imPossible Future IC
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imPossible Future IC
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The short figure also replied to Alyce. “Heh heh. Probably the same ones thought it’d be funny ta configure me like yer old friend. All them Chorus sissies got some supertitious notions about Guthrie an’ the ork there – think destiny hinges on ’em. My guess is you were close enough ta them that now yer in the club too. Fer the never-die shot-callers on this show, physical exigencies an’ proximate concerns, that’s Chutes an’ Ladders, see. An’ ya start layerin’ mana on’ long-term strategy on all that, well, that’s checkers. Dragons, they’s thinkin’ past that – call it chess. But fer them Choral types, even that’s kid stuff – nah, they’s playin’ shogi or go. Five moves ahead with they cat’s-cradlin’ the Web o’ Fate….Leastways they think they are. Reckon if I could hope fer anythin’ I’d hope they’s right. An’ if they is, then you got a part ta play here. Hell, ya play that part right, maybe you’ll never even will have been here.”
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Alyce
March 20th, 2331; Small Cave, Cornwall Coast, EarthAlyce nods at Isaint and puts a hand on his. “Thank you, my friend. I guess that I am just feeling much like a useless cog in this machine right now. Yes, it is very nice to see a recognizable face here. I have lost so many friends in the last couple of centuries that I might have forgotten how to act around the few I have left. Thank you.”
She turns her sightless face to the Al-thing and smiles at it. “Of course. I am sure that you are right. I never really did understand why I was paired off with the three of you. I think I always saw it as some part of some greater plan that God or the Voodoo Loa had for me. Besides, I was so in love with Al that I would have gone anywhere just for the chance to be close to him. Still, there may be some bit of truth in what you say about something rubbing off on me, although none of the Choir ever said as much to me. Thank you for your words of comfort. You do look and sound so much like him that it is uncanny.”
20
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Alyce
March 20th, 2331; Small Cave, Cornwall Coast, EarthAlyce turns to Al. “I am bringing my drones in, as they seem to be of less value than I had hoped. I could use them with some sort of DNI, but my cable only extends a few feet. Do you have any way for me to increase that length? My concern is that the weight of any sort of connection will be more than the tiny drone can carry. Ideas?”
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“A couple of feet in the air isn’t really that bad. It certainly gives you a periscope. But if you just go up your drone might be able to carry more that you think. Shouldn’t we be getting going, we’re burin’daylight”
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“Shee-it, I can rig ya some extensions on those DNI cables. Be practically inivisible, spool out ta maybe twenny meters. Like ace there says, though, not sure what more that does than jist bein’ able to have ’em orbit yer noggin. An’ jist bein’ invisible…hell, folks can still trip into ’em an’ so forth. Could also dial down yer telemetry signals, keep yer range so limited ya mightn’t alert the creepy-freaks. But that’ll be what it is – hunnerd meters o’ functionality’d be exactly equal to a hunnerd meters o’ liability.”
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Alyce
March 20th, 2331; Small Cave, Cornwall Coast, EarthAlyce grimaces. “So it is a potential hazard. I still think that the extended view from even a few feet above me is a good option. I can use the DNI cable I have to do that much. Thank you, Al, for the advice and the offer to help.”
As they walk along, Alyce pulls a length of cable from her neck port and plugs it into a port on the drone, initiating a DNI link that should protect it from being hacked or discovered. She sets the small drone to fly over her head and ties its feed to her deck, getting a good view of the surrounding area.
22
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“Alright, then lets take positions. Robyn, spread your drones as far left an right as you can comfortably do. That should give you the best stereoskopic effect and enable you to spot an ambush if it comes up. Al-Bot, you go up front. I don’t know if you retain the skill with a rifle of your progenitor, but I guess your sensors are up to the task at least.
Grendel, you and I trail behind so we can interfere if necessary and give long range support. You others, keep Robyn safe. She is our communications specialist and without her, we’ll have trouble finding anything at her old manor.”And with that, Isaint fell into step as he had done so often – although he had felt a lot younger back then…
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Alyce
March 20th, 2331; Moors, Cornwall Coast, EarthAlyce enjoys the walk, although she is concerned about one of the others making it too far. The man has a limp fro an injury he suffered when the shuttle went down and is slowing the march. Alyce is a bit worried that he is putting too much strain on his leg too soon. Unfortunately, there is little she can do about that out here. She hopes that the man can make it to her manor and that the place is still standing, as she had had a well-stocked clinic there and can do more for the injured.
23
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[March 20th, 2331; Road north to Bude, Cornwall, Earth]
On a good day, before the Fall, the hike north would have been a pleasant six hour jaunt through some wild, but not inhospitable, countryside. At their current cautious speed it was much more likely to take twelve or more hours, particularly as night fell and the lurid pink sky gave way to a deep forbidding purple of scudding storm clouds.
Not Lily had retrieved her gear bag from where it had been stashed and, slinging the gauss rifle over her shoulder, took up position more or less at the rear of the formation. Her muted whisper reached Alyce’s enhanced ears perfectly well though
“Do you really feel that you do not belong here? Your associations with Al and Isaint do not define you, your actions do. From what I recall you are a gifted musician, a surgeon, a communications expert, a skilled combatant… and all that whilst being blind… most people only ever achieve mastery in one field let alone four or more. Whatever path the Choir have foreseen, it is almost inevitable that you will be called on to help us get there.”
Hugging the folds in the land the rag tag crew proceeded as best they could. Around midnight they heard a powerful electronic wail cut across the open terrain and Not Lily pointed out the insane mechanical monster on the horizon, reminiscent of an H G Wells creation
“Hunter, we want to stay as far away from that as we can. Don’t know if it’s a horror construct or something that mankind made before the Fall but it’s lethal either way…but slow. The smaller ones are deadlier…”
***
#10
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The little elf girl was unstoppable, scrabbling around with the sure footedness of a mountain goat. Constantly on the look out, both across the wasteland and within the group. Pointing out mistakes that could really cost the group. All the while a broad, infectious grin on her face.
The cry didn’t phase her. She dropped in to cover and tracked the behemoth with her rifle, steadily adjusting her sights. There was no doubt she would start pumping rounds in to it if requested -
Alyce
March 20th, 2331; Road to Bude Cornwall Coast, EarthAlyce heard the words from Lily and carefully considered them. Perhaps for the first time since she had been associated with the Choir, someone has said something that makes a bit of sense to her. Of course, it all still means that she is probably being manipulated, but she has always been easily manipulated when it comes to saving children. The Old One and Lace had been experts at turning that to their advantage. She shrugs her shoulders and continues walking. Perhaps she can get some more time to talk to Lily after they stop.
A slight tremor in the earth beneath her feet might have been missed by others, but Alyce’s sensitive sensors picked it up and guided her attention in the direction of the source. She guided her drone to concentrate in that area and so she saw the monstrosity before it really became visible. The unworldly wail it emitted was enough to still her movement a bit, but she reminded herself that she had faced similar things in the past. And defeated them. Lily’s words had her refining the drone’s search parameters to look for smaller versions of the machine-monster.
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Isaint looked on. Age hadn’t diminished his eyesight yet and he still could pick out minute details even at great distance. “It looks like the London Eye had come to life.
Let’s change course by 15 degrees. Size like that must have trouble with marsh land. It’s harder going, but the route’s shorter so it should come out the same in the end.” -
[March 21st, 2331; Road north to Bude, Cornwall, Earth]
The attack when it came was deadly in its ferocity. With absolutely no warning the war machine burst from where it had being lying dormant in the bank at the side of what had once been a country lane. It was almost impossible to see, its edges seemed to be made up of fractal patterns that were difficult to focus on and in place of arms on the vaguely humanoid form it seemed to have mono filament flails that lashed and writhed.
It let out a blood freezing screech that seemed to say ‘Woe’ as it turned three of the party in to a fine red mist and shark bait before anyone could blink… one of the Patterners, missing an arm below the elbow sprang up on to the bank, firing his sub machine gun single handed he yelled at the machine creature “Follow me you bastard!”
Not Lily calmly levelled her Thunderstruck and said “This one has ablative armour, rapid fire weapons first and finish it off with the big guns”
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#11
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Isaint’s combat sense gave him a split second warning – enough to throw himself out of the way, but not enough to warn the three soldiers.
Reflexes honed through over two decades of strive kicked in immediately: his rifle was up and ready without a conscious thought.
He had already fired six apds rounds when Lily gave her warning. A mental command let him switch the magazine to the chamber with the SnS ammo.
The reactive armor blasted a few shots out of the air, but some of the capacitors found there mark.
Then he was too busy to evade to see what his shots had managed to achieve. -
Something didn’t look right as they had rounded the bend. She had seen the slight shimmering even as it moved. Bracing the massive rifle against her hip she fired. The three round burst shattered the armoured chest plate, a fountain of liquids and sparks told of more than a flesh wound. What passed for a head focused on the little elf girl at the back. Her second burst ripped a Plate off its shoulder.
Noticing the change of focus, she smiled “oh dear” -
The war machine had probably depleted its onboard complement of hunter-killer escorts decades ago, but it might not have. And it was probably working alone, but it might not be.
With every eye in the group tunneled on the mechanical monstrosity, the short figure hefted the upgraded Firelance and scanned everywhere else for threats.
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Alyce
March 21st, 2331; Road north to Bude, Cornwall, EarthAlyce’s sensors had seen the tangle of metal lying in wait, but it had shown no signs of activity and she had discounted it and moved on. She was well past it when it suddenly activated and charged into the column, ripping three of the men apart. She picked up the slivers of movement and immediately knew that they were facing a machine with monofilament weapons; after all, she had seen the very slight tell-tale sing of her own whip while practicing for more years than she really cared to think of.
As she turns to face the creature she hears the gunshots and then Lily’s warning. Alyce shouts out one of her own as she races into the fight, her own whip uncoiling. “The thing is using monofilament whips! Be wary.”
Alyce has trained to be a professional dancer, albeit her specialty is in erotic dance, and she takes advantage of that skill to slip past the whips flailing about and making her own deadly attack. She hopes that the ablative armor has been removed as she strikes.
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The combined fire was enough to take the thing apart before it reached the Isaint and Grendel in the trailing position. A stray thought told Isaint, that this thing must have spend its ammo ages ago which was likely the only reason it had taken out only half the team.
Despite the action taking no longer than six seconds total, he felt like he had run a marathon. But he pulled himself together. First aid wasn’t feasible any more so he instead focused on necessary.
“Al-Bot since you are already keeping watch, keep on it. Grendel, please help me with the bodies. We need to take any supplies we can and then burry them quickly before the sudden change in the BGC attracts the Horrors. I am sorry for your loss.” -
Alyce
March 21st, 2331; Road north to Bude, Cornwall, EarthAlyce spends little time looking at the ruined hulk of the creature as she has other concerns. Sadly, the use of mono whips usually leaves only the dead or the uninjured and this is pretty much the case here. There is nothing she can do about those who have been sliced apart, even the fanatical Patterner that had lost an arm has expired from blood loss by the time Alyce gets to him. Strangely enough, the man has an expression on his face of contentment and she shakes her head at the loss.
Alyce assigns her drone to keep watch for any enemies that may have been alerted to the fighting as she assists in gathering the supplies and equipment from the dead and helps redistribute what they find. By the time it is all done, the shallow graves are complete.
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Grendel stopped firing soon as the gigantic mechanism started to sag. She stooped to pick up her brass and then walked down the bank. She found Alyce kneeling next to Evans. He had a contended smile on his face.
“he knew he would die here. Said he dreamed of it. Here help me turn him over”
She pulled out a knives that looked like it was fashioned from a shard of an ceramic reentry shield, she started to cut into the corpses back. All the while humming to herself
“there we are! The patternerns will need that back if they are to get him back”
She held up a small cylinder
“you are the unit medic, should you keep it?”
She flicked her wrist and curved blade morphed into place. She cut the turf open and then unfolded her entrenching tool, began digging out a shallow grave for her friend.
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