Silver and Natalia - Hunter prt.1

For a big hunk of metal, Silver seemed to be changed from what I remembered. He was becoming more concerned of me, more understanding of feeling. Of course, this was within weeks of work, it wasn’t that we were always fighting you know, some days were just boring and silent, nothing would ever come our way (remember, were in a waste land). Whatever the case, Silver was becoming stronger not physically, but mentally, he was becoming…almost human rather than machine.

Of course, this is just speculation towards me; I cannot really say how or why he was acting so kind and caring. I never considered it as a trap, but maybe it was the crystal that he absorbed, maybe something within that little object actually gave him a bigger conscious. Not that…I don’t like it, in fact I enjoy him like this, he seems more animated, more understanding and he seems to…be happier. Still, being happy isn’t really what we want to feel, not until whatever that…thing…Silvers creators had mentioned was still about and going to restart the world for its own gains; and we still didn’t have a chance of actually finding it since we had no idea…were it was.

Through our travels, we checked many sources Silver seemed to sniff out. Scavenger Raiders were the best and only stable source of knowledge, but trying to take them prisoner without killing them isn’t easy. Raiders rarely liked being taken prisoner, and some that do tend to kill themselves before they can be questioned…zealous bunch; yet Silver seemed to have a plan of his own. Silver decided that the only way to truly capture some raiders were to take them by surprise, of course, this in itself was difficult since Raiders tended to move randomly and a majority of them (aside from the few who built bases in old villages) were a nomadic civilization in massive convoys of people and equipment.

To catch one such convoy is to be really lucky, or just really stupid, sometimes Raiders would come across any old ruins and strip it clean (hence the Scavenger name), surprisingly they were the only real active population of beings, at least from what we knew, and it served as a testament about how powerful our civilization could be and how adaptive they were; but that is not important now. What is the plan Silver had; Silver had been able to acquire a anti-material rifle. This weapon would lead the ambush by taking out the lead vehicle. For most convoys of Raiders, an armoured vehicle led the convoy, protecting the front from any hostile, and the drivers and gunners were quite skilled and well represented for this task of leading the vulnerable transports behind it. Several other smaller vehicles would escort around the sides, but that lead one is the key target. Once disable, the convoy would be stopped, but only for a short time before another vehicle takes the lead. During that time, it’s up to me to go in and cause a ruckus as Silver continues to provide sniper cover for me.

The convoy came as planned, several vehicles, painted dark yellow and black to mix in with the land around it, with a retrofitted truck armed with various heavy weapons about it leading three other transports, with two more armoured trucks of varying styles behind it. Around them, a pair of trikes with light guns mounted atop skidded about along making sure no one would flank them. A normal setup of such a convoy…all neat and tidy, that was until the first vehicle lurched and its front end exploded in a rupturing mix of gas and an explosive sniper shell. The convoy quickly wheeled to a stop, the lead convoy actually rear-ending the armoured truck that now lay burning. The next to go was one of the trikes, it exploded, flying upwards a few feet before crashing down in the same spot. The second quickly began to drive around, almost like a panicked animal, until it too was silenced. Now it was my turn; and I take no time rushing in.

If there was ever a time to question the situation, id say this would count. The moment I stormed into the convoy, there was little fire being returned…had we been that thorough in taking out the defenders? Surely scavengers were far more resilient and even deceptive than this. The moment I stepped closed to their transport I was expecting a fresh squad to just jump out from the back and let lose at me, but none came, in fact, the only real guns were probably on all the armoured vehicles, but this again didn’t seem like Scavenger tactics; those crazy lunatics would put gunmen on any vehicle they had just to make sure their “loot” was secure. This however seemed much different, there were few defenders, and looking at how many armoured escorts there were, it began to seem less and less like a Scavenger unit. I notion Silver to approach, some of the wrecks still smouldered around as he slowly lumbered towards the rear convoy truck. I stood there, arms crossed “I don’t know about you” I began “but something tells me this isn’t a Scavenger transport” Silver looked around for a moment then nodded “I had a feeling myself after the first armoured truck was disabled, and little fire was coordinated back upon me” he turns to the convoy “I…think we may have a hoax” he muttered as he slowly eases to the door and with a strong tug, opens the back.

For that moment we both had no real idea what to feel like, at first, we thought this was a Scavengers convoy, but…as we opened the door and saw refugees, it was…us who had become the scavengers. I felt sick to my stomach; these people…these people were innocents, refugees escaping the horrors probably, not a single one had a gun. Apparently, this was not uncommon. Convoys carrying refugees or supplies for some of the few standing settlements often employed the same methods as Scavenger teams to avoid being attacked by them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, its all about luck and how crafty you can be. This convoy was one of them, and now, it seemed that it wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else now with such damage done to it. As Silver and I contemplated this, there was a click sound as pair of guns cocked and readied behind us.
“Raise them high you bastards!” came a sharp female voice as both me and Silver rose our hands, slowly turning we were able to catch a slight glimpse of our captors, but the females sharp words prevented us from turning
“Keep your eyes on what you nearly killed!” she seemed to sneer “Those people could have died if you idiots weren’t careful” Whoever this girl was, she was obviously not happy. Silver seemed soft spoken as he motioned to me “only two…move quickly”

As soon as Silver gave the signal, both of us whirled around. Quickly I went at the assailant at me, it was hard to tell but it seemed he was holding a rifle of sorts; I took no time in grabbing it and pushing against him. He was strong, by the looks of it he was wearing pretty heavy armour, and the only parts I could tell from what he was were a pair of bat wings. I growled, pushing harder until I heard a yelp and floored him, the gun pinning his chest down as I growl “Stay still!” I mutter
Silver on the other hand, turned to face the female, but she was ready for him, her gun went at his head and quickly they seemed to stalemate. While I pinned the other, the female, who was an orange/brown mix kitsune with black tips on her many tails, had a pistol to Silvers head as Silver had a clawed fist to her chest. They both had at one another’s points and either one could kill the other. As I looked at her, as well as Silver, I could see her tail, and her right leg was robotic. The machine parts were rather sleek, but not as sophisticated as what Silver and myself were bearing.
“So…what heartless contraption are you?” she asked glaring at Silver
“That’s none of your concern” he mutters back “we were here to capture Raiders…disguising your refugee convoy as such was at your own risk, not mine”
I couldn’t help but sigh; Silver…you still needed work. The kitsune on the other hand didn’t take it lightly; she slammed the gun right up in front of the wolves face.
“Bastard, don’t act like your all proper! You don’t know what we have to go through!” she seemed to be really serious about it all
“No I may not, but I do know what it is to lose something, so do not bother” He lowers his arm “it seems however we have mistake, and we will now part”
“Part!? And leave us to die!”
Silver turns to me, ushering me to leave as I slowly heave off the male. But as we leave, the kitsune growls
“Hey, don’t think you can just do this and leave!”
Silver doesn’t answer, simply moving forward as I tail behind
“Cowards, Bastards, I should skin you and boil you down for parts!”


“Do you think it was wise to leave them be?” I asked as me and Silver stopped after leaving the view of the convoy behind. The wolf took a seat, studying his paw from the quick bout he had with the kitsune “She was strong…I’m sure she could handle it” I wasn’t sharing the same optimism as Silver, that convoy suffered because of our mistake
“I still say we should help them, and I know you feel the same, we did mangle them.”
“And they chose to look like Raiders, what could we have done?” Silver barked back. I felt a pang of anger towards Silver
“That’s…that’s terrible! How can you be so cold?” I demanded, stamping my foot, the wolf seemed to glare at me
“Do not question what I feel, this is how things are, we must survive and complete what has been given to us, whatever we run into, be it mutant, person, or anything of the sort is secondary to us”
I couldn’t recall why I did what I did next, I walked up and smacked the wolf across the face
“You’re still the same old cold hearted Jerk!” I shout “has nothing I told you in those days of wander meant anything?” I tear up, I felt defeated yet again that he still wasn’t understanding the emotional level of everything he has done. I want to leave him, to just give up, but each time I try, I’m swoon back to him, I have come too far with him.
“Nat…” he sighs “You’re right…I’m sorry but that’s just…how I am.” His ears perk and he quickly turns about
“What is it?” I ask
“Scavengers…”
The convoy was easy pickings…and despite Silvers original words, it was a surprise to see him gather himself and rush back to the convoy. As we moved towards the fight under the sound of gunfire, I questioned why he had the sudden change of heart. I felt a bit relived, but also concerned, if Silver was going to help the convoy should there be an attack, then why act like he wouldn’t? Its something I found to bug me, and it’s not like it didn’t happen before. He…always seemed to have change of heart when a situation made it possible for that. I cannot say if its bad or good…maybe its some…form of emotion growing, and he just acts tough to make sure people respect or fear him, whatever the case, we came to the convoy as a small Scavenger team, 12 guys and 2 trucks, surrounded the convoy.

From the vantage point we had before, we could see the two surviving trucks had been rolled into the road and the only armoured unit in front, but they hadn’t gotten far before the real Scavengers picked up their scent and decided upon them like ravenous beasts. As we arrived, we saw that 4 of them had been killed; the kitsune and bat were holding quite well atop the armoured truck, but only two guns against 10, it wasn’t going to be easy.
“Nat” Silver muttered as I looked at him “Go down there and assist them, ill pick them off from here” he says raising a rifle and firing, already killing one as it hid behind some rubble. Many of the attacking Scavengers were using the derelicts as cover, most armed with assault rifles and one or two with squad automatic weapons and light machine guns. Still, the fight was quickly going to turn to the defenders as I approached. The first Scavenger to die was the first one I latterly fell into. I never saw a actual Scavenger up close, they wore dusty cloth atop armour pieces, and their hoods covered most of their masked face, leaving a red eye piece visible, or sometimes most of their faceless re-breathers. They wore armour plates on their chest, shoulders, arms, and ankles, as well covered by makeshift cloaks with short bottoms. They fought ferociously, as soon as I came down on one, I found him quite capable of defending himself even though I was clearly doing serious injury. At one point I gouged him across the chest, yet he kept on fighting, for the most part, more fiercely than before. I nearly lost it until Silver shot him in the head for me. I was able to see Vix not to far from where I entered, she was…majestic, to say the least. She was moving this way and that, only with a pistol and a few grenades, and taking down Scavengers whenever they popped up, or at least cutting it close to them. I was awe struck for a moment until Silvers voice crackled in the com.
“Never underestimate them…there are a lot of things we don’t know about Scavengers, all we do, is they are very tough” Silver noted as I shake my head to get out of the clouds.
“Well Duh!” I replied, somewhat understanding what he meant before he needed to say it. Too keep a story short, we were able to defeat all the Scavengers, and salvage both working trucks they drove in.

“Well…you’re the last people I was expecting to haul our butts from the fire” The kitsune muttered as we approached one another after the Scavengers had been destroyed
“Call it an emotional hunch” Silver replied
“He means he felt bad” I added, with Silver giving a silent look
“Well that’s mighty fine of him, and frankly, I could care less what that tin can thinks” the kitsune muttered
“Do you have a problem with robots?” Silver remarked
“Yeah…I do, its robots always end up causing problems”
Again I felt the heated ager between these two. Silver however, not one to let it brood, decided to ease the conversation
“I will…go on patrol, make sure we killed them all” he mutters as he leaves me alone with the kitsune
“I’m Natalia…and that’s Silver” I say “least we can do is tell you who we are”
“That robot has a name?” the kitsune remarked, receiving a bit of a scowl from me “well, I’m Vixica, but call me Vix, and that other gunman is Mike…” she paused pointing at the bat atop the truck, he waved back as he turned about to watch the horizon “you know…don’t tell that big dope of a robot, but I’m glad you came, if it was you or the Scavengers, I’d definitely take the former.”
I smirked; Vix seemed like an okay person, behind the cold exterior. Still, the robotics puzzled me, though not as sophisticated, the fact she was quite active and able to manage so well with them was impressive, most augmentations left a person sore or kept them down, but she…well…cant say much really, but seeing her fight those Scavengers was something else.