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| Dander to the Rescue Posted by: Dander Shadownight at 06-29-2014 14:18 PM, Last Modified 06-29-2014 14:18 PM |
The day began like any other for Skylar, her mom kicking her out of bed and rushing her to get out of bed, and get ready for school. She got in the shower and made sure to scrub her tail, because her mom would complain. She got out and brushed her hair and teeth before getting dressed in her uniform, the typical white blouse and plaid skirt. Skylar ran downstairs, grabbed her bag and a piece of toast, running out the door, getting into her car and driving to the high school. She met her friends in the parking lot and made her way to the class, chatting and gossiping the whole way there.
* * *
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Dander was sitting on the roof of a building, waiting for his partner to get of him to tell him who his hit was. His earpiece beeped notifying him that his partner had something.
“What do you have, Midori?” he spoke into the mic around his neck.
“You won’t believe this, but there is an attack imminent on that city,” she reported.
“Stop messing around. Who’s my target?” He laughed.
“There is no target,” she said gravely, “This was a trap for you.”
“What?”
“There is an attack inbound on the city. A large army meant for one thing: to kill you.”
“How do you know?”
“There was a broadcast through the city, demanding they give you up in 2 hours or the city will be torn down, no survivors.”
He stood up and stared out across, smelling grease and iron on the air as he saw a dust cloud in the distance.
“Who put the hit out?”
“The same people that called us to this city, claiming we had a contract. I think it was him.”
Dander snarled and leapt from rooftop to rooftop, rushing to the edge of the city.
“Get it ready.”
“Master, are you sure? It hasn’t been cleared by the engineers and fit for duty after your last escapade.”
“I said get it ready, Midori.”
“Right away, sir.”
* * *
The announcement across the TV in her classroom, asking for someone named “Dander Shadownight” really scared Skylar because he whole city was under threat by a group of people who were willing to run down the entire population for one person. She felt the rumbling through the floor, as slight as it was, and that scared her. What was about to happen? What had this Dander done to provoke this? Why her city?
“Do you know what they’re talking about?” She asked her friend in the hallway between classes.
“It’s probably some lame nerd prank. I’ve never heard of this guy.”
“You’re probably right,” she laughed nervously, looking out the window at the dust cloud rising at the edge of town.
She could barely focus on her classes, which was bad considering finals were coming up, but she couldn’t get the warning out of her head, and the distant rumble off her feet. She couldn’t eat lunch because she was so worried. The 2 hour deadline was coming due in the next 10 minutes. She didn’t know what to do. Just then, she saw something leaping from rooftop to rooftop, rushing towards the dust cloud.
Who was that? She thought to herself, Was that Dander?
She hoped he could do something to deter the oncoming disaster. She silently prayed for his safety and the safety of her family and friends.
* * *
“Is it ready yet?” Dander radioed to his Midori.
“Not yet, sir,” she replied, “I need 5 more minutes.”
“Well. I can live that long. I’m meeting the enemy now.”
“Master, please be careful. You don’t know what could happen.”
“I’ll radio with the location. I want to know as soon as it’s ready.”
“Of course, sir. Good luck.”
As Dander reached the last buildings in the city, he launched himself, seeing the army ahead of him and spotted the lead tank and aimed for it. He landed with a thud a good 25 yards in front of the tank and placed the tip of his sword in the ground. The tank came to a rumbling stop and aimed its cannon directly at Dander.
“Hello there! I understand you’re looking for me,” he called out.
The hatch opened and a pudgy looking commander came into view. It took all of Dander’s self-control not to laugh at the sight.
“So you must be the target we were sent to eliminate? Seems a waste to send 15 tanks and 500 men after just you. I feel insulted at this outrage.” He looked back to his company and laughed. Dander heard the distant laughter of the infantry behind the armor column.
“I’m the one that should be insulted. Only 15 tanks and 500 soldiers? That’s barely a warm-up,” Dander yelled, “But I guess you’ll do.”
The commander flinched and yelled back, falling for the taunt. “You insolent pup! These are the finest soldiers for hire in this part of the continent! You clearly have no idea who you’re messing with!”
Just then, Dander’s ear piece beeped and Midori told him that she awaited his command to send his “package”.
“Roger that. Send it, Midori. 50 yards west of my position. On my mark. Mark,” he muttered into the mic, “The best soldiers in this part of the continent, huh? Didn’t your employer tell you who you were messing with?”
“Roger that. Prepare for titanfall,” Midori stated
“I was told we had to hunt down a pesky mutt that would be here and that he would cause a little bit of trouble, but that we could handle it,” the commander said proudly.
“Oh well. In that case, you may want to check your radar.”
“He’s right, sir!” a voice in the tank cried, “There’s something big incoming.”
“Titanfall imminent,” Dander grinned.
“What have you done?!” the pudgy man scrambled for answers.
“You’ll see.”
Suddenly, a crash came behind the tank column and crushed the front ranks, sending the small army into a panic. Dander used this opportunity to rush the line and get to his Ogre Titan. He leapt into the cockpit and punched in the start-up sequence and closed the hatch as fire started to hit the shield around his Titan. He heard warnings as the tanks started to lock onto him and load the shells.
“Sir! Be careful!” Midori cried over the com.
“Calm down! I’ve got this!”
“No! There’s more of them!” She reported.
“What? Where?” He asked, whirling his Titan around and puts up his vortex shield to stop the shells from impacting him.
He was crushing men under foot with every step, trying to take out the tanks as quickly as possible, getting shots with his 40 mm cannon whenever he could.
“They’re at the opposite end of the city, making their way to you,” she said, “Master. It’s terrible. They’re monsters.”
“What do you mean? You sound like you’re about to cry.”
“I’ve hacked the traffic cams and anything else I can get. They’re…” she choked up and continued, “They’re destroying everything in their path, dragging people from their homes and killing them. They’re demanding you surrender.”
“What?” Dander’s eyes went wide.
* * *
Skylar could barely believe what was happening. Rockets were hitting buildings around the city, tanks and infantry were in the streets, dragging people from their homes.
“What’s going on, Sky?!” Her friends were asking, panicking along with everyone else.
“I don’t know. Why our city? What did we ever do?” Tears were in her eyes as she looked out across the city.
Smoke was rising from the cityscape and screams were punctuated by explosions. Just then, a rhythmic thud started getting louder and stronger until a large robot came crashing into view, firing a large rifle, taking out swaths of troops and armor with each shot.
“Who is that? What is that?” Someone yelled.
“It’s Dander…” Skylar said breathlessly, “He’s here to save us.”
“What? That guy we were supposed to give up? He’s the giant robot?”
“He’s in it. He will save us all.”
* * *
Dander couldn’t believe their cowardice. Sacrificing the populace to force him to surrender. It disgusted and angered him. He was on a rampage to stop the slaughter, but there was no end to their numbers. He was quickly eliminating them in droves, but he couldn’t do enough. Too many people were dying. He saw a high school off to one side and all the students watching him. He felt a strong life-force among them and zoomed his view in and found it. A little shark girl standing there. Pleading with her eyes, praying for safety. All too soon, a fire engulfed the students and the school disappeared in a flash.
“No! You monsters!” Dander roared and spun around, facing a sight he thought he would never see. Another Titan. Atlas class.
“So. You’re Dander, huh? Who are you calling a monster?” The pilot asked, his cluster missile pod still smoking, “This could have all been prevented if you had just heeded our demands.”
Dander dashed and hit the other Titan, visibly draining it shields and leaving a satisfying dent in the chest piece.
“What are you trying to say? This is my fault?! You could have left this city in peace!” He took aim and unloaded several shells, one hitting the opposing Atlas while the rest were caught in the vortex shield and sent flying back at Dander, who took the hit on his shields.
“You could have surrendered, then that pretty little sharky you saw may still have been alive. All these people could have been. But you were stubborn and proud.”
Dander could still feel the girl’s life force, but he didn’t give the hint he knew this. Incredible. She was truly an interesting person. Dander would win; and he would find her. But in his way, was this second-rate pilot. He switched the firing mode on his cannon and began firing bursts at the Atlas, keeping it on the back foot and its shields down until he was finally in range and pulled his Ogres’ fist back and unleashed an enormous punch that punctured the cockpit. Dander took advantage of this and ripped it open, hoping to find the pilot inside, but was disappointed to find it empty.
“You coward. Where are you!?” Dander broadcast over an open channel.
“You don’t think I’m stupid enough to fight you in my Titan, do you?” the voice mocked, “Until another day, Dander Shadownight.”
Dander howled as he saw the pilot leap from a ruined rooftop and out of sight. There was no one else around. Just the empty city and the empty feeling in his heart. Then he remembered. The girl! Where was she?
* * *
Skylar woke up in rubble and flames, her body sore and uniform tattered. As she stood up, she couldn’t hear anything except the ringing in her ears. Her vision was fuzzy, but she could clearly make out the clear outline of her ruined school and the broken cityscape.
“Hello…?” She weakly called out, despite knowing she wouldn’t get a response.
She started to cry and knelt in the rubble, unable to cope with the reality that she was the only one left alive in her city. Dander had forgotten about them and left while he could. She was alone for the rest of her life. She could see her destroyed home from where she was. It was obliterated by artillery fire. She felt the thudding through the ground again and looked up, seeing the battle scarred and burned shape of the giant robot. She started to back away, afraid because she had been discovered alive and now the attackers were here to finish the job. It knelt before her and the hatch opened, revealing a handsome looking black dog in a trenchcoat.
“Hello there, young lady,” he said gently, “Thank god I found you alive. My name is Dander Shadownight. What’s yours?”
“I’m Skylar,” she squeaked out, unable to believe this was happening.
“Skylar. You’re extremely lucky. Would you like to come with me?” He extended a paw to her, smiling gently in the setting sun.
“I…” She didn’t know. This man had saved her life. But she had lost everything. Maybe this was a chance to start over and get a new life. “I’ll do it.”
She ran to him, her arm outstretched to him and took his paw. He grinned and pulled her up, sealing the hatch and headed back to his base.
“Welcome to the team and the family. I’ll introduce you to everyone later.”
“That’s ok. I’m happy with this alone time with you.”
With that, she nuzzled into his chest and drifted off to sleep....... |
Comments:
| midnightchan123: Unasked for constructive critisismyou have a good story going but its too fast paced and too flat in a few parts other then that a decent story |
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