Time really flies, huh? 13 years went by in an instant since Rhodes Island took us in. The ship is pretty much its own city, and they go around the world, providing shelter and care for any Infected that needs it. No charge, though with all the sources of income the company has, it was never necessary in the first place. They already make a killing from being the only global healthcare provider on the entire planet. Even so, the time I spent with Rhodes made it blindingly clear to me that they weren't in it for the money, unlike the RDA's executives. Gavial would've never joined them in the first place otherwise.
She took us on a world tour. Visited almost every single major nation of Terra. What's really screwy about them is that there is a counterpart for practically every single notable country on Earth. Sure, they were part animal and infrastructure wasn't a perfect 1:1 copy, but they spoke the same languages. Their cultures were the same, if not exaggerated versions of the ones back home. The sole difference was that Oripathy was much more common on Terra, obviously.
If they caught you with the rocks, you're dead.
Suddenly, it was all sounding like WWII. Internment camps were the norm, and that was if you are lucky. The typical punishment is execution. This was why Gavial left her tribe in the first place. To give others like her a fighting chance in the cruel world outside her jungle.
There are plenty of dicks in both of our worlds. That doesn't mean Terra's nations have no right to exist, even though they were getting close to all-out war. Thankfully, Acahulla was quiet ever since Quaritch was killed. We knew damn well that Hell's Gate wasn't their only base, since Tomimi would send us letters about sporadic air raids. Grace was the only one in touch with the rest of them, but only on matters of science. No clue about their precise locations.
The looming threat of the RDA eventually faded away. Until we received a rather concerning letter from Tomini.
"Yo, Sully!"
Gavial screeched to a halt in front of the entrance to my dorm. Zumama was with her as well, surprisingly. She would usually be off Closure, the ship's lead technician, working on some sort of project. This had to be serious. Gavial was even wearing the new equipment Zumama created for her, except she only had time to put on scraps. The look worked out for Gavial in the end. If there was one thing the woman needed in her life, it was a battle axe.
"What's the issue?" I ask, alert.
"Check this out." She passed me the letter. This time around, Tomimi's language was way more flowerful than usual, to put it nicely. I thought the RDA finally nuked the place, but then I remembered that superweapons were off the table long ago by U.N. degree. Traditional superweapons, mind you. With uncontested control of the planet's upper atmosphere, they don't even need the Fat Boy.
"Yeah, I don't think their aircraft is behind this. Tomimi has gotten real good at shooting them down. Still can't rule out your sky buddies though, which is why you're coming along." She responded with a wry smile.
Norm and Grace were off doing their own thing, which left me by myself. Not that I'm complaining. The jungle was calling. Don't know how else to describe it, but Gavial was feeling the same way.
"Sounds good to me," I say, stretching my arms.
We flew down to Acahulla shortly. Rhodes Island already operated an equivalent to the RDA's VTOL aircraft. We couldn't use any Samsons recovered from Hell's Gate because even after all these years, Zumama couldn't reverse engineer them. They ran off a mystic, alien source of energy that left her and Closure scratching their heads for a while: diesel. Black sludge that we Earthlings pumped out of the ground to make our world run. The two just decided to borrow their parts to patch up the VTOL that was in service.
The true purpose of our trip was to seek out a Durin city. There were a few of them onboard Rhodes Island. All of them looked like small, young children with pointy ears. Kinda like elves, but the ones outside of Rhodes live deep underground. More like dwarves, I presume. Tomimi's letter told us that one of their cities desperately needed our help. We couldn't ask her to clarify, as we could find no trace of her and the rest when we arrived. Tomimi already headed out for the city, which meant that my team had to pick up the pace.
The annoying bird wasn't helping. High Priest only had a rough idea of the cave systems in his bird brain, but he did take the time to enlighten us on several philosophical topics. Ugh. Meanwhile, my brain was screaming at me to pull out my rifle and do a quick sweep of the perimeter. I learned a while back why everyone around here swings swords and spears in the modern age. One nation, Laterano, owns a monopoly on anything larger than a Glock. Running around with my M14 would attract unwanted attention, so I agreed to stow it away in a knapsack until the situation calls for it. A marine can handle himself without a gun but these tight, winding corners? If a bad guy leaped out from the shadows, it's all over. They would have to go through 2 badass ladies in this case, but that did nothing to cool my nerves. The training just sticks with you forever.
Thankfully, I was proven wrong.
We decided to jump down the rest of the way. Several hundred feet of cavernous terrain didn't scare Gavial and Zumama. I wait for a bit, just to confirm that the two didn't kill themselves. They looked ok from my perch, so I took a leap of faith. Smashed into the opposite wall, screamed my ass off, and landed flat on my face. Not my best work.
I was seeing stars when I lifted my head off the ground. Vaguely, I could make out some pasty white figure in an elaborate dress waking up and...
"EEK!" The woman shrieked, backing off towards the next cliff.
I spit out the rocks in my mouth. Now that my vision was clearer, I could see that she was a Lupine. Wolf people. Fairly rugged animals, but not the kind who can survive a plunge into the abyss.
"Wait, Miss!" I extend a hand. The wolf lady only flinched at the presence of my palm.
"Who are you?" She demanded in a Russian, er, Ursine accent. "How did you three find this place? And why did you try to squish me like a pancake?"
Gavial stepped in, putting a shoulder on my arm. "That's just our good friend, Sully. He's not good with words."
I try to speak up in protest, but she "nudges" me on the shoulder as a polite reminder to shut up.
After that, the two talked it out. Or more accurately, the wolf lady started speaking in over-the-top prose like a Shakespearean fanatic. I later found out that she was a runaway noble by the disgraced name of Avdotya. Wasn't obvious at first since most of the citizens of Ursus were part-bear. How she ended up in the jungle and cave system 1000s of miles away from civilization is anyone's guess, but wolves are dangerous in their own ways from bears. She's also wicked shot at the crossbow, just in case there wasn't enough proof that this wolf has fangs.
Adoyta, for now, was our princess for the time being. Gavial hoisted her on her back and we continued to dive deeper into the caverns. After hopping around in the dark, we break through glass, and suddenly we are all falling straight into a water park.
I didn't know what to expect with these Durins. Dome cities never sounded like a pleasant idea, going off of 80s action movies. Or at least something closer to Lord of the Rings. Nope. They built an entire complex of water themed attractions, complete with a tropical climate.
It was rather admirable. My head was soon admiring the authentic sand too once we landed. Really wishing for some of that Feline blood about now.
Zumama was the one to yank my submerged body from the ground.
"How do you guys do it without parachutes?" I shake my head and spit out the sand.
"Ask Blaze." She responded. I could've sworn I saw Zumama smirk, but maybe it was just all the sand in my eyes
This would be our new world. Just take care of whatever issue the Durins were having and stay down here for another day or so. They weren't even the stern, crouchy midgets from Toikens books. Most of them looked like children but still drank like the dwarves. They would've minded our presence even without all the booze, since their city was so far removed from the rest of Terra. Besides the folk at Rim Billiton, Durins were the only ones who knew how to look down. We never bothered to warn them about the truth, until it was far too late:
In the outer reaches of space, nobody is above the RDA.
We passed Arrdmore's test with flying colors. The Banshees left our transports alone for the entire duration of the flight. Some squadrons flew in a little close for comfort but gave us no further issues. Don't know why they didn't sniff out the countless human staff on board, but I don't give a damn. The pests are out of the picture. It's just me and you this time, Sully.
After touching down, I rediscover the locale of my last spat with the bastard. All overgrown with weeds and such. Shoving a few pesky vines out of the way, I see my name on a wrecked AMP suit.
"Quaritch"
The only thing left in the cockpit was a skeleton. The skull is missing, but behind where the head should've been was countless dark smears. Strange. I was doubting the purpose of my entire existence. Jake wouldn't do that to me. Had to be one of them savage beasties...
Rustling in woods. Screaming and shouting. The telltale signs of one of my men catching an uninvited guest.
"Wainfleet, pull what you can from the data banks."
The rest of my men move out to the source of the commotion. Walker successfully detained the little varmint with the standard hold. Arms behind the back, belly on the ground. The intruder was small, likely in the middle of his obsolescent years. His clothing was rather futuristic compared to what the locals wear, and his short black hair was actually groomed. He had pointy ears like my squad, so I knew he wasn't human.
"I thought you Acahullans were mere primitives..."
He's not with Jake. He's just a stupid kid. What the hell am I doing?!
"At ease. Let him go, Walker"
The kid gets back on his feet and dusts his clothes. Our guns are down, but he's still eyeing them with fear.
"I am Stitch Canvas, minimalistic architect." He gulps. "A great calamity has befallen our city, and your unique strengths will be necessary for its survival."
"Where is this city, may I ask?"
"You never heard of a Durin city? The legends of our domes go far and wide. Mostly from the few, for whatever forsaken reason, settled on the surface."
I wanted to stick that staff of his up his ass. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought Stitch was Jake's kid.
Instead, I pat him on the head. After all, Stitch was our one-way ticket into the heart of the enemy territory.
"I hear you, Canvas. Do you need well-rounded individuals? I got them right here! Lead the way!"
The dwarf smiles wearily.
"My salutations. I will bring you to the lift with haste."
We moved out. I have Walker report back to HQ on the recent developments. She doesn't use the radio, cause she was never with us in the first place.
Instead, in her place was the shapeshifting demon from Bridgehead. General's orders, unfortunately. It walked like Walker, talked too. But in the name of God's Green Earth, that demon will never be a marine in eyes.
Weapon... Yes, our secret weapon! Wainfleet showed me security footage from my duel with Jake. Punk had nothing to do with anything. He hid like a coward, watching as his two girls ended my previous life. They know Jake, and Jake knows them. A snake and crocodile should be the last creatures to entrust your life with, Jake.
Damn fool won't know what hit him.
This brings us to now. The rest of Stitch's pals thought we were action movie stars and treated us as such, like autographing our guns. Got a suite all to ourselves, which also provided a convenient place to stash our gear. Most of them Durins weren't all that bright, but Jake could take one look at us and makes the whole operation go pear-shaped. He wasn't in town just yet, so we had time for their tailors to create appropriate disguises for all of us. Their city was an artificial beach town, including a giant water park in the middle of the "sea". They even had free alcohol, and not the cheap crap they sell at 3rd rate bars. For now, we just had to blend in, kick back, and enjoy the drinks.
Oh, but that kid from before was pissed at us. Apparently, an earthquake roughly 6 months ago caved in the city's tunnels, stranding them from the rest of their friend. Stitch was the only one who seemed to care. Everyone else was drunk out of their minds, or the constant sunlight fried their brains. No real urgency for us to get off our asses and actually do something. The boy left a while ago to find a group that was more productive.
Sipping down some ale in the room, I laugh. Almost too easy, in my humble opinion.