Somewhere in Afghanistan:
Corporal Surge sat on the edge of his military-issued-bed writing a letter back to his family. His hand went through the little hair he had on his head; the rest was shaven off when he joined, and had kept it at this length. He had joined the Marines about 10 months back, but 2 of those were all training, and preparing to ship out. He joined because it was his duty in his family; all of the fathers and men in the family, often times the women as well, went to war, and left as high-ranking officers. If he didn’t join some kind of military branch, he felt it would bring shame to his family, something he could never live with. Once he hit the year mark though, he decided he was going to retire, and find a nice job back home where he can start a family, something he wanted. A soldier poked his head into the cooled tent.
“Corporal, Lieutenant Jackson says you’re heading out with a squad to check out some possible hostile activity. You leave in 0200.” The soldier continued to the other tents to round up the rest of the group. Surge got up and put on his desert camo jacket, grabbed his bag of things for the mission, which contained provisions in case of being stranded, ammo, cleaning supplies, and a first aid kit, among the other military issued items. He picked up his helmet and his gun, and headed outside the tent.
As soon as he stepped out, it was hot as hell. He wished he could have been stationed somewhere else, or got a job inside a cooled building. His focus quickly changed to mentally preparing for the scout mission; if he’s not focused during the mission, he could get his team killed.
After a couple minute walk, he reached the hangar where the rest of the group, which was a group of about 8 including him, was getting ready. They were loading magazine into their M4s and putting on military standard vests, and strapping on their helmets. Mechanics were checking the tanned humvees to make sure they were in working condition.
The other members of the group were Private Roberts, Private Crown, Private Grey, Private First Class Henderson, Lance Corporal Smith, Corporal Jordan, and Sergeant Cooper. First Lieutenant Jackson was BSing with Roberts and Crown while they were getting geared up. When Surge walked in, the conversation stopped, and the Lieutenant directed his attention, and everyone else’s, to the mission.
“Listen up squad. We’ve had reports of strange activity up north near Kabul. Your mission is to only scout the area out. They’re located at a mine a few klicks west of Kabul. They’ve been going in and out of the mine with covered mine-carts. We need to find out what they are moving out, or in, of the mine. Find out who they are, and what they’re doing, and do not, I repeat do not, fire unless fired upon. If we end up with innocent casualties, the blood is on our hands, and we won’t be able to stay in Afghanistan any longer to protect them from the threats that reside within it.” The Lieutenant handed Sergeant Cooper the map of the area. “Good luck, and stay hidden.” Surge and the rest of the squad hurried and piled into the humvees, and drove out into the Afghan desert.
After an hour or so drive, they approached a huge sand dune. “Map says the mine is just over this dune. Remember, safety on, and only fire if they fire. And most importantly, stay hidden and down. Yes, I’m talking to you Private Roberts. Move out!” The sergeant reminded. The squad moves swiftly, and quietly of course because of the sand. When they got close to the crest of the hill, they got into the prone position and crawled the rest of the way. Down below there were men working and patrolling the area. They wore dark green clothing with a black military vest over the clothing, and wore a dark cap on their head. “What do you see, Cooper?” the sergeant asked.
“Not much, all I can see that signifies them is a red ‘R’.” Cooper moved the binoculars towards the west where there were three helicopters. “Wait. They’re moving some kind of eggs out of the mine.”
“Eggs?” The sergeant asked, and took the binoculars from Cooper to check for himself. “What the hell do they want with dinosaur eggs?” There wasn’t much time to discuss because someone below spotted them, and shouted something. A few other men looked and they pulled some kind of small, roundish item from their belts, and threw them. “GRENADES!” They all got up to run down the hill to escape the explosion, but there was none.
Suddenly, 2 creatures burst out of the sand at the top of the hill. One was basically a giant boulder but had 2 arms bigger than it's body. Another looked like a giant hedgehog, but with long claws and longer and bigger needles on its back than it should. A giant bird also flew up from behind the hill and circled around them.
“What are those things?!” Private Crown was literally shaking in his boots.
“I don’t know, but aim and shoot those things down!” The sergeant commanded. Everyone aimed their guns, turned off safety, and fired. As they did so, the hedgehog creature dug underground, and the boulder monster rolled down the hill. The bird creature swept down towards the group. The bullets had no effect on the boulder creature; they just bounced right off. “Keep firing!” Lightning shot up from the area of the mine, and screaming was heard. It continued a couple more times, then it stopped.
The hedgehog creature suddenly flew out of the sand, its claws ready. Oddly, it “spoke”: “Sand-slash!!” It went to claw at surge, but another creature head butted it in the stomach. The “Sand-slash” monster fell to the ground, unconscious.
The small creature turned to Surge. It looked like a huge, yellow mouse, with brown stripes on it’s back, long thin ears, and a lightning shaped tail. “Pika?” it asked. This was freaking Surge out a little. “I don’t know what you are, or what you said. But I’m sure you caused that lightning over the hill. Can you do it again?” The creature nodded. Nodded!
“Pikaaaaachuuuuuuuu!!!!!!” Lightning emitted from the mouse-creature and hit the rock creature, that had jumped in the air to attack them, and the bird, knocking them unconscious. “Pikachu?” Did what the creatures say have something to do with what they were? The soldiers grabbed their gear, got in the humvees, and drove back to base. Surge decided to keep the Pikachu-creature with him. “Is your name Pikachu?” The animal nodded.
