COSMIC OPERA: EPIC OF THE DRAGON

[Maharg67]

THANKS AGAIN, WASTELAND ASSASSIN, FOR YOUR FEEDBACK!!!

 

6

WITH THE LIVING ETERNALS

BEFORE THE NINE HIGH ELDERS #1

 

*********

 

Bobby appared out of mid air with a sparkling shimmer; now he was not Bobby in appearance but was a tall, beautiful human like figure with saffron coloured hair and skin, dressed in a translucent silken coppery toga. His hair was dark saffron, his skin light saffron and his eyes were golden white in colour. He stood in a great metallic stone domechamber, like the one at the core of BingBingBarbo but bigger still and with out the statues. Instead it had a great central disk shaped plaform and on that platform, seated on metallic stone thrones, were eight Elders. They were also elegantly beautiful humans in appearance but they wore togas of golden colour though otherwise identical to the one that Bobby wore.

 

But Bobby was not really Bobby at all while he stood there and his other body was frozen in protective suspended animation back amongst the wombles in BingBingBarbo. That he looked like one of the Ancients, one of the Living Eternals of the One-Of-Many-Of-One, indicated that perhaps the Nine High Elders had forgiven him. Yes, there were nine but the ninth was the invisible linked mind, the One-Mind-Of-Many-Of-One-Mind at the core of the One-Of-Many-Of-One.

 

The great domechamber was silent, was still of air with out even the slightest draft. The temperature was slightly cool. There were no features except the platform and the throne like chairs, the dome ceiling and disk shaped floor. Bobby did not like that place at all for it felt devoid of life, of the natural flow of natural energies. To him the chamber reflected the sterility and orthodox conservatism of the One-Of-Many-Of-One in general but of the One-Mind-Of-Many-Of-One-Mind in particular.

 

Bobby, when he had another name, had comitted a terrible crime and as a result the One-Of-Many-Of-One had become imprisoned inside a transdimensional realm inside the moon orbiting a primitive planet at the very edges of the Great Sweep of Domains. But it had not all been just his crime for the One-Of-Many-Of-One had willingly followed him into his foolishness and at least the great entity of entities was willing to admit that much.

 

Then the One-Mind-Of-Many-Of-One-Mind spoke from mid-air and sounded like many elegantly beautiful, powerful voices working together in perfect unison. "We have decided to give you probationary status of true redemption. We have decided to give you a series of quests and side-quests to complete along with consistant tasks. You will assist us, yourself and others. A threat both subtle and very dangerous has come to these, the Confining Realms."

 

Bobby did not find the Underworld to be at all confining but he knew better than to say so. He wondered just what the threat might be but he knew better than to ask. They, the Nine High Elders, would not answer his questions and would be insulted that he would dare ask. He considered the Nine High Elders to be quite arrogant.

 

The One-Mind-Of-Many-Of-One-Mind spoke again. "For now you will carry on as always except that we will be sending you your first special resources. Do not fail us, others or yourself."

 

Then, with a sparkling shimmer, Bobby vanished. He had been dismissed!

 

*********

 

 

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Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

7

BOBBY OF THE CLANFOLK

WILD SURVIVAL #6

 

*********

 

Bobby came out of protected suspended animation to find himself surrounded by slumbering wombles and with a baby womble sleeping comfortably on his chest. He lay there for a long time trying to work out why the Nine High Elders had called him before them in their typical abrupt, arrogant fashion. He had not trusted the One-Of-Many-Of-One for a very long time and he both feared and detested the One-Mind-Of-Many-Of-One-Mind. Having come up with no clear ideas, he needed more information, he slept for a while with the baby womble snuggled into his arms.

 

When he awoke he had a wash in a big tub with a hose and a shower-head attachment. Then he picked up the large, full backpack he had left with the wombles a day earlier and put on some fresh clothes. Wombles took his dirty gear to wash and he in turn helped them fix a small electric pump. Then he tended to his SMLE rifle, carefully checking and cleaning it. He discussed some matters of local politics and economics with some adult wombles before he once more fronted the five humans from the Earth.

 

The five had slept, washed, been groomed by wombles and were generally well rested. JJ was uptight and annoyed by womble attentions while the other four had enjoyed them. Again they sat in a circle on cushionseats but this time three womble elders sat with them, a scribe and also KaratToop who had a special status, or so Bobby guessed.

 

Adala spoke, for she seemed to be the leader by both rank and respect with only JJ not fully accepting her in this position. "When the big antigravity globes took off for the Moon back in the late 1890s, they casued a disruption to the Earth's electromagnetic field. Savage storms raged around the world and climatic patterns were badly disrupted. It was not a world ending disaster by far but there was a good deal of extra death around that year and into the new year. Officially all large governments banned the super technology of antigravity, including the European Empires, the USA, Japan and China though in the case of China the idea of them being able to do the research was considered a joke."

 

She went on talking as she opened a file and passed to Bobby some photographs, printed sheets with writing, maps and diagrams. "It had been a Professor Carver who originally came up with the antigravity substance that he called carverite. The so called super geniuses stole the technology from him, even tried to have him killed. After the launching of the three great globes, Carver gained the considerable support of the British Imperial Government and the Empress herself. Carver designed a more efficient, safer means of antigravity drive that as a booster would assist rocketships to fly more easily into space with heavier payloads. The technologies spread. A new space race began."

 

The Russian woman shook her head in wonder. "China, the secret China, came almost out of nowhere. Emperor MingLo, he called himself, and he arose suddenly with strange, new technologies to bring wealth, power and knowledge to a new Chinese Empire built on the rubble of the old collapsed one. Great flying ships of steel that could fly to the moon, rayguns from the size of pistols to that of big cannons, power armour suits for soldiers, workers and others along with the golems, the robotic creatures of false-flesh. The new Chinese Empire had other secrets that remained so for a while plus the best technologies of the best such as steam engine powered ships, trains and road vehicles, mechanical machineguns and many others."

 

Adala frowned hard. "The war began with the Chinese Empire attacking Mongolia and Japan with out warning, with out official declaration of war. The Chinese unleashed armies of fanatical soldiers in power armour along with masses of super strong and hard to kill hulking golems. Their military flying ships and steamships began to attack everybody's vessels and airships, even those countries who were officially neutral such as Switzerland. As other nations struck back, the whole world was soon at war."

 

Suddenly she pulled a compact paperback book out of a bag and passed it to Bobby. "This is a science fiction book published on my world, the Earth. Please read the back of it."

 

Bobby did so and then with a frown he looked up while still clutching the paperback. "The history of the world that my English ancestors came from, it is on your world a science fiction book written and published in the 1920s and you happen to have a copy of it on you. I believe you. I sense the truth of it. This is not the first time I have come across such oddities. We are inside the moon but in a special way. This is what you might call a transdimensional realm and the various inhabitants here that came from outside have come from appear to be Alternate Earths of different kinds. The origin of others is more exotic."

 

KaratToop spoke then, wearing cap and thick reading-glasses as he in turn examined the paperback novel. "My people, the wombles, come from the great realm called Wimbledon where great treasures came from the mysterious Big Uns such as giant sandwiches, sunglasses, blankets, apples and many other things that we could adapt and other wise use to our advantage. We dream of one day returning to Wimbleton."

 

JJ grinned and then spoke in poor Obotongue. "That's crazy. Wombles are characters on a British children's television show. This is an act, a lie. Wimbledon, what rubbish..." Then he stopped abruptly with womble claws pressed against his throat.

 

KaratToop had sprung long, shiny, very hard claws from his right paw and pressed the three tips lightly against JJ's throat. He spoke with a warning to his voice. "No more you laugh at the solemn beliefs of wombles. We welcome you. We care for you. You are nasty. You push us away. Your mind is full of badness as is your heart. You listen to dark voices. You must go now from this place of wombles and to a public living place, an inn or hostel or charity shelter."

 

Clearly the meeting was over.

 

*********

 

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/a_womble_465x370-1.jpg

Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

8

BOBBY OF THE CLANFOLK

WILD SURVIVAL #7

 

*********

 

JJ the human was expelled from the womble area of the larger settlement of BingBingBarbo. He did not go gracefully but ranted and raved before physically attacking Adala, who promptly knocked him out with a karate blow. His own people took away JJ's Terran equipment, including guns, coms and other nifty gear. They left him with his jumpsuit and boots along with a fur vest that barely fit him, a leather purse of coins and a leather backsack of useful items. He was dumped at the entrance to a Sisterhood of Compassion outpost but they refused to take him, declaring that he was 'stained with willing possession'. Word of this got around. When JJ awoke, enraged and ready to attack Adala again, he found himself outside of BingBingBarbo. From there he vanished into the Wildlands and Bobby was not to see him for a long time.

 

Bobby sat brushing the fur of KaratToop and the upset womble was being groomed back to calmness by him and a young female adult womble. Bobby said, "One truth in this case does not make another vanish. Wimbledon, your Wimbledon, is real but on another world wombles are on a TV show and they are much smaller than you are. JJ is taken of the darkness but willingly so. The darkness in this case is a type of powerful dark psychic based entity known as devilzee. You know of them but perhaps not you, Adala."

 

Adala was sitting close by with the other three humans that had not been expelled. She had a small womble infant on her lap. "No, we do not know much of this transdimensional underworld. We want to go home. We want to be back with our own people. We want to assist in the defence of our world against an alien enemy that is threatening it. It was the 5th of October, 1975 when we launched to the moon from Spacestation Freedom where the mothership was assembled. Then our moonlander was sent to land but it vanished and reappeared inside... the moon. Are you saying that we are trapped here?"

 

Bobby sighed. "Others will arrive from your world. Once some come, then a flow will begin. It is complicated and I have difficulty in understanding it myself though I was born here and I am a hundred and eighty-five years old, still a teenager really."

 

Adala stared at him in shock. "Are your people all that long lived?"

 

Bobby shook his head. "No, I have what is called the Dragon Blood in me. Just a fancy name for a particular genetic inheritance that I am unable to tell you more about. Part of the reason for my exile to here in the Wildlands. So what are these alien enemies?"

 

She frowned. "Green comets from Mars began to crash into the oceans of our world. Some crashed into the land and exploded very dramatically, like thermonuclear weapons. Thankfully only one major city was destroyed but many died. The comets at first were only a few scattered ones. In desperation the world combined resources and in low orbit we set up Orbital Defence Platforms, ODPs, each one armed with nuclear tipped missiles. They were fired with mixed success, destroying three green comets in space but missing five. Two others were knocked off course and sent towards the Sun. We wish to build a base on the Moon and launch from their a big nuclear strike at Mars. I think the plan is insane but people are frightened, even governments, and are not thinking properly."

 

Bobby looked thoughtful. “War of the Worlds by HG Wells. Have you heard of such a story?”

 

Adala shook her head. “No but there are plenty of stories…”

 

Bobby nodded. “HG Wells is a famous science fiction author on some Alternate Earths, or AltEarths. On some he is known as one of the ‘fathers’ of science fiction.”

 

Adala again shook her head. “Fathers of science fiction are EE Smith, B Brandy and SS Shelley. The last is a mother of science fiction. Those are the ones I grew up reading. This is going to take a good deal of working out.”

 

KaratToop then spoke. “Then we all came from different worlds. Perhaps we can not return to those worlds but are joined by others from our worlds as Bobby said. At first only three wombles came to this underworld and then we found Wombledon, our very own Wimbledon away from the great first Wimbledon. Wombledon is our own suncavernland. Here in Wildzone of Cressentoa this is but a diplomatic and trade outpost for our people.”

 

*********

 

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Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

9

BOBBY OF THE CLANFOLK

WILD SURVIVAL #8

 

*********

 

An excited womble messenger rushed in and approached KaratToop after giving the message to others. Then she spoke to KaratToop in Womblelong, the language of the wombles. “Many Pakken have gathered in aggressive force outside of BingBingBarbo. There is at least one PakLord and six PakMaster with five dozen PakHunters. They also have a dozen PakHounds and a dozen PakStalkers.”

 

Adala listened to the description of the hulking Pakken humanoids and the PakStalkers that were monstrous hound like creatures that served them at times. Five PakHounds would each control twelve PakHunters and one PakMaster would control the twelve PakHounds.

 

PakStalkers were slim, stealthy, deadly adult female Pakken of one kind. They would follow the orders only of the PakLord. PakStalkers moved faster, more agile than PakHunters and in many ways were more deadly.

 

Bobby took up his SMLE rifle and walked out of the settlement in body-armour. This time he loaded the rifle with a stripper-clip of special bullets, hard to make but very useful at such times. Then he was taking up defensive positions with local wombles, pointy eared elves, morlocks, tough Wildlander humans and others. None liked the savage, brutal Pakken who served their PakHigh and any with enough wealth to hire them.

 

Bobby had assumed that it was his damned cousin, Spartane, was behind the PakHunters trying to kill him but now he had his doubts. Ramlon, follower of Spartane, may have approached the PakHunters but perhaps he was not successful in hiring them. So many Pakken would be amazingly expensive to hire unless something else was offered to the Pakken of great worth. Or was the story more complicated than that? Bobby was annoyed for life was complicated enough with out all of this new foolishness.

 

Wozzles, more primitive and savage versions of wombles, came flowing into position around their beloved wombles, and crouched with spears, axes and short bolt-action carbines ready to use.

 

Then came some forty or so Clanfolk mercenaries in fleximetallic armour and carrying lever-action rifles and lever-action shotguns along with some bolt-action sniper-rifles. Each also had traditional power-swords of a kind that Bobby was forbidden to use as an exile. With the mercenaries were hounds. The other Clanfolk only acknowledged Bobby with a brief nod. He often saw mercenaries from this particular group in the Wildlands and he knew them to be tough, well experienced and very skilled. Considering the expensive of them he wondered why they so often appeared in the Wildzone of Cressentoa where sure there was not enough prizes or well paid tasks to sustain them. Still, they were the DrazenDari and he did not question their motives for being there for that was their affair.

 

Defences were partly a series of cleverly fortified ditches and partly a series of older structures, squat gun-domes of smart-concrete built by the brutal Truetopians of the Ministry of Peace, or MiniPeace, which was their powerful ministry of war. The gun-domes had been abandoned when the Truetopian military forces had gone off to start the long, still happening, war with the enemy nation-state of Geniustra. As it was the Truetopians had held only a weak hold on the Wildzone of Cressentoa where nearly all others were against them or were unreliable allies.

 

The disabled gun-domes were long ago repaired and even improved. Now some of them aimed their thunderguns and 1-pounder gattling-cannons at the enemy along with mortars and rocket-tubes.

 

It seemed that the attacking Pakken were over confident in trying to attack such a well fortified settlement, that they would pay heavily and lose. Yet as Bobby stood in a fortified ditch, carefully looking through a clever made periscope device, he began to psysense something very wrong and in the form of coming death. Almost too late did he give the warning for all to retreat back down into the greater security of BingBingBarbo.

 

*********

 

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Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

10

BOBBY OF THE CLANFOLK

WILD SURVIVAL #9

 

*********

 

Even as the last of the fighters withdrew down into the deeper, heavily fortified and reinforced spaces of BingBingBarbo, the blastoids came hurling through the air and great explosions ripped up the surface part of the settlement along with the defences. Even the gun-domes were smashed, as very strong as they were, being made of special self-repairing concrete.

 

The Pakken force had been part of a trick. Somebody wanted to draw all the fighting forces out and destroy them in one blow. Also the solar power arrays, surface crops and other resources were gone. Yet the Pakken had not been behind the trick but had been used for one blastoid landed amongst them, a fast flying orb of glistening metallic substance, and killed or wounded many of them in one great explosion. Mindeye-seers in BingBingBarbo mindeye-visioned the surviving Pakken, frightened but enraged, taking their wounded and dead with them that they could as many Pakken were buried or were disintegrated by the massive blast.

 

The plan had, it seemed, failed except what was the plan all about? What had its goals been but to kill a good many folk including Pakken? Could Truetopia been involved? They had built the first blastoids but after that the terrible weapons had been copied by others. In the terrible twisted warzone of trench warfare gone insane that stood between Truetopia and Geniustar, blastoids were used by both sides.

 

The Pakken had been created by Geniustar but the Great Truetopian Geniustaran War had proven too much even for them. They had fled from the war and gone independent. They did not tend to use blastoids and certainly would not blow up their own people with one. They hated others but were loyal, in their own twisted way, to one another.

 

Shudders had run through the settlement of BingBingBarbo but it was still structurally sound and there had been no injuries let alone deaths. Many of the tunnel ways out had collapsed and wombles, wozzles and morlocks were busy both rescuing some trapped and opening the ways out. Few in the Known Lunar Underworld could match the tunnelling experience and skills of these three peoples.

 

No more attacks came!

 

*********

 

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Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

11

BOBBY OF THE CLANFOLK

DREAMLINKING #1

 

*********

 

Bobby dreamlinked as he slept this time and remembered again what was forgotten during his waking times. Deliberately forgotten so that Bobby might not reveal the truth to others. The formal exile out of the Clandom was official but it was false. Bobby had killed his father in a duel of honour but only because of his father’s cheating of the rules. Why the false exile? So that Bobby was away from the corruption, deceit and assassins infesting the Clancourts of the Clandom, especially the High Clancourt itself.

 

Now Bobby was neater, cleaner and wearing a thin, tough but fine looking clantunic. Around him were dogs, cats, monkeys, parrots, ferrets and other animals all wanting to welcome him and lick, nibble his ears or otherwise make him feel welcome.

 

A small pup was sitting on one knee and a baby like neobaby on the other. A little girl was sitting in his lap and was holding a baby girl. The inner family was there. Mother, his new legal father, sisters, brothers and others. He tended to love his inner family but he did not like most of them.

 

He reported everything that had happened to him, well almost everything. He spoke of the reported activities of Ramlon, follower of Spartane, who wombles had seen meeting with a PakLord. He reported the appearance of the five strange humans and what had happened with JJ. He also spoke of the attack on the settlement of BingBingBarbo with blastoids, including the Pakken’s role in it and how they had been attacked by a blastoid.

 

He made no mention of the other, totally secret, aspect of his heritage.

 

*********

 

He mother smiled at him warmly. He loved her but did not like her. The smile did not quite reach her eyes as she did not like him either but also loved him. Perhaps he would learn to like his parents again one day or perhaps clan honour would have him cutting their heads off. Being clannobles meant that his family was tied to clan historical traditions, legal customs and a wide range of clanlaws of the Clancoda. There were also truces, alliances and other agreements both long and short term. The Clancourts were a tricky place to grow up in though the rural ones tended to be less legal and more traditional. But too often it was not honour that drove the Clancourts but corruption and greed for regal power, wealth and influence.

 

His mother smiled and nodded. “There is not much that we can tell you. Ramlon is no longer a follower of Spartane. He was stealing from Spartane and his stupid criminality was discovered. Now Ramlon is on the run from Spartane’s thugs and some other thugs that he has hired that he laughably calls mercenaries. Ramlon seems to have become a follower of a new, criminal figure to have emerged in the Wildlands. They call him the Skull-Banditlord. Not much of an imaginary name but he and his followers wear the skull symbols not of humans but of dragon skulls. Some say the Skull-Banditlord has the true dragon blood, even as you do, and that his so called bandits are highly dangerous warriors as he, himself, is.”

 

The baby girl stirred in her sleep and stretched strong little arms. The neobaby looked up and around at Bobby. Bobby picked up his son and kissed his belly and then held the small one to himself. The mother was not there but he sensed her close, being ready to come to him when she was allowed to do so.

 

His mother, informally named Bessenie, spoke again. “Did you pick up your last supply package at Clanlessburg, amongst all those exiles and self-exiles, misfits and impures?”

 

He snorted. “I thank you for the package. As for the misfits and impures, I like many of them more than I like Clanfolk and as for exiles and self-exiles, you know well that a large number are so because of the dishonourable actions of others. There are wombles, of course. Are there Clans still trying to steal lands from Wombledon?”

 

She shook her head. “Not since you organised a proper Wombledon Defence Force complete with womble officer led wozzle brigades. Not since you got the damned British Imperials to form an alliance with Wombledon aimed at stopping the spread of Clanfolk influence into Wombledon and closer to their damned empire. What surprised me was how many Clanfolk agreed with your decision just because of the love of wombles and wozzles.”

 

Bobby nodded. “You need also acknowledge that so as not to give too much insult, that Wombledon now sends tribute to the High Clancourt of valuable resources only found in Wombledon.”

 

Bessenie sighed. “A nice way to bribe our highness, the Clanqueen. First you please her by protecting her beloved wombles, then you make sure that she has access to a good deal of wealthy resources to further her hold on the Clanking, the old fool. The Clanqueen continues to carry out her plan to weaken the Lower Clancourts and the Estate Clanlords such as ourselves.”

 

Then she paused with a frown before speaking again. “We will focus on informalities now, we will try to be at peace again as a family.”

 

*********

 

They had a picnic and Bobby met his semiwife Tarena, the mother of Babby the neobaby. She was long lived but not as he was for she was of the false dragon blood and not of the true dragon blood. He played various games with his inner family and some outer family relations, family followers and others including favoured servants.

 

They played cricket, British influence, did archery, played stickball of Clanfolk tradition, played varied forms of chess and otherwise entertained themselves and each other. They fed upon a wide range of picnic foods and drinks including roasted spiced meats, marinated tofu, pod foods, special treated steamed vegetables, salads, cakes, juices, wines and non alcoholic apple cider.

 

In picnic tradition clannobles served non-nobles and mixed evenly with them though nothing was totally informal.

 

Bobby played with old friends, with family, with others and with pets but he noted the absence of Katrina, his promised wife to be. His love-hate relationship with her was still going strong.

 

But as nice as it was, he doubted matters would ever return to the wonderfulness of his earlier youth before the Night of a Hundred Betrayals had ripped his and many other lives apart.

 

*********

 

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Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

12

BOBBY OF THE CLANFOLK

WILD SURVIVAL #11

 

*********

 

Bobby awoke to the noise of wombles moving around, of much activity, but it was not their typical bustling. No, the wombles were agitated, were quiet and this included the infants and babies. Wozzles were prowling around alert. Everything was being packed or loaded into lockboxes to be carefully buried, to be hidden away for later retrieval.

 

The four humans were packed and ready to go as Bobby walked out bare from the waist up and began to slip a shirt on. Wombles and wozzles gave her quick greetings but did not seem to respond differently but the four humans were amazed.

 

Bobby was now a young woman. She finished slipping a shirt on and began to slip her fleximetallic armour on even as she spoke to Adala. “Priorities! The monster that I was chasing must be long gone by now but you are your comrades are here and now. You asked me to help you get back to Moonlander Eagle Alpha-One.” She paused to finish putting on the armour and to adjust it.

 

The Texas woman, Brianna, was staring at Bobby in shock. “Are you Bobby or Bobby’s sister?”

 

Bobby shrugged. “Definitely Bobby. It happens sometimes. Means I have to always store some extra items but mostly I can handle it. There are more important matters to focus on. You came through the Wildzone of EvaShazava, a tough area but not as tough as most Wildzones are. In that you were lucky for it most likely gave you more chance to adapt to danger. Getting through EvaShazava will be troublesome but the big problem will be retracing your path through the Labyrinth of Fire and Ice that covers the Known Underworld as a great layer of caverns, smaller cave chambers and tunnels. There are ruins there also along with artefacts of the Ancients and some civilizations along with some not so civilized folk. Yet so huge is the Labyrinth of Fire and Ice that one can easily miss all of that.”

 

Then she turned to a womble in Womblelong. “What is happening?”

 

The womble paused and then spoke back in the womble language. “A big army is marching towards BingBingBarbo from the direction of Joytopia. At first they sang happy songs in their weirding way but then they turned the mirror opposite, to unbridled rage.”

 

In Joytopia one had to be happy or at least content; it was illegal to be angry, upset, unhappy or discontent. Sometimes Joytopia released the suppressed emotions by sending enraged raiding parties or even berserker armies against neighbours. Joytopia was a long way away from the Wildzone of Wildzone of Cressentoa and yet to get from Joytopia, of the Tritopia, to the Wildzone was a matter of going through largely uninhabited super cave networks and suncaverns. Such an army would need not run into the territories of any great power to get to Cressentoa but why would they bother to go such a long way? What was in Cressentoa, in BingBingBarbo, that could draw so many criminally insane Joytopians so far?

 

Wildlanders were used to fleeing, to hiding, when they had to do so. The Joytopians would have suffered for their trespass with ambushes, booby-traps and other tricks. Yet they were fanatical in any course of action that they chose or was chosen for them and if they had BingBingBarbo as a target it would be hard to turn them back.

 

The adult-male womble spoke again. “KaratToop wishes to speak with you, Grand Bobby who is now a woman and not a man. KaratToop wishes to make plans to get wombles, wozzles, morlocks and others to safety. Also, where did you get the new rings from?”

 

She looked down at the black rings on the middle finger of each hand that each had a black disk shaped front with an intricate golden emblem on it. On the right was a sword and the left a shield. On the other fingers, not the thumbs, were slimmer black rings with out fronts or symbols.

 

Bobby then smiled at the womble. “A special birth right of power. I will now see what I can do for the peoples who must flee from BingBingBarbo. Where is KaratToop? Aaahhh, yes, I sense he is close. Now, I have some instructions for you. Please get a well made womble tunnel-cart and fill it with a nice selection of good equipment and supplies including weapons. Take it to the big Chamber of Big Talking.”

 

The womble nodded as if getting odd orders from Bobby was both acceptable and normal. Then he raced off.

 

*********

 

Bobby went with KaratToop, who had been with his third wife and her second husband singing sweet songs together of togetherness, to the big chamber. The big four wheeled tunnel-cart was there complete with a pair of big, powerful wuzzles, slow but powerful wozzle like creatures who often hauled tunnel-carts for the wombles. Wuzzles were part of the family and actually liked such work. The wuzzles were led to one side by the womble adult who cared for them and Bobby examined the cart and its contents. She then put his rifle and some other of his stuff in it.

 

Then she touched the cart with both hands and focused though he was not sure just what was going to happen. Then, with an odd shimmering, tiny microtors began their work. They copied the tunnel-cart and all of its contents, shifted to an open space and recreated the lot.

 

The shimmering ended, the microtors having returned to the power-rings.

 

The wombles, wozzles and wuzzles in the room had not seen Bobby do such a trick before and they all made noises of amazement. The four humans stood back in surprise. Bobby had not done such a thing before, at least not as long as she or he had lived.

 

Then she turned in astonishment for floating in mid-air was a metallic globe of white-golden colour and it seemed to be a metre wide hide robotic device of some kind. It was covered evenly with small black domes. This was an orbotor.

 

Next to it, just to add to the astonishment, was a dull, dark red creature like a powerful, squat womble but broader and taller. The creature was a wombotor and its kind was based on wombles but all were male.

 

Perhaps most astonishing was a young woman who looked much like Bobby herself complete with fleximetallic armour, the helmet removed, and other gear including a SMLE rifle. She was a clonetor.

 

Or at least until Bobby noted the golden-white glowing figure, a vague humanoid, floating just above the floor. A solartor of the elementors, a quasiliving organism of solar energies, a thing hard to explain.

 

So when Bobby noted the partly green fleximetallic armoured unicorn, all dull off-white in colour, with a woman shaped nymph warrior next to it in green fleximetallic armour, she was quite ready for it.

 

Or kind of ready for it.

 

*********

 

 

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/Komodo-1.jpg

Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

13

BOBBY OF THE CLANFOLK

WILD SURVIVAL #12

 

*********

 

Bobby went at the front of the convoy fleeing through big underground tunnels cleverly made by wombles, wozzles and morlocks. The new tunnel-cart and other gear was most useful and the new companions moved intermingled with the others.

 

The orbotor floated out to the front as it scanned for danger, for such as explosives and other kinds of traps.

 

The wombotor stomped along happily as he had been adopted by the wombles and wozzles as if he was a beloved long lost cousin just returned.

 

The clonetor was towards the middle of the convoy of tunnel-carts drawn by wuzzles or strong, compact ponies or white furred morlockons, a kind of four legged morlock creature. She paced along smoothly as she spoke with some morlocks who were growing fonder of her. Her name was BobbyLee and she fussed lightly over the morlockons who were at once devoted to her.

 

The solartor of the elementors was close to the rear and was floating beside the nymph-amazon who strode along with the unicorn following loyally. The unicorn did not need to be led and would be offended if somebody tried to do so.

 

They made good time and behind them came the DrazenDari mercenaries with horses, hounds and odd biomechanical quadwalkers. The last were fairly small four double-joint legged quasiliving mechanisms with armour and exotic weapons, each able to carry two adult humans or extra equipment and supplies. This time they carried transport packs of stuff.

 

One day BingBingBarbo would be reclaimed and hopefully would become even larger and better protected than it had been but for now it was being abandoned. The Joytopians would find it hard to enter for it had been buried with all of its entrance tunnels being collapsed.

 

For now they were headed towards BingBingBeverlus, a sister settlement to BingBingBarbo but less isolated, larger and more busy as it was on the shoreline of a large important river. The settlement was a port for ferries going across to the settlement of BingBingBoobio but also for river traffic, fishing vessels and much else.

 

After a while they came out into the open and began following a gently winding dirt road across a wild landscape of mingled forests, areas of muddy boglands and green grasslands. Out there were clusters of mudclay domes surrounded by dried mudclay walls. There dwelt the Oonnoo, thin exotic humanoids who did not care to mingle or even to meet with other peoples other than other kinds of the Naneninonu such as the Aannaa, the Eennee, the Uunnuu and the Iinnii along with less well known kinds. Thin trails of smoke drifted up from the big, well made domes.

 

Bobby had no real idea at why the new companions had appeared when she had replicated the items in the tunnel-cart and the tunnel-cart itself. Nor as yet could she figure out how the power-rings had come to her except for the misty memories of communicating with the Nine High Eternals of the Living Eternals. This time she had misty but generally pleasing memories of her dreamlinking with her inner family, pets and others including her beloved semiwife and neobaby son, a change that caused her to be happier. She also wondered how long she would remain a woman this time and if she would return to being a man when the next transformation took place.

 

*********

 

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/russia-marsh-forest3-1.jpg

Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Fifoo]

What infinite pleasure than to revel in your stories, Maharg67, always creative, but it demands no less from one of the best like you.

Adding images is a very nice addition to the pleasure of our eyes. :thumbsup:

[Maharg67]

THANK YOU GREATLY, FIFOO, FOR YOUR WONDERFUL FEEDBACK. I FEEL MY HEAD SWELLING. I WILL DO MY BEST TO NOT ONLY TO GO ON WRITING BUT TO IMPROVE. THANK YOU. PS: MORE PICTURES WILL BE ADDED AND YOU ARE WELCOME TO ADD PICTURES IF YOU THINK ANY ARE APPLICABLE TO THE STORY. Edited July 13, 2010 by Maharg67