeth were gone, melted beyond recognition. The only thing scanners showed physical information, and most here were male, between the ages of 23 and 50. Metallic crunching was frequent as I regularly stepped on brass casings like it was a carpet - tried to light up what was attacking them, counted at least 4000 rounds. Judging by the outfits and vehicles, this is likely some hired security contract group, paramilitary. Didn't recognize the icon, a lion surrounded by a wreath and a spear in its maw; not standard military.
I tried to find something to go off by, even any paraphernalia to identify anyone. Eyed and patted down any corpse that wasn't completely burnt to a crisp, much of the fiber from their combat uniforms fused to their bodies. Searching around for a bit, I did find something on the ground; HUD highlighting it, it appeared to be a wallet. Opening it, I looked through it; seeing several denominations of yen currency, I pulled out a military ID, Tamaka Iida, 27, 178 centimeters tall, 87 kilograms. Former military, now, or was an army contractor; slipping the ID back in, I pulled out a small picture - a pretty redhead wife and a kid that looked no more than four years old.
"Damn. Poor bastard." I chuckled; however, I felt nothing but pity - damn shame that wife and kid of his aren't going to see dear old dad again. Strange world, but that's how it is sometimes. Did feel sorry for the son of a bitch. I decided to keep the wallet on me - he was dead, and his family would probably want it back. Slipped it into a nylon pouch on my side.
Proceeding through the rest of the outpost, I searched around any leads regarding what this group was looking for, physical and intangible. With the state given, I found that increasingly more unlikely. Air fluctuations detected appeared to register again on the HUD readings; a blip, if popping up only momentarily, was noted right on the edge of detection on the motion tracker - I even heard a distant caw, at least I thought I did. Halting for a moment, gun raised, I scanned the sky above, trying to find the source - not a damn thing. What the hell was I dealing with?
I debated the validity of my further being here - everything being destroyed and a fiery crisp, that is. For the time being, I decided to roam and search around a bit, despite the looming eerie atmosphere I began to feel.
From building to building, those not destroyed, I kicked in the doors of each one; I swept the interior, from the barracks, storage, mess hall, inch by inch, corner by corner - nothing but bodies and blackened surfaces. I felt I was wasting time here; forensic scans showed no feasible data. Entering the Command hub, I immediately picked up something on the scanners, no life signs or anything out of the ordinary, much like everywhere else - but there was an object of some kind here, maybe some surviving documents or a computer possibly. Naturally, I proceeded carefully regardless of the lifeless environment. The ground floor was barren, well aside from the few charred corpses strewn about; it was a mess, but mostly the remains of computers and communication equipment, as well as the desks and tables on which they were set. The signature was detected from upstairs but I first decided to check the lounge area down the corridor. Walking to the door, I placed a hand on the knob - oddly, it felt like some weight was pressing against the other side. I didn't suspect it was barricaded. Clasping the knob, I initially pulled back slowly, weapon drawn up readily in the other hand just to be sure; pulling back with slightly more intensity, I quickly stepped back as a blackened corpse collapsed toward me, a faint thump as it hit the floor.
"Suspected as much. No surprise here." I commented, stepping over the corpse and taking a quick peek inside. Just a few bodies and burnt to shit like everything else.
Turning back, I took the steps up to the second floor. Weapon drawn, I checked corners, sweeping through the space inch by inch; much like below, it was primarily computers and various forms of comms as well as surveillance equipment - though the setup, from what could be made out, was noticeably more sophisticated. Unfortunately, it was all damaged beyond repair, the data completely unsalvageable - though that wasn't why I was here. Looking over, I saw a corridor leading to a door, one to what looked to be an office.
Heading down, the tracker icon rapidly pulsed until it reached a terminal rate - what I wanted to find was behind the door. Kicking it in, I entered the room, the door tearing from its hinges; the room was notably large for an office, also curiously less damaged than the rest of the interior, though initially nothing noteworthy. Large black mahogany desk, personal decor on the desk and walls, the assortment of metallic cabinets along the walls and corners; there was a small plaque on the desk with the name of the commander or operations director, Mr. Hirohito. Moving around the desk I spotted a small, 24 x 28 inch safe, the source my sensors tracked. Naturally, I did not possess the combination or could find a means in which it was stored - but I did have cybernetically enhanced strength. Kneeling down, I picked up the 50 kilo safe and placed it on the mahogany desk - a metal crunch followed as a titanium clad fist caved caved in the door and busted the internal locking mechanism to bits. Simply pulling off the door, I reached in and took out a sole USB drive that was stored inside, out of some fire retardant insulation cloth it was wrapped in.
"Seems someone had the sense to keep a failsafe. This might all be worth it - UIT might be too powerful to link with it directly. Need to find a computer." I groaned, that I was satisfied enough that my time wasn't a complete waste. "Guess this gives me another reason to travel to the city."
Preparing to leave, the building shook as I headed for the door. "What the hell?" I simply muttered, puzzled but now highly suspicious. Leaving the office room, I hastily navigated my way through the rest of the building and back outside. At first, it was calm, eerily silent as I began to look around, picking up no signs of activity on the sensors - hearing a boomy caw break the silence; I looked up but had to change position as a giant fireball blazed towards me immediately.
"Shit." Cursing under my breath, I bolted off and dove behind the building.
A fireball smacked into the ground explosively, sending a shockwave and flames across the area behind. Before I could comprehend what was going on, I had to get up and move again as another fiery projectile hurdles toward me, picking up the vibrations of something flying above. Diving and rolling out the way, the fireball that hit must have been significantly more powerful as I felt the ground vibrate and a thunderous boom echo, finding myself thrown forward several dozen meters as a shock wave throws me off my feet. The energy barrier activated, thankfully.
"Fucking A. Bastard must have been waiting for me somewhere," I said, slamming a fist into the ground.
Pushing myself up from the ground, I beelined back to the entrance gate as fast as possible. The flames that burned around must have been scorching the surrounding air temperature rapidly reached 300 plus degrees Fahrenheit, a thick and very hard-to-miss haze
Leaving the outpost, I continued to run on the sandy ground until I was a good fifty meters from the site - a caw echoed like a clap of thunder; turning back to look, I caught sight of a large avian, almost phoenix-like creature swooping in from above. Not targeting me anymore, it ejected a luminous stream of flame down into the outpost, burning a brilliant golden orange like the creature itself, almost ethereal. Those flames must have been much more intense than before, as everything hit melted like wax and evaporated, reaching temperatures in the tens of thousands of degrees celsius. It may have just been straight-up plasma. " Jesus," I said, almost stunned.
The outpost was now left as only a field of utterly unrecognizable molten slag. Now and again, the Phoenix creature would caw, making Passover, but for the time didn't appear on its crosshairs. There was no doubt that whatever this security firm found, this entity was likely some guardian - I'd have been lying if I said I didn't want to see for myself what they found, the curiosity bugged at me. Still, I didn't have an exact location, or even general area, only direction - but maybe for another day. While it wasn't actively attempting to attack, I turned my back to the burning site behind me, fading from sight as my LRS activated. Decided to head to the forest; North of here. Then the city from there.
A good while later, and a few dozen miles covered, I was nearing the forest, visible now in the horizon. For a time, it seemed that big fiery bird asshole was long behind, no sign it was on my trail - at least, for now. Did wonder - if anyone out there caught wind of the distress signal sent, something telling me I wasn't the only one that picked it up. A vacant silence permeated the air in the space I walked through, a certain foreboding implication I couldn't help but notice.
The forest was now just a hundred-meter stretch ahead, visible in sight. According to information sources collected from the internet, this place is known as Tamagotchi woods, named after some legendary samurai from folklore - doing some deeper digging, found some info on the hidden deep web regarding the rumored presence of a village containing an ancient sect of ninja warriors. Very curious.
On approach to the treeline, I felt my UIT vibrate, the indicator light blinking yellow as a transmission came in. In the upper right of the visor boundary, a box containing a channel frequency from an unknown source popped up - interestingly, the code thread had similar base system element the one I hacked into during the HA contact.
"Who the hell is trying to contact me?" Questioning, eyes narrowing in concern. Stopping momentarily, I went to open it and answer - that is, until it did itself.
The signal projected, brief static, then the faint background of beeping and electronic instruments heard. "Greetings - must admit. It was quite a challenge finding a workaround for your countermeasures and tracking your signature. But I have you now." An unknown voice spoke; a male, notably deep voice, sounding older. "I'm sure you've already figured it out - but I understand you've managed to bypass the security walls of the subsidiary system network of my affiliate - the Hero Association." He curiously brought something telling who I might be dealing with. His tone was severe but clear implication hinted. "Very impressive; a setup that may rival my own - know this - I don't know operating with. But I intend on this not occurring again - my custom software is far superior to my affiliate's knowledge. I will be watching - Mr. Rayner." The audio feed drops, and the transmission immediately cuts out. No traces of the channel identification signature or traits regarding it. Nothing.
"Shit. How did they manage to contact me like that?" I cursed, stopping momentarily as I tried to explain it, stunned. It didn't seem I was going to operate that freely in the dark - somehow, someone in this world had comparable technological capabilities; software speaking, that is . ." I briefly glanced back to the sky and contemplated.
Forward again, the terrain had slowly transitioned from sandy desert to rocky grounds. A small valley in the east diverted and appeared to cut through the forest. Several hundred meters across are areng; I finally entered from the southern treeline. It was a notably dense woodland; so far, little activity aside from the chirping birds and scurrying of various mammalian creattriggeredering my motion trackers. The temperature was lower, too - by a good 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Quiet here. Maybe I can get some peace of mind for five minutes." I chuckled, looking around, now noticing the shadow-dense interior of the forest. Admittedly, there was an inexplicable eeriness to the setting - it felt oddly familiar somehow.
After a few moments, I watched the nav-map update on the HUD, taking a few seconds to do so. Seemingly it wouldn't be a complete cut-and-dry straight pass; the path veered off at an angle slightly and appeared to break - a river likely suddenly. I had a good 15 kilometers worth of forest to navigate through.
I did not move forward yet - a strange wind came in from outside the forest. The temperature even appeared to rise by a notable amount, by as much as 20 degrees Celsius. "That isn't right. Sun couldn't be that much more intense than before." I glanced over my shoulder, narrowing my eyes as my sight drifted to the sky. I could feel my concern elevate much like the temperature rise beyond - air disturbance could see be picked up by my suit's in-built sensors. Something was on approach.
I could make out a distant, faint caw that echoed almost like thunder, all too recognizable. It was silent for a time - the crackling of intense heat and the fireworks gradually heard, rapidly growing more pronounced.
[WARNING: PROJECTILE INCOMING].
[EXTREME HEAT SIGNATURE DETECTED]
"Huh? Shit." I muttered, not taking long to get the hint.
Bolting from the place, I broke from the treeline - a fiery boom cracked behind, and the ground vibrated upon being struck by an explosive force. The treeline portion, not immediately blasted to oblivion, quickly set ablaze; the shockwave released from the staff ripped into the trees within the blast radius, splintering them apart. Another caw booms out as the creature fly over - another warning flashes as it releases another fiery ballistic projectile, this time striking danger close behind. I sense the fireball detonate, crack loudly as the explosive force rips out, finding myself blown off my feet and thrown across the forest floor until striking a tree.
"Goddamnit. That fucking bird is back." Groaning, pushing myself back up.
On my feet, I hightailed it through the forest, moving deeper into the interior. The woods behind continued to burn; slowly, the fire spread to trees from the brush and patches of grass between. I could pick up the air current from the bird's flight above, but it did not seem to attack during this time - likely scoping the area out. I did not stop for some time, continuing to run for well over a kilometer; the sound of water running soon could be picked up. Hearing the river up ahead, I hopped over the bank's edge - beginning to slide down its deceptively large slope, needing to slow myself part way. A loud crunch followed as my boots hit the surface below, soil and rock sifting as I landed.
The river's water ran calmly, the most pronounced in otherwise disconcerting silence. Motion tracker and associated EM signatures would trigger upon detection, as the Phoenix had not entirely left; up above, still circling about. I glanced upward before beginning to follow along the river on the stony bank - crossing wasn't precisely an option despite it not being a vast river, 15 meters wide and 10 meters deep; I'd just sink like a rock anyway.
The pressing matter then was - how the hell was I going to kill this big, fiery avian bastard? The thing was literal fire incarnate, basically intangible to standard physical and other conventional methods of attack - I had the suspicion it wouldn't relent in its chase as I was some kind of threat. As I formulated a battle plan, I glanced to the right side of the HUD, noticing an incoming transmission - curiously, similar to the one before. The same signature of that channel from the individual that managed to contact my encrypted software base - now I am convinced it was linked to the hero alias 'Metal Knight.'.
Initially reluctant, I decided to open the channel and accept the transmission. "Do you think I have forgotten? I still deem you as a potential security hazard - at least in the future as is." He spoke calmly, yet the cold threatening sternness evoked in his tone. "Nevermind that for now - it appears you have provoked the attention of quite a powerful creature, a monster. Something guarding related to which you stumbled upon." The older-sounding man on the other side chuckled. "An outpost - those there discovered a location and its contents of great worth. I have eyes in the sky - your location is not lost on me." I briefly looked to the sky; sensors picked up movement and air fluctuations from behind - for a moment, it was hard to discern whether it was the Phoenix or something else entirely. "I will observe your progress - there may be valuable data I can collect from this scenario." Shortly after, he cut off, and the transmission ended.
"If I'm gonna have an eye on me all the time, I'm here by this mad scientist type - I'm going to be pissed." I scuffed, finding the idea irritating as it was disturbing and heavy on the mind.
I had progressed for some time along the river, enough that I had covered over 2 kilometers, my mind having drifted continuously. Occasionally I'd instinctively glance back and forth at the treelines that ran parallel to the river - thought I'd pick up activity on the motion tracker, even see movement in the gaps between; I felt like I was being watched but not by the Phoenix after me. Naturally, I was suspicious but also remembered my fickle psychosis - hearing a loud boom; I hadn't time to react when I found myself airborne, suddenly back on the ground in a tumble as I was thrown off my feet.
My hearing rang, unharmed but disorientated; I pushed myself up from the ground, very confused. " What the hell?" I simply muttered, shaking my head. A caw echoed like thunder - looking back, I saw a burning 10-meter-wide crater and fire spreading out along the bank toward the surrounding forest. Popping into view at a distance, there is another booming caw, the Phoenix coming in low as it started spewing a sustained jet of flame down into the river.
"Oh fuck me." I cursed, almost shouting.
Nearly leaping as I propped off the ground, I bolted forward without hesitation. Sprinting like a madman, faster than I have felt before, leaving a small trailing plume of dust and rock, it seemed the torrent of hellfire only got closer and closer as the creature rapidly strafe-ran down the river. Didn't expect to keep this up for too long. Seeing the burning trail rush just meters behind, I made a last second moment decision. Shooting a brief glance over, I marked a tree to target; with a quick, sudden movement I aimed and fired off the grapple head. Watching it launch and hit the mark, I pushed off the ground and let myself be pulled by the retracting force to the opposite bank side.
Temperatures briefly escalated as I reached the other side, I hit the slope of the bank and hopped over the bank edge. Glancing back, a fiery torrent continued to burn for some distance, a noticeable haze building from the steam of rapidly vaporized water as I headed further back inside the forest. For now, it seemed to die down and appeared to lose track of my location - it was however still around, still flying above like a bird of prey.
Maybe I could get a moment of peace for five minutes. I thought, feeling vaguely wishful thinking.
Several hundred meters in, Northbound, it was mostly silently; weapons still readily drawn as I switched aim down the gaps and canopy above. Moving quickly but carefully, I couldn't help but notice occasional, distant and faint sounds - almost akin to footsteps, even the wood of branches cracking from such movement. That feeling of being watched crept again, even my sensors beginning to become triggered - and I was almost certain I wasn't just going crazy. As I moved deeper in, the sensation grew, sensors more frequently displaying data - they weren't just being triggered, I could definitely hear it now.
Better not be me just being paranoid. Almost better to be someone - or something out there. I thought, feeling a need for my suspicion to be confirmed.
Deciding to stop for a moment, I surveyed the tree gaps as well as the canopy - mostly the former, as I suspected much of the potential movement was originating there. Waiting there, it was quiet for a short while, starting to wonder if whoever was out there finally left or this was just another scenario. I really was crazy. Before my thoughts dwelled further, I heard the sound of crunching branches behind, the motion tracker momentarily triggered. Snapping around, I attempted to track the pattern of sound and direction from the origin point; no visual to work with, I kept scanning around. Pushing forward, albeit cautiously, trying to construct a potential travel vector based on available data - maybe let them think I'm an unaware, vulnerable target.
Marking and analyzing minute details: trace material, bark deformation, carbon exhalation waste. I slowly built a workable path to guide me. Not before long, I heard the branches creak with visible movement detected on the motion tracker - even got a brief visual up in the canopy above. Looked like they were wearing some form of tunic based cloak, like something from an ancient era of Japan - though maybe not something exactly historically accurate for any particular era. Continuing to track after them, I switched between Infrared and UV optical settings to help maintain a visual - it seemed they were weaving between North and Northeast. Wondered if they were attempting to lead me into a trap.
Debating in my mind whether or not they were a threat - at this point I couldn't care less - I heard the sound of several metallic objects whistle and spin through the air toward me.
[PROJECTILE INCOMING] Flashed on the upper center of the HUD.
Catching sight of them coming at me at rather fast velocity, I tilted side to side dodging a couple. One managed to hit nearby my shoulder pad, but narrowly hit short as the particle barrier crackled in reaction to the impact, harmlessly deflecting the red hot object. Eyeing another whistling way toward me, I reached out and managed to grab the near 400 velocity object just half a meter from me - upon further glance, it was a shuriken? Sun shaped, Japanese, albeit very archaic Kanji type inscriptions on the ring inlays.
"Not keen on this ninja masquerading asshole going to continuously chuck metal objects at me." I scuffed, mildly amused as I was annoyed. I deemed this as enough a sign of threat to retaliate.
Hot on their trail, I maintained a bead on them, though they were, admittedly, rather a pain in the ass to keep track of, far too nimble and quick to be a normal human. With the combination of Infrared and normal optical vision, switching between frequently, I tagged the individual the moment they were visible between branch skipping. Lifting up my ARM-11, I aimed down the sight and followed the perpetrator's movement - pulling the trigger, the first shot cracked, the high hypersonic, 2400 meter a second round cutting through the air toward the target. Thinking I'd land a hit, an audible, surprisingly loud metallic tink echoed lightly - did I miss? Or did it hit something notably hard? No way in hell they managed to react and reflect that somehow
Groaning in annoyance, I took aim again and fired multiple successive shots, a burst of several rounds this time. Aiming at the head, torso and legs I almost felt my jaw drop after hearing multiple metallic tinks, unable to believe they managed to deflect hypersonic tungsten rounds like that - what were they using? A shield, sword? Beginning to get real pissed off, I could hear a faint meaty squelch followed by a grunt. Soon, the sound of ruffled leaves and snapping branches then finally a dull thump as something hit the ground earth beneath.
"Think I got the bastard." I snidely chuckled, nearly smirking in devious satisfaction.
Rushing toward the area, their motion signature remained for a time, although blinking in and out indicating they weren't long for death - still baffling they were still alive to begin with, should be bisected. Approaching, I got a visual of what appeared to be a male, 5'10, wearing forest green tunic type cloak, face hidden by a hood and some bandana type mask. Unmoving, but I knew better, I approached close but stopped a few meters from them - the bastard had a grapefruit sized chunk of flesh missing from his side, blood pouring and viscera partly visible.
"How's your dumbass still alive?" I calmly question, not necessarily directed to him. Possibly he anticipated I might not expect him to feign death and strike me.
Somehow unable to yield a response, despite planting the idea I know full well they aren't dead yet, I inched closer. Strafing around, I changed angle and position as I waited for a response. Getting within a meter close, he suddenly spun around and attempted to lurch at me with inhuman speed. Managing to get closer than I'd like, I quickly raised my left arm and caught him with psionic emission, pulling and whipping him toward a tree. Slamming with substantial force, bark of the tree surface caves in and splinters, the assailant coughs up a pint or so of blood, multiple rib and vertebrae fractures as well as visible internal bleeding visible on the data readings . Seemingly unconscious yet miraculously still alive they appear to finally yield.
"I'm not done yet." Coldly stating.
Drawing my weapon again, I aim for their head and fire - as the shot cracks and rips toward them, there is an extremely brief instance where I see their eyes widen in shock. Moments later, their head blows apart like a meaty watermelon, a very audible squelch and crunch following with the dull smack of bark being hit behind. "Good riddance." I scuffed, lowering my weapon.
"Looks like this might've been a scout. Definite possibility there could be more."
I narrowed my eyes as I surveyed the surrounding canopy above. Seeing it quiet for now, I moved on, leaving the headless corpse of the ninja assailant behind - I wasn't certain when I was going to run into another one. A brief, but oddly sudden strong gust blew through; whistling from tree gaps. Almost could be interpreted as something whispering.
Several clicks further into the forest, continuing northward, the trek was still quiet yet eerily so. Now and again my sensors picked up indiscernible environmental data, my own senses catching things on my periphery - yet nothing except the passing of wind with a strange cadence and pattern of sound.
Deeper in, I pushed through more brush and foliage - notably thick as points - I broke out into a much less vegetation dense area of the forest. The more I went on, I began to notice something with the surroundings. Reaching a certain point, I saw a visible if initially hard to notice trail starting to emerge - though some places of the nearby trees and particularly dense foliage made it difficult to keep track of. I did wonder if this actually led somewhere - possibly why that scout attacked me.
Shifting my eyes side to side, I looked to scanners then to the surroundings. It was quiet, nothing picked up on the sensors just yet - but something told me it wasn't going to be that clear and simple. Soil and grass crunched beneath my boots, a calm passing breeze wafted through the tree gaps - it almost whispered, entailing presence. Possibly just my mind playing tricks on me - or possibly there was someone, something else out there. No signs of the phoenix at least.
There was a faint creak, a voice following it. "Oh, a passing traveler?" A male voice spoke, calm yet hinting mockery and tinge of sadism.
What the hell? I internally questioned, somewhat caught off guard. My sight directed me ahead - and up a dozen or so meters.
"Yes you there." He spoke again, calm still, and an uncomfortable politeness. The distance and notably dim interior of the forest and canopy made it initially difficult to spot him. "You look lost. I've never seen you before. Something tells Me you are not from here. And I don't just suggest this forest alone."
I did not respond momentarily, simply gazing up at the individual with suspicion and caution. My trigger hand ready; weapon itself still lowered but tense.
"Not much of a talker, no? Strong, silent type I see." He says, briefly disappearing before on another branch, much closer now.
Part of him was now visible, what was seen, a tall man donning some combination of a modified Japanese Ninja Yoroi cloak, pants and cowl but also a very notably middle-eastern inspired vest and tunic, inscriptions sown in rib patterns on the chest as well as the shoulders; small, short-necked leather boots. In his left hand, a scimitar type sword supported his weight, various other knives and kunai looking weapons strapped around his torso and legs.
"You are not just wandering through are you? In fact, you are running from something, no?" He spoke, his tone low and serious, his accent more pronounced, almost some form of Arabic dialect. "Some large, winged creature in the skies. . . I heard the shifting of winds and it calls above." I watched as he pulled the sword from the bark it was planted, metal clinking faintly as he brandished the scimitar around then toward me. "You know what it tries to protect, and it follows you - I wish to know what. Perhaps it will lead me, but. . . I will have to kill you first. Can't have you as an obstacle, no?"
" Don't waste my time with a pointless fight now. Damn bird is already a pain in the ass chasing after me." I muttered, shaking my head as I groaned in annoyance. "Look, pal. I'm just trying to make my way through here. You want to go for the fool's gold, be my guest, I won't stop you. Unless you want to end up losing your head and slightly less the man you were. But I'd rather not waste my time." Something told me that it just went in one ear and out the other. Thinking this asshole just wants to amuse himself and pick a fight.
Standing there on the branch above, he just peered down with contemplative, vaguely judgemental scowl. He chuckled then, somewhat heartily. "You don't strike me as the type to simply let a potential threat pass you by, especially when a declaration of battle has been given - no, you are much more ruthless and callous. Such as the other you killed without hesitation."
"The bastard attacked me first, I just finished the fight so it doesn't happen again." I shot back, calmly.
He chuckled once more, amused but hinting malignancy, sarcasm not lost on me. "Oh? That weakling? Hah. I have no feeling or thought toward them. They have no relation to me. Just another victim to the chaos of natural order."
I leaned back, narrowing my eyes in question and mostly annoyance, almost feeling the urge to curse at the bastard. Looked like I was going to deal with this asshole whether I liked it or not.
Before I could think too much about my next move, the unknown man disappeared from sight as well as any trackable movement and biological based signatures. I blinked, very confused, wondering what the hell happened and where they went. "Damn it. Fucking banked it. Or did he. . ." Questioning that, I looked around but still felt a presence remain - suddenly, my sensors picked up on a shift in air displacement and brief movement pattern.
Rapidly turning behind me, I had to link motor movements to computer based pattern predication as I glimpsed a blade slash millimeters from my head. Leaning back, I pushed back into a roll after the strike; looking up, attempting to raise my weapon to fire, I had to immediately, and instinctively raised an arm to block another slash - the particle barrier flickered and shined bright, the impact causing a strong displacement of air, it being shockingly powerful. Fucker was definitely strong Alright.
"Hah. Relying on such a weapon to fight me? Not that it matters, I would block the projectiles anyway! But you are certainly fast I will tell you that! Intriguing defense as well! This will be fun!" He laughed, almost cackling. Wasn't surprising to see he was as sadistic as his child-like enjoyment in fighting. "But I will crack that shell of yours soon enough."
Grimacing in both vexation and mild discomfort from the surprising inhuman strength he imparted, I'm temporarily relieved as he pulled off - of course that wasn't the end of it. With only a moment of respite, he appeared again to my side, almost seeming to teleport with how fast he moved. Trying to predict his position and timing of attack, I quickly started to back-pedal - but be damned to use my weapon, he pressed forward like a pissed off honey badger, a flurry of powerful slashes, mostly to the torso and neck area. The strikes were lightning fast, appearing to cause ripples in the air and even heating up the nearby temperature to above boiling point. Only narrowly dodging strikes here and there, it was a matter of how well my shield would hold. Something told me that he wasn't actually trying to do that.
"Will you not attack me? That weapon is your only means of attack? I wish this to be more than just a game of defense!" He comments, almost scoldingly, seemingly to growl in annoyance. "You can fight better than that I'm sure!"
I growled back, dismissing his comment as I concentrated. Much back and forth dodging and blocking, sporadic position changes, relentless attacks from the cloaked warrior made this a dance of struggle - and it was starting to piss me off. Had to find a window for a proper counterattack.
"Real stubborn bastard, aren't you?" I commented, almost amused as I was vexed. "Those strikes of yours aren't seemingly to get through my shield. You'll just tire yourself out."
He scoffed, then chuckled. "Hah! I can go all day! I've been hungering for a challenge. Though I may not need to break through that defense." Piercing emerald eyes stared and narrowed, that partly visibly darker-skinned man contorting brow in focus. What was he trying to do?
Letting him continue to push his aggressive, unrelenting strikes; I maintained the footing I had before as well as my dodging and blocking patterns for a time. As I moved, and he, I watched and cataloged his movement patterns, building a specific digital simulation of all the attacks and waited for a gap in the movement- think I found one. Getting a good idea of his striking and movement patterns, I waited for the instance where his hands were furthest from me - hopping back several meters, I opened up some distance. Just as he pushed forward again to cover the distance and strike, I reached for my combat knife - at the very last second, I raised my knife and blocked the slash of his sword, a loud clang followed, the blade mere inches from my neck. For a brief moment, a look of surprise appeared on their face - the next moment I wasted no time and delivered a strong kick to the stomach. Caught off guard for a few seconds, he was sent back nearly a dozen meters.
His sword carved through the ground as he used it to slow his movements. He coughed for a few seconds, seemingly out of wind but appearing otherwise unharmed. "Oh. You surprised me with that one. Good sleight of hand I must admit." He says, beginning to chuckle as he quickly regained his bearings. "But I'm still much faster and you don't strike me as a swordsman. This fight is far from over - show me what else you got. I want to truly test your steel!"
Positioning himself, preparing his weapon with an attack posture, he launched forward off his feet - the sheer speed enough to make it seem he broke the sound barrier and briefly became a blur. Just before he could reach me however I raised my left arm and tagged him with psionic emission. "What is this? Another trick?!" He blurted, though sounded more puzzled and curious then angered. Gripping him remotely, I raised him up from the ground and slammed him around, smashing him into the trees around - a loud crunch and snap as one of the trees burst apart, and collapsed.
Despite the amount of damage caused to the surrounding environment and the force imparted upon him, he was still alive and still very much resistant. Shocking how resilient the bastard was, any injuries not appearing significant enough to severely harm or kill him. Making a tighter clasping motion, I attempted to crush him with magnetic induced condensed air pressure - his vitals spiked briefly before stabilizing - he continued to resist. Was beginning to wonder if this son of a bitch wasn't some kind of Demon masquerading as a human.
As I continued to slam him around, I started to notice the magnetic hold fluctuate and weaken - only to suddenly then find I lost connection. I narrowed my eyes in disbelief and confusion, looking out in the direction his position was last detected. Moving ahead, I searched through the gaps - soon, I picked up on their biological and movement signature. They remained there, knelt, their sword propping them up as they appeared to look down; face unseen, appearing to recollect themselves - based on the data however, this was likely a ruse, attempting to appear vulnerable.
"Can't fool me like that." I commented, unamused by the feint.
Remembering what he said earlier, I decided to dismiss the possibility - anyway, not like he knew where I was or sensed I had moved. Seeing this as an opportunity, I raised my ARM-11 and aimed - targeting the top of his cranium, I pulled the trigger and fired. The round cracked as it left the barrel, rippling toward the target at mach 7. Seeming as though it was going to hit, a tink echoed, sounding as though it ricochet - the cloaked man had his sword out above him, his face still facing down. The bastard blocked it and wasn't even looking, just the sound of the bullet leaving the chamber enough for him to react.
"Like I said before, good sir - I will just block them." He spoke, his tone calm but more notably serious this time. His head raised and I could see his eyes pierce at me, the green orbs seemingly beginning to glow. Strange EM signatures began to emit and become detected on the sensors. "Not the first time I've dealt with bullets. Though those are much stronger than ones I've deflected before I admit."
A boom followed as he launched off his feet, blitzing toward me faster than the speed of sound.
"For fuck sake." I grumbled, no longer simply surprised or impressed - now I was just getting pissed.
Rapidly covering ground toward me, I pressed the trigger again, this time loosing a sustained burst of 8mm AP rounds downrange. Unsurprisingly, I heard tink after tink as he managed to visibly deflect and block the majority of the rounds shot in his direction - though I could hear the faint sound of one of the rounds, or at least I thought, punching their mark.
Disappearing briefly, he appeared again in the air as though having lept from the ground. A boomy caw thundered in the background, it seemed the battle was about to resume, the crackling of burning fire rippled as a massive torrent of flame ripped from the sky. Everything before me had suddenly become engulfed in flames just a dozen or so meters from my position, the cloaked assailant presumably incinerated by the plasma-like heat.
"Shit. Well I guess the ninja asshole was turned into a crisp." My eyes slightly widened at the sudden manifestation of the flames and the violent rate they spread. Of course, I traded one pain in the ass for another.