Unpredictable. It is the only thing he can say about the wildlife of Rook Islands.

The Doctor's plan of action in reaching Badtown centered around the outposts. He is to carve a path straight from Amanaki to Badtown. At the same time removing radio jammers and finding relics or the dead letters of the Higashi explorers. When he began this small campaign he drove a few hundred meters before disembarking, going on foot to pass the jungle. His first outpost to Badtown was the Rust Yard.

To put it simply liberating the outposts became a recurring event with the aforementioned wildlife. At the Rust Yard Doctor, at first, surveyed, count how many pirates are in the outpost and then take them out quietly. When he snuck up on one of the pirates, piercing the unsuspecting pirate's neck he heard screaming.

"TIGER!" A pirate screamed out. The camp was overrun by more shouting and growls. Lasting for a few minutes until it all went silent. Doctor peered behind the shack and sure enough, the outpost was clear. The Tiger alone was enough to maul all the pirates occupying the Rust Yard.

The next to fall was Cradle View. After circling around the outpost, coming from the West end to pick up a few relics: A considerable number of shark relics underneath some bridges and waterfalls, one of them had a crocodile guarding it and a bridge had a truck so close to keeling over until he swam underneath and grabbed the artifact. It was a trap if he ever saw one. Some spiders hidden in caves and a few boars here and there. Dodging a potential skirmish via exploding truck, killing the stuck pirates trying to start the damn thing.

He reached a good vantage point on the of a hill. Peering through his scope he saw a pack of dingos surge to the outpost. Doctor then saw a few more trapped in cages. After which he shot the bamboo bars off, letting the hounds join in as Cradle View became overrun. The pirates lasted longer than the dingos as he had one last pirate to deal with. Striking the barrel that the pirate leaned on he was set ablaze and blown away. The firebombs in his chest added the damage.

Same thing happened in Cradle Gas. Dingos swarmed in from nowhere as the Doctor just arrived before he hid behind some trees. His rifle peeking through between the trunks he noticed that the outpost had a considerable amount of snipers firing away at the hounds. Regardless, he began to pluck them off one after the other as the pirates were too busy fending off the rabid assault. When the last dingo was shot, a single pirate let out a sigh of relief. Turning around he saw the entire outpost garrison massacred, their heads spilling out pieces of their skull and chunks of grey matter, a yellow barrel next to him spark, then he saw a flash before it all went dark.

Next outpost, the Old Mines. Slitting the neck of a sentry inside his little watch the Doctor saw some leopards creeping in from the entrance, one of them hopping over behind the garage. He also saw another leopard though this one is enclosed just like the dingos from Cradle View. Thought to give them a hand, he sprinted to a pathway covered in shrubbery, taking aim, sniping another long rifle sentry and breaking open the cage doors to let the beast out. Like before the Old Mines were overrun however he was left with nothing.

Moving on to outpost AM 12. What's unique about this peculiar outpost is that the garrison mostly consists of hounds with a few pirate handlers to keep them busy and fed. With that being said, a group of komodo dragons arrived. Stalking the scent of dog meat until they reached the outpost. The dogs charged at the corrosive reptiles alongside the pirates who tried to shoot them off of their dogs. At the end of the struggle, the dragons were gunned down, many hounds perished and the pirates wondered what to do with the exorbitant amount of animal carcasses. What they haven't realized is that they were right in front of some ammo crates which a trained, unseen eye noticed immediately. Doctor brought out his grenade launcher and with a single shot, the pirates and wounded hounds were blown away.

Last outpost, Camp Murder. The pirates have such colorful vocabulary. Arriving from a nearby stream Doctor had a different approach in liberating this outpost. Whereas the creatures just crept into the camp, he led the whole camp to the wildlife, an accidental consequence at that. What happened was that the Doctor found himself lost prior to discovering a blocked entrance leading to an underground ruin.

Placing a few explosives at the immense slab of stone, he hid behind some trees to clear the blast area. Triggering the blockbusters, he heard some pirates shout at the long bang before rushing to where he's located. A few shuffling branches can be heard behind him. He saw from the corner of his eyes a pair of bears who were closing in on him. Stuck between a rock and a hard place Doctor ran forward to the blown open ruin and hid. Going deeper down the stairs, he can hear the bears roar and pirates screaming from above.

When he reached the inner ruins he found the relic standing proud on top of its pedestal. Returning to the surface he saw that the bears did their job. Their torn pieces spread around like this part of the jungle was made out of flesh. Doctor traced the pirate's steps to Camp Murder. There he saw a group of patrolling pirates entering the camp. Sneaking behind the beheader, Doctor placed his knife clean through his side and threw the pirate's machete into his unaware compatriot.

Camp Murder is now empty. The Doctor, before he can get some shut eye, headed to the radio tower just a few hundred meters away. It was an easy walk then an easy climb without the pirate patrols. At the top, removing the jammer he saw that Badtown was in the distance, the light dawn illuminating this den of corrupt dregs. It was much closer than he thought since Dennis said that it was on the other side of the island. But before he could follow where the vision led him...

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Back at the Old Mines.

He never had the opportunity to explore inside due to being focused on cutting through the pirates on the way to Badtown. Doctor carefully entered the mines and inside was a large excavation site that looked to be abandoned. If he were to guess, Simham and others had no other choice but to leave the site in the wake of the pirate's takeover of the island. Doctor walked across the bridge looking at the scaffolding and saw that there was a jet ski with a medical bag on it. Making his way to an open temple he found a spider relic on a pedestal similar to the boar relic he previously found. Taking it out of the temple he went down the wooden platforms and hopped on the jet ski.

He rode out of the Old Mines through a cave, not slowing down as he let his mind go. Accelerating more even as he jumped through several ramps over cascades. There was no stopping until he reached the shore where a Rakyat waited for the Doctor to bring him the medical supplies. He did so riding the jet ski into the sand and handed the bag directly in his hands.

It was fun to say the least.

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His search for the relics led him to the most unsuspecting places in Rook Islands. He can find a boar relic hiding in a shed or inside a temple dug into the mountain. Blasting open a large stone wall he rushed forward, jumping over collapsed stairs and reaching the top where the relic was inside a spire. Another instance was a spider relic right in front of him behind a metal fence. What he had done to get it was go to a near cave where he tripped into a water hole and swam to the other side of the cave where he got his relic.

It either went as difficult as circumventing around to find an entrance inside to a cave or ruin or it can go simple as finding one of them at shrine in the middle of a hill or grassland or maybe an island. This one was one of them. Doctor was in his repurposed patrol boat, driving to a heron relic on an island just off the northern coast. Suddenly a stream of bullets hit the hull. On his right, he saw some pirates shooting at him on a Higashi made bunker. Immediately after he saw a dinghy filled with pirates also shooting him.

Doctor let go of the wheel to arm the machine gun on top. The heavy caliber gun tore the boat with ease, the pirates blown off and sunk to the ocean. He went back to steering the boat, directing it to land in front of the inclines that led up to the bunker. Getting off, the lone Rakyat went up and before storming in threw a grenade. When he saw the explosion and pirate flying off he entered the bunker, shooting his grenade launcher at the stairs below. Going down and passing the blasted pirates he saw two more coming down from the opposite end. When they entered Doctor shot a round, eliminating them in one explosion.

All of a sudden a pirate came out of the room and struck his grenade launcher with an overswung machete blow. The Doctor kicked him off, bringing the launcher with him. When the pirate dislodged the weapon from his machete a spark occured, blowing him off his feet, literally as the pirate was eviscerated. His scattered remains smudging the bunker room. Doctor went inside, his machine gun out, clearing the rooms, and grabbed a wrapped letter written by the previous Higashi explorers. Also found beneath the letter was a tanto complete with a scabbard. Unsheathing it slightly he examined the short sword which looked like it was made with serious precision in its creation and an emblem of the Kougan clan delicately carved into its blade collar. Appropriate yet odd... the sheath that came with it had Mistumoto clan craftsmanship and their icon planted near its scabbard throat. Those bits of detail he learned from Akafuyu, as the Kougan clan were militaristic hence how the blade was forged to be razor sharp and the Mistumoto clan were traders hence the expensive and immaculate detailing.

Leaving the bunker with his new cutting tool, the Doctor headed to a bridge that connected this hilltop to a pathway beside a cliff. Before he could cross over he saw below some parked trucks blocking the road. There were also a few pirates hanging around, waiting for any villager brave enough to drive through their territory. Doctor rummaged through his satchel to get a block of explosives out and simply tossed it down at the checkpoint. Taking a few steps back he pressed the button and saw one of the scavengers make a series of flips near the bridge before coming down. However he wasn't in the clear. A patrol of pirates at a small campfire near the shore heard the explosion and rushed to see the damage. Doctor hid in the grass where he waited until they got close, close enough to jump off the side of the hill and take them down from above. He impaled his tanto deep in the pirates back and jabbed his tribal knife into his friend's side. After which he. He...

'What the hell...?' He hadn't planned for such a daring attack. He simply acted and it worked in his favor. It was unbecoming of him to such a reckless ambush. He didn't black out per se, he... what has he done?

Doctor just sat down, pulled the knifes out of the pirate's corpses and just stared at the sunset. Deep in thought and death.

Don't forget to get that heron relic nearby.

"Right..."

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*Boom*

He set the body of the wanted pirate aside. This one camp was infiltrated easily. A sniper to lunge and knife, a pirate to ram his knife in, another pirate to fool with the dead body and knife him in the back. Taking down their leader is the result of luring him into his knife. The rest he simply threw a block at a truck that some pirates were fixing and let the reaction do the work. They won't need to fix another vehicle ever again.

*Boom*

He pressed the button when that pirate stepped on the brick of explosives he threw in front of him. This one camp he had to circle around as the pirates were spread out. The larger one wandered out, giving Doctor an opportunity to snipe one near the campfire, rush quietly to the leader, jamming a knife to the side of his neck, his companion unawares. It happened to be his mistake when he felt his chest pierced open and his machete taken to be thrown at the other pirate in front of him. The big guy returned, stepping on a soft yet solid object before he saw Doctor pushing a button.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

*Boom*

He walked calmly to the now destroyed shack. This one camp, like before, he had to circle around. Hiding behind trees and water to get close. Close enough to stab one of them and drag him into the swamp. He was in the way.

Doctor threw whatever explosives he had left inside the bottom floor through a window. He ran behind the trees and let the fireworks show. The pirates were blown off, some of them getting distance and reaching the grassy hills nearby. All of the are now gory members of this swamp, barring one. The Rakyat calmly stepped forward and saw the broken pirate leader trying to crawl away with a working arm. 'Poor bastard...' Doctor pulled his head up and slit his throat with the tanto.

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'Oh dear...' Doctor hoped that his marriage counseling was effective.

He was asked while on his way north by a woman named Rebecca about the possible infidelity of her husband, David. She, as a pious woman wanted to know beforehand so that she could pray for him and him to be forgiven. So she asked the Doctor for help. What he discovered was that he was being unfaithful, with a man.

It was a crestfallen situation. David had hurt two people he cared for deeply and Doctor did his best to help reconcile the married couple without harming any more loved ones. For Doctor, it was a bittersweet experience.

Reconciliation.

He wanted to remember. What happened before he was awakened. He wondered, what had he done? To earn the visage of those who recognized him before his amnesia. To earn such... disgust? No that's not the right word. Fear? Contempt? Almost.

...

...was that it?

'...A monster?'

Blocked answers by shattered memories.

How can he reconcile with being that and with others?

"...Hello?" A woman's voice spoke out to him. He was removed from his train of thoughts while he was venturing off in the middle of the road. The voice turned him to an older woman gesturing him inside her home. As he entered, he then asked.

"What's wrong...?"

The woman sorrowful in her words. "Please... nobody is listening to me. People are hurt, maybe dying!" She explained further on what happened. "Last night, I thought it was thunder but when I looked outside my window: I saw a plane fly right over the house. It was on fire; it was terrible!"

"Shouldn't someone else have seen it as well?"

"No. Nobody saw it. Nobody believes that I saw it." She then pointed westward. "But it crashed somewhere over there. People could be dying, they might be dead... Please! Go save them!" She started to push the Doctor to the last location she saw the crashed plane. With a raised hand, he assured her.

"I'll take a look."

Doctor excused himself as he headed west. Looking around the woods nearby he saw a hang glider sitting there. Hopping on he pushed it to glide over the cliffs, lifting it to steady and slow the glide. He began searching around the beach, a few minutes passed of nothing but the foliage until he saw parts of a crashed plane close to the shore.

"There it is." Doctor carefully descended the glind to the sand. Circling around a little bit before he jumped off and landed safely near the severed tail end. He checked inside, nothing. No one, dead or alive, was inside nor any miscellaneous items left behind. He checked the midsection of the plane, nothing as well. He checked the cockpit where he saw a man boiling some water in his makeshift home.

"Hmm, what brings you here? I was just about to make dinner." The man asked about Doctor's sudden appearance.

"An old woman from the village was worried about crashed plane here. Sorry for barging in..."

"This plane?" He said while pointing down. "It crashed over 10 years. Crushed a house. You could still see a few remains outside."

'Ten years ago...?' But the woman said she saw...

"You were in the village nearby?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, nothing. Only that I visit there every so often and that there's no old woman who lives there."

There's no old woman who lives there.

Doctor quickly excused himself and rushed back to the village. There's no old woman who lives there. He climbed the cliffs up with a speed he hadn't exerted before. There's no old woman who lives there. He sprinted to the village, almost hitting a car. There's no old woman who lives there. He entered the house where he first talked to...

There's no old woman who lives here.

It was empty. Completely empty. No signs of things being moved out. No items left behind here. It was empty. Completely empty.

And...

He was alone here...

Again...

...?

Doctor went to the corner and sat down. Digging his head into his knees, curling up as he tries to reconcile with reality again.

His arm lit up with several more bestial designs of the Rakyat Tatau.

----------------------------------------

Badtown.

A desolate village is made up of mostly shantys, and the residents are fallen men and women shunned by Rakyat society. It is the dark heart of the pirate's trade and influence. When Doctor walks by the shantys he can only see irritable lunatics, overdosed addicts or desperate prostitutes laying in the mud, leaning on houses, they were deteriorating right in front of him. He quickly rushes past them, not wanting to alert the pirates here. Finally stopping at the Spready Gold, the bar from his vision.

Entering in, it was the same as outside. Passed out drunks and a pungent air that's all to breathe in. Doctor made himself comfortable in a chair with a few other poker players who were discussing about a certain newcomer to the island.

"Did you hear about the Ghost of Amanaki?"

"Shut up about the Ghost. Every time you tell this story, we're playing..."

The other player was just as confused as Doctor. "What the hell are you two talking about?"

"The Ghost escaped from one of Vaas' prison camps. Next thing you know he's hacking pirates up with a machete. That's how it always told." The exasperated man explained, clearly annoyed about hearing the same story over again. But even that minute detail gave him an idea of who this Ghost is.

"Awww, that's the worst version of the story I ever heard. You ruined the drama." Apparently the Ghost is famous enough to have different canon about him.

"Sounds like Hoyt needs to step in. If the stories are true.

'Hoyt...?'

The guy in front of him scoffed as he finished handing out the cards and putting three in the table. "Hoyt would make short work of the guy, that's for sure. Probably kill him with his own machete."

"He already did with the owner of the mine. Hoyt's an artist, he'll kill him special..."

'Is that so...?' Doctor looked at the cards on the table then his own. Hmm. Deja vu.

"What did you say he looked like again?"

"Dunno. He's called the Ghost for a reason. Every time he captures Vaas' outposts no one sees him. Even then, some of the Rakyat tell me that he's not from around here and that he only wears his cloak."

"An outsider?"

"Most likely yeah. There's always strange things happening out there. What with this Originium junk they've been messing around."

"Devil stone they should call it."

Doctor waited long enough, he pushed his chips forward. "Raising..."

The trio were surprised at the sudden push this quiet newcomer made. "Ehh? You sure friend?"

"Better question is: How much are you willing to bet youngin?"

"Everything."

With that being said the rest folded before he showed his cards. Royal Flush. Doctor won his chips. A Bolivarian cigar was put out in the middle of the table. He saw a man in a white suit with aviators commenting on the game in front of him.

"Good hand..." The man in white excused himself. That was him from the visions. Doctor handed the players a few bucks for beer before he trailed his target. Occasionally hiding behind some crates ir barrels whenever he felt someone stalking him. He stopped near a prostitution shack where he was talking to one of the girls. Leaving with what he needed from the girl, who was then assailed by one of her Johns, slapping her to the ground. Before he could rob her blind, Doctor passed by, brought out his gun, tapped the pimp for his attention and pistol whipped him to unconsciousness. All happened within a second.

Trailing the man in white led him to one of the shantys. Opening the door to confront him, he was met with...

"You have 10 seconds to tell me who you are before I remotely detonate the PE4 under the table and this whole place explodes like a pop bottle."

"Holy...! Doctor! I'm from Rhodes Island!"

"Rhodes Island?"

"Yes!"

"The Pharmaceutical Paramilitary company?"

"Err... Yes!"

"And you're also the Ghost of Amanaki?"

"According to the stories?! Yes! How many more yeses do I have to say?"

"Enough to let me know you're promising."

"Promising? How so?" He looked around and saw the whole inside was empty barring the table, some bookshelves and a torn Columbian flag hanging in the wall. But no sign of the man in white.

"Simply put. Your expertise in the field could lend me a hand with one Vaas Montenegro, who has several of your Operators on the move. I'm zeroing in on two of them as we speak."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"It's my job to know the inside and out of this island. I can help you but you gotta play ball. There's something I'm looking for, we'll trade favors."

"...Deal."

"Come on down." One of the bookshelves opened revealing stairs to the basement. Going down he saw the man sitting down in front of several radio devices and behind were stacks of paperwork.

"Ahh... The Doctor's in." The man said calmly.

"Who are you anyway?"

"That's classified information."

"..." Seriously?

"Just messing with ya. Agent Willis Huntley, I work for D.C." The man in white introduced himself to the Rhodes Island strategist.

"D.C.? So you're with the Columbian government?"

"Not... Necessarily. I'm embedded, not really in contact with Central Intelligence." He chuckled.

"So you're a lone wolf here?" This is odd beyond measure. How a government agent, or rather an affiliate if he's embedded, got himself here with interests from the Columbian Union is outside his understanding.

"No, you kidding?! I've got a whole team. They're out in the field, but they'll be back." What he said was unsettling. They'll be back? The whole island is a death trap so who knows if what he says is true. "These scan they sent have opened up a Grade-A can of worms." Ok so they're still some of them out there... "I can't talk to you about it, but trust me, it's big!"

"...Right. I understand."

"I need more info though, from the source!" Willis rummaged inside one of his boxes and brought a rifle like item out to the table between them.

"Tine-a-chaitheamh!" When he said the device's name Doctor recognized it as the language of old Tara. Directly translating it means "To throw flames" ergo it's a...

"...Flamethrower?"

"Flamethrower." Willis repeated in approval. "This thing of beauty is from the now deceased Kingdom of Tara."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Hoyt Volker." There's that name again. The agent explains in full while walking around. "Is the boss of a very good of yours: Vaas. He also happens to run the largest slave trading ring in this part of Sargon. On top of that, he grows drugs!" He went back to the table. "If we set fire to his fields and his boat, he's gonna canoe over to this island. I get what I want and we learn more about where your friends might be. Capeesh? Hmm... I feel like... that's only a Siracusan thing, only the wolves can bark out something like that... It's like spraying furniture gold, or stopping someone from putting chocolate on pasta. You know what I mean...?"

"..." What? He felt his sanity cave in a little. Chocolate pasta is one hell of a thought experiment.

"Anyways. Take the gun."

"Right... Burn the fields with the flamethrower. On it."

"That's what I like to hear. Don't forget the boat. Oh and here." He gave him a slip of with coordinate numbers on it.

"Yeah, thanks..."

Taking the Taran incinerator in his hands he left the hut and put the numbers in his map. It showed the fields to be near the sea and in pirate territory, of course, so he may have to liberate an outpost just so the fields can be isolated when he arrives.

Going back to Willis and Hoyt, Doctor made a mental note about the Columbian government's covert involvement in Sargon and the latter's extensive reach in the criminal underworld so he can relay it with the Rakyat and Rhodes Island.

Starting with the Rakyat.

"Hey Dennis?"

"Doctor, what did you find?"

"The vision led me to the man in white. Turns out he works for the Columbian government."

"Funny... I've never heard of such a man here on the island."

"Yeah, I thought I let you know since he's searching for something here. He also let me know about Vaas' boss: Hoyt."

"Hoyt Volker! Stay away from him Doctor!" Dennis warned with slight panic. "You think Vaas is crazy? All the evil on the island, it comes from Hoyt. He took Vaas' mind away from him, it is he who pulls the strings."

'So he's responsible for everything.' "Okay, thank you Dennis. I'll be careful."

...

"Excuse me." A Badtown resident got his attention. "Are you perhaps the Ghost of Amanaki?"

"You must've heard about me from stories right?"

"Yes. Well I have to thank you for talking to me. I have great respect for what you are doing. People here need to see that the pirates can be beaten! That they can bleed like us, die like us! That is why I need your help."

"Sure, what can I do?"

"Take pictures of dead pirates outside Badtown."

Doctor is digging himself into a deeper hole.

Tomorrow marks his 17th day here.