//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Claws and Stripes // by Danny the Chemist //------------------------------// Earth, Amazon Rainforest, 12:34 PM The vast forest laid in the idyllic silence, the only noise being the many animals that inhabited the biome, and natural sounds made by the trees, wind, and rivers. The peaceful atmosphere continued, even as a group of heavily armored men silently made their way through the dense vegetation of the jungle. The thickly humid air of the jungle stuck to their equipment, and mouth coverings, making it slightly harder to breathe, and yet they continued steadily. Their well-trained bodies easily carried the large backpacks, filled with survival equipment and assortment of weapons. Their camouflaged uniforms made them almost invisible in the forest, the only give away being the small metallic coat of arms that rested on each soldier's upper arm. The image of a glaive propped in front of Earth shined in the few rays of the Sun that managed to find their way through the thick foliage. The five men continued to make their way, until the one in the front raised his arm, signaling the others to halt. Quietly he pulled out his radio and activated it. "Hunter one to base. Confirm Omega's position." he said softly, as he pushed the button on the radio. The apparatus crackled, before a voice was transmissioned through it. "Omega is located one and a half click South-East from your position." The man nodded in satisfaction, glad that the target hadn't changed location since the last call. "Acknowledged." he quickly replied, before switching channels. "Hunter one to Hunter two. Confirm your location." Again, the radio crackled, and a different voice replied. "Hunter two to Hunter one. We are stationed one click South of the target. Everything is prepared." Once again, the man was satisfied with the reply, he made several more calls to other teams to confirm their position. When he made sure everything and everyone was in place, he put away the radio and signaled his men to continue with their advancement. Minutes passed by, and eventually the team arrived to where they were supposed to be. Each one scanned their surroundings, searching for their prey. Then one of the men tapped the leader's shoulder, telling him the target has been spotted. All their attention immediately shifted towards where the soldier pointed. At first, they didn't spot anything, but they knew better. This one, like themselves, could easily hide in its environment. Straining their eyes, they could just barely make out the outline of their target, hidden in between trees, presumably resting. The leader motioned for his men to take aim, but they all signaled that they didn't have a clear line of sight. The man cursed in his head. He didn't want to get any closer to the target, since he knew that it might sense them, but they had no other option. Slowly and quietly, they began to change their position, making sure they made absolutely no noise. Then one of the soldiers misstepped, and a branch cracked under his foot. Everyone's gaze turned to the noise and gave the man a deadly glare. Not a moment passed as they shifted their gaze back to their quarry, but to their horror it was no longer where it was before. "Formation Beta." team leader shouted, and everyone huddled together, back-to-back. Their rifles were now raised high and low, scanning every inch of the vast jungle. Each one of them held their breath, the only sound they could hear was the sounds of the jungle and their own beating hearts. Their ears perked when something moved in the canopy and the muzzles moved towards the sound. However, they were too late to react, as an orange mass jumped down from the trees and landed on one of the men. He shouted in surprise, his rifle going off, and shooting blindly. Before he had time to gather his thoughts, he could feel something wrap around his neck. The gasp of air got stuck in his throat as he felt himself suddenly being pulled away from everyone and into the shadows of the jungle. As the others regained their composure, the last thing they saw of their teammate was his boots, quickly disappearing into the thicket, without so much as a scream. "Shit." the leader cursed, grabbing his radio. "We're switching to Hunted Hunter plan." he shouted to his comrades, and they all nodded their head. Without missing a beat everyone turned to the same direction and began to run. The jungle suddenly seemed to come alive, as a loud roar echoed through the endless forest. "Hunter one to everyone. Hunter and Prey failed; we lost one man. Switching to Hunted Hunter." He didn't wait for a reply, instead he aimed his rifle backwards and shooting towards, what was now chasing them. Another loud roar confirmed his suspicion, and he turned back in the direction they were running. "Requesting backup. It. Is. Pissed." Adrenaline rushed through their systems, as they didn't even dare to look back anymore, instead they focused on their destination. The plan could still work, if only they could get to where the second team was. Seconds felt like minutes to them, as tree after tree blurred by them. Their bodies ached from the sudden full sprint, but they knew that stopping wasn't an option. An orange creature leapt out from behind them and managed to grab one more soldier. He screamed in utter terror as the thing glared down on him, it's fangs bare. Before the man even had the chance to hoist his gun, the creature lurched forward. His guttural screams filled the rainforest, before they were drowned out by his own blood. The other three men stopped momentarily, not to grieve for their companion, but so that 'it' wouldn't lose track of them. They knew what they were getting into, and they had time to mourn once their mission was done. The leader fired a few shots in the direction of where his man fell, hoping to get its attention. He felt both relief and fear when he saw the creature's eyes focus squarely on him. Once again, they began to run, with their hunter on their heels. Their bodies were beginning to run out of any fuel they still had left, but they knew they were close. Suddenly something once again jumped towards, intent on killing one more. However, this time its assault was halted by a large steel net, that was shot towards the creature. All its momentum suddenly disappeared, and it fell on the ground, squirming inside the metal netting. The leader looked towards where the object came from and saw several other soldiers, one of which was carrying a specially designed cannon. He smirked under his mask, but he was still alert. After all, he knew that the net wouldn't hold it for a long time. True to his thought, the creature soon managed to stand back up. The steel fibers were creaking under the pressure the monster was exerting, trying to rip it apart. "Firing tranqs." one of the soldiers shouted, as something boomed and a large cannister fell right next to the trapped creature. It hissed and began spewing a yellowish-brown gas. The monster coughed, starting to feel the effects of the narcotic. It roared so loudly it nearly deafened those who were too close. The net was ripped apart and the creature quickly ran away from the gas. It felt its legs were weaker and it felt quite dizzy. Even so, it still had enough sense to know that it was surrounded. However, it spotted an opening and it took it. With unimaginable speed it ran towards its salvation. Just as it was about to make its escape, it felt something click under its foot. Suddenly four rods shot up from the ground and released an electric charge. The creature felt its muscle seize and spasm, as the electricity ran through its body. Once again it fell on the floor, this time unable to move any part of its body. The pain from the constant shock was unbearable, and even though it wanted to cry, it was unable to. The soldiers slowly approached; their guns aimed at it. When they saw no reaction from it, beside its spasming twitches, they slowly began to lower their guard. "Operation Cat and Mouse is a success." the leader said into his radio, and everyone cheered. "Preparing the sedative. Bring in the chopper for extraction." He then turned to another soldier: "That was a good shot, Fowler." "Thanks sir." the man replied, putting the net cannon on the ground. "But still, I can't believe this thing." he said as he looked over the orange furred creature. "Ripping through steel like paper and being able to survive a constant shock that would kill an elephant. This thing ain't human." "Well, you aren't wrong." the leader said. "I've been after this thing for over a year now, and I can finally feel relieved, knowing that my mission is over." As the two were exchanging pleasantries, a few of the soldiers were preparing the sedative, while a couple of them were looking at the creature with scornful eyes. "Serves ya right, ya damn monster." one said as he lifted his rifle. He pressed the trigger fired a couple of shots into the creature. The sound of rifle fire alerted everyone, and the leader walked over to the soldier. "What in the goddamn hell do you think you're doing." he shouted at the soldier grabbing and taking his rifle out of his hands. "Ah, come on sarge. It's not like those even do anything to it." he said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides give it an itch. Also, it deserves much more after everyone it killed." The anger in sergeants’ eyes continued to flame, as he grabbed the soldier's uniform, bringing him closer to his face. "Do. Not. Do. That. Again. Do I make myself clear." The man silently nodded, and he was released. His rifle however was taken away. He looked disgruntled at that, but quickly changed his attention back to the creature. He picked up a large stick and began hitting the creature with it. Another soldier approached him. "Do you really want to do that?" he asked concerned. The man stopped his beating and looked at the soldier with disdain. "What? You think I give a rat's ass what the sarge says. I have a lot of pent-up anger against this thing." he said and swung the stick again. "One year and three months. That's how long this thing played with us." Another smack. "Dozens of good men. Gone." Smack. "Only cause we were to capture not kill." Smack. "Not to say that we'd be able to end it, but it certainly would make the job easier." Smack. "So, I think I am entitled to at least this much." He gave another swing and looked at the other guy. "Besides, it can't do shit right now. So, I can go all out and let it experience what we had to endure." He lifted his hand up high once again, preparing for one more strike. However, he had failed to notice that he had moved much closer to the trapped creature, or that its tail was now right next to his leg. With rage filled growl the thing wrapped its appendage around his ankle. The guy felt something coil around his leg. "Ah shi-" was all he could say, as he felt the tail sweep him off his feet and then swing him into one of the rods. The force of the soldier's body was enough to break one of the rods, that was feeding the electric charge to the trap. With the electricity gone the creature stood back up. Its escape attempt didn't go unnoticed though, as it was peppered with bullets. "Fire the sedatives." someone shouted among the rifle fire. Several cannisters landed around the creature and hissed the gas. Without a moment’s notice, the thing ran away. This time it was much slower however, due to the electric trap and all the sedatives that were now flowing through its system. It stumbled through the jungle, hearing screams and gunshots coming from behind it. It jumped into the canopy hoping to lose them. It vaulted from tree to tree, but the men didn't give up pursuit. The creature began to feel exhaustion. It knew that if it didn't lose them now, they will capture it. Suddenly it felt one of the branches give under its weight. Gravity took hold of its body and it fell. The thought 'it's over' rushed through its head. Half an hour later The soldiers who were searching for the creature, regrouped and told the sergeant that none of them could fine it. With a calm, yet tense tone, he told them to scour the jungle once again, this time with helicopters and IR cameras. The soldiers saluted, acknowledging his orders and left to pursue their target. When they left the sergeant opened a small laptop. "Sergeant Nicholas Graves reporting." he said with a salute to the person on the other side of the screen. "We are yet to find the Omega; we will leave no stone unturned. I can assure you." "You better." was all the person said, before the feed was cut. Sergeant slumped in his chair and sighed. He looked at the file that was in front of him. He opened it and looked at its contents. The blurry picture of the creature greeted his eyes, as well as the bold letters OMEGA-24. "Where on Earth have you disappeared to?" he mumbled as he crumpled the file. Equestria, Everfree Forest, 2:09 PM A small figure stood on top of a tree overlooking the dark forest. Her orange, white and black striped fur was tickled by the fresh that also hit her face. Her large blue eyes looked on into the distance, taking in the brand-new sight that greeted her. Her clawed hand was leaning onto the tree and her tail happily swung back and forth. "Miri think, Miri like this place."