cyan's Journal: Meanwhile, back in the 1990's...

Land of Devastation
By: Thomas Matthews

Before I had the chance to attack, the Giant Newt leapt at my arm with its teeth gnashing. I tried to dodge, but the beast took a small chunk out of my arm. I threw it off me and pulled out my ElectroBlade. With one swipe, I cut the Newt into two pieces.

My team-mate, Cyan Garamonde, looked over towards me and said with a smirk, "It bit ya, eh?" Breaking into a giant smile, he continued, "I guess we'll have to get Dark on our team to help us with those nasty creatures!" I laughed because I knew that last remark was a joke, Dark was the lowest ranked soldier to walk the wastelands. Reaching into my pack, I pulled out a medkit and started patching my arm. While waiting for me to finish, Cyan pulled out his RazorLance and started polishing it. Staring at his weapon, he asked, "Torke?"

I simply responded, "Yeah?"

"Man, we need to get better weapons. I hear Defs Sacre got a Slicer-Dicer and a Torpx Cannon."

"Yeah," I replied, "Us with our puny close-ranges. Hell, we don't even own a decent long range. Oh well, we ain't the best soldiers in the wasteland anyway. We could be just like Defs Sacre, Troy Hadley, and all the rest of 'em. All we gotta do is survive in this desolate old place."

"I agree with ya there, pal." Cyan said. Changing the subject, he asked, "Do ya think we should head back to the fort? It's gettin' kinda late."

"Nah ... see what I mean?" Without waiting for a response, I said, "Let's go kill off a Scavenger and get you an ElectroBlade, and us possibly a Clip Pistol. If we wanna get our ranks up, we can't just sit around on our asses all day."

Cyan remarked, "Right. Let's get goin' then, shall we?" I put away my medkit and Cyan holstered his RazorLance. In silence, we walked over to the Freedom Zone. The Freedom Zone is like a whole new country or province. There are new things to be explored, new enemies, etc., etc. We haven't crossed the border because we aren't strong enough. Hopefully, that'll soon change.

We stayed in the Sacre Zone and looked around for a Scavenger. After killing off some Ant-Men, Rad Hounds, and a couple more Giant Newts, we came upon a Scavenger. As always, the creature was collecting discarded items from the wasteland. Cyan whispered to me, "He looks strong, do ya think we can take him, Torke?"

I whispered back, "No problem, Cyan, both of us can do it." Either I whispered too loudly or the Scavenger has great hearing because it looked over at us. Immediately, it pulled out its Clip Pistol and started shooting at us. A bullet grazed Cyan in the shoulder, but I remained unscathed. Pulling out our weapons, we charged the Scavenger. The creature aimed his Clip Pistol at my head and pulled the trigger. Luckily, there was no more bullets left in the gun. Struggling to reload, I leapt at the Scavenger and cut off his hand. The Clip Pistol clattered to the ground. Distracted by the gun, I fumbled and swiped at its knee. As I expected, it was a mere scratch.

The Scavenger looked right into my eyes with a sadistic smile. With all its might (and with only one hand), it swung its ElectroBlade at my neck. Quickly dodging, I rolled away from the battle. Cyan took his turn and drove his RazorLance into the creature's leg. Obviously in great pain, the creature screamed thunderously. Jumping back into the battle, I swung my ElectroBlade around to the Scavenger's neck. Both his head and body fell to the wasteland. Not an easy kill, but it was worth it.

Picking up the Scavenger's ElectroBlade, I threw it over to Cyan. As he admired his new weapon, I searched the bloody heap. Grabbing the Clip Pistol from the ground and the ammo from the body, I stood up. I reloaded the gun and put it on my belt. I sighed, "Finally! A long-ranged weapon under our possession. Cyan, old friend, we are getting somewhere."