Betrayal | Tsu'tey

VIII

Luck
Syayvi
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"As I was saying, my boys were as good as the terrorist's. They called themselves Ochistit' Put' or, the 'clear path'." I quoted, "it was old propaganda and world views from decades ago that dug up the sour feelings in their stomachs that led to their treason." I recounted what I knew of them.

"So the whole war... all of it, was because of a sour feeling?" Jake scoffed.

"What are wars started on? A feeling. My force was three squads of five. I led group one, and we spearheaded most missions with others and accomplished record setting missions. Ones that, if I told you, I'd have to kill you." I exhaled deeply, satisfied with the memory of the guys.

"It was my finer years." I reminisced. Those blossoming feelings, the exchanged looks between Soren and I. The "oblivious boys". They knew, they knew I played favorites, but not one of them had ever dissatisfied or failed me. They were a tough bunch.

"I should've stuck by them." I sighed deeply.

"I'm not gonna tell you what you should've done, but it sounds like someone special did their job, and you did what you could." Jake patted my shoulder as the group stopped.

Grace eyed us, seemingly annoyed with my yammering.

"Relax, the story is over." I reassured with a grim smile.

"No, I was just waiting to hear more." Grace murmured and began setting up.

"Jake and I will scout the area around. We don't want any predators sneaking up on us." I gave Grace a brief smile.

"Yeah... this isn't your area of expertise anyway." Grace mumbled with a syringe cap wedged between her teeth.

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The duo ducked under some feathery ferns, turning a rooted corner to find brightly colored Helicordians. Spiraled orange plants. Jake stepped forward first, enamored with the interesting plant. The feathered tips almost beckon for a touch.

He touched one and it sunk down, disappearing into a small stalk.

Aria chuckled, going forward to touch one, which sunk too. The looked at each-other with wide eyes, full of child-like wonder and Jake reached for the next one. It led to a chain reaction of all of the plants pulling back, and revealing a massive creature. It roared in a high pitched trumpeting wail. A structure like a hammer on its skull, it was armored and Aria wasn't confident that her bullets could pierce it. If a Gau-19 can't, why would this gun?

Regardless, she flicked off the safety and aimed down the sights to get a good look at it.

It was a young one. It had a beak-like mouth that connected to the structure on its head.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot, you'll piss him off." Grace ordered through the throat microphones.

It trumpeted loudly and threw its weight around.

"It's already pissed off." Jake said, shaken.

Aria glanced at him, he's loosing his nerve.

"That armor's too thick. Trust me." Grace said.

"I see it, Grace. It's not adult yet. If you have an idea, now is the time." Her voice was calm. Too calm for someone faced with a several hundred ton animal.

"It's a territorial threat display. Do not run, or he'll charge." She warned.

"So, what do I do, dance with it?" Jake sassed.

"Just hold your ground." She advised.

It glowered and charged, waiting for them to run.

Instead, Aria lurched forward, near full sprint, meeting it in the middle with defiance. Jake shot out with her and shouted loudly at it. At this point she didn't want to make too much noise and attract something else, but all too late.

The titanothere retreated and Jake was jubilant.

"Yeah? Come on! What you got?" He taunted.

"Oh yeah, who's bad? That's right."

Every hair on Aria pricked up. She swiveled quickly and found a Thanator at the end of the barrel of her gun. It moved slowly, silently as Jake taunted the Titanothere. It's massive black form snaked between the branches of the tree like it wasn't several tons and the size of a school-bus. It leapt over the pair as the Titanothere retreated to the safety of its herd.

"Jake, we can't kill that." She said dryly.

"Then what? Your fuckin' fifty cal can't do anything?" He hissed loudly with panic dripping from his voice in thick globs.

"More like eighty, and it's not likely that I can take it down."

"Run! You idiots, run!" Grace shouted over the duo's conversation and the two turned, and set off sprinting into the forest. The pair weaved through roots and shoots of a bamboo like jets in a dog fight. Avoiding the huge predator, the two slipped into the roots of a tree. It was obviously temporary, and Aria slipped out the back.

The thanator was distracted by Jake's wild gunfire. It gave Aria about twenty seconds. She aimed down the sights, through her scope, at the beast, and squeezed the trigger.

As soon as she did, she set off running and Jake wasn't far behind. Jake was knocked to the ground with a heavy paw, it grabbed his backpack and swung Jake around like a chew toy. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't get a clear shot with the Thanator moving so violently.

In a stroke of quick wit, Jake unfastened the backpack and went flying towards Aria. She helped him up and they began sprinting again. And luckily, they found a waterfall not far away. It was a simple plunge for survival.