11-11-2009, 02:04 AM
Bastard.
The word summed up Vad Zulenka to a key. It so perfectly encapsulated the former assassin’s brooding, volatile personality and his sneering, cold visage. If Piper didn’t know better, she’d make some snarky reference about how her former associate could be found in the dictionary right next to the word bastard.
“Promotion, zombies, explosions…you?” Piper listed halfheartedly as the initial shock of seeing a familiar face subsided as she recalled the bitter ins and outs of the last time they’d encountered one another.
“Helped a doctor. Saved Trixie. Killed some people,” Vad shot back in a similarly drawl, uncaring tone. “You know where the bunker is?” He grunted apathetically as he squinted to try and see through the surrounding forest. Even with the several trees still burning like signal fires; it seemed that the former assassin was unable to spot anything passed the layer of intact trees.
“I don’t have a clue,” Piper muttered in response and as took a few steps toward one of the burning trees and effortlessly snapped off one of its half-burning branches to use as a torch. “But I doubt it moves around that much,” she added, grinning to only herself as she stepped around the black-haired warrior and ducked beneath a series of low-hanging branches.
As Piper crept forward, she made certain to keep one ear glued to the sound of Vad’s boots following behind her. Despite fighting united in previous exploits, their last encounter had involved the two parting on far less amicable grounds. Unfortunately for her, she’d have to go with the flow, because the last thing she wanted to do was begin this competition by having to go ten rounds with someone like Vad.
“I’ve already swept this region,” Vad grunted from behind Piper, prompting the blonde to draw to a halt and glance back over her shoulder. What she saw in the flickering light of her makeshift torch was the assassin’s extended hand pointing toward a nearby tree. Taking a step toward the tree, Piper squinted and was able to barely make out that there was a very small black mark that had been charred between two strips of bark.
“Good idea,” the woman remarked as she reared away from the tree and glanced around the forest for a new direction.
“North,” Vad declared as he began to trudge forward. “If the bunker is close to us, it’s going to be somewhere to the north.”
“Well then,” Piper muttered with a faint sight as started to follow her estranged friend. “Glad to see that you’re so confident,” she added beneath her breath as she jogged forward a few paces to avoid losing track of Vad in the dense network of low-hanging branches and overgrown ferns.
An entire hour.
No one really understands how long sixty minutes is until they have to spend it following a mass murdered through a dark forest in the wee hours of the morning without exchanging so much as simple pleasantries. Fortunately for Piper, the lovely hike came to a halt as Vad stopped his steady march and extended a hand back as a signal to do the same.
What is it? Piper projected into the mind of the warrior, causing him to shudder ever so slightly. For a few moments, there was nothing but a prolonging of the awkward silence of their hike. It wasn’t until the woman opened her mouth to address the former assassin that she got a response.
“Bunker is up ahead of us,” he muttered. Vad’s tone was uncharacteristically morose, as if the realization that it was Piper talking in his head and not someone else had caused him to recall something morose. It was at that moment that the medic recalled Vad’s wife and their less-than-natural bond. Perhaps the collar strapped around the warrior’s neck was severing their connection?
Before Piper could awkwardly pose the question, Vad stepped out of the forest and into the clearing that surrounded the bunker. Following quickly, she brandished her rifle and stepped around the saiyan to get a clearer view of the structure. Unlike the more elegant and homelier bunkers that littered the Sentinel’s base camp, this structure reminded Piper of something out of an old war movie.
The all-gray structure was nothing more than a concrete square half-embedded into the ground, with only a simple slit near the roof. On the right side of the building, she could spot a metal door that bore one of the Syntex Corporation’s logos. All in all, it looked like exactly the spot where they had to reset their collars to prolong their inevitable deaths.
Unfortunately, something didn’t sit quite well with Piper about the scene laid out in front of them. All across the short, freshly cut grass were small depressions indicative of boots or extraterrestrial feet. Occasionally, there would be a small patch of disturbed earth or a miniscule scorch mark. Placed out in front of Piper and Vad were all the signs of a scuffle aside from the individuals responsible for said scuffling.
“Let’s get inside,” Vad grunted, sounding either ignorant of the hints or unimpressed by them. Before Piper could interject, the assassin had darted around to the door on the crude fortification and yanked it open. Quickly slipping in behind her impatient travel companion, the two quickly made their way over to the reset panel they recognized from the pre-game debriefing. After punching a few buttons, they both exchanged smug smirks as their collars beeped pleasantly.
“More time for us,” Piper remarked as the twosome eyed the rather bare, Spartan-esque bunker for any supplies they could raid. Regrettably, it looked as if someone or some people had already spent some time rifling through anything of importance.
“Damn it,” Vad stated with a frown as he picked up a broken piece of equipment and crushed it between his fist. As a shower of sparks flittering out through his clenched fingers, the assassin suddenly lifted his head to gaze out through the observation slot in the bunker’s reinforced wall.
Before Piper could pose the question, an eruption of energized bullets tore apart concrete and electronic equipment as the two sprinted toward the door. Throwing her shoulder against it, the blonde easily plowed her way through and emerged back into the outside world.
Much to the chagrin of both Piper and Vad, there were three warriors locked in combat just a few yards away. From what it seemed to be, it was a contest that pitted an alien very reminiscent of Szar against a cloaked alien and a young woman. How neither the soldier nor the former assassin had heard their scuffle prior to their arrival was beyond them, but now it seemed the fight had spilled back out of the forest and into the bunker’s clearing. Wrestling with the decision of what to do, Piper turned just in time to watch the smile spread across Vad’s countenance as fresh metal began to seep from his flesh.
“Let the game begin,” the assassin chuckled as his serrated metal blades took shape.
The word summed up Vad Zulenka to a key. It so perfectly encapsulated the former assassin’s brooding, volatile personality and his sneering, cold visage. If Piper didn’t know better, she’d make some snarky reference about how her former associate could be found in the dictionary right next to the word bastard.
“Promotion, zombies, explosions…you?” Piper listed halfheartedly as the initial shock of seeing a familiar face subsided as she recalled the bitter ins and outs of the last time they’d encountered one another.
“Helped a doctor. Saved Trixie. Killed some people,” Vad shot back in a similarly drawl, uncaring tone. “You know where the bunker is?” He grunted apathetically as he squinted to try and see through the surrounding forest. Even with the several trees still burning like signal fires; it seemed that the former assassin was unable to spot anything passed the layer of intact trees.
“I don’t have a clue,” Piper muttered in response and as took a few steps toward one of the burning trees and effortlessly snapped off one of its half-burning branches to use as a torch. “But I doubt it moves around that much,” she added, grinning to only herself as she stepped around the black-haired warrior and ducked beneath a series of low-hanging branches.
As Piper crept forward, she made certain to keep one ear glued to the sound of Vad’s boots following behind her. Despite fighting united in previous exploits, their last encounter had involved the two parting on far less amicable grounds. Unfortunately for her, she’d have to go with the flow, because the last thing she wanted to do was begin this competition by having to go ten rounds with someone like Vad.
“I’ve already swept this region,” Vad grunted from behind Piper, prompting the blonde to draw to a halt and glance back over her shoulder. What she saw in the flickering light of her makeshift torch was the assassin’s extended hand pointing toward a nearby tree. Taking a step toward the tree, Piper squinted and was able to barely make out that there was a very small black mark that had been charred between two strips of bark.
“Good idea,” the woman remarked as she reared away from the tree and glanced around the forest for a new direction.
“North,” Vad declared as he began to trudge forward. “If the bunker is close to us, it’s going to be somewhere to the north.”
“Well then,” Piper muttered with a faint sight as started to follow her estranged friend. “Glad to see that you’re so confident,” she added beneath her breath as she jogged forward a few paces to avoid losing track of Vad in the dense network of low-hanging branches and overgrown ferns.
***
An entire hour.
No one really understands how long sixty minutes is until they have to spend it following a mass murdered through a dark forest in the wee hours of the morning without exchanging so much as simple pleasantries. Fortunately for Piper, the lovely hike came to a halt as Vad stopped his steady march and extended a hand back as a signal to do the same.
What is it? Piper projected into the mind of the warrior, causing him to shudder ever so slightly. For a few moments, there was nothing but a prolonging of the awkward silence of their hike. It wasn’t until the woman opened her mouth to address the former assassin that she got a response.
“Bunker is up ahead of us,” he muttered. Vad’s tone was uncharacteristically morose, as if the realization that it was Piper talking in his head and not someone else had caused him to recall something morose. It was at that moment that the medic recalled Vad’s wife and their less-than-natural bond. Perhaps the collar strapped around the warrior’s neck was severing their connection?
Before Piper could awkwardly pose the question, Vad stepped out of the forest and into the clearing that surrounded the bunker. Following quickly, she brandished her rifle and stepped around the saiyan to get a clearer view of the structure. Unlike the more elegant and homelier bunkers that littered the Sentinel’s base camp, this structure reminded Piper of something out of an old war movie.
The all-gray structure was nothing more than a concrete square half-embedded into the ground, with only a simple slit near the roof. On the right side of the building, she could spot a metal door that bore one of the Syntex Corporation’s logos. All in all, it looked like exactly the spot where they had to reset their collars to prolong their inevitable deaths.
Unfortunately, something didn’t sit quite well with Piper about the scene laid out in front of them. All across the short, freshly cut grass were small depressions indicative of boots or extraterrestrial feet. Occasionally, there would be a small patch of disturbed earth or a miniscule scorch mark. Placed out in front of Piper and Vad were all the signs of a scuffle aside from the individuals responsible for said scuffling.
“Let’s get inside,” Vad grunted, sounding either ignorant of the hints or unimpressed by them. Before Piper could interject, the assassin had darted around to the door on the crude fortification and yanked it open. Quickly slipping in behind her impatient travel companion, the two quickly made their way over to the reset panel they recognized from the pre-game debriefing. After punching a few buttons, they both exchanged smug smirks as their collars beeped pleasantly.
“More time for us,” Piper remarked as the twosome eyed the rather bare, Spartan-esque bunker for any supplies they could raid. Regrettably, it looked as if someone or some people had already spent some time rifling through anything of importance.
“Damn it,” Vad stated with a frown as he picked up a broken piece of equipment and crushed it between his fist. As a shower of sparks flittering out through his clenched fingers, the assassin suddenly lifted his head to gaze out through the observation slot in the bunker’s reinforced wall.
Before Piper could pose the question, an eruption of energized bullets tore apart concrete and electronic equipment as the two sprinted toward the door. Throwing her shoulder against it, the blonde easily plowed her way through and emerged back into the outside world.
Much to the chagrin of both Piper and Vad, there were three warriors locked in combat just a few yards away. From what it seemed to be, it was a contest that pitted an alien very reminiscent of Szar against a cloaked alien and a young woman. How neither the soldier nor the former assassin had heard their scuffle prior to their arrival was beyond them, but now it seemed the fight had spilled back out of the forest and into the bunker’s clearing. Wrestling with the decision of what to do, Piper turned just in time to watch the smile spread across Vad’s countenance as fresh metal began to seep from his flesh.
“Let the game begin,” the assassin chuckled as his serrated metal blades took shape.
Quote: Piper and Vad enter the Forest Sector Bunker
Quote:Vad's Whimsical Whimsicalisms: Men. Good stuff there.
![[Image: Viper-Mini-Sig-Piper.png]](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/ThundercatsHO/Viper-Mini-Sig-Piper.png)
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning,
but anyone can start today and make a new ending.