The Arks: Alternative Timeline
The Arks: Alternative Timeline
ACT 5: Eye for an Eye
This is a Theri exclusive story.
Written by Ben (OBJ)
You do not have to read TAOH to understand this story.
Chapter 13: Pigeon
BAM! BAM!
Pigeon took cover behind a bunch of metal nodes as rifle fire hit him from all sides. A fabricated rifle on his shoulders, he heard bullets whiz past him left and right. This wasn’t great. They were much more prepared than the Walkers of the Void had anticipated.
Pigeon took his fabricated rifle and zoomed in on one of the people firing at him. He pulled the trigger, and his head was immediately blasted off. He moved to the other adversary and blew his brains out too. Pigeon let out a sigh as more EXP flowed through his veins. Once Pigeon could defeat the Guardians of this ARK and its Overseer, he could ascend to a higher level.
“The reports stated they were barely getting an industrial forge,” Pigeon muttered in annoyance, “But they already have an army of Rexes and they seem to have quite the firepower already with those rifles. Did they transfer over from another world?”
Transferring was a difficult process on hardcore worlds, but it was still possible if you transferred from a hardcore world of itself. A lot of hardcore worlds nowadays had so little people due to the amount of death that was present. Pigeon cursed to himself. This tribe probably built up on Crystal Isles and then transferred over here with all of their tames. Now Pigeon probably had to prepare for…
A beam of water suddenly splashed out at Pigeon, and Pigeon dived out of the way and looked up to see a Crystal Wyvern flying above. Pigeon sighed. This was going to be annoying.
Pigeon had left his Argentavis behind, just in case the tribe had set up turrets. It was just going to be a quick grab and go. Pigeon would plant a bunch of C4 down and then blow it all to sheds. Though clearly things weren’t going to plan.
Pigeon switched out to a longneck rifle with a scope attached to it and then aimed up at the Crystal Wyvern. It was hard to see through all the snow, but at the same time it was also hard to see him. Buried in the snow, Pigeon took a deep breath, and on the exhale, he pulled the trigger, aiming at the Crystal Wyvern’s rider.
BAM!
A splash of blood immediately flew off from the crystal wyvern, and Pigeon saw a death message pop up on his screen. Pigeon smirked. The idiot was probably only wearing fur armor. Pigeon shivered, and felt the effects of the snow kicking at his body. Pigeon reached into his pockets and quickly pulled out a bowl of curry. He downed in, and his body felt warm and gooey. Pigeon flexed his flak armor and began firing at the Crystal Wyvern.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The Crystal Wyvern just kept taking hit after hit. Pigeon smirked. The idiots must’ve left it on passive. Pigeon aimed for the head, and then fired.
BAM!
The Crystal Wyvern was felled, and it immediately fell down toward Pigeon. Pigeon took cover near the metal nodes, and as the Crystal Wyvern fell atop the rocks it smashed them to bits.
BAM BAM BAM!
More gunfire from a front. Pigeon took cover behind the dead body of the Crystal Wyvern. It would only be a matter of time before they took out the Rexes and started chasing him down. Pigeon would need to find higher ground so they couldn’t reach him with their powerful tames. Pigeon quickly checked the inventory of the wyvern. Nothing useful except for a few parachutes. Pigeon quickly grabbed them. This was part of the plan.
Pigeon looked up the peak of the mountain and saw a trail leading up. Pigeon grinned. Perfect.
Pigeon quickly made a mad dash for it. More bullets whizzed by, and one even grazed his shoulder. Pigeon let out a sigh of pain as it did, a chunk of his health taken away. He had to keep moving. Weaving left and right, and combined with his increasing distance and the blizzard picking up was enough to lose Pigeon.
Alas, Pigeon made it to the top of the mountain. Pigeon reached into his inventory and pulled out a medical brew, downing it and recovering all his health immediately. As Pigeon took a breather, he reached for his belt and took out a spyglass. He peered at their base. There was a lot of stone gateways covering the small metal shack, and it was clear they were just setting up, as they only had one turret. Pigeon noticed a flaw in their design though. There was a part atop the gateways that actually provided cover from the turret. Pigeon would just have to be quick.
Pigeon took a few steps back, and then jumped off of the ledge. He quickly equipped his parachutes, and he slowly began to float down to the gateway. The turret whirred, and then began firing at him, but it was too late, Pigeon had made it to the gateway. He dropped down, and pulled out his C4 and detonator.
“Here we go-”
BAM!
A bullet suddenly hit Pigeon in the eye. Pigeon let out a grunt as he felt his eye. That was definitely a goner. Pigeon looked down to see a fat man with a huge back pointing a revolver at his face, the barrel steaming. The man grinned.
“Finally got you, you little punk!” The man snarled.
Pigeon glared at him. He tossed the C4 behind him onto the turret, and then jumped from the gateway. As he did he pressed the button on the detonator, and everything blew to shreds.
BEEP BEEP!
BOOM!
A large explosion culminated behind Pigeon as he fell atop the fat man and began throwing fists at him. The fat man tossed Pigeon off, and he went tumbling through the snow. Adrenaline was keeping Pigeon from writhing on the ground in pain, but that would soon end. Pigeon stood up and faced off against him.
“You’ve done quite a bit of damage,” the fat man glared, “You’ve killed my tribemates, and now you’ve blown my base to shreds.”
“Who are you?” Pigeon asked, “And what’s your business here? The Island isn’t a suitable place for a megatribe’s base. The Crystal Isles is much safer and filled with less tribes!”
“The name’s Albert. And I’m here because I’ve heard there’s been a vulnerability in the Alpha Tribe of this hardcore cluster,” the fat man sneered, “A change of leadership? Anyway, everyone’s predicting they’ll soon crumble. The de facto generals will not be able to maintain this empire.”
“You lie. The Walkers of the Void will never fall, and especially not to you.”
“True. I alone could not take them all down, but you will fall eventually, I’m just evaluating your forces,” Albert laughed, “And it seems you are all running low on men. I’ve heard you’re the highest ranking captain of the Island Sector. What is someone like you doing here taking care of the dirty work?”
Pigeon scoffed.
“That is not your concern!”
“I believe that means I am correct. The Island sector is growing weaker,” Albert glared, “Kill me, or annihilate me, I will come back ten times stronger and more prepared. The Goopers always win in the end!”
Pigeon unsheathed a sword, while Albert pulled out a torch and shield.
“Bring it on then! Show me your strength, coward!” Pigeon howled.
The two let out battle cries and charged at one another. Pigeon slashed at Albert’s body, but Albert merely blocked it with his shield. Albert swung his torch at Pigeon, and even though Pigeon managed to dodge the blunt attack, the flames quickly caught onto Pigeon’s face and began to roast him. Pigeon let out a cough as ash poured into his mouth. Albert grinned.
“Clearly you don’t know the Gooper way. The Goopers stay winning!” Albert boasted.
“You barbarians use torches for PVP? How savage,” Pigeon spat as the snow quickly doused the flames.
“It’s quite the normalcy in officials. Only a true captain would know. Now I know you don’t know a thing about PVP.”
“Say that to your dead tribemates,” Pigeon chuckled.
“You may have slain my tribemates, but they managed to hold their own against a seasoned captain,” Albert barked, “I’m proud of them. Now let’s dance!”
The two charged at each other. And not even the ringing death messages of his Argentavis was enough to distract him from this battle.
Chapter 14: Will
Will immediately slashed down at Austin. Austin’s head was swiped clean off, and his death message popped up on Sloth’s implant. Sloth let out a shriek of fear, and began to scurry off into the woods. Will grinned, licking his lips.
“Come out! Let’s play!”
Will dashed after Sloth like a mad man. Sloth looked back to see that he was still giving chase. This wasn’t good at all. Both of their Argies were dead, and not only that, but his teammate was as well.
A few minutes later, Sloth managed to make it to the rivers, and he was already out of stamina. Sloth looked around. He needed something that could ward him off. That’s when he saw it. A spiny Ceratosaurus, frolicking in the rivers, its tail swishing side by side. Sloth smiled. This was his distraction.
Will burst from the foliage and swung his sword at Sloth. Sloth let out a cry of pain as the sword cut his flesh, but he pushed past the main and dove into the water, swimming after the carnivore. The Ceratosaurus sniffed the air, and immediately let out a roar, dashing into the water and creating waves. It wasn’t after Sloth though. Its first target was Will.
The Ceratosaurus let out a roar and charged at him. Will let out a roar of his own and slashed at the Ceratosaurus’ face. Blood spewed out of its face and onto Will’s face, and suddenly shock ran down Will’s spine as the venom inside began to seep into his skin. The Ceratosaurus collapsed into the river, its blood floating all throughout and killing the fish inside, and Will took a few steps back and collapsed into the sand.
Sloth emerged from the river, a grin on his face.
“Look at you, writhing on the ground like the Bob you are,” Sloth snarled. He took his pistol out, aiming at the man’s head. “Pests like you don’t deserve to live. Ever!”
As Will lay in pain on the ground, he thought about his first kill on the Island. Not a man, but a beast. A Carnotaurus. Was this karma for what he’d done? Perhaps so. The Carnotaurus was only trying to survive. It did not deserve to die just for trying to kill Will.
Will closed his eyes and accepted his defeat. Sloth pulled the trigger.
BAM!
The gunshot rang all throughout the rivers. Birds flew away from the treetops, and everything was silent for a moment. Sloth let out a sigh, exhausted. Finally, it was over. Sloth put his pistol away.
“You were quite annoying, you know that?”
A gush of wind suddenly fell atop Sloth, a large shadow growing above him. Sloth looked up and saw a fire wyvern landing down behind him. Sloth immediately reached for his pistol, but not before realizing who was riding it. General Moon. And she looked mad.
“Sloth,” General Moon glared. Sloth gulped.
“You’re in so, so much trouble.”
Chapter 15: Karma
Tonight was the night.
Karma had one last dinosaur she wanted to tame before laying siege on the mega tribe that had slain Gerald. One dinosaur that could very well turn the tide of the battle. A dinosaur so powerful and mighty that almost nothing was able to challenge its name. Its name?
The Carcharodontosaurus.
Karma looked upon the mighty beasts she had managed to domesticate up to this point. A whole herd of Triceratops, a handful of Kentrosaurus, and even a few Diplodocus and a Therizinosaurus that easily followed her lead. They may have been herbivores, but not only were they easier to tame, they packed just the amount of punch. Through experimentation, she had also discovered that the herbivores were resistant to flames and gunfire. It was perfect. Now all she needed was the firepower to fight back. This Carcharodontosaurus that was lurking near the mountains would do just that.
They were quite a few whiles away from the actual base. The mountain range was disconnected but spread far and wide throughout the center of the Island. The prey was scarce, the predators equally so. All had been wiped out by this apex predator. And now all it was doing was resting, its red stripes coated in blood and its body heaving up and down. It had a slender jaw, and spines running all along its back. It was certainly beautiful, almost like a bloodied angel.
Karma had read up on guides on how to tame it, but only one person seemed legitimate enough to be correct. A woman on a companion app called Moon. She had claimed proving yourself worthy was the only way to tame the beast. Karma slowly walked up to the beast. She had left her tames behind, just so they wouldn’t be hurt. Suddenly, the beast’s eyes riled up, and it arose, letting out a roar looking down upon Karma. Karma was small. Karma was weak. Karma was unworthy of being consumed by such a massive predator.
“Allow me to show you!” Karma shouted, “My worthiness!”
Karma signaled to the mountain base.
“That is what I wish to raid. No more, no less. I am doing it out of spite. Vengeance. They must pay for their unjust ways. Aid me, and you’ll taste blood of the strong like no other!”
The Carcharodontosaurus snarled. It was unsure, but as it pondered, it nodded. For now, it would assist her. This would not be permanent.
The Carcharodontosaurus stepped from its resting spot. It would join her in battle.
“What is your name?”
The Carcharodontosaurus let out a huff of air, and a thought ran through Karma’s mind.
“Romeo, the Angel King.”
Karma smiled.
“That surely is a worthy name. Now, let us charge!”
The Carcharodontosaurus began to march toward the base, slowly, while Karma got to her tames and rode atop her trusty raptor Jira. She could sense their unease. But for now, they would have to settle for this. For Gerald.
The march began.