War of Realities (Redone and Improved)

[Maharg67]

97^th

KNIGHT CAPTAIN GALLOWS

THROUGH DEATH, DARKNESS AND DREAD TO LIFEVAULT-0087

 

The three Brothers of Steel were surprised but pleased when three wombles caught up with them for wombles were amazingly good at navigating and moving safely through underground places. They could sense, detect, dangerous places, possible through ways, dead ends and so forth where others would blunder on through. They came with a message from Lara Cleave that she would send assistance as soon as she could.

 

The four of them moved along a tunnel that was little more than a low, wide crevice through the ground, a crack of rock, that was dotted with human and other skeletal remains. The wombles did not like what the tracks along the ground indicated or the way the bones were cracked or otherwise marked. Something big, fast, brutal and predatory existed in those places. They were not supermutants.

 

The crevice tunnel ended high up a wall of a big cavern chamber but sloping ground gave them fairly easy access to the floor of that great space. Dead supermutants of varied kinds dotted the space and there were other signs of a savage firefight having taken place there. The wombles sniffed the air and clutched their guns. Knight Captain Gallows led the way now as they paced smoothly across the way. They were about half way across, were passing a smashed burned sentrybot, when they heard the strange, haunted, chilling noise of chanting.

 

Knight Captain Gallows scowled. "We are inside a Weirding Zone of some kind. It has come into the underground ways or perhaps it was always here."

 

One of the wombles spoke. "We might know what monsters are that left cracked bones behind. We did not think they would be here, not here. We call them morlocks. They have white fur and big eyes. They see better in the dark than we do. They is night creatures. Bright light stings their eyes and makes them dizzy. They is bad but something worse is here. We smell that also. We wombles from and through the Weirding Zone. We hoped to make hear a better home for some of our kind. Ever since the Great Exodus began our peoples and our cousin peoples and other peoples and their cousin peoples and other peoples also, we all have been seeking new colonies, new hope."

 

Knight Captain Gallows sighed. "Perhaps we should focus on more immediate events."

 

The womble shook her head. "This is important. Our home world was struck by a terrible invasion of horrors unlike anything we had ever experienced before. Some staid to fight and others staid to find new homes and hope. Those who left, we hope to send back assistance to our home world. The invasion of our world and other worlds was caused by Doomsday that took place here on this world and the terrible invaders, we smell them now in this place."

 

The Brother of Steel cursed softly. "The Lords and Ladies of Undeath."

 

The womble nodded. "Yes, and those that serve them and the horrors they summon but also their enemies, just as terrible, and just as trespassing into domains they do not belong to. We must hurry now and get away from this chamber."

 

They ran and soon reached the other side. No sooner had they begun to scramble towards the entrance to a tunnel, a terrible bat combination dragon creature flew through the air and riding on it was a glowing humanoid creature, angular and terrible in strange power armour, being armed with what looked like a energy lancegun of some kind. But the entity offered no harm and instead it shouted out a warning before both it and its flying steed vanished into a bigger tunnel. "Hurry, you must hurry. The undead come wrapped in the fog of undeath and led by terrible a Lady of Undeath."

 

Somehow sensing truth and also sensing approaching danger, the six figures paced swiftly along the tunnel that hopefully led them both closer to safety and to LifeVault-0087.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

[Maharg67]

98^th

THREE RETURN TO THE NEOSOVIET WEIRDING ZONE

GETTING THROUGH THE FOGGY WEIRDNESS

 

Sajocombo, Tabatha and Sandra had spent a good deal of time moving carefull through the fog of the Weirding Zone of the island before they realised that it now covered the whole island. The sounds of combat came drifting muffled through the fog and twice they past the dead bodies of NeoSoviet soldiers in body-armour and combat fatigues. With them were smashed NeoSoviet style battledroids, skeletal humanoid robots, and vaguley eyebot like seebots. They also came upon many dead twisted things that were wrong somehow to be simply dead normal lifeforms. The NeoSoviets had managed to do a good deal of killing of the undead things and it seemed they were still fighting strong at the central part of the island.

 

Time behaved funny in the Weirding Zone and their time keeping devices were of no use. Their sensors were dangerous to use. Sajocombo led the other two with amazing precision, cleverly avoiding danger by hiding, retreating or simply standing motionless. It seemed that some shambling horrors reacted only to certain kinds of motion and these were not of the undead but were enemies of the undeath; it was too bad they were also enemies of the living.

 

They came upon a road where NeoSoviet soldiers in a scattered convoy of military vehicles had been caught tryint to escape from the island. Except that now they were zombies, their vehicles and weapons forgotten, as they waited for something to happen but what? Then more NeoSoviet vehicles came along that road, this time heavily armoured tracked machines rolling slowly along and, moving ahead of them strange, hulking armoured figures.

 

"Ghoulamoths, just like me. Like all ghouls, we are greatly immune to the undeath. We can not be turned into the undead, into zombies or vampires or other things like them." Sajocombo shrugged his shoulders. "We must move. I sense Professor Frakenfane is in one of those armoured crawlers and also some of his true monsters that make us ghoulamoths quite natural in comparison. He has created his own form of undead that we call Frankenfane's Monsters or just franfanes."

 

They came upon three great turtles that were helpless on their backs and with some trouble turned them over. At once they found themselves on the backs of the amazing turles and flying through the air though none of the three could remember getting on or the start of the flight. They realised that the giant-turtles had not truly been helpless but it had been a test of some kind. The Weirding Zone had not only covered the whole island, engulfing and absorbing it, but somehow it was now much larger.

 

They kept flying with the turtles doing so with a motion as if they were swimming through air as normal turtles would through water but with much greater speed.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Edited July 18, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

99^th

FAMILIAR CHARACTERS OF THE DC WASTELANDS

MOMENTS OF LIFE DRAMA

 

MOIRA BROWN OF MEGATON

 

Moira Brown knew now she was a Lesser Guardian in a way that went down to her core and she was utilising newly arisen powers. So she summoned forth elementals of life and of sunlight, the figures moving through out a new cave chamber she opened up and enlarged, adding reinforcements, inner walls, a couple of robots, other devices and rich soil spiced with special ingredients. The elementals brought to her seeds that she planted in careful rows. Others came to assist her from the Harrington Family and the Simms Family. The plants grew with amazing speed after fed with blood and bone, with an odd mixture including human urine. These were exotic plants and needed exotic ingredients so they also got stuff that would have killed normal plants.

 

These plants were not carbon based but a close cousin to it and what came from them were biocrystals of baseline form. Soon they were being processed to become lifecrystals, lightcrystals and lazcrystals. Why go to so much trouble? Because these were truly threatening and destructive to the undead, to the undeath as a force. The plants spread up and out, crystaline flesh of softly glowing translucent nature, that seemed dangerously beautiful.

 

Then the designing and prototype production of new devices began along with the upgrading of some older types of equipment.

 

SIERRA PETROVITA OF GIRDERSHADE

 

Sierra was very happy for the fake NukaCola Delivery van was beeping. She and others of the DarkFollowers of the DarkZiazin gathered with much glee in the museum to observe the great event to come. They noted the big armoured power-doors sliding open and reveal an empty chamber. Sierra was surprised but then she smiled at the others to reassure both them and herself. Then she stepped forward and opened her arms, raising them dramatically and then she spoke. "Oh, DarkZiazin, please come forth and unleash the evil that you promised and grant us the boon of many years of serving you. Oh, DarkZiazin, we await your every act...."

 

The robed neobaby like figure floated out of the fake van clutching a very small teddy-bear. It was 20cm or so tall, was a baby version of the DarkZiazin. The small one rubbed his belly and then burped loudly so that the chamber shook slightly and some of the DarkFollowers cringed with the blast, if not the smell.

 

Then the small one yawned and spoke in a slightly booming voice. "I am the BabyZiazin. I was sort of not supposed to be but things kind of got mixed up you know and well here I is. So get used to it, right. Gotta worship me and feed me lots of good things to eat. Gosh, this place has lots of goodies and toys. Let's play run and zappy. You run and I see if I can zap you with bolts of lightening but only small ones. That should be fun."

 

She was not sure what happened but a strange change went through Sierra. She suddenly waggled one finger at the BabyZiazin. "Oh you cheeky little thing!" Then she walked up the the BabyZiazin. "Babies are always so adorable. Yes, you are, yes you are, you cutiepie."

 

The other DarkFollowers cringed as if expecting Sierra to be disintegrated with a great strike of energies. Instead the floating baby figure looked confused and he blushed. Murtle took him into her hands and, drawing him down to her fairly short height, she blew into his belly-button. To the amazement of the other DarkFollowers he broke out into chortling laughter.

 

Then she sniffed his bottom and wrikled up her nose. "Somebody needs their smelly bottom to be wiped."

 

The BabyZiazin wiggled happily. "You mean your bottom?"

 

"No, your stinky bum, cheeky baby." Then Sierra went off towards a formerly empty storeroom and knew somehow it would be equipped and supplied now for the caring of a baby boy of exotic nature and special needs. That is a potty, a computer terminal with a very small keyboard and such like.

 

The other DarkFollowers looked at each other, shrugged and went back to their normal lives because they had no other real options.

 

AGATHA'S NEW MUSIC

 

Agatha smiled as she woke in her bed because she felt good somehow, felt better, younger and more healthy. She looked around at the one big room in the cottage and at the big old dog named Rover, she had to admit it was not a greatly imaganitive name, who was looking younger, healthier as he slept in his big old fixed up dog's bed. A friendly trader had made the contraption for the canine but traders had not come to Agatha's House for too many months. That is not since she and her house had been surrounded by a Weirding Zone.

 

Everything looked new and fixed up fine. Not only that but there was a big oild painted portrait of her late husband on one wall that she quickly started adoring.

 

Then she saw GreyMaharg sitting there in a chair. The strange little man smiled at her. "Said I would come back with a surprise, Agatha, a very special surprise. The cottage, the fenced off area, two new buildings, a smaller bunker, are all now inside the protection of an Orbisorb. You have been given much including a lovely garden, some brahmins, some chickens, a small foodgarden and yes, a special broadcasting tower to broadcast directly out over the area around you beautitful life supporting music, flowing music full of energy. You will play your own violin, the famous Soil Stradivarius, as made by the amazing Atonio Stradivari himself."

 

Agatha sat up in her now very newish looking and very clean frilly edged nightdress. She smiled. "I feel quite young, like I am just sixty years old again. The music, it is to be played against those terrible, frightening, frightened things that move out there, that fight each other out there, isn't it?"

 

He nodded. "The Orbisorb will help protect you, this place, and others living here or who will come to live here. Your daughter Alisha did not die and now she is on her way with her family. I hope you will make them welcome, that you have forgiven her."

 

"You know I have." She smiled when a nice big teacup of fresh warm tea appeared to be cupped carefully in her hands. "You have come to a final hard realisation and are facing hard decisions. You can come here any time and stay for a while."

 

He smiled. "Very excellent! I will spend the new few days with you as we compose and then practice new musical pieces. We will dance together, I will provide you with fine meals and will read to you from your favourite books."

 

Agatha smiled very warmly.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

[Maharg67]

100^th

DAY OF THE DRAGONS

DRAGONS COME TO DC

 

PART 1

 

If the peoples of the DC thought they were beyond surprises then the Day of the Dragons changed their minds. From mighty dragons of the rainbow hues down to swarms of smaller metallic coloured dragons that were still large, they came. Quickly enough they made alliances with the UDC, the Orders of the Way, the Orders of Steel and some others. Quickly enough did they launch attacks against Paradise Falls and certain Weirding Zones from above them.

 

Dragons settled into part of the Jagged Crater as a temporary warren as they did at the DC Citadel, the Union Citadel and some other places, a few secretively.

 

Aquatic dragons were brought in specialised capsules of hard biostuff and were soon swimming the DC Rivers and around the DC Islands.

 

From a distance Paradise Falls was burning, was exploding as the Grand Dragons curled it high above and attacked it with a range of powerful energy weapons. The Dazi and other AntiUnity forces of Paradise Falls did not really manage to strike back, so sudden and brutal was the attack. Yet the dragons, ancient and much experienced in such things, safely plucked up slaves from the inferno in a way that would seem to have been impossible to many others. Somehow they detected the false slaves amongst the slaves and other kinds of prisoners, many of whom were saved, and these were not saved.

 

Dragons quickly put an end to the idea that there would be such a thing as human dragon riders. No mere mortals would ride a dragon but others might get the privilege if the need was dire.

 

Yet what the majarity of folks did not know was that the greatest and most powerful of dragons and dragon weapons remained concealed from them.

 

PART 2

 

GreyMaharg stood before the mighty three headed Dragonlord TiagrestaSier, as did SaffronMaharg and ShenaMaharg, being aspects of his daughter who were also busy in other places as was GreyMaharg himself. For reasons of security and others more exotic plus hard to explain, the three did not often get together physically. Yet that was going to change in future as demands on them changed.

 

TiagrestaSier rose above them size wise but somehow one gained the sense thats she did not overwhelm them in her presence of power. She spoke and her voice rumbled out through the great, steep walled valley that they were in which was strewn with great big leaning towers that had not always leaned so much. "We have come as we promised to help undo the wrong that we helped to be in the first place so very long ago. We were seduced by your false living-deity ancestors and we did evil out of greed for greater power and immortality. Thankfully we gained neither in the end but did gain greater wisdom."

 

GreyMaharg responded. "It was I, way back then, who created the Orbistransorbis. It was I who took shortcuts by utilising undeath energies stolen from places where I should never have gone. I was I who first accidentally made contact with the darkness that would later influence the living-god who became the DarkZiazin. After I was reborn I foolishly took the Orbis that the DarkZiazin created and thus unleashed death and destruction on many worlds."

 

TiagrestaSier lowered all three of her great dragon heads and spoke again. "Perhaps you will finally listen to and remember the truth this time. Orbis did go out of your control and destroy those worlds, along with that which dwelt upon them, but those worlds were fallen to a secret invasion of the undeath and were populated only by the undead. Orbis destroyed them and released many souls from the Grey Limbo and did much else that was good."

 

GreyMaharg was stunned by the information. "Why did I not remember this truth before?"

 

The Dragonlord spoke most frankly. "I do not know. Perhaps your daughters have some kind of answer. They are powerful, skilled and wise."

 

SaffronMaharg then spoke. "The rebirth of GreyMaharg was done by the Lords and Ladies of the Light but could not totally burn away the dark influences of your previous existence; so the Lords and Ladies of Light changed that influence to make it a shield that would drive you harder to once and for all help to undo the wrong that has been done. It worked."

 

GreyMaharg nodded. "Yes, it did so but it is good now to know the truth that Orbis did no evil for I have come to truly love Orbis."

 

Suddenly another spoke. It was OrbisMind. "I love you also, GreyMaharg, and your daughters. Dragonlord TiagrestaSier I offer you a place in OrbisSanctuary and on OrbisEarth or on-in its moon."

 

The great dragon responded. "We could use colonies on-in both."

 

OrbisMind responded. "Consider it done."

 

GreyMaharg smiled for one more step had been taken towards the great finality, the grand surprise and the revealing of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

 

PART 3

 

The lesser dragons, the demidragons, the semidragons, the subdragons and other such were not so proud as the great dragons. The lesser dragons had their pride and would allow none to ride them except in emergencies but the others didn't mind partnerships, did not mind working in various ways for settlers or governments or various Orders. Soon lesser dragons were flying through the skies taking mail and packages from settlement to settlement, were patrolling areas and doing other tasks. Subdragons were fairly dumb, semidragons were not greatly smarter and demidragons could be seduced by kindness but true dragons cared for them to make sure they were not exploited.

 

Then there were the other species and subspecies of dragonkind that did not show themselves to others at first, or at least not to all others.

 

PART 4

 

Ironically it was on the Day of the Dragon that the first great exodus convoy came from the west with over two hundred thousand people of various species and subspecies. Only about half of them were human or human related. They came with many resources and great warning of something evil and powerful that was waging war on others through out the middle of the USA going from north to south. It was fighting the EagleEnclave, the Skynet, the plantnoids, the giant-bees, the smooth skinned supermutant like giamutants, the Orders of Steel, the NCR, the Confederacy, the Knights of Steel and many other forces who had often formed alliances with each other to fight it. Many of these alliances would have seemed impossible not so long ago.

 

What was the great enemy? It was in truth two enemies that constantly fought each other and tried to engulf others, to absorb them. The first was the Mist of Death and the second was the Fog of Undeath. Refugees were flooding towards California and towards the DC in increasing numbers. Refugees spoke of great dragons flying high overhead of both Mist and Fog while they hurled savage energies down at both. But sometimes energies were hurled back and the great dragons were sometimes injured, were forced to retreat to heal.

 

Also on the Day of Dragons the dead began to return in new bodies and the undead began to walk the Earth in greater numbers.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

 

 

[Maharg67]

101^st

IN THE AMAZING TRANSFORMING BASEMENT

JUST WHAT IS GOING ON?

 

The basement had expanded very quickly but not as empty space. It filled up with an amazing array of stuff as it stretched out. Charlie Jane, the Ewer Family and the Sister of Metaphysics, Angelie Uroo, were looking out into the distance in all directions in amazement. Upwards it went into platforms, columns, rampscelators (powered rampways), mezzanine floors and much more. Into the distances it went as a great mixture of gardens, museum, library, living areas, bedrooms, sporting areas, natural landscapes and much else. But there was movement now with robots, androids, humans, chimpnoids, gorillanoids and others. They were all busy but at different paces. Some were busy sleeping.

 

A smiling man in Wastelander outdoor gear came up to them and he looked puzzled. "I was dead and now I live. Raiders killed me in a big battle over near MDPL-16 Power Station. The dead are walking again including brainbots whose brains were killed. Oh, many destroyed robots and androids are also back but I don't know what that is all about. There are these voices in the back of our head saying we have to go fight the undead, that we can fight the undead in a way that the living will have trouble doing. Bloody spooky as far as I am concerned but if fighting the zombies is what we have to do, I suppose that is what we will do."

 

Kylie Ewers went. "Ooohhh, this is very chilling. I want to crawl under the blankets with teddy and stay there. I wish I was as brave as the rest of you."

 

Charlie Jane smiled at Kylie. "I feel like joining you under the blankets. You know I am sixteen years old."

 

Kylie stared at her in amazement. "Wow, we are the same age but you look so much older, like over twenty or something."

 

The Sister of Metaphysics laughed softly. "I am over a hundred years old. How far over the hill does that make me? What is your name?"

 

The Wastelander had been listening in apparent fascination to the Charlie and Kylie. Now he turned to Angelie Uroo. "Jack Brown. Got family out eastwards somewhere but I am not sure what happened to them. Oh, the voices are telling me they settled into a big new fortified settlement but that Maslie is already remarried. Better that way. I was never much of a husband or a father. Orbisorb protected, the settlement is called Portsville. Many of the living-dead, not to be confused with the undead, will be coming here. Nice place. Snooker tables. Oh, somebody wants me. Some old comrades want to form up a fighting unit. Well, got to go."

 

Jack Brown hurried off and as he got to his comrades, one of them handed him a lever-action rifle that looked normal enough except that it glowed softly.

 

Charlie Jane frowned. "Well at least we now know that the Planet Fallout game's existence only matters because it comes from an alternate existance. It had nothing to do with what happened on this world, at least not in the standard fashion. Please do not ask me to explain that. At least playing the game has give us a few clues into our world. Now we can try to get back there. One of my aspects is now in a special chamber. Another is myself. Another is on her way to Serenity City across a landscape of subtle but terrible horrors and another is in the Lamplight Caverns saving people. We all share awareness and knowledge. Hopefully one of them can send out what I have learned here, the locations of hidden places, the nature of weird and wonderful experiments and so on."

 

But even as she spoke, Charlie Jane realised that she felt helpless in a situation that had suddenly gone over her head.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

[Maharg67]

102^nd

SPACE BATTLE; THE ENTERPRISE IN ACTION

NOT SO LONG DISTANCE DECIMATION

 

"Free Belter Union Masterships, four of them, fighting the three zetan Motherships." Chekov spoke from where he was in his ship power armour. "The Masterships are less technologically advanced than the zetan vessels but are larger and have more guns."

 

The other Solsystem Federation vessels were still on their way to meet with Kirk's small fleet. The Venus Confederation fleet was almost upon them with a wave of fighterships leading them. Kirk was getting increasingly worried that first his small fleet would be destroyed and then the reinforcements before the two elements of the Solsystem Federation could combine forces against the enemy. The SFSS Enterprise shuddered in a way that it should not have done. Alarms began to go off.

 

They came seemingly out of nowhere, a deadly wave of enhanced, augmented enemy stealth cloaked enemy fighterships in two swarms backed up by a fightership service-support ship, two destroyers and a frigate. The enemy came at the Fed vessels in a classical attack formation, clearly confident of victory. At once all of the Solsystem Federation forces began to open up with what ever weaponry that they had left. Kirk prepared for a final confrontation while searching his mind for a solution. He knew the enemy would give no mercy, would allow no survivors to live, would even hunt down and destroy any escape-pods for that was their way.

 

Which was when the enemy fighterships began to explode as out of seemingly nowhere the deadly black sleek Snarks began to fly. SEARF stealth fighterships, deadly and crewed by super-soldiers. Three squadrons came zigzagging through space with speed and agility that the enemy simply could not match. The enemy fighterships exploded even as they tried to scatter, to escape, and then the SEARF Snarks were attacking the bigger enemy vessels.

 

The SEARF battlestar appeared, hulking and yet sleekly beautiful, a great elongated saucer of black with three great fins to the aft. It was at least three times larger than all of the Fed vessels there. Even as it appeared, the battlestar unleashed a great pulsebeam of energy and the big, gawky and much augmented enemy frigate simply disintegrated with a violent flash of energies.

 

The SEARF made no attempt at all to attack the SFSS Enterprise and her sister ships but kept slaughtering the enemy until the enemy surrendered. Then they quietly began to round up survivors floating in space to take them to the battlestar.

 

The SEARF Commander appeared on a big 3Dscreen and stood there in special power armour with the background hazed so no secrets were given away. She spoke then. "We have what we want. You are free to take and use what remains of the enemy technologies. Your reinforcements will arrive here in roughly fifteen standard minutes. We will wait here until they arrive and then we will be departing. As of now SEARF and JAGAF are forming an alliance with the Solsystem Federation. The Venus Confederation is the least of our concerns and we will be too soon involved in more fighting. Good luck, Captain Kirk!"

 

The SEARF vessels all vanished as they once more fully activated their stealth cloaking technologies.

 

Kirk wondered if the SFSS Enterprise and vessels like her would be able to survive any future battles with clearly more advanced, more powerful and deadlier machines. Still, they were going to tow the upgraded and augmented captured vessels to Luna and that would hopefully assist in the improving of Solsystem Federation vessels.

 

TO BE COMMUNICATED

 

[Maharg67]

103^rd

GNR'S FLOOD OF NEWS

DEALING WITH THE ONE BELOW

 

PART 1

 

"Don't panic folks, just don't panic. Yes the living-dead are walking the Earth and the dead are rising as zombies in some places but the first are on your side and the second, well just shoot them in the head or just below the chest." 3Dog felt a soft shudder run through the massive tower building even as he spoke. Around him in the studio were others busy trying to keep up with the flow of strange but true reports coming in from the Wastelands.

 

People were being forced to cut up and otherwise destroy their dead so the bodies did not rise up as zombies. This was most likely to happen closer to the Weirding Zones as were the appearances of the returned dead folk in new fleshened bodies. People had come to learn that settlements protected by Orbisorbs, what ever they actually were, held back the undead and made even the most aggressive of the living-dead become safe and passive.

 

Dragons kept operating, not just 'true dragons' but all dragonfolk including newly appearing gilldragons of the waters, moledragons of the earth and dragonman humanoids like hybrid dragon-humans.

 

Wombles dug warrens just inside Orbisorbs to settle down into.

 

BigFoot were seen walking in tribal clans, huge and hairy but carrying not primitive technologies but more modern stuff.

 

The Knights Templar in power armour rode huge power armoured horses while handling great blaster-lances and other exotic energy weapons.

 

The EagleEnclave and the Skynet waged terrible war against each other just northwards of the DC. HKs rumbled through the sky to be attacked by aeroflyers, vertibirds and vertijets. Terminator cyborgs and ground striding or hovering smaller HKs fought EagleEnclave power armoured soldiers and warmachines including big battlebots. In many ways Skynet and the EagleEnclave were the same, both being directed by powerful and sophisticated AI-supercomputer networks of network-computers but this did not seem to even slow them down as being enemies of each other.

 

Gangers and bandits began to surrender, to come in under a big declared amnesty, and to form their own protected settlements. But they were not the only ones on the move. People were flooding away from some areas to clusters of Orbisorb protected settlements focused on such places as Sugartown, Girdershade, RivetCity, Megaton, Arefu, CanterburyCommons and a few others.

 

More oddities were happening.

 

EagleEnclave refugees were arriving to surrender at the DCDSB but they were not fleeing from the Skynet or other enemies of the EagleEnclave; they were fleeing from the internal take over of the EagleEnclave by new, special enclones (Enclave clones), enbots (Enclave robots), endroids (Enclave androids) and enborgs (Enclave cyborgs). The treachery was lead by the AI-supercomputers now in charge of the EagleEnclave. The older type humans, robots, androids and other units were being used up in savage battle or brutally culled. The refugees were convoys of humans, androids, robots and cyborgs. Not fully trusted for good reason, they none the less were to prove a great enemy against the EagleEnclave as they joined the growing FreeEnclave in the DC.

 

GNR broadcasting was now just an endless stream of short news bulletins or propaganda spaced each by a single song or other piece of music.

 

2Kitty came over to 3Dog and gave him another briefing in both print-out form and a 3Dradio disk he could just slip into a slot and have played over the radio channel. As he read it, he whistled in amazement. The Ironsides Mercenaries had just become the new UDC Marine Corps, the Security Mercenaries were now the UDC Special Security Force and the Hunter Mercenaries were now the UDC Special Field Operations Unit. The Follower Guardians who had led them once, who had vanished, had left instructions that this should happen as if they, somehow, had known what was going to happen. Actually it turned out there were a number of preset instructions for different arising possibilities.

 

Then she spoke with a smile and an ironic tone to her voice. "Your turn."

 

3Dog sighed but then gave her a mild grin. He stood up, kissed her on the lips and hurried off to make his way down deep into the levels of the massive DC Global Network Tower.

 

PART 2

 

3Dog walked up to the massive door in the huge basement chamber partly full of great sacks and drums. A Brother of Steel in power armour stood there and nodded at 3Dog in recognition as he went through the partly open door. The big hairy beasty was sitting sukily on his bum and was scratching his tummy. He had big, stubby horns and great big brown eyes. He was just over four metres tall and that much wide with great muscular build. He was a gorgre. He was over tired and he needed a nap but he was fighting it.

 

3Dog had feared what was behind the door once but over the years he had come to sense it was not dangerous. And yet the gorgre was not what made the building shake. Nor was it the younger sister gorgre who was curled up sleeping close to him. There were the wombles who had arrived about a month ago. They were all trying to entertain the gorgre to tire him out as they had done his younger sister but also the small glowing one.

 

The neobaby like figure, a chubby muscular little girl with a grumpy tired look on her face, floated in mid air in the exact centre of softly glowing globe of light. She slowly turned and smiled grumpily at 3Dog even as a womble gentlly plucked her out of the air but not out of the globe of energy that went where she did, an cuddled the small one to her furry chest.

 

Some Radiotown folks sometimes came down to visit but most were too fearful of the strange entities who dwelt there though they liked the wombles. 3Dog went up to the glowing baby figure and spoke to her. "Gosh, baby girl, you is making the whole building shake."

 

The small adorable looking power house spoke with sulky tones though he sensed she was happy to see him. "Me is a very good little baby. Me not shake tower. Bad things below shake tower. Below great big tower is Second Seal of the Thirteen Seals of Eternity Confinement. First Seal is already broken but is least important seal of all. Second seal is not very important but is breaking. Seals must break in proper order. Me can stop the bad things but only for a month maybe. Me is tired and need sleep. Me has clever idea. Me is very clever you know. Me came here through time and space. Me swam the transdimensional stream. Me is not wanted by my people. They think me is just runt of litter."

 

"Well, they are wrong." 3Dog leaned over and kissed the fine lightly haired head of the small one, a tingle of energy flowing through him as he did. "If there was one of me then I would stay with you always."

 

The small one clapped her hands in glee. "Yes, that me good idea." Then before 3Dog could protest she clapped her hands hard and a wave of energy shot out from her hands to sweep through the building, out through the ruins of Washington DC and beyond. As it went, strange but not bad things happened. The wave of energy did even more interesting things as it struck and interacted with other forms of energy fields.

 

The three 3Dogs sat up from where they lay on the floor and looked around at the tripled population of everybody there, including the much puzzled gogres and wombles. Three Brothers of Steel came into the room that used to be the one Brother of Steel sentry. The strange little girl baby, who was one of the central answers to what was really going on, was now three little girls. One was sleeping, one was playing with the wombles and one was staring in wonder at what she had done. Clearly she was as surprised as 3Dog by what had happened.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Edited July 21, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

104^th

FOCUS ON MEGATON

FLOWING TOWARDS THE ONE PLACE

 

PART 1

 

The twins from the remains of the Patriot Republic arrived first in Megaton Subway Station using their own powers and being supported by the combined powers of those of the Young Thirteen who were in the special chamber. They brought others with them, especially the neobaby of course. They moved quickly to the special chamber and the three were soon in their special chairs. They were not there long before the last three arrived and with them others who had been travelling from Megaton. The representation of the Young Thirteen was complete in the chamber and very old plans had come finally to fruitation, or at least one phase of them had. To counter the Guardian Thirteen fraudulance and betrayal were the Young Thirteen created and set upon the DC but still there was the mystery of where they had come from so they and their special companions had appeared at six years of age in North America.

 

Others began to be drawn towards Megaton, many others, now that the circle was completed. The former Ironsides Mercenaries, now being the Marine Corps of the USD, still fought the malformed entities down in the tunnels and ways out from Megaton Subway Station but now more SEARF, JAGAF elite forces were coming and fighting along side them against increasing dangerous and powerful creatures. More dragonfolk came. Settlers of many kinds came including those flowing out of the Weirding Zones as refugees fleeing from growing threats there. Smooth skinned metamutants, giant-bees, plantnoids, ghoulified folk, humans, animanoids of multiple kinds, brainbots, androids, more humans and yet others.

 

One of the great metal doors was opened down below and the work began to link Megaton Subway Station to other stations that were settlements.

 

PART 2

 

The energy wave hit Megaton, coming from the direction of Washington DC proper, and triplicated people, equipment and other lifeforms, other stuff. Megaton was suddenly much bigger, sprawling out from the former limits, with two new big craters.

 

To confuse matters a big airport appeared there in the Jagged Crater of 2077 vintage that was complete with three big terminals, carpark towers full of vehicles, runways and other areas of tarmac, rows of hangers, three massive subsonic jet-arliners, three smaller but still very large supersonic jet-airliners, two aeroflyers and much else. There were also plenty of robots, roboremotes and people with some androids. The people were clones and were not of the living-dead, as were other lifeforms there including the gardens full of lush green plants.

 

To further confuse matters there was a military base with fortified buildings, air-defence towers, hangers, barracks, training areas, armouries and much else including yards full of vehicles, vertibirds, vertijets and two big battle aeroflyers.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

[Maharg67]

105^th

MEGATON MEETINGS

GOB AND NOVA GAIN SOME FRIENDS

 

EddieLee came to the Moriarty Saloon dressed like a Wastelander in body-armour and with him came other SEARF in disguise but so smoothly did they move, so quietly, that anybody with any real experience knew at once that here came possible danger. The five SEARF slipped into the saloon where people were chatting madly away about the crazy changes that had not just happened to Megaton and the rest of the Jagged Crater but to places across the DC Wastelands. The effects had been scattered and weaker closer towards the Weirding Zones. They were stronger closer to the Orbisorb protected settlements and strongest of all in Washington DC. Though effects were dramatic in some places, in most they were modest or even none existent. One general effect was that all zombies hit by the energy wave, shambling alone alone or in small groups, had collapsed into dust while morgue lit fog had vanished away.

 

EddieLee walked past mercenaries, traders, workers, hunters and waitresses. The waitresses were young women in skimpy clothes as were two bargirls. The famous Nova, maturely beautiful, stood with her back against a wall in sexy black leather gear. She was expensive but was a favoured prostitute with clients. EddieLee slipped past two heavily arguing thugs, both who wanted to buy Nova's services first, and he stopped in front of her. Nova smiled lazily at him.

 

"What do you want, sugar?"

 

EddieLee smiled into her eyes. "As beautiful and renouned as you are, just some information that I am willing to pay for."

 

One of the arguing men turned and scowled at EddieLee. "You p*** off quick. The b**** is mine."

 

EddieLee reached out with a hand and with ease took the man's hand and forced him suddenly to the floor so that he slammed down hard on his knees. The fool struggled for a moment against a grip and force of amazing strength and then gave up. EddieLee spoke. "In a second I will let you go. You will walk away quickly and you will ask at the bar for an expensive drink. I will pay for it. Now, go."

 

The man scowled but he left and so did the one who he had been arguing with.

 

Nova shrugged. "I was going to refuse him anyway. He stank of filth and vomit. Colin Moriarty is not often in these days. He is up to something, no doubt, but his stupid son Ave is managing the saloon and is easy to deal with. What information do you want?"

 

"Where is the one called Gob, the ghoul?" EddieLee looked around. "I would have met him when I first came to Megaton but there were some troubles below with monsters that I had to deal with. It is important that I talk with Gob."

 

Nova frowned. "You just leave him alone. He might be ugly but, well, he is my ugly."

 

EddieLee turned to her. "I am his half-brother. Gob's mother, Carol, is my mother. I would not hurt Gob."

 

Suddenly a smooth skinned mature, fairly handsome man walked up to Nova and smiled sleepily. "Nova, you want me to get you a coffee. I had this crazy dream."

 

Nova was looking shocked, turning from Gob to the SEARF leader and back again. "Oh, come on, slow it down a little. First Gob's long lost half-brother of a super-soldier shows up and now you, Gob, look like a demighoul."

 

EddieLee nodded. "It was the wave of energy. It changed other ghouls into demighouls, healing skin and causing hair to grow properly. How did you know I am a super-soldier?"

 

Nova gave him a look of pity. "Because you move like a super-soldier and you dropped a big bruiser of a mercenary with one hand as if he was a child."

 

EddieLee nodded. "You two are leaving this place with me. I will pay off Colin Moriarty any monies that you owe him in a legitimate fashion. If he causes me trouble, then perhaps I will just snap his neck. I will go talk to his son, who is in the back room with a waitress having s**. Rather clumsy, really. The woman looks quite bored. Two of my people will go with you to help you gather your stuff. Two will stay here. There are five more troopers outside and five on the roof in case of trouble."

 

About twenty minutes later Gob and Nova left with the super-soldiers plus their gear. Ave Moriarty had been angry but far more frightened and had quickly taken the $1,000 given to him in EIDs. They went to the SEARF-JAGAF Outpost in Megaton.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

[Maharg67]

106^th

CHANGE OF PLANS

GATHERING FORCES AGAINST NEW ENEMIES

 

The Old Olney became the gathering point for the armies that were now led by the GreyZiazin. The GreatClaw was astonished when orders came to him to prepare for the arrival of the AntAgonizer and her great quasi-insect swarm. Clawbeasts, handclaws were put to work to prepare the fortified ways, to repair and to change areas as much as they could. To help the GreyZiazin sent robots and androids. Then came the Mechanist with his army of robots. Somehow it worked out, somehow there was only some tension as the three leaders met in a large chamber with the GreyZiazin himself sitting at the head of the big, hastily fixed up wooden table.

 

The GreyZiazin smiled at the three, making them nervous, and then spoke. "I am so happy to see you all and am glad that you are well."

 

The Mechanist, the GreatClaw and the baby AntAgonizer said nothing. The baby girl wiggled her toes and watched a plastic shiny thing hanging over her cot while the Mechanist fed her a bottle of milk. The GreatClaw looked as if he was convinced he was in a very strange dream and that he would surely wake up soon.

 

The GreyZiazin sighed. "The DarkZiazin was betrayed, enslaved by a far darker force than himself." Then he told, in brief, the story of how the DarkZiazin had come to be, how the Orbis had been created and how the DarkZiazin had once been first Senator and then President James Patriot Jackson. There was World War Four and then there was Doomsday. What explained all the crazy things that had happened? The insanity of the DarkZiazin was part of that explanation, another was the weird mentality of the Lords and Ladies of Undeath and yet another was the combination of so many crazy and powerful forces at work.

 

The Mechanist spoke. "Then we will fight the Lords and Ladies of Undeath?"

 

The GreyZiazin nodded. "After that we will try to find a home of our own. The MutantLord is on his way here along with other forces formerly of the now gone Patriot Republic and the Patriot Warriors as led by Sadobutcher, the Patriot Prime Warrior himself. The Mutantlord is clever and cunning. Sadobutcher is a thuggish fool. But for now I wish to introduce three great lords of power. Please welcome SquirrelTyrant, MoleratLord and Canineus."

 

The three came meekly into the chamber, trying not to shake too much, trying to hide behind each other as they did so. Some dogs, squirrels and molerats wandered in casually with them. A large puppy ran up to a table leg and peed on it.

 

Canineus stood out front and she tried to look tough. "We are the dire and terrible lords of dogs, squirrels and molerats." The other two dire and terrible lords half hid behind her.

 

The Mechanist shook his head slowly and said nothing.

 

The GreatClaw swallowed down a laugh, smiled as best he could and spoke with a solemn tone of voice. "Greetings oh mighty dire and terrible lords. I am sure special duties can be found for you that will great aid the great effort against our enemies."

 

The GreyZiazin nodded solemly. "Now go to your new quarters and settle in."

 

The three newcomers raced off as quickly as they could. It was clear that they badly wanted to go and hide somewhere.

 

A few minutes later the three were still staring at the door. The first to lose control and to burst into wild laughter was the GreyZiazin, then the baby girl started chortling wildly, the Mechanist bent over and let loose while the GreatClaw came barely last. Thankfully for the mighty SquirrelTyrant, MoleratLord and Canineus they were rushing off to their new quarters, followed by lots of animals, and failed to hear any of this; their pride was fragile enough as it was.

 

TO BE CONTINUED