Monster - Part 12
DeepShadows
Join Date: 2003-02-11 Member: 13408Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2003-02-11 Member: 13408Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">Action tastes like very rare steak</div> <a href='http://members.shaw.ca/jarmart/Monster_Site/main.html' target='_blank'>Part 1 - 10</a>
<a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=6&t=30390' target='_blank'>Part 11</a>
Been busy, but finished it tonight. You might want to read over a couple past chapters to figure out what's going on. I will make a summery of events in one of the next two chapters...
I will send the web page update tomorrow...
ANYWAY, enjoy. Be a critic, questions/comments are much welcome. Feel free to tell me if it's NOT great, k? Thx -
Here you go:
<b>BOOM JACKET</b>
Tony: ?<i>Oh, god.</i>?
Tony?s desperate whisper carried the howl of Mystery-Matt being gutted. It was rather watery.
The Frontiersmen began to congregate with Darkens and I, just in front of the dim vent. Among them were Joe, Mr. Samsa, Seph and Altezo. The rest were not in cold storage.
We stared down into the emergency vent, which was large enough at the entrance for one to stand in. The vent sloped up and rounded a corner just about 6 meters in. Each gun trained down into its throat, to that very corner.
<b><i>Tony (Text Message)
? At least 5 skulks and 1lerk incoming to cold storage.
? Quiver and matt down
? Pseudo is on his way to cold storage, but the skulks and lerk are close behind him.
? I am safe. I?m in a side alcove. They ran by me.</b></i>
Mr. Samsa: ?Copy that. Make sure they don?t double back.?
Samsa gestured for me to leave. I backed up behind a slab of hanging meat, but I didn?t leave. Once again, my Journalist ways overtook my common sense. I had to see what would happen.
Darkens: ?Pseudo, how far are you from Cold Storage??
Pseudo: ?<i>I?m almost there? there?s too many behind me? I?ve been parasited?I? oh, **** it!</i>?
Gunfire echoed down through the passage. Pseudo was meters away from the vent corner.
Darkens: ?Run, Pseudo! Run as fast as you freaking can!?
Pseudo?s footsteps stumbled. His gunfire neared, but cut off just before it reached the corner. An echoing holler rang out through the tunnel; Part of it was human, part of it was not.
The body of Pseudo flew around the bend, sliding down the vent towards us. His arms dangled like an old puppet. He was dead.
The Frontiersmen aimed their guns on Pseudo for a moment, and then lifted back to the corner. He continued to slowly slide down, as the marines watched intently for the Kharaa to follow round.
It was Samsa that finally noticed Pseudo?s body was sliding down just a little too fast.
Mr. Samsa: ?Shoot him!?
The limp Pseudo suddenly flew at us, pushed by a single Skulk hidden behind. The body knocked back the group, as the creature plowed through. His brethren followed.
Amazingly, Darkens and Mr. Samsa managed to down two skulks before the rest pushed through. One plowed right through Darkens, tearing off his leg. He spun and landed hard on the ground.
Shouting. Skulks running up the walls. It was hard to tell what was going on. In the panic, I found myself knocked over by Samsa. I hit the floor. Out of fear, I remained there.
I remember turret heads spinning around like mad, hitting more meat than anything else. I saw two skulks crawling across the ceiling. A shower of gunfire trailed them as they scuttled across. One finally fell, catching its claw into one of the meat chains. The other went out of my view.
Gunfire stopped, as some of the marines reloaded. I sat in silence, to frightened to move. I could barely see anything but the meat. I wondered if they were all dead.
Seph: ?How is everyone??
Mr. Samsa: ?Just peachy!?
A couple turrets fired out of my view. Another skulk fell still; almost as still as I probably was.
Seph appeared rather suddenly, and helped me to my feet. It is a blurry moment to remember, because just as suddenly, a barrage of spikes ravaged his head. They shot through his eyepiece, and all across his throat. I stood there as I watched him fall to his knees, and then to his face, by my feet.
"Mov!" someone shouted. My brain decoded it soon enough to dodge the same fate. Spikes flew across where I stood, as I dived out through the mutton, tumbling in a panic until I found someone.
I ended up finding Mr. Samsa. He was with Joe. Beside them, on the ground, was Darkens. His leg was still missing, but he was alive. He looked rather pis$ed off.
?There?s a lerk, up there, up there in the crates!?
Mr. Samsa: ?We know.?
Darkens: ?He?s a f**king genius! Hey Jacket, which f**king limb am I missing??
Mr. Samsa: ?Relax, we?ll kill it.?
Samsa gestured something to Joe. He spread out to the side of him, eyes trained around the roofs of the stacked cargo boxes. Darkens lay on the ground bleeding. Not knowing what to do, I sat beside him, shaking, clinging to my shotgun like a blanket.
Darkens: ?Ha! You retard. That?s a nice boom-stick you got there.?
His leg was bleeding recently. The armor was taking care of closing the wound. Still, he seemed remarkably relaxed, while a Lerk crawled somewhere above our heads.
Darkens: ?Commander, I would like to request a medpack.?
C.C. - Ashura Demon: ?<i>Shut up! I?m busy!</i>?
Resources were being spent somewhere, and lots of them. Geoff, Soda and Johnson were the only ones not with us in Cold Storage.
Darkens: ?Stupid **** commander. I?d give my right leg, or rather my left leg, if he?d just? what the hell!??
As he spoke, an odd green mist was surrounding us. It started to sting my skin.
Darkens: ?****! Spores!?
Mr. Samsa: ?What the hell!??
Darkens rolled out of the gas. I scampered over to Mr. Samsa. In a moment, both of us ran over to Smiling Joe, as a second mist surrounded us.
The Lerk made a flying swoop, showering spikes. The marines emptied their machine guns trying to hit it. The thing made it to the crates again, and a quiet pulse of a healing sound could be heard.
Mr. Samsa: ?That?s impossible. They only have one hive!?
More spore clouds. We did our best to dodge them. Joe took pot shots at the Lerk whenever he got the chance. Our skin burned with every accidental brush against the poisoned gas.
Mr. Samsa: ?God ****it!?
The Lerk made another swoop. This time it was lower, just above our heads. Spikes rained down on us. Smiling Joe?s machine gun hit empty. He threw it down, drew his pistol and capped the Lerk?s wing. It lost its balance, got caught in a chain and crashed at our feet. It tried to fly at Samsa, but Joe jumped onto it, latching a hold to its wing. Joe threw the horror hard into the crates. As it tried to escape, Mr. Samsa pinned its other wing down with his foot.
Mr. Samsa: ?Jacket, Boomstick! Now!!?
To be honest, I had no idea what he was saying. As the thing kicked and struggled for freedom, I caught that odd moment of recognition again. I knew it was alive, and struggling for its life. Fortunately, I was also caught with another notion: shoot the damn thing.
I shoved the muzzle of the shotgun into its gut, and fired. A yellow gore splattered over everything within a meter.
No redemption; a kill. This one was my first. My first downed Kharaa.
Joe dropped the carcass, wiping the filth from his visor.
Smiling Joe: ?Like nuking a fly. Nice Boom, Jacket.?
<a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=6&t=30390' target='_blank'>Part 11</a>
Been busy, but finished it tonight. You might want to read over a couple past chapters to figure out what's going on. I will make a summery of events in one of the next two chapters...
I will send the web page update tomorrow...
ANYWAY, enjoy. Be a critic, questions/comments are much welcome. Feel free to tell me if it's NOT great, k? Thx -
Here you go:
<b>BOOM JACKET</b>
Tony: ?<i>Oh, god.</i>?
Tony?s desperate whisper carried the howl of Mystery-Matt being gutted. It was rather watery.
The Frontiersmen began to congregate with Darkens and I, just in front of the dim vent. Among them were Joe, Mr. Samsa, Seph and Altezo. The rest were not in cold storage.
We stared down into the emergency vent, which was large enough at the entrance for one to stand in. The vent sloped up and rounded a corner just about 6 meters in. Each gun trained down into its throat, to that very corner.
<b><i>Tony (Text Message)
? At least 5 skulks and 1lerk incoming to cold storage.
? Quiver and matt down
? Pseudo is on his way to cold storage, but the skulks and lerk are close behind him.
? I am safe. I?m in a side alcove. They ran by me.</b></i>
Mr. Samsa: ?Copy that. Make sure they don?t double back.?
Samsa gestured for me to leave. I backed up behind a slab of hanging meat, but I didn?t leave. Once again, my Journalist ways overtook my common sense. I had to see what would happen.
Darkens: ?Pseudo, how far are you from Cold Storage??
Pseudo: ?<i>I?m almost there? there?s too many behind me? I?ve been parasited?I? oh, **** it!</i>?
Gunfire echoed down through the passage. Pseudo was meters away from the vent corner.
Darkens: ?Run, Pseudo! Run as fast as you freaking can!?
Pseudo?s footsteps stumbled. His gunfire neared, but cut off just before it reached the corner. An echoing holler rang out through the tunnel; Part of it was human, part of it was not.
The body of Pseudo flew around the bend, sliding down the vent towards us. His arms dangled like an old puppet. He was dead.
The Frontiersmen aimed their guns on Pseudo for a moment, and then lifted back to the corner. He continued to slowly slide down, as the marines watched intently for the Kharaa to follow round.
It was Samsa that finally noticed Pseudo?s body was sliding down just a little too fast.
Mr. Samsa: ?Shoot him!?
The limp Pseudo suddenly flew at us, pushed by a single Skulk hidden behind. The body knocked back the group, as the creature plowed through. His brethren followed.
Amazingly, Darkens and Mr. Samsa managed to down two skulks before the rest pushed through. One plowed right through Darkens, tearing off his leg. He spun and landed hard on the ground.
Shouting. Skulks running up the walls. It was hard to tell what was going on. In the panic, I found myself knocked over by Samsa. I hit the floor. Out of fear, I remained there.
I remember turret heads spinning around like mad, hitting more meat than anything else. I saw two skulks crawling across the ceiling. A shower of gunfire trailed them as they scuttled across. One finally fell, catching its claw into one of the meat chains. The other went out of my view.
Gunfire stopped, as some of the marines reloaded. I sat in silence, to frightened to move. I could barely see anything but the meat. I wondered if they were all dead.
Seph: ?How is everyone??
Mr. Samsa: ?Just peachy!?
A couple turrets fired out of my view. Another skulk fell still; almost as still as I probably was.
Seph appeared rather suddenly, and helped me to my feet. It is a blurry moment to remember, because just as suddenly, a barrage of spikes ravaged his head. They shot through his eyepiece, and all across his throat. I stood there as I watched him fall to his knees, and then to his face, by my feet.
"Mov!" someone shouted. My brain decoded it soon enough to dodge the same fate. Spikes flew across where I stood, as I dived out through the mutton, tumbling in a panic until I found someone.
I ended up finding Mr. Samsa. He was with Joe. Beside them, on the ground, was Darkens. His leg was still missing, but he was alive. He looked rather pis$ed off.
?There?s a lerk, up there, up there in the crates!?
Mr. Samsa: ?We know.?
Darkens: ?He?s a f**king genius! Hey Jacket, which f**king limb am I missing??
Mr. Samsa: ?Relax, we?ll kill it.?
Samsa gestured something to Joe. He spread out to the side of him, eyes trained around the roofs of the stacked cargo boxes. Darkens lay on the ground bleeding. Not knowing what to do, I sat beside him, shaking, clinging to my shotgun like a blanket.
Darkens: ?Ha! You retard. That?s a nice boom-stick you got there.?
His leg was bleeding recently. The armor was taking care of closing the wound. Still, he seemed remarkably relaxed, while a Lerk crawled somewhere above our heads.
Darkens: ?Commander, I would like to request a medpack.?
C.C. - Ashura Demon: ?<i>Shut up! I?m busy!</i>?
Resources were being spent somewhere, and lots of them. Geoff, Soda and Johnson were the only ones not with us in Cold Storage.
Darkens: ?Stupid **** commander. I?d give my right leg, or rather my left leg, if he?d just? what the hell!??
As he spoke, an odd green mist was surrounding us. It started to sting my skin.
Darkens: ?****! Spores!?
Mr. Samsa: ?What the hell!??
Darkens rolled out of the gas. I scampered over to Mr. Samsa. In a moment, both of us ran over to Smiling Joe, as a second mist surrounded us.
The Lerk made a flying swoop, showering spikes. The marines emptied their machine guns trying to hit it. The thing made it to the crates again, and a quiet pulse of a healing sound could be heard.
Mr. Samsa: ?That?s impossible. They only have one hive!?
More spore clouds. We did our best to dodge them. Joe took pot shots at the Lerk whenever he got the chance. Our skin burned with every accidental brush against the poisoned gas.
Mr. Samsa: ?God ****it!?
The Lerk made another swoop. This time it was lower, just above our heads. Spikes rained down on us. Smiling Joe?s machine gun hit empty. He threw it down, drew his pistol and capped the Lerk?s wing. It lost its balance, got caught in a chain and crashed at our feet. It tried to fly at Samsa, but Joe jumped onto it, latching a hold to its wing. Joe threw the horror hard into the crates. As it tried to escape, Mr. Samsa pinned its other wing down with his foot.
Mr. Samsa: ?Jacket, Boomstick! Now!!?
To be honest, I had no idea what he was saying. As the thing kicked and struggled for freedom, I caught that odd moment of recognition again. I knew it was alive, and struggling for its life. Fortunately, I was also caught with another notion: shoot the damn thing.
I shoved the muzzle of the shotgun into its gut, and fired. A yellow gore splattered over everything within a meter.
No redemption; a kill. This one was my first. My first downed Kharaa.
Joe dropped the carcass, wiping the filth from his visor.
Smiling Joe: ?Like nuking a fly. Nice Boom, Jacket.?
Comments
Hurrah, thank you. Prettiness is good for the spleen.
<!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> O, you like that -
very purty. Spleen needs goodness
but whats happening with the CC and the res being spent?
and how come the lerk didn't bite him when he grabbed it? <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
lerk bite = taken out in 1.1 . It looks like the polls are keeping it that way, so it's safe to bet that this change will stay. The new hive 1 abilities are spikes and spores.
-I DID say I was going to make this story a transender into 1.1-
And we all know what meat tastes like(see sig)
Any way good story and im anxious to see what had happened to the AI and the commander.
P.S. Im gonna be expecting that someone is eaten by an onos.
P.P.S. Maybe you can invent your own new Fade ability?
the hard part is waiting...