Scales Of Iron | an Indoraptor Story

IV: Ancestral

One day prior

"LOAD IN! LOAD IN!"

I had barely finished eating lunch when I had to move. Right as I stood up I started running to the armory to get some stuff on. I think they actually had some new stuff they had gotten from some arms dealer, AR-15s and some modern AKs I believe? Anyway, we had to get moving. Three squads got mobilized for this whole thing.

"Hey! Crisanto!" I yelled for my friend on the other side of the massive garage. He looked at me and turned, smiling as he did so. "Kasper! Are we in the same squad?" He asked as we walked towards eachother. "I think so, man. We haven't been briefed yet about the mission though," I said, tapping him on his shoulder. "I assume we gotta go get that Indoraptor thing I heard some people chatting about. Nice badge, by the way," I complemented. "Thanks, I got it sent here a few weeks ago by my mother back in the Philippines," Crisanto responded. "Squads Upsilon, Epsilon and Omicron, get into your respective vans," we heard over the intercom. As we piled in, I got a good look at the guys in my group. Most of us were american apart from Crisanto, but there was one russian guy.

"Alright, men, a quick brief before we get on with the mission," the captain said from the passenger side seat. "We're going against an indoraptor. Do not, and I mean do not hesitate to use lethal force if needed. Second, Crisanto, your callsign is Vector. Kasper, you're Whiskey. Sergei, you're Husk. Josh, you're Gravy, and Claude, you're Ranch. And if you can, try to bring it back alive," the captain said.

I was just sitting calmly in my place, resting my rifle against my shoulder. The weather was cold, as expected for the night, I guess. Thank God we had heating inside the van. The driver was talking with the captain about something, but I couldn't care enough to listen. My eyes were getting more and more tired each passing minute, just begging for me to sleep.

Well, they won in the end. The warm coat of slumber covered me as I drifted off, I just hoped I would have a pleasant dream tonight.

Next day

In truth, Ripper had barely been sleeping. His eyes were constantly trained on his adversary, Blue. Apollo was supposed to keep an eye on her, but it seems that sleep had taken him over. On several occasions he had let the night take him over, but he always managed to recover. Something ached at his mind, though the feeling was like a strange tingle. It could have just been his body trying to negate the pain from his wounds, but he didn't think it was that.

His daydream was cut short by Apollo waking up, followed by Blue. "Mornin'," Apollo said. "Weird freakin' dream I had last night," He followed. "What was it about?" Blue asked. "So, basically, I was living a completely different life. I was like, a different raptor or something?" Apollo explained. "Mhm," Ripper said.

Just then Ripper felt the quills on the back of his head and back stand up. An odd shiver was sent down his spine as he felt something was clearly off.

Suddenly, Ripper slowed down and sniffed the air. "What the hell are you doing?" Blue asked. "Gasoline... Gunpowder... Shit! We're being followed!" He alerted. "How long do we have? And who are they?" Apollo asked, slightly startled. "My guess is Ingen mercenaries. We've got around a minute and a half before they get here," Ripper answered.

Every member of the group was running as fast as they could, trying desperately to get away. It's not like they had the time to hide, since the van was catching up far too quickly. Before long, the vehicle was tailing them. "Fuck... do you guys have a plan?" Blue said. "Apollo, slow down and ram that van from the side," Ripper commanded. Just like that, Apollo slowed down and approached. The driver's side window opened and the driver pulled out a Glock 17 and began to fire at Apollo, aiming for his head. "OW! Son of a bitch!" Apollo yelled in pain after feeling some of the 9x19mm bullets connect with his thick hide. Thankfully the bullets were low calibre, so they couldn't penetrate his scales. Apollo was now in position. With one swift movement, he struck.