Private Prague, U.N.P.K

Chapter 6

A Private Before Time

"Well that's new." Private Prague muttered to himself as he rode down in his armored vehicle, "I've never seen that before." he started to slow down to what appeared to be a large termite mound by the road.

The car stopped quickly, and the large steel door opened for the soldier, who stepped over to the mound with upmost caution.

"Well, what kind of little things made this." Private Prague asked as he touched the hard clay exterior, "I haven't seen any small insects apart from fireflies and butterflies." he chipped off a sample of the clay and placed it in a tube, then put it in his pocket and once again entered his car.

"Mee... Mee..." a little sheep creature started to graze near the mound after Private Prague took off.

The ants that made the mound, finally sensing they were under attack, came out of their abode and swarmed the sheep, and after a few moments retreated, revealing only the skeleton of the creature left.

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"Ah... here he comes..." Lao looked as the UN vehicle drove down the road, then turned to this squad, which was putting down a probe.

The UN Mobile rolled down and stopped near them, screeching to a halt.

"Did you bring the chip we need?" Lao asked Private Prague as he stepped out of the truck, "We need it now." he urged.

"Here you go." Private Prague passed the chip, "I almost got squashed by a Millesaur." he sighed, "But I believe this is one you needed."

"Yep." Lao nodded as he handed the chip to one of his comrades, "Thanks... and be careful." he waved him off, only to pause for a second and turn back, "Hey, wait!" he stopped the man, "I actually need an errand done."

"Huh?" Private Prague turned, "What is it?" he asked.

"Lin forgot to give me my lunch... can you ask her to give it to you and come back so I can get it?" Lao rubbed the back of his head, "I know this is an odd request, but I am dying to taste her noodles..." his mouth watered.

"I guess... Where is she?" Private Prague inquired, "I may have to refuel if it's too far... or switch to a boat or something." he muttered.

"They're just in Oblivia." Lao pointed behind him, "It should be Northeast of here, there's a land bridge that allows you to cross." he informed.

"Oblivia?" Private Prague raised his ear in alert, "Nah... I don't go there... that's how I lost my first car." he groaned, "That sand will swallow you whole." he warned.

"Well... I-" Lao stopped when his holodev rung, then took it out and looked at it, "Hmm... It seems they're back in Primordia, you should check them out by Bihano Lake- and that is not far." he said.

"Very well." Private Prague muttered and walked to his car, then drove off.

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"Isn't that..." Doug muttered as he spotted the white UN vehicle all the way up from his Skell, "That's the Private... what's he doing all the way out here?" he asked his comrades.

"Maybe he wants to meet us?" Elma answered, "If so, we need to see what he wants." she said, then the three Skells swooped down from the sky.

The UN truck lumbered down the poorly built dirt road, which at places disappeared all together, and at others was so cumbersome that only off-road vehicles had the chance of passing through. The truck stopped when the three Skells slowly landed in front of it, giving it a chance to react accordingly.

All four drivers got out of their respective machines and went towards each other.

"Lin!" Private Prague called out to the young girl, "I need Lao's lunch." he told her.

"Lao's lunch?" Lin muttered, "Ah! Oh yeah! I forgot to give it to him!" she ran back to her Skell.

"So how did giving the chip to Lao go?" Elma asked the Private, "Did you find any problems?"

"Just a Millesaur trying to step on me, but other than that... No." Private Prague shook his head, "I managed to escape that tail whack it does, but I almost hit a Cinicula doing so." he chuckled.

"You avoided unnecessary confrontation and conflict!" Doug grinned, "That's Harrier Style!" he gave a thumbs up, then saw Lin walk up with a box, "So are you going back to Lao?"

"Yep." Private Prague, "I'll take the trail through the hills this time, it's a much quicker ride." he informed as he pointed to a curvy road to their left.

"Be careful." Lin warned, "There's a lot of big monsters there... especially those pesky Ictus." she growled angrily.

"One of Lin's test Skells was destroyed by an Ictus." Elma sighed, "That's why she doesn't like them." she chuckled.

"Well, I got my big gun so I'll be ok." Private Prague said, "Plus, they only come out at night." he informed, "I'll be fine." he walked back to his truck.

"Hey, if you meet Lao, tell him Gwin is going to hit the Springs." Doug called out, "Ask him if he wants to join us! And you too, Elma's boyfriend is going to be there so you could finally meet him!" he joked.

"It's still not official!" Elma growled, "Read the strategy guide!" she threw a book at him, "Plus... Why would you care." she looked at her nails, "But if you want to come Private, you're more than welcome to." she returned to her regular demeanor.

"I would like to, but I have something to do." Private Prague sighed, "Official United Nations Business." he muttered and slammed his truck door, then did a turn and drove off.

"Do we still have to tell him?" Lin mumbled sadly as she looked at Elma, "He's so motivated... and lively."

"That was the wish." Elma responded and took a deep breath, "We can only wait until it wears off."

"When do you think that will be?" Doug asked, "Hopefully not when he's in the restroom.. Does he-" he stopped as he got glares from both females.

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"Dadadadada!" Private Prague sang along with his radio as he drove down the bumpy road to Lao's location, "There's a place I want to go! There's a place that I want to know!" he bobbed his head to the rock music, "Far beyond the stars! Way beyond that Mars- DWAH!" he yelped when he ran over a Blatta, causing caustic acid to taint his window. "Damn!" the soldier growled as the wipers strained to remove the jelly-like liquid, "Stupid bugs ruining my rock... There we go..." he nodded when the window was clear enough to see through, "That's m- AHHH!" he yelled when he saw he was running straight into a Millesaur!

The Millesaur did not even see the car since it was faced in the opposite direction, but grunted when the car struck its large stumpy left back leg.

"Agh!" Private Prague flew out of the car and landed in the soft grass, "Oof!" he was hit in the head with Lao's boxed lunched, which also ejected from the vehicle.

"BROAAAAAA!" The Millesaur bellowed and crushed the car with its foot, making it explode and injuring it further.

"Ah snap..." Private Prague groaned, "I just got new floor mats..." he saw his car was now a heaping pile of smoldered steel, "How am I going to get to Lao's place now..." he sighed and looked at the Millesaur, which was limpering in pain.

"Mroooo..." the Millesaur groaned as it fell down on its two front legs, "Mrooo... Mrooooo.." it looked at the tiny human with its insect like eyes.

"I didn't do that." Private Prague shrugged his shoulders, "You did it yourself..." he crossed his arms, then looked at the eyes of the creature.

"Mrooo..."

"Fine... It was kind of my fault..." Private Prague sighed, "But it was because of that Blatta! If he hadn't-"

"Mrooo.. Mrooo..."

"Yes we can kick his butt later but- Hey..." Private Prague mumbled, "Am I talking to a giant Space Dinosaur about kicking someone's butt?" he muttered as he neared the behemoth, "Wow... that's cool. Say... I think I could help you out here." he walked up to the injured foot.

"Mroooo." The Millesaur grumbled in a low voice.

"I got this... let Doctor Prague fix you up." Private Prague said as he grabbed the large sheet metal stuck in the foot, "HRPEH! HA!" he strained to pull it out, "HA HA HREEEHH!" he yelled and finally yanked the shrapnel off, only to hit himself in the head and get knocked out cold.

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"He hasn't come back, huh?" Irina asked as her allies were gathered by the Mission Board, "Finally something had his meaty flesh for dinner." she noted the fact that it was now night.

"I had no dinner thanks to his absence." Lao sighed as he held his growling stomach, "But I still hope he's ok."

"Who couldn't have been killed, he had SO MUCH potential!" Gwin emphasized his words with his arm like a mad Italian man, "He couldn't have died!"

"Perhaps his car broke down and he had to come on foot?" Elma suggested, "You know?"

"If he still alive this long, that's definitely Harrier Style." Doug said worriedly, "When did we lose contact with him, around 2 o'clock?" he paced back and forth, "It's 11 now..."

"Who couldn't have gone down without a fight though..." Lin mumbled, "Right? Right?" she asked Elma.

"Tatsu think Blue Head Man is chum chum!" Tatsu yelled, "Team Tatsu should go look for him!" he jumped up and down.

"We should start organizing a search..." Elma muttered, "I'll go tell Vandh-"

"There's a Millesaur outside the gate!" some BLADEs yelled as they grabbed their weapons, "And it's not stopping!"

"What is such a creature doing here?" Irina asked, "Should I get our Skells? or-"

"There's someone on there!" Another BLADE called out, "A person is riding the Millesaur!"

"What the hell?" Doug said in shock, and they all ran off to the gate.

"This better not be an April Fool's joke." Irina growled as they reached the exit, only to see the giant Space Dinosaur standing in front of the gate, with many BLADEs and Skells pointing their weapons at it.

"What in the world..." Elma looked up the long indigen's neck, "What is goin-"

"I can't believe it..." Gwin muttered when he saw a person with a blue helmet standing at the base of the neck.

"Private, what the hell!?" Lao yelled at Private Prague, "What is the meaning of this."

"Hello everyone!" Private Prague waved, "This is Larry, he's my Millesaur... I have a Millesaur now." he slid down and ran to them.

"Where the hell did you get a Millesaur?" Doug asked as he saw the creature calmly graze next to a Lepyx.

"By the road I took." Private Prague said calmly, a sharp contrast to everybody else, "I helped him pull a painful shrapnel from his foot, but I got knocked out in the process. As a true comrade he protected me while I was helpless and gave me the ride back when I woke up." he informed, "Also, I kinda had to pay him with your lunch... sorry Lao."

"How strong is it?" Lin asked with curiosity, "Like... does it obey you? Or just a one time thing."

"Oh no... we really hit it off." Private Prague said, "Apparently he and I were both bullied as kids so we really connected. And by strong, you know that Tyrant Millesaur by the Lake? Yeah, he was the bully and we kicked his butt!" he cheered.

"Is he hostile? Is he..." Elma stammered, "Are you sure he's safe to bring this close to New LA?!"

"Oh yeah, completely domesticated." Private Prague shrugged off the worry, "He actually wants to help us humans, but everyone's so scared of him the we run away before he has a chance to talk to us."

"Wait... how exactly do you talk to him?" Lin asked, "Can yo-"

"It must be a strange energy emanating from Planet Mira that connects all its living inhabitants..." Lao commented, "To have such a connection to an indigen... to the point of partnership... this planet amazes me every day..."

"Well... I don't know about that... his presence bugs me." Irina growled, "I don't find myself safe..."

"Don't be such a sourpuss, Irina!" Gwin joked, only to cover his mouth right after.

"Oh... you're going to get it..." Irina smirked and grabbed him by the collar, then dragged him off...

A/N:
I'd like to give a big thanks to all those who have read my story and to those who have reviewed. I'm glad my story is here to give you some form of entertainment and escape. Please forgive me if I misspell any indigen names, I have a not so good memory of them, and I believe I stated that Irina's (Ivanna in the Spanish Dub) hair was blond when I recently saw it was a bit more 'pepper' in color. Forgive me if that pops up.

Thank you so far and please enjoy!