|
|
Post by Defunct FPX profile on Jan 30, 2010 6:16:56 GMT -5
As they approached the swamps, the roars were getting louder and more fierce. The merc spat, checking his USP.
"I don't like the sound of this. Then again, I don't like the sound of pretty much anything around here..."
The swamp was a place where the devil said "Good night". Trudging through this place took guts...and no sense of smell. The obnoxious stench of rotting flesh combined with mosquitoes of all kinds and roars which would make your hair stand on the end...Truly, mother nature, as mutated as it was, was trying everything to force the humans out. They felt like they were in enemy territory.
Wallowing through the marsh, Burner caught a glimpse of something black. He quickly yelled and fired a shot...Nothing. Somebody...or something was playing tricks with them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Jan 30, 2010 10:51:31 GMT -5
Pushing the Merc's arm down Vasily said, "Unless you feel like alerting every damned mutant in this swamp to our presence, you should only fire if you absolutely have to." Vasily looked out across the swamp, it seemed deserted, but there were always places for mutants to hide. Another roar broke Vasily's concentration. He couldn't quite identify the creature it came from, but the sound had come from the northern end of the swamp.
Motioning for his companions to follow him and stay silent, Vasily shouldered his LR-300 and started to walk towards the source of the sound.
|
|
|
|
Post by Διμι on Jan 30, 2010 14:36:10 GMT -5
Walking behind the merc and ecologist, Seth silently slipped off into the fog. Not lifting his feet from the surface of the murky water, he quietly waded his way across the swamp. He almost regretted bringing the SVU along. Scoped weapons were going to be useless here, the lens were already fogged up.
He went off on a slight tangent, circling the apparent source of the roars, which had quieted down at their audible approach. He could hear something large shuffling around in the bog, although the thick yellowish fog obscured his vision almost completely. Pulling out his loaded USP, he quietly began making his way forward.
|
|
|
|
Post by Defunct FPX profile on Jan 30, 2010 17:04:48 GMT -5
The merc hissed through his teeth
"I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that every thing in this God-forsaken swamp already knows we're here...They didn't need my shots for that..."
The fog was getting thicker and thicker, the stench was overwhelming...But, the roars stopped. In fact, they were walking in silence for almost five minutes. It looked like the place was empty...Empty of life. Not even a single mosquito. Life...died out. The merc checked his PDA. Nothing.
"I see no point in going further. I didn't hear a single roar for some time...What the... My PDA's gone to hell! Guys, I ain't got a compass... You know a way o-"
The merc stopped. He caught a glimpse of something black again. He thought he heard laughter as well...Deep, chilling laughter. He knew what this meant.
"Guys, I've heard something about this laughter...I think this is the laugh of ...A burer. As far as I know, it is an extremely dangerous mutant...Some say he can do magic, others say he is psychic...What are we going to do? As far as I've heard, that thing can shield itself from bullets! Run or gun?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Διμι on Jan 30, 2010 17:48:57 GMT -5
Seth quietly crept through the marsh, the fog leaving a watery, slightly slimy residue on his suit. He knew his gas mask and chemical resistant fabric would protect him if it turned out to be poisonous, but he didn't like the look of the substance much either.
He began noticing strange activity as he neared the point he estimated the roars to have been coming through. Globules of the liquid composing the fog appeared to be hovering, moving through the air.
Suddenly, the fog cleared, a wind of unknown source blowing it outward, the small clouds parting around Seth. Slowly and slowly, the area elucidated, revealing a patch of marshland roughly fifty meters across. Seth could see Vasily and Burner on the other end, and between them was...
... Seth could not see the face of the stout creature in the center of the clearing, as it was facing away from him, towards his two companions, and the rest of its head was obscured by a large black hood. He instantly raised his USP, aiming it at the back of the swamp denizen's cranium.
As if on cue, the creature raised both of its arms, somehow conjuring a fireball in one. A globule of the fog liquid floated to the other. Clapping both hands together, the two spheres collided in a small explosion, acrid smoke filling the air. Seth fired instantly, emptying his entire magazine in the monster's direction. The armor piercing shock rounds had no effect at all on the beast, meeting an invisible force field half a meter away from their target and exploding in small showers of sparks.
The creature gave a deep laugh, conjuring yet another fireball. With it's other hand, it made a fist. Seth felt a wind pull him forward, contracting the fog back into the center of the clearing towards the monster. Remembering what had happened with the globule earlier, Seth realized with a sense of horror what was about to happen. The creature had led them directly into its trap.
"Everyone down! Into the water!" He yelled through the fog to his companions "NOW!!!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Defunct FPX profile on Feb 7, 2010 7:39:58 GMT -5
Trudging through the swamp, Burner was thinking out loud:
"Great! Nowhere to go! My PDA's busted, I've only got a single magazine left and this fog is only getting thicker! Man, of all places why did you scientists have to pick this one? I mean, the r-"
The fog just...lifted. They were standing in a clearing...But, where was Seth?
"Where's the Freedomer? And what the..."
A plump figure in a black coat was standing in the middle of the clearing, laughing in a deep, menacing voice. Burner couldn't hold himself :
"That's a burer? HAHAHAHAHAHA! I've seen poker losers looking more intimidating than this thing! Haha! Let's see how he likes this!"
Burner emptied his USP. His bullets...Turned into sparks.
"AY WHAT THE...Did he just eat my shots? SHENANIGANS MAN! "
He saw the burer raise his arms, conjuring a ball of fire. Fire! Burner felt numb. Everything around him was dark, except for the ball of fire in front of him......Something urged him to grab it...Wasn't fire the most beautiful thing ever?
|
|
|
|
Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Feb 7, 2010 12:06:39 GMT -5
Vasily heard the Merc behind him empty a magazine from his USP into something, Vasily was sure it was just a fog drift that spooked him, but he turned around to check. "What is it now? Did you see som..." It was a Burer, and by the looks of it, it was getting ready to attack. "GET DOWN YOU FOOL!" Vasily shouted to the dumbstruck Merc, and Vasily threw himself into the swamp.
|
|
|
|
Post by Διμι on Feb 7, 2010 14:22:34 GMT -5
Seth dimly saw the scientist drop into the water as he submerged. The backup closed-cycle respiration system in his suit quickly began drawing oxygen from the reserve tanks as the visor snapped shut over his mask. The swamp was shallow, and barely covered him whole as he lay flat, but it was cold, and definitely a better alternative to getting fried above. Any second now, he thought...
He felt a distant explosion as the fog converged around the burer and the gas in it caught aflame. A second later, he was tossed up by a colossal wave of flaming vapors and boiling water as the entire swamp seemed to go ablaze. He felt the thermal insulation in his suit crackling slightly as it struggled to cope with the extreme heat. The wave carried him further, his body finally colliding with something solid and round, knocking the wind out of him and nearly breaking him in half. A tree trunk, he guessed, dazed from the impact.
Finally, the waves subsided, the little remaining mixture of hot water and sludge evening out. A thick, mist of evaporated water and smoke and hung over what remained of the swamp. Everything was charred, some trees were torn out wholly and tossed dozens of feet. Seth checked himself, he seemed to have been miraculously untouched by the flames, small tendrils of steam rising from his suit. He could see neither the burer or his two companions, or know whether they had survived the blast.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Feb 7, 2010 14:48:40 GMT -5
Pulling himself out of the swamp, Vasily looked around. The explosion caused by the Burer had left a large black scorch mark on the small patch of land where it had been standing, and the surrounding meter or so of swamp had most of it's water evaporated. A slumped figure over by a now scorched tree trunk caught Vasily's attention. Even with the scorch marks on his armor, the colors of Freedom were still visible, it looked like his little patch of swamp hadn't been deep enough to protect him from the full force of the explosion.
With the Burer nowhere in sight Vasily ran over to Seth, and pulled a medkit from his pack, "You ought to be more carefull, I won't be around to save you all the time." He said jokingly. "Are you injured?"
[Edited your post a small tad, as well as mine just so it integrates. I didn't want to delete Burnzz's whole part right after this]
|
|
|
|
Post by Defunct FPX profile on Feb 7, 2010 14:56:17 GMT -5
Ah, fire...Is it not wonderful? Look at the little sparkles, jumping around playfully...
"I feel it...I can touch it...It's mine! All mine! The warmth, the wonder, it's incredible!"
The merc was laughing maniacally, slowly walking towards the burer. The spheres in his hands were becoming larger and larger, and his sinister plan was coming into action...
In his mind, Burner felt naked...He was cold...He needed fire. And he saw it. A big ball of fire. In front of him. He wanted to get warm, he wanted to touch it, he wanted to feel the flames tickling his scorched skin.
God, sanity is a bitch.
The dark disappeared. Burner clearly saw the burer a meter away from him...It was stepping back, not laughing any more. Too close for comfort! Burner quickly realized this...
"YOU GUYS OWE ME A DRINK FOR THIS!"
Burner charged towards the burer and jumped at it...
The explosion was tremendous...The creature flew away and landed, limp and lifeless. The same could not be said about Burner...His coat was intact, still dusty and patched-up, but his body was...burned to a crisp. He was moaning from pain, still twitching...He closed his eyes. He was waiting for the end...
Nope, false alarm. He opened his eye.
"Well, FUCK ME! AAARGH! CAN'T I REST IN FUCKING PEACE?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Feb 7, 2010 18:01:01 GMT -5
Hearing the shout, Vasily looked up from Seth, "That sounded like Burner." Handing the medkit to the Freedomer, Vasily ran over to where he heard the yell. He saw the Merc's brown leather trench coat and ran over to him. "Burner, are you allrigh...Oh God." The man was covered with terrible burns. "You crazy bastard, what were you thinking?" Vasily asked, and busied himself looking for the burn kit in his pack, and for some aspirin for his terrible headache that had just set in.
Grabbing at the burn kit, Vasily's hands fumbled, he had little or no control over them. His headache intensified, and his vision began to go blurry, "Christ, what is this?" he wanted to say, but he couldn't form the words, slapping the quick-open catch for his visor, he bent over towards the swamp and vomited, then he lost his balance, fell on to his back and began to lose consciousness, "What could cause this?" he thought, "All these symptoms fill in with brain hemorrhaging, but when was I eve...". Vasily lost consciousness.
|
|
|
|
Post by Defunct FPX profile on Feb 7, 2010 18:32:49 GMT -5
Burner saw somebody run towards him... He didn't hear anything. The figure was already standing over him...It was Vasily! He was rummaging through backpack, mumbling something about a head...Strangely enough, the searing pain was slowly disappearing...Having regained some of his senses, he tried to open his mouth. He couldn't feel anything, any more... What the hell happened? That explosion would have killed a bear, let alone a man in a coat... He tried speaking again:
"Man, a-a-are y-y-ou oook-k-kay ? Yo-o-o-u d-don't-t lo-ok th-aat wel- WHH-AT TH-E "
He saw Vasily opening his visor and throwing up... The scientist collapsed.
"Are you o-okay? V-v-vasily! Sp-p-pea-ak t-t-to me! "
There was no response...The scientist was unconscious. Burner decided to try and stand up. He grabbed a sturdy branch and lifted himself. His coat was untouched, but his face was...Horrible. Scorched.
|
|
|
|
Post by Διμι on Feb 8, 2010 22:03:11 GMT -5
Rushing to help the mercenary, Seth saw Vasily double over and drop into the water for seemingly no reason at all. Burner himself was hardly in a preferable condition. The man's face reminded Seth of slightly less-than-stealthy bloodsucker attacks that often resulted in ample face time with the beast's prey. The burer lay by the side, not moving. Not wanting to take any chances, the Freedomer squeezed off a single round into its cranium, for once hearing the satisfying pop of the bullet splitting through bone and brain matter.
Seth hurried over to his two companions. The merc's face and other parts of exposed skin were a mess of heavy burns, but nothing some cleaning up along with a couple of meat chunk grafts couldn't fix.
Seth turned to the scientist, who was lying on his back. The suit appeared to be functioning, the closed-cycle respiration system on the SSP-99m drawing compressed air from its tanks and re-filtering it, although the visor was open, with vomit splattered along the ground nearby. Vasily appeared to be breathing but heavily, and his pulse was fairly irregular. Seth shook the ecologist, but to no avail
"What the hell is wrong with him?" Seth yelled to Burner, who was uneasily making his way forward. "We've got to get him back to the base, I'll carry him, so grab our rifles and try to keep up!"
Slinging his heavy load over his shoulder, Seth began trudging back through the swamps towards the bunker.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Feb 8, 2010 23:33:58 GMT -5
Vasily's eyes opened a faction, someone was carrying him. He was still extremely physically ill, but his headache had lessened just enough to allow coherent though. He could see that Seth was carrying him, probably to the Lab. Sudden realization hit him, his Artifact belt! Gathering his remaining energy he hit the Freedomer on the back, in his weakened state he hoped it was enough to even attract the man's attention.
"..Mica.." Vasily gasped, pointing feebly at his belt, and then again towards the left half of his head, where his headache was coming from. The he passed into darkness again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Διμι on Feb 8, 2010 23:50:20 GMT -5
Seth felt a slight thump on his back. He twisted around to see the ecologist in a semi-conscious state.
"... Mica..." the man muttered, pointing with his hand towards his midriff, and then towards his head. Mica? The Freedomer thought, it was a rare artifact to encounter in any part of the Zone, brought about by only the most volatile chemical anomalies. The great coagulative qualities brought about by it could heal even the most stubborn bleeding wounds.
He set the scientist down and began rifling through the scientist's artifact belt. Soon enough he found the Mica. It was a thing of beauty, a semi-clear, almost iridescent, yet slimy flopping mass: a fully developed and grown Slug. Even with the object in his hands, he felt his throat wounds smooth out even further, the slippery artifact doing what the Koloboks could not.
The scientist had asked to administer it to his cranium, which left the Freedomer with the conclusion that he was suffering from internal bleeding, most likely from their controller encounter earlier. Taking off the protective SSP-99m hood, he placed the cold sogging mass onto the left side of Vasily's head and began to wait.
|
|
