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Gaia Outpost

Tarkel Jungle

March 13, 1984 RE

Our scouts had been dispatched and were easily able to locate the Southern Alliance troops yesterday. Col. Miller was now keeping a close watch on them while we continued on our way. Apparently the Southern Alliance did not know exactly where we were. That gave us the element of surprise for now, but the Colonel did not want to go looking for a fight quite yet. He wanted to make sure we, and by we I mean my science team, were secured somewhere safe before he engaged the SA forces. It had been debated as to whether or not we should actually fight the SA troops and it was pretty much a consensus among the troops that they should fight them now while we could plan the were and when of the attack rather than it happening unexpectedly in the future.

That was why I now found myself with Tracy dressed in civilian clothes in this rather shabby looking outpost. Gaia was one of the many places that had been built by the tourists on their way to Yggdrasil and it was not exactly built by some of the best carpenters in the world. The buildings were pretty much just a place to safely store extra food and they were nice places to get out of the rain, well, the ones that didn't have leaky roofs were. Currently 80 soldiers, including the Colonel, and seven of the guides were setting up a little ambush for SA troops while the rest of us were supposed to stay in this nice secure little area.

In a more civilized part of the world 50 plus people showing up all of a sudden might have been a bit suspicious. This was not a civilized part of the world though. Many of the soldiers were now dressed up as body guards or well armed civilians. Most of the real civilians had at least small arms on them as well. You never knew when you would need a weapon in a place like this. It wasn't just the local wildlife that people had to worry about out here. There was always the chance that you might run into a primitive tribe of humans out here and there was an even greater chance that you would run into some anthros that had never even heard of human civilization. Not all anthros had been around humans when they had mutated into anthros. That meant there were plenty of them running around jungles like this. Plenty of those anthros were incredibly dangerous too. A predator that had mutated into an anthro was just a really intelligent predator.

We were not supposed to let the civilians in the area know that we were a part of a military and scientific expedition. The last thing we needed was to let everybody know that there may be giant monsters in the area. It was not meant as an act of cruelty on our part, but if we did let all these people know what was really going on then many of them would be bound to demand that the military protect them. There just were not enough soldiers around to protect my team and the other civilians at the same time. If they tried to tag along with us then they would just be putting themselves in more danger anyways. It would be a complete coincidence if they actually ran into a creature large enough to kill them, but it would not be a coincidence when somebody eventually showed up to attack us. We were the ones being actively hunted, not them.

Tracy was currently posing as my girlfriend instead of a bodyguard. I had sort of seen a slightly playful side of her on the previous occasions I had encountered her, but she was really having fun with her current role. We kept getting looks from the people around us, not because we were a mixed species couple, but because there was such a large difference in our height. When somebody actually built up the nerve to ask us about it Tracy just hugged me close to her with one arm, kissed me lightly on the top of my head, and said, "I like 'em small and cute." It was a little embarrassing, but I had to admit Tracy was the best looking girlfriend I had ever had even if she was just faking.

After a while of talking to other people in the outpost in order to gather a little information, Tracy and I finally managed to find an isolated little area where we could just talk. There seemed to be something on Tracy's mind and I asked what was bothering her. "Larry, why is this happening to us? I mean, this isn't happening to you humans nearly as much as us anthros. Hell, it's happened to me twice already. It was a little amusing at first, but I don't want to become a monster," Tracy stated.

This was the first time Tracy had expressed any doubts around me and it was a little uncomfortable. I also knew that by "this" Tracy had to be referring to her sudden growth. To me this seemed more like a conversation for her real boyfriend. Unfortunately, she was coming to me for help and it was kind of a scientific question so I felt obliged to at least try and make her feel better. "If it helps, I don't think this is only happening to anthros. Col. Miller's clothes grew with him and I'll bet there are thousands of cases that are never reported," I said.

"Thousands?"

"Yeah, look around. If any one of these trees surrounding this jungle was to grow a few inches to a few feet how many people do you thing would actually notice? They're already so large to begin with. And what about insects?" I asked. "They're so small most of them could double in size and nobody would have a clue. There have got to be things like that going on all the time now and there is just no way of telling. I mean, how do we know a five pound rock isn't supposed to be a five once pebble?"

"I suppose you're right," Tracy said doubtfully.

"And don't worry about being a monster Tracy. Even if you were a giant," I looked up at Tracy, "Well, even more of a giant, then I'm sure you would still be Tracy the soldier, defender of Caressee and its allies. You just don't strike me as the rampaging giant type."

Tracy chuckled and surprised me with a hug. Then she whispered in my ear, "Thanks Larry, I knew there was a reason I liked you." She kissed me on the cheek before letting me go and I was left speechless this time. Then she just wrapped her arm around me and escorted me back to the main part of the outpost. If she was still nervous or apprehensive about anything she did not show it. Tracy was just smiling like some woman that was enjoying the company of her lover and I was really starting to wonder how much of it was an act.

After what felt like hours of endless conversation one of my team members finally pulled me aside. That person happened to be Professor Lockwood, who was one of the more vocal members of my team. He was one of the people the Colonel had to gag to shut them up for this trip. Considering the fact that he was in fairly decent shape, tall for a human, and he had the type of looks that women really fell for I don't know why he complained so much. I was prepared for another round of complaints and when he insisted that we talk alone Tracy reluctantly left my side while giving me a sympathetic look. As we walked away together things were turning out exactly as I thought they would.

I lead the way to a private area and prepared myself for one of Prof. Lockwood's complaint sessions. These things could go on for as long as an hour before he tired himself out. After we arrived at a quiet part of the outpost with no one else around I turned around to ask what his main complaint was this time. Needless to say I was stunned to be staring down the barrel of a pistol when I faced him. "Scream for help sand I'll shoot you down like the animal loving bastard that you are," Lockwood said.

I sighed and asked, "You aren't from Virania or Caressee, are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I could never call a country that suffers the existence of any abomination as my home," Lockwood said. By the way he practically spit out the word abomination I'll assume he was referring to the anthros. This man who claimed to be Prof. Lockwood had to either be from the Southern Alliance or Galvanta. Given the way he talked about anthros I would have to say he was from Galvanta. It figures they would try to send someone along on my team. If Galvanta had a spy on my team then that might explain how the SA had found out about this expedition. Galvanta was in no position to send troops into this area, but if they had formed an alliance with the SA then they might be able to get something accomplished.

"What're you planning to do with me? If you kill me the gunshot will bring every soldier in this area down on you and your cover will eventually be blown," I tried to say as calmly as I could with a gun pointed at my face.

"I think you are overestimating those bastard soldiers and that tiger bitch lover of yours. And I don't want to kill you doctor. I was supposed to spy on you and relay information to the SA troops in the area, but it appears they are about to be wiped out by these animal abominations," Lockwood said in a scornful manner. "That means I'm going to have to save them and you're my only excuse for slipping away for an extended period of time. I'll save those SA fools from being slaughtered and I'll have you to present as a gift. So, why don't you just come along peacefully before I have to do something that we'll both regret?"

I sighed and went along with Lockwood peacefully. At least a few things were starting to fall into place. He complained so much because he couldn't stand the company he was in, all of those hour long complaint sessions with me were so he would have a credible story for being alone with me for up to an hour at a time, and I finally knew how the SA had found out about this expedition. I did wonder how he was getting word to the SA troops in this area though. If he really was Lockwood he could probably make some sort of radio transmission device out of all the equipment we had with us.

There was no chance I was going to let myself be captured by the Southern Alliance. Once I was with them they would probably kill me rather than let me get rescued. That meant I had to gamble on how much this spy wanted to live. I made my move while we were still close enough to the outpost that anyone would hear a gunshot. My abrupt decision to try and fight back did not take Lockwood completely off guard as I suspected. I barely had enough time to knock the gun out of my face before Lockwood smashed me in the face with his fist. When I still tried to fight back Lockwood hit me in the side of my head with his pistol. I started to blackout and just hoped Lockwood would not kill me in my sleep. The chance that he would drag me with him was very unlikely since he would have a hard enough time getting away on his own without being weighed down by another person.

The next thing I knew someone was shaking me awake. My head was pounding where Lockwood had hit me and there was also an aching sensation in my ribs. Lockwood may not have shot me, but he had given me a parting kick. It took me a little while to realize that the person trying to rouse me was calling my name and it took even longer to realize that the person was Tracy. I tried to tell her that I was alright but all I managed to do was groan. Tracy just seemed satisfied that I was conscious and stopped shaking me. When I felt confident that I could form words again I asked, "How long?"

"It's been about 45 minutes since you walked off with Professor Lockwood," Tracy responded.

I wanted to curse, but I had to warn Tracy first. "You need to get word to the Colonel. Lockwood's a Galvantan spy and he's making his way to their position now to warn them about the Colonel's ambush," I managed to say. Talking so much made my headache even worse, but Tracy seemed even less happy at the moment.

"Damn. Hey Kurtis get over here," Tracy shouted. Kurtis was one of our scouts, a black furred wolf that was around my height but a lot faster than I could ever hope to be. Tracy relayed my warning to him and he dashed off into the jungle to inform the Colonel about what had happened. Then Tracy picked me up as if I was a child a started to carry me off.

"I can walk on my own Tracy," I informed her.

"Of course you can Larry. But your head is bleeding and I think you should avoid walking until someone has checked you out," Tracy said gently. I touched the part of my head that Lockwood had struck and sure enough it came away smeared with blood. Tracy was probably right and I did not complain as she took me to one of the medics.

I turned out to be fine and Kurtis had returned about an hour after I had been checked up. The Colonel was moving closer to Gaia outpost, not because he was afraid he couldn't handle the SA troops but because he was afraid they would bypass his ambush and come straight for my team. They should be getting here any minute now from what I heard. Most of them are going to remain hidden though. Col. Miller did not really want people knowing what he looked like right now anyways. Anthros may get to be tall, but they did not get as tall as he was now. For those reasons I thought that we would be safe for the moment.

It came as a surprise when I heard the first gunshots. The Southern Alliance commander must have decided to attack now after all. People started to run around in a panic with the exception of the few soldiers in the outpost. Despite the fact that most people in the outpost were armed no one had expected to fight anything more than some overly aggressive animals or some long lost tribe. The confusion of being shot at themselves was making the people that did have weapons a danger to everybody as they randomly pointed their weapons at everybody else. Some of them were actually shooting at each other. Fortunately, a few of the real bodyguards and all of Tracy's companions were able to maintain their composure and make sure whoever they were supposed to be protecting was being protected.

I found myself getting dragged away from the outpost and to cover by one of the dragons that had come along on this expedition. If that dragon had not come for me I don't know what would have happened. I was every bit as confused about this situation as the tourists were. It was not the dragon I had met earlier; this dragon had red eyes instead of purple ones. Tracy was right about the way Dalga had trained it soldiers. I could tell the difference between who was shooting just by listening. The troops from Caressee were firing short controlled bursts while the ones from Dalga did not seem to stop shooting until their weapons ran out of ammunition. That was why I could tell that a Dalgan trooper was approaching me and my dragon protector. The Dalgan soldier did not even notice the dragon since he was shooting in the opposite direction we were coming from.

The dragon did not even bother to use his own weapon to dispatch the Dalgan. He just simply snuck up behind the soldier who turned around in time to be surprised by the sight of the dragon but not in enough time to actually aim at it. The dragon grabbed one of the soldier's arms with enough force to shatter the bones in that arm. Then the dragon swiped at the soldier's neck with his other hand and practically tore his throat out. As I was sprayed with a little blood I felt the contents of my stomach trying to make it back up my throat. Another Dalgan appeared out of a bush about three feet away. Even the dragon did not have enough time to react before something else came up right behind the Dalgan and swiftly snapped his neck. "I take a few seconds to go to the bathroom and look at what happens," said Tracy.

I had been wondering where she was and was more relieved than I thought I would be to see her again. The dragon just acknowledged her with a slight tip of his head and then Tracy took on the task of getting me to cover while he went off to help anyone else that needed it. Unless the enemy forces in the area started using more powerful weapons than they were right now then the dragon was pretty much invincible. When I asked Tracy where we were going she told me that the Colonel had dug in a short distance away. I wondered how short a short distance was to her. That was easy enough to find out when I nearly tripped over a concealed soldier.

I could see that most of my team was already secured. As I turned around to apologize to the soldier I had nearly tripped over another enemy soldier appeared from around a tree. There was a gunshot from a weapon I had not heard before and the soldiers head practically exploded. I turned to see the source of the gunshot and saw that Col. Miller had fired the shot. He was using a standard pistol, but it was extremely oversized to anyone but Col. Miller. On seeing me the Colonel made his was over to talk with me. "Dr. Sanders, its good to see you made it here. That makes for all 29 of you," he said with a slight frown. I wouldn't want to be Lockwood if the Colonel ever managed to catch him. He apprised me of the situation and then went back to issuing commands to his troops. Tracy took me to a spot where she told me I would be safe and then I was left to sit out the battle.

It did not take long. The Southern Alliance could not break the Colonel's defenses and even an idiot knew they could not afford to take too many casualties out here. They eventually disappeared back into the jungle and everybody took stock of the losses. One of my team members had been shot in the foot and would have to be carried for a while. There were three wounded among Colonel Miller's troops but nobody was severely hurt. The civilians had suffered 13 casualties, four of them by stray shots from each other. The SA had taken the worst of it though, 37 of their soldiers had been killed during the battle. Colonel Miller kept his soldiers hidden from the civilians. Dalga was known to send raiding parties into Caressee, so no one questioned why they had been attacked.

I was ordered to get some rest. We were going to have a busy day tomorrow. The Colonel planned on putting some distance between us and the SA forces in the area. I had to agree with the Colonel. This was the first time I had been in a shoot out and even though I had come out unharmed it was not an experience I wished to repeat. I couldn't even eat right now. When I tried all I could think about was that dragon tearing out the throat of that Dalgan soldier. It wasn't like I was sad that he was dead, but someone's throat getting torn out is not an image you want in your head while you are trying to eat.