Out of Space

Chapter 265: With A Vengeance

Between the edge of Uncharted Forest and Great Ocean Plains

Aaron Hart frowned as he rode out of the Forest from the back of the tamed wolf. He felt a sharp ache in his chest for quite a while and wondered what mortal illness could still affect his body.

He looked back to the Forest and smiled as he thought of the note and the present he left behind for his 'friends', knowing that they will definitely love it.

Suddenly another sharp ache stabbed into his chest and he cursed, his hands gripping tightly at the thick fur of his mount as he gasped. He looked up to the endless plains stretching out in the distance, knowing that something has happened to his Patron!

"Hurry!" He snapped at his escorts, "We must return at once!"

He looked down at his right hand and saw his hand giving out tiny tendrils of smoke. He clenched open and close his hand in worry, wondering what was going on with his powers.

He remembered them when on the run away from their previous comrades, they had blindly driven in the heavy snowstorm before the lead half track got bogged down. They tried to pull the half track out with the help of their second vehicle but with the storm raging all around them, it turned out to be futile.

When the storm subsided, they were lost in a land of white as they argued inside the heated vehicle on their future plans, dozens and dozens of large naked pale blue looking humanoid creatures wielding crude weapons surrounded them.

Despite their panic, they managed to fight off the creatures just as another storm hit them. Unwillingly to leave behind a precious vehicle filled with supplies and tech, they dug in, constantly besieged by the blue creatures.

It was by luck that they spotted a cave nearby that they decided to use it to take shelter from the constant heavy snowstorm and that was where they found the series of caves to be the den of those blue monsters.

With their superior weaponry, they easily killed off the waves of monsters, including the old and young. Aaron secretly enjoyed it all, feeling like he was in a VR game, killing monsters and finding loot.

And loot they found, bits and pieces of gold and silver, and statues of snakes carved into the rock walls. They stood before the largest rock statue of a hooded snake that stood in the middle of the cavern, easily four to five meters tall, staring with wide eyed wonder.

On the base of the statue were several gold idols and amulets, and bits and pieces of offerings in the form of finger bones of small animals, small mana stones, to gold or silver. Without a word, Raman had reached out and picked up the largest gold idol of the snake and admired it in the light of his torch.

He grinned madly at the rest, and Aaron remembered him yelling, "We are rich! RICH!"

The rest with their adrenaline high from the killing, caught up to Raman's enthusiasm as they too scrambled for the loot laughing.

Little did they know that the blood from the creatures they have slain slowly flowed towards the statue of the snake and pooled at the base. They were all too busy, digging among the small hill of offerings for treasure to notice.

Suddenly they all paused at their mad rush for treasure as a heavy presence descended on them. They felt goosebumps rising all over their bodies and a deep sense of primal fear growing.

The shadows cast by the glows of their flashlights started moving and shadowy snakes appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them, hissing viciously.

An ancient voice hissed out from the stone statue as the petrified humans stood there shaking in fear. "Aisssh... fresssh soulissh!"

A large shadowy snake oozed out from the bared mouth of the snake statue and hissed in pleasure before the men. "Hmmmmm... you all..." The snake appeared to study them closely as it slithered around them.

No one dared to make a single move as they could feel the intense pressure from the snake and deep down inside, they knew if they make a wrong move, their lives will be forfeited immediately!

"How many yearsssss hasss Ish not mets ssuch beingsss again!" The snake hissed in a language that strangely, the humans all could understand. "No matter! You all smell goood!"

The snake rosed up before Raman and its jaw widen till it was large enough to swallow the fat human whole! Raman yelled out in reflex, "Wait! G- Great one! W- we seek to s-serve!"

"Ahhh? A believer?" The snake closed its jaws and tilted its head in a human like gesture. "I seeh..."

Raman quickly dropped down to his knees and bowed with his head against the bloody ground. "G-Great One! W- we are your servants!"

He peeked under his belly on his kneeling position and saw the others still rooted to the spot and he quickly hissed out, "Quickly knee!"

The rest stared at the shadowy snake and at Raman before they too quickly kneeled down and bowed, following Raman's example. "E- eh, Great One!"

"Hmmmmm..." The snake coiled before Raman and hissed happily, "Goood... Ish just needed some help in thiss realm..."

"Find me the Sun!"

-----

Aaron snapped out of his thoughts when suddenly one of his escorts cried out and pointed to the rear. He followed the Orc's gesture and saw a massive monster bursting out from the trees. "What in the world is that?!"

-----

Sergeant Sath grinned as he saw the bunch of Orcs in the distance on his zoomed display as Unit Zero Two crawled out of the Forest. "Found you assholes!"

"Distance 2000! Load HE!" He yelled to the gunner and loader in the gun turret. "Pilot, full forward! Close the distance as much as you can!"

The hammering and clanks of the 3" gun being loaded merged with living stone joints of the Mech as the pilot, Clove, pushed the speed of the Manned Armored Walker up.

The internal damages dealt by the fight with the Great Serpent's spawnling had mostly fixed as best as they could, but several red lights still lit up on Sath's commander console. The external armor plating of the MAW was badly dented by the fight while one of the forward legs were jettisoned off due to heavy damages.

The MAW limped forward as fast as it could with it's remaining five legs as it sought to catch up with the running Orc party through the Forest. Now at the open plains, Clove deployed the wheels stored in the inner side of the armored legs and powered by an electric motor, the MAW charged across the uneven open ground with the little ASAG tagging behind. "Looks like thirty, forty of them in that party!" Sath called out.

"Great, it will be a cake walk!" Drake grinned while crowding behind Sath's chair. "Open the top hatch, me and Slow will ride on the top deck!"

"Got it!" Sath nodded and he punched the hatch release for the two Marines to climb out of the cramp passenger compartment and onto the hull of the MAW. "Remember your ear plugs!"

Both Drake and Slow climbed out of the internal of the MAW and crouched on the top decks. There was a simple depression on the side of the hulls which allowed troops to hold on and ride on the top of the MAW and Drake and Slow each took one side while gripping the hand bars to steady themselves.

They crouched down and watched the distance between themselves with the Orc party closing at a snail pace. Drake estimated the MAW was traveling roughly at 30 to 40 kilometers per hour and he jolted as his comms blared out, "Watch out, the main gun is firing!"

Drake gestured to Slow who hunkered down, facing away from the stub cannon barrel which suddenly roared.

-----

"Distance 1800!" Sath called out as he designated the target for the gunner. "FIRE!"

"AYE!" The gunner cried out and the hollow thump of the cannon echoed loudly within the turret.

"LOAD HE!"

"UP!"

"READY!"

"Drop two degrees! FIRE!"

"AYE, two degrees down! FIRE!"

"Good hit! Fire for effect! Three rounds HE rapid!"

"AYE!"

"LOAD!"

"UP!"

"FIRE!"

-----

The shriek of a passing shell screaming past Aaron's Orc party made him panic as he instinctively ducked his head down, and a short distance ahead, the ground erupted upwards, the shockwave and thunder hit him and throwing and raining dirt down.

"Spread out! Disperse! DISPERSE!" He yelled over his ringing ears. He yanked the leash of his wolf mount, urging it to run faster as the frightened wolf slowed its pace after the explosion scared it.

The Orcs too deafened by the blast, remaining bunched up, only concentrating to put as much distance as they could with the monster that was spitting thunder at them. Another shriek and a loud boom, several wolves and Orc tumbled down as the 3" HE shell landed between them.

"DISPERSE!" Aaron continued to roar out and he waved his hands to the side urgently. The Orcs finally understanding his yells, broke off into several smaller parties and widened the distance among themselves as more HE shells landed among them.

-----

"Distance 1,500!" Sath roared out. "One and Two MGs engage!"

The two side ball turrets fired, their gunners using the tracers to guide their shots at the running Orcs and wolves. The range was more than within their effectiveness of the .50 calibers. The heavy rounds riddled the wolves easily as they were a larger target, sending them tumbling head over heels and throwing their riders off violently.

On the top deck, Drake grinned at the thickly bandaged up Slow who bared his teeth back while working the bolt of his rifle, chambering a round in and yelled over the wind. "Its time for some payback and revenge!"

Slow nodded as he braced his MG - 1 against the hull of the MAW. Oh, he will make them pay, that was for sure!

-----

Great Ocean Plains, somewhere near Sin City

It had burrowed into the ground after blindly searching for shelter to get out of the sun and recover its wounds. It hissed angrily as it checked its body and closed its eyes as it conserved its energy, letting its newly formed material body to repair its gaping wounds.

It slowly fell into a deep slumber, dreaming of vengeance and hellfire.

-----

Skies over Great Ocean Plains

Despite the lulling hum of the bomber's engines, Airforce pilot Goldan remained wide awake as he checked their position with the navigator. They were using the UAV currently in the Area of Operations as a beacon and the UAV was currently vectoring them to their target.

When they returned on their previous mission with one plane less, the mood in the airbase was subdued. The ground crew had solemn expressions as they ran over to service the aircraft and help the crew and pilots off.

But today, the atmosphere at the airbase was full of energy, as the men and women prepped the bombers and the Ordnance Technicians signed and wrote messages dedicated to the crew that lost their lives on the bombs that were loaded onto the bombers.

The rest of the airbase personnel, seeing what the Ordnance Techs were doing, joined them and the clusters of bombs inside the bomb bays of Goldan's Seagull One was covered with messages of vengeance for the lost crew.

"Target coming up!" The navigator called out from his station.

"Opening bomb bays..." Goldan replied as he flipped the switch for the hydraulics.

"900... 800... 700... " Goldan called out as he watched his gauges while his co pilot peered into the bombing sights.

"DROP DROP DROP!"

A mixture of their total remaining stocks of napalm and Mk II general purpose 250 kg bombs were released over the den of the unsuspecting God Snake which was still slumbering underground.

"We are back, and this time with a vengeance!"