                RETRIBUTION

PART 5 BY THE CHOIR BOYZ TEAM......................


Eliminator left the room, as he had to prepare for his journey
and the pending meeting with the other recruits.  Scarecrow
took advantage of the moment to talk to Osprey alone.  Both
men felt uneasy with the task at hand, but both agreed that
the urgency outweighed the risk.  The fate of 19 recruits,
most new to this world of death and deceit, was in their
hands.  It had to be done!!!  A sense of insecurity had spread
throughout the Wastelands.  No recruit felt safe with the
plague that had spread like a cancer over the mountains,
radiation dumps, and the rest of the scarred planet that was
once Earth. It was difficult enough to deal with the elements,
the Warzone Terrain, and the vermin that preyed on the
innocent survivors.  But this other matter!  It had to be
dealt with.  He had to pay.  The Hydrites and "Overkill
himself" would have to wait.  There was a more "pressing"
matter at hand.  The matter of "revenge".  But Scarecrow knew
that Osprey did not trust Eliminator.  These two had dueled
many times in the Wastelands, and a fiery rivalry had evolved
that could never be quelled.  Eliminator was young and eager.
He was fearless and would venture into any domain, only to
suffer the consequences later.  But he seemed not to care.
Eliminator lived for the moment.  Osprey, on the other hand,
was cautious and calculating ....and patient.  He believed
that a lifetime may not be ample time to make his
transgressors atone for their mistakes.  He would wait.
Scarecrow offered a portion of his rations to Osprey and the
two forced the disgusting liquid into their bellies.  "What we
do to survive." said Osprey as the taste of the rations caused
his face to distort.  He then spotted his war torn face in
Scarecrow's Reflecto armor, and the sight of him trying to
swallow the rations caused him to laugh at himself.  With this
lighter moment, Scarecrow assured Osprey that Eliminator would
"do his part"............or Scarecrow would kill him.

The waters had started to boil a week or so earlier, as
Scarecrow sat in his cell in the Hydrite Prison.  He had been
kidnapped by the Hydrites during a raid of the Complex, but he
was not overly concerned.  After all, he had provided for his
squadron members and constructed a base just north of another
recruits base, a strangers base.  He made sure that the base
was well stocked and well defended against intruders and would
be looters.  The base was "HOT", like his squadron members
liked to call it.  He welcomed the quiet and the dark of his
cell.  He needed a short rest.  He knew that Black Widow and
Athena would look after things in his absence, and that
Smith&Jones....well...  And afterall, he could leave at any
moment.  The Hydrites had overlooked his telegrasp during his
capture.  But the serenity of the four walls was pierced by
the shrill and commotion emitting from the adjoining cell,
CELL A.  CELL A was the new home of a young, brash warrior who
seemed to never sleep.  Cell A housed Arctic Fox.

                                Michael Willis
                                Cleve Sanders

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