Private Prague, U.N.P.K

Chapter 8

Cave Rave

Private Prague, Elma, Doug, Irina, and Gwin traversed the thick jungle of Noctilum with much difficulty, the thick brush impeding every step they tried to traverse into the vast rainforest.

"This jungle is so humid..." Irina groaned, "It's doing horrors to my hair." she patted her blond locks.

"I never thought I would see you so concerned for such things." Elma chuckled, "I haven't seen you so worried about looks."

"I don't... I'm just stating a fact." Irina responded as she kicked aside a fern, then aimed her assault rifle ahead.

"Don't be concerned, Irina, you're always looking good!" Gwin patted her back, causing the woman to growl but smirk subtly.

"Now say that without having Irina's treats in your face." Doug joked as he walked over a small stone, "You're such a great fighter, but you are a little bi-"

"Hey." Private Prague interrupted as they slowed down, stopping before they ran off a large cliff, "Wow... look at this..." he looked at a distant waterfall ahead of them.

"Is it not amazing?" Elma asked as she looked with awe, "I remember when I first came here... it was a magical experience..."

"I remember taking down a pretty big Simius here." Doug sighed, "He was a pretty big game, luckily I got the good ol' Doug One-Two on him." he punched the air twice.

"Perhaps one day we can enjoy this view in peace." Elma muttered as she saw the beautiful cascading waterfalls descend into the sea, subtly avoiding a large tree appendage with much expertise.

"If only these indigens could learn such a thing." Irina crossed her arms, "Maybe then we could do that... but as long as everything wants to eat us..." she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, not everything wishes to eat us." Gwin told her, "Remember the Millesaurs, or Ciniculas, or Lepyxes, or those turkey things?" he refuted her claim.

"He's right, there's a lot of things that leave you alone if you leave them alone." Elma nodded, then sat down on the soft jungle grass, "Why don't we just stay here and enjoy the view?"

"Well, I can't." Private Prague muttered, "I have to complete this mission, straight from Mr. Nag himself!" he pulled out his holodev.

"It's Nagi..." Irina grumbled as she held a jungle flower in her hand.

"Well all he does to me is nag." Private Prague sighed, "Why didn't you do this? Or why did you do this?" he grumbled in dissent, "Even if I complete the mission the way he wanted to, the methods I take are still scrutinized. The only thing that matters is for the mission to be complete."

"Considering the limited supply of resources we have, using them wastefully to complete a mission is frowned upon." Gwin informed, "Or the limited supply of Skells, or even men-at-arms... Wasting unnecessarily is a bad thing, no matter if the mission is completed."

"The mission must be completed, no matter the cost." Private Prague responded apathetically, "Especially the greatest mission... to bring this colony under the SWORD program... and ultimately, the UN Government." he turned away and started to walk away parallel to the cliff.

"Prague, wait." Doug turned to him, "You can't- Ugh... that is definitely not Harrier Style." he sighed and shook his head, "What was his mission anyways?" he asked.

"He wants to find the Lifehold." Elma responded as she looked up to the afternoon sky, "He must have thought the success of finding such thing will help with the success of the SWORD Program. However." she stood, "We had a big argument with Vandham and Nagi over the definition of 'Finding the Lifehold' was."

"So... he misunderstood?" Gwin asked, "How?"

"It seems we had to tell him that Finding the Lifehold meant 'Finding it and Keeping everything inside safe'." Elma sighed, "It seems he understood that it was just finding it, no matter in what condition."

"It seems it is getting to him." Doug groaned, "I told you we should have told him, it's wearing off..." he shook his head.

"We were going to tell him, but it seems in the state his currently in is the one that makes him the most complacent to find the Lifehold securely." Elma informed, "However, once we retrieve the Lifehold, I see no reason to not tell him then."

"As long as he knows." Doug shrugged his shoulders, "Now where'd he go?" he looked at his holodev, "He's going into Blood Gulch." he informed when he saw the Private's radar position.

"Blood Gulch?" Irina asked, "Why is he going to Oblivia!? And how did he do it so fast?"

"Fast Travel." Gwin muttered, "I guess we should head there ourselves." he started to run to a nearby beacon.

"I hate that guy..." Irina growled and ran behind the man, followed by Doug and Irina.

0000000

"I will not stop to complete my mission." Private Prague grumbled as he entered a small canyon fissure, "Hmph..." he saw two concrete bunkers at the opposite ends of the crevasse, "Perhaps this would house the Lifehold?" he scanned around.

The holodev droned as it received information on the surroundings, beeping every time it got close to a bush or large plant that managed to survive this harsh environment.

"I seems I am not getting a hit in this Blood Gulch." Private Prague grumbled, then stumbled across a peculiar sight- a skeleton wearing what appeared heavy green armor and had a green helmet with a yellow visor next to it, skull exposed to the elements.

The holodev went silent when it scanned the remains, indicating, for the best part, that it was indeed dead.

"It seems to be an important figure." Private Prague looked at corpse, "That's one dead chief." he shook his head, "Huh?" he turned to the distance where he saw a small cave complex, where the body was intriguingly pointing with its left arm.

The holodev, once turned to that general direction, got a beep from the information of the caves.

"Thanks, Master." Private Prague nodded to the corpse, then started to walk off into the cave, leaving the arriving allies he left behind even more behind.

00

"Agh... There he goes..." Elma growled as she saw the Private walk inside the cave, stopping by the first cement bunker as she watched the scene.

"Hey, is this a Xeno or a person?" Gwin asked when he saw the remains inside the green armor, quite curious.

"Looks like another dead John." Irina scoffed as she brandished her assault rifle, "Some idiot who didn't know his limits." she grumbled as they started to walk to the cave complex.

00

"This cave... it would scare anyone..." Private Prague murmured as he descended into the dark cave, seeing that flames were rising from out of the ground, and pools of lava were becoming increasingly common.

The holodev continued beeping, but no indigens were present in the man's immediate vicinity.

0000000

"We are entering... the Cave of Despond." Elma read the Private's naming notification, "What..."

"This cave looks like the gates to Hell." Doug muttered as he saw the fire and the flames, "I wouldn't blame him..."

"I already contacted Lin to bring our Skells." Irina informed, "Just in case we get tangled up with a nasty." she said as she tracked the Skell movements on her radar.

"Where is he going?" Gwin muttered as he saw Private Prague descend deeper into the pit.

"He's going to find that Lifehold, no matter the cost..." Elma gulped as the four descended deeper into the cavern...

SM's Teim-

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