Merowlink Stage 3: Jungle

Following the Plan Bang Doll scandal, Major Snook comes to Kummen and reinvents himself as the wealthy Stavros. In his new life, Snook holds power in Kummen and hosts extravagant parties attended by nobles and high-ranking military officials. In the jungle, Merowlink watches Snook’s estate with binoculars and searches for Snook, and he sees Keik talking to a man he thinks might be Snook. Keik tells Snook that he still has a few questions for him. He tells Stavros that he’s very secretive, and no one wants to talk about his past. He thinks Snook was part of the Plan Bang Doll Battalion, but Snook shrugs him off. Suddenly, the Veela guerillas attack and destroy one of the estate’s guard towers. Snook asks Keik if he wants to join him on the hunt for Veela, but Keik declines. Keik tells him that if he really is Snook, he has to worry more about Merowlink than the Veela. As the attack continues, an AT pilot named Gomez orders his men Inett and Kozin to chase the Veela. Inett and Kozin report that they’ve spotted the escaping Veela heading south and are pursuing. Inett and Kozin discover the Veela and their truck and kill them all with their custom Standing Tortoises. In the fighting, one of Kozin’s legs is destroyed by bazooka fire. Snook gets into his custom Standing Tortoise and prepares a bottle of wine to enjoy after the hunt. Snook, Gomez and Batch head into the jungle to hunt down the remaining Veela. Snook kills two on his own, but Batch loses an arm when some guerillas toss explosive slings at him. Gomez kills a guerillas and heads for the river to rendezvous with Snook. Merowlink looks at one of the bodies and follows Gomez as it starts to rain. Two guerillas hide behind a rock near the river and prepare to fire bazookas at Gomez and his men. Snook jumps out of the river and blows away both guerillas at point blank range. He complains about how easily the Veela fall into his traps and wishes he could have better hunting. Someone snipes Batch’s Standing Tortoise and knocks him out of it. Gomez goes into the forest to pursue, and Snook wonders if the attack was done by Merowlink with his anti-AT rifle.

A female sniper hides in the bushes and hits Snook’s Standing Tortoise in the shoulder. He laughs and says that no one can cause him damage from that distance. The girl runs away and appears out in the open in front of Gomez and another AT pilot. Gomez chases her and quickly dodges when she runs past some trip wires. The other AT pilot reacts too slowly and is killed when he trips the wires and sets off explosives. The girl runs into a cave, and Gomez attempts to smoke her out by firing into it. The girl climbs a hill and prepares to snipe Gomez, but Snook jumps onto the hill and shoots at her. The girl is wounded and rolls down the hill to escape. She runs through the jungle and falls into a pit of quicksand. Merowlink runs by, and the girl wastes her last two bullets by shooting at him. Snook arrives and kills the girl, and he sees it wasn’t Merowlink. Snook and Gomez go to a cliff to watch the sunset and drink the wine. Keik pulls up in his jeep and comments that the sunset is red like blood. Snook says that Kummen’s sun is soaked in the blood of the Veela. Keik tells Snook that the Veela hate him because he took the land from peasants to build his estate. Gomez tells Keik not to talk to the “Major” like that, and Snook admits who he really is. He tells Keik it doesn’t matter because the Kummen government supports him and there’s nothing he can do. Keik leaves, and Merowlink tosses a pair of dog tags into Snook’s glass from a distance. Gomez chases Merowlink into the jungle and makes a quick left turn to avoid some trip wires, only to be caught by another pair. Merowlink climbs onto his custom Standing Tortoise and blasts his goggles off. Snook arrives and accidentally kills Gomez while trying to shoot Merowlink. Merowlink runs away and falls into a pit of quicksand. Snook tells Merowlink he knows he’s out of ammo and can’t fire from that distance. Merowlink tosses his knife to a nearby tree to cut a vine and propel himself out of the quicksand. As he propels through the air, he slams his pile banker into Snook’s cockpit and kills him. Later, Merowlink drives away on his combat bike as the Veela attack Snook’s estate again.