Taste of Fire: Foundation

Story by Iconoclast the Errant on SoFurry

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#11 of Taste of Fire


The human continued to run through the fog struggling with his radio and his gun.

"I need reports, people!" He yelled into the radio. Screams and gunfire still sounded around him.

"Fire squad, nothing to report. 'mander's still out. Approaching fallback point now." A cool voice replied.

The radio paused for a second. "Deller squad, taking losses and can't lock target. Lost contact with Edmun squad." The voice almost sounded hysterical, as a burst of gunfire blasted near him.

The human let out a deep sigh and lifted the radio to his mouth. "Edmun squad, report!" A couple seconds passed, no answer. Either dead or out of radio contact. "Fuck me..." He cursed himself.

The vehicle convoy appeared in front of him in the fog. Several of them had guns mounted on their tops, but only one had a totally different design than the other jeeps. It was large with six wheels. With a strange looking turret sitting in the tail end. It was a prototype of a weapon he hoped would become a hand held, but current technology wouldn't allow it. In Layman's terms it was a sound cannon. It unleashes a low frequency burst of sound that is capable of pulverizing the body of any living creature. Likely causing the target to suffer greatly before dying. The weapon was called the Pulse Cannon, developed by Professor Keldan himself. It probably wouldn't kill Zatsule, but it would slow him down.

As he ran up to one of the vehicles a soldier gestured for him.

He ran up to the soldier. "What's your status, Moss?" The soldier asked him.

"I'm prime." Moss replied. "We need to hurry as soon as Deller is secured. Qagan is nearly dead, I'm not sure how long he'll hold."

The soldier nodded. "Understood, but Qagan is not our priority sir. We were not to engage without the bosses orders."

Moss smiled at the soldier. "I think he'll understand..." Moss turned and walked back to the main vehicle, opened the door and sat inside.

A minute passed and the sounds of battle had not ceased. Deller squad emerged from the fog and ran toward the vehicles. Only three of them were left, a far cry from the fifteen they started with. No sign of anyone from Edmun squad, thirteen people... Simply gone. A shadow could be seen flying high above, raining fire on the unfortunate humans under it. "When you have a clear shot... Take that bastard down." Moss ordered into his radio. "When Deller is secured hit that Charizard with the Pulse. We'll break engagement then." Moss set his radio down and watched Deller squad run toward the convoy. "Hopefully this works." Moss whispered to himself.

The people left in Deller squad dove into the vehicle they came to first and slammed the door shut. "Open fire!" He heard a soldier yell over the radio. The machine gun mounts were capable of 5000 rounds per minute, they all unleashed their shells simultaneously. The noise was so loud it was nearly unbearable. A great roar of pain could be heard above them.

"Pulse ready!" Moss' radio chimed.

"Once the Char hits the ground I want the convoy to split up and rendezvous back at the Laboratory." Moss paused. "Break him." He ordered. Along with his order came a thunderous sound.

The soldier manning the Pulse Cannon pulled the trigger as ordered with the weapon aimed at the Charizard. The weapon roared as it released its charge. The air twisted around the bubble of low frequency sound blasting toward the airborne target. The impact was silent, but the pained screaming confirmed a hit. The shadow fell from the heavy fog and slammed into the ground, a twisted mass of broken body. Screams of pained rage still came from his mouth as he attempted to stand. "Move out. He'll be back up soon." Moss ordered into his radio. All the vehicles took off and swerved in different directions. Zatsule lifted his arm and pointed to the one Moss was in."I will not lose..." Zatsule promised. "The world will soon know the power of Hate..." He blacked out immediately after.

Moss watched out his window as his jeep made its way out of the crater. The driver was keeping in contact with the others over the C.B. Radio, nearly obsolete these days but got the job done. Moss fiddled with the blue Pokeball in his hands. Praying that Qagan would make it. He was in bad shape, but he was tough. Moss wasn't really that worried about Qagan. He simply refused to lose another friend.

Moss looked at his watch, it read 10:32am. "Still morning." He sighed.

"Late for something?" The driver asked.

Moss chuckled. "Nah." He replied. "We need to get back to base quickly. I'll buy you a drink if we're the first ones there!"

The driver laughed. "Sounds like a deal!"

A couple of hours go by while the jeep swerves and bounces through the forest. Moss watched as a large complex came into view. Multiple houses and some buildings were built, a large complex was in the middle of the small town. Some people were walking and driving down the streets, along with the free Pokemon. Long since had the Pokemon been considered the equals with the Humans in the reserve. An idea almost unheard of in the rest of the world, and borderline taboo. The jeep was driving toward the complex, the letters on the side read Keldan United. A just name for it, and for what it stood for.

"Park near the medical facility. Rain-check on that drink. I have to take care of Qagan first." Moss said. The jeep swung around to the medical side and stopped.

"Good luck! I'm holding you to that drink!" The driver chimed as Moss opened his door.

"I'm sure you will." Moss replied as he stepped out into the afternoon sun. He slammed the door shut and ran toward the Hospital. He burst through the doors and held out the Pokeball to the first doctor he saw. "He's in serious condition. He is a military priority!" Moss explained. The doctor was stunned but grabbed the Pokeball and with a nod he ran down the hallway to the E.R.

Moss sat in the waiting room patiently. Waiting for any word on Qagan. His watch read 6:54pm, it had been about an hour or so since Moss had arrived. No one had talked to him since he had arrived, but he knew that would soon change. He was technically third in command behind Keldan and his younger brother, Alex. Professor Keldan was an old friend of the family and had offered him a position as second in command, but Moss turned it down and was instead considered a military adviser. So it was only a matter of time before word got around that he was back in town.

A nurse approached Moss from across the room after getting off the phone. Moss stood and bowed his head in informal greeting, she returned it.

"The doctor said it will be several days before he's even able to be aware, he's in intensive surgery right now. Recovery will take awhile." She explained.

Moss let out a deep sigh. "Alright, I'm going to head home then. I've got some business to take care of." He explained. "If there's any changes do you know where to contact me?"

She nodded. "I'll have the doctor contact you, sir."

Moss smiled. "Thank you." Moss replied as he turned to walk out. "Stay alive, Qagan. We'll need you." He whispered to himself.

Moss walked down the street and entered the main complex. Many hallways with hundreds of doors were in this complex, all numbered, still confusing as hell. All Moss knew was his office was number 513. The offices also doubled as small apartments. The reserve was still mostly undeveloped and reliant on outside sources. Professor Keldan was hoping to change that soon though. He was always busy these days, but good would come of it in the end. Moss swiped his key card and the door slid open. "Definitely time for sleep." Moss thought to himself and loosened is tie. "Still got work to do." He reminded himself. The door slid shut behind him.

Moss walked into his small apartment/office with a frown as he saw a pile of paperwork on his desk. "Shit..." He chuckled. He made his way to the chair and sat down heavily. His pen mocked him with the promise of paperwork, his hand hesitated. Moss was a terrible procrastinator and preferred to slack off after fieldwork. The events that took place today needed to be reported to the Professor. "Guess I should start a report then." He told himself as he gripped the pen in his left hand and began to write. The room fell silent as he scribbled away in his notebook.

Time drifted by as he slowly wrote out his report. Keldan would be shocked at the sudden occurrences of the last several hours. Especially now that Hate has revealed itself in the crater and nearly consumed Qagan. The whole world nearly went to shit, without anyone knowing. Moss leaned back in his chair and glanced over his report. So far so good, still not done yet. He turned to his watch on his right wrist, 1:39am. All the squads would be back by now. His mind wandered to Qagan and to the Charmander he was defending. What was the purpose of defending her?

The phone on his desk rang as if on cue. He picked it up. "Moss, 513. What do you need?" He spoke into the receiver.

"Moss!" His brothers voice yelled. "Why in the hell wasn't I informed of this mission!"

Moss held the phone a couple of inches from his ear to avoid going deaf. "Because it had to be executed quickly without the red tape slowing it down." Moss replied calmly.

"Who the fuck authorized it!?" Alex yelled.

Moss sighed deeply. "Keldan did. Once he received word that Qagan was headed to the crater to see what happened, He sent me to rendezvous and evac if necessary. Along with three squads and a small convoy in case of an emergency situations." Moss answered. He hated answering to his younger brother like this, but he knew that this would be a byproduct of turning down the commanding position.

There was a silence for several seconds, Alex was biting his tongue. He really wanted to give Moss a tongue lashing. He would have to wait and see if Moss really fucked up first.

"Alright... I'll confirm the details later. Next time this happens..." Alex paused.

"I promise I'll at least give you a warning, brother." Moss said.

Alex sighed. "Right now I need to figure out what to do with this Charmander. She's not giving us any information." Alex explained.

Moss knew what he was letting on. "Send her to me, I'll do what I can." Moss offered. He could almost hear Alex smile over the phone, The bond of brotherhood would always hold them together. Alex was always more hesitant to admit it, but Moss always let everyone know by his actions in the past that his family always came first.

Moss had a way with Pokemon that he never had with humans. Alex knew he would get into the mind of this Charmander.

"She's all yours. I'll send her to you now, let me know when you have important information." Alex said.

Moss sighed, sleep wouldn't come for awhile yet it seems. "I will. Good night, brother." Moss chimed.

"Good night." Alex replied.

Moss set the phone on it's base and stood slowly while stretching. He walked to a small refrigerator and pulled open the door. As he looked inside he set his eyes on two succulent T-bone steaks. "Hope she likes meat!" He said to himself as he grabbed them.