"...and just as the step is taken, Heartcutter swings a full force elbow into the bridge of Mark4's nose."
-YourRoleModel
|
| Tide of Darkness Part II | | | Author: | | | IP: | adsl-155XXXX | | Date: | 01/19/03 02:01 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 7, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for SiG.: 7.0000 |  |
If you haven't read the first part of this story, then you really wont know what's going on. I reccomend that you read the first part before reading this part, because to do otherwise would just make you a very stupid individual. Since this is an actual story, and I don't really break it up at chapter endings, (because I still don't know how I'll seperate this story.) I'll be continuing from exactly where I left off. Anyways, you enjoy my story now, y'hear?
“Yeah, man. Jason is my best friend. I just know he was able to get out,” Matt said.
“All right guys, let’s fly by the platform where Jason may have landed if he ejected. If we don’t see him, we’ll just have to continue on.” I decided.
The four remaining Wraiths split up, and combed the area in the immediate vicinity of the battle that had just taken place. Scraps of twisted and charred metal could be seen, along with large chunks of that yellow-gold colored alien alloy. “Jeez, it looks as though that alien stuff is really tough,” I said. “Even after all of that abuse, it still maintains a lot of its integrity.”
“Yeah, I guess so, Spike,” Matt replied, with a hint of sadness in his voice.
“What’s that?” John interrupted, “What is that thing, right over there, on top of that catwalk?” He indicated a bulky looking pilot’s chair on our screens. Well, the top of it, at least. The remainder of the chair had broken through the yellow and brown colored iron cross-thatching of the catwalk.
“Is that from Jason’s Wraith?” asked Matt, excitedly, “I think it is!”
I activated my infrared scanner again, looking for his heat signature, but the only hot things in the area were the smoldering pieces of Wraith debris. Oddly, the alien alloy didn’t show any heat at all. It was the same temperature as the platform itself. The chair was really hot, well, the part of the chair that lay embedded within the catwalk. I began to think; what the hell happened? He obviously ejected, but he isn’t anywhere to be found!
“I can’t find his heat signature, guys. I can’t see him anywhere out there,” I said.
“No! He’s out there, he has to be! Look, how can he not be out there? He did eject! That’s his chair!” Matt babbled.
“Where is his parachute, then? John asked, taking a second to think over what he said, realizing his mistake. “Err, never mind.”
“Okay, listen,” I began, “If Jason got out, he doesn’t have much time to live. This is space, after all. His environmental suit will hold him for a short while, maybe an hour or two. We can’t just run along home because Jason went down. We have to continue on with our mission!”
“Yes sir,” Matt said, grimly.
“All right, let’s get a move on,” I said, “I don’t know what other crap we’ll be running into, so let’s keep our wits about us.
We took the ‘Missing Man’ formation, a ‘V’ shaped formation, but with a fighter missing on one side, making the ‘V’ appear as though it was missing a segment. “I wonder what gutted that missile turret?” I asked, remembering the turret that Matt had pointed out a little while ago.
I can understand it not having any missiles left. It is conceivable that the missile turret had fired upon aircraft such as those alien craft we just encountered. But how would the bottom of the turret be torn to shreds like that? No missiles I know of, nor any lasers or bullets can do something like that. Then I remembered something, the technician had said something about ‘Giants clad in pitch black armor wielding glowing red swords’. “Could it be possible that those giants the technician was talking about did this?”
- - -
“God damn, it feels like I’ve been hit by a freight train.” Jason groaned as he stumbled to his feet. “Where the hell am I?” He asked himself as he looked around. He was under the catwalk for sure, but he wasn’t standing on any metal. Jason pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and shone it around the area surrounding him. The cavern like underside of the catwalk was extremely dark. Hardly any light except for thin lines got through. The sun was able to slip through the gaps in the cross-thatched iron. The ground was covered in some thick purple slime, which appeared to be writhing if you didn't focus on it. The metal plating on the floor seemed to be corroding where the slime was in abundance. Jason shone the flashlight around the room again, and then on himself. “Damn, looks to me like this metal has been eaten away by some kind of goop. What the hell, this crap is all over me!” He began to slide his hands along his body where the goop was, sliding it off onto the floor. “I’ve got to get out of here.”
“I wonder how long I’ve been out,” Jason thought, lifting his left arm and checking a small electrical dial on his wrist. “Oh shit, ninety minutes of air remaining. If this suit can hold two hours worth of air, then I’ve been out for thirty minutes.” Jason lowered his arm and took one last look around the underside of the catwalk. “I wonder what the hell this gooey stuff is. It certainly shouldn’t be here, I mean, what possible function could it serve? Whatever, I’ve got to get in touch with command.” He pulled two small firearms out of a compartment under his seat, and pushed a small red button. He climbed up on his chair, his head and chest above the catwalk, the rest of his body still under. He pulled himself up on top of the catwalk, and stood up.
Jason scanned the area around him. “Whoa, check it out. That yellow metal stuff is pretty sturdy, too bad my Wraith wasn’t so tough.” He thought, as he looked at the small hunks of Wraith debris and the large pieces of alien ship littered about the metal plating of the platform.. “I wonder where I can go to get in touch with command. Oh yeah, we flew over a cluster of shops earlier, I’ll go there.” He thought, as he began to walk briskly along the catwalk in the direction of the shops. He could see the neon lights in the distance.
- - -
“We’re now entering the outer perimeter of the northern outpost.” Margaret said.
“All right guys, let’s split up and search for clues as to what happened here.” I said.
“What kind of clues are we looking for? I mean, you told us to search for clues, but how will we know if we see a clue or not?” John replied.
Matt laughed, “John you’re such an ass.”
“What! I’m serious here!” John replied, with a sense of lightheartedness. “I suppose we should just look for anything out of the ordinary, all right.” He began to bank left.
“Okay guys, let’s get to it.” Matt said, veering off to the right.
Spike and Margaret sped up, going straight. “So, Margaret, how well did you know Jason?” I asked.
"Well, I met him the first day I got into military school. We were classmates, and became very good friends over a short period of time. He would always help me out on the tough questions and help me study often. I really didn't have anything to give him in return, but he was always there for me, and I was there for him. After a while, we became very close, but we couldn't become attached to each other, because it's forbidden and we agreed that if one of us died, it would be too hard to cope." Why the fuck are they talking about this? I'm starting to lose my touch at writing, fuck.
"Wow, err, that's quite a bit of history. So do you two still have any romantic interest towards each other?" I asked
"Not anymore, no. I consider him my friend, and he considers me his friend."
"Oh, well, cool. Err, I mean, yeah, cool," I began to stutter a little, "I mean, it's good that you two are friends, you know, it's always good to have someone that's watching your back." The reason to never include your girlfriend in your stories: If you start to hate her, it's hard to get rid of her charachter.
"Yeah, it is. I really hope Jason made it, somehow."
"What in the name of Christ is that?" Johns voice came from my Wraith's speakers.
"What's up, John? What do you see?" Margaret replied, sounding rather uninterested.
"It looks like a clue... well, it looks like a huge blue crystal. It's kind of just, uh, floating," John stated, "Some of that yellow metal stuff is on it, so I guess it must be something built by those aliens."
"Warning, energy levels are reaching fifty percent. Fifteen minutes until energy levels are critical" my Wraith's computer said, in that monotone female voice.
"You know, I really wish they'd get some new voice for these computers," John began, "I mean, wouldn't it just be more interesting if she had a nicer, more enthusiastic voice?" He tried to mimic a seductive woman’s voice, failing horribly.
"Take it easy there, John," Matt said, "Take a look at this thing. It's just kind of floating there, not too high off the ground, but it appears to be solid. Scans aren't reading anything from it besides some kind of energy field being emitted. I don't know exactly what this energy is, or what function this crystal could possibly serve, but it must be necessary for something."
"Yeah, maybe it has something to do with that big... submarine looking thing. Look at that building Spike! It looks like a big old fashioned Earth submarine. You remember those things, Spike? They were somewhat popular near the end of World War II and the beginning of the twenty-first century. I love military history." John said.
"A sub marine? What is that?" Matt interrupted.
"Well, submarine is one word, and it was an old Earth marine craft. It was a ship that was capable of diving under water. They were extremely useful in the early part of the twenty-first century, but after a while they became a waste of materials. Missile systems and satellite tracking systems became so accurate and powerful that a submarine was more than less a sitting duck." John replied.
The platform below us began to change slightly. It was somewhat more beaten up. It appeared as though many battles had been fought upon this platform. I don't doubt it, though, this platform is really old, and it's history is riddled with bitter fighting between two opposing Terran factions, the "Blood Ravens" and the "Avengers". That was long ago, though. Below us now were a myriad of floating blue crystals and oddly shaped buildings. There was a big pyramid with four glowing towers around it. There were three buildings with shimmering blue fields near their centers. The oddest structure, though, was this massive floating thing. It appeared to be a hollowed out cylinder, but it looked as though it was cut in half at an angle, and separated. What was so fascinating about it is how it floated there miraculously. It has a series of flickering blue lights lining its interior. Gateways are hard as hell to describe
"Sir, I think I see something odd down there" Matt began
"Okay, all of you, don't call me "sir" any longer. You may refer to me as Spike, and Matt, what isn't odd down there?"
"Well, a couple big metal spider looking things just walked out of one those shimmering blue screens on those buildings." Matt said, indicating the Spider things on my main viewer.
They looked like spiders indeed. They had four big legs, and a flattish top. They appeared to have many plates of armor protecting them. They had a spinning bottom with a few white lights attached to it. Everything we had seen so far with these aliens has been symmetrical, besides that submarine building. "I wonder what in gods name those things are," I stated, hoping my awe wasn't noticeable.
"These things... These aliens, they are so advanced. Their technology is utterly impressive. Those machines down there just walked through a paper thin portal, or a gateway if you will. They have cloaking for units, and they can keep their cloak up without a massive energy reactor like our wraiths. What is going to happen to us? This is an entire alien base, and they're hostile. This is really bad, Spike, really bad. We have to get back to the commander. With Jason’s Wraith gone, we have no communications besides close-range." Matt said.
Margaret and I slowed down, waiting for Matt and John to regroup with us. “Guys, come on, let’s get out of here--” I started, but I stopped when a small but bright red light lit up amongst the numerous dials and unlit lights in my Wraith. “Err, an emergency distress signal is being broadcasted from somewhere around here, it very well may be Jason, but how come my infrared scanner didn’t detect him earlier?” This didn’t make much sense to me. How could Jason have activated a distress signal, when as far as I knew, he was dead? He survived somehow. Somehow his body heat was concealed. All of this didn’t matter, though. “Let’s fly over the crash site again, it’s right on the way back to the base.” Feel free to tell me when I get repetitive -.-
“All right, Spike! I just knew that Jason would survive!” Matt replied
“Yeah.” Margaret said.
“I’d figure that you’d be somewhat more enthused about Jason surviving, Margaret.” I said.
“I am happy that he made it, yeah. What do you expect me to do, Spike? Jump for joy?”
“Well, I just figured that you’d show it a little more.” I replied, somewhat defensively.
“Well, let’s go.” Jason said.
“All right, let’s go check out that crash site.” I said, throttling up and speeding off in that direction.
I know this is a whole hell of a lot shorter than the first part I posted, but I've been pressed for time lately, and I just wanted to keep you interested. (Notice yet how I refer to you as you? I do this because it isn't like you know anyone else has read this besides you at the moment, and it works.)
Do me a favor? You just read what took me a lot longer to write than it took you to read. Spare 30 seconds to leave me a comment, it really does mean something to me. Comments are one of the biggest reasons I share my story with you. That and knowing that someone enjoyed reading what I wrote. So, until I post the next part of this story... I'll be around? Unfortunately.
Feel free to E Mail me! |
|
|
|
Home
Forum
Starcraft Tournaments
