"So where were you last night?" Dayakka sat across from Echo, who gulped down his cooled coffee and took a bite of a biscuit. Everyone seemed to hover over him, curious as to where he was. After he had swallowed the food, he looked over to the cook. "Can I get more biscuits ova here?" The cook looked at him with a look of confusion, as Echo had already scarfed down 12 of them. He shook his head; "Out of biscuits." Echo smirked at the cook, turning back to his coffee, he muttered something under his breath. Dayakka kept his serious gaze on him as he answered:
Well, I went on a little patrol just to see this place. It was odd, to see that many mountains in such an area, but I must digress. I scouted out the area we are to be heading, and I don't think we should continue our course. 'Bout 30 Elite Gunmen over there..."
"Elite Gunmen?" Simon cut him off as he entered the room with Rossiu. They looked at Echo. Simon was a bit surprised that he had returned. Echo chuckled. "You see Simon, an Elite Gunman is an Elite Gunman. They are better, faster, stronger Gunmen that stop at nothing but the complete annihilation of the said target." Kittan looked at him intensly. "So you are saying there is a type of Gunman better than they are now? What a joke."
"Well, if that's the way you see it, sure. But I see it as an opportunity to rest until they pass by. They really have no way to spot us and if we do get spotted, we can protect ourselves and they wont be able to attack with a counter assault." Simon nodded. "He has a point. If we avoid a battle, we will be just fine. If we attack, it will only weaken our strength." Kittan snickered. He wasn't sure if he could trust a guy who fell from the sky, but he had to at least give the man a chance. "Whatever you say..." A devious smile crossed Echo's face. He could tell Kittan didn't trust him. 'His weak spot...'
The sun was high in the sky when Echo, Simon, and Nia reached a small hill on the ground. Lugged over their shoulders were shovels and pickaxes. Echo turned to Simon. He was sweating and exhausted from the walk over to that small hill. Nia, on the other hand, was smiling. Echo studied the two, then smiled as Simon flung the shovel off his shoulder and into his hands. "So where do we start digging, exactly?" Echo pointed at the small hill. "I was watching the scanner when a blimp appeared on this hill... right... here." He had moved up the slope slightly and planted his foot in the soft dirt. Simon thought to himself what it was that caused the blimp to appear. He shook it off and turned to where Nia was. "If you want, you can..." She wasn't there. He looked around frantically until he heard her laughing. He turned to where the sound was coming, and saw Nia swinging the pickaxe above her head and busting the dirt and rock into pieces. A smile crossed his face as he watched her work. 'She's one crazy girl.' His smile grew wider as he approached her and began to shovel the dirt and rock away.
After a few minutes, Nia's pick struck a piece of metal, causing a ringing noise to echo in the air. Simon and Echo turned to their surprise that they had found something. They were about 3 feet deep when Simon began to dust the dirt and soil away from atop the metal object with his hands. A look of surprise covered their faces as a red lens was uncovered. They continued to dig around the lens until they had revealed a hatch that was dented in. Simon took Nia's pick and wrenched it open. The hatch popped open easily. Echo patted Simon on the back; "Good job, Simon. I think we have found an antique." Simon looked at him oddly, then checked on Nia, who smiled at him. He smiled back and entered the hatch. Climbing down the ladder, he looked around the lightly light area. He studied the space carefully.
The upper most section seemed circular as a receiver of sorts for a weapon pocked out of the circular build. A viewing port was to the right of it, but through the viewing scope was darkness. In the lower level, a seat in the front had a viewport, but the outside was covered in dirt and rock. To the right was a row of explosive rounds that were kept upright by a holder. Simon noticed the Rear section of the lower level was smashed downward, like it was hit by extreme force. The wreckage then lead Simon's eyes to a body lying on the floor of the lower level with a pistol in it's hand. Caught off guard by the sight, Simon stumbled backwards, running into Echo, who smiled at the sight of the lower level. "I've only seen these things in books, but not in real life." Simon looked at him with confusion. "What exactly is these?"
"They are called tanks. Means of transport with a weapon, of different shapes an forms, attached to the vehicle. Typically, tanks had tracks, I believe, that allowed for ease of transportation. Humans used these babies like they were elite soldiers." He patted the inside hull, causing a ringing. "But it looks like it's last service run ended badly." He studied the engine, and then the body on the floor. He sighed as he opened a compartment on the wall. He pulled out a box with the red letters CLASSIFIED stamped on the side. "Come on, Simon, lets get this to Dai-Gurren for analyzing. Simon nodded, taking one last look at the body. 'Judging by his face, he was only 16 or so.'
Leeron looked at the device Echo had brought him with complete awe. "Is this a 20th century militaristic black box?" Echo nodded. "I've only seen them in books!" Leeron hooked up a cord to the box, and turned his gaze to the appropriate monitor. The screen was full of green letters and symbols that seemed to make a pattern. Leeron hummed for a moment then an option to view the files came up. He clicked yes, causing the screen to turn blank, and then to a window of times the vehicle was active. He selected the very last entry: November 14th. The year was blanked out by a black line. Echo hummed as the file opened, showing several view windows. One of the driver's view, the gunner's view, the machinegun's view, and the rear view. The tank was rolling across a desert. Alongside several other tanks, they were heading towards what looked like Gunmen in the distance. The gun of the tank elevated, firing a round yards away, and exploding against a Gunman.
Falling over, the others took notice and began running towards the vehicles. The other tanks began to fire, and broke formation. A few Gunmen landed on some of the tanks, causing explosions. The tank in question began to circle around a Gunman, firing a round into the teeth and killing the pilot. The machinegun over heated from firing so many bullets. Suddenly, a large stone landed in front of the tank, forcing the driver to stop. Before it could reverse, a Gunman's fist smashed the rear of the tank, causing the engine to fail and the tank rendered useless. The crew escaped through the hatch before the Gunman pulled it's fist out of the wreckage. The machinegun camera was still functioning, as it captured humans in heavy armor running up to the mecha and firing their assault rifles at it. Suddenly, the camera cut out, and the file was finished. Everyone around the monitor were stunned at the sight of what had happened.
Leeron disconnected the cord from the device, and sat it to the side. "Well kiddies, that's enough story time for now. Lets all get some sleep and watch more in the morning."
That night, Simon couldn't sleep. He thought of what had happened to the men fighting in that battle with the beastmen. Nia took notice of this, as she turned to face him. "What's wrong, Simon?" He looked deep into her eyes, with no answer to her question.