Thel' Vadamee
Audio Log #14- Campfire tales
Finally, after all the fighting, killing, and surviving, I was getting a chance to relax with some new friends. I was getting to know this group of soldiers better, and "coming out of my shell," so to speak. Anyway, we were now lounging by a campfire, sharing tales of the war. Earlier in the day, I had shown Crypid some new Martial arts techniques, and Klip how to aim and shoot in the same motion. Now, we were reminiscing about our exploits in the war. Currently, the woman named "Selbz" was telling of a rather comical story of seeing an Urag fly... I looked over to Klip. He was watching and listening in rapture. I could tell that he had a thing for Selbz; between his gaze, the pink scrap of paper just poking out of one of his pockets, and the *mostly* rubbed off lipstick on his face. Obviously, something had happened between them...
I smiled to myself, which quickly turned to a grimace as I thought of my wife. I quickly sent away the thought, as now was not the time to think of sadness. Then, Klip began a tale, one of notorious Urag...
"Back in the early days in the war, before I joined up, there was talk of a single Urag responsible for thousands of deaths. They called him the General, as no one could pronounce his name. He led his troops with great success against us, using tactics that were brutal as much as they were effective. His elite cadre of soldiers decimated our lines, until we met head on at the Fifth Battle of Sacramento. Again and again we met in battle, with hundreds on each side dead. But this time, we had come up with a commander brilliant enough to challenge The General. All his troops lost, he fled in shame. The Urags rejected him for his failure. Still determined to kill and maim humans, he continued to fight us, by himself. From what few reports, he is known to be nearly seven feet tall, with armor made of human bones. Rumor is, he is supposed to be haunting this area... But of course, he is just a fairy tale."
All were enthralled by his story, all except me. "Don't joke about what you don't fully understand," I told him. "I fought in the Fifth Battle of Sacramento, and saw the horrors that he committed. He is very real, and the reports are true. I don't know what happened to him. Maybe he died, but I think that he is still out there, biding his time."
After my warning, all were silent for a few minutes. Then Cryptid started into a tale of haunting loss, and I zoned out again.
I was staring, staring into the darkness. I had always been fascinated by the night, the murky depths left unfathomed. At the same time,it scared me. I had a fear of what I could not know, and the endless shadow frightened me. No matter how much I saw, I would never know everything beyond my limited field of vision. So I concentrated on the circle of light cast by the fire, and just listened to the story, coming to terms with my fear.
The stories had been going on for a while. Cryptid was telling another story, which I hadn't picked up much from. Klip and Selbz were beginning to doze off. And then, I heard a noise, like a branch snapping in the dark, just outside the circle of light cast by the fire. Instantly alert, I raised by hand to stop Cryptid, and picked up my rifle. Concerned, he followed suit. I leaned over to nudge Klip, and then a figure exploded out of the darkness. It was an Urag, very tall, with bleached white shoulder pads. I looked at his face, and saw the scar where one of his eyes should be...
In the time it took for me to observe this, the Urag had closed the distance between himself and us, grabbing Selbz by the neck, and dragging her backwards to use as a shield. He then leveled his gun at us, a massive contraption of iron and steel. By this time, Klip was fully alert, pistol in his hand, and a look of worry on his face. He began to rush forwards, but I blocked him with my hand. Cryptid couldn't take the shot with his launcher, and Klip wouldn't risk the chance of hitting Selbz. I raised the sniper rifle, and said as menacingly as possible, "Drop. The. Lady."
The Urag began to smirk at this, then changed his mind as he looked cleanly down the barrel of my rifle. Growling, he then kicked Selbz back towards us, and into the fire. Klip and Cryptid immediately rushed in to rescue her, and in the commotion the Urag fled into the night. We stood in silence for a while, scanning the area, until Cryptid said, "Was that who I think it was?..."
Audio Log #14- Campfire tales
Finally, after all the fighting, killing, and surviving, I was getting a chance to relax with some new friends. I was getting to know this group of soldiers better, and "coming out of my shell," so to speak. Anyway, we were now lounging by a campfire, sharing tales of the war. Earlier in the day, I had shown Crypid some new Martial arts techniques, and Klip how to aim and shoot in the same motion. Now, we were reminiscing about our exploits in the war. Currently, the woman named "Selbz" was telling of a rather comical story of seeing an Urag fly... I looked over to Klip. He was watching and listening in rapture. I could tell that he had a thing for Selbz; between his gaze, the pink scrap of paper just poking out of one of his pockets, and the *mostly* rubbed off lipstick on his face. Obviously, something had happened between them...
I smiled to myself, which quickly turned to a grimace as I thought of my wife. I quickly sent away the thought, as now was not the time to think of sadness. Then, Klip began a tale, one of notorious Urag...
"Back in the early days in the war, before I joined up, there was talk of a single Urag responsible for thousands of deaths. They called him the General, as no one could pronounce his name. He led his troops with great success against us, using tactics that were brutal as much as they were effective. His elite cadre of soldiers decimated our lines, until we met head on at the Fifth Battle of Sacramento. Again and again we met in battle, with hundreds on each side dead. But this time, we had come up with a commander brilliant enough to challenge The General. All his troops lost, he fled in shame. The Urags rejected him for his failure. Still determined to kill and maim humans, he continued to fight us, by himself. From what few reports, he is known to be nearly seven feet tall, with armor made of human bones. Rumor is, he is supposed to be haunting this area... But of course, he is just a fairy tale."
All were enthralled by his story, all except me. "Don't joke about what you don't fully understand," I told him. "I fought in the Fifth Battle of Sacramento, and saw the horrors that he committed. He is very real, and the reports are true. I don't know what happened to him. Maybe he died, but I think that he is still out there, biding his time."
After my warning, all were silent for a few minutes. Then Cryptid started into a tale of haunting loss, and I zoned out again.
I was staring, staring into the darkness. I had always been fascinated by the night, the murky depths left unfathomed. At the same time,it scared me. I had a fear of what I could not know, and the endless shadow frightened me. No matter how much I saw, I would never know everything beyond my limited field of vision. So I concentrated on the circle of light cast by the fire, and just listened to the story, coming to terms with my fear.
The stories had been going on for a while. Cryptid was telling another story, which I hadn't picked up much from. Klip and Selbz were beginning to doze off. And then, I heard a noise, like a branch snapping in the dark, just outside the circle of light cast by the fire. Instantly alert, I raised by hand to stop Cryptid, and picked up my rifle. Concerned, he followed suit. I leaned over to nudge Klip, and then a figure exploded out of the darkness. It was an Urag, very tall, with bleached white shoulder pads. I looked at his face, and saw the scar where one of his eyes should be...
In the time it took for me to observe this, the Urag had closed the distance between himself and us, grabbing Selbz by the neck, and dragging her backwards to use as a shield. He then leveled his gun at us, a massive contraption of iron and steel. By this time, Klip was fully alert, pistol in his hand, and a look of worry on his face. He began to rush forwards, but I blocked him with my hand. Cryptid couldn't take the shot with his launcher, and Klip wouldn't risk the chance of hitting Selbz. I raised the sniper rifle, and said as menacingly as possible, "Drop. The. Lady."
The Urag began to smirk at this, then changed his mind as he looked cleanly down the barrel of my rifle. Growling, he then kicked Selbz back towards us, and into the fire. Klip and Cryptid immediately rushed in to rescue her, and in the commotion the Urag fled into the night. We stood in silence for a while, scanning the area, until Cryptid said, "Was that who I think it was?..."