Chapter 3 [OLD]
I got addicted to arknights lore :/
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It was an Uneventful drive so far. Ignoring the fact gangsters roam the street, everything about gangsters roaming the street seems to be a common occurrence here to the point that people aren't even bothered.
As small traffic ensues I look around and find a lot of businesses set up. Ones that are small or notable ones like the Mama John's. Oh and by the way, have I ever told you that Mama John's appears every few blocks? And I'm getting sick and tired of seeing that stupid ass sign.
But anyways, I have specific things I'm looking for. And that's a land to set down a shop for Dogboy and scrap yards for parts. But that'll be hard, because this is a practically lawless area with gangsters enforcing the law. The two lane road is a one lane road, I locked the door just Incase someone takes advantage by how cramp the area Is.
Looking for a scrapyard? No problem, those are easy to spot. But looking for a spot to set up shop without competition? No chance.
'Maybe a food truck would do best..' Guyman said to himself.
After the traffic finally started moving again. Going left of an Intersection, Guyman parks by the side of the road. He looks around and goes to one of the long lines to Mama John's. Walking up on the line of people he asks the person In Front.
"Hey what's with the long line?" Guyman asks.
"Oh It's a umm... Line for Oripathy Suppressants. These days the line just keeps getting longer."
"I see... Well thanks for the answer." Guyman says. 'Oripathy? Is it a sort of disease or virus? And these are the amount of people lining up?' Guyman thought. 'Is It Airborne? Can It be contracted through touch? I need to report back.' He dashed back towards his Humvee and wears the Swat Gas Mask he bought.
'No time to waste come on, come on' The car engine fired up and he drove off. Forget taking pictures of the scrapyard and finding a spot to set up shop. With that many people lining up for suppressants; It must be a really contagious and dangerous disease or whatever It is.
-Timeskip-
I quickly left the city. Because I ain't fucking around with sickness. The road Is still pretty muddy so chances of my Humvee getting stuck Is high and the Gas Mask obscures a vision a bit, and the moisture on the window doesn't make It any better.
He starts seeing familiar areas such as the burnt down trees. 'Shit about to get bumpy again. Driving through this shithole I can really see the damage I did. And at approximately 5:06 PM, he arrives back at town.
Guyman spots multiple bulldozers, Excavators, and U.L.F. Soldiers building a defensive perimeter around Town. spotting multiple WW2 and Cold War Era tanks. One was a Tiger II and the other was a M60-Patton. And some armored cars, Sd... Kfz. Those are just random numbers I tell ya, that's why their names are hard to pronounce. Anyways they're a Half Track Hybrid Armored Vehicle, though a little bit modified more armor covering the tracks with some soldiers mounted on the top with a Browning .50 cal.
A spotlight then suddenly shines down on him, blinding him as he covers his eyes. It was from a watchtower, looking forward and squinting his eyes, he sees someone with a megaphone.
"State your business stranger!" The man yelled through the megaphone.
He gets out of his Humvee with both his hands raised. "Don't shoot! It's me, Guyman." After stating himself, the man on the megaphone tenses down.
"Oh so it's you." he signals his fellow troops to stand down and let Guyman in.
Re-entering his Humvee, he drove through with some soldiers still on guard. Driving to the middle of town, everything was out of power. Street lights, Traffic lights, everything was out of power. The only exception was the U.L.F. building and other buildings such as his bosses diner which ran on generators.
Arriving at the front of the Diner he drove to the Driveway and parked there. Exiting the Humvee and entering through the front door.
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[Inside the Diner]
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As he entered the Diner, the sound of customers chatting and utensils hitting the plates filled the air. Guyman hears a customer already homesick due to him only being here for Construction work. He then hears someone calling him, looking at the direction of the voice and he sees It was his colleague.
"Hey, hey, Guyman. It's just been a day, why back so early? Did ya forget something?" Spepsi said, Addressing Guyman.
"Nah. It's an urgent report. Will talk about It after closing but I'll need to discuss this with Boss first." Guyman replied before stopping on his tracks. "Where's Boss anyways?" He asked.
"Same old bedroom." Spepsi answered, all the while putting up a show for the customers.
"Alright thanks."
Climbing up the stairs he stands in front of his boss bedroom door for a moment before knocking. "Hey boss I'm coming in.." He then entered through the door.
The room was dark, with light seeping through the curtains as the sun slowly set. It was cold, the bedroom had a bed on the right corner of the room and a simple desk near the door with cups of what was presumably coffee.
Guyman walks over to his sleeping boss and disturbs his beauty by jerking him left and right until he wakes up. Though he didn't wake up, he removes the blanket and unveils something weird even for him. A cat. Yes, a cat sleeping with his boss.
"Wha- Boss who's that?!" He screamed, waking both suspects up.
After his boss awoke, he looked around frantically and saw what his assistant meant. A cat, not just any ordinary cat. A cat girl, sleeping with his boss.
"Hm? mhm... I'll be honest with you. I have no Idea." He replies. He got out of bed while Guyman and Dogboy stared at each other.
"So what now?" Guyman asks. Still looking at the yawning suspect.
Dogboy shrugs seemingly having no Idea how to react to this. Both of them observe their suspect all the while she sits on the bed looking at the two. "Mornin'" She casually said.
Dogboy who's been slowly assessing her and their situation, she wore a jacket with the hood up and shorts. He walks up to her and crouches down a little to talk to her and get some Insight what kind of person she is.
"Who... are you? And how did you get In my bedroom?" Dogboy asked.
She gets off the bed, and Introduces herself. "Ahem- My name is Sasha!" She announces to them. "I plan on becoming the fastest feline to live! It is my dream!" She exaggerates herself a little, but her childish demeanor says a lot. "And I also liked your bed's softness! It was very comfortable!"
"Well then, get out since this Is my room." Dogboy stated with straight forwardness, causing the cat girl to pout.
"Bah- cmon' please? Just a few more minutes?" She asked with puppy cute eyes. Dogboy pinches his nose seemingly still tired from being abruptly woken up from his sleep. He looks at Guyman with tiredness in his eyes. He glances his eyes back at the girl and back at Guyman, telling him to kick her out without using words.
And he did just that. Guyman grabs her by the hood and drags her out the room. Going over his radio, he calls over someone. "Hey yo, Aria. I need you upstairs now."
He receives a response from the other side of the radio. Sometime later someone arrives, He wore beach summer clothes and with Sunglasses and Smoking Weed. Guyman gave a quick explanation, with Aria quickly carrying the wailing cat girl downstairs.
With that out of the way, Guyman went back Inside the room. "Alright.. So... Boss, I've got bad ne-" Guyman tried to say before he was Interrupted by Dogboy.
"Good news first." Dogboy responded.
"I only got bad news." Guyman replied as he scratched the back of his head.
Dogboy pauses for a second before replying. "Go on..."
Guyman gave a lengthy explanation of what he found out so far, from beasts In the forest to some kind of widespread disease. Dogboy who took In the Information, wasn't go to beat around the bush.
"Gather everyone in the Dining area, and close down early."
After telling him, Guyman followed and left the room. What seemed like a normal expedition to expand his store had a serious downside. Dogboy was a very cautious person, and wasn't the kind to take too many risks.
Dogboy silently sighed and continued to think of potential upsides. But currently has thought of none. For a few minutes he continues to think of any other way. The more he thought of it though, the more It sounded like It was a really bad Idea. The upsides don't make up for the crippling downside, death by an unknown virus.
So It was decided. He wouldn't send anyone Into any cities or towns for now. Best they could do Is find out the flora and fauna of the new world, which is a pretty good bonus they could get by selling It to the U.L.F. or trading In this case since their money might not be worth anything outside of town of course.
He stretched his arm out and stood up from his Office chair. He left through the door and went downstairs. He saw one of his employees, she's a blue skinned-girl with horns and quite voluptuous too. She wore a red cross armband Indicating she was a Doctor or Medic.
"Ah, Miyuki!" Dogboy called for her, she noticed his presence and looked at him. "Is everyone at the Dining area?" Dogboy asked.
She just gave a simple nod back. This was enough for Dogboy who dismissed her and she went back to whatever she was doing previously. As he approached the Dining area, he saw everyone gathered around. They sat on the tables and chairs, and some leaned against the wall.
One of them walked up to Dogboy, It was spepsi. "Sir what's the main concern for suddenly abandoning the exploration of this world? Like new experiences are awaiting us." He said, Dogboy groaned knowing spepsi adventurous nature. "Spepsi, settle down first, Your not the only one awaiting answers." Dogboy replied as he walked over to everyone.
Guyman was seated on his right with his arms crossed. Dogboy stopped and looked at everyone and focused on what he came here to announce. "I'm sure everyone has heard from Guyman that I stopped the expedition. Normally I'm not the kind man to do so, but due to extreme circumstances. I had no choice but to halt It for now." Dogboy announced, upon doing so he heard whispers among his employee's.
Dogboy clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright, listen up everyone. Since civilization was found on this new world by Guyman." He points at Guyman. "What he found was.. nothing In short a bit terrifying. It seems there's a kind of widespread disease that has Infected the local populace and natives of this new world. But no further Information since Guyman ran away like a bitch even though he had a Gas Mask." Dogboy stated, as he did so he heard snickering from his Employees with Guyman looking at him plainly with his shades down a little to look at him eye to eye.
Diverting his gaze away from Guyman he continued. "Anyways, the best we can do for now Is explore the local fauna and flora around us. Though Guyman said there were beast In the forest, so arm up when going out." Dogboy stated. "That's it for now everyone, you're dismissed." Dogboy said, everyone got off the tables and chairs, some stretched their arms, Spepsi who was listening the whole time was quite saddened as he can't explore a new type of country, but researching and exploring new Fauna and Flora wasn't all too bad.
Dogboy got back upstairs and went back to his room. Walking over to his bed he slumped over and entered a deep slumber. Unknown to him someone was rustling and battling for the blanket behind him.
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[U.L.F. Headquarters]
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Currently, the main headquarters are trying to find Minerals that will cover the expense of using steel en masse. They used It for farming equipment such as tractors since they longer have Indoor farming but an outside field.
Concrete was also crucial material they were missing. Or rather were low on, this is where their steel shortage will start to show itself as they also need mining equipment, which most of it were left behind as many of it were far away Into the mountains mining necessary materials.
Liquid who's been busy managing their resources carefully. Saw mountains 10 Kilometers away from town, he sent a team to mine some rocks to see what kind of materials are held within.
The team he sent hasn't returned and It's been 9 hours since they've embarked onto the mountains. that should've been only a 2 hour trip at most.
Liquid sighed. He goes over to his radio and switches to a certain frequency. "Hey Nate, can you hear me?" Liquid talked over to the radio.
There was a few static noises, then he hears someone on the other side. "Loud and clear general." Nate responded.
"I want you to call over Captain Jonathan over to my office."
"Got it general, out"
The radio goes silent and he waits for a few minutes. He then hears a knock from his door. "This is Captain Jonathan, I'm coming in." He announced, as he opened the door. Liquid sees a Black haired man with a nicely shaved beard across his face. He wore the same HCS armor like everyone else but has a patch on his right arm with stars and lines Indicating his rank.
"I'll be quick," Liquid said. "I got a missing team of 6 that went to gather rocks to see the minerals within them, what was supposed to be a 2 hour trip became 9 hours of no response." Liquid stated. Jonathan was a bit taken aback, U.L.F. soldiers aren't badly trained. They can be compared to US marines in terms of training, It was to make up for there outdated equipment they had and most of them already have combat experiences. So no way In hell they would just disappear just like that.
"Did you send them via a helicopter sir?" Jonathan asked.
"Yes I did captain. Whatever happened there should be found out this Instant, so I'm sending you. Gather your team and keep In contact with Badger one. They'll send you reinforcement the moment your team sends a distress signal." Liquid explained.
Jonathan thought for a moment. "Alright sir, I'll get going now." He saluted and exited the room.
Liquid sighed and continued back to his paper works, he just hopes this situation doesn't get worse.
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[U.L.F. Helicopter Pad]
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(Year Unknown) ??/??/?? 17:23:07
-Captain Jonathan-
An 8 man team grouped up just outside. Two medics carrying Medical Kits and armed with Kriss Vectors, Four riflemen with AK-74's and grenades. Only exception is Jonathan carrying a Scar-H, One Machinegunner carrying a PKM, and One Flametrooper with a Five-Seven as a Sidearm, which is wearing Rusky armor. The Helicopter rotors were heard powering and the blades of the Helicopter were now spinning faster and faster, creating gusts of wind that blew towards the soldiers.
Then the pilot opens the helicopter's left door and peaks out. "Alright, boys. Get in, next stop that mountain ovah' there." The pilot pointed.
Following the words of the pilot everyone started moving and got In one by one. After everyone was aboard the helicopter began to deviate from the ground and started to thrust towards the mountain.
Everything was peaceful during the flight, then Jonathan get's asked. "Hey cap'" He heard one of his men say, and turned to face him. "What is it?" He responded. "I didn't get a mission briefing on this, what are we doing?" He asked
"Were searching for a missing team of 6. 2 researchers and 4 bodyguards, currently missing on the mountain. Location? Unknown as of this time." He replied.
He nodded back to his Captain's response and looked out the helicopter. Jonathan did the same and looked outside and felt the wind, It felt comforting. As they continued towards their destination, Jonathan used his Binoculars to get a better look at the mountain's terrain. It was full of gravel and rocks. It was no wonder why the general wanted to see what materials the mountain may hold. It looked full of untouched minerals just waiting to be harvested, they struck gold with this one.
As he continued to look through the terrain, he suddenly got pushed forward. "Yer here boys, get ready to dismount, I'll go refuel and send a distress signal will ya? Don't want to lose men In an already dire situation." The pilot stated, many of them nodded to his statement. As the chopper got close enough to the ground, they started jumping off one by one. As the last one got off, they watched as the helicopter flew away.
"I'll be back!" They heard the pilot shout. They raised their fist as a form of respect and salute to their pilot.
Jonathan then looked at their surroundings, It was rather quiet and peaceful at the moment. As he started walking around as his team secured the perimeter, he kept looking around and found a spot to climb further up the mountain. Climbing the rather small cliff and looking over he found equipment, he whistled to the rest of his team and they all simultaneously looked at his direction. "Get over here!" He yelled to the rest of his team, they started coming over while he Investigated. There were 2 pickaxes on the ground Indicating the scientists were still doing their thing while they were attacked or something else completely.
He found no evidence of a fight occurring, which was weird on its own. But looking further he found what he was looking for, an arm. Specifically an arm of a U.L.F. soldier, It was probably blasted off cleanly as burn marks were present on the arm. Suspicious he dug through the gravel to see, and jackpot. Bullet casings, there was a fight. But It might have been done professionally and swiftly. No guns on the ground which the culprits most likely took with them. But weird, they had no enemies in this new world.
Looking at the rest of his team scouring the area for clues, they also found the same thing. Either a blood stain or small pieces of clothing and armor. "Alright, everyone." Jonathan called, most of them glanced at his direction while the others continued to look for clues. "Let's get moving and find more clues to where the rest of the 6 man team went, or whatever remains of them." Jonathan stated, as he got moving with the rest of his team followed.
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This got cut short. I was planning it to make it longer but decided this was overall good enough.