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Chapter 17: Covert Hunt

Dragon Realms, Uncharted System

March 9, 2204

1218 Hours

Skies above 'Hadrian's Cove'

"Alpha, this is Echo, we are en route."

"Copy that, 10 to dirt."

"We are seeing some chop just north of the Drop Zone, over."

"Copy, keep pushing, we'll keep in the air for close air support, over."

"Roger."

Two Nighthawks flew through the cloudy skies and the brisk waters beneath passed on by as the drop ships soared at 10,000 feet. The troop bay doors were sealed shut and the fluffy clouds parted as the drop ships flew through them.

The two drop ships sailed onwards, a small island cove started to become more visible. Trees and rocks were coming into view, waves from the ocean splashing into them.

The drop ships lowered in altitude and they flared their jets as they came closer to the cove. The drop ships flew to the top of the cliff that separated the forest above from the waters beneath. The doors came open and the black clad HACO soldiers came out of the drop ship.

"Go, check your corners!" One of them said in a low whisper. The others nodded and walked forward. The black clad soldiers ran in crouched positions and another figure stepped off the Nighthawk, his bow at the ready. Hunter of Avalar stood in the midst of the soldiers, his expertise in the terrain vital to the mission at hand.

The mountain forest terrain played out before them, whisps of wind kicking small pockets of dirt and making them airborne. The scene had a hidden layer of beauty... even under its layer of grey colors; the forest retained a sense of natural wonder and awe. However, this was at the back of the mind of HACO soldier Corporal Thomas Anderson. At least, it should have been. Each HACO had been trained to zone out every distraction and focus completely on the mission. However, that didn't mean he didn't enjoy the terrain...

The soldiers sat in crouched positions as the Nighthawks flew upwards, Hunter slowly going forward and looking the terrain over before motioning for them to head down the path. The lead HACO, Lieutenant Shaun, nodded and motioned his men forward.

Andersonwatched as an objective marker appeared on his HUD. The small LED marker told him that they had to head south, up the side of a mountain and deeper into the mountain forest. Their objective- destroy the Dark Crystal that was suspected to be at what the Dragon's referred to as Hadrian's Cove.

The other soldiers ran forward andAndersonhad his M74C against his shoulder in the 'stand by' position. He ensured the bayonet attachment was secure and the laser fiber optic sight was in place. With that he followed behind another HACO as they ran down the path.

The wind swept through the area and dust obscuredAnderson's vision. His visor kept everything out of his face and his Friend or Foe tagger marked the position of each friendly in his vision with a small LED marker. Ahead of him was Private First Class Jenkins, according to the LED marker labeled on him.

The soldiers black armor was possibly the most advanced ever created. The HACO armor was like that of the Marines', except it used more advanced components. It consisted of a layer of special 'Dragon Skin' Kevlar vests over their uniforms, and over that, a special metal alloy armor. This metal alloy was unlike the Marines' in several key things, one being that it had a special polymer constructed into it. The armor was multi-layered. These layers each contained a liquid gel which had molecular properties that when presented with a force, would bunch up to resist. These layers were leadened together to form a sort of absorbent shock pad. It was tough, and durable. Rifle rounds even had trouble penetrating the armor.

As they walked, they heard sounds that were unnatural. The HACOs walked in cautious footings, the Lieutenant in the group turning to Hunter.

"It is not far... just beyond this ravine." Hunter pointed to a dried up river bed, on its opposite side the elevation up towards the mountain slope began. There looked to be a village atop a cliff just ahead of them.

"1st, we're moving to that village. 2nd and 3rd move along the sides and await my signal." Anderson followed the Lieutenant, being in 1st he had to oblige with the officer's orders.

They climbed the hill, with Hunter close behind. They came to the village to find huts made of wood and stone. It was abandoned.

"Where the hell is everybody?" One of the HACOs asked.

"Dunno, keep a sharp look out." Shaun commanded.

Hunter drew an arrow into his bow and walked cautiously, the HACOs approaching with their weapons in a stand by position.

"Got nothing on thermal." A Sergeant said as he switched on the thermal imaging in his HUD.

"Motion sensors are negative sir, nothings moving."

"Sir, we've got a temporal disturbance in our motion and radar sensors just to the south in that mountain sir. The crystal's probably in there." Jenkins said as he pointed to the mountain just in front of them.

"Copy, we'll worry about villagers later. Let's find a way to neutralize that crystal." Shaun said as he moved forward. As they were leaving the village, they saw some small monkeys gather around the exit. Unlike the Apes at Dante's Freezer, these were more monkey-like and looked more like chimps. However they wore clothing that suggested they were the villagers.

"Greetings Harons, we come to try to rid this land of evil." Hunter said as he approached. The Harons, as Hunter referred to them, snarled at him. They grabbed swords, clubs and other weapons and charged the HACOs. Immediantly the HACOs pointed their weapons at the Harons.

"No, do not attack! They are being corrupted by the crystal!" Hunter shouted as he stood in front of the soldiers.

One of the HACOs dropped the clip he had in his rifle, placed another one with a red strap at the base and pulled the loading lever. He then pointed it at the leading Harons and fired a long burst, bullets hitting the Harons.

"No! What're you doing?!" Hunter asked.

The Harons fell to the ground, but no blood was visible from the hits.

"Rubber rounds, non-lethal." The HACO explained as he fired more rounds at the villagers. The others did the same and the group of villagers was soon all incapacitated.

"Move! Let's go!" Shaun said and they ran towards the mountain.

"1st, this is 3rd, Lakador soldiers spotted moving in our direction. 2nd called in and we're both moving to the mountain. Meet you there, over." The radio clicked off and Shaun nodded. The closer they got to the mountain, the choppier the signal would become.

They dashed into the forest around the village, being rewarded by an array of different sounds. The HACO's crouched down and looked around. One of them undid the rubber rounds and slipped in another clip of ammo- the regular ammunition.

"I have contacts, high!" An HACO said and tagged the hostiles on their HUDs.Andersonlooked up and saw a few Harons leaping in the trees, oblivious to the HACOs below. The HACOs held their fire, letting the Harons pass overhead.

"What's off in this direction, anything special?" Shaun asked Hunter who watched the Harons pass overhead.

"A temple, that leads into the mountain. It is regarded as sacred to the Harons and others who reside in Hadrain's Cove." He explained.

"That's our ticket into the mountain then. That's probably where the crystal is located." Shaun said. He motioned the others forward and tagged where the temple would be in their objective markers.

Suddenly they heard sounds around them and an eagle flew down and perched itself on Hunter's arm as he extended it out.

"Lieutenant, he says there are reptilian soldiers approaching fast." Hunter said while turning to Shaun.

"Lakadors... load metal ammo and prepare to engage." He instructed.

The HACOs moved in crouched positions and slowly moved along the forest path. A few bird chirps followed and the eagle that was perched on Hunter's arm looked at Hunter one last time before taking off into the sky.

"Got contacts on thermal, tagging them now." Every HACO saw the tags pop up on their HUDs and saw a few figures moving in the trees beyond. The thermal showed them being cold blooded- reptilians. It was hard to distinguish them from the grass and trees, but it wasn't hard to miss movement.

"Let's try to keep engagement to a minimal. Sergeant, take your squad into the temple and take out that crystal. We'll stay and defend." Shaun whispered to the rest. They nodded andAndersonfollowed his Sergeant towards the objective marker.

Just as they did, Lakadors burst from the trees and fired globs of dark energy at them. A few nailed an HACO in the chest and revealed that they weren't so much dark energy spheres altogether, but energized miniature crystals that were their equivalent to bullets. Though they also had different weapons with them so that meant that that was probably just one ammo type. The other's probably used pure dark energy.

The soldier grunted as the rounds struck, his armor smoking. Another helped him to his feet, his armor having taken the blow and absorbing the impact. The HACO's fired back, rifle rounds nailing head shots and putting down Lakadors with acute accuracy and efficiency.

Andersonfired off a burst before returning his SMG to the stand by position and dashing with his squad into the temple. The temple was made of stonework and masonry, torches lighting the passageways. They moved inwards until they came to where they were in a huge room. The room had no base, instead the path moved alongside the walls and there were several other passageways crisscrossing the space above them. In the center of the room there was a large platform.

They were underneath the platform so they could only see its base, but they did see a beam of darkness shooting forth from the platform- evidence that a Dark Crystal was there.

"Looks like we're climbing." The Sergeant said. The squad of 5 HACOs moved with Hunter down the path, avoiding fallen statues and rubble. Soon they came to where the path was blocked- the bridge was out. On either side of the fallen bridge there were dragon statues with an imprint suggesting a crystal orb went there.

Two paths branched off from them, one going up via grass ivory on the walls and a secondary moving down to a sub-passage. The Sergeant pointed to Anderson and Jenkins and another HACO, tagged Doslan by his HUD.

"You three, take the vines, we'll go below."Andersonnodded, slung his SMG over his shoulder and climbed the vines. The other two followed and the others went down below.

After a bit of climbing they reached the top of the structure and found several platforms leading over the initial path. At the end they saw a crystal.

Though the platforms were spaced apart quite some and the only way to successfully reach them was to make a perfectly timed jump to a series of moving- or rather floating- platforms circling the main ones.

"Oh boy..." Doslan commented.Andersonsneered inside his helmet and walked over to the edge. He saw the coming platform, counted to three and jumped.

His heart stopped as he went through the air and he felt his boot touch the moving platform. He breathed and grabbed a hold, gaining balance. Then he leapt to the main platform and leapt again to catch the next moving one.

The others looked at each other questionably before leaping to follow.

FinallyAndersonmade it to the final platform and stumbled. His weight got the better of him and he yelled out as he began to fall over the edge. He felt something grab him and looked up to see Jenkins grab a hold of his hand and pull him back up.

He grunted.

"Thanks..."

Jenkins merely nodded. Though the soldiers had reflective visors over their faces, he knew Jenkins was smiling.

They walked to the platform and Jenkins let out a whistle as they neared the crystal. Doslan grabbed it and grunted as it was heavier then it looked.

Suddenly a few skeletons walked out from holes and let out wails at the HACOs. The skeletons suddenly began to glow and became full flesh- taking the forms of Apes.

"Son of a bitch!" Jenkins yelled before firing his rifle, nailing two headshots in the initial burst.

Andersonbrought his SMG up and fired short bursts from the weapon, hitting the Apes in the chest and knocking them over the edge. More came and an elevator came up from below, a ticket back to the statues.

"On the elevator, now!"Andersonshouted. They went without a moment's hesitation and soon the elevator jerked and began to lower. The elevator descended and halted at the base, right next to the dragon statues. Doslan inserted the crystal to the corresponding dragon statue via their color and it gave off a warm glow. Now all they had to do was wait for the Sergeant to arrive with the other.

The Sergeant, another HACO and Hunter roped down to a bottom passageway running underneath the path they had been walking. A door opened before them, showing a long passage with several gated doors. At the end, a crystal that they needed sat.

"Looks easy enough." The Sergeant said.

"We must be cautious... things aren't always as they seem..." Hunter said as he placed his bow over his shoulder.

They walked forward into the passage and the door behind them slammed shut.

"What the..." As soon as the HACO said this, the wall directly behind them sprouted spikes and it started to move forward towards them.

"Quickly, we must move!" Hunter said and the HACOs moved quickly after him. They ran to the gated door just ahead and they tried to open it, but to no avail.

The base of the door was opened just enough for someone to slip under and there was a switch on the other end. The HACO tried to go underneath, but there was a barrier of blackness that kept him from going under.

"Damn, I can't go under!" He said.

"Screw this." The Sergeant said and fired his rifle at the switch on the other side. The switch was manual, which required someone to move it themselves. The weapon did nothing to it, only aggravating the HACOs even more.

All the while the wall was only a few yards from them.

"Shit!" The Sergeant said as he reached into his pack, removed a grapple and tossed it over to the switch on the other side. The grapple's hook caught the bar and the Sergeant pulled down, pulling the switch down with it. There was a click and the door slid open.

"'Bout damn time!" The other HACO said and the Sergeant recovered his grapple and they dashed with renewed speed to the next door. The wall began to pick up speed and they reached the second gated door and did the same trick. The door opened just like the first and they went to the third and final door.

The HACO tossed his grapple at the bar, but a rumble caused it to miss and it landed on the floor. The door had picked up even more speed and within 15 seconds they would be turned into swiss cheese.

"Great!" He said. The Sergeant was trying to get his own grapple out when Hunter grabbed one of his arrows, tied a large piece of debris rock to it and attached a rope to the arrow. He shot it at the bar, scored a hit and pulled down. The rocks attached to the arrow had enough weight to pull the lever down and the door slid open. They gathered the grapples, dashed for the crystal and grabbed it.

The lack of weight on the pedestal caused a door nearby to slide open and an elevator was on the opposite end. They all boarded just in time to see the wall slam into the wall ahead of them. That could have been them... too close...

The elevator rose and they arrived top-side to find the other three HACOs waiting for them to plant the crystal. The grunted, set the crystal down and were rewarded with a burst of light. A bridge extended the gap between the path and they walked across.

The next path went up a large flight of stairs to the second tier of paths. The pedestal was in level with them, but they couldn't get to it from here. The pedestal with the crystal was accessible via drop offs from a path on the third tier. They had some more climbing to do.

The HACOs and Hunter ran across the paths, leaping over holes in the ground, and onto platforms. They passed up that area and arrived at another gap in the path. Next to them, there was what looked like a switch, but it required a key.Andersonlooked at it before looking around. How were they going to find a key in this place, especially one that small?

"Start looking." The Sergeant instructed.

"Found it." One of the HACOs said. He tagged it so everyone could find it from their HUD. The key was sitting on top of a pedestal on a platform separated from the main path. Carvings nearby indicated that someone or something was supposed to complete some sort of a flight challenge to unlock the key.

"How the hell are we supposed to get it then, we can't fly."

"But we can cheat." Jenkins said as he pointed to a series of rings nearby. The supposed person supposed to complete the challenge was supposed to nail targets on rings by flying to them. Probably by touching them, like tagging or something. They couldn't fly, but they did have rifles.

Jenkins fired at a target, nailing it. He was rewarded with a piece of bridge that spanned out to the key pedestal.

Anderson, Doslan and the Sergeant fired at the other targets, hitting them and causing more of the bridge to form. The other HACO and Hunter ran across the bridge as it formed.

"If this is a flight challenge, why couldn't the dragon or whoever just fly to the key instead? Or for that matter fly across the gaps?" The HACO asked.

Hunter placed his hand over the edge of the bridge and motioned for the HACO to do the same. The HACO noted the strong wind currents coming up from somewhere.

"Updrafts. They'd immobilize any airborne creature trying to get across. The bridges cover the drafts so they could cross." Hunter said simply. It made sense. The HACO nodded and they ran to the key, grabbed it and ran back across. They arrived back and the HACO placed the key into the switch and turned it. Hunter pulled down on the switch and with a click, a bridge connected like before to span the expanse.

"Good work, let's move." Once more Anderson and the others ran across the bridge and to another flight of stairs. Once more, a gap in a bridge existed. A switch was visible, but it was behind a barrier of some sorts. Next to the barrier, an elemental switch with a fire symbol sat.

"I'm guessing with activate the switch, and the barrier falls?" Jenkins asked.

"Seems so." Hunter said.

"Where are we going to get fire?" Doslan asked.

Andersonsmirked and pulled out a grenade. It was an Incendiary Grenade.Andersonpulled the pin and tossed it at the switch. The grenade released a vapor into the air. A small spark ignited the airborne vapor and the torch inside lit up with it.

A red symbol at the base of the barrier lit up and the area rumbled. The HACOs looked around and nearby, a pedestal rose from below and an electric switch was visible on it. Floating platforms moved across the expanse. Andersonsighed. "Great..." He thought. "More moving platforms..."

The red bar at the base of the barrier started to get smaller and smaller.

"Guys..." Jenkins said.

"I think we're being timed." He said as they looked at him.

"Looks like we only have 30 seconds!" The Sergeant yelled. A small timer appeared in the corner of their HUDs andAndersonbolted for the platform. He leapt from platform to platform, timing his jumps just right.

He reached the main platform with the switch and came a realization.

"How do I trip it?!"Andersonasked. The timer read 15 seconds.

"Here!" Jenkins threw a blue orb with a lightning mark on it.Andersoncaught it.

"Electric grenades, courtesy of the Lakadors!" Jenkins yelled.

Andersonsmirked, triggered the grenade and put it on the pedestal. He leapt away as it detonated, 4 seconds on the clock. The switch charged up and a yellow symbol lit up at the base of the barrier. They were rewarded with another switch that rose from the ground, taking position in the center of the group.

It had a wind symbol on it.

The yellow light began to fall as well, indicating they also had 30 seconds to trigger this switch.

"What now, do we blow on it?" Doslan asked.

"Updrafts..." The other HACO muttered. He looked off near the roof and saw a disk shaped statue channeling the updraft towards the center of the room, keeping everything away from above the central platform with the crystal on it.

"Anderson!" The HACO threw a grenade and tagged the disk shaped statue hanging from the roof.Andersongrabbed the fragmentation grenade, saw the tag and threw it. It would miss though...

An arrow sailed as Hunter released the tension he had been building and the arrow caught the grenade and the force from the arrow smacked the explosive right up to the part of the disk shaped statue attached to the ceiling.

The grenade detonated, 12 seconds left.

The statue plummeted and smashed into the pedestal where the electric switch was.Andersonhad already safely run for cover.

6 seconds.

The disk shaped statue was facing them, the air rising from the abyss being funneled through its curvature and been channeled towards the switch. It hit the switch and it glowed.

A white light lit up at the barrier and it slowly fell, revealing the switch that would activate the bridge. The Sergeant walked over, pulled down on the switch and once more, a bridge expanded across the abyss, another flight of stairs on the opposite side.

The HACOs and Hunter ran across, climbing to the top to find a horrid scene.

Harons were fighting against Lakadors who were fighting against Apes and another group of creatures the Dragons referred to as Grublins.

They were on the stair platform- which was connected to another which the fight was on. That platform was large. Connected to it was another large platform with a structure on it. Behind the structure's pillars there was another switch. They looked off and saw the platforms overlooking the crystal platform were disconnected from them. To access them, they needed to activate the switch.

"Never easy, is it?" Doslan askedAndersonwho frowned.

"No... it never is..." He said lowly.

"Let's push forward, let's go HACOs!" The Sergeant said. Hunter ran to a spot and began to fire arrows, hitting Grublins and Apes, causing them to fall over in a screech of pain.

Anderson and the other HACO took up a crouched position and fired their weapons,Andersonusing an SMG while the other using an M78C Carbine. The gunfire blew through a pair of Lakadors that were engaged in what looked like a fist fight with the Harons.

Using short bursts,Andersonhit the Lakadors, and missed the Harons. The Harons fell over as Jenkins and Doslan fired rubber rounds at them. The Sergeant had an M74C and fired at another pair of Lakadors. There was too much confusion and hostiles for them to even realize that they had opened fire. The Sergeant clicked on a switch and a 'Move Forward' icon lit up in their HUD. They nodded and ran towards the hole in the hostiles, Hunter close behind.

The HACOs fired their weapons at the Apes and Lakadors as they moved through, sword fights breaking out all around the charging humans.

They reached the third platform with the structure in the back, against the cave wall. The structure looked like a sort of gate, concealing the switch to access the bridges.

As they crossed, they heard a roar and looked to their left to see a large troll leap from a hole in the cave wall and separate the gap between them and the structure.

"A troll, watch out!" Hunter warned. The large creature smacked Hunter away using its large ball shaped fists and its green grass-like hide flowing from the updraft.

The HACOs immediately fired at the troll, their bullets doing little against its tough hide.

"How do we kill it?" Jenkins asked. Before he was answered, he had to dodge its wild charge at him.Andersonfired off a short burst before rolling out of the way to avoid being crushed as well. The Sergeant moaned as he stood up, just having leapt out of the way of the things wild charge.

The creature ran up and smacked Doslan away, his armor taking the blunt of the hit and he slammed against the structure, a few pieces of the cave roof coming undone from the Troll's slamming.

That gaveAndersonan idea as he saw that.

He looked up and to his delight saw a large stalactite hanging from the ceiling and looming over them. It would make a perfect weapon to kill the troll.

Andersonlooked around. He had to detach that thing somehow. He lacked a grenade launcher and didn't think he could lob a grenade up there either.

Looking around he saw that Doslan had a grenade launcher attached to his weapon but the soldier was knocked out at the moment.

Andersonran for the gun, grabbed it and was promptly smacked by the Troll. He skidded across the floor, keeping a hold on the Carbine weapon. The Troll ran over to him, trying to finish the job. The troll raised its claws andAndersonsaw that he was right under the stalactite. Perfect...

Andersonbrought the Carbine up, pressed the trigger on the Grenade Launcher and a pop sound went off as the grenade left the tube, hit the rock and detonated. The blast broke the spike off its bearings and sent it coming downwards.

The troll let out a howl as the stalactite penetrated him and sliced through him. The troll let out a final groan of defeat andAndersonstood up, bewildered. The structure came down to reveal a series of small ramps leading to the switch that they needed to trip. Hunter leapt to the top and pulled down on the switch.

The two bridges were erected and connected to their platform. They ran over, helping Doslan up along the way. They reached the bridges overlooking the crystal and they all looked down to it.

Jenkins fired his weapon at the crystal, the rounds bouncing off some sort of shield being formed by two crystal statues next to the main crystal.

"We have to take those out first..."

"How?"

"Like this..."Andersonsaid as he grabbed his grapple and tossed it until it caught a structure on the roof over the crystal.Andersontugged to ensure a good throw and he jumped. He flew over to the other bridge and along the way, he dropped a live Fragmentation Grenade atop one of the crystals. The grenade detonated and damaged both of them.

Andersonlanded on the other side and the others caught his motion. Doslan and Jenkins both tossed their grapples up and held grenades in their hands. They swung over, dropping the grenades.

The grenades exploded and shattered both statues. The crystal was revealed for all to see. Hunter brought his bow and arrow up, his line of sight on the crystal. He released and the arrow smashed into the crystal and shattered it.

The room suddenly shook with energy then calmed down. The Sergeant clicked his Mic.

"Typhus, this is HACO Recon Charlie, do you read over?"

"This is the Typhus, we read you 5 by 5."

_ _

"Copy, crystal destroyed, returning to base."

"Roger, Nighthawks inbound."

_ _

The bridges started to lower and they came to rest at the base level. They all walked off and back to the entrance. As they were leaving they saw the other HACOs holding position just outside, dead Lakadors all around. Only two HACOs had been lost.

The trees rustled and Harons leapt from them. The HACOs had their sights on them immediately, but then one of them held up their hands.

"Please, we mean no harm! Not anymore at least... we thank you, for your help." The HACOs lowered their weapons as the Haron spoke. Hunter walked forward.

"We are happy to help. Get your people back to the village; we suspect there are still many hostile creatures around here."

"Thank you so much! We are eternally greatfull!" The Haron, presumably their leader, smiled at Hunter and he returned it. Hunter turned to the Sergeant and smiled at him as well. The HACO's mirrored visor kept Hunter from seeing his face, but he knew he was smiling back... or at least smirking.

"No more puzzles... ever..." Doslan said and the others chuckled. They walked off towards the village with the Harons and awaited the Nighthawks.

End of Chapter 17

Hunter belongs to Sierra Entertainment

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