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23: An ACE up his sleeve
As soon as there was a lull in the conversations Basil asked the question that had been on the backburner since arriving. “Would there be any crafts, wormhole technology, or anything else that we could scavenge to get us back?” Grey shook her head, an apparently universal gesture. “Nothing that could create a wormhole would be here, I was told that every one of those systems was destroyed.” She paused for a moment, hesitating as if the information she had was almost not worth sharing, but continued to speak.
Read more…22: Prisoners of Different Kinds
“Are you speaking to me? I do not speak Elthrice?” “You’re a synthetic mind and you do not speak Elthrice?” “I am not an Elthrice ‘Synthetic Mind.’ You said it yourself, all the Elthrice synthetic minds are dead.” “That’s what I was told, but I was also told that there were no devices that could make doorways. What did you call them?” “Wormholes?” “Yes, I was told there were no more wormhole devices either.
Read more…21: Proper Introductions
As time passed the five prisoners began to take stock of their situation. Basil did his best to better clean and treat his injuries, greatly regretting that his painkillers were forgotten on another planet. The being, which Basil had been referring to as ‘Grey’ - which did not seem to object to the name - elaborated further on how they had gotten into their predicament. From what she had been told, the person that could best be described as their captain or admiral had an Orbital’s genetics without possessing an Orbital’s device or title and had been aligned with the fight against the tyrannical Elthrice.
Read more…20: Faux Orbital
Basil walked through the door of the crashed craft in an attempt to take advantage of the situation. He stepped into what appeared to be some sort of cockpit or command center with what looked to be some sort of control panel which seemed to have no interface of any kind. The being was on the ground, covering its face with its arm while simultaneously keeping its palms extended in what Basil expected was a fairly universal sign of surrender.
Read more…19: Improper Introductions
Basil was left in a daze as he hit the ground, finally becoming aware of his situation as he felt himself sliding down the metal ramp that had just finished re-opening. He became very aware of his situation as panic surged through him while he began to fall, but only fell about two feet and hit the ground below the hovering craft. Pain surged through his left arm as he landed face-first in soft dry dirt.
Read more…18: Wizardry
Basil was vaguely aware of somebody calling his name. He heard another shout, this time more clearly, though he still couldn’t recognize the voice or tell which direction it was coming from. “Basil!” He heard it again, this time evidently much closer. He looked up to see Spiro running towards him, pistol in hand and pointed in his direction. Spiro fired and one of the Lizard King’s soldiers hit the ground right next to Basil.
Read more…17: (Un)Peace(ful) Festival
Even with the ringing in his ears he could hear the engine in his truck roar as it began to move. A fountain of dirt was kicked up behind him and he felt every bump and vibration as he departed. What began as a crawl of wheels spinning in dirt began to turn into a high-speed dash towards the attackers. The speedometer climbed and the engine continued to get louder for a short time.
Read more…16: Last Moments of an Era
Spiro sat in the back of Basil’s truck holding Basil’s pistol. “You can probably see how it feeds in here” said Basil as he pressed down bullets in a magazine showing how the springs worked. Spiro looked at it with intrigue. “And it uses the pressure from the casing to load in the next round?” Basil seemed surprised. “You have autoloading firearms? On the Arkepello Tobias said that you guys didn’t have them.
Read more…15: Fallout
Basil walked into the hall, tired and drinking instant coffee that tasted like iodide. Finding the table where the Arkepello representatives were he sat down, but out of the corner of his eye he saw two individuals that seemed to be watching him. One was shorter, even for a Domum crowd, with darker skin and a white shirt. The other one, much taller, had a large greying beard and wore a black shirt.
Read more…14: Extraction
Basil was woken by a knock on the door. He struggled to open his eyes, the effects of the liquor still not fully worn off. He checked the watch next to his bed: 3 AM local time. He heard another knock on the door, but this one was much more aggressive than the previous one. He was definitely awake now. Getting up quickly he grabbed the rifle by his bedside, chambered a round as quietly as he could, and made his way to the door.
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