Belle Starr, Confessions of an Ark Hunter: Episode Eight – An Island Vacation

Belle Starr, Confessions of an Ark Hunter: Episode Eight – An Island Vacation

Belle’s meeting with her clan founder was at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge itself was still in dilapidated condition, but you could get across it from the Bug N’ Chug to the San Francisco wasteland, if you can get through the Dark Matter roadblock at the bridge toll booths. The meeting point was halfway between the two, with the view at the top one of the best in the Bay Area, if you could climb the two parallel bars to the top.

As an Ark Hunter, Belle was in excellent shape because you may have the help of your EGO unit to give you super powers, but you had to be fit and skilled to survive the dangers surrounding Paradise. Her Liberty Trooper armor was skin tight on her six foot shapely form, fitting like a glove but allowing her unhindered movement as she climbed hand over hand to the top of the bridge. The Casti clan founder awaited her at the top, her dark hooded cloak both giving her an air of mystery as well as sheltering her eyes from the rising sun’s glare. Both Belle and the clan founder stood silently side by side as they watched the fog move slowly over the San Francisco Bay as it dissipated in the early morning sunlight. Finally, once the sun had fully risen over the horizon, the clan founder turned to face Belle, her pink eyes locking with Belle’s blue diamond eyes.

“It has come to my attention, said the Casti in an impassive voice, her chalk white face showing no emotion, “That you need what you humans call a vacation!”

Belle raised a blond eyebrow at this comment, wondering what the clan founder was up to, for she rarely did anything without a hidden agenda, but because Belle respected the chain of command, she merely asked, “Why?”

“As I am wont to do from time to time,” Began the clan founder, “I have done a performance evaluation of clan members, and although you have always been a high performer in your contributions to our clan’s success, of late you have seemed… distracted!”

Belle looked down at her red, white and blue boots and had to shake her head in agreement. Her adventure in Florida had taken a physical and mental toll on her that she hadn’t recovered from yet, and she had publically questioned many of the recent decisions the clan founder had made as to the direction the clan was taking, making their formerly warm relationship cold and distant.

“Okay,” Replied Belle looking up into the clan founder’s pallid face as she swept back with one hand the lock of honey blond hair that always would fall right back into her big blue eyes, “What do you propose?”

The Casti stared back out across the Bay at some unseen destination, pausing briefly before replying, “Our clan has access to an almost tropical island. You and three others of our clan who are similarly – how do you humans say – ah, yes – stressed out, will take some time to relax there! As I understand it there are beaches and shelter near them, as well as hiking and nature trails to explore. Still, take your weapons, because like everywhere in Paradise, there is dangerous flora and fauna.”

Belle gave a quick nod of agreement before climbing down to where she had parked her white Challenger. Prior to heading to the embarkation coordinates the clan Leader had downloaded into Belle’s EGO device, Belle changed into her camouflage blouse tied in the front, khaki short shorts, and hiking boots in the car’s back seat, then locking her armor in and retrieving her weapons from the trunk. Belle had decided that her primary weapon for personal protection would be her VBI-EEC SMG that gave her a 40% chance to blur every time she reloaded. As a secondary weapon, Belle brought her 7^th Legion Daicho semi-automatic sniper rifle in case she had an opportunity for target practice, but which also had added benefit of a synergy with her 7^th Legion shield that made the latter more efficient.

Belle was surprised to find her old friend Cass Ducar waiting for her at the Paradise docks with a small boat that would take them to the island. Cass let Belle know that the others were waiting for them on the island. Belle idly wondered what her clan mates could possibly be waiting for.

Belle smiled as she thought to herself, Maybe they are putting up the beach volleyball net!

Cass Ducar was the first local Belle had met when she arrived in the Bay Area over a year ago, and they had been close friends ever since, going on several adventures together. The pretty Irathian always had a wry sense of humor, so she and Belle exchanged witty banter on the short trip to the island. Belle suppressed a laugh when they disembarked onto the island’s dock and Cass remarked that she would have been less wet if she swam naked to the island. Belle knew many of her male clan mates that would have paid good scrip to see that! Maybe a few female ones too!

Belle stopped short as Cass was saying something about a lost E-Rep scouting party, a frown crossing Belle’s pale freckled face, when she saw which of her clan mates were waiting at the end of the dock next to an ammo box. They were all rookies, brand new to the clan, and armored and armed to the teeth! One even had a rocket launcher! Belle couldn’t figure out how they could be stressed out already.

What do you need a rocket launcher for on vacation? Thought Belle, Skeet shooting?

Belle would often snicker at the thought that she was considered by her clan mates a veteran and a leader of the clan. She was twenty years old, and had only been an ark hunter for little over a year, but the life expectancy of an ark hunter was usually pretty short. Most ark hunters either died or moved on from the Bay Area after a short amount of time. Belle herself didn’t expect to live a ripe old age dying peacefully in her sleep, but she did hope to live long enough to reach her goal of becoming a spokes model for VBI.

Belle was thinking that these rookies were part of the new Von Bach initiative to put EGO devices into anybody that had a warm body and was ambulatory, when one rookie who ran ahead of the group yelled that he found a body. Belle and the rest of the group caught up with Eager Beaver, who she advised to stick close to the group, when she saw that he mangled body of an E-Rep soldier. Eager Beaver played the data recorder next to the body, and then a disembodied voice started ranting about little friends and how he wasn’t crazy from an overhead loudspeaker.

What the heck kind of vacation is this? Thought Belle.

Suddenly hellbugs of all kinds were erupting out of the ground all around the body. The Invisible Guy disappeared before a shot was fired, probably in surprise and new to the cloak EGO power thought Belle. Skitterlings, warriors, and even a couple of archers were attacking the group from all sides, but the group made short work of them. Unfortunately, Eager Beaver was already blurring up the path before the last skitterling went down.

“Holy Crap-on-a-stick!” Exclaimed Belle hurrying after him, while telling the rest of the group to keep up, hoping that the cloaked clan mate heard her. Belle used her SMG to destroy a blast pod that had targeted the group as she chased after Eager Beaver, but he was already down and surrounded by hell bugs by the time she caught up to him. She stooped to revive him as the others tried in vain to keep the hellbugs off of her. Not for the first time, Belle thanked in silence the 7^th Legion for awarding her such an excellent shield as she repelled the hellbug attack on her person. Belle turned just in time to see RL Lass use overcharge to shoot her rocket launcher at a skitterling two feet in front of her, killing the bug but also knocking herself unconscious. Bit of an overkill thought Belle, but she rushed over and revived the girl as the rest of the group killed the remaining hellbugs.

Hellbugs! Thought Belle, Why did it have to be hellbugs!

Belle turned to ask Cass what the heck was going on, but Cass was nowhere to be seen. Invisible Guy said that she said she was going to take a different route, and Belle wondered, Different route to what?

Belle didn’t have time to wonder long because Eager Beaver was already racing into an area of building ruins. I guess this is the shelter the Clan Founder was talking about, thought Belle with more than a hint of sarcasm. Suddenly 99ers of all types were appearing out of the ruins. 99ers are Cyborg miners with a tendency to shoot first and never ask questions, so Belle did the same. Belle was rushed by two smelters, dwarf 99ers armed with flame throwers. As Belle caught fire, she sprayed the pair with her SMG, killing one instantly and setting the other on fire, who ran around like a chicken without its head yelling, “It burns! It burns!” until Eager Beaver finished it off with his assault rifle.

As Belle rolled to put out her own fire before it did too much damage, she thought, Darn, I just got this outfit!

Belle rolled to a standing position just in time to see RL Lass take out from a distance a Mattock sniper on the second story of a ruin. Belle smiled to see that the girl was learning from her mistakes, than saw Invisible Guy appear behind a Black Lung who was hammering their group with a detonator and shooting him with a quick blaster until the 99er went down. Belle herself took down the few remaining Mattocks with a few quick bursts of her SMG, but as she surveyed the battle scene, she realized that Eager Beaver was nowhere to be seen.

Belle exclaimed, “Holy crap-on-a-stick! Stay together gang and stay on the path! Assume everything is deadly!”

Belle hated going into a mission blind and it was becoming apparent quickly that this was more mission than vacation. Belle always liked getting all the information she could about the mission and its environment and having a plan for success before going into it. It was obvious that she was going to have to go fly-by-night in this case, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Belle’s EGO radar detected another data recorder and Belle herded the remaining members of the group around a steep cliff. They suddenly heard the recognizable boom-boom of blast pods firing, and Belle’s EGO radar confirmed what she already knew, that Eager Beaver was already down. While Invisible Guy and RL Lass who switched to a magnum took care of a swarm of attacking skitterlings, Belle activated her own cloak, unslinging her Daicho sniper rifle and taking out the two blast pods on an opposite cliff. Belle rushed quickly to revive Eager Beaver, admonishing him to stay with the group, than they went to the second recorder and found a second E-Rep Soldier body.

Belle knew they were going to have to hurry to save any survivors of the E-Rep scouting party when Cass informed her by hailer that she had found more soldier’s bodies but that the commanding officer of the group was still missing. The group was hurrying up the path when Belle heard a scream of pain from behind her. She looked in back of her only to see Invisible Guy’s body appear on fire in the tall red grass. Belle went off the path, the inflaming plants burning her as well as she revived him and carried him out of nature’s trap. Once again Belle gave a silent thanks to the 7^th Legion!

They fought their way through attacking hellbugs going slowly up the winding path to the top of the hill where they thought the missing E-Rep officer was located. Upon spotting a rusty bridge leading upwards, Eager Beaver again blurred far ahead of the others, when a lone skitterling jumped at him from the crimson underbrush. Eager Beaver swerved to avoid the hellbug’s attack, right off the bridge and into the waters far below.

As Belle destroyed the Skittering with a single swipe of the huge blade mounted on her SMG, she thought, Well, I guess I won’t have to revive him again on this mission! Belle never minded reviving other ark hunters and even felt that was her responsibility, but she did mind reviving the same one over and over again because they wouldn’t listen to a veteran’s advice. In her estimation, Eager Beaver was going to be one of those ark hunters that wasn’t going to be around long!

The remainder of the group were beginning to fight as a team, with Belle plowing through enemies in front of them, Invisible Guy taking out enemies to their left, and RL Lass destroying those to their right. They fought their way through hordes of 99ers and swarms of hellbugs, so many that Belle lost count, until they came to look down at a small canyon. They had had notification that Captain Grant and a cadre of E-Rep troops were on the way to rescue their missing officer, but Belle had a sinking feeling that they wouldn’t be in time, so it was up to her team to do so. Belle leaped first into the canyon, followed by her two clan mates, only to see a deranged man – or was it a 99er, Belle wasn’t sure - ranting and pistol whipping the missing E-Rep officer. Belle was so intent on the danger around her that she only heard part of what the madman said, “- and she is angry!”

Who is angry? Thought Belle as she wrinkled her pale forehead and her rose petal lips turned down in a frown. I’m not angry, just concerned!

Suddenly a huge bloated Hellion with row upon row of long sharp teeth erupted in front of the clan mates. The team fired at it until it disappeared back into the ground, replaced with over a dozen warriors and skitterlings. Belle planted an ammo spike as the group fought back to back to back, repelling charge after charge of the hellbugs. The Hellion would pop out of the ground in random places, spraying toxic green gas at the three warriors, as Archers shot at them from the cliffs above the canyon. Finally, the Hellion appeared in front of them in a cloud of smoke and debris. The team concentrated their fire on the Hellion until it exploded into chunks of green ichors, and the rest of the hellbugs retreated.

Belle was in the front, and blocked the other two from most of the green spray, but she was covered in it, with her only thought, Well, now this outfit is completely ruined!

Cass, Captain Grant, and his troop of soldiers arrived just in time for Grant to shoot the madman in the head as he was threatening the captive E-Rep officer. Belle was moved almost to tears as the normally gruff Captain Grant explained how all his soldiers were special to him, but that this officer was especially so because he was Grant’s son. Belle was not surprised because she had thought she saw a family resemblance between the two. What did surprise her was when Captain Grant turned to her and said, “Your efforts do not go unnoticed.”

Captain Grant then saluted her! Belle Starr! Imagine! Pride swelled in her breast as a beaming smile crossed her freckled face. As Belle, Cass, and Belle’s surviving clan mates left for the mainland with Captain Grant and his E-Rep entourage, Belle knew that there were two things she needed to do immediately when she got back. First, she needed to seriously discuss with her clan founder the true meaning of the word vacation. Second, she needed to find a better clan!