African Rainforest

 

        The Africa rainforests are still some of the densest forests on Earth, even in the Twenty-third century. Thick foliage covers most of the area, and there are still dozens of species that haven't been discovered. The progress of man has become still throughout most of the jungle, except for a massive abandoned laboratory complex on the western edge. In some areas here scientists worked on electronic enhancements and cyborg technology, and the overeager scientists turned the swath of forest around them into a technological nightmare of cybernetic plants and animals, the beginnings of a true technojungle, before the governments of the world stopped them. It stands as a symbol of mankind tampering with things that are best left alone.

 

Slash Man [Armor] [RM]                 Sphere Outpost <Eta> [RM]

 

North <N> leads to Congo.

East <E> leads to Skullamanjaro (Mount Kilamanjaro).

South <S> leads to Savannah.

Northwest <NW> leads to Ivory Coast.

Northeast <NE> leads to Lake Constance (Lake Victoria).

Up <U> leads to Sky Above Central Africa.

 

The African Rainforest is a ticking time bomb in the war between the Robot Masters and Repliforce. It is here that the fighting is at its most potent. With the Eta Sphere destroyed and both opposing factions forced to retreat from the area after the latest major assault, the sector has been visited mostly by advanced scouts, paranoid that the enemy will construct a new base here to replace the Eta sphere, thus giving them the advantage. The rainforest provides a scout with all the cover he could wish for. Whether it be a Repliforce surveillance expert or a troop of Robot Master Joes, the thick foliage means opposing enemies don't even detect one another until they're right upon them, at which point a brief and typically lethal battle ensues before one side skittishly withdraws. Neither faction is making any headway here, and that's likely to continue.

        On this particular day, two unnamed Repliforce trackers are making their way through the foliage, silently watching each others' back while keeping an eye and ear out for any signs of enemy activity. But, thus far, the only sounds are the buzzing of insects and the call of birds. The only sights are the thick, suffocating plant life and the occasional wild animal.

 

        The predator with a threatened home is a force to be reckoned with.

        Slash Man's loyalties are few at this point - to his Father, definitely, and to his perceived home, but aside from that, next to nothing. He's on his own, fighting his fight, out here.

        Ever since he got out of medical, he'd been here, mostly hidden in the upper boughs of the trees, watching his domain carefully.

        He knew of the scouts, it was too easy to know when someone had entered, from the way they left trails - that is, if many people hadn't entered, confusing them all. All he could do was keep up his scouting, with more than just his eyes - heck, for a while, he had them closed, they were often no help in the darkness down here.

        With an almost silent rustle, he dropped from the bough he was on, grasping onto a lower one and locking his footclaws around the trunk, watching below... didn't he hear something down there?

 

The two Repliforce scouts - a tall and slender walking stick and a bulky, powerful looking frog - continue to slither their way along their pre-assigned patrol routes. The pair are not traveling in straight line, as they've been forced to cut around and zigzag through the treacherous terrain. Both scouts have laser rifles gripped firmly in their hands and numerous daggers and knives amongst their person. Both are wearing green, brown and yellow camouflage, hiding whatever their true colours are. The serious, grim looks on their faces say everything about them. However much they may like to joke, relax, or have fun while off duty, they know full well how unforgiving this job is, and their mind and senses are focused entirely on their job. Their lives depend on it, after all. The two scouts are experts in their field. Raising a hand to signal his partner, the frog Reploid continues to sign silently. <Did you hear something?> The walking stick frowns and peers about, slowly shaking his head. The pair stop. Any unindentified noise is not to be ignored.

 

        As expected, thought the beast Master. They always stop when something's amiss. Holding in place and remaining absolutely still, he waited for them to start moving again... normally a twitchy mess, he could be patient when he absolutely needed to be. Like now.

        From where he was, the foliage did a lot to separate the two parties, even vertically - all that could have been detected at the moment was sound, and maybe scent.

 

The frog looks left, right, and then even up and down. Enemies can be everywhere, and you never know when a bubble bat is going to lunge at you from above, or a zombie joe rip his hand up from the earth to grab your leg. Slash Man, silent and stealthy, is not detected. The walking stick has his rifle up and at the ready, prepared to annihilate any signs of enemy forces. Finally, after at least a full minute of simply looking in all directions to ensure that they're as alone as alone can be in this nightmare of a place, the frog signs something silently to the stick, and the pair continue onward, quietly making their way through the thick brush.

 

        That was Slash's cue. More footfalls. They were on the move again... and away from him. Two of them, it sounded like, one of them moderate weight, the other a lightweight, the back one.

        It couldn't have been more perfect.

        He let himself fall, twisting in midair to land more or less on his feet, rustling a couple of boughs on the way but not minding it. They would have some cue anyhow.

        His landing zone? Right behind the walking stick. His intention? Put in a couple claws, then jump right back up and get moving again.

 

There's a virtually silent rustle as Slash Man falls through the trees just before touching down on the ground. Both warriors are on the ball, whirling about with guns. "Geez!" the walking stick exclaims upon seeing their adversary. Before he can even pull the trigger, one of the claws has slashed through both his gun and his midsection, causing him to stagger back clutching his skinny gut as he falls onto his back, heavily wounded. The mech is bleeding a bit, but judging from his extremely light and thin frame, there's probably not much mechanical blood in him in the first place. The heavily built frog gets off a little luckier, having been able to back off enough to avoid the claw heading his way. "Robot Master!" he shouts, training his rifle on the jungle predator. The Repliforce scout pulls the trigger three times, sending highly charged laser bolts flying towards Slash Man.

 

        Tricky ones, these. As his claws slashed through the walking-stick bot, Slash whirled, trying to get a second shot on the frog, though he didn't expect it to land, and sure enough, it didn't.

        He wasn't quite fast enough to avoid the first shot to the back, his frame smoking from the shot, but the second and third? They passed harmlessly beneath him as he lept back up into the embrace of the rainforest, sticking himself to another tree and staying still. He had his own wound to nurse.

        The whole exchange had taken maybe two or three seconds.

 

The walking stick, on the ground and holding his wound with one pair of his arms, reaches over with a second pair of arms (the advantages of being an insect) and clutches at his laser rifle only to find that the weapon was destroyed in the attack. Badly hurt, he fumbles around, trying to release one of his throwing knives whils his partner attempts to deal with the Robot Master.

        The frog curses in some foreign language. This is not a simple matter of taking out a squadron of drones. This is a fully fledged Robot Master on his home turf. "Got you, you son of a bitch," he mutters as Slash Man is shot twice. Slash Man leaps away before he can even get off another other shots. The frog is quickly at his partner's side, "Hold still," he whispers, keeping his weapon up and his eyes trained on the trees. He can't really perform first aid while keeping watch for another attack.

 

        They were still immobile, mostly, aside from some voices. Perfect. The wound was superficial, just some damage to side armor, something that would make further attacks hurt more but didn't really disable much in and of itself. Regardless, Slash Man knew he'd have to make a further effort to not be seen until and even -after- he attacked. Time to up the ante.<

        Waiting above, he bided his time, keeping his senses up and scanning for any further sounds from them.

 

The frog very slowly lowers his gun just long enough to get out his standard issue Repliforce first aid kid. A second later and the gun is back up. The walking stick'll have to tend to his own wounds as best he can. Groaning and fumbling with the bandages, he manages to at least put a halt to the leak. "We're getting out of here," the frog says. The walking stick grunts and nods, "No arguments from me." With the bulky frog shouldering the burden and helping his buddy up, soon the pair are on their feet. The walking stick has one hand holding onto his partner, another hand resting on the hilt of a knife, and two more hands gripping a rifle. The frog has his rifle in only one hand, leaving his other to help his buddy. The pair are clearly meaning to retreat.

 

        More sounds, but not footfalls... they were distracted by something. Retreat was their plan, he could hear that clearly enough. Staggering, stumbling... They were getting ready to go.

        Time to move. He didn't have the same intel as before, which was where, just that they were in the same place as each other and one was heavily injured. That frog would be a problem.

        Slash Man moved, hopping down from his perch, violent shredding on the mind. So much for not being seen!

 

In a blur of motion, everything changes. The walking stick instinctively raises his gun and fires off a single shot before Slash Man pounces on both of them. Whether that shot hits or misses is unknown at the moment, but Slash Man smashes into both of them, splitting them apart and sending them sprawling. The walking stick grunts as he once again is thrown to the ground. The bright side is that if he doesn't make it through this, he won't have to worry about any internal injuries that the claw did to his systems. The frog, as fate would have it, took the majority of the blow, and falls to the ground a short ways away from Slash Man. His weapon slips from his hand due to the force of the impact. Regardless of whether Slash Man was hit by the laser bolt or not, the frog curses again for dropping his firearm and, as he rises to his feet, draws out an extra long, extra sharp knife.

 

        The laser blast came up to meet Slash Man, glancing right off of the presented claws - the advantage of having them first! - as the catboy came down, knocking the two apart. Perfect. First order of business, take that walking stick fully out of commission. He couldn't do that with the frog at his butt, though, so with both feet on the ground, he raised one arm and fired off a blast of corrosive, highly-sticky gel at the frog to restrain him momentarily.

 

The walking stick readies one of his own knives - a short slender little dagger of a weapon. He's in a difficult place to defend from, though. The frog, meanwhile, jumps towards Slash Man just as the gel is fired. It catches him on one of his extremely powerful legs and sends him tumbling down, momentarily ensnaring and pinning him to the ground. The gel also eats away at some of his outer armour. As fate would have it, however, he's landed near where his rifle fell. Stretching, the scout tries to reach for the gun before Slash Man makes his next move.

 

        His tactic failed. Slash struck with the gel, but didn't manage to do anything more than immobilize the frog. It was enough for him at the moment, though. He could at least track the stick if he fled, and if he attacked, it wouldn't be too hard to just put him down. The objectives kept changing.

        Stepping forward, Slash put one foot on the frog's hand, as hard as he could, with a mad grin, before descending with his claws to try and eviscerate the intruder.

 

The frog grits his teeth as his hand finally manages to fall onto his rifle. But before he can raise it and unleash a holy hell upon the Robot Master responsible for their current situation, a foot is jammed onto his hand. Grunting, the bulky frog looks up with horror just in time to see the twin claws slash downwards. It is the last thing that he sees as the scout slumps to the ground, still partially held by the immobilizing gel. The walking stick, meanwhile, has propped himself up against a tree. A knife in two hands, and his rifle in the other two, he unleashes a barrage of laser fire at Slash Man from behind. If he's going down, he's going down fighting.

 

        One down, and sure enough, the other was still up and fighting, and Slash discovered this as his claw slid out of the frogbot's neural net casing.

        The laser fire to his back burned, striking the already-cut wound and causing him to yelp in pain momentarily before spinning around and bringing his lowered claws up in tandem, an X-shaped energy wedge flying out of them toward the injured stick.

 

The stick flinches to the side, and the energy burst blows through his thin armour and takes off his two right arms. If he hadn't been as quick as he was, it would have been his entire torso instead. The tree he was propped up against is blown through, causing it to topple to the ground, sending birds flocking and cawing as they race into the sky. Now gripping his rifle with only one of his left hands, the stick continues to pump laser fire towards Slash Man in a valiant last stand.

 

        Scrambling to avoid the falling tree, the catboy winced as it just missed him. The stick was still up, though, now unable to do anything but spray fire.

        Easily avoiding that maneuver, now that all his attention was on the last fight, Slash lept up again, aiming to come down on top of the stick and pin him solidly to the ground, crushing that one left hand with his foot in the process.

        But aside from immobilizing him, he didn't attack...

 

There's a loud *whump* as Slash Man impacts with the second scout, and the mech's bandages keeping his abdomen patched comes loose. The walking stick is pinned on his back, rifle just out of reach with the hand that was holding it crushed, and knife in one of his two remaining hands. The insect Reploid glares up at Slash Man with a mixture of horror and hatred. There can be no doubt how this is going to end, and with his gasping last moments he slashes at Slash Man's leg with his sharp dagger, trying to drive the weapon in as deep as he can.

 

        The beast held the stick reploid down, keeping his weapon systems from being utilized - except for that dagger, which skittered across his armor just as Slash flicked his leg upward, then brought it down, on top of that hand. With sadistic precision, Slash grinned, and started slicing off the remnants of the bot's arms, at the shoulder, intent on leaving him with nothing but a pair of legs and a damaged body to sustain him. He had plans - sudden plans, but plans nonetheless. He had suffered, and he would make them suffer.

 

There's little that the scout can do at this point. Both of his arms are easily severed, as the mech's armour doesn't stand a chance against the Eta's jungle cat. With two thirds of his limbs removed, the walking stick glares up at Slash Man and hisses, already resigned to his unfortunate fate, "Well, Robot Master? Are you going to get his over with?"

 

        Slash just grinned madly down at the scout. "You're ready to die, aren't you? Just like your friend, over there?" he moved behind the stick, propping him up to give him a good look at his deceased partner. Still reaching for his gun, his head caved in, sparking and struggling to live but already failing, the soldier's brain filling itself with junk data.

        "You see him?" purred the catboy.

 

The stick doesn't give the Robot Master the pleasure of giving him a response. The least the evil mechanoid could do is make this quick rather than drag it out. Squirming slightly as if he might be able to get up and get out somehow, it's obvious that the walking stick does see him. He doesn't reply, however, and instead falls into a fit of coughing. Maybe he won't live long enough to hear the entire speech anyhow.

 

        Still purring, Slash added, "And you think you're going to join him... right?" waiting for a reply.

 

The scout again doesn't give the Robot Master a reply and instead continues to cough madly. But it probably doesn't matter, as the question is probably a rhetorical one anyway. Of course he thinks that.

 

        Abruptly, Slash stood up, jerking the walking stick to his feet - letting him stand if he could, and even flee. "North is behind you. Get going and don't come back." He appeared quite angry on saying this.

 

He can stand, although he's amazed at being given the chance to do so. The walking stick gives a surprised look in SLash Man's direction, and then another look in the direction of his downed comrade. The scout stares at Slash Man in an attempt to find out if this is some kind of sick joke. Regardless, he has little choice in the matter, and begins stumbling off in the direction of home. He's a tough, veteran trooper, so he'll probably make it despite his injuries. He keeps looking back at Slash Man, either to see if the Robot Master is planning to shoot him in the back, or to silently ask 'why'?

 

        Slash just -stared- at the trooper leaving. "Whaat are you waiting for!? GO!"

 

The walking stick cannot exactly go /quickly/, but as he has no other choice in the matter, he picks up the pace as best he can and, unless Slash Man is planning to follow him, eventually disappears into the thick foliage on his trek back to the Repliforce camp.

 

        The beastmaster lets him go, eventually turning back to the downed frog and dragging his carcass off into the darkness of the forest.

 

============================ BB Post in Progress =============================

Group:  Repliforce

Title:  Rainforest Enemy Activity

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

 

        *** TEXT ONLY ***

 

        I have been receiving reports from the patrols around the Fortress V of enemy activity. The main concentration of combat appears to be occurring in the African Rainforest near the site of what was once the Eta Sphere. Robot Master Joe scouts have been spotted, and even Robot Masters themselves. One such report involved a pair of scout troopers ambushed by Slash Man during their patrol. One was killed in action, while the other was mutilated by the Robot Master, having had his arms torn off and his chassis slashed <see attached file mutilation>. Shade Man evidently let him live and return to base in his condition due to some emotional revenge flaw in his programming. Regardless, let this serve as a reminder to exercise extreme caution in this dangerous sector. There are more than merely Joe and Bubblebat class drones inhabiting the jungle.

 

        Major Storm Owl, Commanding Fortress V, Mirror Desert

 

        OOC: On a side note, Storm Owl's entirely wrong about why Slash Man did it, but that's not surprising. The obvious reason is to spread fear amongst our ranks.

 

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