Running Man

Uncharted Forest

"Goddamn it!" Drake cursed as he worked the bolt of his rifle after shooting an Orc of the back of a wind wolf. "Can't they just give it up already?"

Slow grunted in agreement as he humped his MG and climbed over a tree root with a panicking ASAG behind him. He braced his MG 1 against the root and sweep fired a long burst into the foliage forcing the obviously modern tactics trained Orcs scuttling for cover.

A heavy volley of return fire hammered the surroundings of Drake and Slow, blowing large holes out of the trees and roots. Asagi the little golem flailed its fore limbs wildly in the air and tried to bury itself as deep as it could in the recesses of the tree roots which it was taking cover at.

Wood chips and splinters rained all over Drake and Slow as they ducked under the heavy barrage. "Slow, get back!" Drake yelled as he braced himself and popped up, firing his bolt action at a couple of Orcs running forward over the support of cover fire.

He caught a glance of his shot bowling over one of the crouching running Orcs before he ducked down from the fury of heavy shells blowing away at his cover.

"Ahhh!" Drake cried as the bits of wood and moss exploded all around him and he quickly threw himself down to the dirt and crawled rapidly away as his cover got shot up to hell. "Fuck. This. Shit!"

He scrambled over to another tree just as Slow laid down covering fire from his new perch somewhere behind him. The long rip raw burst of the machine gun contrasted differently from harsh barks of the Orcs' revolver cannons.

Slow yelped as a 20 mm shell clipped him, ripping out a chunk of his pauldron armor. The ripped steel platings under the padded leather and cloth stabbed into his meaty shoulders while hot lead fragments from the 20 mm shell splattered over his face and neck. "OWW!"

He ducked down and brushed away the burning fragments from his face, cursing and swearing as he did. He eyed Asagi hiding under the tree root and gave it a kick. "Get out now! MOVE!"

The spider golem wobbled in fright and skittled off wildly as the Orcs fired at any movement they spotted. If it has a voice it would have squeaked in fear as it ran off with a trail of exploding shell impacts and disappeared into the foliage. Slow gave a puff of relief as he saw Asagi safety gone before he stood up and exchanged fire back with Orcs, yelling out a war cry. "WAAAARRRRH!"

-----

Orwell's Point, Temporary Airbase

Iskal had worked under three different masters over the nine years since he became a slave. He had a simple life, working on his parent's farm in a small village when it was razed by raiders.

His parents were old and hence ignored while he, being a young and healthy man, was taken by the raiders to be sold. After that, he was traded here an there like livestock, and any ignorance, pride, free will and defiance thoughts were beaten out of him till he only learned to obey the whip.

He could only dare dream of freedom when he was cuddled together for warmth with dozens of other browbeaten slaves at night. But suddenly all that has changed!

A strange army suddenly attacked the city he was in with his master. He was working as a porter under his merchant master, tasked to carry out mindless tasks of carrying goods from the trade markets to the warehouses and back daily.

He and the other slaves were suddenly awoken by loud thunderclaps and flashes of light in the night. Peering out of the cracks in the hovels, they saw fire and smoke in the city. And the next day, a proclamation that the city of Orwell's Point was now under the control of the United Nations, a nation no one has ever heard of!

Even stranger and wondrous was that the strangely dressed soldiers appeared and declared that slavery will be outlawed and anyone breaking the law would be dealt with harshly!

Suddenly, he and the others were freed. The heavy rusty iron collars were struck off from their necks, some who wear the same collar for years had sores and rust stains like tattoos over their necks and collars.

But with this new found freedom, Iskal was suddenly afraid of facing the world. He and the others had only known a life of pain and following orders. When to work, when to eat, when to sleep, even when to relief themselves.

He has no idea how to survive with the freedom he has now, or even how to find food. Some others even returned to their old masters and begged them to take them in again as they did not know what to do with their new life at all.

The newer slaves were better off as they still held on to some traces of their previous lives. some left, others found work or started their own work in the city.

At first, Iskal thought that the new overlords will treat them like slaves but to his surprise, they provided food, shelter, and medical care for them. And in the first time after many years. he felt almost respectable again.

Luckily the new overlords offered jobs for those slaves too confused and unable to integrate themselves back to society and Iskal had taken up the offer. Food and shelter were provided and so was pay.

His new masters had them working on a field nearby the city, digging and flattening the ground before laying crushed rocks and black pitch over the area, forming a long rectangle road that was so wide that ten wagons could line up side by side!

He and the others had no idea what they were doing and why would their new overlords want something, like a road and yet not a road to be built in the middle of no way that doesn't link to anyplace.

And that wasn't all when the first flying monsters came, everyone in the city was frightened by the constant roars it made and when it landed by the sea, people came out!

Iskal was both frightened and amazed by what everyone was calling those as God Flying Chariots as only the power of Gods could make men fly in the skies which seemed to amuse the soldiers greatly.

Now he sat with a group of other ex slaves, enjoying an afternoon meal of freshly baked bread and smoked meat next to the half cylindrical shed that they were building at the side of the 'not a road' road when they heard the roars of the God Chariots approaching from the skies.

He looked up in wonder as not one but five of those God Chariots appeared and they did a loop over before coming down on the 'not a road' road. Iskal's eyes lit up as he realized the purpose of the 'not a road' road was finally for. It was for those God Chariots to land!

The roars of the God Chariots slowly died down one by one as they moved towards the half cylindrical sheds and tiny figures appeared from it while other men in colorful uniforms ran up to them pushing a small ladder over.

And once again, not for the first time or anything soon, Iskal felt grateful and amazed by his new overlords for the changes and wonders they had brought over to Orwell's Point.

-----

Uncharted Forest

Asagi the spider golem skittled madly over the foliage and roots of the forest as it ran in panic. Despite not having any audio receivers, it can perceive noise from the vibrations of its carapace and the loud sounds had frightened it.

Its core programming had a subroutine check which makes it take preventive measures to protect itself from dangers and it is currently abiding by this rule. It turned back now and then from escape as it ran through the forest, trying to catch a glimpse of its handler.

It paused after running for over ten minutes were the loud noises were no longer loud, just echos from the forest. It hopped able on its legs as it looked around for its handler but couldn't see him and its tiny processor brain went into overdrive as it decided what to do next.

It seemed frustrated and it circled around on the spot while waving its forelimbs around in agony when it suddenly picked up some strange new contacts in its immediate surroundings that sounded huge and heavy approach.

-----

Drake dropped his spent Magelock rifle as a wind wolf with an Orc wearing a mixture of leather and iron armor riding on it loomed up from his side. He quickly drew his Single Action revolver and snapped off a few shots at the triumphant expression on the Orc who quickly turned to anguish as the bullets hammered against the Orc's center of mass.

He ducked and rolled from the snapping jaws and swipes from the claws of the wind wolf and emptied the remaining chamber of his revolver at the face of the wolf which flinched back from the painful blows.

Drake quickly ran and reloaded his rifle on the move, making sure to keep his head down as the Orcs spotted him and fired at his direction.

He suddenly cried out as a spent bullet hammered against his rear ballistic plate and knocked him face down onto the dirt floor painfully. He gasped for air as the bullet had knocked the air out of his lungs and he laid there painfully for a while before managing to recover himself.

Slow suddenly appeared next to him and without a word, he scooped Drake up to his feet and growled as they found themselves surrounded from all sides by Orcs and wolves with bloodlust in their eyes.

"Ahh... fuck..." Drake gasped as he leaned against the side of Slow. He drew his combat knife out from his harness while Slow did the same with his sword bayonet, his machine gun had long ago ran out of ammunition. "Come get some you fat bastards!"

The ring of Orcs suddenly parted to allow a garishly dressed Orc which reminded Drake of some of those red coats in those historical dramas he watched with the rest. The Orc was wearing a crimson red high collar jacket with yellow trims on the collar and sleeves. It sat on a wind wolf and wore a pair of black riding leathers and boots with metal inserts.

A revolver cannon rifle sat in a holster before its right leg next to the saddle while the Orc held the reins of the wolf with its gloved left hand.

"By order of the Marshal, you are now prisoners of the Cabal!" The Orc loudly proclaimed. "Give up your weapons and we will let you live soft skin..."

Drake spat and instead went low on a combat stance. "Fuck you and fuck your mother and your Marshal and your Cabal pals!"

The Orc's expression darkened and he gestured, "The Marshal said to bring you alive, but he didn't say in how many pieces."

"Kill the Oerkin and cut off all the limbs of the soft skin, but keep him alive for the Marshal. It will be our offering to our dead brothers!" The red coat Orc growled.

"WAARGGHHHHH!" The Orcs roared in glee and charged just as something heavy shook the land causing everyone to pause. "-Gahh?"

Stomps of something massive grew louder and louder while the ground trembled more with each stomp had the Orcs and Marines looking around in fright and confusion. Cracks of trees snapping and toppling could be heard as the monster approached and the red-coated Orc jerked the reins of his wolf, making it backpedal just as a massive shadow crushed through the trees and everyone looked upon the monster with horror.

"MONSTERR!"