TRANSDIMENSIONAL TROUBLES

[Maharg67]

2

 

OUMMUO OF THE CHOSEN THIRTEEN

ORDERHOOD OF STEEL ARRIVING IN CENTRALIA

 

OummuO saw the fleet of advanced airships and even more advanced, more compact aeroships, moving through the sky over the Western Coast of Centralia being actually the Western Cape jutting out and from below the vast central mesa of Central Centralia. Airships were one, two or even three old style shaped fixed hull dirigibles with exotic liftergas in them. Aeroships were squat saucers. Then there were semirigid or rigid blimps known as airboats and some small squat saucers of aeroboats. But flying with them, huge and awsome, was the Spruce Goose, the huge flying-boat that was only flying because of some special amazing upgrades. Then there were other big flying-boats with atomic engines driving their mighty propellors. The sky was quite clear, conditions were good, especially for the Wastelands, and ahead lay good landing sites including one with a large lake close to it.

 

But they had not come first of all. Three big supersonic high-spyplanes had flown high overhead and many smaller long range spyplanes of various kinds. Some of the aeroships were aircraft-carriers of specialised STOL and VTOL aircraft of varied kinds. Some of the aircraft had dropped scouting parties and even bigger recon groups. Paratroopers in special power armour lifted by special paraplanes, had come into land near the lake and had begun preperations for the others to come. Eyebots were sent out, all silent and stealthy as possible, as they hugged the landscape even as they lightly bobbed through the air on small fanjets. Bigger scoutbots of varied kinds were sent out also but there were only a few of these valuable devices.

 

Then had come four subsonic Bo747 Jumbojets, two wide bodied AirBuses and some other subsonic jet-airliners and jet-freighters. They landed heavily and one came down uneasily but the pilots managed to halt it with just a minor tilt on one damaged wheel. Very soon freight and people were being unloaded along with special items like basic robots. Tron Series robots like worktrons, protectrons, lifttrons and protectron like securetrons, were thudding with graceful clumsiness across the old battered tarmac of what had been some kind of aerial luxury resort for wealthy owners of luxury hitech, high pefermance aircraft.

 

But now the airshipcraft and the aerocraft were joining others already arrayed and hidden as much as possible from the air.

 

The Orderhood of Steel had were arriving big time in Centralia being the Orders of Soldiers, Stormers, Sappers, Sages, Scribes, Sheriffs, Salvagers, Scouts and a few others, some of them of surprising nature. But with the Orderhood also came others not of it but closely allied to it and also a large number of refugees brought from the growing crisis in North America. With them came allied offshoots of the Orderhood like the old fashioned thinking Brotherhood of Steel, the amazonic Sisterhood of Steel, the exotic Cousins of Steel and a few others of the ilk.

 

Even as the Spruce Goose came down onto the big lake, thankfully long and wide enough to take the big flying machine, other aircraft were landing on the hastily prepared lands. The Spruce Goose made an ugly graceful landing and came close to striking the far shore despite the best efforts of upgraded network-systems and highly skilled flight crew. The Spruce Goose had been used because it housed many refugees, livestock and other such resources to create a new colony. There was no intention of having it fly again but of turning it into some kind of floating building.

 

Edited October 26, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

NOTE: THE CHOSEN THIRTEEN HAVE BEEN ADDED TO; PLEASE REREAD POST #7.

 

NOTE: The Spruce Goose as mentioned in this story is not the same as that of our world history. From the start it was more successful and on its maiden flight lifted from the water to travel some twenty plus kilometres. Its design was influenced by unique factors that influenced other aspects of this other world. It had better engines, aerodynamics, interior planning, stronger but not heavier wooden structuring and some special extras.

 

THIS STORY IS BASED PARTLY ON THE FALLOUT UNIVERSE BUT ALSO HAS OTHER INFLUENCES.

 

NOTED CHANGES:

 

Brotherhood of Steel is now the Orderhood of Steel and the Outcasts have become the Brotherhood of Steel exept they are not 'outcasts'.

Outcasts of Steel exist as criminals, renegades.

Cousins of Steel are exotics and social misfits who were reluctantly accepted by the OrderSteel at first but later made welcome.

Scribes have become scholars and archivists while Sages are the scientists. Many new Castes are added.

While still ranks, Knight is now also those designated to use the Knight mecha power armour and Paladin are ranks that are also designated to use the Paladin super mecha power armour. Knight mechas are about 2.5 metres tall and Paladin mechas are about 3.5 metres tall.

Power armour kinds are stealth, scout, assault, medic, sapper, tech and others. Some mechas are designed not as fighting machines but as armoured working machines or even cargo carrying amoured logistics mecha or armoured fire-fighting mecha.

 

Orderhood of the Way

Order of Healers

Order of Compassion

Order of Protection

Order of Understanding

Order of Learning

Order of Teaching

Order of Trust

Order of ?

 

Vault-101 has become TekVault0101 being much bigger, more complex and more heavily populated with out the Overseer Experiment.

Nasty VaultTek/Enclave experiments took place in some of the many smaller, less deeply buried LifeVaults such as LifeVault0101.

This sort of change can be found to other vaults found in the game.

 

Major settlements from game are now all bigger, more complicated and with far more people.

 

Megaton is based now on a small half buried successful prototype fusion power station that gives a constant flow of electricity of about 0.5 megawatts a day.

Megaton is still built of aircraft parts but also other resources taken from a large civil airbase for the repairs and testing of aircraft.

Megaton has a large constructor robot deactivated and parked in the big security airlock between the outer and inner main power gates.

Megaton has beneath it both a LifeVault and a Subway Monotram Station.

 

 

 

More peoples have been added such as new types of supermutant, other mutants, ghouls and much else. Same can be said for flora and fauna, vehciles, robots, androids, structures, technologies and so on.

 

To be edited and added to in future

Edited October 28, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

3:1

 

BOBALONG TRIPLETS

RIDING AMONGST THE NEWCOMERS

 

Buffy and Bobby were garbed, disguised, as local Tribals as they rode their horses into one of the new Orderhood of Steel Outposts. They came with the neobaby Benny in a pouch against Bobby's chest and though on two saddle-horses they also had a spare saddle-horse and two pack-horses. In Tribal terms they were obviously well off but also by Tribal terms their various weapons, patches and badges showed that they were elite warriors. Not only that but with them came also a tall, angular tough woman, two big wastehounds, hulking and powerful, a big stormhawk resting on the shoulder of Buffy, along with four loperdazen. The loperdazen were of the upright furry humanoid dazen but were faster, lighter than the standard comudazen. Dazen only served the Clansfolk but if any local Tribals knew this fact, they were not telling the newcomers of it.

 

They noted the neatness of the outpost and the way the Orderhood was trying hard to keep to the ways of the local Tribals by doing as little environmental harm as was possible. They rode slowly through the fortified gateway, noting the combined influence on fortifications of local and newcomer knowledge. Local Tribals had already begun to be hired by the Orderhood of Steel to be labourers, artisans, healers and to carry out other tasks in the outpost. Some were hired as scouts but none so far, it seemed, as soldiers.

 

There was the local structure of smart-concrete that looked on the surface like little more than a huge horizontal slab of concrete half covered in dirt and-or wild vegetation. Three big armoured power doors, now open, and three smaller ones, also open, led into the ground and lower levels of what had been some kind of quasigovernmental base. Local Tribals had not opened the way in and when the newcomers had done so, they were not the first. Clansfolk had done that a long time ago and had carefully stripped out any secrets or special valuable resources from that place. They had covered their tracks to hide the fact that they had been there at all.

 

They rode slowly and as part of light traffic of mostly local Tribals, some nonhumans and even some of the ghoulified wearing light hooded robes and goggles against the stinging brightness and burn, as they found it, of direct or strongly reflected sunshine. The Orderhood of Steel did not treat the ghouls badly or even seemed to notice them as being of any more interest than anybody else. There were soldiers of different kinds being mostly in power armour of different kinds. There were some Sappers of Steel with their special working power armour. While some prefab modular buildings were being erected or had been erected, being at least partly buried, most construction work was using local materials as bought in and sold mostly by Tribals.

 

Which was then Bobby and Buffy saw something that made them angry. They climbed off their horses, taking a sleepy curious Benny with them, and paced over to where three OrderSteel Sappers were busy examining a cut branch of oddly beautiful red timber. They were looking pleased but not a local elderly man, a Tribal. He was shaking his head furiously and trying to tell the three newcomers something, the newcomers being two men and a woman. The woman was being positive in her responses, was suggesting that the wooden could be given back. One man was starting to support her. The other, bigger man was being stubborn and it was he who had cut off the branch of what he had falsely assumed was a dying tree.

 

The elderly man took one look at the approaching Buffy and Bobby, gave a sigh, a brief bow and fled in an orderly fashion.

 

Buffy went before Bobby and bowed briefly to the three tough looking Sappers who had clearly been involved in combat for Sappers of Steel often ended up fighting. They gave her polite, annoyed looks of people who wished she would go away.

 

Buffy pointed to the exotic wooden branch. "You have taken the property of the Nature Mother Goddess, have cut from a holy spirit tree reflecting her grace, her beauty and her strength. You have defied the local Tribalfolk and the Clansdom and its historical traditional role of stewardship over these territories. Tribalfolk here are scattered and of basic technologies but you may find the Clansfolk to be different. Give us the branch, now!"

 

The taller, broader shouldered man grinned. "It is only a damned branch on a tree that was dying anyway."

 

Buffy and Bobby put hands on the butts of their longswords inside oddly smooth, glistening scabbards of some kind of metallic leather. They did so with grace and speed.

 

Which was when the woman took the branch and handed it to Buffy. "Take it. We will not insult you again in this way. Brad here is in many ways a good person but he does not think sometimes. He cut the branch of to impress me so he can seduce me but he does not have to do so."

 

The big man, with his rough brown skinned face, looked surprised but then he grinned. He turned to the Clansfolk. "So, I am sorry. We are even then."

 

Buffy shook her head. "You must make amends. Who is the highest ranking of your people here. We must all go and see that one. Please do not look so worried. Newcomers are treated just as newcomers. Now, where do we make our temporary encampment?"

[Maharg67]

THIRTEEN FACTIONS

 

FACTIONS OF THE UNITED PEOPLES OF CENTRALIA (TREATY ALLIANCE)

 

UNITED CITYSTATES OF CENTRALIA (UCC)

 

SUBWAY UNIONATE OF THE DEEPWAYS (SUD)

 

LAKELANDS SELF PROTECTORATE

 

TRIVAULT UNION OF CENTRALIA (TUC)

 

FACTIONS OF THE COMBINED POWERS OF COLUMBIA (UPC)

 

SYNDICATA

 

TEKREPUBLIC

 

DOMNICOMMONWEALTH

 

ORMONICAN HOLY PURITY FAITHDOM (OHPF)

 

SPECIAL OTHERS

 

CLANSDOM

 

FEDERATION OF SKYISLANDS

 

UNIFIED UNDERWORLD HAVENS (UUH)

 

UNIQUE

 

INVISIBLE EMPIRE

Edited October 27, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

3:2

 

BOBALONG TRIPLETS

IN THE LIEUTENANT'S TENT

 

Bobby, Buffy and Benny went to the tent where Knight Lieutenant Saffor was trying to sort out a stack of print-outs, being briefings, other kinds of reports and coded Egrams. She looked up from her desk at the newcomers as if to blame them for all the paper work that she had to do, she being in combat fatigues of the Orderhood of Steel. On her desk was a cybertyper and a computer terminal, both pushed to the side as useless to her needs. She did have a laserpen, some refillable ink-pens and a stack of neat sheets of paper.

 

Saffor had silky red brown hair and lighter red brown skin. She looked surprised at the presence of the triplets, especially at that of Benny who was sucking his small thumb as he looked around the large kevlar tent in wonder. Then she spoke even as a blowfly hummed through the air, a small creature identical to the PreDD ones. "What have you done this time, Brad Morris? Can you possibly for once stop to think before you act or speak in some stupid fashion? I see, the branch. From a holy tree, of course. You were told to go to the lecture briefing on local dos and don'ts. Did you go?"

 

Brad grinned. "Yes, I did. I have witnesses who can back me up."

 

The officer smiled, nodded and reached for a compact field-telephone. Brad saw this and suddenly he spoke with less assurance. "But I may have fallen asleep through some of the more critical parts of it."

 

The lieutenant took her hand away from her telephone and turned to the three in their Tribal outfits. "So, what do you want of Brad? We need him for he is amongst our best sappers who happens to be a fine shovel-picker, engineer and mecha operator."

 

Buffy smiled. "To plant some trees, that is saplings, of the same kind but while going through the proper cermonies."

 

Bobby nodded solemly. "Brad will have to strip naked and be smeared with the sticky, itchy sap of the thorny horny bush."

 

Benny looked a little puzzled.

 

Buffy nodded. "Then Brad will have to use only his hands to dig up holes in the thick clay soil loved by these trees."

 

Brad looked appalled. He winced. Then he went to protest. Suddenly both Bobby and Buffy broke out in laughter. Benny understood but he also chortled because he liked a good laugh.

 

Then Buffy spoke again. "You will need to plant three seedlings and a small ceremony will be needed but there will be no nudity or sap, thankfully. Though it would be an interesting sight. We are Envoys of the Unified Tribal Treaty Alliance of the Western Lowlands Cape, or that is one of the names given to it. We are here as diplomats and to study matters so as to make a report to our superiors. We belong to the Tribedom Clantoris."

 

The lieutenant gave the three sappers a significant look and, taking the hint that this was above their security clearance, they departed. Brad still was looking sore about how he had been tricked and his comrades could not quite hide their grins. Only then did she turn and frown softly. "Tribedom Clantoris is linked to the mysterious Clansdom of the Clansfolk, is it not?"

 

Buffy spoke. "The Clansdom is the protector of this whole cape. They will, of course, know you are here in a very thorough manner. They will know who you are, where you come from, how many of you there are, where you are and what you have been up to. Of course no system of observation is perfect and they may miss something, have missed something. We are of the Tribalfolk of Clantoris."

 

The other woman studied Buffy and Bobby for some time and then spoke again. "Local Tribals seem very wary of saying too much about the Clansdom and yet we of the Orderhood of Steel have picked up that the Clansdom is not only large, advanced and powerful but is one of the largest, most advanced and most powerful of the so called Thirteen Factions of Centralia. That is the Clansdom is one of the Big Three of Centralia. I have a strong sense that you are far more than you say you are. It is most important that you meet with the Elders here in our new colony, especially Elder Lyons. Before that you can meet his daughter, Knight Captain Sarah Lyons of the Lyons Pride, an elite unit of power armoured soldiers and specialists who carry out special missions. She is able to speak for her father in a fashion that I can not do. Truth is, this is way over my head. I have enough work to do running this outpost and the missions and projects based here."

 

But Buffy, Bobby and even Benny, in his own way, were not fooled. The lieutenant was something special, was something more than she stated she was.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

FACTIONS OTHER THAN THE THIRTEEN

 

ORIGINATED CENTRALIA AND ESTABLISHED

 

REPUBLIC OF DAVE AS OPPOSED TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF ROSIE

 

COMMONWEALTH OF ROSIE AS OPPOSED TO THE REPUBLIC OF DAVE

 

CROSSWAYNE HOLY ATOMIC DOMINICOS

 

UNERWORLD OF GHOUL SECRET SETTLEMENTS

 

ANDROIDIA OF FREE ANDROIDS

 

PRIMATUSA OF FREE GENNED PRIMATES

 

PEOPLE'S FREE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC

 

GANGERS

 

SURVIVALISTS

 

INDEPENDENT SETTLERS

 

ARRIVING AND PARTLY ESTABLISHED

 

ORDERHOOD OF STEEL PROTECTORATE OF CENTRALIA

 

EAGELENCLAVEN EAGLEENCLAVE OF CENTRALIA

 

RAIDERS

 

AQUANET/EARTHNET OF SKYNET

 

TO BE EDITED ADDED TO IN FUTURE

Edited October 28, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

4

 

GRAHARG OF THE CHOSEN THIRTEEN

SOME ODD DISCOVERIES AMONGST ALL THE STUFF

 

Graharg and Braden Wakenn did find enough together to set up a pattern of sorts, a discovery of what was happening in the Maddressan Swampforestlands. The Swampfolk there seemed to be more organised, though just as berserker crazy, and seemed also to be converting from all five Daedraza, lesser Daedric Gods, to just one. They were abandoning GrezidaMoshra, SheguDagon, Vestu Mahh and SevvemTak except for smaller numbers of fanatical followers who were being attacked and often killed by the followers of ZashaeDagon. The other four had joined in an uneasy alliance with SheguDagon leading them for she was most powerful of them, the smartest, the most cunning and had the most followers. She also had some unique tricks of daedric magic that even ZasaeDagon did not have. Indeed not even MehrunesDagon of the Sixteen Daedric Lordgods had access to them.

 

Making matters more confusing was the alliance of Tribals opposing ZasaeDagon's horde and the fact that some unknown force of great power seemed to be backing them with training, equipment and supplies but also in some more exotic ways. The Tribal Alliance and the Swampfolk fighting ZasaeDagon had a kind of unspoken treaty going and they did not fight each other but did not fight as one force against the followers of ZasaeDagon.

 

Yet it was older knowledge that was of greatest interest. A rather old tome made of human skin leather, not a horror in itself for skin is just skin, turned out to be the journal of a half carzy Settler man who had gone exploring through the swampforestlands and somehow had survived, had even been allowed to talk to various Tribal and Swampfolk VIPs because they seemed to sense in him some form of spiritual importance. In turn he brought them small but pleasing personal gifts and offerings for various gods, animus spirits and other entities.

 

The native peoples of Centralia, who had been there right back thousands of years before the arrival of people of Europe, especially the British, had built a huge templecity that still existed in that area with only slight damage from Doomsday. The native peoples there were Tribal but unique for they were of the three original aboriginal peoples, the neands, the erectons and the hasbilins, known together as the Centraligians. They were humans of different kinds from homo sapien sapiens. The three peoples still dwelt in parts of Centralia as pockets and a fair sized one was in Point Lookout on the edge of the Maddressan Swampforestlands. The amazingly ancient, two thirds buried, templecity was there. The Centraligians themselves were not the only unique thing about them as they had some exotic companions.

 

The templecity and its people had often been the target of Swampfolk horde attacks but this had been on the increase more recently.

 

The journal of Visionary Jack Billington spoke of the Centraligian worshipping of opposing deities to the daedric ones known as the naodroc deities. The naodro had been created during the same processes of greater creation that had brought forth the daedra and they also had deities, greater, mediate and lesser castes. The naodro were positive alligned compared to the negative allignment of the daedra though this was a generalisation; some daedra were more positive than other daedra and some naodro more negative than other naodro. Though the creation of the daedra and naodro was linked to to the world of Nirn of the super-continents of Tamriel and Leirmat, the naodro were only linked to Leirmat and the daedra only to Tamriel due to an ancient agreement.

 

Yet Visionary Jack Billington also hinted at the existence of exotic, alien and other artefacts cleverly hidden and secured deeply within the core of the labyrinth of the templecity along with some other secrets of 'gateways to other realms', 'monsters' and such like.

 

None really knew what had happened to Visionary Jack Billington though there were many stories of his fate circulating through Point Lookout, most of them clearly fake. As for the journals, for every real copy there were at least a dozen fakes.

 

Somehow Braden Wakenn had gained the original journal as he had done many amazing items that were in that amazing chamber.

 

It took some time but after a couple hours Graharg got Braden Wakenn to admit that he had been Visionary Jack Billington and that he was a demighoul, a long lived ghoul that looked non ghoulish. Or at least he had been for the Light had transformed him into a limited true immmortal.

 

Graharg did something and stole the whole chamber after Braden brought all of his personal stuff from his other chambers to place there. Graharg, as one of the Beautiful Ones, could do such tricks as monitored by the Light but not too many of them and they had to be only of certain kinds under certain conditions. Nobody, including the Light, wanted to happen again the sort of events that had turned the Ninety-Nine Paradises into the worst kinds of hells that made, in comparison, the Realms of Oblivionfane seem quite pleasant.

 

Then they were gone, taking the internal chamber and leaving behind a sturdy shell that could be refitted and refurnished easily enough.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

PreDoomsday Timelines

 

Divergances from our own

 

1600s: the Red Plague sweeps through Europe and Asia, down through Africa and the Middle East. It does not reach the Americas.

 

1700s: the Red Plague sweeps through the Americas.

 

1800s: Arising of the British Empire in its early form.

 

1800s: Arising of the Francogermanic Empire in its early form.

 

1800s: Rearising of the Zaztec Empire in its third form.

 

1800s: Consilidation and growth of the Eurasian Dynasty (TripleEmpire).

 

1800s: Irish Famine brought to end by major intervention of the British Empress Victoria who forces nobility in Ireland and other areas to give over food to the starving Irish people. Professor Stius produces a cure to the potato blight and new crops of potatoes are soon being grown.

 

1886: Zetan flying-saucer (saucerboat) crashes on the British Moors. The organisation Torchwood is formed by the British Empress Victoria to investigate paranormal phenomena and to develop defensive and other practical and effective plans for the protection of the British Empire and the Earth (Terra). Torchwood has two major programs being one aimed at the zetan aliens and one aimed at Red Plague mutations but others will soon appear, changes will be made.

 

1889: the United States of America emerges as a semiautonomous member of the British Empire. The British continue to have New England, Alaska and Canada, along with Centralia, Australia, British South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, British South India and other Loyalist Dominions.

 

1886: first liftergas aeroship flies being the British Imperial Challenger, a prototype that is later made into a museum exhibit.

 

1900: the USA becomes independent from the BE. New England gains a special status with both the USA and BE. Many New Englanders have duel citizenship.

 

1905: the XFiles Investigations Agency, the XFIA, emerges in the USA being semiautonomous to the US Federal Government.

 

1906: first officially confirmed green flashes seen on the surface of Mars through new kinds of telescopes. Major governments around the world, along with certain agencies, are warned by mysterious aliens that an invasion is coming from Mars but that in truth Mars is being used as a staging post and the invaders are not actually from Mars itself. They are aquatic aliens who seek to conquer the Earth to gain access to the deeper oceans. They are the Tripocara, the empire of the tripocs. The tripocs are allied with the zetans who wish to conquer the lands while the tripocs have the oceans.

 

TO BE EDITED AND ADDED TO

Edited October 27, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

5:1

 

BOBALONG TRIPLETS

MEETING KNIGHT CAPTAIN SARAH LYONS

 

Sarah Lyons was listening to the territorial howls of killclaws, smaller cousins to the deathclaws but just as deadly for they moved in larger packs. She was standing at the battlements at the edge of the outpost settlement when the triplets came up to stand close to her. With out bothering to look around, Sarah spoke. "These killclaws are like the slasherbeasts of North America, at least in some ways they are. The FEV has had some interesting common traits emerge. You are envoys of the Clansdom come here on a quiet basis to meet with and to study what the Orderhood of Steel is doing here along with others that we brought with us."

 

Buffy spoke then. "You are forming a colony here but these territories are in a Clansdom Protectorate. Yet the Clansdom wishes you to stay, to expand. Why, because we know you are fleeing from what is happening not just in North America but around the world in other Wastelands away from Centralia."

 

Sarah looked around at Buffy, Bobby and Benny in his pouch looking all sleepy. Then she smiled at Benny. "A lovely neobaby, cute and adorable."

 

Benny looked up with a big smile. "Very cute and adorable. Got bickie?"

 

Buffy shook her head with a sigh of patience. "Benny, what have I said about you asking for bickies like that?"

 

Benny became a little grumpy and sulky. "Me don't remember even if me does."

 

Sarah took out a ration, a chewbar, and unwrapped part of it before breaking off part of it and giving it to the neobaby. Benny took it with a look of wariness and began to chew on it but then took on an expression of mild bliss but not wild bliss. This meant he liked the chewbar but did not love its flavour.

 

Bobby pointed roughly north-east-east. "There is a fortress in that direction that the Clansdom can not and will not use for various special reasons that we will not speak of. We often call it the Abandoned Citadel. While much has been stripped out of it, in the way of resources, much remains. It is built into the great cliff face but part of it emerges above on the mesa itself. It was constructed, as you probably know, in PreDD times by the United League of Nations, some TekCorporations, as part of the Centralian Defence Security Network. During the Great Invasion, and the wars that followedd the invasion, the Citadel was involved in many battles."

 

Sarah smiled. "So I have read."

 

Bobby nodded. "We have been to the Citadel, have even lived there for a few months. The Clansdom would want your Orderhood of Steel to be based in the Citadel simply to be more able to keep better track of your actions, of your influences."

 

Sarah looked up to study a figure flying through the air. "So you really do have flying winged humans here in Centralia."

 

Buffy nodded. "Solar-wings. Nobody really knows how they work. That is a solarnyda of the nydamans, a set of subspecies to humanity. Some can fly, some are amphibious, some are aquatic, some can dig through ground, others run with amazing speed and so forth. Nydamans both belong to the Clansdom and to various Tribal groupings. Their origin goes back to the return of the Red Plague that you call the Forced Evolutionary Virus, the FEV. They only began to appear after Doomsday."

 

The solarnyda began to land in, to gracefully circle down towards, the outpost. Then she was gone from sight behind some structures. The triplets gave Sarah an apologetic smile and hurried off, knowing that the solarnyda courier, a rare service used only for special matters, had brought a package for them. In moments they had reached the tired looking winged courier who was half sitting, half slumped on a wooden bench-chair drinking cool, clean water in small gulps.

 

The message was of mixed news and the items with the package were very important.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

5:2

 

BOBALONG TRIPLETS

CLANSDOM TROUBLES AS REPORTED

 

Bobby and Buffy, their everyday names, learned that the Clansdom Territories had been hit by a large Holy Ormonic Army of religious fanatics, a twisted combination of some PreDD relgiions and spiritualism along with a strong sprinkling of PostDD cultism. The truth was that the Ormonic TriplePope wanted the territories and other resources owned by the Clansdom that bordered the ORMONICAN HOLY PURITY FAITHDOM, the OHPF, that was often known as the Ormonic Empire. The Clansdom was more powerful, better organised, had better military forces but was already under pressure from other directions. The Ormonic attack diverted precious resources away from other needs.

 

The Ormonic army had floundered at a big river, sinking into mud with its crudely armoured Holy Knights and smoke spitting biofuel hungry vehicles. The Clansguardia, the main official defence force, had tricked the enemy into going to the worst place they could go to try to cross the wide, powerful river, where the toxic mud flats looked solid from a distance but were far from being so. To make matters worse for the foolish fanatics, they were being attacked by gangers and bandits who raided their encampments with seeming impunity. The organising of the invasion had been apallingly bad as the invasion was under resourced, made up mostly of poorly trained fanatics and led by religious fools with no real idea of tactics, strategy or logistics.

 

Other troubles were from Raiders in their bizarre armour who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, attacked Clansdom border areas and then retreated to vanish. While overtly they took on the appearance of a kind of ganger, and acted berserker to some extent, expert observers soon picked up that they were elite soldiers with enhanced physical abilities who seemed to be unified by some kind of special link with each other. Clansguardia and Clanswarrior units had struck at the Raiders, wiping out a few raider groups, but Raiders had managed to do damage with an odd mix of military class and exotic weapons and other equipment. Raiders also came with strange companion beasts and robots.

 

Back in the tent where they had met the lieutenant, the Bobalongs showed Sarah Lyons three items. One was an exotic Raider weapon, a synthetic psychic fear inducer or SPFI, often known as a feargun. A second was a Raider symbol-badge. A third was a symbolic and practical Raider knife of a kind carried by each and every Raider. The symbol was a fist clenching a knife by the handle, the knife thrust upwards inside a disk of blood red bordered by black.

 

Sarah Lyons examined the items carefully and then shook her head. "Sometimes gangers get called raiders back in North America but they are just gangers. No, they had nothing like this. The knife is hitech quality being very light and strong, well balanced with a fine blade. The feargun is a more advanced versions of prototype weapons the Orderhood of Steel found in a huge underground complex in California. The Orderhood still has people there, at least for now."

 

Then she looked up. "As a token of our future cooperation, we wish to send some power armoured soldiers to assist in the battle against the Ormonic invaders."

 

Bobby smiled. "We thank you for your offer but the battle is taking place a goodly distance from here. Still, we could use your assistance in other ways just as you could use our assistance. There are fifteen LifeVaults in this large area, eight of whom have nobody living in them. You could take them, fix them up and use them as bases. Oh yes, while no Raiders have struck this area so far, we are expecting that they might do for they like to choose outer areas of the Clansdom such as this one."

 

Sarah studied the three thoughtfully. "There is something about you that reminds me of my younger sisters, a pair of very talented and rather rebellious twins named Mandie and Mindie. When the next air-convoy arrives, they will be with it."

 

Buffy smiled and did not say that the triplets already knew this as they had been in psychic contact with the twins. "We look forward to meeting the two of them."

 

Which was when urgent news came that a Tribal village not very far away from the outpost had been savagely attacked by Raiders.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Maharg67