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

[Maharg67]

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Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Two.1

One 1.1[1]{2}

​Tabitha lifted up high the bright, cool, burning torch with her left hand as she looked around the cave chamber warily. The strong, sharp, knife was bloody in her right hand. It had been recently thrust into a bandit's flesh and now that seminaked thug lay dead, sprawled, across the damp rock floor. She turned, in her own basic tough gear, and noted stolen goods heaped almost neatly against one wall. The thug's body shimmered and vanished for the fool would return to life in just three day's time but where?

The girl child, light red-brown skinned like her now dead father, scowled at the albino white Tabitha. She spoke in the language known as English but with an odd accent. "Now we will have to find one another again. It took much time, last time, to find him. I suppose you will throw me in a children's prison."

Tabitha shook her head. "My people have no such thing as a children's prison. You will go to the Sisterbrotherhood of Compassion Orphanage in Havisburg until your father can be found. Of course he will have to make repentance for his crimes. The Sisterbrotherhood of Justice will make sure of it."

The girl scowled. "You palefanes are strange."

The woman noted the personal items of the man, the child, and another adult. She sniffed the air softly and picked up the scent of a hiding woman that she had already sensed in other ways. "Please ask your mother to come out after she puts down her weapon. We will do her no harm. We are not palefanes. They serve the Necrolords and are twisted. Is that why your father attack us? Did he fear us as palefanes?"

The girl looked surprised but then she nodded. "You tell the truth. You are not a palefane. What are you?"

Tabitha sighed, knowing the truth could be just as problematic as the false idea of being a palefane. "We are the mageborn of the magefolk. Unlike general magefolk, as you and your parents are, we do not need to use emblems or focusi or anything like that except special kinds of those make us more powerful, focused, and flexible with our intrinsic powers. You may have heard of us. Most stories about us are terrible lies."

The girl shrugged and then spoke out loud in a language called Spanish, or at least one dialect of it. "Mother, you need to come out now. They are mageborn, not palefanes, and will do us no harm."

Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Two.2

One 1.2[2]{3}

Tabitha frowned softly. While she had little interest in baby sitting a pair of mortals, she was not going to leave them out there in the snow clad, freezing, mountainous GameZoneAlpha111A1. True the gamezone was only semiactive, as far as the Game of Games went, but it still had both game type threats, human menaces, and other dangers. While the cave systems protected one from the terrible climate, and ever changing treacherous weather, they held their own deadly challenges.

She spoke to the mother. "I will use a storage compression device to take up all of your heavier items and to reclaim the loot from my people since that is where the palefanes got it from in the first place. As a scout I was tracking them when your father-husband jumped out of the shadows at me and I stabbed him. Hopefully he will respawn not too far from here. There are respawn points back in my homeland also. Perhaps his karma will have him respawn there."

The two others looked doubtful but they took only backpacks of goods, a smaller backpack for the child, just as Tabitha took up her own backpack that was bigger, heavier, than the mother's one. Mageborn were stronger than mortals, including magefolk. The others knew that it was the wrong time for talk. Even if they suspected that Tabitha had comrades close by, they knew it was best to get out of that place. They noted Tabitha's focusi weapons that were powerful but which could draw the unwanted attention of magical monsters, or other magical threats, if used. The same went for any use of magic. The more powerful the magic used, the more likely it was to attract danger and the more powerful the magical threat was likely to be.

Tabitha had a powerful semiautomatic pistol hidden away being of a 12.7mm (half inch) calibre but while such weapons were not banned from that gamezone, neither were they welcomed over much by the local Gamelords. She would use it, and other such devices, only if it became necessary.

Other magefolk, all albino like in appearance, came out of the shadows to join them and soon the group was pacing along with amazing gracefulness, quietness, except for the two magefolk; they were clumsy but only in comparison.

Reluctantly the older, but rejuvenated, red-brown woman stepped into the open. She frowned softy. "I love my husband but he was a fool to attack you with out knowing for sure you were not a palefane. He killed two palefanes and looted all these prizes from them."

Edited July 12, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Three.1

One 2.1[3]{4}

Bright, cool, burning torches were set up to illuminate the well screened off cave outpost. The regained 'loot' was distributed to mageborn there, who needed it, who knew the two mageborn that had fallen sick and then had become helpless victims to two palefanes. Only to have the two palefanes get sick and fall victim to the one magefolk man.

Tabitha sat on a small boulder as the mother, and child, sat against a cave wall eating dull flavoured, highly nutritional, foodbars and drinking lightly warmed, pristine, water. She spoke in the ancient language of Tessissi. "The pair do not know how they came to be here, in GameZoneAlpha111A1, and neither did the fool of a father-husband. They were in their own homesector when they were surrounded by sparkling shimmering effects, the kind of side effects that goes with the use of many kinds of power, and they woke up close to where I found them. They are not obviously sick but they have the sickness residing in them; they are sleepers of the strange infection that has claimed some of our people and more of other peoples."

Yes, the redsplash had caused many to sicken but less of the mageborn suffered than others and suffered less than others; they also tended to get better quickly. No mageborn had died, as yet, of the illness. Those that had died had yet to come back for the redsplash had only started to strike people down two days ago; it two three days for people to return. Most did not expect that their respawnings would be any different from normal but the mageborn, who had become sick, had suffered with warning visions that had told otherwise. Those that died, with the redsplash, had a chance of being respawned as living-dead monsters or in other distorted ways. Yet killing them would have them respawn as natural again.

Sarisha, of the Sisterbrotherhood of Psychic Spiritualism, frowned softly as she studied the pair of magefolk out of the 'corner of her eye'. "The pair will have to go into special quarantine. Those who survive the redsplash, are always immune to it after that, or so stated the visions. You have suffered it so you can lead them to the isolated Sisterbrotherhood of Compassion outpost set up for such cases. They will be better off there and will be less of a threat to our people."

Just because the redsplash had killed no mageborn so far did not mean that it would not do so. The visions had revealed that any such respawned mageborn could become truly terrible monsters with distorted versions of the mageborns' own exotic abilities.

Tabitha sighed. "I was hoping to be back with our family very soon."

Sarisha nodded with a look of sympathy. "You will be, soon enough, for you are not a carrier of the redsplash and can not become sick with it either. We will need you as a courier to go between our settlements, which means getting to be with our family quite often."

Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Three.2

One 2.2[4]{5}

Tabitha wished that the idea made her happier than it did. She had been far too long away from her family, friends, and home settlement. As it was she was lightly suspicious that Sarisha was trying to steal her husband's love from her. This jealousy did not help her overall mood no matter if based on truth or not.

 

But things were not going to go as planned as a terrible, inhuman, scream echoed through the cave system. None of them had heard anything like it before or so it seemed by the puzzled shock showing on the faces of all there.

 

A pale white man stood holding a big, powerful, 12.7mm calibre autorifle that he could use easily only because of the enhanced strength of the mageborn. Another stood with a softly sparkling mageborn-quarterstaff held in both of her gloved hands. Tabitha soon found herself as bodyguard to the two nonmageborn magefolk. The two clearly had low powered magefolk devices to use but it was clear to the mageborn they would do little good against what was out there.

 

All eight of her comrades were now prepared for trouble, well as prepared as they could be for the 'thing' that was out there as the nine mageborn were all sensing terrible danger. Tabitha took up, and slipped on, a pair of powerful mageborn focusi gloves. Then she took up, in either gloved hand, a mageborn focusi longknife that was designed to work with the gloves.

 

But fate was with them and the 'thing' did not attack. Instead silence fell and then the sensed threat lessened in strength until it was gone. Soon Tabitha departed with one other comrade and the two nonmageborn magefolk. Promised reinforcements were already on their way to strengthen the outpost.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Four.1

One 3.1[5]{6}

Now in the mageborn homesector, that they shared with other peoples, Tabitha moved before the mother and child. Her comrade, the mageborn man named Caliva, paced behind the pair. They followed a rough dirt path, moving fairly close to the fuselage of a 747 subsonic Jumbojet airliner long converted as an outpost. The wings were long removed, from the fuselage, and now incorporated with other materials to make partly underground structures. Grubby children stopped playing happily, in the dirt, to stare warily at the mageborn. None of them were mageborn, not even magefolk, but were of scavenger folk who dared to scavenge the local buried human places as transplanted from the Earth. Tabitha threw them some small, cleverly carved, wooden toys as soon they were happily playing with their new gains, after waving in gratitude.

When all humans, life linked closely with humanity, and things related to humanity, had been swept up it had all ended up in a multitude of homesectors including the great gamehub. Except that was a rather isolated homesector, of homezones, so the aircraft could not be salvaged complete to be used. Instead such as its jet engines, avionics, and other more valuable parts had been taken long ago.

From that place they turned northwards, having come roughly north-east-east to get there from the gateway that had taken them between 'sectors'. Soon they had left the aircraft fuselage behind, vanishing into a steaming jungle of mutated dark green plants with pale white soil fed undergrowth like bloated mushrooms from which grew distorted branches with many leaves. Some tough grey rabbits hopped away from them, being wise enough to know humans hunted and trapped their kind for food and skins.

They were heading for a mageborn outpost where they could catch a helicopter, or small aeroplane, to take them a good part of the journey to where the magefolk pair would be quarantined. The mother was Yurisha and the daughter was Yurinta. Tabitha had not planned to know their names, had not wanted to start caring for them or to feel obliged towards them; now she was starting to do both, to her mild annoyance.

They found an entrance to a subway station, half hidden with vegetation and guarded by local settler militia. Settlers, known as the Subwayfolk, had begun settling subway stations over 100 years ago. They had gained other underground sites and began to regulate, and run, electric subway trains. The various human governments sponsored them as the working subways were very useful for them. Others paid for tickets and-or special fees. The militia stepped back from the mageborn, as tough as the local fighters were, because they were not stupid. Any bully games they might have played, with such as scavengers, was no go with such as mageborn.

Power rampways were not active because no heavier goods were going up and down. Passengers had to walk though packponies were being led up the wide tunnel by a small group of travelling traders. They had to clean up pony droppings but those could be traded or sold. Nearly everything was used, reused, recycled because no resources could afford to be wasted.

Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Four.2

One 3.2[6]{7}

The subway station settlement was a lightly bustling station village. More militia patrolled the actual station platforms where vendors were every ready to sell drinks, snacks, small comforts and other items to travellers. Some wooden crates sat as waiting freight on a big metal trolley. A bard played a guitar and sang a local type countryside song with good, if not great, talent. Subway porters, a station supervisor, and others could be seen there including a local sheriff deputy with her 6shooter revolver-pistol.

Tabitha began to sense something was 'wrong' from the first stepping onto the platforms. A short electric train-bus had arrived, at the station settlement, along a smaller secondary line, bringing awful news. Or so the whispers were going around. Tabitha sought out the station overseer, a man who looked deeply concerned. He was obviously pleased to know that two powerful mageborn were at the platform. They met in his cramped, heavy work focused, office.

He sat behind his small, file piled on, wooden desk made from local timber. "The redsplash creatures attacked a small Subwayfolk station outpost and killed five, dragging three bodies away. They infected four people, all now in quarantine. You say you are taking two infected magefolk to an isolated Sisterbrotherhood place for better quarantine, than we can afford them, then I say we can give you some supplies in order to take our people also. Perhaps some of our people will volunteer to go with you. We can grant you free, preferential, travel to the nearest Subwayfolk outpost to where you are going."

Tabitha didn't like the idea but how could she refuse when the mageborn were mandated to help in such situations. Anyway the Sisterbrotherhood of Compassion would expect her to assist in the situation. "Okay! I suggest we start working out some kind of plan between us. We could get the use of some kind of aircraft to get us much closer to the quarantine point, much faster."

The local man was impressed for working aircraft were not common and most were of more primitive, basic, kinds. Yet Tabitha was speaking of helicopters and small fast prop driven aeroplanes. Still, many were also impressed with how the Subwayfolk had managed to get their electric subway network-systems up and running.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Five.1

Zero 2.1[2]{8}

The man studied the closest, of the distant, capsuletowers through the massive, carefully set up, tripod-binoculars. They were carefully hidden despite that the bizarre creatures never came across the metallic biological barrier zone to where the freemans had their camouflaged outpost. Freemans were not just humans. Next to him was a tigerman woman, lightly feral, very feline, and quite dangerous. Capsuletowers held far more humans than they did any kind of animans but they held over a million tigermans. Humans had been enhanced, augmented, in the last age of the OldEarth and it carried on genetically to new generations but Phillipe had to admit that the tigermans were generally more lethal than humans in close order combat; it was a good thing that she was his wife and loved him.

There were exceptions, barely human human subspecies superhumans and a small number of those were freemans. Five superhumans had infiltrated the capsuletowers zone. They had done so using their special enhancements, augmentations, and exotic powers with great care. For them, as long as they were not stupid and used all the tricks, such was surprisingly easy. Trouble was that after the first few missions they had stopped learning anything of real use; it was questionable if they had ever done so. Instead they took small, valuable, exotic resources that the strange creatures had discarded. Yes, the freemans had to resort to stealing the unwanted rubbish of the creatures that had never proven to be truly hostile.

Sarinta growled softly. "I smell the superhumans returning. They make no attempt to hide their scents from me, indicating they are warning me that they are coming. They do this for they have a very interesting surprise for us, beloved! They bring one of the creatures with them but not as a prisoner for it acts as stealthily as they do, as if it fears also to be discovered by its own kind doing what it is doing. As a human, you are smarter than me, and are smart for a human; you will be needed to talk with this one. First you need to know how to talk with this one."

Sarinta was always overly modest about her intelligence but was in truth very smart, especially for a tigerman. She was also damned canny and, as far as Phillipe was concerned, amazingly beautiful and sexy.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Maharg67

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Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Six.1

One 4.1[7]{9}

The big, gracefully, ugly saucer of an aeroship swept through the sky. On the OldEarth it would have been called a Boeing Aerodreamer, a slower passenger liner than the subsonic jet airliners but faster than the aquatic ocean liners. Here, in the homesectors, there was a drive to build new aeroships, aeroboats and aerobarges but industry capacity was taken up just with getting more common machines fully reusable again. The 'aerocraft' had been left common than other kinds of aircraft, back on the OldEarth, and hence less common in the homesectors that were sometimes known as the NewHavens of the NewEarth.

Now it was a aerial aerobattlecruiser, moderately armoured and dotted with turrets, gun-bays, bomb-bays beneath and aerials of different kinds. It swept over great sweeping mottled landscapes of cultivated areas intermingled with wilder areas of semicultivation and free ranging livestock. Local predators grabbed up some livestock but the cost was affordable as the rest of the livestock lived well on what was freely provided food. Livestock was largely local fauna anyway given a population boost by humans. Except there were boneskinned oomans living local along with some animans. There were even some local android colonies of basic duplicants, more sophisticated replicants and yet more refined simulicants; the more developed they were, the less common were the types of androids.

The big, broad shouldered, man looked impressive in his business suit but it was his powerful aura of great confidence and strength that led people to follow him. He spoke from where he sat in the fairly large, armoured, observation chair. He sat on-in a special bolted down swivel chair and wore a special safety harness of belts. Such was normal in flight when one expected trouble at any time. The reason was that the aeroship was stolen and the real owners might show up any time to reclaim it. In this case the owners were the NewHavens Air Defence Taskforce of the NewHavens Combined Defence Force.

"People, we have only a short few hours left before the NewHavens Government starts to really catch up with us. The only reason we managed to capture this fine vessel was the sheer blatancy of our action. Nobody thought anybody would be so daring or so foolish or would have good reason to steal a newly refitted aerobattlecruiser from its aeroship cradle right out of a heavily guarded shipyard. Now we can dump the containers off here and then keep flying. We abandon the slowly, steadily, flying vessels. The ADTF gals and guys will catch up to it, find to their surprise it is in good condition and that nothing has been stolen. If I find out that one of your people has taken one small government item, except those on the need to use list such as rations, there will be trouble."

The svelte woman smiled a little too warmly, somehow exposing even more cleavage with out apparently doing anything to cause this to happen except for a slight movement of her body. "Relax, Rodax, our people are too disciplined for that. Anyway, they know your brutal reputation and are too smart to do anything so stupid. I take it you do not know what is in those heavily armoured containers."

Eternal Game of Games: the Human Focus

Six.2

One 4.2[8]{10}

The big man showed, just for a moment, an odd touch of nervousness that was even more startling to be seen on his normally hard cool face. "Vivvene, I do not want to know and I strongly suggest that you keep the same smart idea. You have all heard the things move inside those containers, hear them smash out against the armour, see the small dents in that extremely hard steel. Our clients went to a great deal of trouble to make sure those things did not escape. All we have to do is to make sure we get them to the landing point, quickly drop off the containers, fly onwards, and then safely abandon the vessel in flight using our own two aeroboats."

None of the other six, in the room, looked even close to disagreeing with his assessment. Apart from Vivvene, and Rodax himself, there was Marshal Tandis, Worker Overseer Stephanie, and Doctor Strent along with two mercenaries in quick release wall harnesses.

They had lots of heavily armoured-armed elite mercenaries equipped with power armour and high calibre autobattlerifles equipped to use both extra large cartridges and both grenade-rockets and grenade-shells. Except that nobody really wanted to wage a big firefight in a set of confined spaces with hard armoured surfaces to cause plenty of ricochets of bullets and shrapnel. They also had a few power armoured workers who could fight if they had to do so and even Rodax knew how to use power armour, along with a few others there. Vivvene could use both power armour and big guns with ease having been an elite mercenary herself before becoming the mistress, bodyguard and adviser to Rodax.

There was something about the whole set up, the amazingly heavy secrecy, the amazingly generous payments, the nature of the containers and what they contained, that was making them all nervous. Those not normally not smart enough to find reasons to be so were picking up feelings from those who were. On top of everything else, if the government did catch them they would be in very deep trouble. As it was, despite orders from the clients, Rodax had already given out orders that they would surrender to the government if they were caught up with. Things would go easier for them if they did so.

Tandis, the commander of the mercenaries, was just about to report on his people when the a small, but awful, shudder went through the whole aeroship. Seconds later alarms began to scream through out the vessel as the muffled sounds of heavy gunfire came to those in the observation chamber.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Maharg67

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Edited October 14, 2015 by Maharg67

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Edited March 19, 2016 by Maharg67

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