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Buried Treasure(6)
Posted By: Frensa Geran<frensageran99@hotmail.com>
Date: 23 July 2003, 3:18 AM


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Buried Treasure
Tried, never failed.


"Marla, I truly am proud of you for finding the right way. But I should've expected it of course. You were being who you are." Jack said as they walked up-hill. Moments ago they had walked up the middle path, straight into the glaring sun.

"But what is the last test? Can't you just tell me so I can plan ahead?" Marla asked impatiently.

Jack reached into his cloak and pulled out The Prophecy. "Not according to this. It is out of my hands Marla. I know you so much desire to know, but the rescuing of Humanity is much more important. There were times when our race was spread into the outer colonies, where..."

"SHH!" Marla shouted, listening intently.

"M- Marla, what's there?" Jack asked, hiding behind some trees.

Silence fell for a moment. "I know that engine."

Before Jack could even ask why, four bolts of green plasma hit the ground next to Marla. Another volley, after another. Each pound on the dirt melted it into dirty black glass.

"Marla, get down!!" Jack shouted, grabbing her cloak. He pulled her behind him into the trees.

"We'll be safe..."

"NO! We won't be safe here! We have to get deeper into the trees. Hurry!" She shouted over the dodges of plasma, striking trees and sending them ablaze.





"Xexec, if you can't hit the old man..." Sarong said impatiently, hovering the purple orb craft.

"I CAN! They've gone into the trees. I can't target there." Xexec replied.

Sarong responded by moving the ship to hover over the large grove of trees. "Continue fire..."



Hot streaks of plasma continued to send Marla and Jack running for their lives. Trees all around them had singes in their leaves. Others were shot down entirely. The purr of the engine overhead was extremely quiet.

"I can hear it but... I can't see it!" Jack said, hiding behind a large oak.

"Cloaking Shield. Jack, give me your shotgun!" Marla said, gasping for breath. She took the large gun and placed it like a Sniper weapon, closing one eye over the reticule.

She fired, and in the blue forever of the sky, a tiny bullet hit the hull of a circular purple vessel. The cloaking shield was deactivated.

"Good... uh, shot." Jack said, astonished.





"He directly disobeyed my direct command, stole one of my vessels, kidnapped one of my men, and does it all under the promise of a Human girl!" The Prophet shouted from inside his chamber.

He clenched his fists hard, beating down upon the flying seat. He glared at the Jackal that she spoke to.

"Where's a Grunt to beat up when you need one eh? Hehe... heh..." The Jackal said, trying to calm him down.

"Don't play funny with me you flightless do-do bird! Tell Strategy and Planning I want a word with them. It's time to put this sherade to an end."




Sarong growled, "Why can't you keep the cloak online!?" He asked.

Xexec shook his head, and beat his metal fists on the console, "That damn girl fired one directly into our nacelle feed. She's quite a Marksman." He said with a grin.


"Don't just sit there! Continue fire, all weapon ports." He shouted.

Xexec looked into his eyes, and saw the deep redness in them. He was convinced that Sarong had a lot of leeway in making this attempt, and failing was not an option.




Marla and Jack saw the purple orb fly overhead, continuing to fire its disruptors. Finally they waited until not the faintest noise of it could be heard.

"I think it's gone." Jack said, whispering for no reason.
"Just stay here Marla, I'll go out and take a look."

Marla sat there, frozen in fear watching Jack walk back out of the shrubs and into the path. She didn't blink, but merely gazed at what parts of him broke through the thick shrubs. She could see him looking around, and finally smiling. He put his head back into the shrubs.

"Marla!" He said with glee, "I think they're, UGH!" He was cut mid-sentence, when suddenly his eyes fell back into his head. He tried to hold on to the branches, but fell.

Marla screamed, and pulled Jack in. Once his body made contact with her eyes, she gasped in horror. Blood trickled from a black and smelly wound, caused by weapons fire. She felt his throat. No pulse. Jack, the man she relied on the most, was dead.

"What the hell did you do to him you MONSTERS!" She shouted so loud the birds in the trees flew away.

She didn't hear and answer, until she felt cold steel hit the back of her head. Blackness took her. She was fading...




"Hmm... hmmm... hm...! Hmmmmmmmmmmm...!" Jernid, the Trade grunt hummed a tune. His hand had stopped bleeding and the blue bloody rags had all been used up. He felt even happier to know he made a new friend.

He kept skipping along, until something shiny caught his eye again. This time it wasn't silver. It was very big, at least twice as tall as he was, and very shiny. It was perfectly round, and a bit purple. "OOOO! This could sell for a lot of money! Hmm, how will I carry it?" He said, putting his knobby hand to his cheek.

"Oh, I know! Maybe it can fly!"

He looked around it, and found what looked to be a door. He touched it lightly, and the sounds of hydraulics filled the jungle. When the door finally came down, Jernid was overjoyed. Gadgets and lights, and a lot of shiny metal covered the small circular room.

He placed himself on a tall seat in the middle and looked around. Luckily, there were very few controls. One button, and two joysticks were all he apparently needed. He pressed the button, feeling the ship suddenly lift off. He looked outside the window, finding the canapé below far behind him.

"Now for the joysticks. Let's see. I bet the left one makes me move, and the other makes me turn!" He said. He pulled the left one back, and the right one left.

What do you know, the ship shot off at the speed of sound to the left.

"WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!" He shouted. "I can have a lot of fun with this!"





"Marla... wake up my dear Marla..." A voice said. Everything was still black. She could tell darkness was over her. But two tall green objects stood over her.

"Get up HUMAN!" The other voice shouted, kicking her hard in the stomach.

Her eyes suddenly fell open. It was dark, and the smell of ash and smoke suddenly filled her lungs. Small pieces of ash began to fall into her eyes, as a soft evening breeze hit the burnt trees.

"Good morning sunshine. Oh, sorry about your friend Jack." Sarong said in a fake innocent voice.

"Bastard..." She said in a whisper, rubbing the back of her head.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd be a bit nicer to me. If you're not, I may not give you your letter. From your Father Marla. It was quite a tear jerker." Sarong said, handing her the parchment.

      Dear Marla,


      I write under grave circumstances. I know right now is not the best time for these things to be kept on your mind. I still have full confidence you'll succeed in your goal.

      I will be blunt my daughter, your Mother has died. The Covenant patrols came early this week. She was executed yesterday at noon. I'm very sorry Marla. If you do indeed not succeed, PLEASE return home for the funeral. I can no longer write, so now I must leave you.

      A loving Father...


Marla could see many drops of tears all over the letter, obvious that her Father was taking it very hard. She herself began to cry, adding new drops to the paper. Sarong had reached out towards the paper, grabbed it and crushed it with his hand.

"Touching, very touching Marla. But now is not the time. Your execution will be in a few hours." The other Elite said, lifting her from the ground. She wanted to fight, but lost all strength.

As she road on the sharp shoulder of the Elite, she looked back to see Jack's dead body, lying in blood. Two people she cared for very much, were now dead forever.




"WHOOOOOOOOOOOAHHH!!! This'll sell for millions!" Jernid shouted as he passed over Grechic, the small trade city he had planned to go. He made it there in one minute, which would've taken days.

He felt so free, flying high into the atmosphere, then down low to the canapé. He didn't care if all his belongings were now astray all over the cabin, after he took a mighty tight turn.

"I'm gonna buy the biggest Trade Cruiser I can get my hands on! Then I'll go to the beaches of Resic Prime, work on my tan! And then..." He said.

He was heading straight down, falling faster and faster. He was lifted upward from the momentum. A red lightly flashed on the console:


ENERGY DEPLETED

"NOOO hoho OOOOOOO!"

CRASH!

The ship landed, causing dust and debris to kick up for yards. The ship itself was undamaged. But he had no idea where he was. It was a desert. Last he recalled he was in a forest.

Getting out, he began breathing deeper, feeling the immense heat. He looked out towards the endless dry patch of land, spotting a small town a few miles away.

Still un-obstructed, he laughed, "Haha! Well, it was fun while it lasted. Best get going!"




" This IS where the ship should be!" Xexec shouted at Sarong.

"I don't understand. It was right here. You can even see the large crater where it landed! Someone took it!" He shouted, growling his teeth.

Marla opened her eyes, spying a small white rag with blue blood on it, hidden in a bush. She smiled. Jernid, where would I be without you?

"Well unless you have a communicator in your suit, we're stuck here. The closest town is miles away!" Xexec complained.

They both continued on for hours. The night was turning to day, and they still hadn't moved. Xexec had given up carrying Marla, but merely tied her to a tree while they slept.

"You, Human girl!" Xexec said as he awoke. "Make food! NOW!"

Marla rolled her eyes. "A bit hard isn't it? My hands are tied!"

Xexec looked at Sarong for a moment before responding. "We'll untie you. But NO tricky business. Don't think you can run from us, we're still armed!"

Marla was untied, and she immediately grabbed some wood and put it into a pile.

"What the blazes are you doing?" Xexec asked impatiently.

"Making a fire." She replied, putting the last piece of wood in. "Give me your gun." She said, reaching out with her hand.

"Not so fast! Why you need it for!?" Xexec said, with bad grammar.

"FINE, you do it. I just need you to light the fire."

Sarong rolled his own eyes, "Fire at the wood you incompetent fool!"





"Sir, the Strategy and Tactics department has reported back." The Jackal said as he entered the Prophet room.

"AND!?" He said.

"They've armed the warhead, and are awaiting your firing order." The Jackal replied.

The Prophet smiled widely, laughing menacingly. "Tell them to fire in 48 hours. After that, we're giving up on the Elites down there. This is too perfect." The Prophet said, "The last Only Human planet, and we're destroying it on very good and logical grounds. The Council will have no reason to cancel the firing."










ABORT ABORT. RELOAD. CRYO-FREEZE CHAMBER FUEL: EXPELLED. ACTIVATING EMERGENCY RELEASE. CRYO-TUBE ACTIVATION IN 5...


To Be Continued...





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