Stormtrooper lost in the Digiworld Chapter two. The Mountains.
This is the second chapter. I was not able to satisfy my sister's and brother's imagination with just one chapter. That is why I am continuing this somewhat lame story. Anyway, if there are some people who actually read this, besides my annoying two little relatives, they are asked to live any constructive critical reviews. It would be much appreciated.
A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area, with a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill, but there is no universally accepted standard definition for the height of a mountain or a hill although a mountain usually has an identifiable summit. But this is only a brief description of a mountain for people, who don't get away from home. Because there won't be enough words to describe the majestic beauty of a mountain chain. But, yet again, some people see a mountain chain as a piece of art to behold, some people se in the mountain a powerful force that is not to be tangled with, and some – just another obstacle to overcome. Most of the group was busy gaping at the mountain, as they have managed to make their way towards its foothold.
"Oh my gosh! It is so high! I can't believe that we are going to clime this mountain!" said Takato loud enough for anyone to hear.
"If we are going to save our friend, we'll have to overcome this… really BIG… HIGH… SCARY… mountain chain… Oh my, I think I'm afraid of height… Great. Just great. Who knew I was scared of high elevations? What should I do?" Rika whined to Renamon, who was her personal psychologist of some sort, because Rika was afraid to admit her weaknesses to someone else. This plea was not heard by anyone besides Renamon, and, of course, someone who had to turn on his headphones at the moment…
The trip through the mountains has begun. The stiff and narrow path is a difficult obstacle, but, at least for digimon, it is much easier than the scorching sands of the desert. But for the children it was quite a challenge. After all, children are not exactly on the top of their physical strength when they are only 10-12 years old. That fact was confirmed a couple of times during the trip, as they were forced to make breaks, because the legs hurt. It seems that if one difficulty disappears, another one arises. But still, they were much more relieved, and continued their march. Terriermon, whose evolution form was supposed to give him two barrel guns, was interested in the trooper's gun, and wanted to know more about this strange weapon, who was seen in action only in movies. A fluffy bunny with a shotgun… Very cute.
"So, can you tell me about your rifle? I really want to know more about it!"
"As you wish. The E-11 blaster rifle is a blaster rifle manufactured by BlasTech Industries during the Galactic Civil War. It is the standard blaster rifle of the Imperial stormtroopers. A powerful, light and compact weapon, the E-11 was used widely through the galaxy. The other information on the weaponry is secret and I can't tell you more." the monotonic voice replied.
"You're not being nice you know that?"
"I have my orders."
"Yeah, I know, you do. What about that ball-like thing? What is that?"
"This is a thermal detonator. A thermal detonator is a highly unstable grenade-like weapon popular among military personnel, criminals, bounty hunters, and mercenaries. The thermal detonator was utilized since at least 4,000 BBY."
"Wow, you are really armed and dangerous, aren't you?"
"I suppose it is so."
"You are not a very good conversationalist."
"Sorry, sir."
"No worries. Just telling you the truth. You should try to be less formal to people. Your voice that is jammed by your helmet can scare anyone out of the pants. Just about everyone feels uneasy when they talk to you. They think you are some sort of a robot. But you are not a robot, are you?" Terriermon asked. He was a curious fellow, and he liked to meet new people.
"No, sir. I am not a droid."
"Maybe, but you're acting pretty much like one."
"Sorry, sir."
"You don't need to be sorry. Still, why are you speaking this way?"
"Military subordination protocol."
"Another order? Have you ever thought to disobey an order? That the order is wrong?"
"No. Never, sir."
"Well, carry on then. I have to say, that you are quite a wonderful soldier, but an emotionless person. You have made uneasy just about everyone, except Renamon. She is just as emotionless as you, when it comes to communication with anyone, except Rika. At least her face is slightly moving when it comes to a speech, but I can't see anything through that white mask of yours."
They haven't noticed that this discussion was followed by everyone.
"You know, Henry, that rabbit of yours actually has a point there. That helm of his makes me feel like I am talking to a refrigerator." Rika whispered to Henry.
"Yeah, that gives me the chills. It is easier for me to talk to someone when I see the face of the one I am talking to." added Takato.
Henry didn't reply. He just remembered a line from an old book he read. "Go, soldier without a face or name, because your battle still goes on, even though everyone is gone…" he remembered. "Why have I just remembered this one?" he asked himself. The sun was hiding behind the mountain ahead of them, and that meant that the time for "rest and relaxation" was near. Soon they have stopped for a break near a small spring of water. Since the group has regained enough energy, the soldier was allowed to sleep till 02.00, while Guilmon and Terriermon were guarding.
After that it was Renamon's and NZ's turn to guard. The idea of splitting into pairs like so belonged to Terriermon and no one had anything against it. Trooper just took a seat near the stone and felt into slumber. Usually he didn't have any dreams. But today something went different. He saw a tall black-robed man-like figure. That figure kneeled before him and whispered: "In five days…" Then the dream ended. He heard the alarm-clock in his helm ringing. It was 02.00 already and his turn to stand on guard. Trooper stood up and went to his post, where Guilmon and Terriermon were waiting.
"02.00, right on time! Well, we should better get going. Have fun!" said Terriermon before leaving. NZ took his post and turned his night-vision on. Renamon joined him soon afterwards. The night in the mountains was quite beautiful, there was a pleasant breeze, and the sky was full of stars. That is why Renamon was enjoying her night staying a bit too much, and wasn't paying attention to what was going on around. Her co-worker wasn't that careless. He didn't care about the stars, breezes etc. not even a tiny bit. His lenses dulled the starlight, as for the breeze – he couldn't feel it with his full suit of armor on him. He noticed that his co-partner was not paying attention, and was gazing at the stars at the moment, and decided to interfere.
"Why aren't you at your post?" he asked quietly.
"It is such a beautiful night out. It would be a crime to miss it!"
Stormtrooper looked at the sky. The starlight has interfered with his night-vision a bit.
"Nothing special. But the real crime is deserting your post and allow the possible attacker to have a chance to break through and slaughter our sleeping comrades." the chill monotonic voice replied.
Renamon felt that chill. She never thought of something that grim.
"I would never allow that to happen."
"I know that you are a strong digimon, that you are faster, stronger, and that your senses are sharper than mine, and that you have better reaction, but that is not an excuse for being careless. You can never know for sure what strength the potential enemy has. And if you want to protect your tamer and the others, you should be always ready, because if you fall, they will become the next target."
"I hate when someone lecture me, but he has a point. If I do fall, they all are doomed. I never wanted to think about it, but I should be more careful." thought Renamon.
"You are quite right. I'm sorry." she nodded and jumped back to her post on a pine. "He said "to protect my tamer…". Was it really that obvious that I actually care about my tamer?" Renamon thought while sitting in a tree.
They both haven't noticed that they were watched by the curious Terriermon. He wasn't sleeping with the rest, so he spied on the two guards and overheard everything they were saying. Digimon was quite amazed, because he thought that their soldier knew just words like "Yes, sir" and "No, sir". The conversation he heard proved to him that the trooper actually had his own point of view. "Actually, that explains a lot of things about him. Iron discipline was in an army, who tried to avoid senseless casualties because of the disorder. It seems to me that it would be pretty stupid to lose a whole platoon, because of the one guardsman who fell asleep or went somewhere to admire the beauty of the night. But I have to ask him some day, why is he helping us anyway." he thought before going to sleep again.
The next day the whole squad was preparing to continue their trip. Since they have managed to find some water, the personal hygiene preparations took place. While just about everyone was busy enjoying the bath, NZ, who already had his water bottle full, was checking his equipment and revising his small, almost unnoticeable backpack, where he was carrying some extra ammo, a spare bottle and some medicines of first need.
"Well, let's see what is there left. E-11 ammo, three thermal detonators, two bottles, spare armor parts, first aid kit, copybook, pen and, huh? I don't recall I had this… What is that thing anyway?" He was looking at a strange dim black object. "What in the name of the Empire is this? Looks like a crossover of a commlink and a time bomb. Wait, I think I saw this thing somewhere before…But where? Hm…" he thought and tried to remember where he saw a similar object. Five minutes have passed, and he suddenly remembered. "I think I know where I have seen this. I believe that the children have similar objects at their disposal. I will have to ask who accidently misplaced it. This belongs to one of them." That was his reaction when he first saw a digivice.
Meanwhile the rest of the group was enjoying themselves in the water spring. But they had little time to spare, and they had to continue their quest. In ten minutes everybody already got back in their clothes, and the march continued. Takato noticed that NZ was looking at something very attentively, but because he was only 12 years old, and was rather short to see what a full-grown soldier was looking at.
"Hey! What are you looking at? C'mon, let me see! Let me see!"
"As you wish. And I think this belonged to you or your friends." He replied coldly, as usual, and showed him the digivice.
"Wow! It's a digivice! Where have you found it?" Takato shouted in excitement. The others have heard it and also went to see what's going on.
"What has he found?" asked the rest in the same time.
"Guys, you won't believe it! He found a digivice!" Takato replied cheerfully.
"No way! It can't be!" said Rika and Henry.
"See for yourself!" added Takato and gave them the dim black digivice, which he had received a couple of minutes ago.
"Yep, it's a digivice alright. Yet, I have never seen one which was black and had black buttons." Rika nodded.
"I wonder how it got here. So, NZ, where have you found it?" asked Henry.
"I found it in my backpack 20 minutes ago, when I was going to see, what was left of my ammunition." stormtrooper replied. He was curious about how that device ended in his backpack, and he thought, that this was just a misunderstanding of some sort. And he was curious about the purpose of a digivice itself.
"What does it do anyway?" he asked.
"It's the most important thing we have. With it we can support our digimon in battle by using different cards." Takato said.
"So, if this thing is that important, how it ended up in my backpack?"
"Well, that a tricky question. Let me think about it…" replied Rika and started to think, but before she could come up with anything, Renamon entered the debate about where did the digivice come from with a simple guess: "Maybe this digivice belongs to the stormtrooper?"
Everyone stared at her for five more minutes…
"That's impossible." Rika said at last.
"Why?" Renamon replied.
"Well, I have received a digivice for being the best digimon card player, Henry received the digivice, because his father was one of the creators of the digimon, and Takato received his because he drew his Guilmon too much. We all have received them because our cases are all related to digimon, so why should he receive one too?" she asked, after finishing her logical chain.
"Maybe because he fell into the Digiworld from a different reality?" Rena suggested.
"I have never thought of that. Maybe you are right." Rika ended her discussion, and then turned to the trooper, who was completely missing the subject.
"Tell me, soldier, have you seen something unusual lately?" she asked.
"Like what?"
"Well, like visions, ghosts, dreams, I don't know, something weird?"
"Now that you have mentioned it, I had a dream a day ago. That was when first let me to sleep normally for four hours. I saw a black-robed figure. It kneeled before me and said: "In five days". I was not able to see its face, it was hidden by the hood. I have dreams rarely, so that was unusual enough for me to remember, but not enough to take it seriously." he answered the question.
"That is pretty unusual. Although, if you have a digivice, then I suppose that some day you also will become a tamer, just like us, and will find a digimon partner." Henry nodded.
"But I don't know a thing about digimon and that card game of yours. All I know is that the majority of digimon are superior to basic soldiers in strength, speed etc." he replied. Even through the helmet, children have guessed that he is concerned. Rika was now sitting and thinking about this problem:"It would be quite useful, if a skilled tamer with a strong digimon would join our cause. But the problem is that this particular… wannabe tamer knows nothing about digimon card game. Well, I could try teaching him, but on one hand soldiers are not very bright, while on the other hand, if I order him to learn, he will willingly try his best and will spent countless hours to study, if needed… Hm, what do we have to lose anyway? Yet, I wonder who was that figure from his weird dream…" then she stood up and said:
"Very well, it's obvious to me that you should be thought how to use the cards, and know the basics about digimon. I will teach you, NZ - 13, since I'm the best digimon card player around".
"As you wish, mistress." he replied with his monotonic, never changing voice.
"Fine then. From now on, I will spend two hours a day on teaching you." she said with a bit of enthusiasm in her voice.
"Thank you, mistress. I will do my best." the machine-like voice replied. Again without any emotion, it meant only what must be done, and what will be done.
The case was settled. And the trip continued. But from now on each day went a little different. When the group stopped for a night break, Rika and her new … apprentice were studying. Trooper was not exactly the sharpest knife in the wardrobe when it comes to studying, but he was disciplined, and that compensated the lack of talent. He had a pen and a copybook and he wrote everything Rika said during the lesson. His handwriting was quite strange, because he wrote things very quickly, and yet his printed handwriting was perfect. He learned how to use his digivice in 30 minutes, and spent 8.5 pages in his copybook on writing the instructions. After that was a course about card playing and strategy. Rika gave NZ her spare deck and tried to play a game with him. Of course, she won. And of course, there was no miracle, and no "luck of the beginner". When a professional plays, there's no such things just do not continue to exist. He tried to resist, but he was no mach. Yet, NZ was not displeased with his defeat not a tiny bit. He was writing, every battle he lost was written in his copybook. The information he needed to analyze for a weakness. He knew one algorithm: try an idea – see what mistake you did – correct mistake – try again. Sooner or later all mistakes will be eliminated. And the idea will work. He was not very talented, but he wasn't stupid either, and had the ability to analyze, maybe not very fast, but still. And trooper continued to do so, but he also continued to do his duties. His normal day schedule just was changed a little. Day – journey, assistance to anyone in the group. Evening – 2 hour lecture with Rika, 1 hour of analyzes. Night – patrol, sleep. A couple of days have passed. Rika proved to be a pretty good teacher. But the progress wasn't fast. It took time for the soldier to understand something obvious. And in the morning the, march continued. Already four and a half days have passed since the dream NZ had. And he didn't forget it. And he had the feeling that they must be ready for something. But the thought was interrupted.
"So, how are your classes going?" asked Terriermon.
"Not as good as I wanted. I'm not a very good scholar, and my progress is slow. But I won't resign, and I won't fail."
"I have never seen you that confident. But, I don't understand, how your progress can be slow. I have seen your copybook and I have to say, that it had the amount of writing Takato and Henry will do in 3 month."
"It is not that simple. You can have an enormous amount of data, but if you won't use it, it will be worthless. I am using the amount I am given, but not as effectively as it is needed. I have a lot of work to do."
"Alright, well, good luck!" said the green mutant rabbit and went to his tamer.
Another day was at an end. Everybody went to sleep, but NZ volunteered to stay and guard all night. He wasn't sure if the dream he had 5 days ago was just a joke of his tired mind, and he needed to make sure nothing happens during the night. Just for safety. So he stood at a post 2 times, first time – with Guilmon and Terriermon, and the second with Renamon. The first one went without problems, but the second one offered … surprises…
I Well, that's the end of the 2 chapter. For any foreign readers: I am terribly sorry for grammatical mistakes, if you know a good grammar-checking site or program, please, tell me. It would be really appreciated. Also post some reviews, if you have time, of course. It also will be really appreciated.