Guardians Academy

"What are the Level 7 missions?" Cody asked, as they rolled back toward Specs' place either to get backup for another run or to return the tricycle and cart early and hopefully get some of the rental back.

Level 7 Missions

1. Perimeter Sentry. Tier 1 survival rating required. 45 credits award. Priority Bonus +12. [Details]

2. Fortify village perimeter fencing. 45 credits award. [Details]

3. Help set up external alarm systems. 45 credits award. [Details]

4. Weapons maintenance. 45 credits award. [Details]

5. [Advancement] Salvage Run (scrap). Credits awarded according to contribution, 1=1. [Details]

"Still need Tier 1 survival rating." Cody grunted.

"What are we going to do?" Riki asked, as they reached Specs' stall. "I don't know anything about fortifying fencing or setting up alarm systems or maintaining weapons! Do we really have to go out there again? Those monkeys were looking at me weird!"

"I haven't studied any classes about fortification, electronics or weapons maintenance either." Cody admitted.

"Oh, but you don't have to." Specs suddenly said. "If you take the mission, there'll be someone there to teach you. A lot of these missions are really learning experiences, you know."

"That… makes sense!" Riki brightened.

"Of course! Everything here is about learning!" Cody realized.

"So… we didn't have to go out there?" Riki scratched his head.

"We did. I think we did. Otherwise, if we had waited until later to go, the monkeys and the raccoon…" Cody trailed off.

"Right. If we went out there now, we'd have to fight them." Riki nodded.

Just then, Melinda and Laila came up. Melinda waved to Cody, ignored Riki and turned to Specs. "We need to rent a tricycle-and-cart! One for each of us!"

"Hi, Cody." Laila waved also.

Wordlessly, Cody handed her the pitchfork.

"Is this… for me?" Laila brightened. "Sharpened steel tips, good balance, six feet pole… it's perfect! Thank you!"

She handed him back his bamboo fishing pole. .

"Are you guys going on a Supply Run mission?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, we're doing the Level 8 Advancement Mission. We need to dig around the Scrapyard and salvage Components. Our village material electronics supplies are running very low. They're even offering us bonus credits for scrap. We seem to be running low on that too. I couldn't even finish my last mission because the village didn't have enough scrap stockpiled."

"Scrap?" Cody hesitated. "The mission for Level 7 Advancement is a Supply Run for Scrap. We haven't done it yet. Do you think, maybe…?"

Level 8 missions would pay more than Level 7 missions, plus, he had already spent 40 credits to rent the tricycle for a day.

"Let's go together!" Laila beamed.

"What?! No!" Riki protested. "I'm not going anywhere with Melinda!"

"And I'm not going anywhere with Riki!" Melinda shot back immediately.

"But it's getting dangerous out there. The monkeys are acting weird." Laila pointed out. "We could use the extra manpower. Especially when it comes to carrying heavy stuff at the Scrapyard."

Melinda hesitated.

Cody turned to Riki and said, "They'll have carts."

"Carts…" Riki froze.

"With them, we'll have three carts to carry stuff." Cody said meaningfully.

"So… I don't have to rent one myself?" Riki brightened.

Melinda protested. "Oh, no, you don't! If you're coming, you'll have to get your own cart!"

Riki's face fell. "I only just got 35 credits."

Cody sighed. "I can lend you five. You can pay me back when we get back."

***

Things went well for roughly an hour. The four of them rode out from the village and headed to the Scrapyard on tricycles towing carts. With Riki on the far right and Melinda on the far left, Laila and Cody in between them managed to keep them apart and prevent conflict.

They even managed to scare off three zebra-monkeys that attacked them on the way. Outnumbered and wary of their weapons, the three zebra-monkeys could only scamper off the road and hiss at them as they rode past.

Not too long afterward, they arrived at the Scrapyard. Rows of broken vehicles and piles of junk greeted them.

"Well, I'd say getting scrap is easy enough. Just pile on whatever." Melinda said. "Salvaging workable components, however, is a whole different story."

"Could you help us out?" Laila asked Cody.

"We kind of have to. We have to leave together, otherwise those monkeys on the road will attack us." Cody pointed out. "So rather than waiting around for nothing, we may as well help you out."

Riki grumbled about that, but Cody didn't think anything of it at first.

But then Melinda slipped and a pile of junk toppled, scattering around Riki's ankles.

"Whoops." Melinda said, but she didn't apologize. If anything, she even looked a bit pleased.

Riki grabbed a mass of wires and threw it at her head.

That mass of wires had been quite muddy for a long time in the scrapyard. Melinda shrieked as it landed in her carefully groomed hair, screamed when it got tangled and wouldn't come off, and almost tore off her own hair in her haste and panic to get it off.

"Wait! Here…" Riki suddenly felt sorry and tried to help, but Melinda saw him coming and went completely hysterical.

"NOOOOOOO!!!" She shoved him wildly.

"Run!" Cody grabbed Laila's hand.

Too late. Scrap heaps and junk came crashing down on all sides. There was no avoiding any of it. Between one moment and the next, all four of them were instantly buried in rubbish.

There stood Cody, with blackened banana peel on his head, up to his waist in old cables and plastic containers, with an old tyre bouncing off his shoulder before it merrily rolled into Laila's back. Next to him, Laila crouched with a half-torn old curtain almost covering her like a tent, shreds of plastic wrapper wrapped around her left leg, silt and old rainwater soaking her right side. Melinda was worse, up to her elbows in junk, her hair tangled in wires. And of course, Riki had it worst of all, actually managing to get half-doused in greasy water of some sort.

The abrupt silence was broken by a single word from Melinda's throat. "RIKI!!!!!!!!"

"It's not my fault!" Riki shouted. "It…"

Loud creaking sounded. In the pile of debris flooding the site, something moved.

"What was that?" Laila gasped. "I felt movement…"

"What are you talking about?" Riki grouched.

"She's right. There's… something in here��" Cody looked about. "Something's moving underneath all this!"

Melinda went nuts. She shrieked, tearing at everything around her. "Get it off me! Get it away from me! Stay away!!!!"

"Which one is it?! Make up your mind!" Riki burst out.

"MOMMY!!!" Melinda wailed as an unearthly roar sounded from behind them, and something burst out in a fountain of rubbish.

"Run!!" Cody shouted again, trying to pull Laila out of the tangled scraps. Behind them, an enormous, bulky shape lunged forward, swinging a large, heavy fist…

"What is that?!" Melinda screamed.

Cody stared into a single orange eye, an eye that was neither dead nor alive, that glared at him without feeling, but without mercy as it swung a clawed fist the size of his tricycle at his head.

"Down!" Cody drew Laila to the ground as the clawed fist swept overhead. It slammed into the rubbish and sent several cartloads' worth of the junk flying all across the yard.

"It's a beast!" Laila shrieked.

"No! It's a robot!" Riki shouted back.

"It's dangerous! We have to get out of here!" Cody yelled. "Move, move, move, MOVE!"

In the meantime, he –thought- at Orb. [Scan!]

Surprisingly enough, Orb scanned the beast-robot. [Demolisher Ogre Mk II, customized. This model is too old for the Academy Datanet to contain complete records. Please refer to Demolisher Ogre Mk XI…]

"How do we stop this thing?" Cody asked nobody in particular.

"I don't know!" Riki answered helpfully.

But Orb replied, [Six hundred and forty-two solutions found. Please specify.]

"How can we stop it as we are, with what we have?" Cody asked Orb.

Orb paused. [No solutions found.]

Great. How helpful!

Two fists swung. Cody leapt to cover Laila, who was right in front of him…

BOOM. Pain erupted along Cody's back as he was crushed.

Everything turned dark.