Speak Softly and Carry a Big Gun is the tenth episode of Battle of Blood Gulch. It's title is a misnomer of Theodore Roosevelt's motto, "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick." It was written by Zwd 23:18, September 22, 2011 (UTC)
Plot[]
Krayson stood on the edge of Blue Base, sniper rifle in hand. For all the world he appeared calm. However, his mind was on the verge of an explosion. He quietly reviewed the last moments of his conversation with her.
"Do you still have it?" she asked. Krayson didn't answer. Instead, he unclipped the clasps holding his chest piece. Lifting it off, and setting it on the floor, he pulled down the collar of the bodysuit that connected the armor peices to the body , revealing a small chain around his neck. Near the top where his dog tags, but lower down, in a less obvious place, hung a small capsule contaning several miniscule black specks. She nodded.
"Not exactly a hard place to find," she said. "I'm everything if not subtle," Krayson said. She nodded, put a hand on his shoulder. "You know what you have to do." "He's just a bloody rookie with a disablity! How could I-" "You have to, or everything is lost!" "I know, I know."
She was gone.
Krayson sighed. He did know what he had to do. It might seem like betrayal at the time, but the alternative... Krayson shuddered, remembering what the oracle had shown him. Strange buildings being built, mutilated humans charging with high pitched screams, blobs taking over corpses.
It had to be done.
Krayson slipped a knife out of his uniform.
Maddox pulled out the IV needle, and slid back into his armor. He strode up the cliffs, reaching a small cave. Absentmindedly wandering inside, Maddox felt up toward his head, feeling the burns. Everything came rushing back.
"Allright team," Maddox said, looking at the small chamber where a pedestal had been placed, "Supercompressed light. Hopefully that will get us some plasma. If not... well, we keep getting paid. Harrison, you ready?"
His best friend gave him the thumbs up. Smiling, Maddox slid a small lever. Light flew through the small tubes they'd constructed for this endeavour. It collided with another such beam, and a ball began to form. "More power," Harrison said, pulling up his lever. Maddox did the same with his.
Still no results. They added more power. Then more. And more. Finally flicks of purple and blue began flashing, with the occasional green. "I think we got-" Maddox began, then stopped, as, unstopped, the plasma began bubbling and expanding, reaching breaking point.
"DOWN!" Harrison yelled, tackling Maddox right as it reached critical mass. They were thrown back as plasma flame flew around the room. Some got in Maddox's hair, and Harrison was partly ingulfed in it. The rest of the group had been vaporized. Maddox screamed as the plasma hit his bare scalp. Harrison was wailing beside him.
Suddenly it came back. His head was aching, and he reached up, recoiling as he touched heavy burns. He looked around, spotted Harrison. He crawled over.
Harrison was a mess. Almost his entire body was covered in purplish burns. He groaned as Maddox picked him up, and his eyes flickered open. "M-m-addox," he stammered, "did it work?" Maddox smiled. "Of course it did. You'll be okay."
"No," Harrison insisted, "Maddox... my son, Samuel, give him... this..." He handed Maddox his dog tags. A picture of him and his son was attached. Harrison's eyes rolled up, and his body went light.
Maddox pulled the dog tags out of his pocket. It was now or never. He began heading towards Blue Base.
Krayson slid silently through Sam's door. He reached the private's bed, saw his fake arm on the headboard. Reaching over with his knife, he cut a small wire. It wouldn't do anything immediatley, but in about three days, it would fail. Krayson even knew the time. And he had to keep it.
He turned and raced into his room, not noticing Iron Fist poking his head out of his own room.