                RETRIBUTION

PART 18 BY THE CHOIR BOYZ TEAM..........................


Cheetah would be spared from the Wastelands.  She had been
congratulated time and time again for her contributions to the
cause, but she was too inexperienced to take any further part
of the plan.  Smith&Jones was recovering from the resurrection
process, but the medical staff could not explain why his body
was still saturated with alcohol.  With the plan about to be
set in motion, all medical staff were put on alert for
imminent casualties.  There was no time for them to tend to
Smith&Jones.  Since he was to be an intricate part of a
possible third wave, he had to be dried out fast.  Cheetah had
the disgusting task of getting Smith&Jones "back to normal".

The recruits deployed to their various assignments.  Time
passed.  There had been no communications from Taraclese,
Trax, nor Dire-Wolf.  The three squadron leaders paced back
and forth with concern for these recruits.  Maybe something
had happened to them.  Osprey scanned the Frontier Log, but
there was no mention of them.  Buster had sent several coded
transmissions, all with the same message, "nothing to report."
Then a coded transmission from Buster echoed in the halls.
"Located Hawk's second base.  It's on 5.  But no sign of
Hawk." Buster was not equipped with a trikorder, so he did not
venture too close to the base.  Landmines may have been placed
to trap an unsuspecting or overly eager recruit.  But his
mission was completed and valuable intelligence had been
gathered.  Scarecrow jotted down the coordinates of the base.

Eliminator was ready.  He had checked his weapons, armor, and
equipment over and over again.  He was prepared to scout the
entire known Wastelands for Hawk.  But with the silence from
the other scouts and Buster's transmission led him to believe
that Hawk was somewhere on level 2, somewhere well concealed.
Eliminator represented the beginning of the "second wave" that
was about to turn the tides.  He considered stopping by the
Medical Center to see Cheetah, possibly for the last time.  He
dismissed the idea.  There was no time.  Phase two was
underway.

Eliminator scouted level 2 of the Wastelands, constantly
utilizing his trikorder.  No signs, no trails, no equipment
left behind.  There had recently been a Hydrite sweep which
made his job even more difficult.  He moved slowly to ensure
that he did not fall prey to a trap set by his quarry.  He
avoided any and all other predators within eyesight.  Far to
the west, Eliminator got a glimpse of what may have been a
camp fire.  Eliminator worked his way to the western most edge
of the Wastelands, constantly having to change his direction
to avoid the high winds that could take his weapons and
equipment.  By the time he reached the glimmering light, he
was exhausted from fighting the elements.  But the trip was
worth it.  Eliminator had found Hawk.

                                Michael Willis
                                Cleve Sanders

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