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An illustrated scene from ZackWriter23 ‘s fantasy action story, Elysium! Zack and Sheera are busting a military base, when their foe ends up turning some big guns on them. Very big scary guns.

Elysium - Ch.2: Base Assault*Zack, a young male Wolf-Fox hybrid, wakes up in a forest with no memories of the past 2 months of his life and the only clue of his past is a Strange Cube Object. he explores the forest to figure out where he is and learns that it's territory to a tribe of Reptilians from Kladehr when one of them ambushed him, but he was saved by a young female Wolf name Sheera, a native of Muskana, who was on a mission to rescue her brother, Jaedon, and his team who went missing in a town called Erith. Zack joins her and they both move towards Erith, fighting groups of Reptilians along the way. they then found a wounded Raccoon Militiaman name Tiso, who was part of Jaedon's team that went missing. he tells Sheera that he brother and the others were captured in Erith, but also warns them to not enter the town. before dying of his wounds, he tells her that the Reptilians has taken over an old military base and possesses enough weapons to threaten the safety of Kuuma, Sheera's home village. with a new objective, both Zack and Sheera moves through Joth Woods to get to the base and end the Reptilian threat. they both arrive at the edge of a cliff overlooking an old military base that show signs of a battle that took place years ago, given how parts of it has sustain damage. most likely by the Trasan during their Invasion. Zack takes out his G18 Marksman Rifle and uses it's scope to observe the base. he sees that the base itself appears to have functioning power and sees a several Reptilians patrolling the exterior of said base, while the rest of the tribe are likely inside*Zack:*lowers his rifle* this must be the base your friend was talking about.Sheera:*speaks sarcastically* no, really? i thought the base Tiso was talking about was further up North.Zack: okay, miss sass, i get it. XP*looks through the scope of his rifle again* hmmm, this is definitely a Cheklaw Imperial Base. i recognize the design.Sheera: you've seen bases like this before?Zack: only a couple of times during my travels. though, they were in worst shape then this and had either monsters or Bandits inhabiting them.Sheera: i see. any way to get inside?Zack: well, the front door is obviously a no go. even if we knocked and ask them politely to let us in. hmmm...*sees a metal bridge that's over a deep chasm on the right side of the base and lowers his rifle again* there's a bridge leading to the right side of the base. maybe that could get us in without the Reptiles being alerted to our presence. let's check it out, shall we?^^*arms himself his M10 SMG and moves to his right*Sheera:*follows Zack* so, once we get inside, what do we do next? kill every lizard we see?Zack: no, that'd be suicidal. we need to go after their leader. once we kill him, the whole tribe will scatter. and that'll be one less problem for your village.^^Sheera: sounds like you've done this before.Zack: it's something i was taught a couple of years ago. "to win a battle against an unrelenting force, you must decapitate the head that drives the body. without the head, the body dies and becomes cold." it's worked for me in the past.^^ well...*pushes his goggles up a bit* most of the time.Sheera: hmm?Zack: it's...a long story, and i rather not talk about it.*both Zack and Sheera proceeds to move through the forest and moves down a hill that would lead them to where the bridge would, but instead, they encounter a dead Rak Fodder on the ground with a Nit'vak Nail Rifle next to him and a dead Utahraptor with a few nails in it. indicating the the raptor is responsible for the dead Rak, who in turn killed it*Zack: is that a Utahraptor? are there usually Utahraptors here?Sheera: i don't think so. i know that their territory is like somewhere East of here. which means they're either moving territories or these scale-brains stole their eggs and are after them because of it.Zack: or something is driving them out of their territory.*picks up the Nit'vak Nail Rifle after discarding his marksman rifle and examines it*Sheera: that's a strange-looking weapon. what is it?Zack: it's called an Nit'vak Nail Rifle, named after an endangered species native to Kladehr that can shoot needle-like quills from it's tail, and is one of the few weapons made by the Reptilians.Sheera: what do you mean "one of the few?"Zack: have you notice the weapons the Reptilians were carrying when we fought them?*Sheera nods in response* most of their weapons comes from either the Koshar Regime or the Cheklaw Empire. during the Enor War, back when the Hegemony was at the height of their power, they only managed to develop a few weapons, like the nail rifle here. because of that, they've resorted to steal weapons and combat vehicles from both the Regime and the Empire, either through taking them their corpses or robbing their supply lines.Sheera:*scoffs* they sound more like scavengers then an empire.Zack: from what i heard, Kladehr wasn't exactly resourceful to build guns, cannons, or tanks. so their options were limited. even more so now that they're in tribes. anyway, let's keep going. and be on guard for any Raptors.*both Zack and Sheera, as she readies her Vespian Quarterstaff, continues to move until they both arrive outside of the woods where they see the bridge leading to the other side of the chasm. however, they also see several Utahraptors, along with 5 dead Raptors on the ground, attacking 2 Rak Fodders, both armed with Nit'vak Nail Rifles, a single Letra Scout, armed with an M10 SMG, and a single Ukard Marauder, also armed with an M10 SMG, leading them, while there are 2 Raks and a single Letra dead on the ground. as one of the Utahraptors attacks one of the Raks, killing him by biting into his neck and ripping his throat out, and another dies as it gets shot, the Ukard runs onto the bridge as he approaches a Letra Grenadier setting an M137 Demolition Charge on the bridge*Ukard Marauder: are the charges set yet!?Letra Grenadier:*pushes a button on the Demo Charge as the light on it turns from green to red* charges are set, sir!Ukard Marauder: everyone, across the bridge! now!*both he and his Letra subordinate runs across the bridge as the Letra Scout and Rak runs back on the bridge as they're being chased by the Utahraptors, but one of the Raptors jumps on top of the Letra Scout and kills him by biting into the back of his head*Zack: oh crap, they're gonna blow up the bridge! O.O come on!*both he and Sheera runs towards the bridge*Ukard Marauder:*he and his subordinates gets across the bridge, meeting up with another Letra Scout, armed with a G18 Marksman Rifle, and speaks to the Letra Grenadier* blow the bridge, now!*the Letra Grenadier takes out a Detonator, pulls the trigger, the Demo Charges makes a speed-up beeping sound, and explodes, destroying the bridge and killing the Raptors that attempted to across. Zack and Sheera stops when they see the bridge explode. after the smoke from the explosion clears, the Letra Scout notices Zack and Sheera on the other side of the chasm*Letra Scout: Mammals!*aims his marksman rifle at Zack and Sheera, but his Ukard superior lowers his rifle*Ukard Marauder: don't! they're no threat to us. let the Raptors have their fun with the Mammals. >: )*walks away as his subordinates follow him*Rak Fodder: hehe, have fun with the Raptors, suckers!*walks away with the other Reptilians, laughing*Zack:*both he and Sheera looks behind and sees 4 Utahraptors emerging from the forest as they hisses* ah, crap.*both Zack and Sheera readies their weapon at the Velociraptors charges at them. Zack fires his Nit'vak Nail Rifle at both Raptors and manages to kill one of them, with the metal spikes from his weapon impaling it's skin, as it's corpse drops on the ground, but the second Raptor jumps on top of him, dropping him on the ground and his nail rifle, as it attempts to bite into Zack's neck. however, he holds the Utahraptor's mouth open as he struggles against it, until he kicks it in the chest with his foot, stunting the Raptor, and he quickly takes his Hunter Combat Knife out and stabs it in the head with, killing it as it collapses on the ground. meanwhile, one of the other Utahraptors attacks Sheera with it's teeth, but she quickly dodges it and uses her quarterstaff to hit the back of the Raptor's neck hard, smashing it's spine as it collapses on the ground, dead. suddenly, the last Utahraptor bites into Sheera's left arm and she briefly screams in pain as she drops her Vespian Quarterstaff. she struggles to get the Raptor to let go of her arm, but as it's teeth goes deep into her arm, blood dripping out, a purple aura swirls around her right wrist up to her hand and a small dark purple energy orb forms in her said hand soon after. she then uses it by slamming it into the Raptor's face, creating a small explosion that blows half it's face off, lets go of Sheera's arm, and collapses on the ground as it dies*Zack:*stands up off the ground and picks up his Nit'vak Nail Rifle when he notices Sheera having her right hand on her lower arm* are you okay? what happened?Sheera:*her lower arm bleeds through her right hand* ah...i'm...i'm fine. stupid lizard bit my arm. >_: )Letra Scout:*approaches his Letra comrade* hey, look what i got.^^*shows him an M4 Frag Grenade*Letra Scout-2: huh? where did you find that?Letra Scout: from a small case of grenades in that Drake over there. what do you think?^^Letra Scout-2: i think you should bring those grenades inside the base to add the rest of the weapons we've gathered. besides, only Ukards and Grenadiers can use those.Letra Scout: how come they can only use them? i can throw a grenade just as well as...*gets shot in the back of the head and dies as he collapses on the ground and drops his grenade*Letra Scout-2: huh!? O.O*looks forward and sees Zack* Mammal! Mam-...*gets shot multiple times by Zack's pistols until he falls on the ground and dies*Ukard Marauder:*sees Zack and Sheera charging towards their position* slay the Mammals!*both Ukard Marauders and their Rak subordinates fires at Zack and Sheera, but he quickly gets behind the Drake Attack Helicopter to take cover from the Ukards, who stands on the platform where the elevator is, as he fires at the Rak Fodders while dodging their shots, killing 2 of them while the last is taking out by Sheera, who swings her quarterstaff against his face, knocking him out as he falls on the ground. after that, 2 Letra Strikers, both armed with Kukri Knives, jumps down from one of the intact pipes, hisses at Sheera, and attacks her. meanwhile, Zack reloads his pistols as the Ukards continues to fire at him. as he waits for them to reload, he sees the M4 Frag Grenade the Letra Scout was holding on the ground, picks it up, pushes the button on top of it, let it beep a couple of times, and then he throws it at the Ukards and explodes, killing them both as their corpses are flown off the platform and lands on the ground. meanwhile, one of the Letra Strikers attacks Sheera with his Kukri Knife, but she blocks his attack with her quarterstaff, sees the second Letra Striker charging at her to her left, pushes the first Striker and swings her quarterstaff against the second Striker's face hard, and knocks him out as he falls on the ground. the first Striker attacks Sheera again, but she quickly dodges his attack, jabs him in the forehead, stunning him for a brief moment, hits him in the stomach, and strikes him in the back of the head hard, knocking him out as he collapses on the ground*Sheera:*pants a bit* is that all of them? anymore scaly butts i should kick? >: )Zack: easy now, you'll have plenty of more scaly butts to kick once we get inside.^^ also, look what i got.*shows Sheera an M4 Frag Grenade* i found a few of these grenades in a case inside that Drake over there.*puts the grenade back on his belt* these will cause some damage.^^Sheera:*thinks to herself as she smiles* saves me from destroying the place.*speaks to Zack directly* wait, what did you call it? a...Drake? like a Dragon?Zack: well, actually, it's called an M28 Attack Helicopter. the Drake name is like a nickname for these models.Sheera: i see.*looks at the M28 Drake Attack Helicopter, ponders to herself, and speaks to Zack directly* do people in the outside world use them?Zack: ummm...kind of. since the current government uses their own attack helicopters, they have no need for a Drake. so, the only people who flies them besides the Reptilians are a few Militia groups. others, however, just melts them down for scrap.Sheera: government? you mean there's a government like the Empire outside of Muskana? o.oZack:*chuckles* oh no.^^ the current government is the Enor Federation, they're like the Koshar Regime, except it isn't Canine-centric and oppressive. they're trying to restore civilization to the Wild Lands after the Trasan did a number on it. remember that guerrilla war i mentioned the Reptilian Tribes were fighting against Enor? well, because of that, progress has been slow.Sheera: oh. so...it's still hell out there, huh?Zack: eh, it's not bad. those who aren't living in the safety of the Federation are surviving on their own, working hard to make something out of what they have, helping each other to live another day, that sort of thing. even if other people prefers the easy solution and just take what people got.Sheera:*thinks to herself* hmmm, i guess it isn't that bad out. shame our first encounter with the outside world had to be unpleasant...Zack: anyway, we should get inside before more Reptilians arrive to see what's going on.*Sheera nods, both she and Zack walks up the stairs, enters the elevator, pushes a button, the elevator doors closes, and it goes down. as it goes down, he holsters both his pistols and takes out his M10 SMG* okay, Sheera, we're now entering the Boneripper's den. we'll need to be careful, less we want every Reptilian in the base coming after us.Sheera: heh, if they do, i'll disintegrate them all without breaking a sweat. >: )Zack: don't get cocky. they may not be the Hegemony, but they aren't to be taken lightly. hence why we shouldn't take on the entire tribe. we just need to take out their Chieftain to put an end to threat they pose.Sheera: and where are we gonna find him? search the whole base until we bump into him?Zack: he'll most likely be in the command center.*the elevator stops and the doors behind him and Sheera opens* here we are. let's go.*Zack readies his SMG, both he and Sheera exits the elevator, and they move down the hallway. the interior of the base shows signs of age, 23 years of abandonment which has lead to a state of disrepair and has allowed critters to make it as their home. because of the lack of maintenance, despite the presence of the Reptilians, the base is mostly dimly lit, security cameras and automated defenses are non-functioning, and the only devices that would are working are the automated doors, intercoms, and some of the computers. technology of the Cheklaw Empire, compared to the Koshar Regime's technology, was considered outdated, bulky, and rough around the edges. however, their weapons were more effective during combat then that of the Regime. some would even compare the two factions to that of a scalpel and a hammer. but it all depends on one's perspective and opinion. both Zack and Sheera arrives in a rectangle-shaped room that has several wooden crates, a small pipe coming out of the ceiling that leaking water onto the floor, making a small puddle, debris blocking the door on the right side of the room, and is inhabited by 2 Letra Scouts, both armed with M10 SMGs, and 3 Rak Fodders, 2 of them armed with Nit'vak Nail Rifle and one armed with an M13 Pistol, as one of them sits on top of a wooden crate. upon noticing them, Zack and Sheera hides behind the crates and overhears a conversation between the Letras*Letra Scout: what was that noise earlier? sounded like an explosion.Letra Scout-2: a patrol got overrun by a pack of Raptors and had to blow up the bridge to prevent them getting to the base.Letra Scout: Raptors? i thought their territory was further away from here? what are they doing out here?Letra Scout-2:*shrugs* beats me.Letra Scout: you think it has anything to do with the Raptors we got upstairs?Letra Scout-2: that or some deadbrain Dodo stole some eggs from their nest.Letra Scout: can't say i blame 'em. we've been eating nothing but insect meat and Imperial Rations for weeks.*sighs* you know what i could go for? a nice cooked Parasaur steak, with some hot sauce and...Letra Scout-2: will you shut it! you're making me hungry...Sheera:*whispers* did they say they got Raptors upstairs?Zack:*whispers* it's not uncommon for these Reptilians to have tamed animals like Raptors. sometimes they even have the big Dinosaurs tamed, like a Anklyosaur. but something tells me there's more to it then that.*takes out an M4 Frag Grenade, pushes the button on top of it, and throws it at the Reptilians as it lands next to one of the Letras*Letra Scout: huh?*looks down and sees the grenade* holy crap! grenade! O.O*the Reptilians tries to run from the grenade, until it explodes and kills both Letras and a single Rak. Zack gets out from behind the wooden crates and fires on the last 2 Raks, killing them both easily. after that, both he and Sheera moves towards the door on the other side of the room, it automatically opens by sliding to it's left, and arrive in a stairwell going up. they move up the stairs until they arrive at the top, which takes them to another that automatically slides open and leads them to a hallway, which has 3 square-shaped ceiling windows that are broken, a couple of military barricades on the opposite side of the hall, and has a few Elysian skeletal corpses, wearing Cheklaw Imperial uniforms, on the floor*Sheera:*looks at one of the Elysian skeletons on the floor* this guy looks like a soldier. was he...?Zack: a Cheklaw Imperial Soldier? yep.*looks around* hmmm, looks like they were making a stand here. preventing any Trasan from moving any further into the base. didn't do much it seems, poor saps didn't stand a chance. let's keep moving.*Zack and Sheera moves through the hallway, where the door automatically slides open, leading them outside where they see a catwalk, that has a couple of Explosive Barrels, leading to the other side that's far above the ground, and a single Letra Scout, armed with a G18 Marksman Rifle, with his back turn, until he turns around when he hears the door open and sees the two Canines. this causes Zack to charge towards the Letra, ram into him, dropping his rifle, and sending him over the rails where he falls to his death as he screams. his screams gains the attention of 2 Letra Grenadiers, one armed with an M10 SMG and the other armed with a marksman rifle, and a single Ukard Marauder, armed with an M10 SMG*Ukard Marauder: Mammals!? how did they get here!? destroy the catwalk now!Letra Grenadier:*takes out an M4 Frag Grenade, pushes the button on top of it, and throws it at the Explosive Barrels* eat this!*both the grenade and the barrels explodes, destroying the catwalk*Zack: ah crap!*gets behind the metal coverings underneath the railings to use for cover*Sheera:*speaks in a sarcastic tone* oh, way to go, lizardlips! that will certainly stop us! >_>*the Reptilians fires at her* whoa!*gets behind the coverings and speaks to Zack* that won't stop us, will it?Zack: nope.*discards his Nit'vak Nail Rifle as he picks ups the G18 Marksman Rifle* but it does mean we'll have to take the long way to get to the command center.Sheera: hey, if it means beating up more lizards, i'm fine with it.^^*Zack then peeks out from behind cover and notices an Explosive Barrel behind the Reptilians. he then uses his marksman rifle to fire a single shot at the barrel, causing it to explode and kill all 3 Reptilians* nice shot.^^*Zack smiles and both he and Sheera moves to their left where they walk down a small flight of metal stairs that leads them to a path going down to their right, where it leads to a metal bridge. however, an Ukard Marauder, armed with an M10 SMG, leading a single Letra Scout, armed with a G18 Marksman Rifle, a single Letra Grenadier, armed with an M10 SMG, and 3 Rak Fodders, all armed with M13 Pistols, runs across the bridge, the Ukard pushes a button on a control panel next to the bridge, and the bridge itself de-extends. after that, the Reptilian group begins firing at Zack and Sheera and they both quickly get behind a couple of military barricades that are on the path. Zack takes out an M4 Frag Grenade, throws it at the Reptilians, and explodes, killing a Letra Scout and 2 of the Raks. he then takes out his SMG and uses it to fire at the Reptilians, managing to kill the Letra Grenadier, the last Rak, and fatally injuring the Ukard as he collapses on the floor. as he and Sheera moves towards the bridge, while reloading his SMG, the Ukard takes out a Flare Gun, aims it at the sky, shoots a flare in the air, and chuckles as he soon dies from his injuries*Sheera: did he just shoot a flare?Zack: oh boy, i sense trouble coming. o_o*moments later, a single M20 Buzzard Gyrocopter, piloted by an Ukard, arrives as it flies above the two Canines* aaaand there's the trouble!Sheera: what the hell is that!? O.O*the Buzzard fires it's frontal machine gun at her and Zack* ah!*runs under a metal covering that next to some debris*Zack:*runs to dodge the Buzzard's fire* crap, crap, crap, crap!*jumps over the same military barricade he was hiding behind moments ago and quickly hides behind it as he pants* by Elysia, they got functioning Buzzards? just great. gonna need to shoot the rotors if i'm gonna take it now.*takes out his G18 Marksman Rifle and as soon as the Buzzard stops firing, he aims his rifle at the Buzzard's left rotor, and fires at it a couple of times, causing it to spin out of control and crashes into a nearby structure, exploding and destroying the aircraft. he sighs in relief, reloads his rifle, gets out from behind the barricade, and looks around for Sheera* Sheera? Sheera!Sheera:*crawls out from under the metal covering and stands up off the ground* did someone call my name?Zack:*approaches Sheera* thank Elysia you're okay.^^ are you hurt?Sheera: i'm fine, but what was that just attacked us?Zack: that was an M20 Buzzard Gyrocopter, small aircrafts that acts as support to friendly ground troops. that's worrying. when Tiso said the Reptilians got a lot weapons, i thought he meant they have a lot guns like...machine guns, rocket launchers, stuff like that. but if they got Gyrocopters functioning...what other vehicles do they have?Sheera: so what do we do about it?Zack: we stick to the plan. we kill the leader of this tribe and it's all over. they'll be no threat to your village.^^Sheera: well, let's hurry up and finish this.*Zack nods, approaches the bridge control console, pushes a button on it, and the bridge extends to the other side. both he and Sheera moves across the bridge to reach the other side, where they go through a door that automatically slides open and walks down some stairs, which leads them to a hallway. they move through the hallway until they arrive in a room that has several military supply crates, a door on the opposite side of the room, which is locked indicated by the red lights around it, another door on the right, several metal cages that has 4 Utahraptors, 2 Troodons, and a single Dilophosaur, that has it's mouth bind with a leather, likely to prevent it from spitting poison, and is inhabited by a single Ukard Marauder, armed with an M10 SMG, a single Letra Scout, also armed with an SMG, and a couple of Rak Fodders, both armed with Nit'vak Nail Rifles. upon seeing the Reptilians, both Zack and Sheera quickly hides behind one of the supply crates and overhears a conversation between the Ukard and his Letra subordinate*Ukard Marauder: any word on the Delivery Team?Letra Scout: still nothing.Ukard Marauder:*snarls* what the hell is taking them so long? they're to drop off the dumb animals and return here for the next load.Letra Scout: i've been meaning to ask, why are we doing this again?Ukard Marauder: doing what?Letra Scout: capturing animals and sending them to that ruined town. like, what's the purpose of it?Ukard Marauder: how should i know? Gask is the only one who knows what goes on in Erith.Letra Scout: have you tried asking him?Ukard Marauder: no, because unlike you, i prefer to do my job and not ask stupid questions.Letra Scout: how are my questions stupid? i'm only asking the significance...Ukard Marauder: the significance being is that if you don't keep your mouth shut, i'm gonna blow it off and feed you to these animals!Letra Scout: alright, alright!*walks away as he grumbles to himself* sheesh, i was only asking...Sheera:*whispers* did he say Erith? they're bringing animals there? why? was this what Adak saw?Zack:*whispers* perhaps. but if we're gonna get any answers, it's Gask we're gonna have to ask. heh, that rhymes.^^Sheera:*whispers* assuming he's in a talkative mood, that is.*Zack takes out his G18 Marksman Rifle and uses it to shoot the Letra Scout in the head, killing him instantly*Ukard Marauder: what the hell!? Mammals! kill them!*both the Ukard Marauder and his Rak subordinates fires at Zack, but he quickly dodges their fire, takes out both his M13 Pistols, and begins firing at the Reptilians, killing both Raks. as the Ukard fires at Zack, he quickly gets behind another supply crate, reloads his pistols, holsters one of them, takes out his Hunter Combat Knife, gets out from the crate, and fires at the Ukard's shoulders, injuring him. he then charges at the Ukard, stabs him directly in the head, killing him instantly, takes his knife out, and kicks his corpse to the floor*Sheera: nice job.^^*looks at the caged Dinosaurs* what do we do about them? should we...release them?Zack:*collects some ammo and a grenade from the dead Reptilians* do you want to release them?Sheera: not really, no.Zack: then let's be on our way.^^*both he and Sheera leaves the room by going through the door on the right side of the room and going through a hallway. about halfway through, he stops when he hears something and whispers to Sheera* stop!Sheera: what is it?Zack: shhh!*hears what sounds like approaching stomps and has an idea who or what they belong to* uh oh. o.o*further down the hallway, a single Ligrat scurries on the floor, when suddenly a big Reptilian foot stomps on it and kills it. the foot belongs to a Darsant Bruiser, armed with an RS38 Combat Shotgun. Darsants are one of the native species of Kladehr that were subjugated by the Ukards into the Hegemony to act as heavy troopers or laborers. they are strong, but not very smart. he is accompanied by another Darsant Bruiser, who is also armed with a combat shotgun, as they both move down the hallway and encounter both Zack and Sheera*Darsant Bruiser:*growls and chuckles* Mammals get blasted!*both he and his comrade fires their shotguns at the two Canines*Zack:*dodges their fire* holy crap, Darsants! get back! O.O*fires his M10 SMG at them as he moves backwards*Sheera: pfft, i ain't afraid of no oversize lizard.*readies her Vespian Quarterstaff* hey, you big ugly scalies!*charges at one of the Darsants, as he reloads his shotgun* have a taste of Vespian metal! >: )Zack: Sheera, wait! O.O*Sheera uses her quarterstaff to whack the Darsant across the face and then goes to hit him in the stomach, but is stopped by the Darsant as he grabs it, pulls it out of her hands easily, and aims his shotgun at her. she quickly dodges out of the way of the shotgun blast when fired by moving to her left. she then kicks him in the stomach, but having little effect on him as he hits her in the face with her own quarterstaff, and she grabs onto her quarterstaff, jumps up, and kicks the Darsant in the face hard with both her feet. this causes him to let go of the quarterstaff and backs up into his comrade, who then pushes him away with his elbow. the first Darsant growls in anger as he aims his shotgun at Sheera, now armed with her Vespian Quarterstaff, and fires at her, who dodges his shot but hits a pipe that turns out to be full of gas, causing it to make a big explosion that kills both Darsants and the blast radius pushes Sheera away as she collapses on the floor, dropping her quarterstaff, and falls unconscious. meanwhile, Zack, who was taking cover behind some crates, peeks out to see that the way forward is blocked with fire and debris*Zack: oh no...Sheera!*stands up, runs out from behind the crates and towards the fire to see Sheera on the other side, laying on the floor, unconsciously. then sighs in relief* oh, thank Elysia. Sheera, wake up! wake up!*suddenly, 2 Ukard Marauders, both armed with M52 Assault Rifles, runs down the hall on the other side of the fire and fires their weapons at Zack. he dodges the shots and fires back at them, but his shots misses them* ah! no! i'm not leaving her!*gets shot in the left upper arm* ah! >.<*places his right hand on his arm on his wounded arm and makes a difficult decision* i'm sorry, Sheera...*runs back down the hall*Ukard Marauder:*lowers his rifle* hmph, coward.*both he and his comrade turns around to see a male Ukard name Nossk, second-in-command of the tribe, walking down the hall and stops at where Sheera is*Nossk:*looks down at Sheera and looks back at his subordinates* what happened here?Ukard Marauder: the Darsants encountered a couple of Mammal intruders and...i think they hit a gas pipe. one of them was on the side of the fire and ran.*looks down at Sheera* not sure about this one, though.Nossk:*gets down on one knee, places two of his fingers on Sheera's neck to check a pulse, and learns that she is alive* this one is alive.Ukard Marauder-2: heh.*aims his assault rifle at Sheera* not for long, she isn't. >: )Nossk:*grabs the Ukard's gun by it's barrel* hold it!*stands up and he moves the rifle away from Sheera* i have something better in mind.*picks up Sheera's Vespian Quarterstaff* take her and follow me.*both Ukard Marauders grabs Sheera by the arms and drags her away as they follow Nossk. later, Nossk and the Ukards dragging Sheera arrives in the base's command center, where they approach a male Ukard name Gask, Chieftain of the tribe, as he looks at a computer screen, when he turns to his left and sees his right-hand reptile and his Ukard subordinates with the female Wolf*Gask: what's this you got?Nossk: it turns out we got a couple of Mammal intruders, they're what was causing trouble in the base. we have one and but other escaped and is now roaming somewhere around the base freely.Gask: hmph, figured it was those flea-bitten Mammals. so why did you bring one of them here?Nossk: i have no doubt that the Mammals are from that village deep into Muskana. which means, she could make a useful hostage in case if they retaliate, a bargaining chip to whatever demands we make, and bait for the Mammal that's in the base. >: )Gask: hmmm...*ponders to himself* yes, she could be very useful.*grins devilishly* good idea, Nossk!^^ now, as for the Mammal that's wondering around...*meanwhile, in a room that's somewhere in the base, Zack injects himself with a Stim Injector he found and tosses it away. mixed with feelings of anger, for Sheera not listening to him, and guilt, for abandoning her to the Reptilians, he kicks a chair away, flips a table over, and slams his fist against a wall a couple of time. after that, he places his forehead on the wall*Zack: blast it...why didn't you listen to me, Sheera...? why...Gask(speakers): attention, everyone! this is Chieftain Gask with an important announcement. there's a Mammal in the base, a white Canine, specifically. you are hereby ordered to shoot this Canine on sight and bring me his head. the first one to kill him will be greatly rewarded. happy hunting, everyone! and for the Mammal that's here, i have your friend here in the command center with me. if you want her, you'll have to come and get her. i'll be waiting. >: )Zack:*reloads his SMG and readies himself* don't worry, Sheera. i'm coming.*Zack exits the room and moves down the hall, filled with determination to rescue Sheera from Gask. no matter the obstacle, no matter how many Reptilians there, no matter what kind of weapons they have in their arsenal, nothing will stand in his way from saving Sheera*End of Chapter 2...

Description
An illustrated scene from ZackWriter23 ‘s fantasy action story, Elysium! Zack and Sheera are busting a military base, when their foe ends up turning some big guns on them. Very big scary guns.

Elysium - Ch.2: Base Assault*Zack, a young male Wolf-Fox hybrid, wakes up in a forest with no memories of the past 2 months of his life and the only clue of his past is a Strange Cube Object. he explores the forest to figure out where he is and learns that it's territory to a tribe of Reptilians from Kladehr when one of them ambushed him, but he was saved by a young female Wolf name Sheera, a native of Muskana, who was on a mission to rescue her brother, Jaedon, and his team who went missing in a town called Erith. Zack joins her and they both move towards Erith, fighting groups of Reptilians along the way. they then found a wounded Raccoon Militiaman name Tiso, who was part of Jaedon's team that went missing. he tells Sheera that he brother and the others were captured in Erith, but also warns them to not enter the town. before dying of his wounds, he tells her that the Reptilians has taken over an old military base and possesses enough weapons to threaten the safety of Kuuma, Sheera's home village. with a new objective, both Zack and Sheera moves through Joth Woods to get to the base and end the Reptilian threat. they both arrive at the edge of a cliff overlooking an old military base that show signs of a battle that took place years ago, given how parts of it has sustain damage. most likely by the Trasan during their Invasion. Zack takes out his G18 Marksman Rifle and uses it's scope to observe the base. he sees that the base itself appears to have functioning power and sees a several Reptilians patrolling the exterior of said base, while the rest of the tribe are likely inside*Zack:*lowers his rifle* this must be the base your friend was talking about.Sheera:*speaks sarcastically* no, really? i thought the base Tiso was talking about was further up North.Zack: okay, miss sass, i get it. XP*looks through the scope of his rifle again* hmmm, this is definitely a Cheklaw Imperial Base. i recognize the design.Sheera: you've seen bases like this before?Zack: only a couple of times during my travels. though, they were in worst shape then this and had either monsters or Bandits inhabiting them.Sheera: i see. any way to get inside?Zack: well, the front door is obviously a no go. even if we knocked and ask them politely to let us in. hmmm...*sees a metal bridge that's over a deep chasm on the right side of the base and lowers his rifle again* there's a bridge leading to the right side of the base. maybe that could get us in without the Reptiles being alerted to our presence. let's check it out, shall we?^^*arms himself his M10 SMG and moves to his right*Sheera:*follows Zack* so, once we get inside, what do we do next? kill every lizard we see?Zack: no, that'd be suicidal. we need to go after their leader. once we kill him, the whole tribe will scatter. and that'll be one less problem for your village.^^Sheera: sounds like you've done this before.Zack: it's something i was taught a couple of years ago. "to win a battle against an unrelenting force, you must decapitate the head that drives the body. without the head, the body dies and becomes cold." it's worked for me in the past.^^ well...*pushes his goggles up a bit* most of the time.Sheera: hmm?Zack: it's...a long story, and i rather not talk about it.*both Zack and Sheera proceeds to move through the forest and moves down a hill that would lead them to where the bridge would, but instead, they encounter a dead Rak Fodder on the ground with a Nit'vak Nail Rifle next to him and a dead Utahraptor with a few nails in it. indicating the the raptor is responsible for the dead Rak, who in turn killed it*Zack: is that a Utahraptor? are there usually Utahraptors here?Sheera: i don't think so. i know that their territory is like somewhere East of here. which means they're either moving territories or these scale-brains stole their eggs and are after them because of it.Zack: or something is driving them out of their territory.*picks up the Nit'vak Nail Rifle after discarding his marksman rifle and examines it*Sheera: that's a strange-looking weapon. what is it?Zack: it's called an Nit'vak Nail Rifle, named after an endangered species native to Kladehr that can shoot needle-like quills from it's tail, and is one of the few weapons made by the Reptilians.Sheera: what do you mean "one of the few?"Zack: have you notice the weapons the Reptilians were carrying when we fought them?*Sheera nods in response* most of their weapons comes from either the Koshar Regime or the Cheklaw Empire. during the Enor War, back when the Hegemony was at the height of their power, they only managed to develop a few weapons, like the nail rifle here. because of that, they've resorted to steal weapons and combat vehicles from both the Regime and the Empire, either through taking them their corpses or robbing their supply lines.Sheera:*scoffs* they sound more like scavengers then an empire.Zack: from what i heard, Kladehr wasn't exactly resourceful to build guns, cannons, or tanks. so their options were limited. even more so now that they're in tribes. anyway, let's keep going. and be on guard for any Raptors.*both Zack and Sheera, as she readies her Vespian Quarterstaff, continues to move until they both arrive outside of the woods where they see the bridge leading to the other side of the chasm. however, they also see several Utahraptors, along with 5 dead Raptors on the ground, attacking 2 Rak Fodders, both armed with Nit'vak Nail Rifles, a single Letra Scout, armed with an M10 SMG, and a single Ukard Marauder, also armed with an M10 SMG, leading them, while there are 2 Raks and a single Letra dead on the ground. as one of the Utahraptors attacks one of the Raks, killing him by biting into his neck and ripping his throat out, and another dies as it gets shot, the Ukard runs onto the bridge as he approaches a Letra Grenadier setting an M137 Demolition Charge on the bridge*Ukard Marauder: are the charges set yet!?Letra Grenadier:*pushes a button on the Demo Charge as the light on it turns from green to red* charges are set, sir!Ukard Marauder: everyone, across the bridge! now!*both he and his Letra subordinate runs across the bridge as the Letra Scout and Rak runs back on the bridge as they're being chased by the Utahraptors, but one of the Raptors jumps on top of the Letra Scout and kills him by biting into the back of his head*Zack: oh crap, they're gonna blow up the bridge! O.O come on!*both he and Sheera runs towards the bridge*Ukard Marauder:*he and his subordinates gets across the bridge, meeting up with another Letra Scout, armed with a G18 Marksman Rifle, and speaks to the Letra Grenadier* blow the bridge, now!*the Letra Grenadier takes out a Detonator, pulls the trigger, the Demo Charges makes a speed-up beeping sound, and explodes, destroying the bridge and killing the Raptors that attempted to across. Zack and Sheera stops when they see the bridge explode. after the smoke from the explosion clears, the Letra Scout notices Zack and Sheera on the other side of the chasm*Letra Scout: Mammals!*aims his marksman rifle at Zack and Sheera, but his Ukard superior lowers his rifle*Ukard Marauder: don't! they're no threat to us. let the Raptors have their fun with the Mammals. >: )*walks away as his subordinates follow him*Rak Fodder: hehe, have fun with the Raptors, suckers!*walks away with the other Reptilians, laughing*Zack:*both he and Sheera looks behind and sees 4 Utahraptors emerging from the forest as they hisses* ah, crap.*both Zack and Sheera readies their weapon at the Velociraptors charges at them. Zack fires his Nit'vak Nail Rifle at both Raptors and manages to kill one of them, with the metal spikes from his weapon impaling it's skin, as it's corpse drops on the ground, but the second Raptor jumps on top of him, dropping him on the ground and his nail rifle, as it attempts to bite into Zack's neck. however, he holds the Utahraptor's mouth open as he struggles against it, until he kicks it in the chest with his foot, stunting the Raptor, and he quickly takes his Hunter Combat Knife out and stabs it in the head with, killing it as it collapses on the ground. meanwhile, one of the other Utahraptors attacks Sheera with it's teeth, but she quickly dodges it and uses her quarterstaff to hit the back of the Raptor's neck hard, smashing it's spine as it collapses on the ground, dead. suddenly, the last Utahraptor bites into Sheera's left arm and she briefly screams in pain as she drops her Vespian Quarterstaff. she struggles to get the Raptor to let go of her arm, but as it's teeth goes deep into her arm, blood dripping out, a purple aura swirls around her right wrist up to her hand and a small dark purple energy orb forms in her said hand soon after. she then uses it by slamming it into the Raptor's face, creating a small explosion that blows half it's face off, lets go of Sheera's arm, and collapses on the ground as it dies*Zack:*stands up off the ground and picks up his Nit'vak Nail Rifle when he notices Sheera having her right hand on her lower arm* are you okay? what happened?Sheera:*her lower arm bleeds through her right hand* ah...i'm...i'm fine. stupid lizard bit my arm. >_: )Letra Scout:*approaches his Letra comrade* hey, look what i got.^^*shows him an M4 Frag Grenade*Letra Scout-2: huh? where did you find that?Letra Scout: from a small case of grenades in that Drake over there. what do you think?^^Letra Scout-2: i think you should bring those grenades inside the base to add the rest of the weapons we've gathered. besides, only Ukards and Grenadiers can use those.Letra Scout: how come they can only use them? i can throw a grenade just as well as...*gets shot in the back of the head and dies as he collapses on the ground and drops his grenade*Letra Scout-2: huh!? O.O*looks forward and sees Zack* Mammal! Mam-...*gets shot multiple times by Zack's pistols until he falls on the ground and dies*Ukard Marauder:*sees Zack and Sheera charging towards their position* slay the Mammals!*both Ukard Marauders and their Rak subordinates fires at Zack and Sheera, but he quickly gets behind the Drake Attack Helicopter to take cover from the Ukards, who stands on the platform where the elevator is, as he fires at the Rak Fodders while dodging their shots, killing 2 of them while the last is taking out by Sheera, who swings her quarterstaff against his face, knocking him out as he falls on the ground. after that, 2 Letra Strikers, both armed with Kukri Knives, jumps down from one of the intact pipes, hisses at Sheera, and attacks her. meanwhile, Zack reloads his pistols as the Ukards continues to fire at him. as he waits for them to reload, he sees the M4 Frag Grenade the Letra Scout was holding on the ground, picks it up, pushes the button on top of it, let it beep a couple of times, and then he throws it at the Ukards and explodes, killing them both as their corpses are flown off the platform and lands on the ground. meanwhile, one of the Letra Strikers attacks Sheera with his Kukri Knife, but she blocks his attack with her quarterstaff, sees the second Letra Striker charging at her to her left, pushes the first Striker and swings her quarterstaff against the second Striker's face hard, and knocks him out as he falls on the ground. the first Striker attacks Sheera again, but she quickly dodges his attack, jabs him in the forehead, stunning him for a brief moment, hits him in the stomach, and strikes him in the back of the head hard, knocking him out as he collapses on the ground*Sheera:*pants a bit* is that all of them? anymore scaly butts i should kick? >: )Zack: easy now, you'll have plenty of more scaly butts to kick once we get inside.^^ also, look what i got.*shows Sheera an M4 Frag Grenade* i found a few of these grenades in a case inside that Drake over there.*puts the grenade back on his belt* these will cause some damage.^^Sheera:*thinks to herself as she smiles* saves me from destroying the place.*speaks to Zack directly* wait, what did you call it? a...Drake? like a Dragon?Zack: well, actually, it's called an M28 Attack Helicopter. the Drake name is like a nickname for these models.Sheera: i see.*looks at the M28 Drake Attack Helicopter, ponders to herself, and speaks to Zack directly* do people in the outside world use them?Zack: ummm...kind of. since the current government uses their own attack helicopters, they have no need for a Drake. so, the only people who flies them besides the Reptilians are a few Militia groups. others, however, just melts them down for scrap.Sheera: government? you mean there's a government like the Empire outside of Muskana? o.oZack:*chuckles* oh no.^^ the current government is the Enor Federation, they're like the Koshar Regime, except it isn't Canine-centric and oppressive. they're trying to restore civilization to the Wild Lands after the Trasan did a number on it. remember that guerrilla war i mentioned the Reptilian Tribes were fighting against Enor? well, because of that, progress has been slow.Sheera: oh. so...it's still hell out there, huh?Zack: eh, it's not bad. those who aren't living in the safety of the Federation are surviving on their own, working hard to make something out of what they have, helping each other to live another day, that sort of thing. even if other people prefers the easy solution and just take what people got.Sheera:*thinks to herself* hmmm, i guess it isn't that bad out. shame our first encounter with the outside world had to be unpleasant...Zack: anyway, we should get inside before more Reptilians arrive to see what's going on.*Sheera nods, both she and Zack walks up the stairs, enters the elevator, pushes a button, the elevator doors closes, and it goes down. as it goes down, he holsters both his pistols and takes out his M10 SMG* okay, Sheera, we're now entering the Boneripper's den. we'll need to be careful, less we want every Reptilian in the base coming after us.Sheera: heh, if they do, i'll disintegrate them all without breaking a sweat. >: )Zack: don't get cocky. they may not be the Hegemony, but they aren't to be taken lightly. hence why we shouldn't take on the entire tribe. we just need to take out their Chieftain to put an end to threat they pose.Sheera: and where are we gonna find him? search the whole base until we bump into him?Zack: he'll most likely be in the command center.*the elevator stops and the doors behind him and Sheera opens* here we are. let's go.*Zack readies his SMG, both he and Sheera exits the elevator, and they move down the hallway. the interior of the base shows signs of age, 23 years of abandonment which has lead to a state of disrepair and has allowed critters to make it as their home. because of the lack of maintenance, despite the presence of the Reptilians, the base is mostly dimly lit, security cameras and automated defenses are non-functioning, and the only devices that would are working are the automated doors, intercoms, and some of the computers. technology of the Cheklaw Empire, compared to the Koshar Regime's technology, was considered outdated, bulky, and rough around the edges. however, their weapons were more effective during combat then that of the Regime. some would even compare the two factions to that of a scalpel and a hammer. but it all depends on one's perspective and opinion. both Zack and Sheera arrives in a rectangle-shaped room that has several wooden crates, a small pipe coming out of the ceiling that leaking water onto the floor, making a small puddle, debris blocking the door on the right side of the room, and is inhabited by 2 Letra Scouts, both armed with M10 SMGs, and 3 Rak Fodders, 2 of them armed with Nit'vak Nail Rifle and one armed with an M13 Pistol, as one of them sits on top of a wooden crate. upon noticing them, Zack and Sheera hides behind the crates and overhears a conversation between the Letras*Letra Scout: what was that noise earlier? sounded like an explosion.Letra Scout-2: a patrol got overrun by a pack of Raptors and had to blow up the bridge to prevent them getting to the base.Letra Scout: Raptors? i thought their territory was further away from here? what are they doing out here?Letra Scout-2:*shrugs* beats me.Letra Scout: you think it has anything to do with the Raptors we got upstairs?Letra Scout-2: that or some deadbrain Dodo stole some eggs from their nest.Letra Scout: can't say i blame 'em. we've been eating nothing but insect meat and Imperial Rations for weeks.*sighs* you know what i could go for? a nice cooked Parasaur steak, with some hot sauce and...Letra Scout-2: will you shut it! you're making me hungry...Sheera:*whispers* did they say they got Raptors upstairs?Zack:*whispers* it's not uncommon for these Reptilians to have tamed animals like Raptors. sometimes they even have the big Dinosaurs tamed, like a Anklyosaur. but something tells me there's more to it then that.*takes out an M4 Frag Grenade, pushes the button on top of it, and throws it at the Reptilians as it lands next to one of the Letras*Letra Scout: huh?*looks down and sees the grenade* holy crap! grenade! O.O*the Reptilians tries to run from the grenade, until it explodes and kills both Letras and a single Rak. Zack gets out from behind the wooden crates and fires on the last 2 Raks, killing them both easily. after that, both he and Sheera moves towards the door on the other side of the room, it automatically opens by sliding to it's left, and arrive in a stairwell going up. they move up the stairs until they arrive at the top, which takes them to another that automatically slides open and leads them to a hallway, which has 3 square-shaped ceiling windows that are broken, a couple of military barricades on the opposite side of the hall, and has a few Elysian skeletal corpses, wearing Cheklaw Imperial uniforms, on the floor*Sheera:*looks at one of the Elysian skeletons on the floor* this guy looks like a soldier. was he...?Zack: a Cheklaw Imperial Soldier? yep.*looks around* hmmm, looks like they were making a stand here. preventing any Trasan from moving any further into the base. didn't do much it seems, poor saps didn't stand a chance. let's keep moving.*Zack and Sheera moves through the hallway, where the door automatically slides open, leading them outside where they see a catwalk, that has a couple of Explosive Barrels, leading to the other side that's far above the ground, and a single Letra Scout, armed with a G18 Marksman Rifle, with his back turn, until he turns around when he hears the door open and sees the two Canines. this causes Zack to charge towards the Letra, ram into him, dropping his rifle, and sending him over the rails where he falls to his death as he screams. his screams gains the attention of 2 Letra Grenadiers, one armed with an M10 SMG and the other armed with a marksman rifle, and a single Ukard Marauder, armed with an M10 SMG*Ukard Marauder: Mammals!? how did they get here!? destroy the catwalk now!Letra Grenadier:*takes out an M4 Frag Grenade, pushes the button on top of it, and throws it at the Explosive Barrels* eat this!*both the grenade and the barrels explodes, destroying the catwalk*Zack: ah crap!*gets behind the metal coverings underneath the railings to use for cover*Sheera:*speaks in a sarcastic tone* oh, way to go, lizardlips! that will certainly stop us! >_>*the Reptilians fires at her* whoa!*gets behind the coverings and speaks to Zack* that won't stop us, will it?Zack: nope.*discards his Nit'vak Nail Rifle as he picks ups the G18 Marksman Rifle* but it does mean we'll have to take the long way to get to the command center.Sheera: hey, if it means beating up more lizards, i'm fine with it.^^*Zack then peeks out from behind cover and notices an Explosive Barrel behind the Reptilians. he then uses his marksman rifle to fire a single shot at the barrel, causing it to explode and kill all 3 Reptilians* nice shot.^^*Zack smiles and both he and Sheera moves to their left where they walk down a small flight of metal stairs that leads them to a path going down to their right, where it leads to a metal bridge. however, an Ukard Marauder, armed with an M10 SMG, leading a single Letra Scout, armed with a G18 Marksman Rifle, a single Letra Grenadier, armed with an M10 SMG, and 3 Rak Fodders, all armed with M13 Pistols, runs across the bridge, the Ukard pushes a button on a control panel next to the bridge, and the bridge itself de-extends. after that, the Reptilian group begins firing at Zack and Sheera and they both quickly get behind a couple of military barricades that are on the path. Zack takes out an M4 Frag Grenade, throws it at the Reptilians, and explodes, killing a Letra Scout and 2 of the Raks. he then takes out his SMG and uses it to fire at the Reptilians, managing to kill the Letra Grenadier, the last Rak, and fatally injuring the Ukard as he collapses on the floor. as he and Sheera moves towards the bridge, while reloading his SMG, the Ukard takes out a Flare Gun, aims it at the sky, shoots a flare in the air, and chuckles as he soon dies from his injuries*Sheera: did he just shoot a flare?Zack: oh boy, i sense trouble coming. o_o*moments later, a single M20 Buzzard Gyrocopter, piloted by an Ukard, arrives as it flies above the two Canines* aaaand there's the trouble!Sheera: what the hell is that!? O.O*the Buzzard fires it's frontal machine gun at her and Zack* ah!*runs under a metal covering that next to some debris*Zack:*runs to dodge the Buzzard's fire* crap, crap, crap, crap!*jumps over the same military barricade he was hiding behind moments ago and quickly hides behind it as he pants* by Elysia, they got functioning Buzzards? just great. gonna need to shoot the rotors if i'm gonna take it now.*takes out his G18 Marksman Rifle and as soon as the Buzzard stops firing, he aims his rifle at the Buzzard's left rotor, and fires at it a couple of times, causing it to spin out of control and crashes into a nearby structure, exploding and destroying the aircraft. he sighs in relief, reloads his rifle, gets out from behind the barricade, and looks around for Sheera* Sheera? Sheera!Sheera:*crawls out from under the metal covering and stands up off the ground* did someone call my name?Zack:*approaches Sheera* thank Elysia you're okay.^^ are you hurt?Sheera: i'm fine, but what was that just attacked us?Zack: that was an M20 Buzzard Gyrocopter, small aircrafts that acts as support to friendly ground troops. that's worrying. when Tiso said the Reptilians got a lot weapons, i thought he meant they have a lot guns like...machine guns, rocket launchers, stuff like that. but if they got Gyrocopters functioning...what other vehicles do they have?Sheera: so what do we do about it?Zack: we stick to the plan. we kill the leader of this tribe and it's all over. they'll be no threat to your village.^^Sheera: well, let's hurry up and finish this.*Zack nods, approaches the bridge control console, pushes a button on it, and the bridge extends to the other side. both he and Sheera moves across the bridge to reach the other side, where they go through a door that automatically slides open and walks down some stairs, which leads them to a hallway. they move through the hallway until they arrive in a room that has several military supply crates, a door on the opposite side of the room, which is locked indicated by the red lights around it, another door on the right, several metal cages that has 4 Utahraptors, 2 Troodons, and a single Dilophosaur, that has it's mouth bind with a leather, likely to prevent it from spitting poison, and is inhabited by a single Ukard Marauder, armed with an M10 SMG, a single Letra Scout, also armed with an SMG, and a couple of Rak Fodders, both armed with Nit'vak Nail Rifles. upon seeing the Reptilians, both Zack and Sheera quickly hides behind one of the supply crates and overhears a conversation between the Ukard and his Letra subordinate*Ukard Marauder: any word on the Delivery Team?Letra Scout: still nothing.Ukard Marauder:*snarls* what the hell is taking them so long? they're to drop off the dumb animals and return here for the next load.Letra Scout: i've been meaning to ask, why are we doing this again?Ukard Marauder: doing what?Letra Scout: capturing animals and sending them to that ruined town. like, what's the purpose of it?Ukard Marauder: how should i know? Gask is the only one who knows what goes on in Erith.Letra Scout: have you tried asking him?Ukard Marauder: no, because unlike you, i prefer to do my job and not ask stupid questions.Letra Scout: how are my questions stupid? i'm only asking the significance...Ukard Marauder: the significance being is that if you don't keep your mouth shut, i'm gonna blow it off and feed you to these animals!Letra Scout: alright, alright!*walks away as he grumbles to himself* sheesh, i was only asking...Sheera:*whispers* did he say Erith? they're bringing animals there? why? was this what Adak saw?Zack:*whispers* perhaps. but if we're gonna get any answers, it's Gask we're gonna have to ask. heh, that rhymes.^^Sheera:*whispers* assuming he's in a talkative mood, that is.*Zack takes out his G18 Marksman Rifle and uses it to shoot the Letra Scout in the head, killing him instantly*Ukard Marauder: what the hell!? Mammals! kill them!*both the Ukard Marauder and his Rak subordinates fires at Zack, but he quickly dodges their fire, takes out both his M13 Pistols, and begins firing at the Reptilians, killing both Raks. as the Ukard fires at Zack, he quickly gets behind another supply crate, reloads his pistols, holsters one of them, takes out his Hunter Combat Knife, gets out from the crate, and fires at the Ukard's shoulders, injuring him. he then charges at the Ukard, stabs him directly in the head, killing him instantly, takes his knife out, and kicks his corpse to the floor*Sheera: nice job.^^*looks at the caged Dinosaurs* what do we do about them? should we...release them?Zack:*collects some ammo and a grenade from the dead Reptilians* do you want to release them?Sheera: not really, no.Zack: then let's be on our way.^^*both he and Sheera leaves the room by going through the door on the right side of the room and going through a hallway. about halfway through, he stops when he hears something and whispers to Sheera* stop!Sheera: what is it?Zack: shhh!*hears what sounds like approaching stomps and has an idea who or what they belong to* uh oh. o.o*further down the hallway, a single Ligrat scurries on the floor, when suddenly a big Reptilian foot stomps on it and kills it. the foot belongs to a Darsant Bruiser, armed with an RS38 Combat Shotgun. Darsants are one of the native species of Kladehr that were subjugated by the Ukards into the Hegemony to act as heavy troopers or laborers. they are strong, but not very smart. he is accompanied by another Darsant Bruiser, who is also armed with a combat shotgun, as they both move down the hallway and encounter both Zack and Sheera*Darsant Bruiser:*growls and chuckles* Mammals get blasted!*both he and his comrade fires their shotguns at the two Canines*Zack:*dodges their fire* holy crap, Darsants! get back! O.O*fires his M10 SMG at them as he moves backwards*Sheera: pfft, i ain't afraid of no oversize lizard.*readies her Vespian Quarterstaff* hey, you big ugly scalies!*charges at one of the Darsants, as he reloads his shotgun* have a taste of Vespian metal! >: )Zack: Sheera, wait! O.O*Sheera uses her quarterstaff to whack the Darsant across the face and then goes to hit him in the stomach, but is stopped by the Darsant as he grabs it, pulls it out of her hands easily, and aims his shotgun at her. she quickly dodges out of the way of the shotgun blast when fired by moving to her left. she then kicks him in the stomach, but having little effect on him as he hits her in the face with her own quarterstaff, and she grabs onto her quarterstaff, jumps up, and kicks the Darsant in the face hard with both her feet. this causes him to let go of the quarterstaff and backs up into his comrade, who then pushes him away with his elbow. the first Darsant growls in anger as he aims his shotgun at Sheera, now armed with her Vespian Quarterstaff, and fires at her, who dodges his shot but hits a pipe that turns out to be full of gas, causing it to make a big explosion that kills both Darsants and the blast radius pushes Sheera away as she collapses on the floor, dropping her quarterstaff, and falls unconscious. meanwhile, Zack, who was taking cover behind some crates, peeks out to see that the way forward is blocked with fire and debris*Zack: oh no...Sheera!*stands up, runs out from behind the crates and towards the fire to see Sheera on the other side, laying on the floor, unconsciously. then sighs in relief* oh, thank Elysia. Sheera, wake up! wake up!*suddenly, 2 Ukard Marauders, both armed with M52 Assault Rifles, runs down the hall on the other side of the fire and fires their weapons at Zack. he dodges the shots and fires back at them, but his shots misses them* ah! no! i'm not leaving her!*gets shot in the left upper arm* ah! >.<*places his right hand on his arm on his wounded arm and makes a difficult decision* i'm sorry, Sheera...*runs back down the hall*Ukard Marauder:*lowers his rifle* hmph, coward.*both he and his comrade turns around to see a male Ukard name Nossk, second-in-command of the tribe, walking down the hall and stops at where Sheera is*Nossk:*looks down at Sheera and looks back at his subordinates* what happened here?Ukard Marauder: the Darsants encountered a couple of Mammal intruders and...i think they hit a gas pipe. one of them was on the side of the fire and ran.*looks down at Sheera* not sure about this one, though.Nossk:*gets down on one knee, places two of his fingers on Sheera's neck to check a pulse, and learns that she is alive* this one is alive.Ukard Marauder-2: heh.*aims his assault rifle at Sheera* not for long, she isn't. >: )Nossk:*grabs the Ukard's gun by it's barrel* hold it!*stands up and he moves the rifle away from Sheera* i have something better in mind.*picks up Sheera's Vespian Quarterstaff* take her and follow me.*both Ukard Marauders grabs Sheera by the arms and drags her away as they follow Nossk. later, Nossk and the Ukards dragging Sheera arrives in the base's command center, where they approach a male Ukard name Gask, Chieftain of the tribe, as he looks at a computer screen, when he turns to his left and sees his right-hand reptile and his Ukard subordinates with the female Wolf*Gask: what's this you got?Nossk: it turns out we got a couple of Mammal intruders, they're what was causing trouble in the base. we have one and but other escaped and is now roaming somewhere around the base freely.Gask: hmph, figured it was those flea-bitten Mammals. so why did you bring one of them here?Nossk: i have no doubt that the Mammals are from that village deep into Muskana. which means, she could make a useful hostage in case if they retaliate, a bargaining chip to whatever demands we make, and bait for the Mammal that's in the base. >: )Gask: hmmm...*ponders to himself* yes, she could be very useful.*grins devilishly* good idea, Nossk!^^ now, as for the Mammal that's wondering around...*meanwhile, in a room that's somewhere in the base, Zack injects himself with a Stim Injector he found and tosses it away. mixed with feelings of anger, for Sheera not listening to him, and guilt, for abandoning her to the Reptilians, he kicks a chair away, flips a table over, and slams his fist against a wall a couple of time. after that, he places his forehead on the wall*Zack: blast it...why didn't you listen to me, Sheera...? why...Gask(speakers): attention, everyone! this is Chieftain Gask with an important announcement. there's a Mammal in the base, a white Canine, specifically. you are hereby ordered to shoot this Canine on sight and bring me his head. the first one to kill him will be greatly rewarded. happy hunting, everyone! and for the Mammal that's here, i have your friend here in the command center with me. if you want her, you'll have to come and get her. i'll be waiting. >: )Zack:*reloads his SMG and readies himself* don't worry, Sheera. i'm coming.*Zack exits the room and moves down the hall, filled with determination to rescue Sheera from Gask. no matter the obstacle, no matter how many Reptilians there, no matter what kind of weapons they have in their arsenal, nothing will stand in his way from saving Sheera*End of Chapter 2...