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Bug War [Kaybee and Itazura Reborn]

Kaybee

Supernova
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Location
Canada
The south american jungles, one of the most exotic places on earth with it's immense variety of species of all kinds. Millions of square kilometers of lush rainforest, the rare roads and rivers winding through the greenery invisible from above, giving the impression of pure and untainted land but for a single scar. A great grey dome, reflective on the outside though one could see out from within, home of one of the last cities, one of the few havens that remained since the war began.

It's continued survival was a testament to the adaptability of humanity in some ways. Since the mutations had been sighted and the war had begun, the jungles had become one of the most dangerous places on earth, with billions of insects mutating alone or fusing with the other wildlife of the area, creating an area more infested with the horrific monstrosities that besieged humanity on every side than almost any other place on the planet. Which made the survival of this particular city a certain testament to humanity's persistence and defiance in the face of overwhelming odds. Despite cities in far less dangerous places falling left and right, the walls of Shiasa remained unbroken, it's guard remained unwavering.

For the most part the city was self-sustaining, farms and water sources all contained within the great dome that protected it, but some resources simply could not be obtained, and thus there were the scouts. They were the best of the best, rag-tag to be sure, but accorded a certain respect despite their typically mis-matched and salvaged gear and generally motley appearance. They went outside the walls, an activity that carried with it a survival chance of merely 30%, and they hunted and salvaged what the city needed and brought it back. They fought back against the bugs, and for all that their job was perilous and those that came back did so only with difficulty (if they came back at all) they were the envy of every man and woman in the city, because they fought back rather than cowering behind the walls.

In this case, it was a small mission, with only two scouts needed. Sarah Ashford and Amy Burns were chosen and sent out, their goal: retrieval of parts from a ship that had crashed a scant few miles from the city limits. While the bugs had taken the ship out of the sky, they cared not for it's components, which the city could use to keep it's machinery running longer and more efficiently, thus, salvage of what could be salvaged was a priority. At the base of the wall, the last of a complex interlocking airlock system hissed and opened with a soft 'whoosh' expelling the scouts from safety and into the jungle proper. It was quiet, and faintly steamy, with faint tendrils of fog winding their way through the trees, but by the time they made it a dozen meters the trees would be too thick for them to rely on the heavy perimeter guns for protection, and from then on, they would be utterly on their own against a jungle that could turn vicious and swarm them at any moment.
 
Sarah, being a more in your face person, preferred to be covered in the spraying blood of her kill than to never see them fall. She was geared in skimpish canvas and kevlar suit. To her, the suit protected what needed to be, covered her nicely, and allowed her to move freely for quick movements. Her main weapons is geared for quick put downs of common breeds. Her AR 90 fires 5.56 from a 40 round clip. Because of its lack of stopping power, she also carries a 50 cal. Desert Eagle with a 12 round clip. The final part of her gear were four frag grenades. Now, she always carries extra mags and clips in her many pouches on her armor, two for her Eagle, and four for her AR. And while she was a strong direct woman, she isn't without her flaws. She is head strong and would often rush into situations without thinking things through.

Amy was the total opposite to Sarah. She would rather take out her kill without ever being seen. Her armor was a stealth modal 10, meant to hide her body from sight by redirecting light around her. This would act as a form of active camouflage, rendering her nearly invisible. While this worked great against human foes and common breeds, it was greatly untested against the more advanced breeds, as it was deemed too dangerous. Her sniper rifle fired 50 cal. rounds from a six round clip, was could easily pierce the shells of even tank class insects. Her visor doubles as a scope due to a wireless link to a small device on the top of her rifle. While she rather fight long range, if something didn't manage to get in close, she was equipped with a 9mm automatic hand gun with a 30 round clip. She carries two clips for her hand gun and four for her rifle.

As they approached the downed air ship. Sarah had her AR already loaded, cocked, and pulled up for a fight. She crept closer, watching her step to make sure she didn't do anything to alert anything that may be around. "Why must we always do this shit?" She spoke to Amy through a small radio on her neck, that allowed her to speak with minimal noise by registering her vocal cords.

Amy on the other hand, was nearly thirty yards away, perched in a tree. She was laying on the branch with her sights set on the wreckage. "Well, that would be because we are the best at it, " she said with a small giggle. "Who else would come here and do what we do?"

"Don't know, but maybe those big wig commanders can come our and risk their asses once and a while," Sarah smiled at her own comment, still moving slowly towards the crash site, only having a few yards between her and the ship.
 
Most mutants were feral, not given to consideration of tactics or anything beyond attacking anything they could see as prey really, but a dangerous few learned stealth and ambush tactics, and even more dangerous handful managed to combine the hive minds they had held before their mutations and combine that with the increased brainpower it had brought. Unfortunately for Sarah and Amy, they'd been unlucky enough to run across both types thus far today, even if they didn't realize it yet.

The first had been a solitary hunter which -rather than attacking the minute it had seen them- had instead stalked them through the trees. It was a monstrous thing, all spindly limbs and arachnid mandibles. It moved like a spider too, crawling through the trees high above them, eight compound eyes catching even the subtle shimmers of Amy's cloaked presence. It had nothing like that for itself, but it blended in with the greenery of the forest, and it moved with almost total silence, stalking, watching, and waiting for the perfect moment, creeping down towards Amy while her attention was focused on covering Sarah, poising itself to strike...

The latter -and the more dangerous- types were in the ship itself. They knew it was a human thing, and they had deduced that humans might come seeking it as a result. There were a dozen of them, crawling skittering things that looked like they might once have borne a resemblance to beetles were it not for their size. They were approximately as large as house cats, with strong a muscular looking legs rather than the spindly limbs more typical to smaller mutants, and while their mouths didn't appear to be configured for any sort of venomous bite, but it was all to easy to imagine how a coordinated oack of these could bring any number of much larger creatures down.

They were lurking all around the crash site, using their smaller size to their advantage to hide in the little crevices and crannies the wreckage created. As Sarah approached the ship, she slowly moved into their encirclement, though still they did not move, waiting waiting with utmost patience, sinuous fleshy tails whiling back and forth in anticipation.

The minute Sarah opened the door, she'd see one in plain view, crouched over the motionless body of one of the plane's pilots. It turned at the sight, and lunged at her with frightening speed, but it was only a distraction. Even if she could draw in time to kill it, the others were emerging behind her, and while Amy might have been able to coordinate to deal with them, she was mere instants away from having the massive arachnid mutant lunge to grab her. At most she might get one shot off but unless she noticed the danger the mutant would bite home, and paralytic venom would shoot into her bloodstream!
 
Sarah had seen the bug, and already pulled up her AR before it even leaped at her. As it jumped, she noticed a softer underbelly and unloaded ten to fifteen rounds into its softer underside. She watched at the bullets riddled its stomach, spraying its buggy blood as it done show. She didn't see the others however. They quickly over took her, but she didn't lose her footing. She was a stronger woman, so she was able to handle them jumping on her. She tried reaching for her side arm, knowing it would be the best bet for getting them off. "Get the fuck off of me!" Sarah was in more trouble than she even knew.

Amy had been watching Sarah through her visor, but hadn't seen the others either. She watched as Sarah dispatched the first one, but also seen her swarmed by the others. Before she even called out for her, tried to line them up, and fired. Her bullet was fast and quickly pierced the shells of two of the beetles, spraying Sarah with more buggy guts, but that is where her help stopped. Her visor flashed to indicate that something had gotten dangerously close to her.

While she didn't know what it was, it was showing that it was over her. Having done something like this before, Amy rolled off the branch, only undoing one of her straps that held her in place. This would allow her to drop down under the branch. She would then be able to release the other to drop down to the ground below, with little to no damage at all. If she could get way, she would be fine, but she didn't know what was chasing her, nor did she know just how much danger she was in.
 
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