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Unreal Tournament

Prologue

Running through the forest, moving at incredible speeds, the Skaarj quickly ran after their prey. They were not going to allow them to get away so easily, after getting so close to their goal. Guns in hand, they moved deeper and deeper into the forest. Anger boiled up in them, as their prey gained distance from them. One of the Skaarj let out a cry of frustration, when they were soon out of sight.

"Hurry your ass up." said a voice from a headset. "Stop wasting time, and get Malcolm already."

The Skaarj that received the message snarled into the headset. It was not pleased in receiving orders from someone who was not of their race. How dare that person command its fellow brethren like that? This Skaarj was the leader of its clan, and it had more authority than the person who spoke.

"You don't order Snej around. Snej orders you around." replied the clan leader. "Snej doesn't appreciate being told by you on how to do his own god damn job."

Laughter came from the other end, which made Snej angrier. The person that spoke was mocking him, and Snej did not like it at all. When the man responded again, his voice seemed to be louder, and angrier, showing his authority. He was not pleased at all by how the Skaarj were acting toward him.

"I will order who I want, and you shall learn to cope with it. If you want your freedom still intact, you will take the weapon upgrade that I am sending to you right now."

"Snej will do as you say for now, but after Skaarj get Malcolm, then Snej will work no more for you."

The other end had cut off from contact of Snej. A glowing light appeared before them, making them stop instantly. Snej, the clan leader, stepped up curiously, wondering what it was. Of course, Snej did not know that what was in front of him was the weapon upgrade the man had mentioned. It slowly walked into the light, and the thing around its wrist, known to people as a Translocator started to glow a reddish colour. Pushing a button, the Translocator transformed into a weapon that made him look at it in wonder. This weapon was given a name, which described what it does. It was called a Rocket Launcher, because the weapon shot off rockets at people.

Though the Rocket Launchers weren't new to most people, it was definitely to Snej, because when he pressed the trigger, it created Snej to jump up with fear, but then turned to joy. Noticing that it blew up a small group of trees, it jumped once more, and growled with delight. This was a highly powerful weapon, and it knew that if he was to face this Malcolm person, then Snej had to be ready for him. Four more lights glowed, of the same colour, and the other Skaarj stepped upward to them. They too were now equipped with the standard issue Rocket Launcher.

"Fellow brethren, let it be known that Skaarjs alike shall rule over everyone. Skaarjs shall be known as the inferior. Skaarjs will b the almighty, and the Skaarjs shall show fear to everyone. Let it be known to Snej's brethren, that the Skaarjs shall back down to no one. To this day, the blood that we Skaarjs shed shall be for freedome, and the chance to rule Earth."

It was quite a remarkable site to see, since only four other Skaarj's were there. It seemed like he was making a speech to a grand army of Skaarjs. After a few moments, the one called Snej soon realized what he was doing, and started to run once more, following the man that now gained great distance from them.

Chapter One

"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?" came a loud voice, shouting over a stadium full of people. He waited for a few minutes, before asking the same question again. "Well ladies and gentlemen; it gives me great honour, to be able to announce the start of the 30th consecutive Unreal Tournament!"

A Lone man stood at the very top of the stadium, watching the announcer speak. He wore a red cloak, and dark tinted sunglasses. In his hand, he had a reamarkably long sword, with a dragon shaped guard. He smiled at the man of people who gathered just for the opening for the Unreal Tournament. It was truly pathetic, how people just loved to see other people like themselves get hurt just for fun. This man was not one who enjoyed participating in a sport like this, but he had a good reason to be in it, to defeat the reigning champion, Maclolm.

That seemed to be everyone's goal lately, to defeat the Tournament champion, a veteeran to not only Unreal Tournament, but also a veteran to the Great War, which almost wiped the continent of North America off of the face of the earth. Malcolm was a dark skinned man, who wore his camoflauge clothing wherever he went. He was from America, a coutnry where it says that they were proud to be an American. Malcolm was not truly proud to be an American, so he moved to England, to rid himself of the "American Pride." Though that was only rumored, and no one knows if that is the truth behind his departure from America.

The center of the stadium floor soon disappeared, lowering to the level below. The audience began to cheer more as it slowly made its journey downwards. The annoncer patienlt ywaited for everyone to settle, and for the floor to rise back up. Down below was where the players waite,d anxious to start the very first match of the season. To one side was the team known as Iron Guard. This team was fierce, never givin up, fighting to the very bitter end. The team captain of the team is the veteran, Torch. Also on his team was his daughter, one of the youngest women in this history of Unreal, Lexi.

The other team was the most feared team in the league, consisting of half man half machine people. This super human race was known as Juggernauts. They were a fearsome race, showing no weakness to anyone. The team captain of this team was Gravince, and his right hand man was Cannonball. They planned on winning the Tournament for their own greedy purposes, not caring who got hurt in the process. As long as they came out on top, then they were fine. The team Iron Guard was their long time rivals, and both teams hated each other equally.

"Now, may I have the chance to introduce the very first teams to play the opening match to the Unreal Tournament. This here is the qualifying part of the tournament, where they will play two games of each of the captain's choice. If there is a tie, the judges shall decide upon the last game they chall play. If they win, then they get to move on to the next match. If they lose, then they will not have the chance to be in this year's Unreal Tournament. If they make it along with nine other teams, then they will have the chance to fight in the real tournament.

"Without further ado, may I be the first to weclome the two teams to the battle field. Here we are folks, the two teams are...Iron Guard, with their team captain, Torch, and the team Goliath, led by the fearsome Gorge!"

The playform rose up from the first level, showing the platers of the first match. Each team had roughly five to six members each, one team wearing red, and the other wearing blue. Around their wrist was a Translocator, which allowed them to do multiple things when they are playing the match. One thing it allowed them to do is to teleport from one place to another.

"Captains step foward." said the announcer. "Torch, have you decided the first match yet?"

"Capture the Flag." responded Torch in a rough voice. He rarely spoke, and when he did, he did it only when he had to.

"You heard him folks. Capture the Flag. And the stadium they are playing in will be..."

The announcer pushed a button, which made the wall to the teams left and right, open, revealing two screens. He pushed the button again, which made the screen go on, showing pictures rapidly going by. These pictures were pictures of the different levels that were available. Gorge stepped up, and slammed his hand on the button, revealing a picture of a level that looked to be cold and frigid.

"Frozen Tundra!" boomed th announcer's voice. "They have either five captures to win, or if time runs out. Good luck to both teams." iwth that, he pushed the button one last time, making both teams vanish, brining them to the battlefield.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


The two teams were in their respective base's waiting for the match to start. Torch, the team captain was pacing around the base nervously. This was their first Capture the Flag match in a few years. For the past few years, they never made it past the first round, because of mishaps that happened to them, which caused them to forfeit, or to continue, and lose with shame. Torch was determined to win thi smatch. He wanted to be in the Tournament again, and he felt strong about it, since his daughter, Lexi was now eligible to be in the Tournament. He fetl confident that his team was going to be on the top, and he may evne have the chance to face his old friend head on once more.

"Captain," said a woman into the headset.

"Go ahead Ann." responded Torch.

"I hear the first team you play is Groge's." she started out with saying something obvious. "Listen, the match starts in a few minutes, and I want you to be well aware of the fact that Gorge is up to no good."

"I know that." said Torch, cutting her off with irritation.

"Patience Captain." Ann said coolly to him. "A bit more of that temper can get you ina lot of trouble. Gorge has some mutators for his team, giving them the upper hand."

Torch bit his lip, deep in thought. Now he knew that he had no chance of getting past the preliminary round. His team would have to be able to stand up against not only the team itself, but also the mutators that Gorge has. He wondered what ones he could possibly have.

"Ann, do you know what ones they are using?"

"No. I haven't been able to hack into their data system yet."

"Damn." muttered Torch. "Keep me updated Ann. Torch out."

Over to Rorch's left, a young woman of seventeen held a gun in her hand, walking back and forth. She kept on looking at her Translocator, expecting something to happn. This was her very first match, and she barely knew hat to do, but something told her that she would do fine, espeically since she was the daughter of Torch.

A young man walked up behind her, he had short brown hair, and dark coloured eyes.He was tall, and had a well-built figure. It showed that he wsa someone that took his physical health and his looks seriously. Placing a hand on Lexi's shoulder, he whispered into her ear.

"You'll do fine Lexi." he said, trying to reassure her.

"Thanks." she said to him. "Zeneth," Lexi said, turning around to face him. "What was it like for you to be in your first match?"

Zeneth laughed a little, not joking, nor in a mocking manner, but in a manner of reminiscing, enjoying the memories of his past. Patting her shoulde,r he turned around, and left Lexi standing there, without saying a word. Sometimes how he acted confused her, and she thought that it was strange how he didn't answer her straightly.

Wihtout warning, a single red light flahsed, and a blare filled the room. Lexi had a panicked lok in her face, Zeneth's face was stern, and not frightened. The other people on the red team showed no emotion at all, as they stood in place. All were looking at their team captain. All were waiting for his command. All were hoping that this was going to end well.

"Team," Torch spoke after a few short minutes. "It is time."

"All right, said Neil. "Zeneth, I want you to go out the back end of the base, and see what you can find."

"Right." responded Zeneth with confidence. "Let's hope that this isn't a full on attack."

"Rose and Remus, go up to the top, and try to find at anyone who comes thi sway."

"Gotcha." said Rose happily to Neil. "Me and Remus can do almost anything."

"Me and Torch will take them head on." said Neil finiishing up his plans.

"What about me?" piped up Lexi.

Neil looked over at Lexi with a hard face. He personally did not want Lexi to be out on the field when this was her very first match, and chances were, she would mess it up for the team. He liked Lexi, and was a close friend to Torch, and he was sure that they both would understand his reasoning.

"Lexi, maybe you can hide, and holler if you see someone going for the flag."

Lexi puted, but said nothing. She hated the fact that Neil could order her around like that, and her father, the captain of the team had said nothing to stop him. She wanted to be out in the field so bad, she wanted to prove to everyone that she could fend for herself, with no one, no one at all looking over her, proving that she beloned on the team, wanting to show her place. Throwing down her guns, she walked back towards the flag, hoping that no one saw her change of mood, from her cheery self, to one who was crushed by the fact that her team didn't want her to help.

"Don't worry kid." said Ann's soothing voice. "You'll get your chance soo."

Lexi ignored her reamark, and continued ot make her way to the flag. Anger boiled up inside her, hating how Neil acted toward her. She knew why he was acting like this, and it was not because she was new either. A few months back, Neil had caught her off guard. He wanted to go out with her, she was flattered, but also appalled. She was seventeen, he was thirty something years old, and he wanted to go out with her. She had refused, and spat on him, disgusted with his behaviour. He was outraged by her actions, nd was going to attack her, she could tell, but he had thought better of it. Since then, she hd been trying ot avoid him at all costs, afraid of what he could do to her, if they were ever alone.

Torch, after Lexi left to go to the flag, walked up to his friend. He was not pleased, to be honest, at how he told Lexi to hide, and watch over the flag. He in fact was the captain of the team, and not Neil. He was the one who made all the orders, not Neil. He was the one who could do as he pleased, not Neil. Nevertheless, why did he allow Neil to do what he was doing?

"Don't you think that you were going a bit too hard on Lexi?" asked Torch, wanting an honest answer from him.

"Nah." said Neil, brushing his remark off. "She needs to start somewhere."

"Do you think that making her hide in the base is going to help her get better?"

Neil walked away, not wanting to get into a fight with his best friend. He walke dtowards the elevator, pressing a button he stepped in, going to the lower level. Making his way to the door, he opened it up, and saw what looked like to be three or four people. Fear struck over him. He had not expected more than half of the other team to attack their base so early within the game. MOreover, how had they found it so easily?

Torch punched the wall in frustration. Was he losing his touch at being captain? He was now debating if he wanted to continue to play in the Tournament, or if he wanted to retire, and call it quits while he was ahead of the game. He was getting old, though he was not as old as his friend Malcolm was, but he was getting there. Someitmes it troubld him how Malcolm was able to fight in the tournament as he did, for a man of his age. Maybe it was not for him to be oone to defeat his best friend, but for someone else to do so. He would have liked to be the one, but maybe, just maybe, Lexi could take his place.

Admitting that he was going to retire troubled him greatly. It would be so humilitating for someone like him to just throw everything away, especially since he had enforced it all of his fans that he was going to defeat Malcolm, and that he was not going to give up. However, what was he doing now? He was letting the thousands, no millions of fans down, just because he was losing control of his team. Maybe he could enter the solo Tournament, and see where that takes him.

"The base is being over runned." said Zeneth wtih a frightened voice. "Open up the first set of doors quickily."

Torch, without caring, oushed the button that allowed Zeneth to enter the base. He pressed the button once more and sealed the door uup again. He did not car anymore what happened. If he was truly going to give it all up, maybe he should do it with pride, and to show everyone that he won't give up so easily. He was going to go out there, and show them the meaning of pain.

Pressing the button for a third time, he walked pased Zeneth, carrying his double enforcers. He did not notice the facial expression on him, nor did he notice if he was following or not. All he knew was that this was it. This was how he was going to go down. He was giong to take the four of them on by himself. Stepping outside for the first time, he looked at the four of them that were approaching.

One of the four was the captain Gorge, and to his left and right were Frostbite, and Cannonball. Who the fourth person was, he could not sya for sure, for he had never met the last Juggernaut. Torch had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well. The four of them were here, meaning the other two could be anywhere at all. Bringing up his double enforcers, her prepared himself for the fight.

"What's wrong Torch?" barked Gorge, in his menacing voice. "Where's the rest of yer team?"

"It's just me." responded Torch, looking at him through his dark blue sunglasses. "Just me and my guns."

"Shame." spoke Frostbite madly. "I was truly hoping to crush you all at once."

The one Juggernaut that he didn't know, and Cannonball stepped foward, moving closer to Torch. Frostbite held his hand up to stop the two of them. He himself walked forward, not taking his eyes off of Torch. He grinned at the fact that it was just him out there.

"This is between me and Torch. None of you are to come-"

A bolt of lightning, coming from the top of the red bas, came hurling at Frostbite. It had hit him in in the metal chest of his. Rage consumed him, shouting angrily, and cussing every few seconds. And out of maddness, he grabbed Torch's uniforn, and threw him a great distance. His body crashed into a huge boulder, and then Frostbite shot his Rocket Launcher at him, blowing his body up.

Normally it really wouldn't hurt Torch, but the Translocator had smashed, destroying it, and he didn't have the chance to go back into the real world, which meant that he had died in the Capture the Flag game. He didn't even have the chance to say his final farewell to the world. He was dead instantly.

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