Yotruyan Clirikii - Homefront
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:27 pm
MEMORY: START
The city went on for miles in every direction. There was simply no end to it; if it were empty, and one looked down a street, it would gently curve away, while looking upwards would only present skyscrapers of near endless stature. One would see all that, and a barely visible ceiling concealed by clouds of course. This is what an older Core World was like for Yotruyan, and completely not like his childhood home. He was fortunate enough to grow up on an Outer World, but here in the Mega Cities of the Core Worlds, was where the fighting was the heaviest. By now, things had settled down and stabilized to the point that the two factions each had half of the galaxy in their grip, with that gray line between them the most heavily contested. That, fortunately, was where he was not at. He was located somewhere behind that hotly contested line on a planet which was supposed to be safe despite the proximity to the front. Emphasis on ‘supposed to be’ of course.
*****
Several large, muscular creatures flowed between the empty civilian vehicles like ghosts; their camouflage helping them to blend in despite the speed and urgency of their movements. They each looked like giant lizards, each with heavy segmented armor plate, glimpses of flesh barely visible underneath as they moved; it almost seemed as though every inch of their flesh was impinged with plate mail. The four eyes they had quickly darted here and there looking for threats as their long, slender tails waved behind them. Despite their brutal, muscular appearance, these armored forms were very careful and precise. Without a noise, the platoon quickly filed into a book and music store, and set up their operations there. “As you know, these three levels of the Mega City went silent four hours ago, and we have been dispatched from its neighboring levels to investigate. For those of you who are ‘country bumpkins’ like me…†minor, silent cheers went out from a few, “A single level is several dozen kilometers high, and a few hundred wide in each direction, depending on numerous factors. For those of you who are complete retards, it means something is horribly wrong for a single, fully populated level to go silent, not to mention more than one level.†He spoke silently, armored face and jaw working. When finished, he mentally linked directly with the others, and moved out. They already knew who was behind this, but what they wanted to know was why, and even more importantly, how such a thing was done. How did this happen to so many people? Speaking of people,, where were all of them? The group moved deeper, and deeper into the Mega City, until something perked their interest; projectile weapons had scarred the entire intersection, with a barricade of civilian vehicles in the center. Like a trademark, the place was littered with small bits of white metal, black metal, the occasional obsolete weapon and lots of blood; the place was devoid of bodies and anything else of interest, except for one thing.
â€Leader. Look at this.†a minor spoke over the comms. He then pulled out a metal badge out of the wreaked cars. â€Saw a glint of gold here and yanked it out. It looks like the local Home Guard was here. Kids too young, and men too old mostly; you don’t need me to say what happened here really.â€
â€Sounds like the same old stuff. You two, pipe into the old networks, and tell the Planetary Defense Forces what they already know. Oh, and add on that we’re going deeper.â€
“Deeper? Pardon Leader, but I will voice my objection; it sounds stupid.â€
“Yes. But I’m the Lieutenant, and you’re not. We’re going in. Besides, I want to know where they stuffed the bodies. I know for a fact you’re all itching to find out.†As the reptilian troopers moved more cautiously, a slightly older person asked Yotruyan,
â€Mind me asking? I’ve been a Trooper for a while, and well, how did you become LT before me?â€
“The same way you’re probably going to make it; by having everyone else above you getting cut down first. It works every time.â€
****
A young couple, both lizard-folk with bright and colorful feathers, darted from cover. The guy lagged behind, and a harsh cough later, he was covered in Tier One Silicon. These angelic forms in the image of the same people literally tore him limb from limb, ingesting him, having their reactors break down and disintegrate the evidence. The girl was pounced on, and lifted into the air by one of the Silicon; a blade then extended out of the free hand’s wrist, pressing against the bare neck. She quivered at the cold, lifeless touch. Guess that explains it. Yotruyan motioned with his hands to the others,
â€Hold fire. Wait. Thingy, coming out. At his gesture, something different from the other came out of the alley. Unlike the others, which were weaponized and lightly armored versions of the latest servant androids and gynoids prior to the war, this newcomer was purpose built. She, for it was undoubtedly female, was best described as pretty, and deadly. The form, though heavily armored, was sleek, slim and beautiful like that of a female model. Its body was covered in the stark white plates the Silicon favored, but it’s shoulder had a piece of older metal worn as decoration. Its face, no, her face, was pale white as well, made of plastic, featherless, and yet again, pretty despite this. One of its arms was what looked like a light cannon of sorts, like a long rectangular bock from the elbow down, and one meter in length; Yotruyan’s Combat Skin's four eyes widened in horror when he recognized the intricate patterns in the sides. Graviton Manipulator! Someone else realized the same thing, and spammed the squad comm,
“Shit!â€
MEMORY: PAUSE
The city went on for miles in every direction. There was simply no end to it; if it were empty, and one looked down a street, it would gently curve away, while looking upwards would only present skyscrapers of near endless stature. One would see all that, and a barely visible ceiling concealed by clouds of course. This is what an older Core World was like for Yotruyan, and completely not like his childhood home. He was fortunate enough to grow up on an Outer World, but here in the Mega Cities of the Core Worlds, was where the fighting was the heaviest. By now, things had settled down and stabilized to the point that the two factions each had half of the galaxy in their grip, with that gray line between them the most heavily contested. That, fortunately, was where he was not at. He was located somewhere behind that hotly contested line on a planet which was supposed to be safe despite the proximity to the front. Emphasis on ‘supposed to be’ of course.
*****
Several large, muscular creatures flowed between the empty civilian vehicles like ghosts; their camouflage helping them to blend in despite the speed and urgency of their movements. They each looked like giant lizards, each with heavy segmented armor plate, glimpses of flesh barely visible underneath as they moved; it almost seemed as though every inch of their flesh was impinged with plate mail. The four eyes they had quickly darted here and there looking for threats as their long, slender tails waved behind them. Despite their brutal, muscular appearance, these armored forms were very careful and precise. Without a noise, the platoon quickly filed into a book and music store, and set up their operations there. “As you know, these three levels of the Mega City went silent four hours ago, and we have been dispatched from its neighboring levels to investigate. For those of you who are ‘country bumpkins’ like me…†minor, silent cheers went out from a few, “A single level is several dozen kilometers high, and a few hundred wide in each direction, depending on numerous factors. For those of you who are complete retards, it means something is horribly wrong for a single, fully populated level to go silent, not to mention more than one level.†He spoke silently, armored face and jaw working. When finished, he mentally linked directly with the others, and moved out. They already knew who was behind this, but what they wanted to know was why, and even more importantly, how such a thing was done. How did this happen to so many people? Speaking of people,, where were all of them? The group moved deeper, and deeper into the Mega City, until something perked their interest; projectile weapons had scarred the entire intersection, with a barricade of civilian vehicles in the center. Like a trademark, the place was littered with small bits of white metal, black metal, the occasional obsolete weapon and lots of blood; the place was devoid of bodies and anything else of interest, except for one thing.
â€Leader. Look at this.†a minor spoke over the comms. He then pulled out a metal badge out of the wreaked cars. â€Saw a glint of gold here and yanked it out. It looks like the local Home Guard was here. Kids too young, and men too old mostly; you don’t need me to say what happened here really.â€
â€Sounds like the same old stuff. You two, pipe into the old networks, and tell the Planetary Defense Forces what they already know. Oh, and add on that we’re going deeper.â€
“Deeper? Pardon Leader, but I will voice my objection; it sounds stupid.â€
“Yes. But I’m the Lieutenant, and you’re not. We’re going in. Besides, I want to know where they stuffed the bodies. I know for a fact you’re all itching to find out.†As the reptilian troopers moved more cautiously, a slightly older person asked Yotruyan,
â€Mind me asking? I’ve been a Trooper for a while, and well, how did you become LT before me?â€
“The same way you’re probably going to make it; by having everyone else above you getting cut down first. It works every time.â€
****
A young couple, both lizard-folk with bright and colorful feathers, darted from cover. The guy lagged behind, and a harsh cough later, he was covered in Tier One Silicon. These angelic forms in the image of the same people literally tore him limb from limb, ingesting him, having their reactors break down and disintegrate the evidence. The girl was pounced on, and lifted into the air by one of the Silicon; a blade then extended out of the free hand’s wrist, pressing against the bare neck. She quivered at the cold, lifeless touch. Guess that explains it. Yotruyan motioned with his hands to the others,
â€Hold fire. Wait. Thingy, coming out. At his gesture, something different from the other came out of the alley. Unlike the others, which were weaponized and lightly armored versions of the latest servant androids and gynoids prior to the war, this newcomer was purpose built. She, for it was undoubtedly female, was best described as pretty, and deadly. The form, though heavily armored, was sleek, slim and beautiful like that of a female model. Its body was covered in the stark white plates the Silicon favored, but it’s shoulder had a piece of older metal worn as decoration. Its face, no, her face, was pale white as well, made of plastic, featherless, and yet again, pretty despite this. One of its arms was what looked like a light cannon of sorts, like a long rectangular bock from the elbow down, and one meter in length; Yotruyan’s Combat Skin's four eyes widened in horror when he recognized the intricate patterns in the sides. Graviton Manipulator! Someone else realized the same thing, and spammed the squad comm,
“Shit!â€
MEMORY: PAUSE