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

[Maharg67]

Zombies From the Sky is being transferred to Maharg67's Den as expanded, improved, posts but new episodes will be added as new posts. This is a new episode.

 

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Zombies From the Sky: Ten

One 9.1[9]{10}

 

The large group was stretched out as it threaded along a great, wide, cut stone tunnel of amazingly ancient origin. Crumbling statues, faded murals, and other signs indicated that once there was a thriving civilisation there. Yet there was also a very faded impression of great evil as in the nature of entities and the nature of events.

 

Cragigula led the big convoy, of refugees, from the front but other respected, beloved, leaders were there along with shamans, priestesses, and others assisting the common people. There were animans, oomans, dolphin tailed mermans in special slings, reformed tigerchimps, hulking apedogs, humans of more than one kind, centaurs and other kinds of folk. Golems marched amongst them, holding great packs of equipment-supplies as did nombies, though on a lesser scale. There were other kinds of unlifen.

 

Salisha, the GrandPriestess, sat in one of the horse drawn wagons tending to some of the wounded. She was younger sister to the Oracle, daughter to the super genius Frankenstein, and just as keen to ignore her father's demands that she return to his control. Close to Salisha sat three young women, much younger than herself, who were busy using ingredients to prepare healing potions that only remained effective for a couple of hours after being created; ingredients had to be carried because of this.

 

Cragigula was a neand human, massive and hairy, brilliant and canny, in special body-armour and with exotic glittering energy weapons such as a set of swords and his spike-shield. At his side was a massive revolver-pistol of a kind often known, as a horse-pistol, by his people.

 

Too many refugees were on foot. The very young, the very old, the sick and wounded, were in about half of the wagons and carts. Others carried spare equipment-supplies, one was a mobile kitchen, two were mobile workshops, one was a mobile temple and three were of secretive purpose. Two others were mobile healing places.

 

Soon they would come to a special location where, hopefully, the refugee column would be able to improve matters for both itself and others. It was ironic that the peoples in the great column had often been traditional enemies of each other but now were forced to make concessions, to bow to a greater alliance, and to depart from their homelands.

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/stripedtabby.jpg

 

Animals are...

Animals are wonderful!

Animals are wonderful as themselves!

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/f880dab2-673f-4888-97b2-b6609052542b_zpscex4suxb.jpg

Animals can be cute, adorable, loveable!

Animals are wonderful even if they are not!

Animals are wonderful even if they are dangerous!

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/0209_wildmating_main_0_zpsgt83wqoo.jpg

Animals are also humans who are also animals!

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/441px-Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour-1-1.jpg

Edited July 20, 2015 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Montage%20Pix-A-Long/d0d4fb2b-1bd2-4566-8c29-b722296baedb_zpsugwj4mde.jpg

Edited June 29, 2015 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Montage%20Pix-A-Long/MAHARG-IT-00103-1.jpg

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/c85bdd26-4476-41cb-8dd5-e716f922c8c3_zpsad552c6b.jpg

 

This Post contains one reposted episode and one new episode.

 

DC Madness: Eight
One 7.1[8]{9}

 

JackOman stared out of the barred, armour glassed, window of the Second Tower of the Triple Towers that went down to became one ground level, and underground, structure. The furniture and fittings were fairly basic but in good condition and there were some luxuries such as actual taps, a toilet closet and a kitchenette. The original bed had been added to by three bunks.

 

The Regulator spoke to Sara Lyons with a frown in his voice. "We can go underground to reach the DC Citadel, going by a route that your people probably do not know about. It is one worked out by we Regulators after much dangerous effort. It is a journey through some sections of the DC Subway Network, through utility tunnel networks and even through some cave systems. Ghoula, and other critters, may be a greater threat as more will be concentrated underground because of the approaching superstorm."

 

Sarah shook her head, just a little. "You think it dangerous, don't you?"

 

He nodded even as he looked out over the settlement that continued to prepare for the superstorm to come. "As you know, the Centropolis Undercity, as it is often called, has as many threats to it as does the surface despite large areas being safely sealed off since Doomsday. There are the ghoula, though some of those are less dangerous than others. There are the trogs, the radmans and crazed subhumans. Rogue robots patrol some areas. There are areas where those damned Talon thug-mercs are busy for reasons that we have failed to discover. There are dark whispers of a people known as the Subwayers. The environment itself is often a threat. Of course there are monsters, we can't forget them. The superstorm itself might cause threats."

 

She nodded again. "We relative newcomers have done some exploring of the Undercity and have gained information other ways but you Regulators have always been here."

 

JackOman shrugged. "We Regulators set up our first outpost here in Centropolis about fifty years ago. Our origins are elsewhere in DC but we are forbidden to speak of it. For security reasons we have no actual maps of the route, except in our heads and only a few Regulators have even that. Before you came to occupy the DC Citadel, we had some communications with those who already dwelt there, who welcomed you into the citadel. We used the route to link up with others of importance. I am taking a risk in taking you through this route but I consider the risk to be well worth it to gain more valuable information for the Regulators."

 

Sara sighed. "I hope that our Elders will be free with that information. I am sure my father would be."

 

JackOman only gave her a mild grin.

 

 

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DC Madness: Nine
One 8.1[9]{10}

 

The group gained some extra supplies in the settlement, paying extra to get business with people who could be trusted to provide good quality goods. That was far from the truth with all of the merchants in that place. They set out the next day, with a lull happening in the superstorm that fooled nobody into thinking that the threat was over; even the radroaches were still going to shelter. The settlers used the lull to further prepare TripleTowers for the destructive winds and other mad weather threats to come.

 

Of course their presence had been reported on; that was to be expected with the team now being made up of both Steel Troopers and Regulators. As they moved out from the town, they did not expect that anybody would be foolish enough to follow but they were careful anyway.

 

Which meant that they quickly detected a trio of fairly experienced scouts doing just that. They lost the followers with out much effort and then JackOman was leading them down into a flood water tunnel. Thankfully it was large with a high grated walkway but still they knew that they had to get out of it before the superstorm struck.

 

Soon they were lost in a complicated course that was as much designed to lose any more followers as it was to reach their next target point at the start of their entering the true Undercity. They went through half ruined tunnels, through some kind of ruined underground utility station, along a tram subway tunnel and then through a small quasinatural cave half filled with mutated glowmoss, scuttling insects and glowing glowshooms of translucent, thin, long mushroom like fungi.

 

It was at that time that both JackOman and Sarah Lyons 'sensed' that they were being followed by mysterious ones who moved with amazing stealth and skill.

Edited July 14, 2015 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/ce322fb4-0bc0-48ab-b7a3-5bc9ffb07539_zps7p9gtnde.jpg

 

 

The Curse of Quamaire: Have changed both picture and numbering system for this story but nothing else.

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/c85bdd26-4476-41cb-8dd5-e716f922c8c3_zpsad552c6b.jpg

 

DC Madness: Ten
One 9.1[10]{11}

 

Sarah Lyons, and JackOman, stood waiting patiently in the large chamber with out their main weapons though in their power armour and Regulator body-armour. The chamber with dimly lit by solid-state emergency fluroflats and the ones coming could come from at least three directions.

 

Then, with a flicker of speed, they were there. That is 13 fighters in exotic, elite, stealth power armour and the symbol had both Sarah and JackOman stare in wonder.

 

FEAR was First Encounter Assault Recon, the mysterious and infamous supersoldiers who were said to have exotic ability such as slo-mo, phasing and empathic-telepathic networking. Their origins, their real nature, were their deepest secrets. Some whispers spoke of the FEAR Troopers not knowing of these matters themselves.

 

The tightness of their suits showed they were all young women or so it seemed.

 

One stepped forward and spoke fluently in the internationalist language of Esperanto. "We are not here to do you harm but to divert you from your current course. The time capsule is more than it seems to be and has two levels of secrets. You must go not to the DC-Citadel but to a place that we will guide you to. Both the Regulators and Order of Steel will gain from the level of secrets, that you have most likely have examined, but the deeper level of secrets can only be accessed in a place that we can not speak of. We would rather work with you rather than against you but will attack if we have to. There is a better way. Listen to my instructions, follow them, and gain proof that what I am saying needs to be done."

 

The two ended up taking out the capsule and pressing parts of its exterior in a given pattern. When they had done this, they placed it upright on concrete flooring and a holographic projection began to play into mid air. A woman spoke of the Age of Scientific Miracles, both the falsehood and truth. A man then spoke of the rise of Trinet that was the Skynet, Earthnet and Aquanet. The same woman spoke of super technologies, growing madness, the truth of ancient alien structures. The same man spoke of the Great War ending in Doomsday that might have easily been more than one day and probably was. The same woman spoke of a great network of very deeply buried ancient alien complexes of massive size; the coordinates given would lead them to one deep beneath Centropolis.

 

But before that a series of other tasks had to be completed including those for the benefit of various DC Factions.

 

It did not take long for the Steel Troopers, and the Regulators, to become part of the new quest.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/ScreenShot26.jpg

Edited June 30, 2015 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/c85bdd26-4476-41cb-8dd5-e716f922c8c3_zpsad552c6b.jpg

 

DC Madness: Eleven
One 10.1[11]{12}

 

With the combined forces, from three factions, in theory the group should have been more secure. Yet as they moved quickly through a series of underground spaces, following a deliberate crazy course to make the group harder to follow, it became clear that there were special threats out there.

 

The FTroopers, as the FEAR Troopers called themselves, revealed that somebody had sent Raiders after them. The 'Raiders' true name was that of the 'TriRaiders' being Reavers, Ragers and Rampagers. Reavers were ice cold calculated killers, Ragers were berserker killers akin to most supermutants in nature, and Rampagers were somewhere in the middle of the two with more human, but not humane, mentalities. All were actually supersoldiers with some similarities to the FTroopers; their clone ancestors had been the same ones. Yes, the FTroopers were clones as were the TriRaiders.

 

One hunting pack, of each kind of TriRaiders, were after them but that was not the real threat. The real threat was something called a superclone as cloned from an even more powerful entity that the FEAR people would not, perhaps could not, name.

 

They came to their first destination that was a secret railvator, being a horizontal moving elevator like chamber moving along rails and through a horizontal elevator like shaft. It was very large and moved very quickly but the group was glad to get out of its confined space when it halted at the destination.

 

It was a large secret hub-station of some kind, a mixture of subway tunnels and other transportation modes being networked to it. The biggest surprise was that there were people there being humans, smart-androids, animans (animal human hybrids), smart-robots, cyborgs both humanoid and otherwise, ghoulmans being more civilised ghoula (all ghoul types), and other modified human kinds.

 

The people were Subwayers and it turned out that they were only hostile to those who were hostile to them. The Regulators had been secretly in touch with them for years and then Sarah admitted that the Order of Steel had been secretly in touch with them for months.

 

Subwayers moved in a mixture of stuff taken from long term storage, often from status storage containers, and both cottage industry stuff and workshoptory manufactured items. Workshoptories were a hybrid of workshops and factories that used limited resources to produce short runs of the same items with a fair amount of customisation done if necessary. Apart from typical citizens, there were police, security guards, soldiers, special techies, elite artisans, government crats, and others of specific note. Scientists, and engineers, seemed to have a high status as did special forces soldiers.

 

Pedal-vehicles, about half of them bicycles, were common along their own lanes. There were also fewer, small compact electric vehicles being at least half of them electric scooters and mopeds. Most folks moved on foot though their were both taxi quadcycles and taxi golfcars.

 

Locals were obviously curious about the duster wearing Regulators, and the bulky power armoured Steel Troopers, but they were greatly respectful to the FTroopers and the FEAR supersoldiers seemed to be very familiar to them. Clearly JackOman had been there, as had his people, but Sarah Lyons had not been there and neither had her soldiers.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Maharg67