Commander's personal log, date {01/01/01, the first day of the war}
I knew this day would come. Only a year ago scientists on that metal
world, our former capital CORE PRIME, developed the "patterning" process.
Three months later I led the rebellion now known as the "ARM". My personal
battlesuit was completed yesterday, the first we ever made. This morning
the CORE launched it's first offensive, right through the outer defenses
to my base.
I remember it well. Their units didn't need space for a pilot, allowing
cheaper and faster production. It also takes some time for a pilot to be
trained for combat for us, while the CORE can replicate it's best at will.
With the nano-lathe and instant metal transportation, everything is supposed
to build quickly no matter the cost. The problem is that when you reduce
the differences to milliseconds, those milliseconds count. Not only do
they count, but they also add up. By the time the CORE actually attacked,
my base was at least an hour behind their production capacities. We need
to develop mobile units with nano-lathes besides the Commander suits.
The D-gun was a great success. In fact, the whole base would have been
lost if not for that one weapon. I lost at least half of the Rockos, 80%
of the Peewees, and 40% of the hammers. My aircraft plant had jammed nano-lathes
again, and the one Thunder we did produce was shot down. I never had the
chance to build a vehicle plant before the CORE assault came. Because of
my role in the battle, my suit is still being repaired. The slow-repair
on it is VERY slow. My next project will definitely be to develop mobile
C-units.
{end log}
{encrypted transmission ends, replay Y/N?}
{user has selected no.}
Ekaterin didn't know where the transmissions were coming from, but
this history would be valuable. Her base was now running smoothly, and
until the probe ships found the CORE base, she had nothing better to do
than learn.
Shutting the comm station down, she went to check on the situation
with the aliens.
"The negotiations are going well, commander," the general assured her.
"These people are very reasonable. They even hinted about knowing something
about the alien beacon the CORE found. We may have struck gold here!"
"Good work general. Keep me informed. Over and out." Ekaterin replied,
thinking that this was exactly what she wanted. If Osmond couldn't be alive
to share the victory over the CORE, she would defeat them anyway, in memory
of the most human citizen the ARM had had in 4000 years.
=======================================================
So whaddaya think? I'm writing this as a double story because I don't want to get confused writing two at once. Nice clean format, eh? All comments/constructive criticisms welcome!
Subject:
The great war (part two)
Author:
Error! Bookmark not defined. (198.87.193.189)
Date:
11/18/1998 at 15:48:22
{BZZZZT}
"go away!"
{BZZZZZT!}
"oh all right!"
Ekaterin did not like being forced from the shower by a comm unit,
but she couldn't risk missing an important transmission.
The screen read:
{encrypted transmission incoming. Source unknown.}
Kat decided that she might as well take it now.
{decrypting...........................................
Commanders personal log, date (02/01/01, day two of the war).
The test of my suits capture function went very well. We have captured
a CORE anti-armor Kbot, and there is much to be learned form it. The designations
and capabilities of enemy units for one thing. CORE units are covered in
a near impenetrable shell which we have only known as "Heavy Armor". Heavy
Armor bonds all of the molecules in the armor of a unit more densely than
is naturally possible, creating a substance similar to Neutronium. With
the capture of the "Storm" rocket Kbot, we have also captured a Heavy Armor
generator. The intelligence benefits are equally significant. using that
unit, we were able to tap into the CORE consciousness for a short time.
We learned the names and specs of all their units, as well as their plan
for tomorrow's attack. I don't think that they'll follow it anymore, but
if they do those robots will find an unpleasant surprise!
The "person" who "piloted" that Storm has been given a human body again.
He apparently had no great love for the patterning process, and that gives
me hope. We may be able to end this war quickly, and without much bloodshed.
The pilot was put into a "clone" body. I put clone in quotes because
the body was built with a nano-lathe. This process has given some ideas
to members of my staff, but I have done my best to discourage them. What
they described is too similar to patterning for my tastes, and to give
in to that would make us no better than those we fight.
=======================================================
"'End the war quickly' he said" Ekaterin thought. "Pretty funny definition
of 'quick'. 4000 years is a pretty long war if you ask me."
Her thoughts quickly turned to other things though. She had a shower
to finish.
=======================================================
Osmond was again in his cell. The CORE commander had acted differently
than he had expected. Instead of gloating, Osmond's worst enemy had attempted
something like a conversation with him. Perhaps the CORE are more human
than they admit.
=======================================================
"That was a rather embarrassing failure," Malcolm thought. "I should
have known that I, the CORE commander, would be the last person an ARM
commander would be willing to talk to. It's just that everyone else around
here has turned into such a d@mned ROBOT..."
He was puzzled for a moment by that. It had never occurred to either
side (at least, not for a couple of thousand years) that patterning only
changed the trappings. Human is human, but everyone had stopped thinking
of the CORE as human. Even the CORE had started to think that they were
robots. Malcolm decided then that perhaps there was some merit to the claims
of the ARM...
Subject:
The Great War, part 3
Author:
Ian Price (198.87.193.187)
Date:
11/30/1998 at 19:06:24
Sorry it was awhile, but I had some things to write for the good people
at Codename: annihilation.
=======================================================
Commander Carr's personal log, (01/02/01, one month into the war)
I should've seen this day coming. A month into the war and we already
see the uglier side of it. My best friend too! That idiot Price suggested
the cloning project again, and that inspired what has got to be the WORST
idea in the history of mankind! Connor McAdams, chief of our R&D division,
tried to get approval for a BIO-WEAPONS PROJECT!!! The nerve! If I ain't
gonna let no d@mned prissy scientist sh!theads stick my guys in robots
then I sure as h#ll ain't gonna let 'em mutate those same soldiers into
something ten times worse! [Extended section of recording consists entirely
of multi-lingual invective, and an unintentional recording. Do you wish
to listen anyway?] {no} [continuing from last sentence of unintentional
recording...]
-- and to h#ll with you too! Get out of my office! Oh cool
it, I left the recorder on. I suppose it won't hurt anything. Anyway,
where wuzzi? Oh, right. I told that Connor guy basically to go to h#ll.
Our war effort is doing just FINE without clones, or mutants, or whatever
he thinks up next. As for Price, one more peep out of him and he gets to
ride an Invader into battle! That reminds me, Adv. Kbot production has
come up to full capacity on both Zippers and Invaders. The Fido and the
Zeus are still being tested. The Fido's movement system needs fine tuning
still, y'see, and the pseudo-baryon capacitor on the Zeus keeps exploding.
I hope to get those bugs worked out soon. The Fidos'll probably be ready
faster, considering the minor nature of the bug. I won't have my Zeus bodyguard
for at least a month though. Commander Carr, ending log.
=======================================================
Ekaterin, after listening to the whole recording later, considered
that first commander to be QUITE the linguist. Seventeen old Earth languages,
and two extra-terrestrial. Phew...
=======================================================
Osmond knew that he didn't have much time. The A.K. would shortly be
missed. As he was re-wiring it, a thought occurred to him. Nobody of the
ARM had ever discovered what A.K. stood for. He decided that his first
project upon returning to ARM territory would be to find out -- Ah! success!
He twisted the wire once more around the connector, still thanking God
that the CORE hadn't thought to hardwire their units instead of just installing
capture-resistance in their patterns. This pattern was now dead, but the
fact did not weigh on Osmond's conscience. The same pattern probably occupied
thousands of such suits on this plan- here we go. A holo appeared in mid
air, a little too noticeable for Osmond's tastes, but it was at least readable.
OK, now if he could just short-circuit the A.K.'s consciousness-response
systems- Huh? On the screen, there were TWO command presences. What? How?
Now just one second... Ah! That explains it...
=======================================================
CORE PRIME COMMAND NET IS ON-LINE COMMAND SUIT TWO. COMMAND SUIT THREE
IS EN-ROUTE TO EMPYRREAN TO FIELD-TEST THE SHILONE SEAPLANE BOMBER. GALACTIC
IMPLOSION DEVICE HAS PERFORMED OUTSIDE OF EXPECTATIONS. GALAXY IS STILL
HERE, BUT IN A NEW POSITION RELATIVE TO UNIVERSAL CORE. OUR GALAXY HAS
MERGED WITH ANDROMEDA.
COMMAND SUIT TWO REPORTING: CONTACT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED WITH A SEMI-ORGANIC
RACE ON THIS WORLD INTERESTED IN HAVING THEIR MINDS PATTERNED, OR OTHERWISE
BECOMING MORE MECHANICAL.
COMMAND-NET TO COM-SUIT-2: RECRUIT THEM. CORE PRIME OUT
=======================================================
This was bad, very bad. Osmond got to work on the A.K.'s guns, trying
to arm himself in some way. "must escape," he thought. "I must warn Ekaterin..."
Part 4 is missing, does anyone know where it is?
Subject:
The Great War. (part 5)
Author:
Error! Bookmark not defined. (198.87.193.185)
Date:
12/09/1998 at 19:15:14
Having lost his pursuers thoroughly, Osmond was thinking again. As you
all know, Osmond thinking can be dangerous. He recalled his childhood,
and didn't even think it strange that he had one. But perhaps it is time
for some background on that.
=======================================================
Ekaterin switched on her monitor. Yup, another one of those weird transmissions.
But they all carried Osmond's personal code, unduplicatable and to be wiped
from his and his suits memory upon capture (post hypnotic suggestion and
complicated EMP device as methods, respectively). Huh? This one wasn't
another log of the first commander, it was something actually about Osmond.
This, should be good...
-------------------------------------------------------
Results report for Super Soldier project.
Dr. Price and Dr. Eggleston reporting as project leaders.
Status: The project has been a complete success! Osmond is now fully
trained and ready to enter service!
Methods: step 1: first off, Osmond isn't your average clone. We took
a close look into what genes give what characteristics to which people,
using the entire 4000 year database kept here at {WARNING! this information
is triple-fractal-encrypted! Enter decrypt code:} [16F17R11A13C19T11A12L15O16F16F]
{Decryption confirmed. Defractalizing.............................}
Trax. Osmond can do more than any other human, and as a side effect
happens to be 8'4". His IQ is outstanding, and he excels at all of the
exercises.
step 2: We raised Osmond as a normal child would have been 4000 years
ago, with several improvements. Osmond has gained much knowledge and experience
this way, and we are confident in his ability to lead men at his age of
15. ["That was only 5 years ago." Ekaterin thought. "Osmond showed up five
years ago out of no-where with his Commander suit and all! Just after the
old one died too..."]
step 3: we have trained Osmond in all things. Survival, camouflage,
etc. included. And girls. Osmond knows all about that, though we instilled
high moral values in him so he's never tried it.
Using this process, we hope to graduate all of the 19 others in this
class. we ------
{transmission ends due to destruction of recording facility. This timed
message was never completed.}
-------------------------------------------------------
'Oh, my,' Ekaterin thought. 'that does explain a lot about him...
=======================================================
Elsewhere, Osmond was considering asking Ekaterin to marry him. The
CORE, however, was making plans of a more sinister nature...
Subject:
The Great War, part 6.
Author:
Error! Bookmark not defined. (198.87.193.187)
Date:
12/16/1998 at 17:14:25
Ekaterin shut down her terminal, still intrigued by the revelation of
Osmond's origins. Suddenly, the danged thing chimed at her again.
"What?" She demanded, turning it back on.
"Ma'am, our space probes have detected CORE forces on several planets
and it seems..."
"Good! Prepare to launch a strike --"
"Ma'am, if you'll let me finish, our probes have reported that CORE
PRIME is exactly where it should be, so is Empyrrean, and so are the rest
of the planets we thought were gone! There are many new planets, but it
seems that the old galaxy has merged with this new one!"
"Incredible!"
"It's true!"
"Try to reach Empyrrean now, I'll be suiting up! Get the 4th assault
armor division and the 22nd infantry loaded onto my personal ship!"
"yes ma'am!"
Oh joyous and happy day! Ekaterin nearly broke down in tears, though
she new not why. Emotion flooded through her, conflicting emotions with
which she had little experience. Elated, confused, and overwhelmed, she
climbed into her Command suit thinking, "Osmond, you are revenged!"
=======================================================
Osmond was not, however, dead. He was miserable, but not dead. But
misery would have to wait, as his best chance for escape had come. Taking
careful aim, he blasted the communications circuits of the CORE CKB below
him with his stolen Freaker laser. All power was cut, and the machine died.
Osmond set to work welding, cutting, and re-charging his laser with the
CKB's mini power plant. In 3 hours, he would be able to start building
his ride home...
=======================================================
On the ARM held world of Temblor, the ARM D-gun project still labored.
After successfully building the device into the neo-commander suits, the
engineers were working on a lvl. 2 Kbot which could carry a D-gun.
"Maverick-10 reporting. All seems quiet. Should we be getting any hawk
flybys?"
"Uh, negative, Maverick-10."
"Well, about 25 hawks just passed overhead."
"Hm, our tac-display shows nothing."
"Well, my optic sensors might need re-adjusting, but my eyes are just
fine. 20/20 vision here, and I saw the hawks out my viewport!"
"Oh sh|t! You're right! They're attacking the fus--"
"Tac-base? Tac-base?"
"-------------------"
"Maverick-10 to Temblor-command, do you copy?"
"Affirmative, Maverick-10, what is your sit-rep?"
"Tac-base for my sector has been destroyed by a CORE fighter group."
"Not possible, there aren't any CORE units on the planet!"
"Exactly! They're using our own!"
"Say again?"
"THE CORE ATTACKED WITH HAWKS!"
"Oh fvck. Retreat to the nearest tac-base."
"Yessir."
=======================================================
"Launch in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Liftoff!"
The rumble shook Ekaterin to her bones, but it was a comfortable feeling.
As the G-forces made her breathing labored, she waited for the moment of
weightlessness before the ships artificial gravity would kick in. She felt
the old sensation, the old satisfaction that came from taking the fight
to the CORE, from catching them by surprise. Yes. It had been a good day.
Subject:
The Great War, part 6.
Author:
Error! Bookmark not defined. (198.87.193.195)
Date:
12/19/1998 at 06:09:32
"D@mn them all to hell!"
[COM-NET1: SIR?]
"Use your voice synth system, d@mnit, and get the hell out of my head!"
"SIR, YOU ARE BEING MOST ILLOGICAL."
"Ahhhh!!! Quit it! Volume down!"
"Sir, why this outburst. This isn't like you. It doesn't become a CORE
Commander to..."
"Bah! This 'commander' business can go to hell! The ARM can go to hell!
The universe can go to hell! And you? You can got to hell too! I wouldn't
want you to feel left out!" Murdock said as he violently shook the hapless
AK the COM-NET had been speaking through. "4000 years and more of humanities
achievements, and still can't figure out what the hell I'm supposed to
do! And is Central Consciousness any help? HELL NO! That stuffy bunch of
idiots got fried the first time the ARM got to CORE PRIME! The last time
the rebels got there, they finished the job with a nice large antimatter
bomb! 4000+ years of knowledge? HAH! I haven't even got all of my own memories!
D@mn lot of good THAT does me! You want logic private? Logically we should
stop this d@mnable war and have a little peace! The ARM, however, still
being passionate humans -- don't interrupt son, I know I'm a hypocrite
-- would never agree! So we fight! And win!"
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were drunk!"
"That's insubordination! Unfortunately, you're right. I'm quite drunk.
I guess I should get back into my patterned state to fix that. Get that
Krogs ready, sergeant. We're going rebel hunting."
"Uh, yessir." The AK hurried away rapidly. He, too, felt the loss of
Central Consciousness weighing heavily upon him. All the CORE forces did.
None so badly as their commander, but the "morale," if morale it could
be called in the conscious collective, of the CORE was very low.
Subject:
The Great War, part 7.
Author:
Error! Bookmark not defined. (198.87.193.183)
Date:
12/25/1998 at 15:17:52
This might be part 8, but I'm not sure. Tell me if I'm confused here...
=======================================================
The CORE commander reveled as his Pattern transferred back to his Commander
Kbot. He was glad to shed the weak flesh of his clone, in favor of the
mighty Kbot that he normally wore. Plus, it saved him having a hangover.
He resolved to NEVER get drunk again.
Setting to work, he first checked the sensor-nets. He gave them only
a glance at first, then stared in disbelief. There was something in orbit!
His OPCS (or Onboard Probabilistic Calculation System) went into overdrive,
figuring out how to deploy. The first millionth of a nano-second told him
that the incoming ships were ARM (99.9recurring percent probability), a
nano second later he knew that a commander would be with them (70.57% probability,
progress of ARM neo-commander project was not fully known), a full second
later he had a plan.
[COMMANDER TO ALL VAMP WINGS: LAUNCH AND INTERCEPT INCOMING SPACECRAFT.
-TO ALL AA EMPLACEMENTS: ACTIVATE AND FIRE AT ANY ARM TARGETS.
-TO ALL GROUND FORCES: IF ARM SUCCESSFULLY LANDS, ENCIRCLE AND DESTROY.]
-------------------------------------------------------
Osmond watched the white streak as it passed through the sky. He ditched
his hiding spot, activating his signal device. He would now light CORE
boards up like a christmas tree, but he didn't care. Ekaterin would need
to know he was here. He began to run.
-------------------------------------------------------
The new signal appeared on the scanner boards of the ARM ship and the
CORE base, and all forces from both sides began to converge upon it. Five
more ARM ships jumped from Hyperspace, bearing down on the planet like
avenging angels.
"It's Osmond!" the tech at the Severed Dream's sensor console screamed.
"he's alive!!!"
Ekaterin wept for joy, as did the Severed Dream's captain. Osmond had
had NO idea how much of an impact he made wherever he went, but he would
have been pleased with the results.
=======================================================
The situation on Temblor was not looking as good for the ARM. CORE
forces had complete access to ARM technology and ID codes, and that meant
surprise was on their side. In two weeks, the CORE had recaptured 3/4 of
Temblor, and the D-gun Project was getting desperate. The ARM wasn't out
of tricks, however. Dr. O'Connor had been working on the base's main factory,
and had rigged it for production of a D-bot. This Kbot would have solar
panels on the head and shoulders, and a D-gun for a weapon. The problem
was, the D-gun capacitors went up BIG when destroyed. The explosion equaled
that of an Invader. They would be useful, especially because they were
equipped with Neutronium Armor Generators, like Commanders. Neutronium
was a newly discovered substance (usually found only on Neutron Stars),
and was much denser than Heavy Armor. The ARM could only hope it would
be enough.
=======================================================
The time had come. Mxyzptlk (pronounced mix-yez-pitel-ick) strode from
the underbrush. He had been chosen to represent his race to the mysterious
beings of metal. Unfortunately for him, he stumbled not upon a squad of
CORE units, but upon the ARM scouting party just landed! Taking him for
some new CORE freak, the Peewees blasted poor Mxyzptlk to shreds of silicon
skin. The alliances had been sealed, the Orions would be forever a part
of the ARM (they looked human, but with blue skin. It wasn't too bad.),
and the Antarans (or Borg as the ARM called them) would side with the CORE.
Subject:
The Great War, part 8.
Author:
Error! Bookmark not defined. (198.87.193.188)
Date:
12/26/1998 at 10:21:10
It was unavoidable now. The ARM-CORE war had again erupted, the cycle
continuing. For 4000 years the cycle had continued, an age of low technology
followed by technological escalation, followed by devastation. The cycles
grew ever quicker, the first one having taken 200 years and this last (after
the GID went off) less than 200 days. The war looked, to anyone stopping
outside to observe, likely to destroy humanity in all of it's forms. How
ironic that the war had begun over a controversial method to save lives.
Over the next months (to be chronicled in detail later, the rest of
the logs have yet to be dug out of the old computers), the ARM and CORE
ravaged each other. On Temblor the D-bot was enormously successful, especially
in combination with Spiders. Contact was lost with Empyrrean, and it was
not known what had happened (although most blamed the CORE). The "borgs"
(truly named Antarans) and the "Bions" (rightly called by ARM troops the
Orions) were fully integrated into the CORE and ARM civilizations (if they
could be called such then) respectively. The CORE gained much through the
strategic insight of the Antarans, while the ARM found new paths to victory
through the brute strength of Orion technology. The signs were all there,
though nobody knew how to read them. Everything looked as if the war would
end in armageddon, and truly destroy the galaxy, when THEY came. It was
near the time of the New Trax project, an ARM science mission to rediscover
the lost technological wealth of the planet Trax. All true wealth being
biological, the ARM certainly found a trove with true treasure! Unfortunately,
they also got there second.
Not realizing it at first, the ARM rushed to clone more super-soldiers
in keeping with Osmond. They were patient about it, raising the children
in keeping with the original Trax project, but THEY were watching. Now
comes the part of this history I can tell from personal memory, as THEY
struck when I was about 15. I'll write it all down here, for you later
generations, so that you don't repeat the mistakes that have been made.
Now if I can only find that Journal file I made...
Subject:
The Great War, part 9.
Author:
Error! Bookmark not defined. (198.87.193.184)
Date:
12/26/1998 at 13:46:58
OK, I found that journal. Man it's good to be writing this myself! My
computer was summarizing and analyzing the rest and the style hurt my eyes
on most of the rest. I put in some extrapolated dialogue to help a bit,
but all that past tense... UGH! I'm certainly glad to be on my own voice
dictation! Anyway, here's the journal I started when I was 15, the year
that THEY came.
=======================================================
Private Log: Osmond II. date: (dd/mm/yy) 01/01/4327.
Today I've started my Kbot training, and that is something worth writing
about. My life up until now has pretty much been written down by other
people, but I didn't need to write down how I felt about it 'cause it was
boring. I met my "father" today, Commander Osmond that is, and he was pretty
cool. He treated me as an equal, even though he's a veteran of literally
HUNDREDS of battles and I had yet to step into a training simulator. He
congratulated me on getting as far as I had (apparently my grades in schoolwork
were public knowledge), and bade me skill and good luck in the coming training.
I thanked him, and he left. Overall, he left an impression without even
saying much. I'm told he does that all the time, but people say it about
ME too so I don't put much stock in it.
Well, after that I was brought to the sim briefing room. I was told
to put on a Peewee suit (just like real, but fake weapons) and enter the
maze. The maze is awesome, a video game that surrounds and engulfs you.
I didn't even explore a TENTH of it, let alone come through unscathed.
It was me against the CORE as I battled through the corridors, fields,
forests, and mountains of the Maze. I could've sworn from the outside that
the building was no more that 500 square meters, but inside it seemed to
encompass a whole world! Many of them, in fact. I fought on sections of
CORE PRIME, Barathrum, Lusch, and more! I could tell that I was inside
the sim building the whole time, because when I got to certain points,
the map I was on would repeat itself.
The trick of the game was to find the nano-lathe spots where either
a one-time recharge that you could carry or a reusable one on that map
in that spot only. I destroyed about 15 AKs and a couple Storms and Thuds,
but I think the sim was giving me more armor than a Peewee should have,
more like Zipper strength. Even so, it was hard. When it was over, the
instructor told me "very good, return to your bunk while I review you performance."
I think the Maze was a placement test, to see how much I needed to learn.
Well, I impressed one guy so far. That pattern will only continue.
=======================================================
That first entry in my journal doesn't relate anything at all about
THEM, but it is important anyway. I think it is important to realize how
unprepared for new threats from anyone other than each other the ARM and
CORE really were, and why (even if just barely) they were able to stop
THEM anyway.
My next communiqués continue with my logs from back then, because
those are the most complete history to have survived.
{SENDING TO CENTRAL CONSCIOUSNESS[2]}
{COMPLETE}
Subject:
The Great War, part 10.
Author:
Error! Bookmark not defined. (198.87.193.182)
Date:
12/28/1998 at 04:23:16
Continuing with this historical report, I am going to be sending you
my journals made near the time the alien fleet showed up, until I can find
the rest of the story on the last major campaign in the ARM/CORE war.
=======================================================
Osmond II, private journal. date: 3/1/4259
well, yesterday I didn't have time to write any more of this down.
There were so many tests! First math, then science and literature... What
could all this have to do with soldiering? Oh, well. Then I got to the
phy-ed tests, and those were a bit more fun. The most fun part came at
the end of the day; I got to operate a nano-lathe for real! True, it was
only a food lather, but it was really fun to watch my soup and sandwich
materialize from nowhere. I don't think the supervisors understood, but
they are used to nano-lathe units. I wasn't aware of their EXISTENCE until
yesterday. I was made to do things the hard way, the old-fashioned way.
That's why using the 'lather was such a treat! It's probably good for me
not to be spoiled, but I like the speed and ease of the 'lathe.
Today had other things in store. The instructors (there were three,
all combat veterans) all climbed up into their Zippers and bade me follow
suit. The power and speed of the Zipper is incredible when all you've ever
piloted before is a Peewee. In the maze, I had to avoid LLTs like the plague
because of their firepower. In a Zipper, I CARRY a laser gun of the same
power!
My spirits dimmed, however, when I learned that the veterans were not
my instructors but my opponents. We were sent to four corners of the playing
field, and the games began. I dashed for the center, trying not to make
much of a trail through the brush. I hunched my Kbot so that the head was
below the trees, and made the most of it's sheer speed.
I checked my Taconite display, and found that I had been granted Radar
just exceeding my LOS. How did I know? I saw a red dot glowing there, though
I couldn't see sh!t. Turning around, I crept much more stealthily away
from the path I had made. My stealth was useless: I crashed straight into
the guy! Thinking fast, I holstered my blaster and used a new movement
routine I had taught the Kbot (Kbot's memcomposite is just like muscle,
but your muscle memory doesn't transfer to the memcomposite). I flipped
over his head and ran sideways along his new firing path. I took out my
gun, and aimed for his. The third shot (something lucky about that number?)
blasted his arm to smithereens (or would have, if we were using real munitions).
I then scored the "kill" tag on his head sensor.
My Tacint beeped at me; there were two red dots closing fast! Priority
one was get away. Priority two (kill them) required some firepower-equalizer.
That meant divide and conquer or improve my @rsenal. Since they were unlikely
to split up, I chose option two, and stole the downed Zipper's gun. Just
in time, as one of the other enemies cleared the brush as I finished hooking
the second gun up.
I tried the flipping shtick, with a new twist. I landed on the second
Zippers' head by accident, and fell down myself. Making lemonade from lemons,
I swept the dazed zipper I had landed on off of his feet. I jumped up,
and dodged left. The first Zipper had anticipated a dodge right, and he
fried his teammate as she stood up. I finished her off, and ran top speed
around back of him. He was ready this time. This last was a veteran pilot
from twenty worlds, onetime commander of the ARM forces. That was only
briefly, and unofficially, but it lent him a certain aura and denoted his
enormous skill. It also meant that I stood no chance. I'll spare you the
details, but I'll note that not one person hit me until him. He, on the
other hand, slaughtered me quickly and efficiently.
=======================================================
Yeah, well. I can't win 'em all. Still, it was pretty impressive. My
training is important here, because it shaped my actions later on. With
that in mind, I intend to continue with my journals in future historical
reports and analyses.
I may have to cut out on this story for a while. I WILL continue with the stories of all my characters, but until I find part 4 and look the whole thing over I can't really do it right. Look forward to more frequent postings from me soon!