The Anomaly

[Rodent]

Chapter 8-The Destroyer.

Saint Etienne, West Continent, Marne

The hill, was beautiul, and Serene, a part of the Etienne ranges that stretched across the west side of Marne, it was a sparsely populated area, and one of the few refuges for any local flora and fauna. The sun was far from it's prime, and was about to set. The entire countryside was to be engulfed in the eerie silence of night.

Or not.

A man trekked up one of the many hills, hefting a heavy backpack on his shoulders. He was one of average height, with blonde hair spread untidily across his head and face, but his eyes smoldered with a fire beyond normal human purpose. Finally he completed his ascent to the top of the hill, and looked around. The air was fine, and the scenery was beautiful and pristine. Untouched. Even as he looked, the sun slowly crossed the horizon and set, leaving behind the near darkness of the twilight.

He laughed, and put his backpack on the ground, rummaging through it's contents for something. Eventually he brought out something, and laughed as he looked at it. his creation. He fiddled with it, tinkering to make sure everything was in proper order. At last, he put it on the ground, satisfied. Taking his backpack, he began the long trek back.

After half an hour or so, he was at the bottom, and now it was seen that he had a hover bike which had obviously been his means for getting there. Laughing again, he climbed it and started it up, taking it straight into the sky. The speed was exhilarating, and the climb totally worth it. Eventually he was five thousand feet above the surrounding land, and everything was blurry.

He laughed once more, and killed the engine. Rummaging in his backpack once more, he produced what suspiciously looked like some sort of control.

"Should be fun" was all he said as he pressed the trigger.

***

Epernay Station.

In the relative safety of his quarters, Ansel was looking through the news. He liked doing that, so that anything of relevance to him could be known quickly. He browsed through with habitual pace, but all the while taking every detail in. So far, it was the usual crap, nothing of interest or purpose. He was about to switch off the terminal, when an article caught his eye. He quickly went over to it and opened it. It read-

Massive forest fires in West Marne

In a strange happening, massive forest fires were detected around the Saint Etienne range of hills across West Continent. Scientists are perplexed as to how it happened, as it is not a region in which forest fires usually occur, the region being ever-green. As Firefighters flew over to the spot, they found a wierd thing. The fire seemed to have originated from a epicenter, but when they located it, they were shocked. Most of the hill was blasted away, destroyed utterly.





It was clear that the fire was not natural, but created from a man-made source. Scientists and police teams were quickly called in, who established that the destruction had been caused by an explosive. It was further stated that the explosive was custom-made and very lethal. Why someone would make such an explosive and detonate it in an uninhabited area is yet to be found, but Police teams are on the case.



"Interesting" thought Ansel. "A person who can blow away a hill by developing his own explosive? Could be useful. He saved the file for future reference, and decided to pay Marne a visit. There was some finding out to do.