Scavanger Hunt

Josam saw Urartu motioned for his band of Nomads, known as “The Ghost Soldiers”, to move forward. This was their second foray into the tower now known as “Hives End” to the denizens of the Ash Wastes. Josam was getting that feeling in the pit of his stomach again. The one that made him feel like the whole hive was pressing in on him. He kept saying to himself, “It’s just not natural” over and over again. Now could it be? Man could not have been meant to live one on top of the other like insects.

This expedition had been going much better than their previous adventure. After penetrating the exterior of the fallen tower with their krak grenades they had ventured some 500 meters into the depths of the monster. No spider-like men to ambush them this time. As the men approached an area of collapsed machinery Urartu brought them on-line, but spread out. The stench of decaying flesh was prevalent but the area ahead also looked ripe for salvage.

Using only hand and arm signals Urartu told Josam to move up a cooling tower. Even from the floor from which he acknowledged his leader’s orders Josam could tell it should have a commanding view of the dome beyond, an ideal sniper’s nest for him and his long rifle.

Once he arrived atop the cooler he caught sight of Ishik making his way up another cooler about 20 meters on his left, and Urartu and An-Nur making their way forward on a walkway below. Josam no longer watched his fellow nomads. Instead he turned his attentions to the shadows around the area. He was not about to allow an enemy free access to his mates without him knowing about it first.

“Speak of the devil”, Josam said to himself. Several shadowy shapes were moving across the way. Taking his time to be sure he counted five human sized shapes dispersing among the debris and moving in their direction. He placed his eye to the small optical scope on his rifle to get a better picture of what might be moving their way.

Three of the targets moved to his left towards Urartu and An-Nur, the other two were almost directly opposite of his position. They were being cautious. Never leaving the shadows, but they were obviously alerted to the nomads in their midst.

“It’s always better to shoot first and ask questions later I’ve always said”, Josam whispered to himself as he tweaked the range on his scope and leveled the crosshairs on the shadow closest to him.

Inhale, exhale slowly until the pause, steady squeeze…

The report from the long rifle shattered the stillness of the dome and made several unseen creatures skittering for even deeper crevices. More importantly he heard his target call out in surprise and fall writhing to the floor. His companion, to his credit, did not bolt and run away. Instead he began to run, following the shadows, to get closer to his position, and probably return fire.

Several las-rounds hissed through the air as their new enemy tried to get the range. Return fire started pattering ineffectively around his perch. Josam ignored the incoming fire as he sighted in on his next target.

“Damn,” he said to himself as his target slipped behind a small warehouse.

Moving his reticle to cover the others he now noticed that they each were wearing some sort of body suit. One hefting a plasma pistol in his right hand was making his way across a bridge while his boys were covering him from the rear.

Inhale, exhale slowly until the pause, steady squeeze…

This time his shot careened off of the bridge mere inches from the man’s head, but it had the secondary affect of causing him to duck involuntarily. This gave Urartu the opportunity to get completely across the bridge.

Looking back towards his original target and his friend Josam saw that the fellow was still rolling around in pain. Peering into the darkness he saw the faint outline of his friend moving slowly forward. As he approached a slight clearing he stopped. Josam couldn’t tell what he was doing, but he sighted in on where he anticipated the man to move to.

Inhale, exhale slowly until the pause….

Sure enough the man darted into the open. He had picked a good spot too. He would only be exposed for a second at the more. More than enough time, squeeze…

The impact of the round from Josam’s long rifle caused the man’s torso to suddenly jerk up and back causing the legs to kick out in front of him. He landed partway through his flip on his neck and shoulders, and when the body came to a stop it didn’t move again.

With the immediate threat to his front neutralized Josam turned his attention back to the bridge. He no longer saw the man in the jumpsuit, but he did catch site of An-Nur running back across the bridge without Urartu. His scope brought out a lot of detail but it lacked illumination capabilities. There, under the lifting platform, he saw Urartu. He was gripping his right leg. He was in pain, but it didn’t look serious. His leader was pinned down by the enemy fire, but he should be safe where he sat.

Lifting and shifting his sight picture he followed the bridge to where it ended just above Urartu. There was his target. He was readying himself for a charge down the ladder to get at Urartu.

Inhale, exhale slowly until the pause, steady squeeze…

The round ricocheted off the ferocrete just in front of the man causing him to pull his head and shoulders back behind cover.

The return fire was waning so Josam lifted himself up a bit and could tell that the men in the bodysuits were pulling back. Even the man on the bridge seemed to have better thoughts. Watching them as they went, to make sure they didn’t change their mind, Josam let them slip back into the shadows beyond the dome.

Ishik and Josam stayed in their perches to cover An-Nur as he checked on Urartu. Urartu had pulled himself against a bulkhead and looked to be ok. Once An-Nur gave him a once over he looked up at the snipers and gave a nod. With that Ishik climbed down and helped An-Nur search through the rest of the dome. In several locations there were overturned cabinets and enough tools and other items of interest that they were going to be eating well tonight.

Josam was already enjoying the thought of getting back our from under this monstrosity.