Blood and Diamonds: A High Energy Story

Oriphiel · 10-07-2015, 02:21 PM

And thus ends the side story. Hope you all enjoyed it! Now, it's time to finish up these last few entries...

Chapter Twenty Four

As the sun rose above the city, the allies prepared for their showdown with the aliens. Francesca, who had volunteered to lead the diversionary attack, gathered her men and stood before them. Most all of them wore a solemn expression, knowing that their mission meant that they would soon be facing almost certain death. Francesca was not amused with their visible displays of fear, and she soon began to reproach them. "What is this?" she asked, gesturing towards her frightened soldiers. "Am I leading an army of corpses? Are the aliens so powerful that they've killed all of you before the battle has even begun?" None of her men dared to answer. Francesca shook her head and smiled, continuing "What is there to be afraid of? In life, I led you all to victory time and again, destroying every man foolish enough to cross me. In death, I'll lead you all into hell, and we'll carve out a kingdom for ourselves in the fiery pits. Whatever lies on the other side, if it can be conquered, then it shall be. Now grab your guns, and put your balls on. It's time to go fuck up those assholes from space." And with that, Francesca and her forces departed. Her speech wasn't as eloquent or effective as it could have been, but it at least gave her men a sliver of confidence, and they tried their best to hide their fear as they followed her lead.

Some time after Francesca's forces had left, the rest of the allied army began to march. Following the guidance of Sam, they were led through the territory of the Blue Shirts. The diversion seemed to be working as well as they had hoped, as almost every enemy in the area had set off to attack Francesca, and they continued to evade detection as Sam led them towards the Blue Shirts' hideout. Walking alongside Sam, Cleo and John passed the time by trading jokes. Occasionally, Cleo would take her notebook out of the messenger bag that she had slung around her. She was constantly tossing the story around in her head, trying to get all of the details correct, and would often stop everything to revise some part of the story that she decided wasn't written well enough. Even as she was walking towards the final showdown, she wasn't willing to leave her notebook behind, as she wanted to write down the details of the battle as soon as it had ended, while it was still fresh in her mind. Regardless, there was a reason for her and John being placed at the front of the attack, alongside Sam; that morning, after Cleo and the others had returned from their joyride, Sam and the leaders of the alliance came up with a way of sneaking into the hideout during the attack, in case it was too heavily guarded for them to simply fight their way into it. Sam's cloaking device could be overcharged, which would allow her to make anyone touching her turn invisible as well, though it only had enough power to grant invisibility to two or so people. While the allies distracted all of the soldiers guarding the hideout, Sam could sneak a few people through the front doors, making it easier for them to reach the device. Getting to the device as soon as possible was important, because as soon as the allies attacked the hideout, the aliens would assuredly send out a general order for all of their soldiers to ignore Francesca and converge on the device, quickly outnumbering and killing the allies before they could accomplish their goal. After getting a few people inside, Sam would then head for the roof, where she would overload the sensors above the device as planned, making it vulnerable. And after that, Sam was to make her way down to the device, and help to destroy both it and the aliens.

In time, the allies reached their destination, and they began the attack. Just as they had feared, the number of men guarding the building was substantial, as the aliens were suspicious of Francesca's attack and verbally ordered a large amount of soldiers to remain near the hideout. Of course, many of them were armed with alien rifles, and they quickly began to fire upon the allies. The allies rushed through the wave of deadly gunfire, firing back with their ordinary rifles and pistols. John was pushed to the ground by the force of a shot from an alien rifle, which had torn apart a nearby ally, and he struggled to stand up. "Come on!" yelled Sam, as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to his feet. Activating her cloaking device, she grabbed hold of Cleo and John, forcing her way through a group of charging enemies armed with knives and pipes as she led them towards the door of the hideout. However, before they could reach the door, a shot from an alien rifle smashed into the ground in front of them, pushing them back. Sam looked up, and saw Heyt standing on the stairs leading to the building, aiming his rifle at her. "Fuck," muttered Sam, who had hoped that none of the aliens would be near the door during the attack, as they could see through her invisibility. "You really thought this pathetic trick would work on us? You always were a fool, Sam, and a greedy one at that. Underneath all of that artificial strength is a scared little girl, and I'll very much enjoy seeing the fear in her eyes as I tear her to pieces!" yelled Heyt, as he fired another shot at them. Sam quickly pushed John and Cleo away from the blast, saving their lives, just as the shot hit her dead on.

Oriphiel · 10-08-2015, 09:18 AM

After name dropping Blondie in the first entry, and featuring Debbie Harry's Rush Rush about a month ago, I suppose it was only a matter of time before I featured one of the best disco songs of all time... I actually own the 45 of this one, although mine is radio length and not the extended version in the video below, and it also has a white sleeve rather than pink. However, it's pretty normal for there to be differences between copies when you're looking at a single that has over fifty different versions floating around.

Chapter Twenty Five

As the shot crashed into Sam, she felt the shield around her struggle to absorb the impact. She knew that if she were to take any more direct hits in the immediate future, the shield would shatter, and she would be completely exposed. She lept to her feet and sprinted towards Heyt, jumping to the side as he fired another shot at her. Cleo and John, who were both now visible after being pushed away from Sam, struggled to fight off the surge of attackers that quickly fell upon them. As Sam drew near her target, Heyt fired one final shot at her, which she dodged expertly. She then dashed forward and tackled Heyt, pulling him down to the ground and causing him to lose his grip on his rifle as they both tumbled down the staircase. Once they hit the bottom, they wasted no time in continuing the fight, grappling fiercely with each other. Though Sam's robotic appendages were incredibly powerful, she still had to break through Heyt's shield before she could do any real damage to him. Unfortunately for her, a stray shot from an alien rifle crashed into her back, and brought her shield down.

She was stunned from the impact, and Heyt took the opportunity to strike her nose with his palm, before throwing her off of him. He then stood up, grabbed a pipe from a nearby soldier, and used it to strike Sam hard in the stomach before she could stand up. He then raised the pipe high above his head and prepared to shatter her skull. However, as the blow descended, Sam rolled to the side. She then used her robotic leg to kick Heyt in the crotch, pushing him back a few steps and slightly draining his shield. It didn't phase him for very long, and he stepped forward to kick Sam as she got to her knees. She blocked the strike with her robotic arm and proceeded to grab his leg. After that, she shifted her weight and pulled him off balance. After Heyt had fallen to the ground, Sam elbowed him in the jaw, and they both began to grapple once more. By now, Sam could tell that Heyt's shield was on the verge of breaking, as it was now able to absorb far less power from her strikes. Heyt knew this as well, and he became even more aggressive than before, eager to finish the fight before Sam could punch through. Still, Sam managed to keep up with Heyt's brutal energy, and she maneuvered herself behind him before wrapping her arms around his neck and head.

She twisted his head to the side with her robotic arm, putting as much force into it as she possibly could. As she twisted, she could feel his head moving more and more to the side as his shield's capacitors were overpowered one by one, almost as if she were cutting her way through the strands of a taut rope that was finally on the verge of snapping into two. Before Sam could completely break through, a soldier behind her slashed at her with a machete, leaving a gash across her back. Heyt escaped from Sam's grasp and frantically looked around for a weapon, before spotting the alien rifle that he had dropped, near the bottom of the stairs. Sam spun around just as the soldier prepared to slash at her again. She blocked the attack with her robotic arm, shattering the blade, and then pushed him back with a kick that shattered his ribs. Sam turned to face Heyt just as he pointed his rifle at her. With inhuman speed, she grabbed the barrel of the gun and disarmed Heyt while kicking him in the chest, sending him falling backwards against the staircase, and then pointed the rifle towards him. The kick had caused Heyt's shield to finally shatter, and Sam fired the rifle at him without any hesitation. At that range, the shot effortlessly tore through Heyt's head, and left the rest of his body in a burned and bloody heap.

With the help of Ricardo, Jackson, and a few other Red Sleeves, Cleo and John fought their way into the hideout during Sam's battle with Heyt. With most of the guards having gone outside to join in the fight, the halls were somewhat empty, save for a few guards that the aliens had ordered to remain inside the hideout at all times. Armed of course with alien rifles, they mounted a bitter defense against the attackers. As Ricardo led the group down a hallway, he noticed that both Cleo and John had lost their guns in the fight outside. He handed John a large pistol, and another Red Sleeve armed Cleo with a submachine gun. Just then, an enemy soldier stepped around the corner and fired at them. As the group narrowly avoided the shot, Ricardo quickly returned fire with his rifle, putting a large amount of bullets into both the enemy soldier and the wall behind him. Ricardo and the others dashed forward through a cloud of drywall dust sent into the air by the bullets, hurrying to get to the device in time. As Ricardo, Jackson, and one of the Red Sleeves turned the corner, a group of soldiers at the end of the hallway opened fire. The Red Sleeve, unfortunately, was struck in the chest by one of the shots, and screamed in pain as he stumbled backwards. Ricardo quickly fell to the ground, dodging the shots as they passed over him, and let his bullets fly as he held down the trigger. Jackson quickly stepped back behind the corner, before sticking his rifle out and firing blindly.

After gunning the defenders down, the group continued down the hallway, and began to draw close to the room that Sam had assured the allies contained the device. They turned another corner, and began to walk down a seemingly empty hallway. However, out of nowhere, shots from an alien rifle came flying down the corridor, killing a Red Sleeve and tearing off Jackson's arm. "Fuck!" yelled Ricardo as he and the group stumbled backwards in confusion. After more shots were fired at them, they all quickly made their way back around the corner, while Ricardo fired his rifle blindly down the hallway at the invisible attacker. "Fucking... asshole..." muttered Jackson to the invisible attacker, as he tried to crawl to cover. John reached out and grabbed Jackson's remaining arm, trying to pull him to safety. Just then, another shot came flying down the corridor, and it hit Jackson dead on, killing him. "What the fuck are we fighting?" asked Ricardo as he reloaded. Cleo stuck her submachine gun around the corner and pulled the trigger, while yelling through the gunfire "The aliens made a cloaking device for Sam, right? Maybe they made some for themselves!"

"Jesus fucking christ... they're not gonna make this easy for us, are they?" replied Ricardo, as he prepared to fire. Before he could pull the trigger, Cleo whispered "Wait," as she reloaded her gun. "He'd be an idiot to just stand there in the middle of the hallway and let himself get shot. Even with a shield, he wouldn't be able to let it take too many hits. He's probably taken cover around the corner, at the end of the hallway, just like us. All we're doing is wasting bullets." At the other end of the corridor, Valk was looking down the hallway with a calm gaze, shrouded by his cloaking device. He briefly thought about shifting the energy output of his rifle, overcharging it, and simply killing the intruders by destroying the entire corner in a massive blast. However, firing such a shot would drain his rifle for the time being, and he wasn't sure if there were more intruders in the immediate area. Also, the intruders were currently underneath the room that contained the device, as well as the rest of the aliens, and he didn't want to risk destabilizing that part of the building with a large explosion. After deciding to keep on stalling them for as long as possible, taking no chances, he laughed loudly, before saying "Keep whispering, and firing aimlessly at me. We've already summoned the entirety of our army to return. All I have to do is keep you busy until they arrive." "Keep this busy, fucker," said Ricardo, as he angrily fired a few shots around the corner. Cleo put a hand on his shoulder, and whispered "Ricardo, which corner is he behind? Left or right?" Ricardo looked at her for a moment, before sticking his head slightly around the corner. Almost immediately, Valk fired a shot at him, and Ricardo ducked behind cover again. "Looked like the shot came from the right," answered Ricardo in a low voice.

Cleo took a deep breath, before saying "Alright. We've got no time to waste. The only way to get to the device is to pass through this hallway... so we have to rush him. We could fire at the corner he's behind, suppressing him, while closing the distance... but with his shield, he could ignore our shots and fire at us while we're running at him in the open. We have to take it down somehow, or at least put a dent in it before we make our move..." Ricardo smiled, pulling a hand grenade out of his pocket. "I was going to use this to destroy the device, after Sam overloads the sensors on the roof," he said. Cleo replied "We'll find another way to blow the device up. Right now, we need to take this asshole out." Ricardo nodded, and pulled the pin out of the grenade. After letting it sit in his hand for a few seconds, he threw it as hard as he could, and it exploded almost as soon as it had reached the other end of the hallway. Immediately, everyone in the group lept out from their cover and sprinted down the hallway, firing at the right corner. The grenade had stressed Valk's shield and put him flat on his back, with the majority of his body sticking out from his cover, and his rifle had been knocked out of his grip. After taking the first few shots, Valk's energy generators began to lose the power to sustain his invisibility and his shield, and he became exposed as he appeared in plain sight. Just before his shield finally shattered, he managed to get to his feet and roll behind cover.

The group moved on and turned around the corner without any hesitation, preparing to fire. Valk, knowing that he would be shot from behind if he tried to run from the quickly approaching attackers, was lying in wait for them behind the corner. As soon as the humans came into view, Valk rushed at them, using his preternatural strength to knock them back. However, before being struck, the allies managed to fire off a few shots, and one of them hit Valk in the side. As Cleo began to stand up, Valk elbowed her jaw, putting her back to the ground, and he kicked John in the chest, sending him back against the wall behind him. Ricardo pointed his gun as Valk, who grabbed his arm and redirected the gun to face John. The gun began to fire, hitting John in the chest and shoulder, before Ricardo pulled out a knife and stuck it into Valk's spine. As Valk screamed and fell forward, contorted in pain, Ricardo regained control of his rifle and fired a few shots into him, before rushing to help John. However, John raised a hand, and said "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. This isn't the first time I've been shot." Cleo got back to her feet, rubbing her jaw and wiping the sweat from her brow. "We need to keep moving. Can you walk?" she asked. John took a few steps forward, wincing and favoring his wounds, before nodding and saying "Seems like it. In any case," he stopped briefly and raised up his pistol, "I can definitely still shoot. Let's go finish those fuckers off."

Unknown Soldier · 10-08-2015, 04:58 PM

Despite your constant rambling, this is without doubt one of the best journals on MB.

Oriphiel · 10-09-2015, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

Despite your constant rambling, this is without doubt one of the best journals on MB.

Thanks! I suppose it just wouldn't be one of my journals if it didn't have constant rambling.

Oriphiel · 10-09-2015, 11:17 AM

Chapter Twenty Six

Breathless and covered in wounds, the three prepared themselves as they opened the door to the room containing the device. While Cleo expected the aliens to be anxiously lying in wait for them, she soon saw that they were simply working on the device, as if unaware of the chaos outside. As Luke and the aliens looked up at the intruders, it seemed as though they hadn't taken any precautions against them. However, the aliens were expecting their arrival, having watched their progress on the monitors as they worked, and as soon as the humans began to fire their weapons, the aliens activated their cloaking devices, while Luke got behind cover. The humans stepped back and took cover behind the doorway, spraying bullets throughout the room, however Retix ordered the aliens to not fire back. "Wait!" she yelled repeatedly over the gunfire, until the humans eventually heard her and stopped firing for a moment, partly out of curiosity and partly so that they could take a moment to scan the room while reloading their weapons.

"You don't know what you're doing," said Retix to the intruders. "We're not your enemies. We were never your enemies. All we want is to spare this planet from the fate that befell our own. Right now, you stand absolutely no chance of defeating us. Before you could even hope to penetrate the device's shield, our rifles would tear you to pieces, and with our cloaking devices activated, firing at us is beyond futile. We could kill you all in an instant, however... I grow tired of all of this needless bloodshed. If you and your allies were to simply lay down your weapons and surrender, we would happily order our army to let you leave here in peace. However, if you refuse to give up, we will not suffer you to live." "Not a chance," replied Cleo. "We've come this far, and I'll be damned if we don't see this through to the end." Just then, Qez deactivated her cloaking device. Laughing, she took a step towards the humans, raising up an alien rifle towards the ceiling with one hand, and brushing back her hair with the other. "Do you think you know us?" she asked the humans, her laid back demeanor becoming slightly tinged with anger. John aimed his pistol at her, however Cleo raised a hand and bade him to wait for a moment. Qez continued, saying "Do you know what I had to do to make it this far? What we've all had to do? You couldn't begin to imagine the things that I've seen, not until you've witnessed the merciless slaughter of everyone that you've ever loved... and I will fight, and die, to ensure that you never have to know such an experience. Still... I'm not like the others. I'll fight for what I believe in, but I won't gun someone down from the shadows. If we're going to fight, then you're damn well going to look into my eyes when I send you to the other side."

With that, Qez aimed her rifle at them, and after pulling a small lever near the trigger towards her, fired a powerful shot. The humans quickly fell away from their cover, narrowly evading the blast as it tore through the doorway, as well as the wall behind them. While the drywall dust in the air shrouded them, the humans scrambled to their feet and ran through the hole that Qez's rifle had made behind them, into a storeroom filled with random furniture, firing bullets back towards Qez all the while. Once inside, they took cover behind whatever they could, and continued to shoot through the large hole in the wall. Having fired a slightly overcharged shot at them, Qez's rifle needed a few seconds to recharge, however she wasn't willing to wait that long. Recklessly charging straight at the intruders, she let her shield absorb their bullets as she prepared to rip them apart by hand. Luke stood up and prepared to join the fight as well, however Retix stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder, saying "Stay back. Without a shield, you won't last long." At first, Luke was startled, as Retix's cloaking device prevented him from seeing her, however he quickly adjusted. Smiling, he replied "It's not my fault you didn't make me one." Though Luke couldn't see it, Retix returned the smile, answering "Well, you never asked for one. And honestly, I didn't think you would need one. We should have been able to stop them from getting this far... at any rate, please, stay back. We can finish this on our own."

Luke looked down, before eventually nodding, saying "Alright." Having settled that, Retix gripped her rifle tightly as she stepped closer to the action, preparing to join the fight, however she was soon stopped by something that caught her attention. Glancing back at the monitors beside her, she looked at the feed from one of the cameras on the roof, and saw Sam approaching the device's sensor array. The aliens had seen her on the monitors when she had first entered the building, however they assumed that she was following the intruders' tracks to provide reinforcements, underestimating her by believing that she wasn't clever enough to do anything but attack the device directly. They allowed themselves to be distracted by the three intruders, letting Sam's progress go unwatched during the fighting. After killing Heyt, Sam had been detained slightly from carrying out her mission; just as she was entering the building, she glanced back and noticed that the leader of the Red Sleeves was in dire straits, wounded and struggling to fend off an enemy soldier wielding a machete. Normally, she wouldn't have cared, however last night's joyride had put her in a good mood. Rolling her eyes, she jumped back into the fray, saving his life before moving on. When she had finally entered the building, Cleo and the others had cleared most of the way for her, however she still encountered a few guards on her way to the roof. Now, raising up her mechanical arm, she prepared to overload the sensors. Heyt had sapped her energy generators by breaking her shield, however she had recharged enough power on her way to the roof to send out an electrical blast. Taking a deep breath, she let the electricity flow freely from her hand.

"No!" yelled Retix. Suddenly, the room was enveloped in a flash of bright light, as the monitors began to explode from the surge of energy. Various tubes and wires connected to the device began to shake and crackle, as arcs of electricity dashed across the room. Retix and Tyl were both caught in the middle of the chaos, and their shields and cloaking devices began to fail as their energy generators were overloaded and damaged, and Luke backed himself up against an unfurnished wall as he tried to avoid being electrocuted. In the other room, Qez had made short work of the intruders, throwing them across the room with ease, though her shield was on the verge of breaking. After sending John to the floor by throwing a table at him, she heard Retix scream, and looked over her shoulder in curiosity. Her eyes widened as she saw sparks flying from the device, and the shields protecting it starting to fail. The humans knew that Sam had finally carried out her part of the mission, and it was now time for them to destroy the device. Noticing that Qez was distracted, and that the other aliens were vulnerable, Cleo and Ricardo made a dash for the hole in the wall. Qez quickly snapped back to her senses, but just as she reached out to stop Cleo, John tackled her from behind. Cleo stopped and looked back, yelling "John!" as she stepped forward to help him. However, he stopped her by yelling "Don't worry! I can take care of her! Go!" Cleo nodded, and once again set off for the device.

Ricardo was the first to enter the room containing the device. While running past Qez, he noticed Cleo's submachine gun and messenger bag on the ground, both of which had been knocked away from her during the fight with Qez. Slowing down as little as possible, he bent over and picked the gun up, aiming it at the device as he entered the room. He fired a few shots as he ran past the ruined doorway, however the metal plating around the device was strong enough to withstand the barrage of bullets. By that time, Tyl had started to regain his senses, and he fired a shot at the intruder. Ricardo shifted his aim towards Tyl as he lept forward while returning fire, taking cover behind a series of busted monitors. Knowing that such cover wouldn't be able to protect him, Ricardo quickly ran out from behind it and continued to fire at Tyl, who took cover behind a large powered down generator. "Hold them off!" yelled Retix, who was frantically working with a series of wires behind cover, trying to connect the device to a piece of machinery that could serve as a makeshift back up generator. After losing it's main source of power, the device would not be able to operate for very much longer without an auxiliary source of energy, and the back up generator would also bring it's main shield back online. Alongside her was Luke, who assisted her as best he could. Just then, Cleo entered the room. Noticing that Ricardo was holding her gun, she took an ammo clip out of her pocket and threw it towards him, as she ran up to the device. However, after reaching it, she realized that she didn't have any weapons, and had no idea how she could possibly destroy it. Picking up a nearby pipe that had once contained a tangle of wires, she set about striking the device. Ricardo, as he stopped firing at Tyl to reload, shouted "What are you doing?" to Cleo, who replied "I'm takin' this fucker down!" With Ricardo no longer shooting at him, Tyl took the opportunity to lean out from behind his cover and fire at Cleo. "Fuck!" yelled Cleo as she jumped out of the way of the blast. "Be careful! Don't hit the device!" yelled Retix, who saw the shot in her peripheral vision. Ricardo and Cleo both heard her, and shot each other a glance as Cleo got back to her feet and got behind cover. Ricardo tilted his head towards Tyl, and Cleo nodded in response.

After Cleo and Ricardo had gone to destroy the device, Qez broke out of John's grip rather easily, and threw him against a wall. As she turned to leave the room and assist her allies, John ran forward to tackle her once again. This time, Qez refused to be knocked down, shifting her weight while effortlessly tossing him to the side. He fell into the seat of a beaten up couch, and Qez stepped forward angrily while sending out a heavy kick towards him. John rolled to the side, and Qez's leg went straight through the back of the couch, leaving her somewhat stuck and in an awkward position. John took the opportunity to send a kick of his own, and it pushed Qez back as it struck her ribs. John then stood up and threw a punch at her, hitting her in the jaw, before throwing another punch with his other arm. This time, Qez deflected the strike while stepping to the side. With inhuman speed, she grabbed his arm with her blocking hand, and used the palm of her other hand to strike his elbow, breaking it. She then pulled him towards her as she kneed him in the ribs, breaking one of them. John had already been seriously wounded before the fight had even begun, and at this point he was barely able to stay on his feet. Still, he used what little strength he had left to grab one of the spare telephones next to him, smashing it against Qez's head.

Qez angrily threw John to the side, sending him crashing into a wooden stool, before raising a hand up to her bloody temple. Having injured her, John now knew that her shield had finally been broken. Though Qez's anger still remained, she shot John a quick smile, saying "I like you. Can't say you have much in the way of a personality, but you just don't give up, you know? For what it's worth, I'll remember you after I kill you." As she walked over to him, John tried to stand up, but simply couldn't find the strength to get to his feet. "Need some help?" asked Qez, as she pulled him up off of the ground by his shattered arm. Underneath him, the stool he had landed on had been smashed to pieces, and he used his good arm to grab one of the broken off legs. As Qez lifted him, he swung the leg as hard as he could into her stomach. The blow didn't phase her very much, and she responded by hitting him with a series of punches, each one leaving him more bloody than the last. "You should have walked when I gave you the chance," said Qez, as she blocked a weak punch that John had thrown at her, following up by pushing him back and hitting him with a powerful roundhouse kick. As John fell to the ground, Qez grabbed a stool leg with a broken and jagged end, and prepared to put it through him. However, after taking a few steps towards him, she stopped, and scanned him up and down. He was covered in blood and bruises, with two bullet holes ensuring that he couldn't possibly remain a threat for very much longer.

Qez laughed slightly and shook her head, before letting the stool leg fall from her grasp. Despite everything that she had been through, and all of the death that she had been surrounded by on her home planet, she had never become desensitized to it. Though she loved a good fight, killing was simply not apart of her nature, no matter how angry she let herself become. She was ready to fight the intruders in the next room, and kill them if necessary, but she couldn't bring herself to kill John. Lying there bloody and broken, he reminded her too much of Merrus, whose body she had eventually found dumped by the roadside and left to rot, like so many others. She was never supposed to have known about him, but her curiosity simply wouldn't let her rest until she had found answers. And though she knew that her friends had been the ones who had ended his life, she forgave them. "You put up a good fight. Now get out of here, before you bleed to death," she said, while turning to leave the room and assist in the defense of the device. However, as she did so, John spotted his pistol, half hidden underneath the remains of a destroyed chair. Cleo and Ricardo were barely holding on as it was, and he couldn't let Qez join the fight against them. He had to stop her. With a bloody and trembling hand, he grabbed the pistol and aimed it at Qez, just as she was about to leave the room. He fired four shots at her, and three of them hit their target. Surprised, Qez gasped as she looked down and saw three exit wounds erupting from her chest. Turning back towards John, she lost her footing, and fell to the ground. "You shot me in the back?" she asked, pressing a hand against the hole left by a shot that had gone through her heart. "You're a real fucking coward..." she added. Rolling onto her back, she gazed up at the ceiling, and laughed. "But that's alright... I forgive you. Do you... forgive me?" she asked, turning her gaze towards John. He looked back at her with a confused expression. The life soon disappeared from her eyes, and John looked away as he tried to stand up. It seemed, however, that he was fated to die there as well. It had been a few minutes since he had been shot, and though none of his vital organs had been damaged, his body was losing far too much blood for him to carry on. Feeling his consciousness fade, he closed his eyes, and took his last breath.

Oriphiel · 10-10-2015, 11:04 AM

Chapter Twenty Seven

After signalling each other, Cleo and Ricardo had come up with a rudimentary plan. Their weapons couldn't harm the device, but after hearing Retix shout at Tyl to be more careful with his aim, they became certain that an overcharged alien rifle could certainly make short work of it. Ricardo stood up and fired at Tyl, forcing him to stay back behind his cover, while Cleo dashed towards his position. Just as Ricardo's clip ran out, Cleo reached her target, pipe in hand. Tyl came out from behind his cover to fire at Ricardo, and Cleo struck him in the jaw with her pipe, sending him falling backwards. However, he refused to let go of his rifle, and he aimed it up at Cleo as she began to grapple with him for it. Just before Tyl pulled the trigger, Cleo pushed the barrel of the rifle away, and the shot hurtled harmlessly to the side. Though Cleo was tenacious and had caught him by surprise, Tyl was still a powerful enemy, and he managed to push her off of him. At that time, Ricardo was running to assist Cleo, throwing his empty submachine gun to the side as he was now completely out of ammo.

Tyl saw him coming, knife in hand, and fired a shot at him to keep him at bay. Ricardo jumped behind a series of barely operating monitors, however the shot still managed to graze him as he tried to dodge it, burning his right arm. Eager to end the fight, Tyl pulled the lever on his gun, overcharging it slightly, as he aimed it at the monitors that Ricardo had taken cover behind. Desperate to stop him, Cleo lept to her feet and tackled Tyl from behind, preventing him from firing his rifle. As the two grappled, Tyl elbowed Cleo in the ribs, before positioning himself to face her. He pushed the lever on the gun away from himself as he pointed it towards Cleo, preparing to shoot her, but unwilling to hit her with a massive overcharged shot in such close proximity, as it would very likely destroy the both of them. Cleo reached for his rifle as he aimed it, pushing it away, and Tyl used his free hand to grab Cleo's arm, trying to force it away from his rifle. His fingers began to dig into Cleo's arm as he tightened his unnaturally powerful grip, and she let out a cry of pain, before jabbing a thumb into one of Tyl's eyes.

On the other side of the room, Retix and Luke were working furiously to connect the device to the back up generator, and they were coming closer to accomplishing their task. However, in the chaos following Sam's overload, the generator had been somewhat damaged, and Retix struggled to repair it. By this time, the device was beginning to lose it's hold on the soldiers outside, and the battle would be lost for the aliens if it wasn't quickly connected to a source of power. Meanwhile, Ricardo had gotten back to his feet, and he rejoined the fight. As Cleo dug her thumb further into Tyl's eye socket, he tightened his grip on her arm, however she refused to take her hold off of his rifle. Ricardo ran up and tried to stab Tyl with his knife, however the alien released his grip on Cleo's arm, and grabbed Ricardo's hand before the knife could enter his chest. As Ricardo struggled to break free from Tyl's grip, the blade pivoted and sliced deep into Tyl's wrist. Letting out a cry of pain, Tyl kicked Ricardo in the shin, causing him to stumble backwards. Cleo redoubled her efforts to seize Tyl's rifle, but the alien struggled fiercely against her, putting himself into a position where he could raise one of his legs against her chest, before using it to push her off of him.

As Tyl stood up, Ricardo slashed at his throat with his knife. Tyl quickly stepped backwards, dodging the strike, while raising his rifle. Before he could pull the trigger, Cleo struck him in the arm with her pipe, which she had found on the ground after Tyl had kicked her away. As the pipe connected with his elbow, Tyl lost his grip on the rifle, and it fell towards the device. Ricardo made a dash for the gun, however Tyl was not yet ready to give up. Though the strike had certainly hurt him, it didn't completely stun Tyl, and he quickly ran forward and tackled Ricardo just before he could pick up the rifle, sending them both crashing into the device. Cleo was not far behind, and as Ricardo and Tyl both grabbed at the gun, she swung her pipe down at the alien's head. Tyl rolled to the side to avoid the strike, losing his grip on the rifle, and he then kept Cleo away by kicking her injured arm, which she grabbed in pain as she dropped the pipe and fell to a knee. As Ricardo finally got his hands on the rifle, he and the alien both quickly got to their feet. Without wasting any time, Ricardo aimed it at Tyl, who grabbed the barrel with one hand while punching Ricardo in the throat with the other. Tyl took possession of the gun as Ricardo stumbled backwards, and he immediately fired a shot. Ricardo was killed as the blast struck him, and his body was knocked back into a heap of broken machinery.

Cleo had recovered from the earlier strike, getting back to her feet as soon as possible, and she was charging at Tyl just as he turned around to shoot her. She tackled him, pushing him up against the device, and they once again grappled for control of the gun. This time, however, Cleo only had one arm to fight with. With very little energy left in her, she knew that she couldn't possibly contend with him for much longer. Repositioning himself, Tyl pressed Cleo against the device, and began to push the rifle towards her throat, preparing to crush her windpipe. Normally, this would be an easy task for someone of his strength to accomplish, however Tyl's arms had been injured earlier in the fight. Even so, he was still able to overpower her, and as she held her good arm up against the rifle, all she could do against the inhumanly powerful alien was slightly slow him down. With only seconds to live, she cleared her mind. Looking at the gun, she saw that her hand was close to the lever near the trigger. Earlier, when Qez had first fired a shot at the intruders, Cleo had noticed that she made her shot larger than normal by manipulating the lever on her gun, and she had also seen Tyl do the same thing when he had earlier prepared to fire an overcharged shot at Ricardo as he was taking cover. Without hesitation, she quickly pushed the lever towards the stock, charging up the rifle as much as possible, and then moved her arm to the right until her hand was at the barrel. Tyl's eyes widened as he realized what she was doing, but before he could react, Cleo was turning her head as far to the side as she could, and pulling the very end of the barrel towards the device, so that the tip was pressing into it. At the same time, she raised her injured arm, which caused her a great deal of pain, and put her bloody hand on the trigger. All of this happened in the span of a second, and before Tyl could pull the barrel of the rifle away from the device, Cleo pulled the trigger.

The overcharged shot instantly killed the both of them, as the device exploded in a shower of flames and sparks. Retix and Luke ceased their work on the back up generator in the corner of the room, and ducked down. The massive blast from the rifle continued on, destroying everything it touched, eventually leaving a large rift in the wall as it left the building. Outside, as the shot flew above the battlefield, the people enslaved by the aliens began to fall to the ground, void of memory and free at least. Retix stood and stared at the shattered remains of the device, as it occasionally shot out a series of sparks. Seemingly void of emotion, she began to walk forward. After taking a few steps, she was hit by the sunlight pouring in through the hole left by the blast, and she squinted her eyes as she turned towards it. Looking outside at the beautiful world before her, all she could see was what she had failed to protect. "It's over," was all she could bring herself to say. There was no way that she alone could build another device in time to fight the coming invasion.

Luke walked towards her, unsure of what to say. Suddenly, a flash of anger came over Retix, and she pulled her sword out of the scabbard on her back as she walked towards the ruined doorway. "Where are you going?" asked Luke in surprise. Without stopping, she replied "To kill as many of the allies as I can." "Retix, stop!" he yelled as he followed after her. She turned to face him, and replied "Why? What else can I possibly hope to accomplish? I have failed your people, just as I failed my own. My friends are waiting for me in the darkness." As Retix turned to walk away, Luke put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, and said "If you go out there, they'll kill you in an instant." "Hopefully," replied Retix, as she shrugged his hand away and continued walking towards the door. "You can't be serious. You've fought, and beat, the odds before. When the Threx invaded your world, they should have killed you, but they didn't. When the Blue Shirts betrayed you and the others, they should have overrun you, but they didn't. And after the allied gangs threw everything they had at you, even though they destroyed the device, you're still standing. After all you've been through, you're just gonna give up?" he asked. Retix turned and punched him hard in the jaw, sending him to the ground. "You have no idea what I've been through!" she yelled. "You could never understand the horrors that befell my people because of my mistakes! The only thing that kept me from ending my shameful existence was the chance that I could one day attain some form of redemption, but now the universe has denied me even that!" "So what?" replied Luke, as he got back to his feet.

As Retix looked at him, he continued, saying "You know what? You're right. I don't know what you've been through. I don't even know much about you at all. But I do know that no matter what you've done in the past, here and now, you're my friend, and I won't let you run off to die." Retix put a hand to her forehead, nursing a sudden painful migraine, as she replied "What else can I do?" Luke thought for a moment, before answering "Keep going. The way I see it, we still have a chance, even if it's not much of a chance at all. When the Threx get here, we may or may not be able to stop them, but we can at least make them work to conquer the planet." Retix lowered her hand, and gazed at the remains of the device that she and the others had worked so hard to build. Eventually, she answered "Maybe you're right. It would be more fitting for me to die fighting the Threx, rather than throw my life away before they even arrive." Luke narrowed his eyes, and replied "That's not what I said." Retix shrugged, saying "Forgive the morbid interpretation. Regardless... you're right. We do still have a chance, slim as it is. We can convince others of the danger, and build up as strong of a force as possible. And when the Threx finally come... we'll do whatever we can to slow them down." After looking back at the device once more, she sheathed her sword and began to walk towards the ruined doorway. However, on her way, she passed by the battered corpse of Ricardo, and stopped to look down at it. "They died for nothing," she said, thinking of the intruders that had sacrificed everything to stop her. "Maybe," replied Luke. After raising her hand to nurse another headache, Retix walked through the doorway. Luke soon followed her, and the room fell silent.

Oriphiel · 10-10-2015, 12:17 PM

Well, that's it! I hope you all enjoyed it! I have to admit, I really had fun writing this mess of a story, even though it was also painful going back and fixing all of the plot holes. Though it may not be the most fantastic or original thing ever made, I'm still happy that I managed to see it through to the end. Anyway, I'd like to thank blackdragon123 and Unknown Soldier for the feedback, which was really appreciated. I'd also like to once again thank Jade City, for introducing me to Hi-NRG, as well as Neapolitan and Violet, for the great plug sessions. On the subject of plug (may that awesome website rest in peace), I'd like to thank Apollonia, who taught me what the definition of "cool" was when she introduced me to "Der Kommissar". I also have to thank Rostasi for those great Ye Ye tunes, DwnWthVwls for the Hip Hop, Chula Vista for the groovy Classic Rock, Goofle for the bangers, and everyone else that plugged regularly. Except for Norg.

I might write another story in this journal about what happens next if I feel that I have something to add, but if I do, it'll be centered around different music and have it's own themes, so for all intents and purposes, "Blood and Diamonds: A High Energy Story" has come to a close.

Oh, and I guess I should explain what happened to Sam. Here, have an epilogue...

Epilogue

On the roof, Sam opened her eyes and began to look around. After using her arm to overload the sensors, the array had exploded in her face, and an arc of electricity had caused her to fall backwards, after surging through the organic part of her body. She had been knocked unconscious, and had just now woken up. Rubbing the back of her head, which had hit the ground hard as she fell over earlier, she groggily made her way down the stairs, eager to join the fight. By the time she reached the room containing the device, she had regained control of her faculties. Stepping inside, she looked around curiously, biting her lip and widening her eyes. "Fucking hell..." she said, realizing that she'd missed the finale. Eventually, she spotted the corpses scattered across the room, and she started to laugh. "You fuckers couldn't have left some action for me?" she said. Still, though she didn't show it, she had to admit that it was at least slightly painful for her to see the corpses of Ricardo and Cleo, and after looking around for a moment longer, she turned to leave. As she did so, she noticed the carnage in the next room over, where John and Qez both lie dead. As she started to enter the room, her foot hit something solid. Looking down, she saw that it was Cleo's notebook, which was sticking out of the messenger bag on the floor. Sam remembered it, from when she had talked to Cleo and Ricardo by the docks. Curious to read it's contents, she picked it up and began to examine it. While flipping through the pages, she decided that she had seen enough of the aftermath of the battle, and began to slowly walk away, whistling along to the song that was still stuck in her head. After walking around a corner, her whistling stopped. "Ha!" she laughed, after finding Cleo's description of her, and seeing that she had penciled Ricardo's nickname for her, "robo-bitch", in the margin on the side.

The End!

Oriphiel · 04-30-2017, 08:39 AM

I've got some free time, so I've decided to continue this harrowing tale of gangsters fighting aliens to a disco soundtrack. The second part will feature '80s music from a variety of genres, rather than just focus on disco and dance music, and will hopefully have different themes, and, in time, an expanded cast of characters. Here's a brief refresher before I get started:

Traveling to earth to escape the subjugation of their own planet at the hands of a civilization of galactic raiders known as the Threx, the aliens swore to prevent earth from suffering the same fate as their home world. Creating a mind-enslaving device, they planned to forcefully unite the people of earth under their banner, so that they could make a concerted effort in repelling the powerful Threx once they arrived. However, an alliance of rival street gangs discovered their plan and fought against them, eventually destroying their mind-control device and freeing the world from it's potential tyranny, while also possibly dooming earth to destruction at the hands of the Threx.

The Aliens

Retix - The sole surviving alien. After the device was destroyed, she desired to rush towards her enemies so that she could finally meet her death, however Luke managed to convince her to make her escape instead. Wracked by guilt, and routinely afflicted by terrible headaches, she often loses her patience with others, though she tries to be reasonable and understanding. Carries an ancestral sword on her back, that has been passed down through her family.

Heyt - The former leader of the aliens. Quite adept at planning and strategizing, it was his idea to flee to earth. Though he found human culture to be fascinating, he was also somewhat disgusted by it. Fell in battle at the hands of Sam.

Qez - Perpetually happy, she was the most optimistic of the aliens, and came to love human culture with a passion. During the invasion of her home world, she was captured by the Threx and tortured, though she was eventually rescued by her friend Merrus, who would later be slain by her fellow aliens. Though she came to learn of their betrayal, she forgave them all the same. Killed after being shot in the back by John, who would die himself only moments later.

Valk - Compassionate, and a lover of literature, Valk was a technical genius. It was his idea to spare Sam's life, turning her into a cyborg so that she could be used to gather materials for the aliens. During the rebellion of the workers of his home world, he designed a plan to redistribute the planet's wealth, however his plan would be rejected in favor of the creation of the very first mind-control device. Slain by Ricardo.

Tyl - A quiet giant with bright red hair, he was a skilled machinist whose talents were crucial in developing the mind-control device. It was a shot from his rifle that crippled the assassin Sam, leading to her capture. Killed alongside Cleo, after a shot from his rifle caused the device to explode beside the two of them.

Gor - A warrior who valued direct combat over strategizing. During the rebellion that ravaged his home world, he urged his fellow nobles to invest in creating an army of robotic soldiers, to no avail. Killed by the Threx as he and his fellow aliens made their escape to earth.

Merrus - A selfless noble who worked tirelessly to serve his people, working against the corrupt machinations of his fellow nobles. Despite his efforts, he could not prevent his planet from becoming embroiled in rebellion, as his plans for reform were rejected time and again. He considered the creation of the mind-control device to be the ultimate failure of his people. During the invasion of the Threx, he rescued Qez from imprisonment, and discovered several weaknesses in the Threx fleet. However, he was shortly thereafter slain by his fellow nobles, after attempting to destroy the mind-control device.

The Humans

Luke - A lieutenant for a gang called The Blue Shirts, he lost favor with his gang after being defeated in battle by the Red Sleeves. That very same night, as he made his escape, he witnessed the aliens teleporting to earth. Becoming their human liaison, he assisted them in their plan, and escaped with Retix after the device was destroyed.

John - A Red Sleeve scout, he followed Luke as he escaped from battle, intent on killing him. He saw the aliens as they appeared before Luke, and became determined to find out just who they really were. It was his spying that caused the aliens' plan to be revealed to the gangs of the city, who became united to stand against them and their device. Died after shooting Qez, due to wounds sustained in his battle against her.

Cleo - A writer for a pornographic magazine, she met John and Ricardo in a nightclub shortly before the Blue Shirts attacked. She became fast friends with the two of them, and helped to uncover the aliens' plot. Sacrificed herself to destroy the device, using Tyl's rifle to destroy it while grappling with him. She was survived by a book that she had been writing, an account of everything that had happened during the past few days, which eventually ended up in the hands of Sam.

Ricardo - An optimistic disco dancing Red Sleeve, he was John's best friend, and helped him to uncover the aliens' plans. Fought alongside John and Cleo in their battle to destroy the device, and was killed by Tyl while trying to save Cleo after she was wounded.

Sam - Impetuous and bold, Sam is a warrior who fights for whichever side benefits her the most. A Blue Shirt assassin, she was shot down while trying to kill the aliens, who spared her life and turned her into a cyborg. Convincing her to serve them through an implanted pain device, as well as offering to increase her powers, the aliens had an uneasy alliance with her. Sam eventually betrayed them, helping the allies to destroy the aliens' device.

Francesca Leone - The leader of a gang referred to as "The Tulpas", she inherited her position from her late father. Determined to retake her father's territory, which had been seized by rival gangs after his death, she has outsmarted countless enemies. During the battle to destroy the device, she voluntarily led her gang in a suicidal diversionary attack that left the aliens' headquarters vulnerable. Despises Sam.

Hojo Naomasa - Just as cunning as Francesca, Naomasa is the leader of a gang simply referred to as "The Hojo". Surviving the aliens' attack on the gangs throughout the city, he and his men joined the alliance, and fought to destroy the device.

Oriphiel · 04-30-2017, 08:56 AM

Alright, here goes. I've decided to call this second part of the story...

Sweat And Stone

Chapter One

New Order - Blue Monday

August 1st, 1986. In a dark warehouse by the docks, neon lights flashed through the shadows like lightning breaking free from swelling storm clouds. Inside, a crowd of people were working tirelessly on a strange machine, welding parts together and typing into strange terminals as sweat dripped down their foreheads. It was an exceedingly hot night, and for them it was a sleepless one as well. A man carrying two tubes emitting bright red light tossed one up to a smoking woman leaning against a guardrail on the walkway above. Catching it, she took one final drag from her cigarette, the glowing tip swelling with brightness before she let it fall from her grasp. Snuffing it out with her foot and exhaling smoke out of her nostrils, she turned and inserted the glowing tube into the machinery beside her. As she did so, something behind her powered on and started to whir rhythmically, as if to some industrial beat.

Two men standing by the doorway were drinking beers and swapping jokes, enjoying a brief break, when one of them suddenly stumbled forward. Surprised by something pushing into him from behind, he dropped his bottle of beer, and it spilled onto his shoes as it clattered to the ground. “Hey, what the fuck-“ he started to ask as he turned around. However, he stopped as he realized that there was only darkness behind him. Looking around in confusion, the man beside him suddenly fell forward onto the ground. Out of the darkness, a figure flickered into vision. It picked up one of their beers off of the floor and drank what little hadn’t spilled out of it. “You pieces of shit done stealing my beers?” asked Sam through a serious yet amused glare.

The two men quickly scrambled to their feet. “Uh… sorry. We ran out of ours, and Retix said it’d be okay if we just… you know, borrowed some of yours,” spoke one of them. After staring at them as if she was going to kill them, she suddenly laughed. “Hey, you’re free to do whatever you want. Hell, I steal shit all the time. Only next time, don’t get caught. ‘Cause if I do catch you again, this,” she lifted up the beer bottle in her hand before continuing, “is going up your ass.” Laughing nervously, the two men backed away. “So, uh… how did your mission go?” asked one of them, while the other hurried away to help someone passing by carry a large box. “How the fuck do you think it went?” replied Sam, rolling her eyes. Having said that, she tossed her beer to the side and started to walk away, turning invisible once again. “Robo-Bitch…” muttered the man under his breath.

Striding through the crowd of workers and machinery, leaving more than a few people dazed on the floor after being pushed out of her path, Sam made her way to a small office in the back of the warehouse. She deactivated her invisibility as she opened the door, and wiped away the small bits of metal shavings that had fallen onto her shoulders on her way there as she stepped inside. Retix was sitting on top of a desk, making adjustments to a strange sort of miniature computer terminal, far smaller than anything currently being developed by humanity. “Yo,” said Sam, to get her attention. Retix looked up and smiled, replying “You’re back. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Sitting down in a nearly broken wooden chair, Sam laughed, and answered “You were right, it really wasn’t. Actually, it was kinda fun. Always wondered what it’d be like there.”
Looking back down at the terminal in her hands as she continued to work on it, Retix asked “And, how was it in there? Did it meet your expectations?” Sam shrugged, saying “Yeah, it was alright. Sure as shit wouldn’t want to live there, though. Anyway, you ready to finish this fuckin’ shit?” Retix smiled, replying “You have a real way with words, you know? But, yes, I think we’re close. If things go well, we may be ready to move as soon as tomorrow.” Narrowing her eyes, Sam replied “Oh, I don’t give a fuck about that. I was talking about me. Are you ready to finish me? The shit you put in me last time ain’t gonna finalize itself.” After looking down and shaking her head for a moment, Retix stood up and set the terminal in her hands to the side. Without saying a word, she gestured for Sam to sit on her desk as she gathered some tools.

Before long, Retix had begun to make modifications to Sam’s robotic appendages. After finishing a few simple tweaks to her arm, Retix took a closer look at her body, examining various pieces of fibers and metals that stretched out from Sam’s arm and leg, wrapping around her burned flesh in a tight embrace. All around these spider-like strands, Sam’s skin seemed to be more red and agitated than usual. “Did you notice all of this?” asked Retix, gesturing towards a particularly nasty rash. “Hm?” replied Sam, who hadn’t been paying much attention to Retix as she worked. Looking down, she added “What? It’s just a rash.” Looking at it more closely, Retix asked “How long has your skin been like this? Does it hurt?” Sam laughed, answering “How long has my skin been fucked up? Hm, lemme think… if I remember correctly, it all started right around that time when you and your friends fried me with laser rifles. But no, it doesn’t hurt. Ever since you gutted that pain chip on my spine, and tweaked my nervous dampeners, I haven’t felt much of anything.”

Retix frowned and thought for a moment, before asking “How does it feel when you hit something? Are your internal anchors and force sinks working properly?” Sam seemed unsure, but nodded, replying “Haven’t noticed a difference. But if the anchors weren’t working properly, wouldn’t my body, like, turn into jello as soon as I hit something full force?” Retix tilted her head slightly in agreement. “You’re probably right. Since you’re still alive, it isn’t likely to be a failure on my part. In fact, it looks biological. Heyt was the expert on the human body, but if I remember his exhaustive lessons correctly, this is very likely a reaction to an infection. To be on the safe side, you may want to steal some antibiotics the next time you’re out robbing people,” she said. “Fuck you,” replied Sam.

Retix returned to her work, and less than an hour later she was finishing the last of the modifications. “You know,” she said as she plugged a terminal into a small bus on Sam’s arm and started to type, “you don’t have to leave if you don’t want to. You could stay, and keep helping us. Save the world, blow things up… it could be fun.” Sam shook her head, replying “Hell no. The only reason I helped you at all was for the mods. Beyond that, I couldn’t give any less of a shit what happens to you, or the world.” Stringing code together on the terminal, Retix shrugged, saying “Who knows, though? In time, I might be able to whip up another mod or two for you.” Sam smiled, replying “Maybe you will. And maybe, sometime in the future, when you need me most, I’ll pay you a visit. With the right kind of leverage, I might finally squeeze more out of you than these basic-bitch upgrades you’ve been giving me lately. You were barely able to convince me that this one was worth running those errands for you. So I think I’ll head out on my own for awhile, give you some time to come up with a few more reasons for me to not kill you. Besides, I got plans.” “Oh?” replied Retix. “I didn’t realize spending the rest of your days stealing from others and drinking yourself to sleep was a plan. Is this a common aspiration among you humans?” Sam smiled, and replied “It’s the American dream. Now hurry up and finalize this shit. I’ve got a tight drinking schedule to keep. Oh, and speaking of booze, why the fuck did you let your boys into my stash? I thought I told you to keep that shit cold and waiting for me. Remember what I said when you and Luke took this place over? I believe it was something along the lines of ‘I don’t mind working for you so long as the pay is good, but I’ll be damned if I have to do it sober.’”

Retix smiled, and replied “I remember. But when my men asked me for access to your refreshments, I had a strong suspicion that you’d somehow survive the ordeal. Unless my knowledge of your species fails me, you are able to survive a single day without ingesting narcotics, aren’t you?” Sam laughed, and replied “Dunno. I’ve never tried.” Retix ignored her, looking down intently at the terminal’s screen. Her right hand rested on a sort of computer mouse connected to her terminal, a finger lightly embracing the left clicker. She looked up at Sam and stared at her, thinking. Sam, however, was too occupied with a pen that she was fiddling with to notice. Retix exhaled and looked back down at the terminal, letting go of the mouse. After a moment of typing, she unplugged the terminal from Sam’s arm, saying “Well, I wish you luck with whatever it is that you have planned. Though you’d have me believe otherwise, I truly think that you’re too brave and intelligent to have completely lost all legitimate ambition in your life. Anyway, I’m finished here.”

Standing up, Sam ignored her words of encouragement, replying “Whatever. Thanks for the tune-up.” Having said that, she made her way towards the door. Retix stood up as well, setting the terminal on the desk as she said “You’re welcome. Be sure to test everything out. If something isn’t working as it’s supposed to, contact me.” Sam cracked her knuckles, replying “Oh, don’t worry ‘bout that. Soon as I’m outta here, I’ll be sure to test my upgrades out quite thoroughly on whomever is unlucky enough to piss me off. In fact, I’ve already got a few field tests in mind.” As Sam opened the door, Retix sat back down on the desk, saying “Take care of yourself,” in a sincere voice. Sam looked back at her and smiled, saying “Yeah, ‘cause you’d just be heartbroken if I got fucked out there, wouldn’t you? Bet it would just tear you up, like you tore up Ricardo, Cleo, and John, hm?” Rather than respond, Retix simply looked down. Sam stared hard at her, saying “Hey, don’t worry. Maybe we’ll meet again someday, on opposite sides of some power struggle, or whatever. I’ll tear your head off, real fast ‘n clean. Then you can tell ‘em in person just how bad you feel ‘bout killing ‘em, you fucking alien.”

After that, there was little left to say. Sam departed, and Retix continued to sit on her desk, lost in thought. In time, she picked up her terminal and once again began to tinker with it. As she did so, the door to her office opened slowly, and Francesca stepped inside. Crossing her arms and smiling, she shook her head lightly as she stared at Retix. Retix shot her a quick glance, before returning to her work. Francesca turned away from her and began to slowly pace around the room, still smiling. “You’ll regret that,” she said in a low voice. “It’s my choice,” replied Retix without looking up. Francesca, calmly brushing a few hairs away from her eyes, said “She’ll come for you, eventually. She’ll never let you get away from her, and you know why.” Retix shook her head lightly, replying “She’s not exactly a paragon of patience. If she were going to kill me, she’d have done it long ago. As long as I’m the only one that she can turn to for repairs and upgrades, I just don’t think that she’s that much of a threat. Besides… I kind of like her.”

“I despise her,” replied Francesca in a soft voice. Retix looked up at her, and asked “Why? Because she’s a traitor?” Francesca smiled once again, and answered “No. Because she’s a coward. And I despise cowards.” Though Retix said nothing in response, Francesca’s answer had cut her deeply. As if a cold wind had begun blowing in her mind and heart, she stared vacantly ahead as she thought of her home, and the satisfaction of tinkering with the terminal in her hands gave way to a lonely headache. Suddenly, a weary smile flashed across her face, and she muttered “Maybe that’s why I like her so much. We’re kindred.” Francesca wasn’t one to be moved by brooding, and she ignored Retix’s rumination, saying “You don’t have to be the one to do it. I’ll gladly take that honor. When she betrayed you and came to the alliance, she mentioned the precautions you had taken against her. For example, a projectile that is unaffected by her shield…”

Retix began to massage her forehead as a powerful migraine overtook her senses. “No,” she answered in a low and soft voice. Francesca ceased her pacing and looked at Retix, folding her arms as if annoyed, though her perpetual smile seemed to grow wider. She then said something in response, however Retix couldn’t quite make out what it was. All of the sounds around her, the voices of workers and the constant cacophony of their labor, seemed to blend together into a muffled sort of hum. As she looked ahead, her vision became muddy, her office seemingly warping into a black and gray mess, void of individual shapes. Her head grew warm, while her body shivered as if hit by a winter breeze. This wasn’t the first time that her headaches had caused such an effect, and she was prepared for it, lying back on her desk and closing her eyes. She knew that Francesca was likely staring at her, still trying to convince her to kill Sam, and so she said “Forget her. Let her kill me if she wants. It all matters so little. The game I’m playing… only has one possible outcome. We have tomorrow, and that’s all I could have reasonably hoped for. Now, if you wouldn’t mind… I feel very tired.”

Francesca had grown accustomed to Retix’s worsening condition, and knew that trying to convince her any further would be futile. Shrugging, she pulled a packet of chewing gum out of her pocket and popped a stick into her mouth, before heading for the door. Stepping out into the warehouse proper, she strode past a cloud of smoke lit up by nearby neon lights, and put her hands in her pockets. In a way, Retix’s stubborn refusal to take her advice had annoyed her, however it was also a source of comfort. The fact that Retix held fast to her honor and refused to compromise her morals meant that they couldn’t simply assassinate Sam before she became an obstacle, but it also meant that it was more than likely that she would honor her agreement. Putting it all out of her mind, Francesca simply kept on smiling, and set about helping the workers with their tasks. Whatever the future may hold for her, she was ready.

Still lying on her desk, Retix drifted further away from reality, into a cold darkness. In time, objects sprang up here and there in the infinite expanse surrounding her. This was nothing new. Her condition had worsened since her arrival on earth, and for some time now mild hallucinations had become par for the course. A woman of the same species as Retix was sitting on a strange sort of couch, the kind of furniture that she recognized from her home planet. She recognized the woman as well. It had been years since they had spoken. Unwilling to entertain the hallucination, Retix simply ignored her. The woman didn’t seem to mind, as she was engrossed with a small device on her wrist. Looking ahead, she saw a large triangular sewer maintenance entrance, reminding her of the city she had grown up in. For some reason, the image of it made her feel a strange sort of sorrow, which in turn made her laugh. She found it funny, how all manner of random things can suddenly affect someone with such an impact. Even a sewer, in time, can bring nobility to shed nostalgic tears. More images came and went, things that held such meaning to her, things that she hadn’t seen for years. And all the while, she kept returning to the sewer, struggling to understand why that specific image held so much power.

Suddenly, a warm feeling seemed to envelop her. The darkness gave way to the light of the office around her, and the images became flashing outlines, before slowly fading away. She felt a release of pressure and a rushing sensation in her mind, as if her hallucination was simply an amount of water that had been caught in her ears, now finally flowing out. Her migraine weakened into a dull throbbing, and she slid off of the desk and slowly stood up. The world around her was still somewhat fuzzy, and it took her a few seconds before she found her sense of balance. She took a few steps, calmly withdrawing her sword from the sheath on her back, and practiced a few simple strokes. Swordplay always seemed to help her relax, and to reclaim her senses.

Oriphiel · 05-08-2017, 07:22 PM

Here we go again, with more insane nonsense. Some of you may have been wondering how exactly it came about that Francesca teamed up with Retix, or how it was that she was alive at all, considering that last we saw of her in the final chapters of Blood and Diamonds, she and her men were risking everything in a suicide attack to distract the aliens. Welp, gather 'round the campfire dear audience, 'cause it's time for some 'splainin...

Chapter Two

Girlschool - Race With The Devil

Months ago, on the day that the allies had set off on their assault against the aliens and their planet enslaving device, Francesca and her men had been fighting frantically to create the distraction necessary for the success of their mission. Just as planned, they moved through the aliens’ territory in plain sight, firing upon their servants. Before long, enemy reinforcements moved in and surrounded them, assaulting them with fully charged alien rifles. Of course, Francesca and her forces had appropriated a few alien rifles of their own from their fallen opponents, and fought back with all that they had. The terrible weapons wielded by both sides created massive carnage, as blood sprayed freely and buildings crumbled with terrifying force.

As a small store behind her exploded in a ball of fire, Francesca realized that the use of cover would be futile. Casting away any sense of caution left within her, she simply ran recklessly through the streets and alleys around her, firing upon all not wearing her gang’s colors. In time, the fear and excitement within her were honed into a singular focus; to think only of moving forward. As long as she kept her momentum, and her heart kept beating ever faster, she told herself that she couldn’t die. While most of her men had become spread out by the chaos, her most trusted lieutenants had stayed by her side, keeping up with her on their race towards oblivion.

Francesca’s aim was truer than ever before, and dozens of men fell before her. However, her enemies seemed to grow more numerous by the second, while her own forces were now little more than a handful strong. A well placed shot decimated the building to Francesca’s right, tearing through many of her lieutenants as the edge of the massive shot clipped by. Leaping forward to avoid the blast, she narrowly escaped death as the remnants of the shattered building fell down upon her second in command. Without stopping to think, she simply sprang back to her feet and fired a return shot, vaporizing her attacker and the large bus behind him. Quickly glancing over her shoulder as she continued to run forward, she saw that a few of her lieutenants were still alive, albeit gravely injured. Before the thought to help them had even begun to cross her mind, a nearby explosion sent a surge of adrenaline through her that demanded that she stop for nothing.

The battle carried on for what seemed to Francesca to be simultaneously an eternity and a blur. Any meaningful grasp of time had left her many corpses ago. It seemed, however, that it couldn’t possibly last much longer, as she could no longer see any of her men. As far as she knew, she was the only one left. Her enemies surrounded her, firing at every opportunity. Fortunately, most of their rifles had long since burned through the energy necessary to fire fully charged shots, however the steady stream of reinforcements meant that she could likely hold off her death no longer; just one shot from a fresh rifle, even a sloppy one, would end it all. To avoid an oncoming mob of enemies, she quickly ran into an alley, the entrance exploding behind her and trapping her within.

She eventually found her way back out to the streets, expecting her enemies to be waiting for her on the other side of the winding alley. However, the streets were occupied only by the dead. Her heart kicking her from within, she kept her rifle ready as she scanned her surroundings, expecting her death to come at any moment. Her only desire was the luxury of seeing the lucky bastard who would fire the fatal shot just before he pulled the trigger, so that she could take him with her. Long as she waited, though, the shot never came. All at once, a cold electricity coursed through her, and her head became light as it finally dawned upon her. She stumbled forward, wiping the sweat from her brow with an even sweatier forearm, dropping her gun onto the asphalt. It was over. In the heart of the aliens’ territory, the allies had finally begun their attack.

Unsure of what exactly she should do next, as she hadn’t been planning on surviving long enough to enjoy the rest of the day, she simply walked forward as the buzz of adrenaline drifted away from her. Stepping past a pawn shop, she caught sight of her reflection in the gaudily furnished window, and stopped. Even though all of her men had been slain, along with any chance that she had of restoring her father’s gang to it’s former glory, as she looked at herself in the window she couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow, once again, she had survived against the odds, without so much as a scratch on her.

In time, she made her way towards the aliens’ headquarters, hoping to help the allies in their attack. However, by the time she had arrived, the battle had already ended. With the aliens’ device destroyed, all of their servants had laid down their weapons, and could do little more than look around with expressions of sleepy confusion. Despite Sam’s intervention, the leader of the Red Sleeves had fallen in battle, and Hojo Naomasa had taken over as the de facto leader of the allied forces. However, now that their mission had been completed and the fighting had ceased, his men seemed unsure of how exactly to proceed. While a few celebrated over their tremendous victory, most seemed to look uneasily at those around them, at the colors and symbols of rival gangs, wondering how much any of it still meant.

Francesca laughed as a warm breeze passed by. The future of the city, as well as the world, was unknown to her, but at that moment she could hardly care about such things. It was a beautiful day, and she was alive. The chaotic events of late would surely lead to a power vacuum, and even without any soldiers she still stood a good chance of regaining her power if she stayed cunning and hungry. But until then, she was determined to enjoy herself. Searching her pockets for some chewing gum, she sauntered away from the scene of the battle. As she did so, a man in a hoodie stepped past her. At first, Francesca paid little attention to him. However, as he walked away, a nearby puddle splashed lightly, as if some unseen person were walking alongside him. This caught Francesca’s attention.

Keeping her distance, Francesca followed the man through the eerily quiet city streets. Eventually, he ducked into an arcade, long since abandoned since the aliens had claimed this part of the city. Carefully, Francesca followed him inside, staying behind the cover of a large gaming cabinet as the man sat at a bar on the far side of the arcade. Suddenly, one of the aliens flickered into vision, and sat in the seat beside him. “So… what now?” asked Luke, as he brushed his hood back. Retix shrugged, and replied “Not sure. I’ve got a few ideas, but none of them are likely to work. I suppose we should start by finding others to assist us, as well as somewhere we can work in peace. Somewhere big. Then I could build something.” Luke leaned back and stretched his arms out, asking “Something?” “Yes,” replied Retix, “though my options are limited now that I’m the only one left. If I snuck back into the headquarters and salvaged some parts, I could probably build another teleporter…”

“And do what with it?” asked Luke. Retix looked at him and shook her head, saying “I don’t know. But we’ll figure something out.” Smiling, she added “Like you said back at the headquarters, as long as we don’t give up, even if all we can accomplish is taking out a few Threx ships before they conquer the planet, it’ll be worth it.” Luke smiled back at her as he stood up, and walked behind the bar. Grabbing a glass, he put it under a tap and filled it with soda. He’d have preferred something stronger, but unfortunately the arcade seemed to have catered to a younger sort. Leaning forward on the counter, Retix said “Luke… thank you.” “Hm?” replied Luke, looking up at her. Retix looked to the side, saying “For stopping me. You’re a good friend. For a moment, I… just couldn’t wait any longer.” Luke took a drink from his soda, before replying “You’re welcome. You know, you should really take better care of your life. You deserve it.” Retix looked at Luke as he took another drink, and summoned up a smile. Beneath it, however, was a burning self-loathing that laughed at Luke’s words.

Francesca smiled, stepping out from behind her cover, gun in hand. She had heard enough. Walking quietly through the shadows, she made her way towards the bar as Luke conversed with Retix. Eventually, Luke noticed her, however by then it was too late. She raised her gun towards his head, while shaking her own. For a moment, he entertained the thought of jumping over the bar and trying to disarm her, however Francesca was too far away for him to reach her before getting shot, and he realized that it would be futile. Retix noticed Luke staring at something, and turned in her chair. “Relax,” said Francesca. She knew that Retix was protected by her shield, and was powerful enough to rip her to shreds without much effort, however Luke was completely vulnerable. As long as she kept Luke in her sights, Retix would refrain from making a move.

Retix felt a surge of anger and adrenaline, tightening her hands into fists. However, for Luke’s sake, she dared not attack. Staring at Francesca, she simply said “Don’t.” The two locked gazes for a moment, before Francesca laughed and replied “I’m not going to kill either of you. Like I said, relax, yes?” Slowly finishing off his drink, Luke lowered the glass and said “Well, you’ve got our attention. What do you want?” Francesca shrugged, replying “Lots of things. But until I get them, I suppose I’ll have to settle for saving the world. After all, I can’t enjoy the fruits of my labor if there’s no garden to grow them in.” “What?” asked Luke. Francesca’s smile widened, as she looked at Retix and said “To put it plainly, I want to help you. Cleo and John told me about your history, and about the Threx. I know that they’re coming to either enslave or destroy us all. And that simply won’t do. I didn’t risk everything to make sure your device was shut down, only to end up in as a dog on someone else’s leash. So I propose that we come to some sort of arrangement.”

Retix shook her head, saying “No deal. I can’t trust you.” Francesca laughed, and replied “Naturally! I can’t trust you, you can’t trust me, and yet we stand to gain from each other. Maybe we’ll strike a deal, maybe we’ll kill each other… regardless, the streets never stay still, and neither can we. That is the way this city has always been. Now, I heard you both talking. I know you need help. While the soldiers of my organization have been thoroughly annihilated, I still have connections. You want workers? I can get you dozens, who won’t ask any questions.” Retix looked hard at her, and asked “But I’m guessing your services won’t come free, right?” Francesca tilted her head and nodded in agreement, replying “Of course.” As Luke refilled his glass under the tap, Retix looked to the side, saying “Well, you’re wasting your time. It’s not like we have any money.”

Francesca rolled her eyes and waved her free hand, replying “I don’t need money. I have mountains of that. Besides, once the invasion begins, money may very well become worthless. No, what I want is to be at the heart of the resistance. To become a hero. Once this business with the Threx has been taken care of, and our beautiful planet has been saved, the world will be in chaos. People will be lost, confused. In what few cities are left standing, there will surely be a power vacuum like no other. A famous, influential general like myself would have no problem seizing power. This is when I’ll rebuild my father’s organization, and carve out an empire for myself. I’ll achieve the immortality that is reserved for the heroes of history. After that, I don’t know, I’ll retire to some massive villa and spend the rest of my days indulging in hard-earned pleasure. But I’ll have made sure that it is a world worth retiring in, yes?”

Retix looked at her incredulously, asking “You want us to make you into a hero?” Francesca shook her head, replying “No. I just want the chance to make myself into one. That’s not so unreasonable, is it? Besides, I figure if you can work with a pathetic snake like Sam, you can work with me, yes?” Retix looked into Francesca’s eyes for a moment, thinking. Suddenly, she smiled and stuck out one of her hands, saying “Alright. Welcome aboard.” Francesca smiled back at her. Looking down at Retix’s outstretched hand, she said “Maybe later. My hands are still covered with the blood of your men, and I’d hate to soil yours.”

10-07-2015, 02:21 PM	#41 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	And thus ends the side story. Hope you all enjoyed it! Now, it's time to finish up these last few entries... Chapter Twenty Four As the sun rose above the city, the allies prepared for their showdown with the aliens. Francesca, who had volunteered to lead the diversionary attack, gathered her men and stood before them. Most all of them wore a solemn expression, knowing that their mission meant that they would soon be facing almost certain death. Francesca was not amused with their visible displays of fear, and she soon began to reproach them. "What is this?" she asked, gesturing towards her frightened soldiers. "Am I leading an army of corpses? Are the aliens so powerful that they've killed all of you before the battle has even begun?" None of her men dared to answer. Francesca shook her head and smiled, continuing "What is there to be afraid of? In life, I led you all to victory time and again, destroying every man foolish enough to cross me. In death, I'll lead you all into hell, and we'll carve out a kingdom for ourselves in the fiery pits. Whatever lies on the other side, if it can be conquered, then it shall be. Now grab your guns, and put your balls on. It's time to go fuck up those assholes from space." And with that, Francesca and her forces departed. Her speech wasn't as eloquent or effective as it could have been, but it at least gave her men a sliver of confidence, and they tried their best to hide their fear as they followed her lead. Some time after Francesca's forces had left, the rest of the allied army began to march. Following the guidance of Sam, they were led through the territory of the Blue Shirts. The diversion seemed to be working as well as they had hoped, as almost every enemy in the area had set off to attack Francesca, and they continued to evade detection as Sam led them towards the Blue Shirts' hideout. Walking alongside Sam, Cleo and John passed the time by trading jokes. Occasionally, Cleo would take her notebook out of the messenger bag that she had slung around her. She was constantly tossing the story around in her head, trying to get all of the details correct, and would often stop everything to revise some part of the story that she decided wasn't written well enough. Even as she was walking towards the final showdown, she wasn't willing to leave her notebook behind, as she wanted to write down the details of the battle as soon as it had ended, while it was still fresh in her mind. Regardless, there was a reason for her and John being placed at the front of the attack, alongside Sam; that morning, after Cleo and the others had returned from their joyride, Sam and the leaders of the alliance came up with a way of sneaking into the hideout during the attack, in case it was too heavily guarded for them to simply fight their way into it. Sam's cloaking device could be overcharged, which would allow her to make anyone touching her turn invisible as well, though it only had enough power to grant invisibility to two or so people. While the allies distracted all of the soldiers guarding the hideout, Sam could sneak a few people through the front doors, making it easier for them to reach the device. Getting to the device as soon as possible was important, because as soon as the allies attacked the hideout, the aliens would assuredly send out a general order for all of their soldiers to ignore Francesca and converge on the device, quickly outnumbering and killing the allies before they could accomplish their goal. After getting a few people inside, Sam would then head for the roof, where she would overload the sensors above the device as planned, making it vulnerable. And after that, Sam was to make her way down to the device, and help to destroy both it and the aliens. In time, the allies reached their destination, and they began the attack. Just as they had feared, the number of men guarding the building was substantial, as the aliens were suspicious of Francesca's attack and verbally ordered a large amount of soldiers to remain near the hideout. Of course, many of them were armed with alien rifles, and they quickly began to fire upon the allies. The allies rushed through the wave of deadly gunfire, firing back with their ordinary rifles and pistols. John was pushed to the ground by the force of a shot from an alien rifle, which had torn apart a nearby ally, and he struggled to stand up. "Come on!" yelled Sam, as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to his feet. Activating her cloaking device, she grabbed hold of Cleo and John, forcing her way through a group of charging enemies armed with knives and pipes as she led them towards the door of the hideout. However, before they could reach the door, a shot from an alien rifle smashed into the ground in front of them, pushing them back. Sam looked up, and saw Heyt standing on the stairs leading to the building, aiming his rifle at her. "Fuck," muttered Sam, who had hoped that none of the aliens would be near the door during the attack, as they could see through her invisibility. "You really thought this pathetic trick would work on us? You always were a fool, Sam, and a greedy one at that. Underneath all of that artificial strength is a scared little girl, and I'll very much enjoy seeing the fear in her eyes as I tear her to pieces!" yelled Heyt, as he fired another shot at them. Sam quickly pushed John and Cleo away from the blast, saving their lives, just as the shot hit her dead on. __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| ----------------------------- Last edited by Oriphiel; 12-21-2015 at 11:18 AM.

10-08-2015, 09:18 AM	#42 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	After name dropping Blondie in the first entry, and featuring Debbie Harry's Rush Rush about a month ago, I suppose it was only a matter of time before I featured one of the best disco songs of all time... I actually own the 45 of this one, although mine is radio length and not the extended version in the video below, and it also has a white sleeve rather than pink. However, it's pretty normal for there to be differences between copies when you're looking at a single that has over fifty different versions floating around. Chapter Twenty Five As the shot crashed into Sam, she felt the shield around her struggle to absorb the impact. She knew that if she were to take any more direct hits in the immediate future, the shield would shatter, and she would be completely exposed. She lept to her feet and sprinted towards Heyt, jumping to the side as he fired another shot at her. Cleo and John, who were both now visible after being pushed away from Sam, struggled to fight off the surge of attackers that quickly fell upon them. As Sam drew near her target, Heyt fired one final shot at her, which she dodged expertly. She then dashed forward and tackled Heyt, pulling him down to the ground and causing him to lose his grip on his rifle as they both tumbled down the staircase. Once they hit the bottom, they wasted no time in continuing the fight, grappling fiercely with each other. Though Sam's robotic appendages were incredibly powerful, she still had to break through Heyt's shield before she could do any real damage to him. Unfortunately for her, a stray shot from an alien rifle crashed into her back, and brought her shield down. She was stunned from the impact, and Heyt took the opportunity to strike her nose with his palm, before throwing her off of him. He then stood up, grabbed a pipe from a nearby soldier, and used it to strike Sam hard in the stomach before she could stand up. He then raised the pipe high above his head and prepared to shatter her skull. However, as the blow descended, Sam rolled to the side. She then used her robotic leg to kick Heyt in the crotch, pushing him back a few steps and slightly draining his shield. It didn't phase him for very long, and he stepped forward to kick Sam as she got to her knees. She blocked the strike with her robotic arm and proceeded to grab his leg. After that, she shifted her weight and pulled him off balance. After Heyt had fallen to the ground, Sam elbowed him in the jaw, and they both began to grapple once more. By now, Sam could tell that Heyt's shield was on the verge of breaking, as it was now able to absorb far less power from her strikes. Heyt knew this as well, and he became even more aggressive than before, eager to finish the fight before Sam could punch through. Still, Sam managed to keep up with Heyt's brutal energy, and she maneuvered herself behind him before wrapping her arms around his neck and head. She twisted his head to the side with her robotic arm, putting as much force into it as she possibly could. As she twisted, she could feel his head moving more and more to the side as his shield's capacitors were overpowered one by one, almost as if she were cutting her way through the strands of a taut rope that was finally on the verge of snapping into two. Before Sam could completely break through, a soldier behind her slashed at her with a machete, leaving a gash across her back. Heyt escaped from Sam's grasp and frantically looked around for a weapon, before spotting the alien rifle that he had dropped, near the bottom of the stairs. Sam spun around just as the soldier prepared to slash at her again. She blocked the attack with her robotic arm, shattering the blade, and then pushed him back with a kick that shattered his ribs. Sam turned to face Heyt just as he pointed his rifle at her. With inhuman speed, she grabbed the barrel of the gun and disarmed Heyt while kicking him in the chest, sending him falling backwards against the staircase, and then pointed the rifle towards him. The kick had caused Heyt's shield to finally shatter, and Sam fired the rifle at him without any hesitation. At that range, the shot effortlessly tore through Heyt's head, and left the rest of his body in a burned and bloody heap. With the help of Ricardo, Jackson, and a few other Red Sleeves, Cleo and John fought their way into the hideout during Sam's battle with Heyt. With most of the guards having gone outside to join in the fight, the halls were somewhat empty, save for a few guards that the aliens had ordered to remain inside the hideout at all times. Armed of course with alien rifles, they mounted a bitter defense against the attackers. As Ricardo led the group down a hallway, he noticed that both Cleo and John had lost their guns in the fight outside. He handed John a large pistol, and another Red Sleeve armed Cleo with a submachine gun. Just then, an enemy soldier stepped around the corner and fired at them. As the group narrowly avoided the shot, Ricardo quickly returned fire with his rifle, putting a large amount of bullets into both the enemy soldier and the wall behind him. Ricardo and the others dashed forward through a cloud of drywall dust sent into the air by the bullets, hurrying to get to the device in time. As Ricardo, Jackson, and one of the Red Sleeves turned the corner, a group of soldiers at the end of the hallway opened fire. The Red Sleeve, unfortunately, was struck in the chest by one of the shots, and screamed in pain as he stumbled backwards. Ricardo quickly fell to the ground, dodging the shots as they passed over him, and let his bullets fly as he held down the trigger. Jackson quickly stepped back behind the corner, before sticking his rifle out and firing blindly. After gunning the defenders down, the group continued down the hallway, and began to draw close to the room that Sam had assured the allies contained the device. They turned another corner, and began to walk down a seemingly empty hallway. However, out of nowhere, shots from an alien rifle came flying down the corridor, killing a Red Sleeve and tearing off Jackson's arm. "Fuck!" yelled Ricardo as he and the group stumbled backwards in confusion. After more shots were fired at them, they all quickly made their way back around the corner, while Ricardo fired his rifle blindly down the hallway at the invisible attacker. "Fucking... asshole..." muttered Jackson to the invisible attacker, as he tried to crawl to cover. John reached out and grabbed Jackson's remaining arm, trying to pull him to safety. Just then, another shot came flying down the corridor, and it hit Jackson dead on, killing him. "What the fuck are we fighting?" asked Ricardo as he reloaded. Cleo stuck her submachine gun around the corner and pulled the trigger, while yelling through the gunfire "The aliens made a cloaking device for Sam, right? Maybe they made some for themselves!" "Jesus fucking christ... they're not gonna make this easy for us, are they?" replied Ricardo, as he prepared to fire. Before he could pull the trigger, Cleo whispered "Wait," as she reloaded her gun. "He'd be an idiot to just stand there in the middle of the hallway and let himself get shot. Even with a shield, he wouldn't be able to let it take too many hits. He's probably taken cover around the corner, at the end of the hallway, just like us. All we're doing is wasting bullets." At the other end of the corridor, Valk was looking down the hallway with a calm gaze, shrouded by his cloaking device. He briefly thought about shifting the energy output of his rifle, overcharging it, and simply killing the intruders by destroying the entire corner in a massive blast. However, firing such a shot would drain his rifle for the time being, and he wasn't sure if there were more intruders in the immediate area. Also, the intruders were currently underneath the room that contained the device, as well as the rest of the aliens, and he didn't want to risk destabilizing that part of the building with a large explosion. After deciding to keep on stalling them for as long as possible, taking no chances, he laughed loudly, before saying "Keep whispering, and firing aimlessly at me. We've already summoned the entirety of our army to return. All I have to do is keep you busy until they arrive." "Keep this busy, fucker," said Ricardo, as he angrily fired a few shots around the corner. Cleo put a hand on his shoulder, and whispered "Ricardo, which corner is he behind? Left or right?" Ricardo looked at her for a moment, before sticking his head slightly around the corner. Almost immediately, Valk fired a shot at him, and Ricardo ducked behind cover again. "Looked like the shot came from the right," answered Ricardo in a low voice. Cleo took a deep breath, before saying "Alright. We've got no time to waste. The only way to get to the device is to pass through this hallway... so we have to rush him. We could fire at the corner he's behind, suppressing him, while closing the distance... but with his shield, he could ignore our shots and fire at us while we're running at him in the open. We have to take it down somehow, or at least put a dent in it before we make our move..." Ricardo smiled, pulling a hand grenade out of his pocket. "I was going to use this to destroy the device, after Sam overloads the sensors on the roof," he said. Cleo replied "We'll find another way to blow the device up. Right now, we need to take this asshole out." Ricardo nodded, and pulled the pin out of the grenade. After letting it sit in his hand for a few seconds, he threw it as hard as he could, and it exploded almost as soon as it had reached the other end of the hallway. Immediately, everyone in the group lept out from their cover and sprinted down the hallway, firing at the right corner. The grenade had stressed Valk's shield and put him flat on his back, with the majority of his body sticking out from his cover, and his rifle had been knocked out of his grip. After taking the first few shots, Valk's energy generators began to lose the power to sustain his invisibility and his shield, and he became exposed as he appeared in plain sight. Just before his shield finally shattered, he managed to get to his feet and roll behind cover. The group moved on and turned around the corner without any hesitation, preparing to fire. Valk, knowing that he would be shot from behind if he tried to run from the quickly approaching attackers, was lying in wait for them behind the corner. As soon as the humans came into view, Valk rushed at them, using his preternatural strength to knock them back. However, before being struck, the allies managed to fire off a few shots, and one of them hit Valk in the side. As Cleo began to stand up, Valk elbowed her jaw, putting her back to the ground, and he kicked John in the chest, sending him back against the wall behind him. Ricardo pointed his gun as Valk, who grabbed his arm and redirected the gun to face John. The gun began to fire, hitting John in the chest and shoulder, before Ricardo pulled out a knife and stuck it into Valk's spine. As Valk screamed and fell forward, contorted in pain, Ricardo regained control of his rifle and fired a few shots into him, before rushing to help John. However, John raised a hand, and said "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. This isn't the first time I've been shot." Cleo got back to her feet, rubbing her jaw and wiping the sweat from her brow. "We need to keep moving. Can you walk?" she asked. John took a few steps forward, wincing and favoring his wounds, before nodding and saying "Seems like it. In any case," he stopped briefly and raised up his pistol, "I can definitely still shoot. Let's go finish those fuckers off." __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| ----------------------------- Last edited by Oriphiel; 12-21-2015 at 11:27 AM.

10-09-2015, 11:17 AM	#45 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	Chapter Twenty Six Breathless and covered in wounds, the three prepared themselves as they opened the door to the room containing the device. While Cleo expected the aliens to be anxiously lying in wait for them, she soon saw that they were simply working on the device, as if unaware of the chaos outside. As Luke and the aliens looked up at the intruders, it seemed as though they hadn't taken any precautions against them. However, the aliens were expecting their arrival, having watched their progress on the monitors as they worked, and as soon as the humans began to fire their weapons, the aliens activated their cloaking devices, while Luke got behind cover. The humans stepped back and took cover behind the doorway, spraying bullets throughout the room, however Retix ordered the aliens to not fire back. "Wait!" she yelled repeatedly over the gunfire, until the humans eventually heard her and stopped firing for a moment, partly out of curiosity and partly so that they could take a moment to scan the room while reloading their weapons. "You don't know what you're doing," said Retix to the intruders. "We're not your enemies. We were never your enemies. All we want is to spare this planet from the fate that befell our own. Right now, you stand absolutely no chance of defeating us. Before you could even hope to penetrate the device's shield, our rifles would tear you to pieces, and with our cloaking devices activated, firing at us is beyond futile. We could kill you all in an instant, however... I grow tired of all of this needless bloodshed. If you and your allies were to simply lay down your weapons and surrender, we would happily order our army to let you leave here in peace. However, if you refuse to give up, we will not suffer you to live." "Not a chance," replied Cleo. "We've come this far, and I'll be damned if we don't see this through to the end." Just then, Qez deactivated her cloaking device. Laughing, she took a step towards the humans, raising up an alien rifle towards the ceiling with one hand, and brushing back her hair with the other. "Do you think you know us?" she asked the humans, her laid back demeanor becoming slightly tinged with anger. John aimed his pistol at her, however Cleo raised a hand and bade him to wait for a moment. Qez continued, saying "Do you know what I had to do to make it this far? What we've all had to do? You couldn't begin to imagine the things that I've seen, not until you've witnessed the merciless slaughter of everyone that you've ever loved... and I will fight, and die, to ensure that you never have to know such an experience. Still... I'm not like the others. I'll fight for what I believe in, but I won't gun someone down from the shadows. If we're going to fight, then you're damn well going to look into my eyes when I send you to the other side." With that, Qez aimed her rifle at them, and after pulling a small lever near the trigger towards her, fired a powerful shot. The humans quickly fell away from their cover, narrowly evading the blast as it tore through the doorway, as well as the wall behind them. While the drywall dust in the air shrouded them, the humans scrambled to their feet and ran through the hole that Qez's rifle had made behind them, into a storeroom filled with random furniture, firing bullets back towards Qez all the while. Once inside, they took cover behind whatever they could, and continued to shoot through the large hole in the wall. Having fired a slightly overcharged shot at them, Qez's rifle needed a few seconds to recharge, however she wasn't willing to wait that long. Recklessly charging straight at the intruders, she let her shield absorb their bullets as she prepared to rip them apart by hand. Luke stood up and prepared to join the fight as well, however Retix stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder, saying "Stay back. Without a shield, you won't last long." At first, Luke was startled, as Retix's cloaking device prevented him from seeing her, however he quickly adjusted. Smiling, he replied "It's not my fault you didn't make me one." Though Luke couldn't see it, Retix returned the smile, answering "Well, you never asked for one. And honestly, I didn't think you would need one. We should have been able to stop them from getting this far... at any rate, please, stay back. We can finish this on our own." Luke looked down, before eventually nodding, saying "Alright." Having settled that, Retix gripped her rifle tightly as she stepped closer to the action, preparing to join the fight, however she was soon stopped by something that caught her attention. Glancing back at the monitors beside her, she looked at the feed from one of the cameras on the roof, and saw Sam approaching the device's sensor array. The aliens had seen her on the monitors when she had first entered the building, however they assumed that she was following the intruders' tracks to provide reinforcements, underestimating her by believing that she wasn't clever enough to do anything but attack the device directly. They allowed themselves to be distracted by the three intruders, letting Sam's progress go unwatched during the fighting. After killing Heyt, Sam had been detained slightly from carrying out her mission; just as she was entering the building, she glanced back and noticed that the leader of the Red Sleeves was in dire straits, wounded and struggling to fend off an enemy soldier wielding a machete. Normally, she wouldn't have cared, however last night's joyride had put her in a good mood. Rolling her eyes, she jumped back into the fray, saving his life before moving on. When she had finally entered the building, Cleo and the others had cleared most of the way for her, however she still encountered a few guards on her way to the roof. Now, raising up her mechanical arm, she prepared to overload the sensors. Heyt had sapped her energy generators by breaking her shield, however she had recharged enough power on her way to the roof to send out an electrical blast. Taking a deep breath, she let the electricity flow freely from her hand. "No!" yelled Retix. Suddenly, the room was enveloped in a flash of bright light, as the monitors began to explode from the surge of energy. Various tubes and wires connected to the device began to shake and crackle, as arcs of electricity dashed across the room. Retix and Tyl were both caught in the middle of the chaos, and their shields and cloaking devices began to fail as their energy generators were overloaded and damaged, and Luke backed himself up against an unfurnished wall as he tried to avoid being electrocuted. In the other room, Qez had made short work of the intruders, throwing them across the room with ease, though her shield was on the verge of breaking. After sending John to the floor by throwing a table at him, she heard Retix scream, and looked over her shoulder in curiosity. Her eyes widened as she saw sparks flying from the device, and the shields protecting it starting to fail. The humans knew that Sam had finally carried out her part of the mission, and it was now time for them to destroy the device. Noticing that Qez was distracted, and that the other aliens were vulnerable, Cleo and Ricardo made a dash for the hole in the wall. Qez quickly snapped back to her senses, but just as she reached out to stop Cleo, John tackled her from behind. Cleo stopped and looked back, yelling "John!" as she stepped forward to help him. However, he stopped her by yelling "Don't worry! I can take care of her! Go!" Cleo nodded, and once again set off for the device. Ricardo was the first to enter the room containing the device. While running past Qez, he noticed Cleo's submachine gun and messenger bag on the ground, both of which had been knocked away from her during the fight with Qez. Slowing down as little as possible, he bent over and picked the gun up, aiming it at the device as he entered the room. He fired a few shots as he ran past the ruined doorway, however the metal plating around the device was strong enough to withstand the barrage of bullets. By that time, Tyl had started to regain his senses, and he fired a shot at the intruder. Ricardo shifted his aim towards Tyl as he lept forward while returning fire, taking cover behind a series of busted monitors. Knowing that such cover wouldn't be able to protect him, Ricardo quickly ran out from behind it and continued to fire at Tyl, who took cover behind a large powered down generator. "Hold them off!" yelled Retix, who was frantically working with a series of wires behind cover, trying to connect the device to a piece of machinery that could serve as a makeshift back up generator. After losing it's main source of power, the device would not be able to operate for very much longer without an auxiliary source of energy, and the back up generator would also bring it's main shield back online. Alongside her was Luke, who assisted her as best he could. Just then, Cleo entered the room. Noticing that Ricardo was holding her gun, she took an ammo clip out of her pocket and threw it towards him, as she ran up to the device. However, after reaching it, she realized that she didn't have any weapons, and had no idea how she could possibly destroy it. Picking up a nearby pipe that had once contained a tangle of wires, she set about striking the device. Ricardo, as he stopped firing at Tyl to reload, shouted "What are you doing?" to Cleo, who replied "I'm takin' this fucker down!" With Ricardo no longer shooting at him, Tyl took the opportunity to lean out from behind his cover and fire at Cleo. "Fuck!" yelled Cleo as she jumped out of the way of the blast. "Be careful! Don't hit the device!" yelled Retix, who saw the shot in her peripheral vision. Ricardo and Cleo both heard her, and shot each other a glance as Cleo got back to her feet and got behind cover. Ricardo tilted his head towards Tyl, and Cleo nodded in response. After Cleo and Ricardo had gone to destroy the device, Qez broke out of John's grip rather easily, and threw him against a wall. As she turned to leave the room and assist her allies, John ran forward to tackle her once again. This time, Qez refused to be knocked down, shifting her weight while effortlessly tossing him to the side. He fell into the seat of a beaten up couch, and Qez stepped forward angrily while sending out a heavy kick towards him. John rolled to the side, and Qez's leg went straight through the back of the couch, leaving her somewhat stuck and in an awkward position. John took the opportunity to send a kick of his own, and it pushed Qez back as it struck her ribs. John then stood up and threw a punch at her, hitting her in the jaw, before throwing another punch with his other arm. This time, Qez deflected the strike while stepping to the side. With inhuman speed, she grabbed his arm with her blocking hand, and used the palm of her other hand to strike his elbow, breaking it. She then pulled him towards her as she kneed him in the ribs, breaking one of them. John had already been seriously wounded before the fight had even begun, and at this point he was barely able to stay on his feet. Still, he used what little strength he had left to grab one of the spare telephones next to him, smashing it against Qez's head. Qez angrily threw John to the side, sending him crashing into a wooden stool, before raising a hand up to her bloody temple. Having injured her, John now knew that her shield had finally been broken. Though Qez's anger still remained, she shot John a quick smile, saying "I like you. Can't say you have much in the way of a personality, but you just don't give up, you know? For what it's worth, I'll remember you after I kill you." As she walked over to him, John tried to stand up, but simply couldn't find the strength to get to his feet. "Need some help?" asked Qez, as she pulled him up off of the ground by his shattered arm. Underneath him, the stool he had landed on had been smashed to pieces, and he used his good arm to grab one of the broken off legs. As Qez lifted him, he swung the leg as hard as he could into her stomach. The blow didn't phase her very much, and she responded by hitting him with a series of punches, each one leaving him more bloody than the last. "You should have walked when I gave you the chance," said Qez, as she blocked a weak punch that John had thrown at her, following up by pushing him back and hitting him with a powerful roundhouse kick. As John fell to the ground, Qez grabbed a stool leg with a broken and jagged end, and prepared to put it through him. However, after taking a few steps towards him, she stopped, and scanned him up and down. He was covered in blood and bruises, with two bullet holes ensuring that he couldn't possibly remain a threat for very much longer. Qez laughed slightly and shook her head, before letting the stool leg fall from her grasp. Despite everything that she had been through, and all of the death that she had been surrounded by on her home planet, she had never become desensitized to it. Though she loved a good fight, killing was simply not apart of her nature, no matter how angry she let herself become. She was ready to fight the intruders in the next room, and kill them if necessary, but she couldn't bring herself to kill John. Lying there bloody and broken, he reminded her too much of Merrus, whose body she had eventually found dumped by the roadside and left to rot, like so many others. She was never supposed to have known about him, but her curiosity simply wouldn't let her rest until she had found answers. And though she knew that her friends had been the ones who had ended his life, she forgave them. "You put up a good fight. Now get out of here, before you bleed to death," she said, while turning to leave the room and assist in the defense of the device. However, as she did so, John spotted his pistol, half hidden underneath the remains of a destroyed chair. Cleo and Ricardo were barely holding on as it was, and he couldn't let Qez join the fight against them. He had to stop her. With a bloody and trembling hand, he grabbed the pistol and aimed it at Qez, just as she was about to leave the room. He fired four shots at her, and three of them hit their target. Surprised, Qez gasped as she looked down and saw three exit wounds erupting from her chest. Turning back towards John, she lost her footing, and fell to the ground. "You shot me in the back?" she asked, pressing a hand against the hole left by a shot that had gone through her heart. "You're a real fucking coward..." she added. Rolling onto her back, she gazed up at the ceiling, and laughed. "But that's alright... I forgive you. Do you... forgive me?" she asked, turning her gaze towards John. He looked back at her with a confused expression. The life soon disappeared from her eyes, and John looked away as he tried to stand up. It seemed, however, that he was fated to die there as well. It had been a few minutes since he had been shot, and though none of his vital organs had been damaged, his body was losing far too much blood for him to carry on. Feeling his consciousness fade, he closed his eyes, and took his last breath. __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| ----------------------------- Last edited by Oriphiel; 12-21-2015 at 11:35 AM.

10-10-2015, 11:04 AM	#46 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	Chapter Twenty Seven After signalling each other, Cleo and Ricardo had come up with a rudimentary plan. Their weapons couldn't harm the device, but after hearing Retix shout at Tyl to be more careful with his aim, they became certain that an overcharged alien rifle could certainly make short work of it. Ricardo stood up and fired at Tyl, forcing him to stay back behind his cover, while Cleo dashed towards his position. Just as Ricardo's clip ran out, Cleo reached her target, pipe in hand. Tyl came out from behind his cover to fire at Ricardo, and Cleo struck him in the jaw with her pipe, sending him falling backwards. However, he refused to let go of his rifle, and he aimed it up at Cleo as she began to grapple with him for it. Just before Tyl pulled the trigger, Cleo pushed the barrel of the rifle away, and the shot hurtled harmlessly to the side. Though Cleo was tenacious and had caught him by surprise, Tyl was still a powerful enemy, and he managed to push her off of him. At that time, Ricardo was running to assist Cleo, throwing his empty submachine gun to the side as he was now completely out of ammo. Tyl saw him coming, knife in hand, and fired a shot at him to keep him at bay. Ricardo jumped behind a series of barely operating monitors, however the shot still managed to graze him as he tried to dodge it, burning his right arm. Eager to end the fight, Tyl pulled the lever on his gun, overcharging it slightly, as he aimed it at the monitors that Ricardo had taken cover behind. Desperate to stop him, Cleo lept to her feet and tackled Tyl from behind, preventing him from firing his rifle. As the two grappled, Tyl elbowed Cleo in the ribs, before positioning himself to face her. He pushed the lever on the gun away from himself as he pointed it towards Cleo, preparing to shoot her, but unwilling to hit her with a massive overcharged shot in such close proximity, as it would very likely destroy the both of them. Cleo reached for his rifle as he aimed it, pushing it away, and Tyl used his free hand to grab Cleo's arm, trying to force it away from his rifle. His fingers began to dig into Cleo's arm as he tightened his unnaturally powerful grip, and she let out a cry of pain, before jabbing a thumb into one of Tyl's eyes. On the other side of the room, Retix and Luke were working furiously to connect the device to the back up generator, and they were coming closer to accomplishing their task. However, in the chaos following Sam's overload, the generator had been somewhat damaged, and Retix struggled to repair it. By this time, the device was beginning to lose it's hold on the soldiers outside, and the battle would be lost for the aliens if it wasn't quickly connected to a source of power. Meanwhile, Ricardo had gotten back to his feet, and he rejoined the fight. As Cleo dug her thumb further into Tyl's eye socket, he tightened his grip on her arm, however she refused to take her hold off of his rifle. Ricardo ran up and tried to stab Tyl with his knife, however the alien released his grip on Cleo's arm, and grabbed Ricardo's hand before the knife could enter his chest. As Ricardo struggled to break free from Tyl's grip, the blade pivoted and sliced deep into Tyl's wrist. Letting out a cry of pain, Tyl kicked Ricardo in the shin, causing him to stumble backwards. Cleo redoubled her efforts to seize Tyl's rifle, but the alien struggled fiercely against her, putting himself into a position where he could raise one of his legs against her chest, before using it to push her off of him. As Tyl stood up, Ricardo slashed at his throat with his knife. Tyl quickly stepped backwards, dodging the strike, while raising his rifle. Before he could pull the trigger, Cleo struck him in the arm with her pipe, which she had found on the ground after Tyl had kicked her away. As the pipe connected with his elbow, Tyl lost his grip on the rifle, and it fell towards the device. Ricardo made a dash for the gun, however Tyl was not yet ready to give up. Though the strike had certainly hurt him, it didn't completely stun Tyl, and he quickly ran forward and tackled Ricardo just before he could pick up the rifle, sending them both crashing into the device. Cleo was not far behind, and as Ricardo and Tyl both grabbed at the gun, she swung her pipe down at the alien's head. Tyl rolled to the side to avoid the strike, losing his grip on the rifle, and he then kept Cleo away by kicking her injured arm, which she grabbed in pain as she dropped the pipe and fell to a knee. As Ricardo finally got his hands on the rifle, he and the alien both quickly got to their feet. Without wasting any time, Ricardo aimed it at Tyl, who grabbed the barrel with one hand while punching Ricardo in the throat with the other. Tyl took possession of the gun as Ricardo stumbled backwards, and he immediately fired a shot. Ricardo was killed as the blast struck him, and his body was knocked back into a heap of broken machinery. Cleo had recovered from the earlier strike, getting back to her feet as soon as possible, and she was charging at Tyl just as he turned around to shoot her. She tackled him, pushing him up against the device, and they once again grappled for control of the gun. This time, however, Cleo only had one arm to fight with. With very little energy left in her, she knew that she couldn't possibly contend with him for much longer. Repositioning himself, Tyl pressed Cleo against the device, and began to push the rifle towards her throat, preparing to crush her windpipe. Normally, this would be an easy task for someone of his strength to accomplish, however Tyl's arms had been injured earlier in the fight. Even so, he was still able to overpower her, and as she held her good arm up against the rifle, all she could do against the inhumanly powerful alien was slightly slow him down. With only seconds to live, she cleared her mind. Looking at the gun, she saw that her hand was close to the lever near the trigger. Earlier, when Qez had first fired a shot at the intruders, Cleo had noticed that she made her shot larger than normal by manipulating the lever on her gun, and she had also seen Tyl do the same thing when he had earlier prepared to fire an overcharged shot at Ricardo as he was taking cover. Without hesitation, she quickly pushed the lever towards the stock, charging up the rifle as much as possible, and then moved her arm to the right until her hand was at the barrel. Tyl's eyes widened as he realized what she was doing, but before he could react, Cleo was turning her head as far to the side as she could, and pulling the very end of the barrel towards the device, so that the tip was pressing into it. At the same time, she raised her injured arm, which caused her a great deal of pain, and put her bloody hand on the trigger. All of this happened in the span of a second, and before Tyl could pull the barrel of the rifle away from the device, Cleo pulled the trigger. The overcharged shot instantly killed the both of them, as the device exploded in a shower of flames and sparks. Retix and Luke ceased their work on the back up generator in the corner of the room, and ducked down. The massive blast from the rifle continued on, destroying everything it touched, eventually leaving a large rift in the wall as it left the building. Outside, as the shot flew above the battlefield, the people enslaved by the aliens began to fall to the ground, void of memory and free at least. Retix stood and stared at the shattered remains of the device, as it occasionally shot out a series of sparks. Seemingly void of emotion, she began to walk forward. After taking a few steps, she was hit by the sunlight pouring in through the hole left by the blast, and she squinted her eyes as she turned towards it. Looking outside at the beautiful world before her, all she could see was what she had failed to protect. "It's over," was all she could bring herself to say. There was no way that she alone could build another device in time to fight the coming invasion. Luke walked towards her, unsure of what to say. Suddenly, a flash of anger came over Retix, and she pulled her sword out of the scabbard on her back as she walked towards the ruined doorway. "Where are you going?" asked Luke in surprise. Without stopping, she replied "To kill as many of the allies as I can." "Retix, stop!" he yelled as he followed after her. She turned to face him, and replied "Why? What else can I possibly hope to accomplish? I have failed your people, just as I failed my own. My friends are waiting for me in the darkness." As Retix turned to walk away, Luke put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, and said "If you go out there, they'll kill you in an instant." "Hopefully," replied Retix, as she shrugged his hand away and continued walking towards the door. "You can't be serious. You've fought, and beat, the odds before. When the Threx invaded your world, they should have killed you, but they didn't. When the Blue Shirts betrayed you and the others, they should have overrun you, but they didn't. And after the allied gangs threw everything they had at you, even though they destroyed the device, you're still standing. After all you've been through, you're just gonna give up?" he asked. Retix turned and punched him hard in the jaw, sending him to the ground. "You have no idea what I've been through!" she yelled. "You could never understand the horrors that befell my people because of my mistakes! The only thing that kept me from ending my shameful existence was the chance that I could one day attain some form of redemption, but now the universe has denied me even that!" "So what?" replied Luke, as he got back to his feet. As Retix looked at him, he continued, saying "You know what? You're right. I don't know what you've been through. I don't even know much about you at all. But I do know that no matter what you've done in the past, here and now, you're my friend, and I won't let you run off to die." Retix put a hand to her forehead, nursing a sudden painful migraine, as she replied "What else can I do?" Luke thought for a moment, before answering "Keep going. The way I see it, we still have a chance, even if it's not much of a chance at all. When the Threx get here, we may or may not be able to stop them, but we can at least make them work to conquer the planet." Retix lowered her hand, and gazed at the remains of the device that she and the others had worked so hard to build. Eventually, she answered "Maybe you're right. It would be more fitting for me to die fighting the Threx, rather than throw my life away before they even arrive." Luke narrowed his eyes, and replied "That's not what I said." Retix shrugged, saying "Forgive the morbid interpretation. Regardless... you're right. We do still have a chance, slim as it is. We can convince others of the danger, and build up as strong of a force as possible. And when the Threx finally come... we'll do whatever we can to slow them down." After looking back at the device once more, she sheathed her sword and began to walk towards the ruined doorway. However, on her way, she passed by the battered corpse of Ricardo, and stopped to look down at it. "They died for nothing," she said, thinking of the intruders that had sacrificed everything to stop her. "Maybe," replied Luke. After raising her hand to nurse another headache, Retix walked through the doorway. Luke soon followed her, and the room fell silent. __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| ----------------------------- Last edited by Oriphiel; 10-11-2015 at 03:37 AM.

10-10-2015, 12:17 PM	#47 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	Well, that's it! I hope you all enjoyed it! I have to admit, I really had fun writing this mess of a story, even though it was also painful going back and fixing all of the plot holes. Though it may not be the most fantastic or original thing ever made, I'm still happy that I managed to see it through to the end. Anyway, I'd like to thank blackdragon123 and Unknown Soldier for the feedback, which was really appreciated. I'd also like to once again thank Jade City, for introducing me to Hi-NRG, as well as Neapolitan and Violet, for the great plug sessions. On the subject of plug (may that awesome website rest in peace), I'd like to thank Apollonia, who taught me what the definition of "cool" was when she introduced me to "Der Kommissar". I also have to thank Rostasi for those great Ye Ye tunes, DwnWthVwls for the Hip Hop, Chula Vista for the groovy Classic Rock, Goofle for the bangers, and everyone else that plugged regularly. Except for Norg. I might write another story in this journal about what happens next if I feel that I have something to add, but if I do, it'll be centered around different music and have it's own themes, so for all intents and purposes, "Blood and Diamonds: A High Energy Story" has come to a close. Oh, and I guess I should explain what happened to Sam. Here, have an epilogue... Epilogue On the roof, Sam opened her eyes and began to look around. After using her arm to overload the sensors, the array had exploded in her face, and an arc of electricity had caused her to fall backwards, after surging through the organic part of her body. She had been knocked unconscious, and had just now woken up. Rubbing the back of her head, which had hit the ground hard as she fell over earlier, she groggily made her way down the stairs, eager to join the fight. By the time she reached the room containing the device, she had regained control of her faculties. Stepping inside, she looked around curiously, biting her lip and widening her eyes. "Fucking hell..." she said, realizing that she'd missed the finale. Eventually, she spotted the corpses scattered across the room, and she started to laugh. "You fuckers couldn't have left some action for me?" she said. Still, though she didn't show it, she had to admit that it was at least slightly painful for her to see the corpses of Ricardo and Cleo, and after looking around for a moment longer, she turned to leave. As she did so, she noticed the carnage in the next room over, where John and Qez both lie dead. As she started to enter the room, her foot hit something solid. Looking down, she saw that it was Cleo's notebook, which was sticking out of the messenger bag on the floor. Sam remembered it, from when she had talked to Cleo and Ricardo by the docks. Curious to read it's contents, she picked it up and began to examine it. While flipping through the pages, she decided that she had seen enough of the aftermath of the battle, and began to slowly walk away, whistling along to the song that was still stuck in her head. After walking around a corner, her whistling stopped. "Ha!" she laughed, after finding Cleo's description of her, and seeing that she had penciled Ricardo's nickname for her, "robo-bitch", in the margin on the side. The End! __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| ----------------------------- Last edited by Oriphiel; 10-10-2015 at 12:53 PM.

04-30-2017, 08:39 AM	#48 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	I've got some free time, so I've decided to continue this harrowing tale of gangsters fighting aliens to a disco soundtrack. The second part will feature '80s music from a variety of genres, rather than just focus on disco and dance music, and will hopefully have different themes, and, in time, an expanded cast of characters. Here's a brief refresher before I get started: Traveling to earth to escape the subjugation of their own planet at the hands of a civilization of galactic raiders known as the Threx, the aliens swore to prevent earth from suffering the same fate as their home world. Creating a mind-enslaving device, they planned to forcefully unite the people of earth under their banner, so that they could make a concerted effort in repelling the powerful Threx once they arrived. However, an alliance of rival street gangs discovered their plan and fought against them, eventually destroying their mind-control device and freeing the world from it's potential tyranny, while also possibly dooming earth to destruction at the hands of the Threx. The Aliens Retix - The sole surviving alien. After the device was destroyed, she desired to rush towards her enemies so that she could finally meet her death, however Luke managed to convince her to make her escape instead. Wracked by guilt, and routinely afflicted by terrible headaches, she often loses her patience with others, though she tries to be reasonable and understanding. Carries an ancestral sword on her back, that has been passed down through her family. Heyt - The former leader of the aliens. Quite adept at planning and strategizing, it was his idea to flee to earth. Though he found human culture to be fascinating, he was also somewhat disgusted by it. Fell in battle at the hands of Sam. Qez - Perpetually happy, she was the most optimistic of the aliens, and came to love human culture with a passion. During the invasion of her home world, she was captured by the Threx and tortured, though she was eventually rescued by her friend Merrus, who would later be slain by her fellow aliens. Though she came to learn of their betrayal, she forgave them all the same. Killed after being shot in the back by John, who would die himself only moments later. Valk - Compassionate, and a lover of literature, Valk was a technical genius. It was his idea to spare Sam's life, turning her into a cyborg so that she could be used to gather materials for the aliens. During the rebellion of the workers of his home world, he designed a plan to redistribute the planet's wealth, however his plan would be rejected in favor of the creation of the very first mind-control device. Slain by Ricardo. Tyl - A quiet giant with bright red hair, he was a skilled machinist whose talents were crucial in developing the mind-control device. It was a shot from his rifle that crippled the assassin Sam, leading to her capture. Killed alongside Cleo, after a shot from his rifle caused the device to explode beside the two of them. Gor - A warrior who valued direct combat over strategizing. During the rebellion that ravaged his home world, he urged his fellow nobles to invest in creating an army of robotic soldiers, to no avail. Killed by the Threx as he and his fellow aliens made their escape to earth. Merrus - A selfless noble who worked tirelessly to serve his people, working against the corrupt machinations of his fellow nobles. Despite his efforts, he could not prevent his planet from becoming embroiled in rebellion, as his plans for reform were rejected time and again. He considered the creation of the mind-control device to be the ultimate failure of his people. During the invasion of the Threx, he rescued Qez from imprisonment, and discovered several weaknesses in the Threx fleet. However, he was shortly thereafter slain by his fellow nobles, after attempting to destroy the mind-control device. The Humans Luke - A lieutenant for a gang called The Blue Shirts, he lost favor with his gang after being defeated in battle by the Red Sleeves. That very same night, as he made his escape, he witnessed the aliens teleporting to earth. Becoming their human liaison, he assisted them in their plan, and escaped with Retix after the device was destroyed. John - A Red Sleeve scout, he followed Luke as he escaped from battle, intent on killing him. He saw the aliens as they appeared before Luke, and became determined to find out just who they really were. It was his spying that caused the aliens' plan to be revealed to the gangs of the city, who became united to stand against them and their device. Died after shooting Qez, due to wounds sustained in his battle against her. Cleo - A writer for a pornographic magazine, she met John and Ricardo in a nightclub shortly before the Blue Shirts attacked. She became fast friends with the two of them, and helped to uncover the aliens' plot. Sacrificed herself to destroy the device, using Tyl's rifle to destroy it while grappling with him. She was survived by a book that she had been writing, an account of everything that had happened during the past few days, which eventually ended up in the hands of Sam. Ricardo - An optimistic disco dancing Red Sleeve, he was John's best friend, and helped him to uncover the aliens' plans. Fought alongside John and Cleo in their battle to destroy the device, and was killed by Tyl while trying to save Cleo after she was wounded. Sam - Impetuous and bold, Sam is a warrior who fights for whichever side benefits her the most. A Blue Shirt assassin, she was shot down while trying to kill the aliens, who spared her life and turned her into a cyborg. Convincing her to serve them through an implanted pain device, as well as offering to increase her powers, the aliens had an uneasy alliance with her. Sam eventually betrayed them, helping the allies to destroy the aliens' device. Francesca Leone - The leader of a gang referred to as "The Tulpas", she inherited her position from her late father. Determined to retake her father's territory, which had been seized by rival gangs after his death, she has outsmarted countless enemies. During the battle to destroy the device, she voluntarily led her gang in a suicidal diversionary attack that left the aliens' headquarters vulnerable. Despises Sam. Hojo Naomasa - Just as cunning as Francesca, Naomasa is the leader of a gang simply referred to as "The Hojo". Surviving the aliens' attack on the gangs throughout the city, he and his men joined the alliance, and fought to destroy the device. __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| -----------------------------

04-30-2017, 08:56 AM	#49 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	Alright, here goes. I've decided to call this second part of the story... Sweat And Stone Chapter One New Order - Blue Monday August 1st, 1986. In a dark warehouse by the docks, neon lights flashed through the shadows like lightning breaking free from swelling storm clouds. Inside, a crowd of people were working tirelessly on a strange machine, welding parts together and typing into strange terminals as sweat dripped down their foreheads. It was an exceedingly hot night, and for them it was a sleepless one as well. A man carrying two tubes emitting bright red light tossed one up to a smoking woman leaning against a guardrail on the walkway above. Catching it, she took one final drag from her cigarette, the glowing tip swelling with brightness before she let it fall from her grasp. Snuffing it out with her foot and exhaling smoke out of her nostrils, she turned and inserted the glowing tube into the machinery beside her. As she did so, something behind her powered on and started to whir rhythmically, as if to some industrial beat. Two men standing by the doorway were drinking beers and swapping jokes, enjoying a brief break, when one of them suddenly stumbled forward. Surprised by something pushing into him from behind, he dropped his bottle of beer, and it spilled onto his shoes as it clattered to the ground. “Hey, what the fuck-“ he started to ask as he turned around. However, he stopped as he realized that there was only darkness behind him. Looking around in confusion, the man beside him suddenly fell forward onto the ground. Out of the darkness, a figure flickered into vision. It picked up one of their beers off of the floor and drank what little hadn’t spilled out of it. “You pieces of shit done stealing my beers?” asked Sam through a serious yet amused glare. The two men quickly scrambled to their feet. “Uh… sorry. We ran out of ours, and Retix said it’d be okay if we just… you know, borrowed some of yours,” spoke one of them. After staring at them as if she was going to kill them, she suddenly laughed. “Hey, you’re free to do whatever you want. Hell, I steal shit all the time. Only next time, don’t get caught. ‘Cause if I do catch you again, this,” she lifted up the beer bottle in her hand before continuing, “is going up your ass.” Laughing nervously, the two men backed away. “So, uh… how did your mission go?” asked one of them, while the other hurried away to help someone passing by carry a large box. “How the fuck do you think it went?” replied Sam, rolling her eyes. Having said that, she tossed her beer to the side and started to walk away, turning invisible once again. “Robo-Bitch…” muttered the man under his breath. Striding through the crowd of workers and machinery, leaving more than a few people dazed on the floor after being pushed out of her path, Sam made her way to a small office in the back of the warehouse. She deactivated her invisibility as she opened the door, and wiped away the small bits of metal shavings that had fallen onto her shoulders on her way there as she stepped inside. Retix was sitting on top of a desk, making adjustments to a strange sort of miniature computer terminal, far smaller than anything currently being developed by humanity. “Yo,” said Sam, to get her attention. Retix looked up and smiled, replying “You’re back. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Sitting down in a nearly broken wooden chair, Sam laughed, and answered “You were right, it really wasn’t. Actually, it was kinda fun. Always wondered what it’d be like there.” Looking back down at the terminal in her hands as she continued to work on it, Retix asked “And, how was it in there? Did it meet your expectations?” Sam shrugged, saying “Yeah, it was alright. Sure as shit wouldn’t want to live there, though. Anyway, you ready to finish this fuckin’ shit?” Retix smiled, replying “You have a real way with words, you know? But, yes, I think we’re close. If things go well, we may be ready to move as soon as tomorrow.” Narrowing her eyes, Sam replied “Oh, I don’t give a fuck about that. I was talking about me. Are you ready to finish me? The shit you put in me last time ain’t gonna finalize itself.” After looking down and shaking her head for a moment, Retix stood up and set the terminal in her hands to the side. Without saying a word, she gestured for Sam to sit on her desk as she gathered some tools. Before long, Retix had begun to make modifications to Sam’s robotic appendages. After finishing a few simple tweaks to her arm, Retix took a closer look at her body, examining various pieces of fibers and metals that stretched out from Sam’s arm and leg, wrapping around her burned flesh in a tight embrace. All around these spider-like strands, Sam’s skin seemed to be more red and agitated than usual. “Did you notice all of this?” asked Retix, gesturing towards a particularly nasty rash. “Hm?” replied Sam, who hadn’t been paying much attention to Retix as she worked. Looking down, she added “What? It’s just a rash.” Looking at it more closely, Retix asked “How long has your skin been like this? Does it hurt?” Sam laughed, answering “How long has my skin been fucked up? Hm, lemme think… if I remember correctly, it all started right around that time when you and your friends fried me with laser rifles. But no, it doesn’t hurt. Ever since you gutted that pain chip on my spine, and tweaked my nervous dampeners, I haven’t felt much of anything.” Retix frowned and thought for a moment, before asking “How does it feel when you hit something? Are your internal anchors and force sinks working properly?” Sam seemed unsure, but nodded, replying “Haven’t noticed a difference. But if the anchors weren’t working properly, wouldn’t my body, like, turn into jello as soon as I hit something full force?” Retix tilted her head slightly in agreement. “You’re probably right. Since you’re still alive, it isn’t likely to be a failure on my part. In fact, it looks biological. Heyt was the expert on the human body, but if I remember his exhaustive lessons correctly, this is very likely a reaction to an infection. To be on the safe side, you may want to steal some antibiotics the next time you’re out robbing people,” she said. “Fuck you,” replied Sam. Retix returned to her work, and less than an hour later she was finishing the last of the modifications. “You know,” she said as she plugged a terminal into a small bus on Sam’s arm and started to type, “you don’t have to leave if you don’t want to. You could stay, and keep helping us. Save the world, blow things up… it could be fun.” Sam shook her head, replying “Hell no. The only reason I helped you at all was for the mods. Beyond that, I couldn’t give any less of a shit what happens to you, or the world.” Stringing code together on the terminal, Retix shrugged, saying “Who knows, though? In time, I might be able to whip up another mod or two for you.” Sam smiled, replying “Maybe you will. And maybe, sometime in the future, when you need me most, I’ll pay you a visit. With the right kind of leverage, I might finally squeeze more out of you than these basic-bitch upgrades you’ve been giving me lately. You were barely able to convince me that this one was worth running those errands for you. So I think I’ll head out on my own for awhile, give you some time to come up with a few more reasons for me to not kill you. Besides, I got plans.” “Oh?” replied Retix. “I didn’t realize spending the rest of your days stealing from others and drinking yourself to sleep was a plan. Is this a common aspiration among you humans?” Sam smiled, and replied “It’s the American dream. Now hurry up and finalize this shit. I’ve got a tight drinking schedule to keep. Oh, and speaking of booze, why the fuck did you let your boys into my stash? I thought I told you to keep that shit cold and waiting for me. Remember what I said when you and Luke took this place over? I believe it was something along the lines of ‘I don’t mind working for you so long as the pay is good, but I’ll be damned if I have to do it sober.’” Retix smiled, and replied “I remember. But when my men asked me for access to your refreshments, I had a strong suspicion that you’d somehow survive the ordeal. Unless my knowledge of your species fails me, you are able to survive a single day without ingesting narcotics, aren’t you?” Sam laughed, and replied “Dunno. I’ve never tried.” Retix ignored her, looking down intently at the terminal’s screen. Her right hand rested on a sort of computer mouse connected to her terminal, a finger lightly embracing the left clicker. She looked up at Sam and stared at her, thinking. Sam, however, was too occupied with a pen that she was fiddling with to notice. Retix exhaled and looked back down at the terminal, letting go of the mouse. After a moment of typing, she unplugged the terminal from Sam’s arm, saying “Well, I wish you luck with whatever it is that you have planned. Though you’d have me believe otherwise, I truly think that you’re too brave and intelligent to have completely lost all legitimate ambition in your life. Anyway, I’m finished here.” Standing up, Sam ignored her words of encouragement, replying “Whatever. Thanks for the tune-up.” Having said that, she made her way towards the door. Retix stood up as well, setting the terminal on the desk as she said “You’re welcome. Be sure to test everything out. If something isn’t working as it’s supposed to, contact me.” Sam cracked her knuckles, replying “Oh, don’t worry ‘bout that. Soon as I’m outta here, I’ll be sure to test my upgrades out quite thoroughly on whomever is unlucky enough to piss me off. In fact, I’ve already got a few field tests in mind.” As Sam opened the door, Retix sat back down on the desk, saying “Take care of yourself,” in a sincere voice. Sam looked back at her and smiled, saying “Yeah, ‘cause you’d just be heartbroken if I got fucked out there, wouldn’t you? Bet it would just tear you up, like you tore up Ricardo, Cleo, and John, hm?” Rather than respond, Retix simply looked down. Sam stared hard at her, saying “Hey, don’t worry. Maybe we’ll meet again someday, on opposite sides of some power struggle, or whatever. I’ll tear your head off, real fast ‘n clean. Then you can tell ‘em in person just how bad you feel ‘bout killing ‘em, you fucking alien.” After that, there was little left to say. Sam departed, and Retix continued to sit on her desk, lost in thought. In time, she picked up her terminal and once again began to tinker with it. As she did so, the door to her office opened slowly, and Francesca stepped inside. Crossing her arms and smiling, she shook her head lightly as she stared at Retix. Retix shot her a quick glance, before returning to her work. Francesca turned away from her and began to slowly pace around the room, still smiling. “You’ll regret that,” she said in a low voice. “It’s my choice,” replied Retix without looking up. Francesca, calmly brushing a few hairs away from her eyes, said “She’ll come for you, eventually. She’ll never let you get away from her, and you know why.” Retix shook her head lightly, replying “She’s not exactly a paragon of patience. If she were going to kill me, she’d have done it long ago. As long as I’m the only one that she can turn to for repairs and upgrades, I just don’t think that she’s that much of a threat. Besides… I kind of like her.” “I despise her,” replied Francesca in a soft voice. Retix looked up at her, and asked “Why? Because she’s a traitor?” Francesca smiled once again, and answered “No. Because she’s a coward. And I despise cowards.” Though Retix said nothing in response, Francesca’s answer had cut her deeply. As if a cold wind had begun blowing in her mind and heart, she stared vacantly ahead as she thought of her home, and the satisfaction of tinkering with the terminal in her hands gave way to a lonely headache. Suddenly, a weary smile flashed across her face, and she muttered “Maybe that’s why I like her so much. We’re kindred.” Francesca wasn’t one to be moved by brooding, and she ignored Retix’s rumination, saying “You don’t have to be the one to do it. I’ll gladly take that honor. When she betrayed you and came to the alliance, she mentioned the precautions you had taken against her. For example, a projectile that is unaffected by her shield…” Retix began to massage her forehead as a powerful migraine overtook her senses. “No,” she answered in a low and soft voice. Francesca ceased her pacing and looked at Retix, folding her arms as if annoyed, though her perpetual smile seemed to grow wider. She then said something in response, however Retix couldn’t quite make out what it was. All of the sounds around her, the voices of workers and the constant cacophony of their labor, seemed to blend together into a muffled sort of hum. As she looked ahead, her vision became muddy, her office seemingly warping into a black and gray mess, void of individual shapes. Her head grew warm, while her body shivered as if hit by a winter breeze. This wasn’t the first time that her headaches had caused such an effect, and she was prepared for it, lying back on her desk and closing her eyes. She knew that Francesca was likely staring at her, still trying to convince her to kill Sam, and so she said “Forget her. Let her kill me if she wants. It all matters so little. The game I’m playing… only has one possible outcome. We have tomorrow, and that’s all I could have reasonably hoped for. Now, if you wouldn’t mind… I feel very tired.” Francesca had grown accustomed to Retix’s worsening condition, and knew that trying to convince her any further would be futile. Shrugging, she pulled a packet of chewing gum out of her pocket and popped a stick into her mouth, before heading for the door. Stepping out into the warehouse proper, she strode past a cloud of smoke lit up by nearby neon lights, and put her hands in her pockets. In a way, Retix’s stubborn refusal to take her advice had annoyed her, however it was also a source of comfort. The fact that Retix held fast to her honor and refused to compromise her morals meant that they couldn’t simply assassinate Sam before she became an obstacle, but it also meant that it was more than likely that she would honor her agreement. Putting it all out of her mind, Francesca simply kept on smiling, and set about helping the workers with their tasks. Whatever the future may hold for her, she was ready. Still lying on her desk, Retix drifted further away from reality, into a cold darkness. In time, objects sprang up here and there in the infinite expanse surrounding her. This was nothing new. Her condition had worsened since her arrival on earth, and for some time now mild hallucinations had become par for the course. A woman of the same species as Retix was sitting on a strange sort of couch, the kind of furniture that she recognized from her home planet. She recognized the woman as well. It had been years since they had spoken. Unwilling to entertain the hallucination, Retix simply ignored her. The woman didn’t seem to mind, as she was engrossed with a small device on her wrist. Looking ahead, she saw a large triangular sewer maintenance entrance, reminding her of the city she had grown up in. For some reason, the image of it made her feel a strange sort of sorrow, which in turn made her laugh. She found it funny, how all manner of random things can suddenly affect someone with such an impact. Even a sewer, in time, can bring nobility to shed nostalgic tears. More images came and went, things that held such meaning to her, things that she hadn’t seen for years. And all the while, she kept returning to the sewer, struggling to understand why that specific image held so much power. Suddenly, a warm feeling seemed to envelop her. The darkness gave way to the light of the office around her, and the images became flashing outlines, before slowly fading away. She felt a release of pressure and a rushing sensation in her mind, as if her hallucination was simply an amount of water that had been caught in her ears, now finally flowing out. Her migraine weakened into a dull throbbing, and she slid off of the desk and slowly stood up. The world around her was still somewhat fuzzy, and it took her a few seconds before she found her sense of balance. She took a few steps, calmly withdrawing her sword from the sheath on her back, and practiced a few simple strokes. Swordplay always seemed to help her relax, and to reclaim her senses. __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| -----------------------------

05-08-2017, 07:22 PM	#50 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	Here we go again, with more insane nonsense. Some of you may have been wondering how exactly it came about that Francesca teamed up with Retix, or how it was that she was alive at all, considering that last we saw of her in the final chapters of Blood and Diamonds, she and her men were risking everything in a suicide attack to distract the aliens. Welp, gather 'round the campfire dear audience, 'cause it's time for some 'splainin... Chapter Two Girlschool - Race With The Devil Months ago, on the day that the allies had set off on their assault against the aliens and their planet enslaving device, Francesca and her men had been fighting frantically to create the distraction necessary for the success of their mission. Just as planned, they moved through the aliens’ territory in plain sight, firing upon their servants. Before long, enemy reinforcements moved in and surrounded them, assaulting them with fully charged alien rifles. Of course, Francesca and her forces had appropriated a few alien rifles of their own from their fallen opponents, and fought back with all that they had. The terrible weapons wielded by both sides created massive carnage, as blood sprayed freely and buildings crumbled with terrifying force. As a small store behind her exploded in a ball of fire, Francesca realized that the use of cover would be futile. Casting away any sense of caution left within her, she simply ran recklessly through the streets and alleys around her, firing upon all not wearing her gang’s colors. In time, the fear and excitement within her were honed into a singular focus; to think only of moving forward. As long as she kept her momentum, and her heart kept beating ever faster, she told herself that she couldn’t die. While most of her men had become spread out by the chaos, her most trusted lieutenants had stayed by her side, keeping up with her on their race towards oblivion. Francesca’s aim was truer than ever before, and dozens of men fell before her. However, her enemies seemed to grow more numerous by the second, while her own forces were now little more than a handful strong. A well placed shot decimated the building to Francesca’s right, tearing through many of her lieutenants as the edge of the massive shot clipped by. Leaping forward to avoid the blast, she narrowly escaped death as the remnants of the shattered building fell down upon her second in command. Without stopping to think, she simply sprang back to her feet and fired a return shot, vaporizing her attacker and the large bus behind him. Quickly glancing over her shoulder as she continued to run forward, she saw that a few of her lieutenants were still alive, albeit gravely injured. Before the thought to help them had even begun to cross her mind, a nearby explosion sent a surge of adrenaline through her that demanded that she stop for nothing. The battle carried on for what seemed to Francesca to be simultaneously an eternity and a blur. Any meaningful grasp of time had left her many corpses ago. It seemed, however, that it couldn’t possibly last much longer, as she could no longer see any of her men. As far as she knew, she was the only one left. Her enemies surrounded her, firing at every opportunity. Fortunately, most of their rifles had long since burned through the energy necessary to fire fully charged shots, however the steady stream of reinforcements meant that she could likely hold off her death no longer; just one shot from a fresh rifle, even a sloppy one, would end it all. To avoid an oncoming mob of enemies, she quickly ran into an alley, the entrance exploding behind her and trapping her within. She eventually found her way back out to the streets, expecting her enemies to be waiting for her on the other side of the winding alley. However, the streets were occupied only by the dead. Her heart kicking her from within, she kept her rifle ready as she scanned her surroundings, expecting her death to come at any moment. Her only desire was the luxury of seeing the lucky bastard who would fire the fatal shot just before he pulled the trigger, so that she could take him with her. Long as she waited, though, the shot never came. All at once, a cold electricity coursed through her, and her head became light as it finally dawned upon her. She stumbled forward, wiping the sweat from her brow with an even sweatier forearm, dropping her gun onto the asphalt. It was over. In the heart of the aliens’ territory, the allies had finally begun their attack. Unsure of what exactly she should do next, as she hadn’t been planning on surviving long enough to enjoy the rest of the day, she simply walked forward as the buzz of adrenaline drifted away from her. Stepping past a pawn shop, she caught sight of her reflection in the gaudily furnished window, and stopped. Even though all of her men had been slain, along with any chance that she had of restoring her father’s gang to it’s former glory, as she looked at herself in the window she couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow, once again, she had survived against the odds, without so much as a scratch on her. In time, she made her way towards the aliens’ headquarters, hoping to help the allies in their attack. However, by the time she had arrived, the battle had already ended. With the aliens’ device destroyed, all of their servants had laid down their weapons, and could do little more than look around with expressions of sleepy confusion. Despite Sam’s intervention, the leader of the Red Sleeves had fallen in battle, and Hojo Naomasa had taken over as the de facto leader of the allied forces. However, now that their mission had been completed and the fighting had ceased, his men seemed unsure of how exactly to proceed. While a few celebrated over their tremendous victory, most seemed to look uneasily at those around them, at the colors and symbols of rival gangs, wondering how much any of it still meant. Francesca laughed as a warm breeze passed by. The future of the city, as well as the world, was unknown to her, but at that moment she could hardly care about such things. It was a beautiful day, and she was alive. The chaotic events of late would surely lead to a power vacuum, and even without any soldiers she still stood a good chance of regaining her power if she stayed cunning and hungry. But until then, she was determined to enjoy herself. Searching her pockets for some chewing gum, she sauntered away from the scene of the battle. As she did so, a man in a hoodie stepped past her. At first, Francesca paid little attention to him. However, as he walked away, a nearby puddle splashed lightly, as if some unseen person were walking alongside him. This caught Francesca’s attention. Keeping her distance, Francesca followed the man through the eerily quiet city streets. Eventually, he ducked into an arcade, long since abandoned since the aliens had claimed this part of the city. Carefully, Francesca followed him inside, staying behind the cover of a large gaming cabinet as the man sat at a bar on the far side of the arcade. Suddenly, one of the aliens flickered into vision, and sat in the seat beside him. “So… what now?” asked Luke, as he brushed his hood back. Retix shrugged, and replied “Not sure. I’ve got a few ideas, but none of them are likely to work. I suppose we should start by finding others to assist us, as well as somewhere we can work in peace. Somewhere big. Then I could build something.” Luke leaned back and stretched his arms out, asking “Something?” “Yes,” replied Retix, “though my options are limited now that I’m the only one left. If I snuck back into the headquarters and salvaged some parts, I could probably build another teleporter…” “And do what with it?” asked Luke. Retix looked at him and shook her head, saying “I don’t know. But we’ll figure something out.” Smiling, she added “Like you said back at the headquarters, as long as we don’t give up, even if all we can accomplish is taking out a few Threx ships before they conquer the planet, it’ll be worth it.” Luke smiled back at her as he stood up, and walked behind the bar. Grabbing a glass, he put it under a tap and filled it with soda. He’d have preferred something stronger, but unfortunately the arcade seemed to have catered to a younger sort. Leaning forward on the counter, Retix said “Luke… thank you.” “Hm?” replied Luke, looking up at her. Retix looked to the side, saying “For stopping me. You’re a good friend. For a moment, I… just couldn’t wait any longer.” Luke took a drink from his soda, before replying “You’re welcome. You know, you should really take better care of your life. You deserve it.” Retix looked at Luke as he took another drink, and summoned up a smile. Beneath it, however, was a burning self-loathing that laughed at Luke’s words. Francesca smiled, stepping out from behind her cover, gun in hand. She had heard enough. Walking quietly through the shadows, she made her way towards the bar as Luke conversed with Retix. Eventually, Luke noticed her, however by then it was too late. She raised her gun towards his head, while shaking her own. For a moment, he entertained the thought of jumping over the bar and trying to disarm her, however Francesca was too far away for him to reach her before getting shot, and he realized that it would be futile. Retix noticed Luke staring at something, and turned in her chair. “Relax,” said Francesca. She knew that Retix was protected by her shield, and was powerful enough to rip her to shreds without much effort, however Luke was completely vulnerable. As long as she kept Luke in her sights, Retix would refrain from making a move. Retix felt a surge of anger and adrenaline, tightening her hands into fists. However, for Luke’s sake, she dared not attack. Staring at Francesca, she simply said “Don’t.” The two locked gazes for a moment, before Francesca laughed and replied “I’m not going to kill either of you. Like I said, relax, yes?” Slowly finishing off his drink, Luke lowered the glass and said “Well, you’ve got our attention. What do you want?” Francesca shrugged, replying “Lots of things. But until I get them, I suppose I’ll have to settle for saving the world. After all, I can’t enjoy the fruits of my labor if there’s no garden to grow them in.” “What?” asked Luke. Francesca’s smile widened, as she looked at Retix and said “To put it plainly, I want to help you. Cleo and John told me about your history, and about the Threx. I know that they’re coming to either enslave or destroy us all. And that simply won’t do. I didn’t risk everything to make sure your device was shut down, only to end up in as a dog on someone else’s leash. So I propose that we come to some sort of arrangement.” Retix shook her head, saying “No deal. I can’t trust you.” Francesca laughed, and replied “Naturally! I can’t trust you, you can’t trust me, and yet we stand to gain from each other. Maybe we’ll strike a deal, maybe we’ll kill each other… regardless, the streets never stay still, and neither can we. That is the way this city has always been. Now, I heard you both talking. I know you need help. While the soldiers of my organization have been thoroughly annihilated, I still have connections. You want workers? I can get you dozens, who won’t ask any questions.” Retix looked hard at her, and asked “But I’m guessing your services won’t come free, right?” Francesca tilted her head and nodded in agreement, replying “Of course.” As Luke refilled his glass under the tap, Retix looked to the side, saying “Well, you’re wasting your time. It’s not like we have any money.” Francesca rolled her eyes and waved her free hand, replying “I don’t need money. I have mountains of that. Besides, once the invasion begins, money may very well become worthless. No, what I want is to be at the heart of the resistance. To become a hero. Once this business with the Threx has been taken care of, and our beautiful planet has been saved, the world will be in chaos. People will be lost, confused. In what few cities are left standing, there will surely be a power vacuum like no other. A famous, influential general like myself would have no problem seizing power. This is when I’ll rebuild my father’s organization, and carve out an empire for myself. I’ll achieve the immortality that is reserved for the heroes of history. After that, I don’t know, I’ll retire to some massive villa and spend the rest of my days indulging in hard-earned pleasure. But I’ll have made sure that it is a world worth retiring in, yes?” Retix looked at her incredulously, asking “You want us to make you into a hero?” Francesca shook her head, replying “No. I just want the chance to make myself into one. That’s not so unreasonable, is it? Besides, I figure if you can work with a pathetic snake like Sam, you can work with me, yes?” Retix looked into Francesca’s eyes for a moment, thinking. Suddenly, she smiled and stuck out one of her hands, saying “Alright. Welcome aboard.” Francesca smiled back at her. Looking down at Retix’s outstretched hand, she said “Maybe later. My hands are still covered with the blood of your men, and I’d hate to soil yours.” __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| -----------------------------