LotS/The Story/Legions of Steel/Jungle

Jungle
Your eyes open to see Princess Illaria standing over your bunk. The worried expression on her face instantly dispels the lingering traces of sleep.

“We’ve reached Capek,” she says. “But something’s wrong. We tried contacting the surface, and no one answered.”

You sit up, your senses becoming alert. Her concern is justified. Capek isn’t a backwater planet with a minor colony on its surface, where someone might trip over a cable and disable the communications station. It’s a major production planet for TALOS, home to the most important factories in this part of their territory. There should be countless people ready to receive and respond to a communication from an incoming vessel.

You get to your feet, and follow her into the flight cabin. Talia’s sitting at the controls, Telemachus beside her. The planet dominates the view through the window.

“Still nothing,” says Talia. “I can’t make contact with the surface. It’s like the entire communication network is down.”

“Take her in slowly,” you say.

Talia nods, and the ship moves towards the planet’s atmosphere. A moment later a pleasant-sounding voice comes over the communicator.

“Your presence here is unauthorized. Leave our atmosphere or be destroyed. Thank you.”

“This is Princess Illaria of the Sian Empire. I wish to-”

“Your presence here is unauthorized. Leave our atmosphere or-”

“Automated message,” you say. “Take her up.”

Talia guides the ship upwards, allowing it to hold a geostationary position once it’s at a safe distance.

“So,” she says, “what now?”

“I know the planet’s administrator. He’ll be in Capek Major, the capital city,” says the Princess. “Can you get us down there safely? I have to see him, and find out what’s happening.”

“That might not be wise,” you say.

“We’ve come here to ask for TALOS’ help,” she replies. “So we can hardly deny them help in return. If they’re experiencing problems on the surface, I wish to aid them.”

You glance at the scanner and map displays.

“Yes…” You point at the planetary map which has appeared on one of the monitors. “This jungle, over here. We should be able to land far enough away from the capital city to avoid triggering its defenses, but close enough to get there on foot.”

“Do it,” the Princess says.

Welcome to the Jungle

The jungle rises towards you. In the distance dawn is breaking, but for now this part of the planet is shrouded in shadows, and the ship descends into darkness. It touches down on an expanse of grass near the tree line.

“Stay on the ship,” Princess Illaria tells Telemachus.

“But-” he begins. The rest of his words are lost, as the flight cabin door shuts behind you, the Princess, and Talia.

“This jungle is a nature reserve,” says the Princess. “I was here once before. There are predators, but they’re kept in enclosures – behind force-fields.”

“The kind of force-fields that fail if the systems malfunction?” you ask.

“Yes…” she replies.

The three of you grab your weapons, and exit the ship. Outside the jungle is silent. But the silence seems ominous instead of tranquil. Shouldn’t there be animal sounds in a jungle? The foliage at the base of the trees begins to rustle. Something’s in there, watching you...

Then there’s a clanging noise from the ship, loud and startling. You look over, and see Telemachus’ mech lumbering towards you.

“Where did that thing come from?” asks Talia, her gaze still fastened on the tree line.

“I made the servants put it in the cargo hold when they loaded the ship,” he replies.

The mech comes to a halt alongside the Princess and Talia, its torso swiveling as Telemachus inspects his surroundings. You decide against trying to order the boy back onto the ship. It isn’t the time for an argument, and the mech’s armored form is somehow reassuring.

Now that the mech’s stopped moving, the rustling in the bushes is audible once more. As you listen, it intensifies. Then the foliage parts to reveal vicious, predatory mouths. All around you the air is filled with something between a growl and a hiss, and the creatures attack.

Red in Tooth and Claw

Each blast from your weapons claims another of the savage creatures, but more keep bounding through the trees. They hurl themselves at you, their snapping jaws chomping at your throats. Even Telemachus’ hulking mech doesn’t intimidate them – the creatures scramble over it, their mouths scratching at its metal as they try to find something they can sink their teeth into.

One of the beasts leaps at Princess Illaria from behind, and you bring your weapon up to pick it off.

The Brute

“I hate nature,” Talia says, as she untangles a piece of charred flesh from her hair.

The ground is littered with corpses. Some of them are twitching, as if their dead jaws still yearn to bite into your flesh.

“Listen…” says the Princess.

She’s looking off into the trees. A second later you hear what alerted her. The sound of gunfire, faint in the distance, reaches your ears.

“Someone needs help,” she says. “Come on!”

You follow her into the trees, into whatever dangers lurk amongst the vines and branches. Talia moves beside you, her agile step darting over the entangling roots which threaten to trip you. Telemachus crashes through the undergrowth behind you, tearing through plants and splintering small trees.

The gunfire becomes louder and louder, the unmistakable rattle of a large, bullet-firing weapon. Bestial shrieks and a roaring human voice accompany it.

You reach the edge of a clearing, and gaze at the scene before you.

A man stands in the middle of the clearing, his bare chest rippling with muscles. In one hand he holds a machinegun, bullets spitting from its flaming muzzle and shells flying from its body. The man’s arm shakes with the recoil, but somehow keeps the weapon level. Scores of dead beasts are strewn around the clearing, and more are being torn apart by his gunfire. As you look on, he swings an axe in his other hand, dispatching another of the creatures.

The warrior is ferocious, and for a moment all four of you just stand there, watching him deal death with awed expressions on your faces. But more of the animals are moving towards him now, from all directions. No matter how well he fights, he’ll be overwhelmed soon.

You meet the Princess’ gaze, and she nods. You charge into the fray to support the brutish stranger.

Rumble in the Jungle

The man gives a satisfied grunt as you approach, perhaps by way of expressing his appreciation, and uses the momentary respite to stick a fresh clip in his weapon. Then he commences roaring and firing once more.

Talia moves to cover his right-hand side, the Princess beside her, and begins firing her pistols at everything that moves in that direction – picking creatures out of the air in mid-leap. Telemachus has no experience in battle tactics, and simply fires at whatever captures his attention in any direction. But the heavy firepower from his mech and the raw enthusiasm with which he brings it to bear make up for his lack of martial science.

You stand at the man’s other shoulder, and shoot at the creatures massing in that direction to flank your group.

Garlax Ragebeasts

The clearing has become a slaughterhouse. Corpses are piled high, where the creatures fell in droves – each one fearless, charging or leaping even as it saw those before it cut down. Their animal stench fills the air, and you see Princess Illaria’s nose wrinkling as it assaults her nostrils.

A few wounded survivors twist and turn on the ground, their wails and slowly flailing limbs pitiable despite their monstrous appearances. You and Talia begin to put them out of their misery, dispatching each one with a well placed laser shot.

The man grunts, grabs one of them by its neck before you can euthanize it, and yanks it up into the air. It makes a feeble effort to bite him as it dangles there, its jaws twitching and snapping, but it can’t break his powerful grip. Then he pulls it towards him, and sinks his teeth into its throat. The beast thrashes and screeches, before falling silent. The man hurls it aside, and turns to face you, part of the creature’s flesh still protruding from his mouth. He gulps, and it disappears down his throat, leaving blood and gore smeared around his lips to mark its passage. He brings a hand up to his face, and rubs it across his mouth – successfully transferring most of the mess.

The four of you stand and watch him in disgust. He grins as he sees the expressions on your faces, then pats his abdomen.

“Cybernetic guts,” he explains. “I could eat my gun if I wanted to. Except I need that for killing. Name’s Ragnar. Thanks for the help.”

“We… we were glad to be of assistance,” says Princess Illaria, her diplomatic skills allowing her to submerge her disgust. She’s used to dealing with foreigners and aliens, and being exposed to their dining habits.

Ragnar stares at her, his face first betraying curiosity, and then recognition.

“I know you,” he says, spitting out bloody saliva in his excitement. “You’re the Queen of the Sian Empire!”

“Princess,” she replies.

“Ha! One time I did a job for a Sian colony, and they paid me in hard credits. Systems screwed up or something. They had your face on it. Wow, a real live princess!”

Ragnar extends his hand to Princess Illaria. She grimaces as she gazes at the blood on it, but quickly disguises the emotion. She meets his gaze, and bows. This thankfully prompts him to withdraw his hand, and he makes a clumsy bow of his own instead.

“What are you doing here?” asks Talia.

“Did a job for TALOS,” Ragnar replies, turning to her. His gaze roams across her figure as he talks. “Came to Capek to collect my pay. They wouldn’t answer my hails, or let me land in the city. So I came down here.”

“And you ran into those things?” Telemachus asks.

“Huh. Kid in a mech. In the fighting, thought you were some kind of robot.” Ragnar casts what appears to be an admiring glance at the mech. “Nice chainsaw… Nah, I ran into something else. I was running away from them when I crashed into a pack of these things, and had to start killing ‘em.”

A great monstrous roar bellows through the air, coming from beyond the trees.

“Is that the ‘something else’ you were running from?” you ask.

“Yeah…” Ragnar replies.

The ground rumbles, and you raise your weapon as you await whatever new danger is about to emerge.

..................

“Woah!” gasps Telemachus. “I can’t believe we killed those things!”

“Eh,” says Ragnar, with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’ve killed bigger. Just about everything dies if you shoot it enough times.”

“Which idiot thought it would be a good idea to put things like that in this nature reserve?” asks Talia.

“Damn fauna-huggers,” says Ragnar. “Some things need to be wiped out.”

“We should head towards the city,” you say. “Before we run into anything worse.”

“Yes,” agrees the Princess. “Capek Major is this way.”

With one final glance at the gigantic carcasses, the five of you head off into the trees.