Twokinds ARCHIVE Forums

The APC rumbles through the jungle, its treads audibly snapping the small branches in the under brush. A few armored jeeps escort the APC, the machine guns ready to deal with any enemy combatants they may run into. Within the APC, many soldier sit conversing about their mission, while a lone figure sits curled up against a wall, unmoving. “That thing always gives me the creeps,” one soldier said, pointing to the motionless figure. A few other soldiers nodded in response. “I don’t know why they always force us to bring it. It’s not like we ever need the thing.”

“We are a very small battalion, Brigs. If we are to run into a larger force, it will be of use,” the commander snapped, irritated that his men were complaining about such a piece of weaponry. The truth was, he didn’t like it much either, but he knew just what it was capable of, and that was nothing to sneeze at. He was told that a single unit was able to take out about 10 soldiers while only taking minor damage. It was simply amazing, if not creepy. He soon heard the buzz of conversation again.

“There’s supposed to be a cave in this jungle were those things appear. You don’t suppose that we’ll run into them do you?” Brigs said, obviously a little nervous about the possibility. “What do you think Kyle?” The man across from him laughed.

“Don’t tell me you actually believe in that stuff! What kind of loony would actually believe in that stuff?” Kyle asked, obviously not believing in that silly child’s tale. Brigs laughed along with his companions, still sounding nervous. He didn’t know why, but he could feel that they were real. A crashing noise rang out in front of them, followed by machine gun fire.

“EVERY MAN, PREPARE FOR COMBAT!” the commander shouted back at his men, who all started to drop their packs on the floor, and pulled out their guns. They ranged from semi-automatic rifles to shotguns to machine guns. “BRIGS! YOU MAN THE MOUNTED GUN!” Nodding, Brigs made his way to the small bubble that was above them, in which a gun was mounted. After taking a seat, he screamed and fell from above.

“They.. They… They’re real…” he stammered, still cowering on the floor. Kyle walked over and grabbed him by the collar.

“What are you talking about?!” he asked, only to be interrupted by a huge gash being made in the side of the APC. Half the men were dead, as a huge claw slice through the armor of the crawling unit.

“ALL MEN, OPEN FIRE!” the commander shouted, a screech heard from outside, followed by the sound of something running away. “ABANDON THE APC! WE’RE MAKING A RUN FOR IT!” The first man crawled out of the gash, as a huge jaw snatched him away. The men heard him scream, just before the crunch of his spine snapping, and the sound of what was left of him hitting the ground with a splatter. Heavy breathing was heard just outside. Brigs still cowered in the corner.

“What do we do now?!” Kyle demanded. The commander thought momentarily.

“Wake up the MRC. It may be our only hope out of this,” the commander replied. Kyle went back and shook the figure, causing it to stir. It’s motions were jerky, as it rose from its position. It immediately looked at the commander.

“CO connection confirmed. Awaiting orders…” it spoke, it’s voice holding no emotion. Then, the APC was flung over, causing all the men to tumble.

“MRC, you take care of whatever’s causing this. MEN! Buy it some time!” And the rest of them poured out of the APC, two of them being taken out before the rest sought the cover of the trees. “Open fire!” The sound of guns ripped through the air as a huge creature with spider like legs screeched in pain. The two forearms held a large claw at the end of them, obviously what ripped a hole in their armor. It began to run towards the men, bringing it’s claw down upon them.

The MRC stood before them, it’s hand stopping the creature’s weapon from hitting it’s target. “…Target confirmed. Commencing engagement.” The MRC, with a simple twist of it’s arm, ripped the creature’s arm strait off, before turning it and ramming the claw through the monster’s head. A final screech echoed from the creature’s mouth.

Suddenly, another one was behind them, and took most of the remaining men into its mouth. “Where did that thing come from!?” the command shouted, before being gutted by a much smaller one, no bigger than a man. The only man left was Brigs, and the MRC, which calmly picked up one of the fallen men’s rifles, and unloaded a shot into the smaller one’s head. The large one looked down at the MRC with its eyeless face. It almost seemed confused. It could sense no thoughts in this thing, yet it had the field.

Before the creature could react, the MRC had leapt up the tree to land on top of it, unloading a full clip of ammo into its brain. It crashed to the ground, the MRC landing, unshaken in front of it. Around it lay the bodies of the slain monsters. It looked around, hoping to help treat the wounded, only to find Brigs, curled up in what was left of the APC. “Ally found. Contacting headquarters.” It grabbed the radio, calling into HQ. “Non-enemy unit engaged, heavy casualties. Only 001 and the ally Brigs remain. One jeep may be drivable. Awaiting orders.”

After a silence from the radio, it buzzed to life. “Very well 001, you are to bring in Brigs, and identification for whatever attacked you. We will be awaiting your arrival.” 001 put down the radio, handing it to Brigs, and walked over, picked up the claw of the second creature, and sliced off the head of the smallest one. After loading both Brigs and the head into the remaining jeep, the MRC steered the jeep onto the path back to base.

----------------------------

Mark awoke with a start, beads of sweat running down his face. Why did he keep having these dreams? That was the third time this week, and it was still Tuesday. Looking over at the clock, Mark noticed it was already 6:00AM. “Looks like I should just get up…” Mark said, sighing, and climbing out of bed. He made his way to the bathroom, yawning as he waited for the water to warm up. He heard someone else stir in the room nearby.

“Mark? You’re up already?” his friend asked, walking into the bathroom, rubbing his eye and yawning. He quickly noticed the towel around Mark and left, wishing to continue from a more comfortable view. “Why do you always get up this early anyway? And do you always have to wake me up?”

“I’m sorry Marty. I’ll try to be quieter from now on,” Mark replied. Marty laughed outside the door.

“Always good at dodging questions. Oh well, I won’t pry. I’m going back to bed,” Marty said, going back to his room. Sighing, Mark climbed into the shower. He didn’t like to hide stuff from Marty, but he couldn’t tell him about the crazy dreams he was having. He had to put this behind him for now. He’d have to go to class soon.

----------------

And we're done for the first part. Feel free to ask questions, and I'm going to be drawing up the things which attacked, the MRC, and Mark eventually, so the description is kinda lacking. I'd rather show you than describe it.

hmm...The world is rather messed up.

What do you mean by that? That I created the world poorly, or that the actions of the people within it made it screwed up?

That when a super-being fights giant insects, humanity needs to get it's act together.

Interesting, interesting... I really want to see where this is going :grin:

Also, Sorry, it kinda yelled for my attention... ^^"

lol. Wordplay.

Reminds me of,

"Is your refridgerator running"

I'd appreciate that useless posts like this are kept out of my story thread. If you'd have said something about my story before replying to that, I might have forgiven you.

NOW GTFO!

And Demus: PFFT... BAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm gonna have to watch my wording aren't I? XD

This is an interesting little tidbit, isn't it? I'm curious as to what that insect-like monster was, and more curious to know exactly what this "MRC" is supposed to be. My money's on some kind of furry character, born and bred for fighting? At least, given that the story's in this forum, it's my best guess.

I like how you have a decent grasp of military hardware, though I would say there's room for more detail in that area. I'd indulge in some research on military tools and weaponry to give the story an added layer of realism. There's a lot to be gained from the story when you know your author has studied up on topics like that. I'd like to know if the roof-mounted weapon was a .50 cal, what sort of camo the APC had, what seating capacity it held, what sort of sounds you hear when the action strikes.

Along those lines, I'd like to see more description of scenery. Build up suspense by showing us how it's only them and the vast crush of nature around them. Let us hear exotic bird calls, the lonely sounds of rotted tree trunks collapsing under APC treads, that sort of thing. When this monster attacks, it'll jar us even more from our perceived security.

And lastly, I think you'd be able to make this monster all the more powerful by giving us a good sense of the organization and skills these soldiers already possess. When things go to hell, have them work like a single machine. Minimal orders being thrown around. Everybody has been reading the same playbook and they know what to do when the [censored] hits the fan. When that well-oiled machine is crushed under the assault of some megalithic creature, we know this thing isn't small-change, and their failure to cull it will lend even more power to the MRC that takes it down.

Overall, it's good, but needs some polishing. Work on scenery and finer details that can build up a mood, go from there.

Now you've gotten me itching to write, XD