Walker's troops continued their march towards the enemy encampment. They knew that they were working on a secret weapon based on what the snipers had reported. Walker continued to read the report and knew that they had seen the platoon moving in. He handed the paper back to his lieutenant. "Heh... those snipers are better than our best scouts." Walker moved out ahead of the rest and continued on his way until he was almost ten yards ahead. The troops can almost predict when they are going to arrive at the battlefield because of Walker taking the lead every time they are close. They had split into two armies, red and blue. Blue is the main fleet that will retreat at a moment's notice while red is prepared to run head on into the corrupted mutant base and tear their buildings apart. Walker saw the base ahead and ordered his troops to stop. "I'm not going with you." The troops were confused but ready to listen to his reasoning. "I instead shall trade my colors and join the red army to prepare for conquest. We shall be victorious today. I'm leaving First Lieutenant Gates in charge of this army. You will give him all of the respect that he deserves and more. I expect you to be successful in accomplishing this mission. I hope to see you all after this is over. After all, the wine is on me tonight!"
The crowd began to clap and cheer, not for the quality of the speech, but for his bravery in taking the position where he may die. The blue army is not expected to have casualties, while the red army is not expected to come back with more then ten to twenty units. Both are starting around one hundred. With these figures in mind, the general still walks to the red camp. Gates ran up beside him, amazed about this sudden change. "Now wait just a minute, General, I thought we agreed on you staying here where it was safe. You need to stay back and command the troops! I'm not just going to..."
"Now, Sam, we also agreed that the troops needed someone to believe in and give their lives for." Gates' sudden loss of speech enabled him to think and listen. "I'm not staying here where it is safe while my troops die out there under my orders. No one thinks it's fair, including me." Gates lowered his head. "I know my chances aren't good out there, but with me leading the troops in the real battle, we may have a chance at winning." Gates nodded his head in understanding. He knew all of this as well, but as his second in command, he had to try to keep the general safe. Walker proceeded to walk toward the other base, all the while glancing at the mutant camp to make sure that no one had seen him yet. He was hoping to get to the red army unnoticed, to keep it a surprise.
While at the other base, Walker took command of the platoon and readied them for battle. They had a direct link with the snipers and gave the general all of the information that they had collected. He was ready for the attack and expected few to survive. He wasn't going to be voicing his opinion to the rest of the troops; they already had enough running laps in their mind. Rumors were spreading fast about their chances against the mutants. "I heard that none of us are going to live and the general came here to inform us."
"That's nonsense!" Assured another soldier. "If he was here to tell us we're gonna' die, then why doesn't he have any escort? He would need one to stop us from killing him after he gave his usual speech."
"Yeah, that speech!" Spoke another. "Where does he come up with those anyway? He always has a speech for every occasion, like he..." The bar fell silent as Walker opened the door. He took three steps in, looked around and sat at the bar to order his usual double whisky. The chatter resumed, but at a more controlled level so as not to alert General Walker. He knew they were having doubts about the battle, but what he didn't know was how they were going to react. Even the man at the bar was looking coldly at him, hearing the rumors that have been passed around. None of them seemed real until he had seen the general with his own eyes. The whispering lead to looks from the men, along with some laughing and some plotting. Walker pretended not to notice and resumed sipping his drinks. They were lime, he least favorite flavor. He decided to endure the taste, considering they probably knew that he disliked it. The battle was going to be brought home if he showed even the slightest weakness.
Troops began to leave the bar as he started on his second drink. Not wanting to be in his company, other soldiers left the bar until only a handful were left to reconsider their positions. "Guess it's about time I made that speech." Walker proclaimed as he finished his drinks. The general slammed down the glass and walked out of the building. Outside, he heard the announcement about his statement. Many, including him, could easily hear the control this soldier was employing to keep from his own protest. His fear is understandable, and expected before this kind of a fight. Walker stepped up to a podium and removed a paper he had written the night before. Many troops were already talking about the upcoming speech.
"I know you expect a speech from me, but not this time." Walker shredded the paper he had written on, with an hour's worth of thoughts. The troops were caught in a state of bewilderment. Walker had always prepared his speeches for each battle, never improvising. "I don't want to bore you with words without meaning. The simple truth is, that you are going into a battle that you may not win, yet must. You will kill, and you may die." Walker took one final glance around at his men, soon expecting them to resign. "I know you all are afraid of this situation and the upcoming battle, and I'll admit that I am too. And if I were any of you, I would have run out on me many battles ago. But I'm not you, and so I must stand my ground. You, on the other hand, will be given a choice."
Many soldiers perked up, in hopes of freedom. "I'm giving you the choice to fight. If you wish to stay behind, you may. I would rather you stay here and live, than fight a losing battle and die. Now is your time to choose." Another soldier grabbed his rifle and drew a line on the ground separating the units from their leader. "Now... Now you may choose." The soldiers stayed behind the line, not moving an inch. Walker's speech was over, even though it had more impact than that which he had written, it may not have been enough to convince them. "Very well then. If I will not have my troops to back me up, then I must go alone." Walker grabbed his rifle and moved down the steps toward the front lines.
"General." Walker turned around to find one private had stepped forward and crossed the line to his side of the camp. The general nodded and walked over to the young man.
"General." Another soldier crossed the line. He joined the other private and grabbed his own weapon. Both soldiers were poised in an honorable salute.
"General." A third voice had beckoned his call. This one was followed by few other troops. This domino effect continued to fall into place until there were a small group of seven men still on the opposite side of the line. Walker crossed the line to the other side and assured the men that they had not made a bad choice. Once reassured, they saluted the men going into battle, as well as the general, and returned to their resting tents. Walker smiled at the rest of his men. He had won their loyalty through his own beliefs. The loyalty of the camp where he had been weighed, measured, and found wanting.
ooo
Kobal woke the next morning to the alarming voice of his guards. They had spotted their enemy, the symmetrics, marching towards their base. The blue soldiers were finally going to pounce on their village. Kobal remained in his home, still lying next to the elegant Autumn. He remained in bed, planning his attack meant to push them back for good. This battle, this final round, was going to crush one of the two sides, and Kobal wanted to survive. This land was becoming very fertile and was soon to be ready for farming. It would be a waste to give this land up, now that they have sacrificed so much to keep it safe. Kobal stood from his bed and dressed for the battle. "What's wrong, Cantrell?" Autumn sat up in the straw bed.
"The battle is soon to begin." Kobal stated plainly. He resumed his actions of preparation as Autumn stood and replaced her robes. She walked up behind him, kissed him once on the cheek, and walked out of Kobal's cottage. Kobal felt his cheek with his left hand, paused amongst the moments. He let his hand drop and continued to accessorize.
Outside, the hunters and warriors were grouping at the gates, ready to launch their counter-strike as soon as they were open. The gates, during times of war, could only be opened with the command of their chief. It was this way to prevent spies from the symmetrics entering the town. One symmetric had entered a village this way and discovered their secrets. This is what spawned the idea of chief access for the gates. And so the hunters must wait for Kobal before they can attack. They did not need to wait long as Kobal, in full battle armor, had just left his home to join them on the battlefield. He walked straight ahead to give his order to open the gate. Hesitating, he took a moment to look at his hunters. He knew them all very well and knew they would not let him down. Kobal gave a nod and made note that the battle was about to begin. "Open the gates!" The gates slowly opened to reveal a long stretch or barren land with the occasional patch of grass. On the horizon, shadows of troops could be seen, marching their way towards their death.
ooo
"Form rank!" Gates was organizing the troops to hide the fact that they were missing men. The troops spread out and populated the front lines to force the image of an enormous army. As they marched towards the enemy base, they saw that their gates were open and their army was prepared to fight. "This is it men," First Lieutenant Gates observed. "Are you all ready?"
"YES, SIR!" They had paused their advancement to make final preparations. The Crimson Army of the mutants was now marching toward them to prevent the fertile ground from being destroyed. Gates had the same thought in mind and was letting them finish compressing the distance between the two mobs. It took the mutants nearly half an hour to reach their battlefield. Both armies were now staring each other down, waiting for the order to strike. Survivors and mutants were now ready to do battle for land that neither could possibly give up. Both sides fighting a war that never should have been started, but was about to continue anyway for the necessities. This was a battle: for oil, for land, for humanity. And one way or another, this war was going to end. The distance between the two armies was not unlike the differences in their structures. They were so close you could hear their leader calling out for moral support. When his talk was done, Gates decided he would try a small one.
"Alright people. Let's show these freaks what we're made of!" The remarks of the "freaks" could be heard by every man in the front lines. Gates was finally ready. "CHARGE!" Most soldiers had rifles for launching their attacks, but many were only able to use hand-to-hand tactics, and these were the ones charging. Knowing that the mutants were ignorant to technology, the survivors quickly decided that hand-to-hand combat was only meant to slow them down. Most of the small group of men were being tossed aside like rag dolls from the shear power of these brutes. Soldiers that were only meant to hold guns were being forced to fight hand to hand with a race that had needed to hunt for its food for years. Not a single man survived the assault, but none were meant to. "Fire!" Gates was the first to fire a shot on his own command. Regardless whether he was in charge of the army, he was still their fastest shot and an excellent marksman. All other soldiers in the front lines joined his gunfire. The first three lines of men were now firing at three separate levels to take down as many mutants as they could. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in their attempt as the mutants were only fully taken out with at least three shots each. That added on to them outnumbering the survivors five to one made this quickly into a losing battle. Gunshots were slowly being muted as arrow fire arose from the enemy. Fire being the operative word as the arrows were, in fact, set ablaze as they were being shot from their bows. A few of the arrows appeared to be normal, but one hit a metal helmet and exploded on contact.
"Lieutenant Gates! They have coated their arrows in gunpowder! Whatever solid object they touch will cause them to explode on contact!" The private was still firing as he reported the obvious to his commander. "We must fall back now!" Gates was lying on the ground along with the private. He knew his orders were to fall back, but it hurt him more than anyone ever knew. He eventually stood and called to the troops.
"Everyone! Retreat! All personnel fall back!" The army was inching away from the mutants and crawling into a run. Fleeing from the losing battle.
ooo
The evolved watched as their enemy ran from their battle with their tails between their legs. The battle had been won, even without the use of their special weapon, which was almost ready for its first test. The hunters walked with their chief back to their village yelling about their victory the entire way back. Kobal was one of the men joining in on the celebration of their victory. "My chieftain!" One of the lower hunters walked up beside Kobal. "I am confused. Why did the symmetrics give up on the honorable fight so soon?" Chief Kobal simply shook his head.
"I guess they just realized how futile it was to keep fighting with the way the war has been going." Kobal continued to laugh and yell with his comrades until they had made their way back and closed the gates. They had only taken a few steps into their home when people started leaving their cottages and tents to receive the news on their fight. Few men were injured in this battle and even fewer lost. This was definitely a good day for the evolved civilization. This day would be one remembered in this village for years to come.
"Cantrell!" Autumn was running toward her fiancé with open arms. Kobal continued his laughter and grinning as he opened his arms to accept his love's embrace. She had her arms open wider as she neared him when the shot was fired. Everyone in the town heard the gun shot, but no one could have prevented it from firing. And worst of all, none could stop it from hitting its target, which now fell into the arms of its love. Kobal held on tight as he set Autumn down, bleeding in his arms. The shot did not go completely though and was lodged into her, making pain with the slightest movement. She lay there in his arms, crying almost as much as he was. "C... Cantrell..."
"Hold on, Autumn..." Kobal began to panic as he saw his bride losing her light. "Someone call the medicine man! Quickly!" Autumn continued to fade from him and was slowly closing her eyes. "Autumn! My love! Hold on!"
"Cantrell... I... I'm sorry..." Autumn's eyes fell shut, completely extinguishing her spark. This struck Kobal hard. His love was gone. He would never wake next to her, never smell her sweet hair, and never know her touch. His love was gone, and with it, his life.
"Autumn... Autumn! No... NO!" Kobal continued to cry as his men gave him his space. They remained silent when they found a proper distance and let their chief weep for his loss. It was a very sad event, and there wasn't one person that didn't feel his loss. The only members of the hunters not mourning with him were those killing the snipers. And it is good that they never returned in time to see the scene, for this was the time everyone dreaded. Kobal lifted his head with pure rage in his eyes. Anyone asked watching that site would swear that his eyes were glowing red. Kobal slowly let Autumn's head drop to the ground as he stood, growing in rage. "That... Them..." Kobal's words were increasingly hard to make out from all of the rambling that he added in between. "They... will PAY!" Kobal was screaming at the top of his lungs to ensure that all could here him. "Every last one of them!"
At this time, a group of red-suited symmetrics burst through the gates and started to raid the town. "Arhg... GROOOHHH! Kill them all! I don't want a single symmetric left ALIVE!" All hunters took back up their weapons and began to fight the enemy army. Kobal grabbed his own weapon, a bone sword and started to shop soldiers into pieces. "Ready the weapon!" One of the remaining hunters took off for the technologies tent. From here arose a giant monster. The form of the base was a giant crab, while a giant missile turret sat on its back. The creature seemed to follow every order given even though it did have a mind of its own. The hunter controlling it instructed the beat to launch missiles at the enemy troops that were still outside of the town. Meanwhile, Kobal was taking heads and using them as his weapons. The hunters were in a stalemate inside the village, but were slowly gaining the advantage with their new weapon. In the middle of the fight was the symmetric's chief. The one known as Walker. "He is the one responsible. He is the one that killed her!" Kobal began his charge towards Walker.
ooo
Walker continued to swing the bone sword that he had acquired in the battle, barely noticing Kobal at the last minute. He swung his sword up perpendicular to Kobal's and stopped his blade with a clash. The swords held, but were chipped in their sides. "What the?" Walker pushed Kobal back enough to spin out of his way. "You can't be here. I heard the shot, you're supposed to be dead!" Kobal pushed forward and rammed Walker off his feet and onto the ground. He squinted from the pain and rolled onto his side, clutching his gut. Walker opened his eyes and saw the dead body of a woman. Noticing the blood on the ground, the general turned her over to find a gun shot wound in her back, just above the middle of the shoulder blades. Exactly level with Kobal's heart. Kobal, who was still being controlled by his anger resumed his bashing as Walker regained his footing in time to parry the blows.
"You killed her..." Kobal grunted as he swung his sword from side to side. "Now, it is you turn..." Walker tripped on another body, this one being of his own unit. "Now, DIE!" Kobal moved over top of his enemy and stabbed down into his chest. The kill was instant, but not the last. The entire unit of survivors was wiped out by either hunters or the beast at their disposal. Few hunters were left, but enough to consider it a victory.
ooo
Jacob Walker rose from his chair in frustration. "Darn it! I almost had you that time!" At this comment, Matt Cantrell stood from his chair and walked over to Jacob's computer. "I even used my snipers like you said!"
"No you didn't! You used them, but I told you to send a group of seventy snipers, not seven! So the loss was your own fault." Matt walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed out two cans of soda.
"Ahw man! I'm never gonna get the hang of this game!"
The crowd began to clap and cheer, not for the quality of the speech, but for his bravery in taking the position where he may die. The blue army is not expected to have casualties, while the red army is not expected to come back with more then ten to twenty units. Both are starting around one hundred. With these figures in mind, the general still walks to the red camp. Gates ran up beside him, amazed about this sudden change. "Now wait just a minute, General, I thought we agreed on you staying here where it was safe. You need to stay back and command the troops! I'm not just going to..."
"Now, Sam, we also agreed that the troops needed someone to believe in and give their lives for." Gates' sudden loss of speech enabled him to think and listen. "I'm not staying here where it is safe while my troops die out there under my orders. No one thinks it's fair, including me." Gates lowered his head. "I know my chances aren't good out there, but with me leading the troops in the real battle, we may have a chance at winning." Gates nodded his head in understanding. He knew all of this as well, but as his second in command, he had to try to keep the general safe. Walker proceeded to walk toward the other base, all the while glancing at the mutant camp to make sure that no one had seen him yet. He was hoping to get to the red army unnoticed, to keep it a surprise.
While at the other base, Walker took command of the platoon and readied them for battle. They had a direct link with the snipers and gave the general all of the information that they had collected. He was ready for the attack and expected few to survive. He wasn't going to be voicing his opinion to the rest of the troops; they already had enough running laps in their mind. Rumors were spreading fast about their chances against the mutants. "I heard that none of us are going to live and the general came here to inform us."
"That's nonsense!" Assured another soldier. "If he was here to tell us we're gonna' die, then why doesn't he have any escort? He would need one to stop us from killing him after he gave his usual speech."
"Yeah, that speech!" Spoke another. "Where does he come up with those anyway? He always has a speech for every occasion, like he..." The bar fell silent as Walker opened the door. He took three steps in, looked around and sat at the bar to order his usual double whisky. The chatter resumed, but at a more controlled level so as not to alert General Walker. He knew they were having doubts about the battle, but what he didn't know was how they were going to react. Even the man at the bar was looking coldly at him, hearing the rumors that have been passed around. None of them seemed real until he had seen the general with his own eyes. The whispering lead to looks from the men, along with some laughing and some plotting. Walker pretended not to notice and resumed sipping his drinks. They were lime, he least favorite flavor. He decided to endure the taste, considering they probably knew that he disliked it. The battle was going to be brought home if he showed even the slightest weakness.
Troops began to leave the bar as he started on his second drink. Not wanting to be in his company, other soldiers left the bar until only a handful were left to reconsider their positions. "Guess it's about time I made that speech." Walker proclaimed as he finished his drinks. The general slammed down the glass and walked out of the building. Outside, he heard the announcement about his statement. Many, including him, could easily hear the control this soldier was employing to keep from his own protest. His fear is understandable, and expected before this kind of a fight. Walker stepped up to a podium and removed a paper he had written the night before. Many troops were already talking about the upcoming speech.
"I know you expect a speech from me, but not this time." Walker shredded the paper he had written on, with an hour's worth of thoughts. The troops were caught in a state of bewilderment. Walker had always prepared his speeches for each battle, never improvising. "I don't want to bore you with words without meaning. The simple truth is, that you are going into a battle that you may not win, yet must. You will kill, and you may die." Walker took one final glance around at his men, soon expecting them to resign. "I know you all are afraid of this situation and the upcoming battle, and I'll admit that I am too. And if I were any of you, I would have run out on me many battles ago. But I'm not you, and so I must stand my ground. You, on the other hand, will be given a choice."
Many soldiers perked up, in hopes of freedom. "I'm giving you the choice to fight. If you wish to stay behind, you may. I would rather you stay here and live, than fight a losing battle and die. Now is your time to choose." Another soldier grabbed his rifle and drew a line on the ground separating the units from their leader. "Now... Now you may choose." The soldiers stayed behind the line, not moving an inch. Walker's speech was over, even though it had more impact than that which he had written, it may not have been enough to convince them. "Very well then. If I will not have my troops to back me up, then I must go alone." Walker grabbed his rifle and moved down the steps toward the front lines.
"General." Walker turned around to find one private had stepped forward and crossed the line to his side of the camp. The general nodded and walked over to the young man.
"General." Another soldier crossed the line. He joined the other private and grabbed his own weapon. Both soldiers were poised in an honorable salute.
"General." A third voice had beckoned his call. This one was followed by few other troops. This domino effect continued to fall into place until there were a small group of seven men still on the opposite side of the line. Walker crossed the line to the other side and assured the men that they had not made a bad choice. Once reassured, they saluted the men going into battle, as well as the general, and returned to their resting tents. Walker smiled at the rest of his men. He had won their loyalty through his own beliefs. The loyalty of the camp where he had been weighed, measured, and found wanting.
ooo
Kobal woke the next morning to the alarming voice of his guards. They had spotted their enemy, the symmetrics, marching towards their base. The blue soldiers were finally going to pounce on their village. Kobal remained in his home, still lying next to the elegant Autumn. He remained in bed, planning his attack meant to push them back for good. This battle, this final round, was going to crush one of the two sides, and Kobal wanted to survive. This land was becoming very fertile and was soon to be ready for farming. It would be a waste to give this land up, now that they have sacrificed so much to keep it safe. Kobal stood from his bed and dressed for the battle. "What's wrong, Cantrell?" Autumn sat up in the straw bed.
"The battle is soon to begin." Kobal stated plainly. He resumed his actions of preparation as Autumn stood and replaced her robes. She walked up behind him, kissed him once on the cheek, and walked out of Kobal's cottage. Kobal felt his cheek with his left hand, paused amongst the moments. He let his hand drop and continued to accessorize.
Outside, the hunters and warriors were grouping at the gates, ready to launch their counter-strike as soon as they were open. The gates, during times of war, could only be opened with the command of their chief. It was this way to prevent spies from the symmetrics entering the town. One symmetric had entered a village this way and discovered their secrets. This is what spawned the idea of chief access for the gates. And so the hunters must wait for Kobal before they can attack. They did not need to wait long as Kobal, in full battle armor, had just left his home to join them on the battlefield. He walked straight ahead to give his order to open the gate. Hesitating, he took a moment to look at his hunters. He knew them all very well and knew they would not let him down. Kobal gave a nod and made note that the battle was about to begin. "Open the gates!" The gates slowly opened to reveal a long stretch or barren land with the occasional patch of grass. On the horizon, shadows of troops could be seen, marching their way towards their death.
ooo
"Form rank!" Gates was organizing the troops to hide the fact that they were missing men. The troops spread out and populated the front lines to force the image of an enormous army. As they marched towards the enemy base, they saw that their gates were open and their army was prepared to fight. "This is it men," First Lieutenant Gates observed. "Are you all ready?"
"YES, SIR!" They had paused their advancement to make final preparations. The Crimson Army of the mutants was now marching toward them to prevent the fertile ground from being destroyed. Gates had the same thought in mind and was letting them finish compressing the distance between the two mobs. It took the mutants nearly half an hour to reach their battlefield. Both armies were now staring each other down, waiting for the order to strike. Survivors and mutants were now ready to do battle for land that neither could possibly give up. Both sides fighting a war that never should have been started, but was about to continue anyway for the necessities. This was a battle: for oil, for land, for humanity. And one way or another, this war was going to end. The distance between the two armies was not unlike the differences in their structures. They were so close you could hear their leader calling out for moral support. When his talk was done, Gates decided he would try a small one.
"Alright people. Let's show these freaks what we're made of!" The remarks of the "freaks" could be heard by every man in the front lines. Gates was finally ready. "CHARGE!" Most soldiers had rifles for launching their attacks, but many were only able to use hand-to-hand tactics, and these were the ones charging. Knowing that the mutants were ignorant to technology, the survivors quickly decided that hand-to-hand combat was only meant to slow them down. Most of the small group of men were being tossed aside like rag dolls from the shear power of these brutes. Soldiers that were only meant to hold guns were being forced to fight hand to hand with a race that had needed to hunt for its food for years. Not a single man survived the assault, but none were meant to. "Fire!" Gates was the first to fire a shot on his own command. Regardless whether he was in charge of the army, he was still their fastest shot and an excellent marksman. All other soldiers in the front lines joined his gunfire. The first three lines of men were now firing at three separate levels to take down as many mutants as they could. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in their attempt as the mutants were only fully taken out with at least three shots each. That added on to them outnumbering the survivors five to one made this quickly into a losing battle. Gunshots were slowly being muted as arrow fire arose from the enemy. Fire being the operative word as the arrows were, in fact, set ablaze as they were being shot from their bows. A few of the arrows appeared to be normal, but one hit a metal helmet and exploded on contact.
"Lieutenant Gates! They have coated their arrows in gunpowder! Whatever solid object they touch will cause them to explode on contact!" The private was still firing as he reported the obvious to his commander. "We must fall back now!" Gates was lying on the ground along with the private. He knew his orders were to fall back, but it hurt him more than anyone ever knew. He eventually stood and called to the troops.
"Everyone! Retreat! All personnel fall back!" The army was inching away from the mutants and crawling into a run. Fleeing from the losing battle.
ooo
The evolved watched as their enemy ran from their battle with their tails between their legs. The battle had been won, even without the use of their special weapon, which was almost ready for its first test. The hunters walked with their chief back to their village yelling about their victory the entire way back. Kobal was one of the men joining in on the celebration of their victory. "My chieftain!" One of the lower hunters walked up beside Kobal. "I am confused. Why did the symmetrics give up on the honorable fight so soon?" Chief Kobal simply shook his head.
"I guess they just realized how futile it was to keep fighting with the way the war has been going." Kobal continued to laugh and yell with his comrades until they had made their way back and closed the gates. They had only taken a few steps into their home when people started leaving their cottages and tents to receive the news on their fight. Few men were injured in this battle and even fewer lost. This was definitely a good day for the evolved civilization. This day would be one remembered in this village for years to come.
"Cantrell!" Autumn was running toward her fiancé with open arms. Kobal continued his laughter and grinning as he opened his arms to accept his love's embrace. She had her arms open wider as she neared him when the shot was fired. Everyone in the town heard the gun shot, but no one could have prevented it from firing. And worst of all, none could stop it from hitting its target, which now fell into the arms of its love. Kobal held on tight as he set Autumn down, bleeding in his arms. The shot did not go completely though and was lodged into her, making pain with the slightest movement. She lay there in his arms, crying almost as much as he was. "C... Cantrell..."
"Hold on, Autumn..." Kobal began to panic as he saw his bride losing her light. "Someone call the medicine man! Quickly!" Autumn continued to fade from him and was slowly closing her eyes. "Autumn! My love! Hold on!"
"Cantrell... I... I'm sorry..." Autumn's eyes fell shut, completely extinguishing her spark. This struck Kobal hard. His love was gone. He would never wake next to her, never smell her sweet hair, and never know her touch. His love was gone, and with it, his life.
"Autumn... Autumn! No... NO!" Kobal continued to cry as his men gave him his space. They remained silent when they found a proper distance and let their chief weep for his loss. It was a very sad event, and there wasn't one person that didn't feel his loss. The only members of the hunters not mourning with him were those killing the snipers. And it is good that they never returned in time to see the scene, for this was the time everyone dreaded. Kobal lifted his head with pure rage in his eyes. Anyone asked watching that site would swear that his eyes were glowing red. Kobal slowly let Autumn's head drop to the ground as he stood, growing in rage. "That... Them..." Kobal's words were increasingly hard to make out from all of the rambling that he added in between. "They... will PAY!" Kobal was screaming at the top of his lungs to ensure that all could here him. "Every last one of them!"
At this time, a group of red-suited symmetrics burst through the gates and started to raid the town. "Arhg... GROOOHHH! Kill them all! I don't want a single symmetric left ALIVE!" All hunters took back up their weapons and began to fight the enemy army. Kobal grabbed his own weapon, a bone sword and started to shop soldiers into pieces. "Ready the weapon!" One of the remaining hunters took off for the technologies tent. From here arose a giant monster. The form of the base was a giant crab, while a giant missile turret sat on its back. The creature seemed to follow every order given even though it did have a mind of its own. The hunter controlling it instructed the beat to launch missiles at the enemy troops that were still outside of the town. Meanwhile, Kobal was taking heads and using them as his weapons. The hunters were in a stalemate inside the village, but were slowly gaining the advantage with their new weapon. In the middle of the fight was the symmetric's chief. The one known as Walker. "He is the one responsible. He is the one that killed her!" Kobal began his charge towards Walker.
ooo
Walker continued to swing the bone sword that he had acquired in the battle, barely noticing Kobal at the last minute. He swung his sword up perpendicular to Kobal's and stopped his blade with a clash. The swords held, but were chipped in their sides. "What the?" Walker pushed Kobal back enough to spin out of his way. "You can't be here. I heard the shot, you're supposed to be dead!" Kobal pushed forward and rammed Walker off his feet and onto the ground. He squinted from the pain and rolled onto his side, clutching his gut. Walker opened his eyes and saw the dead body of a woman. Noticing the blood on the ground, the general turned her over to find a gun shot wound in her back, just above the middle of the shoulder blades. Exactly level with Kobal's heart. Kobal, who was still being controlled by his anger resumed his bashing as Walker regained his footing in time to parry the blows.
"You killed her..." Kobal grunted as he swung his sword from side to side. "Now, it is you turn..." Walker tripped on another body, this one being of his own unit. "Now, DIE!" Kobal moved over top of his enemy and stabbed down into his chest. The kill was instant, but not the last. The entire unit of survivors was wiped out by either hunters or the beast at their disposal. Few hunters were left, but enough to consider it a victory.
ooo
Jacob Walker rose from his chair in frustration. "Darn it! I almost had you that time!" At this comment, Matt Cantrell stood from his chair and walked over to Jacob's computer. "I even used my snipers like you said!"
"No you didn't! You used them, but I told you to send a group of seventy snipers, not seven! So the loss was your own fault." Matt walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed out two cans of soda.
"Ahw man! I'm never gonna get the hang of this game!"