Path of the Hunters [PART 4] (NSFW)

"It's not like we're fighting against the Covenent here, just some well-trained scum with guns and knives..."

Nova sighed. "Just when we were gettin' into it. Damn!" He walked off the mat, hands behind the back of his head.

*

"Don't worry, Trip," she said reassuringly, entwining their hands together, blushing slightly. "We'll be all right. I'll get us outta here... Somehow..."

*

He scoffed. "You haven't heard, have you? These guys managed to stake Sunny to the ground, more or less. Ask anyone that's met her; that's damn near impossible. If they can pull that off, I don't think there's much they can't do."

"Shit, we'll throw down some other time."

*

"Um..." He blushed deeply, looking at their hands. "O-o-okay..."

"That's what the basic energy shields on here are for, and we've lined them with a thick and durable plastic material to insure better protection. Also, you got a spare one of those? We're going to need to it for analysis in order to improve on it and reproduce it."

"Yeah, I know, but still..." He shrugged. "Ah, well. Makes the next go-'round that much sweeter."

*

She tried her best not to look down at their hands, though the blush deepened all the same. She looked around for a moment. "...This way." ...And led them down one of the hallways.

*

"Left all my concept notes and specs on the computer over there. I have a copy for myself, of course. Should be easy enough to produce."

Damien waved over a few personel, "Look, new project. I want a final version by yesterday. Hop to it."

They all nodded eagerly and went to work.

"R&D personel love these little challenges." He remarked with a chuckle at their enthusiam.

"It better. 'Sides, we'll get to fight some when we go."

*

Trip went with her, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, then there's that. But those punks can't really compare to fightin' you."

*

"...Hey Trip," Yue said after a moment of traveling through the labyrinth. "You ever tried adventuring like this before?"

*

He shrugged. "It's not exactly much of one. But I did managed to write a few notes for improvements and mods to some of the weapons, even thought of some new ones."

"Shit. They pinned me down once - it ain't happenin' again."

*

He shook his head. "Never..."

"Hey, new ideas are welcome, R&D loves improving shit. They'll be up for days just seeing what they can build off your ideas."

"Definitely not with us backin' you up."

*

"Better safe then sorry, I guess." She stopped at a cross road, looked between the paths, and led them down one of them. "But still, don't you ever get bored, just sitting around?"

*

"Just as long as I get my credit, okay?" He grabbed his helmet, slipped it over his head. It locked into place with a click, his quills dangling out the back.

She grinned. "And without the surprise attack. Now it's my turn."

*

"I don't just sit around..."

"We're not a mega-corperation, Cross. We credit those that earn it." He replied with a chuckle as his visor re-polerized, hiding his face. "So, where to now?"

He smirked. "Make sure you give 'em a good knock for me and my family, huh?"

*

"You know what I mean. You never thought about what it would be like, exploring on your own?"

*

"Let's find Sol. I made a scope that'll go nicely with his rifle, among our other weapons." His own visor polarized, hiding his face.

"No problem."

Aurélie smiled, taking Nova's hand. "So where should we look?"

*

Trip shook his head, looking away. "It's safer to stay put."

"So what does it do?" He asked as he walked out of the department, Katherine streaming info into both HUDs on their visors. Currently they were displaying a 3-D map of the base and everyone's locations marked by labeled dots. Though quite a few large chunks of Cross's map were gone, showing doors leading to no where. Obviously those areas were classified.

"I say we start by findin' Sol or Crescent. Hopefully, he's found one of those two, and they're the only ones that aren't really busy." He looked down the hallways, grumbled. "First, we should find some familiar ground."

*

"Maybe, but haven't you thought about it? Just once? Just to think of what it could be like?"

*

"Oh, nothing special," he responded, looking at the map. "That is, for your guns, at least. It's an Orion Tech exclusive, for now. Meant to go with specialized homing rounds I designed a while ago. Besides that, it just has the basics-increased zooming ability, different vision modes, picture capture-nothing much."

Aurélie looked around. "Mm... Do either of you recall 'ow we got 'ere in the first place?"

"Not a clue."

*

"N-no..." He'd had enough 'adventures' in his life that he was perfectly content doing nothing.

"Shit. Should've asked for a map or something."

*

"But why? No one can be that much of a stick in the mud, without a good reason."

"Homing bullets? Now that's new..."

"Not metal bullets. Energy bolts that respond to the lock-on signals from the scope. It's not all that far-fetched, really."

"Oh, I heard of an AI that once did that with the plasma torpedos of a Covenent ship once, though the details are foggy due to ONI's involvement..."

"Well, I've been working on this for years. Finally perfected the rounds about a year ago. It worked for my guns; if it works for Sol's rifle, then we'll be in business."

"Nice."

"Oui..."

*

He only shook his head, trembling.