Walkers of Worlds

[Maharg67]

QUESTIONABLE HISTORIES OF HISTORICAL ODDITIES

NUKACOLA: ITS MANUFACTURE AND SECRET INGREDIENT

 

NukaCola was the first large scale propular softdrink to be created by the mattacator process. It was created by the new mattacation process more cheaply than the old fashioned manufacturing processes could do but at a hidden cost.

 

Drinks like CoolaCola and PipsiCola continued to be popular but they lacked the hidden ingredient that seemed to become addictive to a large minority of the population of the United States and then of much of the world. The hidden ingredient was not preplanned but was a by-product of the mattacation process that created large volumes of NukaCola quickly. The secret ingredient was a previously unknown nuclear isotope that defied the scientific logic normal to nuclear science.

 

The side-effects of NukaCola Orginal

Major

Addiction to a large minorityy of consumers (18% to 23%)

Enhanced aggression in addicts.

Decreased intelligence in addicts.

Long term change in physiology leading to what was to become known as NukaColaMutation in which addicts became leaner, stronger, hairless, more aggressive and driven by uncontrolled urges.

 

Major

Hair loss

Intelligence loss

Bad breath

A growing taste for very sweet and or very sour foods and drinks

A greater need for water

An enhanced resistance to radiation poisoning

Major loss of inhibitions

 

Minor

ACNE

Grey hair

Mild bad breath

A mild shift in appetite

Mild loss of inhibitions

 

NukaCola was soon proven to be useful for a range of other tasks, especially when added to other ingredients

Cleaning difficult to remove stains

Cleaning motor oil from motors

Exterminating pests

Body Building

Enhancing the power of certain kinds of fuels

Enhancing certain industrial processes such as the breaking down of bonding in certain kinds of organic and non-organic materials

Getting rid of unwanted bodies

Etc.

[Maharg67]

7 of 4 (083)

 

GOING ON THROUGH THE CANDLELIGHT CAVERNS

 

For a while Joannie and her people moved through the caverns. Partly this was because she wanted to know more about them but also because she hoped to catch up to her sister. They did their best to do no harm to the local environment and they tried to leave as little evidence of their passing as was possible. More than once the special powers of her elemental followers were used in both regards. In their own exotic way, the Candlelight Caverns were amazingly beautiful and most of the areas were peaceful.

 

Then they were coming to the edges of a great glowcavern where on a hill like rise in the floor, at the centre of the great cavern stretched far into the distance, was a fortified settlement. Many goblins could be seen there in the typical tribal gear and with the weapons or tools of such folk. There were also bigger, hulking hulkgoblins, winged gremlins and some other types of creatures there such as ogres, trolls and carnivore gorillas known as carnirillas. Goblins often rode tough, nasty mooded ponies. Smoke floated up from behind the thick cemented stone wall. Crude, ugly and often vulgar magical totems dotted the tops of the walls.

 

Joannie looked out over small areas of semiwild crops tended by goblin farmers, over herds of goats and ponies, over some areas of wilderness, and she picked up a trace of her insane old sister who had been a victim of the selfish stupidity of the quins; they had loved her in their own way but had managed to hurt her any way as they had others.

 

They came marching in from another tunnel mouth, a large force of goblin warriors, many with pack-ponies or riding ponies, and some hulkgoblins striding along. Yet in charge was a taller, more angular hobgoblin, the naturally smarter and more magical cousins of goblins, hulkgoblins and gremlins. The hobgoblin had two hobgoblin sub-officers and all wore the symbols of the Goblin Tribal Imperium that was a kind of umbrella empire with many goblin tribes as subjects. Goblin kind would not work well with more orthodox kinds of empires. The Goblin Tribal Imperium brought many bonuses with their 'imperial franchises' but they also demanded a good monthly tribute in return. One bonus were the trolls, ogres and carnirillas. Others were the ponies, small wiry dogs, goats and a range of useful plants. Then there was the back up of the Goblin Tribal Imperial Guardoika. Other resources might be sent and other demands be made.

 

The Goblin Tribal Imperium was ancient but was only found in the Underlands and parts of the much deeper Underworld. Yet the surface people did not even know that it existed.

 

Joannie herself had lived in Goblin Tribal Imperium settlements more than once when she had been dwelling on and underneath Tamriel.

 

Upon seeing the prisoners, she sensed at once that she had to act. It was a very odd assortment of prisoners, a collection that one would not really expect to find. There was a black man with frizzy hair, who wore a stylish but grubby nightclub type outfit, a young brunette in jeans and a Tshirt, a redhead woman in army fatigues, an oldis man with a professor look to him and a young white man with an itense look about him. That was but part of the group. Then there was a hulking barbarian type man, a slim woman in a dark, dull pink vault-jumpsuit and two men in dark dull blue vault-jumpsuits.

 

Only the barbarian looked anything like the locals. Even he seemed out of place with his barbarian icelands type furs and hulking muscular body but it was clear some others were from either Johnnie's Alternate Earth or one like it and that the others were from an Alternate Earth of some kind. Anyway she could sense the energies of transdimensional travel about them.

 

It was time to act but she would not resort firstly to aggression.

 

FREEING THE CAPTIVES

 

Joannie stepped out into the open and waited while the convoy came to a halt, the lead goblins on ponies spreading out. Why did they not just try to ride over her; because the ponies shied away from her and the goblins sensed that it would not be wise to try. Very soon she was facing the tall hobgoblin leader on his horse. He slipped off with one smooth motion and stood looking at her with a typical hobgoblin expression of wary disdain. This was not at all meant personally.

 

Joannie smiled and spoke in fluent goblinese, doing so smoothly though it was not a language designed for human mouths. "One thousand golden finger-ingots, one thousand flame-arrowheads, one thousand glowcrystal globes, one thousand shegobati tradepacks, one thousand gogo-eggs, ripe of course, and one thousand goblinite river stones."

 

Shegobati was a goblin chewing leaf, a distant cousin to tobacco, that they were often mildly addicted to, a tradepack being ten kilograms of hard packed, partly processed leaf. Gogo eggs were not really eggs at all but came from a plant and simply looked like pale yellow, orange freckled eggs because in truth they were a very sharp tasting fruit favoured by goblin kind. Goblin kind often added the fruit to cooked meals or made a potent juice drink out of the stuff or even a kind of potent alcoholic drink known gogozo.

 

The hobgoblin frowned. "If you would have my captives, one of power, than you have just paid for the barbarian alone."

 

Joannie nodded. "Of course, such was my intent. Would you see me as such a fool that I would try to cheat such as yourself. I will triple the quantities as above but I must have all the gear that came with them, all of it. This is a matter of the greater security and stability of worlds."

 

After an obvious moment of focused thought, the tall hobgoblin bowed. "Now you have paid for all of the gear but only the barbarian and the ones in jumpsuits."

 

Then she slipped a leather bound book out of her jacket and showed him the cover. It was goblin skin leather and it was covered with exotic, disturbing letters in bloodgold. "What of this? It is one of the missing volumes of the HISTORIES OF THE GOBLIN NESTING TRIBES by Kago RoolTokoUhh. How much is that worth to your Goblin Tribal Imperium?"

 

She passed it to the obviously stunned hobgoblin who examined it as if afraid to damage it with his fingers. Goblin folk fashion, the book was used spine at the top and read from right to left horizontally. He gingerly opened the cover and then looked at her. "Most prized, the very first volume that has been missing for many thousands of years. I see, a copy, but more than enough to pay for these strangers who dared intrude into one of our sacred caverns."

 

He bowed deeply and then spoke again. "Leslie AlreelloHmmph, Walker of Worlds, one of the Five."

 

The hobgoblin froze for a moment and then tried to smile. "Then we will just take the book for what you want."

 

Joannie shook her head. "No, you will take what is promised, including four more copies of the book. Read the appendix of any of those books and learn who really was the culprit behind the attempted destruction of those and other rare treasure of goblinfolk literature."

 

The hobgoblin gave up trying to smile, to Joannie's relief, and flicked to the back of the book he was holding. He scowled and then nodded before looking up. "Yes, the Warlords did always see reading as a weakness that led to failure in warriorhood. It was one of the many weaknesses, they had, that lead them to their doom. Now the name of the First Empress of the Imperium can be finally and fully cleared of Warlord lies. We of the Imperium stand ready to assist you in future with armies of soldiers or workers, if we have to, for you have done us a greatness today."

 

She nodded. "I have a bad feeling I may need to call upon your promise far too soon. There is a great war coming and the Daedric Gods are involved but also They and the Others."

 

The hobgoblin did not look pleased. "I will go to the Empress at once. She must know of this."

 

Bringing in the promised items from the OrbisTransZia was, thankfully, fairly easy and quick. The captives were passed over, along with their gear, but Joannie was no fool. She knew the hobgoblins would have studied the devices and would already have gained ideas from them. That was something that she could not and would not try to solve by trying to murder the goblinfolk. Then she and her followers were departing with the former captives and all of their gear. The former captives also included a large dog that had been in a cagecart and a MrPorty carrying extra equipment and supplies.

Edited December 22, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

8 of 4 (084)

 

COMMUNICATING WITH THE STRANGERS

 

Leslie led the former prisoners away from goblinfolk territories, all of them marked by goblinfolk territorial markers, past the villages of smaller kobolds, cousins of goblins, who were busy fighting or gathering mossgrass or other food stuffs. Kobolds sold gathered and hunted things to the goblins in exchange for basic tradegoods. Leslie gave them a few small items and learned some useful information. Kobolds were largely ignored by goblinfolk of the Imperium and thus learned much.

 

As Leslie feared, the hobgoblin had been playing her false with his words. Her warning had been of no surprise to the hobgoblin at all. The Goblin Tribal Imperium was up to something, was gathering its own military forces in the area and was hiring mercenaries from other goblinfolk tribes, winged imps, goblinman hybrids and others who dwelt in those territories. Kobolds had seen Imperium hobgoblin leaders meeting with a tall vampire noble, a representative of the Duchess Elaine Tarada of Carvohagen.

 

Why had the hobgoblin been so easy in giving up the prisoners? Leslie was not sure as yet but she guessed that the hobgoblin had been frightened of her and her powers.

 

She and the former bandits set up camp with the help of some of the former prisoners who were in better condition than the others. The two in the vault-jumpsuits tended to keep to themselves and the others to themselves. The hulking barbarian was happy enough to speak with anybody and to seduce any woman in that place. Except Leslie knew Gronack for what and who he truly was. She kept up the facade until she was alone with him.

 

Then she confronted him. "Okay, AnimoImmortalis, what is the game? A comic book character from an Alternate Earth thumping around in the Underlands beneath Cyrodiil."

 

Grognak gave a big grin. "AnimoImmortalis, yes, but this time we serve the CentroGuardianship just as you and the other quins came here on the request of CentroPyro. Not much choice was given. We AnimoImmortalis owe the CentroGuardianship too many favours bound in kudos, karma and honour. We AnimoImmortalis love to play our games through out the Multiverse and we both know if the CentroGuardianship choose to do so, they could stop that from happening, and the curse of our immortality would weigh even heavier on us than it does. Please, no lectures, we AnimoImmortalis know very well that we brought the curse of mortal-immortality upon ourselves through our own foolish greed and pride."

 

The hulking barbarian figure went on speaking. "I chose the Gronak the Barbarian character as a joke but also because I have always enjoyed the role. It was not far from here that I spotted the damned goblinfolk convoy with the prisoners and pretended to be drunken and semiconsious so that they could easily capture me. The others are from two Alternate Earths, as you know. Both came travelling to here by different means. One lot are those foolish Sliders but the others came in some other over clever device."

 

Sliders? Leslie cursed softly. Sliders were generally troublesome and sometimes dangerous as they could easily cause destabilisation of transdimensional kinds. Sliders were often from civilizations who were of a certain level of technological achievements and who somehow made a series of necessary discoveries. This particular group of Sliders did not know it yet but they had 'slid' right into a transdimensional culdasac of a very special kind. They would not be able to 'slide' out of Oblivionaedra as they had 'slid' into it.

 

Grognak grinned some more. "I have followers who followed me and they are close. There are my beautiful amazon wives and followers, my wolfdogs, horses, pack-horses and other companions. I can summon a small army of amazons and berserkers if I need to do so."

 

Leslie sighed. "Scantily clad young women, slimly muscular but also voluptous?"

 

"Of course!" Grognak nodded with out apology. "Otherwise I would not be 'Gronak the Barbarian'. I suspect we should get back to the others before they do anything stupid."

 

Leslie could only agree.

 

WHAT TO DO?

 

Leslie sat facing the two groups of former prisoners and Grognak sat at her side, still towering over her with his height and bulk. Already Leslie was facing trouble from these people and was getting tempted to blow at least one of them up.

 

Professor Maxman Artu was a pompous, lightly fat middle aged man who did not mean to be condescending but was. He wiped some sweat off his face and then he spoke to Leslie. "Young woman, your clothing and other gear suggest that you might be from a world like our own. Are you also a Slider?"

 

Leslie shook her head. "No, professor, and though young looking, I am easily over ten thousand years old so please show some respect."

 

Maxman looked surprised. "Then how did you get here to this amazing world?"

 

Quin Mallin, the genius who had created the Slider technologies of his world, leaned eagerly foreward. "Perhaps it was a wild slider rip that brought you here. I have been making some notes since that incident on the Alternate Earth where the Roman Empire ruled the modern world."

 

Leslie shook her head. "No, I am a Walker of Worlds."

 

It was Wade, a young woman and hands on tinkerer of technologies, who spoke then. "We have heard mention of such on more than one Alternate Earth. On the Alternate Earth of the winged humans they spoke of your kind with fear and... awe. But your name is quite normal."

 

Leslie shrugged. "I came from an Alternate Earth in many ways like the home worlds you came from. You will not be able Slide away from this world. You will have to come with me. Do you Slide free or have some kind of transport?"

 

Quin was frowning. "We started by using a gateway I built and went 'free' for a time until we met some people with a slidership. The slidership is.. well we do not know where it is for we got lost in these amazing caves with the glowing crystal stuff. What is it called?"

 

"Glowcyrstal!" She nodded. "Grognak would have told you as much. He is not stupid! How did the goblinfolk capture you? Why did you go into their territories? That was foolish."

 

But it was Grognak who spoke. "They were not captured in Goblin Tribal Imperial Territories. The hobgoblin broke ancient treaties in taking the prisoners, in taking me a prisoner though in my case I intended to be captured." He held up his right hand in the air and with a sparkling shimmer a great broadsword appeared there, glorious and powerful looking with fine gems in the hilt. It sparkled oddly but not too brightly. On his back had appeared a great scabbard, belted to his body, and he sheaved the sword. Now he also had other belts dotted with pouches.

 

Behind Grognak now stood or crouched beautiful youthful amazons in scanty armour or furs, each holding magical weapons or rayguns supposedly captured from ancient lost cities. The rayguns were just as garishly decorated as the swords, shields, bows and javelins. There were also the mighty horses, a great ape like creature, a big eagle perched on a saddle designed for him to do so, and some great big wolf like dogs.

 

Grognake grinned at the shocked looking former prisoners. "Gronak the Barbarian of Grognaka, my very own Barbarian Kingdom which is alligned to the Northern Coastal Kingdoms of Skyrim, one of the surface lands of the super continent of Tamriel. Truth be known I am also a scholar, a mage, an alchemist, a scribe, an artist and an artisan of some renoun. My greatness is only defeated by my sheer modesty."

 

All of the amazons made a soft, warm siren noise of adoration.

 

Leslie gave Grognak a hard, sharp look. "No more of that."

 

Grognak sighed. "Oh very well."

Edited December 22, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

9 of 4 (085)

 

WHO WENT WITH WHO

 

The Sliders group that Joannie rescued from the goblinfolk was made up of five humans being Quin Mallin the young scientific genius (pyphsics), Wade Wells his wizkid tinkerer friend, his mentor Professor Maxman Artu, the entertainer Rembo 'Crying Man' Brown and the soldier Maggie Beck. But far off in the slidership were Wolfus the wolfdog, Colin Mallin the Alternate Earth brother of Quin Malin, Doctor Diana Davis a GP, the Slidership Pilot Carble Capes, four Slidership Crew Clonegirls and for self-aware robots.

 

The people from TekVault0333 were from the same Alternate Earth that Johnnie was on. That TekVault did not even officially exist on TekVault Listings which went from TekVault0000 to TekVault0300. It was a TekVault dedicated to Alternate Earth Research, Development and Exploration Projects. It had sent the Alterante Earth Transit Orb, AETO, that had become stranded in the Candelight Caverns. The three humans there were Teshina Robbins, Valin Aker and Susand Aker. But there were some more people and some androids back at the AETO. They were Zam Robbins and Peter Kay along Yev, Yov, Yake, Yellim and Yondo the Androids.

 

The decision not to bring any androids with the three in the scouting party was out of fear that locals would gain access to android technologies but it had been a mistake for the androids were very tough survival and fighting models. Nor could the locals have done much with their technologies anyway.

 

The good thing was that both exotic vessels were in the same general direction and also in that direction was an easy way to the surface that emerged outside of the territories of the vampire duchess. But it turned out that the Duchess Elaine Tarada was not going to be side stepped so easily. Leslie was already gaining the uncomfortable sense that the duchess was far more than the vampire that many took her as being.

 

HEADING TOWARDS SLIDERSHIP ALTERNATE ADVENTURER II

 

Grognak and Leslie led the others through the Candlelight Caverns in such a way as to avoid Goblin Tribal Imperial Territories only to keep running into GTI territorial markers where they had no right in being. The GTI was not only breaking the ancient treaties but was doing so in a big way. Yet they ran across many GTI markers that were marked over and signs of battle that indicated that the goblinfolk were not having an easy time of their greed. Others were fighting them, including other goblinfolk.

 

The group came upon a crude village of gnolls, tall angular goblinfolk shorter and stockier than hobgoblins but not by much. The gnolls stood around in scale-metal body-armour and held bronze and iron weapons. They were clearly unhappy and a little frightened. Yet the news that they had was not all bad or straight forward.

 

The gnoll leader, a matriarch, stepped forward and her rancid smell, of a certain kind of rock-vine olives, struck Leslie but it did not phase her. She had smelt far worse. Some of the others, not Grognak or his followers, did step back and the gnoll was understandably offended.

 

Joannie spoke. "Some of these are Outlanders unused to the beautiful sharp smell of rock-vine olives fermented in urine. I have a gift to show my appreciation and to compensate for the foolishness of my companions. These are refined dry-oysters in shazzika sauce." She took out a clay jar with a cork stopper, a fairly large one, from her backpack and passed it over.

 

The gnoll hissed her pleasure and took the jar. "Yyyeeesssss, this is good. Word has come through ancient goblinfolk ways that the Goblin Tribal Imperium in the Underworld Homelands is fighting a savage civil war between the supporters of the Emperor Yakussi the Fake and Emperor Yakussi the True. It is hard to say which is which except that one makes himself split into many and the other one is dying of Shakeskin Disease."

 

Joannie frowned. "Then the Emperor with the Shakeskin Disease is the real Emperor."

 

The gnoll bowed briefly. "Most agree, including gnolls, but while large Imperium forces support the real Emperor, the false Emperor is bringing forth terrible tricks and monsters that are hard to fight. Word has come that seers dreamed of your coming here and so the dying Emperor was brought here to where you might find him and cure him, for a reasonable price of course." She took out a small rolled up page of parchment and handed it carefully to Leslie. "You must go there to save the real Emperor."

 

Joannie then led the others away from the rough gnoll encampment and after making the group had made their way along a great winding tunnel for some time, she halted them for a bried rest. There she spoke with Grognak. "I suspect that the parchment leads to a trap but that the gnolls were not aware of this. I sense falsehood in the aura of those who wrote the note but not I sensed no such thing in the gnolls. The civil war amongst the goblinfolk of the Goblin Tribal Imperium is not good news for the stability of the Tamriel Underlands or a large part of the Underworld."

 

Grognak had read the note. "We can easily go to the location of the trap and still continue onwards to the slidership for they are in roughly the same direction."

 

Joannie snorted. "I am starting to wonder if that is a coincidence or not since all of our targets are tending to lead us in the same direction. Perhaps we are being guided that way by a very cunning and powerful manipulator. One could easily become paranoid under such conditions."

 

Grognak nodded. "Then it is a good thing I have my QuasiTARDIS with me."

 

Joannie smiled for a Quasicopied Time And Relative Dimensions In Space was not as good as a real TARDIS but it would have many useful capabilities.

Edited December 22, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

QUESTIONABLE HISTORIES OF HISTORICAL ODDITIES OF THE WASTELANDS

 

OF MATTACATORS, BOTTLETOPS, CAPTAIN COSMOS AND OTHER SUNDRIES

 

While Emergency Issue Dollars and other such currencies are of most value in the Wastelands, along with tradegoods and such as gold finger-ingots, certain kinds of bottecaps are also of great value. Why? Because of a huge competition public relations program driven by the NukaCola Corporation and its mother corporation, MartTek, when Doomsday took place. Many NukaCola machines are mattacators still producing goods and special bottletops always bring some produce some kind of prize be it a free NukaCola (mostly) right up to various free and useful small hitech devices. Many prizes are such as baseball caps, teaspoons, mugs, beach towels but even such are to be prized in the Wastelands with its shortages of almost everything.

 

Why Captain Cosmos, Gronak the Barbarian, Princess Blondie and the Squeeky Monkeys? Because the PipsiCola and CoolaCola rivals to NukaCola joined forces to utilise their own networks of matticators and normal vending-machines to bring forth their own competition. Their competition was based on these four famous show titles.

 

The madness did not stop there. VaultTek decided to do a smaller, more limited program to get folks signed up for the TekVaults and smaller LifeVaults. The big prize in VaultTek's case were free or cut price placements into LifeVaults or, better still, TekVaults. Other unique VaultTek prizes were such as bobbleheads and even authentic jumpsuits.

 

Then came LuckyDippo mattacators that when fed with any MountainWater, GrapePop, SazziSaz, TumBeer, SharpCidar, BurpiPop, LolliWater, CoffoIce, ChocoIce or MilkoIce special bottlecap could bring forth one of a large and surprising quasirandom list of goodies being roughly 40% basic, 30% good, 20% surprisingly good and 10% wondrous.

 

But why just bottlecaps?

 

Buy any movie ticket from an robotic vendor and it might lead to a lucky prize with a CinemaTek machine being a free ticket, a movie suve or some odd prize.

 

By the time Doomsday struck, certain parts of the world had been struck by a whirlpool madness of such competitions and the results were that many items became, after Doomsday, prizes that might just lead to special prizes and thus they became valued currencies.

Edited December 15, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

43 of 1 (086)

 

BROTHER OF STEEL, A DEAD SOLDIER

 

Johnnie was a little on edge with Tammie there but pleased also, though he did not like to admit so even to himself. Tammie was all warmth and smiles but alert to any of Johnnie's games and tricks.

 

From then on the going was tough as they went through caverns half filled with jagged metallic junk and-or heaps of drums or boxdrums of toxic waste. Others were places of former battles dotted with decaying half eaten bodies looted of anything useful. Normally there would be radroaches and other things feeding off the dead flesh. It was then that they came upon the dead Brother of Steel in his power armour with parts of it missing, his armour making him look like a hairless metallic gorilla. The power armour was like but not identical to the power armour of the Brothers of Steel who had gone to the rescue of the FreeAlliance forces of Eaddie's Alternate Earth during the Battle of Golden Greens. This power armour was better in some ways and not so good in others. The emblem was more savage.

 

Tammie gained the sense of this Brotherhood of Steel being more aggressive than the Brotherhood of Steel that had helped fight the tripocs on that other world. This Brotherhood of Steel had no women amongst their ranks except for they 'co-coms' who never fought in the front lines unless a base was attacked. The power armour was dotted with secondary weapons and the Brother of Steel had weapons with him inside the power armour that he could have used if he had needed to abandon the armour. Yet the big suprise was that the dead soldier was cyborged, that is augmented of skeletal, nervous, muscular and other physical systems. There were also various hidden implants.

 

Tammie brought the Brother of Steel back to life and the young man removed his helmet to glare at her softly, though quite softly which was his version of a smile. "Weird thing to happen to a steel comrade. As I died I somehow knew this was going to happen. Then it happened. Now I learn I actually died over a year ago but my suit preserved my body. Brotherhood of Steel is coming into Centralia from Washington DC of the old USGA. They are escaping from the Enclaven forces there, EagleEnclaven to be exact, and the damned Orderhood of Steel who have gone all weak. True, we turned against the Brotherhood of Steel on the West Coast because we wanted to focus on military efforts instead of gathering technologies to do nothing with them, but the Orderhood of Steel shares technologies with inferior peoples."

 

Then he stopped and shook his head as if trying to remove a disturbing idea. "No, not inferior. No, the Orderhood of Steel is correct after all, damned it, but they are back in North America and I can hardly go and join them now. We, the Brotherhood of Steel, came to Centralia in the Hellion, a huge atomic bomber driven by fusion-drives. We removed the bombs, hid them, and altered the interior. It was large enough to carry all of us and a good deal of equipment and supplies. It is not far away from here and is at TopVault0001PD that we now occupy and use."

 

TopVault? Johnnie was puzzled. Tammie responded. "Prototype experimental vault build not below the surface but on and just beneath it. It was disguised as a normal business complex of fashionable but unusual design. A dozen of these TopVaults were officially built disguised in various ways but there is much speculation that many more were built. They were isolated away from any important targets and were also surrounded by other structures, natural and human made, that hopefully made them less damagable. The Centralian Pentagon is a TopVault as is the Centralian Smithsonian Institution, the Centralian Hexagon and other well known places still somehow surviving. Some are inside the Bubblecities and can not be reached but many are outside of the Bubblecities."

 

The Brother of Steel shrugged his armoured shoulders. "I am only a grunt! Augmented cybernetic grunt in power armour with a 20mm smartchaingun. Three barrels spitting 20mm armour piercing, explosive tipped death. Command sent down a platoon to investigate after some supermutants took some pot shots at one of our outposts. Never did like the idea of coming down here. We got lost. Something messed with our navigation equipment, our motion-detectors and even our AV-pickups. Something played with us and then we were here and I died when some great brute of a supermutant shot me in the back."

 

Tammie smiled at him. "Running in fear is nothing to be ashamed of. Your platoon was manipulated into a trap. You were cunningly ambushed by overwhelming numbers. The Light has blessed you enough for you to be given a second chance."

 

Johnnie grinned mildly. "So your people are not too far from the Lamplight Mountains."

 

The soldier shrugged. "Close enough to brush against it, to be on part of the outskirts. We are on a sort of plateau against the lower part of the tabletop mountain of the biggest Lamplight Mountain. We call our base Fort Independence. I am only a grunt but I always had the idea that our commanders came to Centralia and to that very spot for a reason. We came looking for something specific, something special, but I have no idea what that could be. Probably some kind of fancy PreDD tech. There are artificial and natural entrances into the Lamplight Caverns fairly close to Fort Independence."

 

Johnnie asked a few questions about the North American situation, about the New American Republic (NAR) based in Nebraska, about the supermutants in California, about the Brotherhood of Steel in California and elsewhere, about the Followers of the Apocalypse, of the Southern Cofederacy based in Texas and much else including the many tribals, mutated monsters and others. But much of the North American Wastelands had only a light spread of basic flora and fauna even over two centuries after Doomsday thanks to the devastating effects of the Z-bombs and other superweapons. There were also the large minority of Deadlands where nothing lived but some strange things were active. Centralia was largely a mystery to the Brother of Steel and his people who had only arrived in Centralia about a year ago.

 

GETTING TO TEKVAULT0087

 

Not far beyond the point where they found the dead, now no longer, dead Brother of Steel, they found the outer armoured wheeldoor of one of the major entrances into TekVault0087. Opening it with a little difficulty led them into the outer defense, safety and quarentine airlock area. There were three big armoured wheeldoors and two big airlock chambers, the inner and outer. They closed the outer door and it made too much noise for their liking for it needed maintenance.

 

It was clear at once that nobody had gone through those doors in a very long time but the Super87s had always told Johnnie that they went into and came out of TekVault0087 by using an odd series of tunnels with no less than three sets of DSS-airlocks. At least they had done so until the Super87s had been forced to leave the TekVault proper. That had been after the treacherous capture of Fawkes and the forcing of Uncle Leo out into the Wastelands.

 

Ron went with them in his power armour and a new smartchaingun that, to his astonishment, Johnnie provided him with. Except this was improved with a better recoil suppression device, a improved targetting network-system and a back up weapon of a special supershotgun. The armour now had an improved medical network-system and was improved in other ways. It was lighter, stronger, more agile, faster and more powerful than it had been along with more resistant to radiation, being submerged in water and to energy weapons.

 

Ron had been into a TekVault in California but it had been in terrible ruins compared to TekVault0087, a place of sadness, death and destruction where the Vault Dwellers had died when some strange and stupid experiment had gone wrong. In contrast this chamber was clean, was fitted and furnished only with VaultTek regulation stuff and had some wall lockers and dispensers with valuable equipment and supplies. They took some but only some.

 

But the inner wheeldoor refused to open and when Tammie used her mindeye to 'see' why, they were all to get a nasty surprise.

Edited January 4, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

QUESTIONABLE HISTORY OF THE VAULTTEK-VAULTS

 

NOT THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

 

From the first the Patriot World Government, the Enclaven and the TekCorps did not tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the Great Vaults Program based in Centralia.

 

Officially there were:

 

300 TekVaults in Centralia.

 

3,000 LifeVaults in Centralia.

 

5 HiVaults disguised as surface/subsurface structures of more normal kinds.

 

9 Claves being huge underground cities that were each made up of one primary, three secondary, nine general and one exotic EnVaults.

 

300 HubVaults that served the network-systems linking all other VaultTek-Vaults.

 

213 privately contracted commissioned private ShelterVaults.

 

1,276 privately contracted commissioned private HomeVaults.

 

654 privately contracted commissioned other forms of VaultTek-Vaults.

 

Whispers of some 300 ArkVaults of special nature full of gene banks, many sleepers, zoo sleepers, archives and more.

 

There were whispers of three super luxury Vaultcities being Vaultville, Vaultburg and Vaulttropolis.

 

There were whispers of dummy vaults, of vault doors that led to nothing and even some vaults being under false names.

 

There were whispers of vaults that housed deep secrets, terrible super weapons, captive aliens and all sorts of such things. One of these was called simply TekVault0051.

 

There were many other whispers.

 

 

[Maharg67]

22 of 2 (087)

 

COMING OF THE GREAT CUBE CLOSE TO LAMPLIGHT TOWN

 

EddieRa and Eddie both sensed something very big and disturbing was about to happen a few hours before it did but they were far from the only ones. Animals, children and others became agitated. People had strange dreams of what was going to happen though often distorted such as huge sugar cubes or childrens playing blocks. But then the perfect square of area began to emerge and then a cubic area of one kilometre wide, high and thick. Somehow, with seeming impossibility, the great metallic stone cube emerged half buried in the mountain and plunging down to fill part of the mountain and a relatively tiny part of the great Lamplight Caverns.

 

Not only was it identical to the great cube that Leslie was dealing with, it was in truth the very same Grand Transdimensional Cube, which would become its common name. Often it would be called the GTC for short or just 'the Cube'.

 

Where great disturbances would have been expected, nothing much at all happened. Nothing was killed but those in a small scouting plane of the FreeAlliance Defence Force came close thanks to officials ignoring all of the warnings. The GTC itself made the plane vanish at the last moment and it appeared again on the other side of the Cube, flying away from it at the same height, speed and heading.

 

EddieRa and Hanna went with others in a large convoy of vehicles to get closer to the GTC. The police were already attempting to cordon it off with the help of the military. Scientists, engineers and others were being sent to research it as much as possible. Groups were sent down into the Lamplight Caverns to make sure everybody down there were safe, which they turned out to be, and to map the hidden part of the cube. Yet very early on it became relatively easy to work out where just the cube was because it was exactly a cube a kilometre high, wide and thick.

 

Not long after the GTC appeared, word came that the Aquatic Martians and the Enclaven had not only ceased their invasion of Centralia but were withdrawing. They were even freeing their prisoners. The move took the FreeAlliance by surprise but their High Command had the sense to stop any FreeAlliance attacks though rescue missions were launched to pick up the prisoners who were left with few or no real resources. Very few in the FreeAlliance had any doubts it was the GTC that had driven off the enemy and not anything that the FreeAlliance had done.

 

It was a reprieve for the FreeAlliance, a chance for them and the Clansfolk to take a rest, to build up resources, to make some important changes and to make new plans.

 

It was on the very night of the appearance of the GTC that EddieRa and Hanna went to the street of houses where the corpses had been buried.

 

SOMETHING ICKY BENEATH THE BASEMENT FLOORS

 

The row of houses were almost identical double level neocottages with enough obvious fakery to make them look quite awful. The Humus Estate was seemingly full of such houses and every one of them had corpses beneath the basement floors that Dob the Builder had put there. Dob the Builder had supposedly built the houses but EddieRa and Hanna soon worked out that they were made of mostly prefabricated parts that Dob's people simply stuck together. The buildings were very different from others in or close to Lamplight Town and they were probably not of that world.

 

So it was no real surprise when the gate slammed behind them and a robotic turret rose out from behind a fake bush. It blazed away with a local type 12.7mm heavy machinegun and the two intruders leapt to either side, avoiding the bullets that exploded into off the armoured front gate that was tougher than it looked.

 

But then the grandmother figure came racing into view and screamed in inhuman rage in her nightrobe and slippers, her mouth open to show long fangs and her eyes blazing blood red. EddieRa grinned and made the robot turret flip suddenly around to shred the undead creature. She screamed in agony as her body was literally ripped apart and then she was dead. Mere vampires were killable by normal weapons but were more difficult to kill than mere mortals.

 

A grandfatherly figure leapt out of a second storey window and fell towards Hanna, legs and arms spread, hands sprouting long claws and his mouth gaping to show his fangs. But when he landed Hanna was not there but a fragmentation landmine was. It exploded violently and the vampire became bloody gory mist. It was also dead.

 

Mere vampires could not come back to life once killed. That took more powerful undead creatures like true VampireLords.

 

The house was a fraud. It looked almost like a theatre stage full of props, most of which were not used. It had three bedrooms, a kitchen, a loungeroom, two bathrooms with baths and toilets, a spare toiletroom, a laundry and two storerooms. The basement was also a fake with a hobby workshop and family storage look to it.

 

It was below the basement floor that they found the two monsters of two true VampireLords. The two monstrous undead creatures exploded up out of the concrete and stood there as two of the BeautifulOnes for that is what they were. There were different ways to become of the BeautifulOnes and the vampiric path was one of them. The elegantly tall and very attractive, youthful appearing VampireLords smiled but the smile did not reach their chillingly cold, death like eyes.

 

EddieRa sighed. "Never have liked VampireLords, be they BeautifulOnes or not. I was a BeautifulOne myself and I did much harm as one before I came to my senses. Of the Five I am and Eddie is my name."

 

The elegantly tall woman creature lazily brushed some concrete and dirt from her dress. "No, you are extended from Eddie. A Walker of Worlds, how dreary and annoying. Some say the Walkers of Worlds, even those that serve the Light, are but ultimate BeautifulOnes but I suppose you would not agree with that idea." She looked around, sniffed the air and grimaced. "This is not Tamriel! We have been cheated and brought to a foreign world."

 

The tall elegant male figure figure nodded. "Yes, stolen from our promised last resting place. We are tired of existence as VampireLords and only wished to rest next to each other. Where are we? Just think strongly about it."

 

EddieRa shrugged and did so. The two VampireLords smiled sourly at each other. They turned and grinned fangs. Then the female spoke. "We will taste this new world and awake the other VampireLords in this area of ugly houses. Then, with our robots, zombies and vampires we will take over the town. It will be a nice start."

 

:ninja: Ninja the bad vampies

 

:pirate: Make them walk the plank

 

:devil: Yyyaaa, burn them with sunlight

 

:sick: Ooohhh, yucky vampies

 

EddieRa sighed and Hanna smiled a little.

 

The female VampireLord scowled. "Yes, we will feast on the voices."

 

A shudder went through EddieRa and he began to sparkle. "Threaten our young, will you? Threaten our young?" Then he moved so fast it was a flicker of motion. The VampireLords also flickered into motion, as did Hanna, and the terrible battle began. There were sparks of energy, short bursts of vey hot flame, flickers of moving bodies, the flash of exotic swords and then two screams quickly cut off. Then EddieRa and Hanna were standing above two smoking heaps of greasy hot ash.

 

EddieRa relaxed and sent a tickle to the voices. This caused giggly happiness and surprise in response.

 

Why were powerful VampireLords buried in some sort of suspended animation, trapped in it somehow, beneath the concrete floors of prefabricated ugly houses just outside of Lamplight Town proper? But then both he and Hanna were picking up noises and other indications that the other VampireLords had risen and were gathering forces, were attacking people, and were preparing to attack Lamplight Town.

Edited December 22, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

23 of 2 (088)

 

WEIRD BATTLE AT THE EDGE OF LAMPLIGHT TOWN

 

The VampireLords did not have it their own way because the area they were buried in was close to a base full of armed, body-armoured soldiers preparing to move out to battle. These were mostly experienced veterans used to fighting the weird and wonderful, used to fighting in difficult conditions and amongst their standard technologies they had some experimental laserguns and other devices. So it was that zombies and vampires soon ran into flamers and lasers that burned them while the VampireLords were hunted by EddieRa and Hanna.

 

The VampireLords had robots fighting for them that were clumsy humanoid protectrons and globular eyebots lifted by fanjets along with some MrGutys also globular and lifted by fanjets but being much bigger and better armed. The fighting spread out across the Eeasy Life Retirement Estate which was totally populated by vampires. Zombies arose from special prepared grave sites and then came VampireLords. Yet many places where could have rested VampireLords had weaker VampireLordlings or even weaker VampireLordites instead.

 

From a roof-tower of the mansion, Eddie watched the flashes of explosions, the flash of lasers, the tracer fire and the burning of fires. With him was his mother and other family members. Jassy was curled up sleeping at his feet and the neobaby was sleeping in a pouch at his front.

 

He spoke to Pearlisa. "Vampires from the super continent of Tamriel that is actually inside the Realms of Oblivion, or Oblivionaedra, who are armed with robots from a world like that which Johnnie is on. This is most strange. Yet it is also an indicator of a pattern, of links between different worlds."

 

His mother looked thoughtful. "The Clansfolk came a very long time ago from another Alternate Earth. That world had suffered a terrible catacylsm caused by super-weapons. It was known as Doomsday. On Doomsday a temporary transdimensional rift came open and through that moved our people. We ended up here, on this world. We ended up here, on-in Centralia. That world had robots called protectrons and eyebots. We Clansfolk brought some with us and some are still preserved in the Arkanus. Those robots are not identical to the ones now in the fake retirement estate but are very close to being so."

 

A most difficult and complicated, if not dangerous event, was a transdimensional temporal alternate self feeding loop but this might or might not be one. Yet it was still problematic and deeply concerning. The Clansfolk came from worlds to go to worlds that had futures reflecting the nature of the worlds that they had come from.

 

Pearlisa nodded. "Yes, we of the Clansfolk Elders have become painfully aware of the contradictions and conflicts set up by the movement of our people between Alternate Earths of a particular set of historical directions. Yet what of the other Clansfolks of other Alternate Earths?"

 

He turned to her. "I need access to the Arkanus as soon as I can be granted it."

 

His mother smiled. "I had a strong sense you would sooner or later make such a request. The clearance has been granted, though reluctantly, by the Arkanus Council and we can go there any time you wish to. It would be better if the dog and the neobaby remained behind. Please come now. The sooner we go to the Arkanus, the better, for I have something to show you that you may not like at all but which may assist you to learn the fuller truth that eludes the Clansfolk."

 

Eddie had one last look at the fighting and then followed his mother to the spiral stairway that went down from the roof-tower. The dog stood up, stretched, yawned and then followed sleepily.

 

ARKANUS

 

Getting to Arkanus was to go to what looked like a big, very ornate, heavy wooden wardrobe with many sets of drawers, secondary doors and other features but which in the centre of was a pair main doors. Jassy looked so wistful she was allowed to come and Ongry the neobaby stirred only briefly in his sleep. They went into the wardrobe, in an area filled with thick woolen coats and then they closed the doors. After exactly ten seconds they opened the doors again and emerged into a vast metallic stone chamber stretching out into the distance. It was a one kilometre high, wide and thick cube space.

 

Great metallic and metallic stone frameworks and other structures rose up into the air with many platforms at different heights along with many horizontal wideways and sloping rampways. There were building structures also and other structures. Then there were the exhibitions. He noted artworks such as statues, oil paintings in ornate wooden frames and many others. A close enough artwork showed ancient Clansfolk riding horses across a wide grassy plain except clearly one of them was wearing a modern wristwatch and another had a double barrelled shotgun of an ornate kind.

 

Pearlisa noted the painting. "Most embarrassing that many of our ancient artworks, long copied many times, showed such things so we starting putting them here into the Arkanus. More embarrasing is what is to follow."

 

She led her son and the dog, who was sniffing at anything she could in rapt curiousity, to an enclosed elevator tube and then they were shooting upwards to a semi-enclosed platform high above. The platform was very large but there was only one set of display boxes, enclosed but with sides of armaglass. As he got closer, Eddie gaped in surprise. For there were 3Dposters of a new set of books out written by quins and starring the people known as the Clansfolk who survive a terrible Doomsday on an Alternate Earth and return to nature, to the natural ways.

 

Eddie, Bobbie, Joannie, Leslie and Johnnie were the quins though their surname, in this case, was Ambrass. The Clansfolk they wrote about were the people that had escaped from that other Alternate Earth and come to Centralia of yet another Alternate Earth to find safety and a new, better life. The more he examined the displays, the books, the book reviews, a large Clansfolk description of the books, the more it was clear that these Clansfolk were the very same Clansfolk that the quins had been born into on that world.

 

Yet they were also the same quins who had written the five novels on yet another Aternate Earth being one that had suffered no Martian Invasion or Doomsday. The books were published in the date 2010AD and some critics called the story the 'New Harry Potter'.

 

Eddie turned to his mother. "Where did all of these items come from?"

 

Pearlisa shrugged. "From a traveller who came many thousands of years ago from another Alternate Earth. He called himself Gramaharg McGraham. I doubt that you will ever get to meet him. Then again, with all the strange events taking place, why not?"

 

Eddie nodded. "Got a sense we will be meeting soon enough and that we have already met as have the two of you. He is the real biological father of us quins and one of the reasons that our legal father started to hate us, though that does not excuse what he did. Time passes faster in here than it does outside. I suggest that we keep looking around. Where are the robots?"

 

Pearlisa sighed. "There are far more amazing items in this exhibition than the robots but we may as well take a good look around. We will have plenty of time here."

 

Eddie gave his mother a mild grin. "Trying to trap me in the Arkanus will not work for I am tuned to it somehow. Anyway there is more than one of me and only one of me is here inside the Arkanus which means even if I was not so tuned to Arkanus, I could leave any time I wanted. Unity is rising in you and in others. Unity fears us. Unity is a double edged sword."

 

Pearlisa nodded. "While it is true that Unity fears you and that there are UnityFactions that would lock you up, I brought you here for you own good."

 

"Then I apologise." Eddie bowed briefly and then snapped his fingers. With a sparkling shimmer a basic metal table appeared with two comfortabe but basic designed chairs. On the table was a big old fashioned type open topped picnic basket with chilled bottles, a large roasted chicken, long bread rolls and other items sticking out but even more items were hidden. "Would you care for a CoffeeKulu coffee liquer in fresh cow's milk in a chilled glass? Or perhaps some roasted chicken, cooked in a special marinating sauce. The crispy fluffy bread is to die for and the selection of cheeses is fine."

 

But close to the table lay two unconcious figures, assassins in black Ninja style garbs but these were ClansNinja serving the ClansGuilds.

 

She smiled. "Point taken. We will feast but not alone. It is time for the Arkanus to be open for the common people to visit, including orphans, even nonClansfolk orphans."

Edited December 22, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

24 of 2 (089)

 

SWEEPING AWAY THE UNWANTED UNDEAD

 

EddieRa and Hanna led the assault against the last gathered force of enemies at a community centre. Except it was not so much a retirement community centre as a fortress. Its friendly outer shell had hidden an ugly monster of reinforced concrete, steel and armaglass. Bay-windows had sprouted small cannons and big machineguns. False walls had collapsed to allow robots to float out on fanjets or to trundle out on metallic legs. Zombies had crawled up out of the ground.

 

Some zombies still shambled around in small groups. Gun shots to the head or solar plexus sent them sprawling in true death where they crumbled away into greasy ash. Sunlight was coming and it caught and burning more zombies than did the soldiers. The vampires were driven in doors and underground, even the VampireLords. Buildings burned. Every house there was tainted with something very uncomfortable and the military was already ordered to demolish the whole suburb.

 

The GTC loomed over everything, vast and majestic.

 

HMGs thundered away as large calibre bullets exploded off buildings. power armoured soldiers fired rocket-grenades at the bunker or even more effective bunker buster rockets, BBRs. Enemy robots had already falen and many were being eagerly taken away by FreeAlliance people to be studied.

 

EddieRa and Hanna crouched close to a thick barrier wall where they could note the action. They both sensed there was something extremely disturbing and even dangerous about the complex ahead of them inside its fake building facade. It appeared to be an entity of undeath though not such thing should have been able to have existed on that world.

 

Hanna frowned. "More than just a VampireLord?"

 

EddieRa nodded. "Not of the same nature at all, though perhaps 'nature' is not the word to be used here. VampireLords, vampires and zombies come from Humans or other similiar entities. This thing has never been human, has never been alive. They are the UndeathLords but only one of them is here. There only has to be one. We are going to need the assistance of the Light to deal with this thing. Or are we? Something is not coming together. The UndeathLord should have risen to attack or to defend or to flee and yet it does not stir."

 

Getting into the bunker disguised as a community centre meant going in through a weak point in the form of an old grillwork entrance to a pipe. They crawled along the pipe and then managed to get through a rusted utility hatch into what was a vault. Yes, somehow a whole HiVault had been brought to that world to where no such thing should be and it was very much VaultTek designed and built. Except there were no VaultDwellers, no normal VaultDweller facilities, just robots that ignored the intruders.

 

As they made their way through typically arid metallic VautTek designed hallways and one rampway tunnel, the sense of wrongness grew as did the sense of undeathly power.

 

They found a chamber with an internal large wheeldoor and in that chamber many destroyed VampireLords, vampires and zombies. It was apparent they were trying to get open the great wheeldoor, driven insanely to do so, but also fighting something else.

 

They got the door open with some difficulty and then they were viewing the trapped undeath-angel, a creature in the wrong time-space. Not only was it trapped in a strange cage of pale glowing organic crystal growths but something in the form of an organic crystallic growth was thrust into her chest. The pale, horrific anti-angelic creature was not evil as such but was not in her right domain. Her arms, legs and wings were spread out. Her basically human like body was covered partly with an armoured leotard type garment.

 

They freed her with some difficulty and she stepped out of her confinement. She sniffed at them and stared at them with pale, alien eyes. Then she spoke. "We thank you. I was taken from my very home realm and brought here against my will. We will assist to bring back balance, to solve this puzzle that threatens us all and we will send reinforcements when the time comes to deal with the monster behind this bizarre scheme, this twisted plot, for he is most powerful and most chaotic but also armed with stolen ancient wonder devices. We will meet again."

 

Then she was gone with a sparkling shimmer.

 

Hanna sighed. "We are facing a powerful foe indeed if it is able to able to kidnap an undeath-angel and drag it across the Great Transdimensional Barriers."

 

He shook his head a little. "That undeath-angel was not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

 

A NEW BASE FOR CLANSFOLK UNITY LIBERATION

 

Clansfolk and Unity moved into the HiVault with great speed and efficiency. They seemed almost to come out of nowhere. Soldiers, workers, servitors, specialists, families and even misfits who could find no purpose elsewhere. So contraversial artists were brought into the great big VaultTek-Vault and given their own space. The Light cleansed the place first, at the request of EddieRa, but the real threat was long gone. The facilities were far from perfect and had to be modified in a few ways, but there were many resources there of amazing hitech such as the AI-supercomputer network-systems.

 

These were Clansfolk who had turned against both the Twelve Clans ruthless power and the ClansGuilds' drive for revenge.

 

The retirement suburb ceased to exist but much of the building materials and other resources were salvaged.

 

EddieRa and Hanna were walking towards Lamplight Town proper, following a local road, when he spoke. "We are being played with. What ever force is behind this is sending many decoys, secondary targets of importance and anything else it can do to stop us from working out the truth of what it hopes to gain by its actions."

 

Hanna did not seem surprised. "CentroPyro fears as much. Which was why you, the quins, were sent to deal with this situation. But you will need more resources that will be both sent to you and which you will need to gain for yourself.

 

EddieRa did not sound surprised. "No surprises, then."

 

A light pattering of rain began to fall, unseasonal rain that was oddly cool for that region. Then the frogs began to fall out of the sky, drifting down to oddly gentle landings and to hop around. These were about the size of an average human adult hand and were not aggressive. At once they began to hop off towards the GTC itself.

Edited December 22, 2010 by Maharg67