What If...? 2099UG #3

PROLOGUE:

I am the Surveyor, and I have had a very bad week. First, with the Fall of Alchemax, I am out of a job. Second, I have been unsuccessful in my personal quest. Lastly, my interactive robot drone Marrionette I, is about to defeat me in chess . . . again.

"I believe that would be checkmate sir."

I sigh. "I am afraid you are correct Marri."

"Of Course, Sir."

I stand and turn. I have been out of sorts lately and don't know what to do about it.

"If I may be so bold, Sir? I have a question."

I smile. "Go ahead."

"Why did you accept this assignment?"

And there it is . . . the question I have repeatedly asked myself lately. "I guess I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I didn't really have a good life on Earth. Here I have no desire go unmet."

"Then why are you unhappy?"

I shake my head slowly. "I don't know. I guess knowing that I will now never reach my goals upsets me." I walk away, back to my monitoring station and turn it on. With practiced key strokes I program another scenario. May be this time I will find what I seek.

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What if...Kron Stone had been lost in the Savage Land during childhood?

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(Somewhere in the Savage Land 2099)

It was like something out of an old TwenCen movie. On an odd shaped field, two opposing forces stand anticipating the coming carnage. Both races are native to the Savage Land and both are brutally lethal. Many assembled here carry wooden clubs and oddly constructed armors. On one side is a group of stocky, vicious looking humanoids with grey skin of a nearly scalelike quality. They are called the Uruburu, and their black pupiless eyes speak volumes of emotion in a single glance. They stand firm and shake their clubs, slinging challenges and boasts at their adversaries.

The opposing group, is even more intimidating and formidable, if such a thing were even possible. They are all over 7 feet tall with their impressive musculature. These Goronkians return the challenges of the Uruburu through incisor filled mouths.

What is even more impressive is that a single man, a human, stands between them, holding both groups at bay. He is not very tall compared to the others, possibly 5' 11", but is chiseled as if cut from stone by his hard lifestyle in the Savage Land. His hair is long and as white as the snow outside the valley. He wears little, save a loin cloth, a wrist computer, and a laser bow across his back. His eyes are firm as they survey the situation. Then he speaks to the two groups of adversaries.

"ALRIGHT! I want a clean game this time! Understand me, Motog? This game is for the championship, and if either team roughhouses to win, they forfeit! Understand?"

They all grumble and nod.

"GOOD! They play Bal......"

WWWWWHHHHOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As one, they all look up, players and umpire alike, to see the ultrasonic craft speed overhead. It is a sleek vehicle with 4 wings arranged in a pattern much like fletching on an arrow. Below, on it's belly, the only part visible of the vehicle, is a prominant capital A in a symbol.

The craft is gone in an instant, and is out of sight before the implications can fully hit the observers. Finally, after long seconds, everyone bursts into heated discussions . . . man has found the Savage Land again!

The human leaps upon a high rock, with his white hair trailing behind him. One of the players . . . Motog speaks to him. "Where do you think you are going, Kron?"

"To protect what is mine."

And with that he is gone.

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(Many miles and minutes later)

The ultrasonic craft had travelled to a clearing nearly at the center of the Savage Land. It set down and immediately a swarm of humanity burst from the craft like fireants from an anthill. Most were in uniforms of brown or black, all sharing the symbol of a megacorp on their arms . . . ALCHEMAX!

With dizzying efficiency the workers begin to extract suppiles and materials from the craft and arranging them into an obviously practiced configuration. Great machines were offloaded then used to expand the clearing. Soon prefabricated shelters were assembled and connected to solar power sources. Finally, quite a few ATV craft are taken from the bowels of the great ultrasonic beast's belly. The entire process takes less than 2 hours.

Now with the work completed, two figures walk the camp, surveying the quality of work. One man is lean, with a cybernetic implant over one ear, and wearing a white buisiness suit. He carries himself as a man that makes his own rules.

The other man is only partially human. He stands a full head taller than the other and is now more machine than man. He wears a trenchcoat and an odd cowboy hat like some futuristic wrangler. Each of his eyes were covered by so much mechanical enhancement that you are left wondering if he even has eyes beneath them. He constantly looks around and caresses a long metal rod. The pair are having a conversation.

"So have we impressed you Venture?" asked the smaller man.

"Nothing impresses me, Stone," replies the cyborg.

"Ah, a nasty attitude that. What is eating my highest priced freelancer today, huh?"

"I don't like being kept in the dark about what I am being paid to do, Tyler. I'm here now and you still haven't explained what you expect. If you don't illuminate fast I'm outta here."

"Hmmn, yes. Well I suppose it is time. Back in Nueva York one of my young geniuses, Miguel O'Hara, is about to complete phase three of the Corporate Raider Project. It can rewrite a being's DNA by splicing in partial strings of other DNA. We have toyed with ideas like arachnids or Lupins to create corporate super agents. This process will be cheaper, faster, and more reliable than cybernetics once complete."

"Don't explain why I am in the jungle Stone."

"Fifteen years ago I was here with an expedition to try and pillage the Savage Land's natural resources. While here I discovered that the area never evolved beyond the prehistoric, and several amazing beasts that were once believed extinct survived here. With the Corporate Raider Project so close to completion, I decided to get a little unique DNA samples."

"Beginning to sound a little personal to you there Tyler."

"Oh you bet it is personal. This shocking paradise stole my son from me 15 years ago. I figure it owes me."

Venture nods. "So I guess I am hunting shockin' Saurs."

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( Later still and about 5 miles from camp)

Five ATVs race on treads through the thick jungle at over 60 miles per hour, computers augmenting the driver's reflexes. The lead vehicle holds Venture and his driver. The cyborg coordinates the safari.

"Red Five, shore in a little closer! We are gaining on the she-cat and I don't want your sloppy formation to give her a way out. She will tire soon. Great cats are fast at first but tire easily." Venture yells over the radio.

"Copy Red One." replies the other car.

"Base to Venture!"

Venture sighs and ignores the radio call. But soon it repeats. "Shock it, Venture! I'm paying your shocking salary and I won't be ignored."

Angry, Venture answers. "What is it, Stone?"

"We need to be clear on this. All I want is the DNA. That is the first priority and all other concerns can be pursued only after the DNA has been secured. What happens after that is your business."

"It is all my business Stone. And you can stay the Hel out of it. Now enjoy your air conditioning and I'll run the safari. Venture out."

The Alchemax grunts avert their eyes. No one had ever spoken so bluntly to their leader in their presence before. "Alright!" he yells, adjusting his infrared tracking sensors. "We are right on top of her. Stop the cars and get out."

They do so. Venture and his nine hired rangers against the Savage Land. The jungle goes suddenly quiet, but Venture cannot tell if that was because of the cat or themselves. They fan out marching in 2-man teams and split up once out of sight of the vehicles.

Venture had found patches of heat that marked the cat's trail and followed it with uncanny ease and accuracy. His infrared display had pop-up information on estimated time since the passage, probable path, and targeting range. By adjusting the parameters of imaging, thanks to his cybernetics implants, he can play back estimated 3-D images of the cat's movement. He suddenly realizes the cat is BIG. Probably over 1000 pounds. What really amazes him is that the infrared imaging shows the cat going 2 directions in the same area. But that could only mean . . .

CCCCRRRRUUUUNNNNCCCCCHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

The sickening sounds of bones shattering are followed by an agonizing scream cut short. Venture spins to see a great sabertooth tiger extract her long teeth from his point man's neck.

"She has circled behind us boys! Fire!" He calls to his other men.

The cat manages to kill another ranger before Venture can bring his rod to bear. He fires his molecularly dense body wrap, snagging the beast full in the face. Within minutes the great beast falls dead by suffocation.

"Get the samples boys and get back to cars."

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( Less than 1 hour later)

Kron had stopped by his own camp to pick up a little hardware. When he had been left here years ago he was young, and he had since forgotten most of his former life. He was raised with love here, and has become a great man.

When he had gotten older, his foster father had told him of a great box that had fallen from the sky when he had. He went on a quest to find it and he did. Although much to this very day he has not figured out, the weapons and computers were easy enough. He carried both on him now.

He has traveled long and hard but found no trace of the invaders . . . until now. Kron stands over the carcass of a great sabertooth tiger, it's claws and teeth ripped out as sick trophies. What was worse is that the remains of the great cat were simply left to rot in the humid jungle.

With his lazer bow in one hand, and a tracking computer in the other, Kron seethes. What right did these invaders have to invade and desecrate his land? The tracking computer interfaces with his wrist comp and within moments he begins the hunt.

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Venture and his entourage pulled up to an area of high grass that went on for over a mile. The grass itself is over 5 feet tall. The group stops and Venture gets out of his vehicle. He breaths deeply in anticipation.

"Alright. This area is typical of hunting grounds used by the Velociraptors. They are our next prey. Move in and stick together."

As one, the seven rangers move in with guns facing in all directions. Venture however activates his boot rockets and begins to hover. From his shoulder he unslung a rather large rifle and prepares for the inevitable. The jungle is deathly quiet, and for long moments all Venture's enhanced audio receptors can detect is the gentle footfalls of the rangers as he hovers above them.

The rangers themselves move slowly in a circle facing outward, guns at the ready. Cautiously they edge across the field knowing that death could strike at any instant. After several minutes they had completely crossed the field without effect. Venture sees several of the rangers breath a sigh of relief, but he himself frowned. Tyler Stone had made it quite clear that he wanted this DNA especially. He would not be pleased if they failed to retrieve it. His voice cuts across the radio. "Set up in teams of two and circle the perimeter. I'm going to the center. On my mark, begin to move inward. One of you stay with the cars."

The rangers look nervously at each other, but Venture does not care as long as they do what they are told. Venture just hovers there as his men get into position and begin to move in. The high grass blows in the breeze like fields of grain, obscuring all beneath it. The jungle heat also helped mask any heat signatures that may exist there. He will have to do this the old fashioned way.

When his men get to within 10 yards he begins to slowly descend toward the grass . . . still nothing happened. Venture had almost convinced himself that the grove was empty when something leapt up at him from the grass and tried to sink it's teeth into Venture's boot. The beast screams as plasma washes over it, but it still damages Venture's boot in the process. He curses as he becomes off balance and spins out of control, coming down hard. Venture sits up and begins to regain his breath when the screaming starts. The rangers are dying. He forces himself up and begins to move lest he loose his prey. He knows the Velociraptors hunt in packs so he concentrates on getting to the nearest one . . . the one that attacked him.

He found it quickly and saw it's pain. The reptile stands just under 6 feet tall on two legs. The plasma discharge had burned and blinded the beast. As Venture approaches, the creature flops around and bashes it's head against the ground, presumably to cope with the pain.

Venture saw his opportunity and brought his great gun up to fire, just as another of the reptiles burst from the grass at him. The cyborg goes down under the immense weight of the creature and barely gets his arm up in time to block the fatal bite to the head. His weapon falls away as the vicious bite tears at flesh and circuitry, with the beast's great clawed feet trying to disembowel the mercenary. If Venture had been human he would be dead, but he is not . . . not any more.

Twisting slightly to help protect his vitals, all of Venture's strength and limbs go into holding off the assault. He mentally activates his remaining operational jet boot. The sound of it startles the velociraptor, but not near as much as it's prey escaping.

Venture tumbles to a stop and crouches as he flings his arm out. His hand disconnects and begins it's own flight. The velociraptor nudges the wounded creature next to it and Venture concludes that they are a mated pair. It becomes obviously agitated and charges the unarmed cyborg. 20 feet, 15 feet, 10 feet. Venture is unmoving as the creature leaps but quickly changes tactics once the creature is in the air. He fires his other hand directly at the creature's face at close range, hitting it squarely in the eye to cover his dodge.

The beast lands and looks around for Venture with one eye. He sees the cyborg just as both of his hands return to him . . . one of them carrying his large firearm. He smiles, making a quote from some old twencen vid he once saw. "Here Leezard, Leezaed, Leezard." He fires. The rain of shots are well aimed but the creature bolted for the high grass taking only a few non lethal shots to the flank. With a guttural cry the creature is gone.

Satisfied the others are gone also, Venture turns to the wounded reptile not 20 feet away and raises his gun.

"Nothing personal, Glitch!"

BBBBBAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!

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(Nearby)

BBBBBAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kron hears the shot and hurries his pace. The shot came from the interior where smaller predators hunt the areas a T- Rex finds difficult to reach. Soon he will find who is responsible.

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(A few minutes later)

Venture counts all the rangers except one dead in the high grass. Only one of the Velociraptors were killed by his group. Venture practically spits.

"Venture to control."

"Tyler here. Did you retrieve the DNA?" Stone asks.

"Yep. But your boys in green won't be needing their paychecks."

Stone seems to think on that for a moment. "Well that is one way to cut expenses, I guess. However, it is unfortunate for you for we have not yet retrieved the DNA from a Tyrannosaur."

"I'll get the shocking DNA, Stone. They were just slowing me down anyway. It will take me a few minutes to repair my boot jet and then I'll be on my way."

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(About 2 hours later)

It had been a strenuous trip from the interior but now it was all worth while. Venture sits perched in a tree over a well worn game trail, and below him was a Tyrannosaurus Rex, standing over 40' tall, all muscle and attitude.

He is sure he is upwind and the beast has not yet detected him. Venture adjusts his telescopic vision and prepares to fire his great gun.

BBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

Venture is falling, he looks up and sees the branch he was on reduced to a charred stump. He tries to look around for the source of the attack and finds it . . . a single man in a loin cloth and with long white hair.

His assailant swings on a vine.

As if bored, Venture twists and activates his boot jets, stopping his downward descent. He rises to meet his assailant. The jungle man lands lightly on a branch not 30 feet away.

"Big Mistake Kazar wannabe," grumbles Venture.

The young man stands tall. "It is you that have made the mistake cyborg, by coming to the Savage Land to rape it."

"Show me."

They both leap and fire at the same time. Venture with his great gun, and Kron with his lazer bow. Both miss. Kron makes an acrobatic landing on a limb 10 feet below, and Venture stays suspended by his boot rockets. Kron looks up, fires once, and dives for the thick foliage below. Venture gives return fire and pursues, confidant in his tracking ability.

Venture had to give the jungle boy some credit on his stealth and speed as he pursued... but no one strikes Venture. No one. The little SOG is as good as dead. Venture increases the speed of his pursuit and trades his gun for his 6 foot metal rod. This has become personal. Soon, flight through the thick foliage becomes impossible and Venture is forced to pursue on foot. He does so with single-minded determination.

In his haste he almost missed the trap! Up ahead, his infrared visualization revealed a definite difference of temperature on the path his quarry took. Venture moves up slowly and pokes his rod into the earth, and the rod punches through! Venture laughs to himself.

"You must think I am really stupid kid! That will cost you." Yells the cyborg. Then Venture activates his jet boots to fly over the pit . . . and finds himself held fast in the air!!! He hears a chittering and turns to see a great spider moving toward him on the web that holds him fast! The jungle boy had outsmarted him after all.

It is only then that Kron reveals himself, firing two bolts from his lazer bow in quick succession, both hitting the bound mercenary with devastating effects. Venture curses but can do nothing, the web is too strong. Venture by nature is spiteful and makes a decision in that moment. The mission is forgotten replaced by a determination to take this boy with him if he dies. He chooses to kill the SOG rather than hopelessly try to free himself. He fires both hands at the same instant and sends them after Kron, just as the spider falls upon him, mandibles dripping venom. But before Venture blacks out, he sees Kron fall over with his face blue from lack of oxygen.

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Kron awakens, and is surprised by the sensation. He had been relatively sure that the cyborg's hands would kill him. Apparently he was wrong. He finds himself in a camp, facing a man in a white suit and a cyberjack over his ear.

"You are a troublesome young man," he begins.

"You don't belong here," replies Kron simply.

"I am Tyler Stone, and I go where I will."

"You must leave here or I will . . ." It is not until then that he realizes that his limbs are bound.

"No reason to struggle. In fact, I have what I came for. I am leaving the Savage Land."

"Good, then turn me loose and . . ."

Tyler stops the young man with the simple raising of his hand. "No . . . I think not. You will be going with us. Whoever you are, you are a nobody, with no family, and perfectly suited to my needs."

Tyler nods to a doctor who quickly gives Kron a shot of some kind. Kron smiles and speaks. "What was that?"

"Rapture." Replies Tyler.

"What will you do to me?" Kron asks still grinning.

"Why, I am going to make you somebody. With the death of Venture I need a new, more controllable operative. I am ready for phase three of a Corporate Raider Program. I was going to use a convict, but now I will use you. With my new prehistoric DNA I can make you anything I want and usher in a new age of Alchemax dominance."

Contentedly, Kron smiles. "That's nice."