By Jason Varian

A TYPICAL DAY IN THE WASTELANDS:part II
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   "Nothin' beats meat darts," proclaimed F*I*D*O as he closed the
door. "Hey, I see you two are suited up!  Mind if I join you?"
   "Not at all," said Scratchy.  "Right now I feel like taking on Overkill
with nothing but a steel chain."
    Minutes later F*I*D*O was suited up, and the trio emerged into the
barren wastelands.
    After about two hours of bloodshed, the party happened upon a huge
puddle of blood.
    "Umm..guys," mumbled F*I*D*O hesitantly, "this is human blood."
    The party followed the gory trail about ten feet to a secluded spot in
the side of a cliff.  There they found a bloodied Weezal Dub, their beloved
squad leader.
    "Punisher, Bladin Warrior, and I were ambushed down on the fifth
sublevel," mumbled a semi-concious Dub.  "I managed to escape so that I could
get reinforcements.  Please... help them."
    "We'll git'em," growled Scratchy.  "Take my telegrasp and get back to
the complex."
     As soon as the telegrasp hit Dub's hands, a blinding flash of light
ensued, temporarily blinding the three.  When their sight returned, Dub was
gone.         "Good luck, Dub," whispered VITAS.
     When the three recruits finally reached the fifth sublevel, it wasn't
hard to determine where the battle was raging.  Following the booming sounds
of herculeans and z-tempests, the trio climbed a hill to get a better
perspective of the situation.  What they saw was not a pretty sight.
Half a dozen Hydrite Guards had Punisher and a blood stained Bladin Warrior
backed against a wall.
     "On three," whispered Scratchy.  "One...Two...Three!!!"
     With that, Scratchy, VITAS, and F*I*D*O fired their various range
weapons into the backs of the unsuspecting Hydrites.  Two fell immediatly,
missing limbs.  A third was blown right into The Punisher's waiting xendrix.
The other three Hydrites turned, and fired their herculeans at the rescuers.
Two of the three hit, and the third just missed its mark.  VITAS took a
shot in the gut, and crumbled.  The other hit F*I*D*O in the right arm,
nearly severing it.
     Seeing his friend and his brother go down, Scratchy's vision became
fogged by a red haze.  He saw VITAS and F*I*D*O telegrasp back to the complex
before letting out a blood-chilling roar.
     When the haze dissipated, Scratchy was greeted by a horrified look from
The Punisher.  Body parts were everywhere, and the ground was muddied by all
the green blood.  Scratchy stumbled over to Bladin Warrior's motionless body.
     "He's not dead," stated The Punisher flatly.  "Yet."
     With that, he took a telegrasp out of his pack and attached it to
Bladin's body and pushed the button to bring the fallen warrior
home.
     "Hopefully someone will find him outside the complex and help him out,"
said Punisher.Let's go home."
     With that the two soldiers began their long trek back to the complex...

Catacombs of the Bear Cult - (214) 669-9052 - OOII (1:124/6304)

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