Maharg67's Den (shorter works, short stories, poetry, etc.)

[Maharg67]

Continued on from Post #119

 

DC Torchwood

One 1.2[2] Juno Base Mysteries

One Post at a Time #2

 

The stink of the Wastelands was rich but varied. Having been to many worlds, and many parts of those worlds, Jack had seen areas of devastation but very few were as bad as what he first observed of the Wastelands. It did not help that he himself was wrapped in stinking garbs.

 

Armored humanoids, in the distance, guarded the Washington Monument and Jack was quick to know that they were some kind of humanoids wearing power armour; they were not robots of some kind or other things that he had run into. He noted the symbols on their armour and was bemused by the quasimedieval feel to them. The armour was obviously well used but also well cared for as were the big, powerful, weapons the figured had with them.

 

Music played from a small radio and some DJ known as 3Dog kept speaking between a crazy collection of music that was probably scavenged up from the remanents of civilization. That is if one could have called it 'civilization'. Things were going crazy in the world even before Doomsday. The Soviets and Americans were waging a scattered war, plagues were sweeping across Africa and people were turning into savages with enhanced physical abilities. Yet it was also the times of strange new technological wonders like holotape projectors, mass produced service robots, regenerative medications, androids and super virtual reality.

 

Jack stood up and strode towards a sandbagged outpost where three of the power armoured soldiers stood. At first they failed to notice him, so quietly did he move, and then they faced him and he 'sensed' annoyance that he had got so close to them with out noticing him. They were also very wary and likely to shoot him for not very compelling reasons.

 

One armoured soldier, a woman, spoke with a voice distorted by her suit. "Halt, Wastelander, and turn around! We have no reason to talk with you or to hear what you have to say."

 

Jack stopped and bowed gracefully from the hips, with a fine flourish to finish the move, before he spoke. "Captain Jack Harkness at your service, of Torchwood fame. I came from the United Kingdom in 1975 to assist the USA against the growing threat of the zetans. There was much drama and suddenly I awake to find myself here. Well, just over behind me some 100 metres or so."

 

He half expected the woman NCO, he noted her sergeant's stripes, to reject him and his words. Instead she paused before speaking. "Were you involved with Project Defensive Steps?"

 

Jack was surprised by the response and it showed in his voice. "Yes I was! It was a top secret project... well it was supposed to be."

 

"I am Sergeant Teresa Shan of the Brotherhood of Steel." The woman responded. "Knight-Captain Paul Anderson will want to see you in the Washington Monument. There will be others there to see you that might surprise you by their identities."

Edited January 25, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Continued on from Post #121

 

DC Torchwood

One 2.1[3] Juno Base Mysteries

One Post at a Time #3

 

Scrubbed clean, and in some tough Wastelander civilian gear, Jack Harkness sipped okay coffee from a plastic mug as he watched holographic displays of various Wastelands creatures. First was a radroach like a super sized cockroach. Secondly was a giant molerat oddly hairless and tough. Then there was a radscorpion like a very nasty giant scorpion.

 

There were other mutated creatures but the most dangerous, in most areas, were the swarms of feral ghouls that came out at night be they almost mindless zhouls or weapon using ghoulers. There were peaceful feral ghouls of rhouls who were defensive aggressive and more human behaving ghoulmans.

 

The corporal presenting the show continued to speak. "We also have rogue robots to deal with, as driven so by the AntiX5 computer virus. There are dangerous settlers, bandits, gangers, slavers, cannibals, tribals and the very dangerous reavers and berserkers along with other threats.

 

The chamber was dirty and rough but neat by Wastelands standards. There was a loose collection of mismatched furniture, fittings and decorations along with hitech devices.

 

The corporal showed a projection of a odd soldier in body-armour and fatigues. "This is a basic thug-soldier of the Talon Mercenaries that serve the DC Syndicates, the organised crime networks of the DC Wastelands. The Talon Mercenaries, unfortunately, have elite units but most of their soldiers are lowly scum, which is very fortunate."

 

Jack could see patterns forming from the information that he was gaining and so far he did not like what he was coming up with.

 

Then the corporal sighed. "All is not bad! The DC Republic, the DCR, is a quite strong nation-state that controls a fairly large part of the DC. Then there is the Alliance of Independent Settlements, the AIS. There are the mysterious Subwayers that are some times of assistance. The Outcasts of Steel, who were once of the Brotherhood of Steel, will work with us when the need is there to do so."

 

There were more holographic projections showing entities, buildings, landmarks and much else. The devastation was the norm. Settlements were fortified and tended to be in clusters for mutual support. There were settlements in the area such as RivetCity, Rivertown, Megaton, Sugartown and DCTower that were all part of the AIS. The DCR was further away with its settlements. Then there was the DC-Citadel where the Brotherhood of Steel was based.

 

Jack Harkness was fascinated as was Gwen, of Torchwood, who was sitting next to him looking newly cleaned and tired from her experiences. The young Welsh woman remained quite beautiful.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Continued on from Post #120

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The Curse of Quamaire
One 21.1[21]{21}

 

The dark, undeathly thing stirred in bizarre dreaming in a seemingly fathomless deep murky waters filled sea that foamed and undulated with powerful unnatural forces. The UndeathlyGod stirred vast tentacles that stretched out from a truly monstrous globeular body. Once it had been a mighty tentacular feeding on hordes of the undead but then weakness of age had tempted it to be turned and it became a horror of horrors.

Thousands of years ago it had fed on whole cities of lifeforms, draining them of blood, liquefied flesh and life energies while leaving them as armies of lesser undead to do its bidding. Then had come its defeat with the attack of something most powerful of burning flame and light, of holy living energies, that had smote the UndeathlyGod almost into true death.

It had lain, slowly recovering, dreaming of revenge and of regained power of terror and great hunger sated.

Now it was almost ready to rise once more and to leave that rancid great pool behind itself.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Continued on from Post #123

 

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The Curse of Quamaire
One 22.1[22]{22}

 

They went through all the doors in the chamber, that led deeper into the complex, finding more great chambers or great hallways. They were all heavy and foreboding with many twisted, evil decorations. There were the ruins of strange machinery that all seemed to have Dwemer influence in their design. There were also Ayleid crystal-stones in tall bronze stands or exotic wall holders. Many statues were of figures of naked young women, and men, with bat like wings. The figures were almost beautiful but vulgar in their stances and with faces twisted with hateful lust.

They found machines heaped, almost neatly, in some chambers and others held twisted alchemist laboratories or strange workshops. The purpose of some chambers was a mystery but all had a fading aura of past evil and the abuse of unnatural powers.

Then came the first scene of past battle with long dead figures strewn across a very large chamber. EllessTane read what she could of the residues and spoke of a combined army of Ayleid warriors, Dwemer warriors plus unknown Mer, fighting Azezizozu and Zynemer. The MerLink had fractured, it seemed, but she did not know who the allies to the Ayleid, and Dwemer, were. They were Mer, they were powerful and they were many but there was something very distinctive about them that made them quite unlike other Mer.

Many had died in the battle, many machines had been smashed, but more had escaped with their gear. Somehow they had just vanished from the chamber. Both sides had done so as it seemed both realized the conflict was just to costly to continue on with and was gaining nothing of real value.

The battle had been a truly brutal one of no mercy asked for or given. Though it had happened a very long time ago, the disturbance was still there for any true psychic to pick up on.

Necromer had been there but had hung back from fighting for it seemed they had never been part of the MerLink though they had served it by providing goods and services. The group learned this from EllessTane but also from evidence found in the chamber including in the form of thin, hard, metallic record-tablets. The Necromer had been treated badly by both the other living Mer and the undeathly based ones.

They gathered up useful items and Nocomer, along with friendly undead, began to take them back to the NetworkTowers where they would be used to best effect. Other items were just ignored or destroyed, depending on their nature.

EllessTane stood amongst the long ago carnage and she gave CaembraZiv an odd smile. "The way ahead will be hard but there is a good chance we can win. The long ago breaking of the MerLink meant that the UndeathlyGod was most likely damaged in some, hard to explain, manner. For it was most likely the UndeathlyGod that held the MerLink together by controlling it through both more blunt and more subtle means. We have much to do!"

Edited June 29, 2015 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

DC Torchwood

One 2.2[4] Juno Base Mysteries

One Post at a Time #4

Knight-Captain Paul Anderson was a rugged, scarred middle aged man who had seen much hard action in his life. Small symbols spoke of action against the Enclaven, Ceasar's Empire, the Calculator's Armies and other forces including sweeping hordes of savage feral ghouls.

 

Like so many others he had come eastwards to the DC under the guidance of three Elders. They were Lyons, Alsane and Kamandi. Other factions had come, with the Brotherhood of Steel, in the huge transmigration and also many camp followers and settlers. They had come in airships, aeroships, great slow flying airplanes and other flying craft including a very big, salvaged, reworked, zetan saucership.

 

The knight-captain seemed to be a man who was used to understanding other men, at least, but he did not even try to hide his puzzlement of Jack Harkness. He sat behind a large wooden desk, a once fancy piece of furniture that did not look at all military in nature. He had brown skin, dark brown cropped hair and dark brown eyes that all blended nicely with one another.

 

"We have reports that one of our platoons picked up five other Torchwood people, including an Alpha Android." Paul looked from Jack to Gwen, noting again how very attractive she was, and then back again. "They appear to be a male doctor, a female computer expert, a male security expert, a woman security bodyguard and the multiple task android shaped as a woman. Actual identities were not sent by radio due to security precautions; we know some faction, if not more than one, has managed to tap into our radio communications. Our specialists are dealing with it but who, what, ever is behind it has proven to be very difficult to deal with."

 

Gwen was a little annoyed with the excessive attention paid to her by many men, and some women, for she bore no survival damage as did many women there. Some women frowned at her as if she was unfair competition. Gwen wanted very badly to know what had happened with the United Kingdom and with Wales. The Brotherhood of Steel only knew of stories of something called the United Commonwealth Kingdom that supposedly ruled all of the British Isles, including what was known as Ireland.

 

Jack had much attention paid to him and loved every moment of it, of course!

 

Jack spoke carefully. "Did the Juno Base survive?"

 

"We know of no Juno Base." The Brotherhood of Steel Officer responded with a tone of sharp curiosity. In the Wastelands, as in the past, information was power but also knowledge was survival at a more basic level. Such places as lost bases could provide many resources including vital ones; even more mundane resources could be used directly or recycled.

 

Jack nodded, as if making some kind of internal decision, and then spoke with obvious reluctance. "Juno Base was a huge underground complex built deep beneath the Old-Pentagon that was turned into a secondary military base mainly used for administration, public relations and such like."

 

The knight-captain nodded. "Our people have an important outpost there and have salvaged what we can from it. It was heavily damaged on Doomsday and there are many dangerous feral ghouls there including some very dangerous sub-types including glowing-ghouls and sparkling-ghouls. As you now know, our main base is the DC-Citadel that was the New Pentagon."

 

Jack nodded. "We worked in Juno Base but the underground research development fortress was the home of many projects. Our task was to help to deal with the zetans but there was much going on that was kept secret from us and many areas we could not go into. The majority of people in Juno Base did not get to go into one special ultra secret area. On Doomsday it was from there that the horrors came. My memories, of what happened next, are hazy at best. Somehow we escaped and ended up here in the DC Wastelands. A big mystery to be sure."

 

Gwen frowned hard. "I have nightmares of what happened, if that helps."

 

Jack, and Paul, looked to her sharply and for once the knight-captain was not ogling her.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

I would walk upon the shifting sands of time

beneath the shining sun of my destiny

and spit no vile curses at fate

though at times I am full of rage

at what seems to be

great unfairness done

to many others and myself.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

DC Torchwood

One 3.1[5] Juno Base Mysteries

One Post at a Time #5

 

Gwen sat, faced by a number of people, as she spoke of her dreams of the events of Doomsday, as she had experienced them. "It was not just conventional super-weapons that struck the world that day but experimental ones like the death ray N-bombs and the phase shift weapons. Problem was that the results of these weapons combined and effected each other in strange ways. The spread of the Forced Evolutionary Virus, the FEV, mixed with various radiation and phase effects, might explain the rise of such as the ghouls and the rad-creatures."

 

She went on speaking. "I was in Juno Base, at first, and have vague memories of growing chaos and panic there as it became clear just how terrible the world wide crisis was. There were some clear, rational, minds in control enough to return the base to order. It was decided that many people, along with animals, would go into status-capsules. They were mainly research and secondary work people along with research animals. Much of Juno Base was put into lock down status."

 

Then she shrugged. "Somehow I ended up on the surface, in survival power armour, trying to help people to get to a big LifeVault close to Juno Base. It was madness with US National Guardsmen and Soviet Troopers fighting some other menace. Yes, some other menace as allies. The enemy had power armored soldiers but then came US Army Armored Infantry with atomic motorized battletanks and power armored infantry. The strange Nazi enemies had mecha like big power armored humanoid robots."

 

Nazis? The whole idea made no rational sense but then again what did make sense when it came to Doomsday?

 

The Welsh woman then seemed to change her mind. "Like Nazis but the symbol was partly different, I think, from the Nazi German one. The swastika was surrounded by a worm dragon like creature but 'demonic'. Dead enemy bodies were captured and they were all of the same height, and build, with albino white skin and gray eyes; they were hairless with odd smooth leathery skin. They were also unnaturally the same as each other like clones might be."

 

Jack Harkness frowned. "Did they fight with abnormal physical abilities?"

 

Gwen gave him an odd look. "Yes!"

 

Jack sighed long and hard. "Damnation! In World War Two the Nazi Germans had secret projects that remained secret to most even after the war ended. Project Clonetrooper was one of them. I headed a large team into the hidden base where we destroyed that project, along with others, some of which I will never willingly speak of so evil were they."

 

The knight-captain shrugged. "We have never had trouble with any Nazis or NeoNazis!"

 

Jack turned to the Brother of Steel. "The faction, behind the projects, had a branch here known as the Enclaven, or sometimes as the Enclaves. They were semi-independent from the Nazi Party and Hitler's government, were amazingly secret; they were the Iridium Council."

 

The knight-captain went pale. "In which case you need to see something."

Edited January 25, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

DC Torchwood

One 4.1[6] Juno Base Mysteries

One Post at a Time #6

 

In a bigger, largely bare, concrete chamber a holotape projector was projecting a lightly damaged holotape of masked figures speaking in what seemed to be a secret meeting of some kind. The four men, and two women, spoke in the German language with disguised voices but there were sub-titles in clear view at the bottom of the projection.

 

After some crackling sounds and breaking up of the picture quality, both ended and a man was speaking. "The Holocaust Project was a mixed success. Our actual goal was far from met but we managed to gain much working knowledge and a good deal of collected psychic-spiritual energies."

 

A woman spoke. "Our enemies broke our plans to raise Nazi regimes in the USA and Great Britain, along with other nations. We would have had many more millions of deaths to our credit; the black people of Africa would have fed our African death camps."

 

Gwen stared, listened, in horror at what was unfolding before her; Captain Jack Harkness looked calmer but a slight twitch told her he was quite angry inside.

 

The man took over the conversation. "We must look to our current situation and make new plans. Clearly we have enemies, including traitors amongst our ranks. We will sponser the rise of new technologies across the world including those with inbuilt instabilities that will help to one day create death, destruction and chaos across the world. Atomic motors, robots, androids, holotapes, 3DTV, vertibirds and much else but also the grey nuclear reactor power plants."

 

Another man spoke, with a cold grin in his voice. "New super-weapons meant to destroy the world with, to kill most of the useless human scum on its surface."

 

The leader man, there was a strong impression he was such, spoke again. "Yes but it must be done in such a way as to gain more...."

 

Then damage to the holotape caused the rest to be obscurred except for one section in which another man spoke of plans to secretly base new operations in the USA, in the Soviet Union and in other specific spots around the world.

 

The last clearer section, of holotape recording, was a surprise for it showed black clad soldiers, clad from head to foot, killing all of those in the council with oddly quiet guns of some kind. No mercy was shown.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

DC Torchwood

One 5.1[7] Juno Base Mysteries

One Post at a Time #7

 

Owen, Toshiko, Ianto, Jane and Tavess. Tavess was a multiple purpose Alpha android woman, Jane was a bodyguard who had been hired to protect Jack, Ianto was a security expert, Toshiko was a computer expert and Owen was a doctor with added forensics training. They, like Jack and Gwen, had come from another land and over two centuries in the past. Another emerged, being the bodyguard Quintin, who had also been assigned to guard Jack, who had been annoyed at being assigned any bodyguards at all. Quintin had been in a medical semiconscious state as he healed from the savage attack of a big radscorpion ; it had happened briefly after he had awoken in the DC Wastelands; Gwen had shot the radscorpion dead and had saved the bodyguard's life. Soon after they had encountered a patrol of Brothers of Steel.

 

Now there were eight Torchwood people there in the DC Wastelands. For a few days they learned more about the DC Wastelands but also what they could about the rest of the damaged world. The big surprise was how little, relatively, the Brotherhood of Steel knew about much of the world. They had stories, names, so called facts but many of those were vague and some actually contradicted each other. Most orbital satellites had been destroyed on Doomsday and contact had been lost with the Space Colonies. Skynet was a mystery of orbital stations, platforms and drones that was still up there but in what condition? Skynet had waged war against the zetan aliens, on Doomsday, the night sky lighting up with flashes and streaks of energies.

 

The decision was made to go to Juno Base, to find out what had happened there. The Brotherhood of Steel supported the idea because they wanted also to gain more knowledge about Doomsday and the times before but they were also seeking loot if not a new base to claim. They needed both hitech loot and a new base. There were growing troubles in the DC with armed, berserker, supermutants arising from the Lamplight Mountains area and Reavers raiding from some unknown place while the Enclaven were showing up from the north, approaching the DC, and sending forth many annoying propaganda eyebots. There were many other problems also, less intense but adding to the general burdens of the Brotherhood of Steel.

 

There was also the unstated factor that they wanted to keep a careful eye on the mysterious Torchwood people, from the past, and what they got up to.

 

Gwen staid close to the other Torchwood people when it became clear that Knight-Captain Paul Anderson was infatuated with her, in a mostly lustful fashion, and was not taking clear hints to cease, not even from Jack Harkness himself. It was soon clear that while Anderson was generally respected, by his people, as an officer and a soldier, there were also aspects of his nature that were not respected at all. There was a barely hidden argument, of great intensity, between the knight-captain and a knight-lieutenant as the latter demanded that Anderson cease bothering the Welsh woman.

 

"Seems that the Wastelands madness, as the locals call it, can too easily get into people's heads." Jack Harkness shrugged as he helped to sort out gear for the expedition that had been given over by the Brotherhood of Steel. "The Brotherhood of Steel Troopers claim he was not like this until after he was captured by unknown forces and showed up one day, naked, close to the DC Citadel. I have my suspicions that more happened to the knight-captain than was officially recorded by the brotherhood. Perhaps they also have suspicions. As it was Anderson was stripped down two ranks and was assigned to this post which was supposed to be a safe one where he could get into no real trouble."

 

Gwen, in light Brotherhood armour, looked up at him from where she had been counting loaded magazines into a backpack. "You 'sense' something wrong, don't you? I can see that expression in your eyes, the one you always have when you have a 'sense' of subtle threats. Owen had a talk with the outpost doctor but nothing unusual was discovered to be physically wrong with the knight-captain, not even at the much better staffed and equipped hospital at the DC Citadel."

 

At that moment Sergeant Teresa Shan , who had greeted Jack at the main entrance to the outpost, strode through the fairly large preparations chamber. She halted and then spoke quickly with a tone of urgency. "I have only a short time to talk before I am missed at duties. You have been asked questions about Knight-Captain Paul Anderson. Please stop doing so for you are starting to attract his attention. I am of the Military Intelligence Division of the Brotherhood of Steel. I was sent here to help investigate what really happened with the knight-captain. We know there is 'something alien' inside him and that he is not himself in a very profound manner. I will make contact with you soon with more information."

 

Then the tough woman turned and marched off.

 

Gwen smiled. "Well, at least we have allies in the Brotherhood."

 

Jack shook his head. "Only trouble with that idea, Gwen, is that I 'sense' the same sort of wrongness in her as I have done with the knight-captain. That was a rather devious attempt to get us to shut up, to isolate us from the Brothers of Steel who do not have the 'strangeness inside them'."

Edited January 25, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Continued on from Post #124

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The Curse of Quamaire
One 23.1[23]{23}

Hardly pleased to meet each other, members of the Mages Guild and the Necromancers Guild met in the Tamriellan city of Bruma. It was one of the primary cities of the Tamriellan Empire. The meeting was secret for various reasons, including that the Necromancers Guild was recently made illegal by the Empress herself. What was to be discussed was that powerful, alien, undeath energies had been detected by both guilds, along with others, and that even the necromancers were concerned. The undeathly energies were as alien to them as they were to those practising arcane, and elemental, magics.

In the Imperial City a baby boy was being breast fed by his mother as two new servants came to assist her, both being elite warrior bodyguards in disguise.

Across the Quamaire Islands there were people having the same kind of nightmares, seers seeing signs of dark things to come and mages detecting alien undeathly magics as had been detected by those on Tamriel.

The baby girl, of Quamaire, was heavily protected in a special place and her training began in gentler and more subtle ways.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Maharg67