Tokui, Haitani, Shirai, and Nentou stood at the entrance of a rather large hole in the ground. All four soldiers stared down deep into the abyss, not sure of what else to do.
"So, who's going first", Haitani said.
"You go Haitani", Shirai suggested.
"Me?! I'm all up for that, but I think you should go first for a change, Shirai."
"Oh no, last time I went first, I had lasers firing at me left and right! You go", Shirai argued.
"Move, move", Tokui said. "I'm the captain...Both of you go first."
"Wait what?! I mean, Shirai, with a question mark."
"That's an order soldier", Tokui enforced. "I'm the captain, and I take charge."
"Yeah, that's not what your last girlfriend said", Haitani said.
"I'm NOT having this conversation again Haitani! She was older than me, she was feisty, and she had my class grade in her hands! There was no choice!"
Everyone remained silent after what their captain told them.
"...Yeah...No choice", Tokui ended.
"Soooo, who's going first down the hole then", Shirai continued.
"You know, before you go down the hole why don't you three make a plan", Nentou said.
"The plan is simple, we sneak in silently, AND KILL EVERYTHING IN SIGHT", Haitani said as he lock and loaded his gun.
"Now hold on", Tokui said as he stopped Haitani from diving in the hole. "Let's think about this. What's the first good strategy of any battle?"
"Retreat", Shirai said with confidence.
"No you fool", Tokui said in annoyance. "The best strategy of any goo battle, is to take out the head of your target.
"So we're going fo head shots, got it", Said Haitani.
"No! We're gonna destroy the queen first. Take out the queen, take out the colony.
"Umm, question", Nentou said as he raised his hand. "If we take out the queen, wouldn't that only make the colony madder? I mean, if someone killed my queen, I think I'd be pretty pissed."
Once again, only silence surrounded them.
"You got a point there pilot", Tokui answered.
"Dude what does it matter, it's not like you're gonna be in there with us", Haitani said to Nentou.
"Yeah but still, once they devour you three, who are they gonna go after next...The sexy one, that's who", Nentou referred to himself.
"No way, the sexy one is obviously me", Shirai pointed to himself.
"I think we all know that the best looking one her is me of course", Haitani said to his comrades.
Tokui stood in front of everyone else while holding a map for them all to see.
"Enough! Focus soldiers focus! Here's what we're gonna do. We'll use the map Seta gave us, and we'll sneak in around the rim of the tunnels. First' we'll hit the eggs and larva chamber. Then, we'll pass by this area right here. That should lead us to the queen's chamber. We kill her, then we gas the chambers with the BBBG. When it's filled enough, Nentou, you light 'em up."
"Why do I have to light it up", Nentou asked.
"Dude, at least you're finally doing some work around here", Shirai sarcastically said.
Before they could argue, the captain cut them off, "Enough, save the fighting for the termites!"
Tokui dove into the hole with Shirai and Haitani right behind him.
"And for the record, I'm the best looking one", Nentou could hear Tokui say from the tunnel.
The tunnels were dark, too dark for their liking. The only way any of them could see was through night vision goggles. okui led the front, as Haitani, and Shirai followed in sync.
"I don't like this", Tokui whispered.
"It stinks in here", Said Haitani.
"Yeah, it smells like bathroom after you've been in there for two hours", Shirai joked.
"Shut up", Haitani said.
"Oh come one, you know it's the truth."
"It kinda is", Tokui added.
"I mean shut up, I hear something", Haitani said.
Tokui motioned for them to stop with his hand. Like they were trained to do, the soldiers froze, and took to a crouching position like their commander was. Up ahead in a tunnel perpendicular to them, there was thick breathing. A large hideous beast walked past them. The goggles let them see only in green, so they couldn't tell what it looked like one hundred percent. It was bipedal, with thick arms, bigger than its legs. The head had two antennas behind them, and it's face had large mandibles. Some drool fell from its mouth, leaving behind a trail of ooze. Tokui looked through the tunnel to make sure it completely ignored them.
"That was a close one", Tokui said as he looked back to his back up. "Haitani Shirai...Shirai? Dammit, where the hell is Shirai?!"
Haitani looked behind himself. Sure enough, the other Wild Dog experiment was missing.
Off in another part of the tunnel, Shirai found something extraordinary. He removed the goggles covering his eyes, as he didn't need them anymore. The cavern in which Shirai now stood inside was surrounded by glowing, baby blue crystal lights. There were dozens of them...No, hundreds of them. Shirai walked closer to the all with the brightest crystal orbs. As he passed by, he didn't notice that one of the crystal orbs had something moving inside. At a meter's range of the orb, Shirai could see that the light was pulsing. It kinda reminded him of a heart beat.
"That's pretty cool", Shirai said as he got even closer for inspection.
Shirai jumped a little as the crystal ball opened up. It made a hissing noise, like steam escaping through a crack. There was a disgusting sound as if something was swimming in ooze. He raised his automatic assault rifle as something emerged from the crystal. Three tiny, thin legs rapidly waved through the air as it sloely escaped its casing. A tiny head with mandibles popped out and stared at Shirai. It made an ugly wailing noise. Without a second thought, Shirai fired at the small larvae, killing the young termite.
His breathing was rapid for a few moments because of the quick adrenaline rush. However, it would not get the chance to subside as he got a glimpse of what was going on around him. One after another, the termite eggs began to open, and small larvae slowly crawled out.
Shirai's only remark was, "AW SH-T!"
Tokui and Haitani heard Shirai's yell from down the tunnels. The two soldiers followed the sound of his automatic rifle. Tokui and Haitani arrived at the tunnel room where the wild dog was. They only hoped they weren't too late. Tokui and Haitani bolted into the room, weapons hot.
"Shirai, are you okay", Haitani asked his long time friend.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just ran into a few enemies", Shirai reported.
"You idiot", Tokui scolded. "You could have gotten yourself killed soldier! I told you to stick by close! This isn't like in Afghanistan, or Korea, this enemy is all based on instinct! If you're not careful, they WILL kill and rape you...Several times at the least! Now come one! We have to destroy the nest and uh...Ummm..."
It was then Tokui realized that not only were they in the nest, they entire nest had been completely annihilated.
"How the hell did this happen", Tokui asked in disbelief. "Did you do this?"
"Yeah, I had to", Shirai responded. "It was either them or me, and I chose me."
"...I like the way you think soldier", Tokui said in praise. "Well, if that's done, then all we have to do is..."
A thick rumbling sound rattled the room they stood in. From above, the ceiling began to fall apart. The three moved out of the way as debris continued to fall. From the top of the tunnel emerged a large termite creature. This one wasn't like the previous one they saw earlier. It was larger...much larger. It was jet black with eyes and drool matching the same color as the eggs. For a moment, the termite looked at the destroyed eggs around the room.
"Hey captain, you don't think that's the queen is it", Haitani asked.
Once it saw the condition it's brood was in, the giant mutant insect turned it's attention to Tokui, Haitani, and Shirai. It boasted an eerie shriek that had a heated stanch to it.
"I'm guessing it is", Tokui said. "Shirai, you're up."
"Me", Shirai asked. "Why me?!"
"Cause you're the one who killed all the children...Single handedly I might add", Haitani said as if the queen could understand them.
The wild dog took a look at the queen termite before asking, "Haitani, can you create a diversion?...Haitani?!...Haitani?!"
Both Tokui and Shirai looked behind them. Their supposed comrade was now running down the tunnel knowing that his life depended on it.
"Haitani", Tokui yelled. "Haitani you cowered!"
"Captain move it", Shirai roared as he pushed Tokui out of the way.
The evasive movement wasn't a second too soon, as a mucous like acid was spewed from a tube on the termite's forehead. The ERT recruits dodged the termite's liquids until the large insect had no more.
"Shirai, he's out of juice! Strategy Spear Bomb, Go!"
Listening to what Tokui was telling him, Shirai readied his position. Tokui used a type of Laido sword techniques to rapidly release waves of Ki at the termite. It did little to pierce the monster's hyde, but it served as a distraction for the Shinmei-Ryū student. While Tokui kept the beast blind, Shirai raced up the wall until he was right above the insect. Shirai grabbed hold of the termite's acid tube before jamming two grenades down hole, pins pulled of course.
"Bomb in position captain", Shirai yelled as he jumped off the bug.
"Got it", Tokui yelled as he encased himself in Ki. "Shinmei-Ryū Style, Dragon Spear!"
In a burst of speed, Tokui rushed his target with his sword pointed straight forward. Tokui penetrated the large termite from the front and emerged from the was a streak of light that marked the trail Tokui traveled through. In his wake, the grenades exploded. The termite's head fell apart as the body fell to the ground still twitching.
"Nice shot captain", Shirai applauded. "How are you feeling?"
Tokui shuddered as he wiped of all the slime that covered his body.
"Aww man that is way beyond gross and wrong", Tokui said in disgust.
They both looked back to the dead twitching bug as it jerked one more time.
"Well, that wasn't so bad", Shirai said.
The ground began to shake once again, which shouldn't have surprised them at all. The wall collapsed with a great amount of debris being scattered everywhere. Behind the cavern rubble was the termite army, and something monstrous. Ahead of them was a termite three times the size of the one they previously killed. It was shaped like a disgusting, pregnant caterpillar on steroids.
"What the hell is that", Tokui asked.
"That would probable be the queen termite."
"Then what the hell did we just kill?"
Shirai pulled out his data pad and binged few images.
"That was the smaller, termite king", Shirai said in disappointment.
Tokui let his arms drop, "FFFF-CK!"
The queen bellowed a sickening roar for all the termites to swarm. The workers swarmed, the soldiers swarmed, and even the giant queen pointed for Tokui and Shirai.
"Shirai retreat, retreat", Tokui yelled as he unleashed one last Stone Cutting Sword technique.
Shirai fired off a few more rounds before following his captain. The two ran deeper and deeper into the tunnels. By now they were entirely lost, and being lost only made it worse when you had a whole horde of enemies hot on your trail. Every turn, every nook and cranny, there was a batch of termites waiting for them. Running would only get them so far as they now approached a dead end.
"Dammit, we're trapped", Tokui yelled as he touched the wall before them. "Shirai, how many rounds you have?"
"One more for the automatic...Three for the hand held...But hey, I got a few for the shotgun", Shirai tossed Tokui the weapon. "You're all out of Ki. Ever use one of these?"
Tokui placed a round in the shotgun and cocked it into place, "Of course, every man has used a shotgun at least once in his lifetime."
The termite roars echoed closer and closer to the young men.
"So this is it huh", Shirai said as if he knew he was going to die. "This is where we make a last stand guns ablazing huh?...Not a bad way to go..."
"Yeah", Tokui said as the queen arrived with all her servants. "It was an honor fighting by your side Shirai."
"And it was horrible fighting by your side captain", Shirai said.
Just when all hope seemed lost, there was a third rumble in the tunnels. This one was even strong enough to stop the queen in her tracks.
"What now", Tokui asked.
The wall behind them began to crumble. The crumbling noise wasn't as loud as the sound of the music...Wait, music?! The tunnel opened up to a pair of headlights belonging to a jeep. Coming to their rescue was none other than Nentou in the driver seat, and Haitani in the firing seat.
"What iiis it good for, absolutely, nothin, say it agaaain y'all", Nentou loudly sang the lyrics. "Outta my way, or be windshield mush!"
While Nentou plowed through the termites, Haitani sat and fired the gatling gun mounted to the top of the jeep. The enemy numbers were rapidly reduced.
"Nentou, Haitani, you son of a gun", Tokui said as he blasted a few enemies to pieces with the shotgun.
After plowing into a few of the insects, Nentou brought the jeep to a halt. Haitani cover fired for them as Tokui and Shirai jumped in. Meshing on the gas pedal, Nentou lead them away from the termite queen.
"Haitani I thought you left us", Shirai yelled.
"Hey if you jumped in, I HAD to jump in too", The wild dog said. "I went to get help from Nentou."
"It's a good thing you pulled us out of there, but we f-cked up boys", Tokui yelled. "We got the king and the nest, but with the queen still alive, they'll be back by the end of the week."
"Not to worry", Nentou said as he tapped a few buttons on the vehicle computer. "Haitani set a few surprises around the tunnels. Hold your breaths boys."
"What", Shirai asked.
With a certain command signal coming from the car, small sphere like devices began to blink. They were about the size of tennis balls, but dozens of them surrounded the tunnels. The devices opened and fumed a thick green gas. The hazy mist covered the tunnels rendering anything with eyes blind. Nentou pulled out a small controller with a red button installed on the top. Using his thumb, the ERT driver/pilot pressed the button. A few beeps later, the circle devices sparked. A single spark was all it took to ignite the gasses. In blazing flash, every termite still alive within the tunnels were incinerated. Nentou made it out just in time before the blast could bring any harm to them. He almost lost control of the car because of the explosion,s kinetic force. Luckily Nentou was able to get them back on the road safely.
"And that's how you smoke a termite mound boys...Like a boss, like a boss", Nentou said.
This post is late, I know, but it's been a miserable last few days for me. I was stuck with the flu for a few days, and I'm still recovering. My laptop broke, don't ask how? To make it all worse, my Rosario Vampire story got taken off fanfic. (To all you that posted rude comments or PM messages...You Win...You Bastards!) I know it wasn't the best fic I posted up, but it was still important to me. It was still only in the beginning chapters, and I had a lot of potential for what was to come. What gets me more mad is that it didn't violate anything, people just didn't like the OC's. This is a reall bummer for me. I've been trying all day to get this resolved, but I'm pretty much beating a dead cat. I don't think I'll try for another Rosario Vampire fic, at least not any time soon. To those who supported the fic, I want to thank all of you. I'm sorry for letting you all down, but I won't be trying to post it up again. It's for the sake of my other fics, especially this one. Anyways, moving on from that, we all just witnessed what the ERT did about the termites. I've been watching some of those stupid, but funny, Red Vs. Blue Halo videos, so that gave me some ideas about how they would go about this mission. For the termites, if any of you have ever played "Superman Returns the video game", I got the worker and soldier termite structures from those termites. I read up on real termites, and found some interesting stuff about them. For example, that the termite mound has a king, and eve how termites can shoot an acid substance from their forehead. All in all, it did some good for this fic. Hope you all stick around, and hope you all can help keep this fic safe. Have a good night, morning, afternoon, or evening, depending when you all read this.