The Fielder Story (incomplete)

The Fielder Story

By Parker Hall

The steel lance slashed through the air humming softly to the wind. It clangs loudly off a large shield. Another lance jolting towards the one in blue. The metal shrieking and the lance's touch. The blue became red as the blood slowly flowed along the blue metal. The One in Blue dropped his lance as he slow tried pulling it off his chest. Every breath hurt. The White Armored One stood silently as if mesmerized by the red line slowly trickling down his white lance. Without warning the White Armored One flicked the One in Blue away. The One in blue saw his lance and crawled to it. Every muscle screamed for him to stop and just lay and die, but he pushed on. With his hand on the handle, he swung the lance's point at the White Armored One. To his surprise the White Armored One was posed to stab him. As the lance pierced the One in Blue's heart he pulled the trigger on the lance.

That's when Paige's eyes opened to her dark room. As she sat up, she noticed her shirt clinging to her. Thinking about the dream she looked out the window and stared at the broken moon. Pushing off she headed to her closet and pulled out her normal work clothes, if you called her job normal. The simple black outfit with a blue jacket that was light which worked for her. Since it was protocol she tied her chocolate brown hair back into. Walking over to the oven in her old Victorian house, she pulled out a roll of bagels. After she ate, she went out and locked all 13 locks on the steel door. Excessive but purposeful. Looking over at her beat up '70 Cyclone, or Old Cat as the others from her team called it, then at the weapons shed. She headed to the shed. She cringed a little as she saw the blue gunlance hanging dusty. Paige decided the crudely made saw crossbow rifle and fishing rod would work for her target of the day.

Paige let out a little sigh as she looked for the keys to her car. She found it under the rear left tire like always. With the car started and the weapons set, she drove out on to the main road of houses. Navigating through the flipped and smashed cars on the road she turned to see the lake. She parked the car farther back and left it running. She picked up the fishing rod and the saw rifle and slowly stalked to the lake. There were little mounds were the mine were planted in case the plan went bad. Paige quietly thanked that Yen had placed a visible path this time. Using a small clear stone at the end of a very large hook, Paige cast the line as far as it would go. Not even five seconds later the line bobbed and she started to pull in. the surface of the water broke as the large snakelike alien lashed out at the line. Paige working fast cut the sine with the saw rifle and jumped back as the alien attempted to swallow her. Firing off two saws as she ran, the alien screamed and flung its body at her. The two blades ripped through the eyes of the beast. Blind and even angrier the alien's twin mouths let off a blood curdling scream that made Paige falter. The alien took this chance to thrash about in an attempt to hit her. A tail connected and swatted her into a tree. Recovering into a run she reloaded and shot off a barrage of seven saws, a full clip, at the face of the alien. Every saw connected and ripped the pale yellow and green skin to shreds. Using a saw she charged the creature and cut the large orb in its head in half. Shuddering then falling, the alien slammed to the ground and laid lifeless.

A large Mack Freightliner came by after the call was made that the target was confirmed dead. Paige was paid her dues and drove back to her flat. As she was driving a call came through on her large satellite phone.

"Good job on the mission a AZ class, as we can see, is easy for you", said a static filled voice, "your rank has been risen as a reward and you'll receive missions of SY class, stay sharp Field Commander Heall".

The line died and she went on driving headed towards her team, Field Team 56, station like her normal routine.

"Here comes the silent warrior you all know and love", boomed Yen. Yen, being the stereotype of the Scottish he was, was sitting at his worktable fiddling with a Nail Rifle chamber. The rest of Field Team 56 were talking about the class they took down that day. Paige walked over to her project. The almost finished Black & Co. DABCHT's feed lines, Duel Arch Bow Cannon Heavy Type, glowed as she approached it. Yen remarked on how he thought it was creepy that it does that. She didn't care. With the spare parts she found that fit the DABCHT, Paige got to work. After about a standard hour the DABCHT was finished...and it accidently fired...at Lizzy and Tom.

"DROP!" yelled Lizzy. The two dropped milliseconds before the powerful ion shell tore from the barrel leaving a smell of ozone. After about a second, Lizzy and Tom stood up eyeing Paige. She held her hands up in her defense. From the looks on their faces she could tell what each were going to say. Tom spoke first saying, "What the...were you trying to kill us?" Lizzy mumbled something about being more careful but Paige couldn't hear all of it. Yen finally looked up and noticed the hole in the wall. Taking his ear buds out he slowly looked at the cannon.

"I told you that thing was creepy," he said with a large grin on his face. The casing fell from the slider. Before it could hit the ground Paige stood up and began to walk away. She stopped for a second. When no one said a word she fully walked out the door. And that's when the swarm hit.

At a full run Paige burst through the door. She didn't even have to say anything the others were up and moving. Everyone but Tom, since he didn't have one yet being a field rookie, picked there favored weapon up and charged the door way. Paige quickly assessed the battle field. Noticing that most were LY class weak put annoying in a crowd. And this was more than a crowd. She picked up her Garlindenta, a full auto, sniper rifle. She hesitated for a moment then picked up the DABCHT also. As she stormed out she noticed Yen with his Flame Saw, flaming chain saw, hacking at the LYs pieces of their synthetic body parts flying in all directions. She picked a good spot to fire using Yen as a guardian of sorts. The Positive Ion Beam tore through the LYs and any directly in front were wiped from existence. The shell casing fell from the slider. Using the casing as a focus timer Paige switched to the Garlindenta and took out twelve of the LYs directly in front of her. Suddenly the casing seemed to fall slower and slower. Paige knew that the focus was set and she rampaged. The machete she had picked up, the same Tom was using she noticed, and tore through the LY mass. Paige slowly started counting down. 5...4...3...2...1... and the focus disassembled the casing having hit the ground.

With all the LYs in half or dust, the Freight came and picked up the bodies. Paige looked around to see if everyone was okay. Yen...Lizzy...Tom where's Tom, she tough to herself.

"Hey!" yelled a voice from a nearby ditch. It was Tom's voice Paige recognized. Walking over to the ditch she picked up some rope. There in the seven foot deep ditch was Tom. Using the rope and the help of Yen they hauled Tom up and out. He said something about one of the LYs pushing him. She knew he was lying and from the look on Lizzy's face she saw the she didn't believe either. That same ditch everyone had fallen into at least once because it was never noticed until you fell into it.

"You don't have to lie Tom", said Lizzy, "we've all fallen in there once." Tom blushed a little and suggested that they picked up the dropped weapons. Everyone else agreed. Paige stood staring at the DABCHT shell before picking up the DABCHT. What if..., she thought? Shaking her head Paige walked to the others to join in the collection of weapons. As she walked over Yen asked if the recoil from the cannon hurt her in anyway. Paige, as strong as she is, did feel sore. The focus must have taken most of the recoil off, she thought. Yen decided to make an anti-recoil brace. Paige didn't reject she could only imagine the damage with full recoil. With all the damage assessed and all weapons accounted for team 56 relaxed. Each had a respected chair except Tom who sat in Yen's.

"You might want to get up," warned Lizzy, "that's Yen's seat." Yen walking over for the beginnings of the brace saw Tom in his easy chair.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIN' IN MY CHAIR!" roared Yen spittle landing on his thick beard. Tom wide-eyed was barely dodging Yen's punches. Paige only sat and watched as the fight commenced. Lizzy asked if she was going to do something about the fight. Paige only shook her head and motioned that Lizzy should just sit there and watch. Lizzy with a relatively weaker frame and long hair would not be good in this fight. Tom, who was lean and in some ways handsome, was using a support beam to stay out of Yen's reach.

"SIT IN MY CHAIR AGAIN YOU COWARD I DARE YOU!" yelled Yen his large muscle rippling with anger. Tom was repeatedly saying sorry to no avail. Paige decided to step up then since the fight got boring. Unnaturally strong for being 5'6 she actually picked Yen up the full two hundred pounds of muscle. Yen was struggling trying to get out of the hold. Lizzy decided to jump in and tell Yen to go outside or head inland to cool off. He simply grumbled and left slamming the door behind him. Lizzy ended up telling Tom why Yen got so angry with the chair.

"It's the chair his mom always read stories to him on as a kid," Lizzy explained, "each chair has a special value to each of us." Paige looked over at the small, steel work stool and thought of her dad and her dream. It was more of a memory though. She remembered how she felt when she saw Lizzy's dad thrust his spear into her dad's, Neil, heart. Paige had looked away. She could hear Lizzy screaming so she had looked again. Her dad had been killed. A massive monster tore through the arena's floor. Its pincers snapped the head off the White Armored One. Her dad try to shoot the monster before it got Liam, Lizzy's dad, but he wasn't quick enough. Paige shook the memory to the back of her mind. Silently cursing the scientist that created the abominations that killed her and Lizzy's dad. Deciding to head to town she took the Old Cat and drove. The road to the main town was smooth and clear of any obstructions till you come to the sixty foot tall wall that surrounded it. The guards noticed the car and saw the blue racket of a Field Commander. The seventeen by twelve foot doors slowly pulled open and only enough to let the car pass. Even then the doors of the cars scraped against the metal doors. The Town was more of a city speaking. There were shops, houses, apartments, etc. and housed two hundred thousand humans. The living areas were for citizens and Fielders that didn't own property on the outside. It was completely synthetic the bright blue sky was even fake, a projection ceiling. Most of these people don't know how bad it's gotten, she thought. In what was the rest of earth now known as the Field, the sky is tanned or grey as gravity has started to lose its strength and the dust stays floating in the air. The fresh air burned the lungs of most Fielders but Paige came and went often thus she was "immune" to the effects. Parking the Cyclone, she began to look for the Chris's Weapons and Ammo shop. The avenues that lead to the shop were packed, so Paige ran up a shops wall using the spiked toes of her boots. She saw a few other Fielders on the scattered roofs. A lot of the Fielder she knew like John Clarke, Van Ulian, Valentine Black, Isaac Crow, and others. She began to jump from roof top to roof top.

Chris's was the only shop in Town that made left and right hand weapons. It was also the favored smith of team 56. Yen was there helping Chris Tagsmith, his dad, move materials around. Chris looked up from his current work a 15.12mm Roltendel Pistol restoration.

"Ah...Paige good to see you...heard you lifted Yen," Chris chuckled, "Your family has a lot power." She only nodded in response. Chris started going on about her order and what state it was in. She nodded but paid only half attention to him. She was looking towards Yen as he heaved a load of iron into the storage room. After Chris had lost his ability to walk, Yen had been there to help him. His mother had been killed in front of him from an original SS class one of the three that now live on the broken moon. Yen had been badly affected by this and ended up trying to kill the SS class that killed his mother. That's why he was in the Field Corps. To hunt the SS class. Yen, Paige thought worried about how he was still getting over it. It's been five years since the first outbreak, she thought. Effn' scientists messing with things they shouldn't causing the deaths of millions, she quietly raged. The day of the first swarm the world was purged of three fifths of the human population.

Paige fired up the Cyclone and waited for Yen to step in. He waited and looked around sniffing the air. He jumped in. The gates opened up and they were out of Town. Yen warned that a CL class was headed there way. After a quick scan she saw nothing. Yen repeated the warning. She didn't reply. Then a large horse-like CL class rammed them from the left. Yen picked up the chain gun in the back seat. The Cyclone had no windows except the windshield so firing was easy. The armor on the CL mostly reflected the bullets. The chain gun is low on ammo and is a lower caliber, Paige thought as the CL slammed into the car again. She handed Yen a Garfield Harvinger 66mm Rifle. The massive rounds ripped through the CL causing it to falter. Even then the beast ran on, its wounds healing.

"The thing won't go down its wounds are healing," yelled Yen over the paw beats. A surprised look passed Paige's face. But these things don't heal...are they evolving, she thought. Yen picked up a Saw Crossbow and fired. The blades cut through easily cutting at the legs with that it began to slow but still ran and attacked them. Yen grumbled something that she couldn't here as he pulled a GAU-8 Avenger and fired the massive rounds. The rapid fire cannon shot the head off the CL and also jacked up Paige's steering. As the Cyclone straightened out she saw the CL was still running at them and Yen was still firing.

"THIS FUCKER WON"T GO DOWN!" Yen yelled the CL's black, acidic blood flying with its every gallop. Paige was hoping she was close to the team base so the others could help. As if on cue two enormous hammers made of large and small bits of metal smashed into the beast. Tom swung the massive hammers again his Magfield Gloves working overtime holding the metal together. The liquid green pulse of a Drow Rifle splashed against the thigh of the CL class. Lizzy and Tom were moving double time taking the CL down. The hammers crashing onto of the horse beast audible breaking the spinal column. The metal was groaning as Tom swung the hammers again crushing the beast against the dry earth. The blood began to eat at the metal, but Tom continued to smash the CL repeatedly. The Magfields overloaded and the hammers fell away into a rain of metal. Paige stepped out of the car to check on Tom. The strain must have done so damage to him, she thought as she ran to Tom. He was slumped over and breathing heavily. Yen ran over and lifted Tom over his shoulders fireman style. He looked over at Paige with an expression of forgiveness. She knew Yen was sincere as he carried Tom to the base. Paige decided that the rookie deserved a promotion as she followed.

Tom held his Magfield Gloves sadly when she walked in. She could see that they were damaged beyond repair. She picked up a yellow Scout jacket and handed it to Tom. He accepted it and switched his white rookie coat for the yellow one. Paige smiled a little as his face began to lighten up. Paige picked up the Magfields and left. Chris can fix these I know it, she thought while the Old Cat fired up. The car roared in the direction of Town. The twin superchargers sucked in air loudly as she drove on to the Main road without slowing down. All 700 horses pushing as she closed in on Town. Damn it's already moving, she though angrily. Town's eight legs ran at more than 100 mph. which was more than fast enough to out run the Old Cat with the lead it had. Paige was pushing the boost to 200 psi on the gauge. She pulled the switch to release the boost. The car lurched forward as the boost pushed the engine to 783 hp. Paige noticed as she was closing in why Town started moving so soon. There were five BL class and an AY class. Paige scrambled for here phone and dialed up the base. Yen answered.

"TOWN IS UNDER ATTACK!" Paige yelled into the phone the first time in five years that she talked. Yen first was confused having never heard Paige's voice. He then realized Paige was the one speaking and took the message.

"I'm getting the others," he said hurriedly. Paige hung up hoping that they would get there in time. The classes were only chasing Town as of now but as their ranking being so high they could turn malicious at any moment. The legs of Town had armor but only enough to stop C classes entirely. These were A and B class the armor would only hold for a small time. Paige had concentrated on taking down the classes. She leaned to the back seat and pulled a Saw Rifle. As she pulled up to the side of the classes, she fired a full clip at the A class. The Saws had only scratched the tough skin of the lizard-like creature. When that failed she launched another full clip at the B class. The blades had sliced through the first B class its spider-like body parts falling the green blood splashed against the side of the dented blue Cyclone. The Saw Rifle was snatched away by the third B class. The Garlindenta was at her side and the next closest weapon. She picked it up and fired. The round smashed through the eye of the second B class and visibly exited the other side of its head. Bits of brain matter and blood flying out of the skull. The beast fell and was crushed by a heavy leg of Town. Paige only paused to reload. She noticed over all the noise another engine. She looked back and saw the white Plymouth Superbird Charging up to meet the Cyclone. Lizzy was at the wheel with Tom and Yen in the back. The car meet up to the Cyclone and Yen motioned that he was going to jump to Paige. She got as close to the Superbird as possible. Yen counted and jumped from roof to roof. After climbing in, Yen took the harpoon rifle off his back.

"Looks like you did quite a bit," Yen said with a smile. Paige only smiled back. Yen then went to work. The last B class was chasing the Superbird with Tom firing at it. They went after the A class. Yen fired the harpoon. The A class had dodged the steel but that wasn't what Yen was aiming for. The harpoon stuck to the leg of Town. The line tripped the beast as Paige hit the brakes. The fifty tons synthetic monster crashed down under the legs of the city. Dead. With Town safe they turned to the B class. Paige slowed just enough to get behind the beast. She then rammed the back legs. The lion-like monster faltered and fell. The beast roared as it tried to stand. Lizzy stepped out of the Superbird. With a Howdah Pistol in hand she walked up to the monster and fired two times. The first round severed the spinal column. The second blowing into the brain. The beast stopped struggling and died.

Paige had just remember the reason why she was driving to Town anyways and jumped into the Cyclone and barreled after Town. The city luckily had set already so she slowed her pace and entered through the gates. The guards yelled down "thank you"s to her. She waved to them and drove on. She followed her usual roof to roof route. As she was running John Clarke ran up next to her.

"Thanks the city started moving so fast that the rest of us couldn't get out to fight," he said to her. John was a nice guy similar to herself with interacting with people. The Famous three being Isaac Crow, Desmund Fulgeist, and John Clarke were all S class hunters and Field Commanders. Clarke's most interesting feature was his hair; slightly unkempt, short, and red and yellow. You could notice him out of a crowd easy. She nodded and he left. She was beginning to continue when both Desmund and Isaac landed next to her. They both thanked her almost in synch. Paige could only give them a nervous smile of thanks. Again she continued and again she was stopped, this time by the prestigious Van Ulian. He actually went down on a knee and thanked her kissing her hand. She blushed and looked around embarrassed to see that almost every Fielder was staring at them. They all knew that this was just something Van did, but they were paying attention to Paige. This is the first time she had him do this to her, they all thought. Van was married but he was still quite a mysterious guy when it came to women and him. Paige red face tried to hurry to Chris's before anyone else could come. She had just reached Chris's shop when she was stormed by a mass of white jacketed recruits. They all were crowding around her and thanking her. Paige had never gotten this much attention before...ever. One even went so far to proposing to her. Another stepped in repeating what the first had said. Soon all the males of the crowd were asking for dates and proposing. What the HELL? She thought. How did it get to this? She made a quick decision and took the chance.

"I'm a lesbian," she said very quietly to the crowd. A silence passed along throughout the crowd. Then the girls took their turn to proposing and asking her out. Paige was too confused to say anything more she only stood still with the crowd pushing closer. Chris finally having been woken up by the crowd went outside to assess the racket. When he got to the counter he noticed Paige immediately and saw the intentions of the crowd. He banged his hammer against a metal shield. The piercing sound stopped the crowd suddenly. In a wave of motion they all looked at Chris. He sat in his wheelchair with a determination that struck the crowd. He then yelled out why all the noise and what was going on. A short female rookie stepped forward and said flatly ", We're trying to see if Paige will go out with one of us." In turn he asked why all the interest in Paige. She told Chris of the movement of the city and how Paige had taken out two high rank B class by herself before her team could arrive. Chris nodded in recognition. He then told them to buy or leave. They left.

"Thanks Chris," she said as he began to roll back to his quarters. He looked back in surprise at Paige's words. "It's been a long time since I've heard your voice," he said in reply, "it's very beautiful." Paige felt her face get hot. She didn't think of how Chris could have heard her voice since this was the first time she'd spoken to him. He only smiled and asked why she came before the crowd. A pained look passed his face as he saw the Magfields.

"Tom really killed them huh," he said. Paige only shook her head to the comment. She then decided to tell him what happened. His look over had showed what was broken. He sent her away only saying that they were repairable and he would call her when they were done. She began to walk away. After a few steps she yelled back, "Thank you Chris for everything." She began to run to her Cyclone again. Chris sat where he was and began to cry.

The drive back wasn't as rampant as before. The all-terrain tires handled the decrypt road well. She could only stare out at the road as she began the trip back. Back at Town, Johnny Cain had coughed up enough courage to confront Paige as she had left be lost it the second she got in her car. She had decided that following her would have been best for now. As the blue Cyclone left the gates, Cain had started up her Yamaha dirt bike and chased after her. Paige did notice the dirt bike. Its engines whine was quite loud. She didn't look back but did use the mirrors to see. She confirmed that the rider was female quite tall, mid-twenties, and was a Fieldman+, or second in command. The girl was fast but she had more HP. Paige pressed the accelerator harder to taunt the rider. The bike sped up in response. Paige decided to have some fun with the girl and began to weave the Cyclone's rear tires kicking up dust and smoke. Johnny saw the spastic driving and at first thought there was something wrong. The blue muscle car started power sliding and spinning. Johnny noticed Paige had total control and that she was toying with her. Her motorcycle roared as it sped up again. Side-by-side with the car she motioned for Paige to pull over. She just shook her head with a smile and powered on again. Johnny sighed and drove up again. She expected the car to stay to the road, but the minute she thought she got Paige was when she went of road. Paige was way more experienced than her so she knew this chase would be a long one. The Cyclone then stopped, its brakes squealing red hot. Johnny slammed on her brakes as well. Unpredictable, she thought as Paige stepped out of her car.

"Why are you following me," Paige asked the girl. She answered that her name was Johnny Cain. There was a confused look on Johnny's face. Paige was able to get a full look at Johnny. She had black spiked hair, a red Fielder jacket, plus she was tall at least 5'11", and between 23 and 25. Paige repeated her question.

"I wanted to meet you," she said. Paige held her arms apart and turned giving a full show. Johnny only shook her head and walked forward and kissed her. It wasn't just a peck either. Johnny's tongue was sliding over hers. As Paige tried to pull away. Johnny just pulled closer her lips pressing against Paige's. All Paige could do was breathe in sharp and sit still. Johnny would just not pull away. Paige gave into the kiss and let it flow into her. After a hot minute Johnny let go. Paige only opened her eyes and stared into Johnny's. Paige broke away from Johnny's grasp and quickly walked back to her car. She turned back and stared for a second then continued. The motor was still running so she bolted back to her house only looking back at Johnny to see a disappointed look on her face as she drove away.

On the way back Paige had touched her lips and thought about Johnny's kiss. She began to blush not knowing what to feel. Everything was changing in the world with classes evolving, higher leveled classes becoming more common...now this, she thought. She parked up her drive way and slowly walked to her front door. The sky was beginning to darken from the clouds and the dust. She knew it was going to rain so she stepped inside. The dark house creaked as she stepped in and close the heavy door. The two bedroom house of the Heall family lightened as the gas lanterns turned on. The wooden stairs creaked as she walked up them to her room. The lights went out as she left the downstairs and entered her room. Changing she looked in the mirror and wondered what people saw in her. She looked away and jumped into her bed. As she began to fall asleep, she thought about Chris's words. He's never heard my voice before this though, she thought. Tiredness then took her away with the question echoing in her mind.

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