Changes In The Wind –New Horizons pt6 – Speak Plain…

[silentWitness]

I'm still not happy with things... this one has more action now... We'll see if this one interests people!

Part one: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=301044
Part two: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=301210
Part Three: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=301748
Part Four: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=302665
Part Five: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=303054

Changes In The Wind –New Horizons pt6 – Speak Plain…

My head stung. The deck was hard. I hadn’t seen them. I think my skull is cracked! I opened my eyes! Big mistake! The room span and tipped! I closed my eyes and went through the moments before… We walked through foul corridors filled with petty vendors peddling their useless wares! Who would have thought that we would be forced to stop here because of a Blind Paranid and his Argon handmaiden… She seemed far too preoccupied with the old drunk… why couldn’t she be on my arm! Let the old drunk stumble around, surely that is what he was used to! Damn if I didn’t have so much respect for him he would have been kicked out at the space dock! I felt naked without a pistol but there was none to be had… My guardsman sidearm was useful only within the security cordon of the spaceport… outside of that it powered down, unable to be fired! It was like a lump on metal and plastic… it wasn’t even menacing! A simple stun pea shooter even at the space port! All around us burley mercs… their brutal sidearms blistering with kill trophies and custom mods… real weapons! Good enough to kill with! It could have been any one of them… but why?

They didn’t even glance at us… true they were no simple warriors. These were coinblades. Their honour came at the price of a few simple credits! We were nothing to them. Shooting beached boron would offer more sport. We were little more than refuse to them. No… not them. One day they would all turn to watch… one day but not today. The commodity exchange was like the rest of the station… big and empty… The handful of credits we had bought a few crates of hull plating… Tutol in his infinite wisdom told us the ship would metabolise them into the hull and repair itself! Ha the wonders of technology! I bet none of those merc ships did that! Then we turned around and walked to a foodmat station… Ate and were on our way back… NO? nothing? No recollection as to what happened surfaced! Could it be a concussion… few could do such a thing to a split! Blunt force trauma was my heritage! It would take a Paranid or a robot to do such a thing! The blood beat in my ears. It was as if I had been hit by a shuttle on re-entry!

Opening my eyes again seemed stupid but I needed to see what had happened! What was around me. The lights were too bright. The deck was of Paranid design… concentric triple helix… this could be our ship! But where was Lys? Why wasn’t she here to nursemaid me? The deck was slippery with crimson fluid lots of it. My limbs were heavy and seemed ungainly… damn things would barely heave me to my feet! I spat blood onto the deck the blackness mingling with the crimson red. Who ever had hit me hadn’t bound my hands! A foolish move! If only I could stand up straight or walk without holding onto the wall… If Lys was here I’d say that it was the internal compensators… but she wasn’t… I was in a bad way and she wasn’t here! Bitterness rose up inside me! How dare I think that she had any interest in me! After all I had no interest in her! None what so ever!

The trail began to get thicker. It was no longer a small trickle…. The crimson fluid was flowing everywhere… I was close to the source! As I turned the corner I found out what the fluid was… Thoughts of the Boron conflict spread through my mind. No no no no no no… Veterans wore crimson sash to show their superiority… they had fought the Argon and killed one in personal combat… The Argon had red blood… crimson fluid… Lys lay lifeless on the deck… her body covered in blaster wounds. I scrambled to be closer to that tiny fragile body… her porcelain skin splashed with the crimson red of her own blood. All around her the bodies of dead mercs... What had happened? Was she breathing?

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The station was enormous! It’s giant vaulted ceilings were ornate! I could barely remember that I had to lead Useless to the commodity exchange… bright neon lights flashed all about as we passed through a recreation centre, spacers of all races mingled together, all trying to escape the outside universe if only for a few moments. But when we reached the commodity exchange we entered a pure Teladi zone… Useless walked up to a terminal and bought some hull plating… he said the nanites would convert it into hull to repair the ship faster but I wasn’t so sure that was the only reason he wanted to stop here… Many Paranid were watching him as we talked. I asked him but he just told me to stop being paranoid. I was happy when we were able to stop and eat! I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and my tummy was starting to grumble… and now my embarrassment from breakfast was again fresh in my mind! Oh god! How silly I am! The cost of the food was extortion! Maybe a hundred times the price as planet side! And even worse it tasted of chemicals… if I knew no better I would say I was eating something unreal… could it be? Had I found something worse than my Fathers cooking? As much as I tried to push the Argnu meat about on my plate I was just too hungry to refuse it. As we left those Paranid were still watching us... We walked towards the docking port. The shot rang out striking Sry’akl in the head… and then we were surrounded by a small group of Paranid… Sry’akl was still breathing but no thanks to their weapons… I wanted to go and touch him… make sure he would heal… like I had last time but rough claws clutched at me. They were taking us back to the ship… but why?

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My breath was held… Her body was so light and small… yet the medical bay seemed to become further from me with every step. She had to be alive! I would not allow her to be dead! It was not true! Not true! I laid her body on a gurney… she looked even more deathly pale. The emergency medical simulation began to play… it was a Paranid greeting ritual! My fists reached out to hit it but it was hollow! The shock it gave me almost knocked me to the deck. “Speak plain” it said to me. “Use your words Split! Or I shall place you into a state far worse than the one you are in now” This thing was a Paranid Doctor! What could be worse? A split doctor? Yes… true. “Please! Help my friend! This Argon female needs to live!” The computer stared out at her from its hologram. “hmmm… let me guess? Training exercise gone wrong? Perhaps. No. Courtship between your species?” “JUST HEAL HER!!!” The computer… an AGI apparently… looked back over to her “No need my friend! Her nanites shall heal her in due time.” The relief was palpable in my mind. I lay back and let my injuries take me… so long as she was alright.

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They were dressed in ceremonial robes but these weren’t priests… they were little more than pirates… in fact they were pirates! They needed us to start the ship and then they would be gone and we would be slaves! They had no nanites… They were not able to control nanites! How could this be? But there was something else here with us… I could sense it… sort of… Useless had put up an impenetrable barrier… I couldn’t feel or sense him anywhere… it was scary… ever since I had met him I had felt his mind but now he was gone. All around me there were shields and barriers. They threw me into the little room. Sry’akl in next… they would try Useless first! A few moments later I heard the door to the room next door being open and someone being thrown in “PAH! This one is worse than a two eyes! It has none at all! It is not worthy of the name Paranid anymore! Fine we shall use the girl”.

As the door opened something came over me… it was not from me… it was from outside… Panic overcame me as I felt it brush my mind… The Paranid was there in the door, the pistol in its hands… walked up to it… my hand grabbing the pistol… the shot rang out biting into my chest… agony overcame me but my body did not flinch… It took the gun and shot him… then the next then the next…. Shots biting into me as I walked through the ship… The pain was overwhelming but I could not pass out… something was controlling me! My nanites! I was like a puppet! As I reached the bridge… the shots came fast…. My hand moved and they were all dead… I felt the blood… I was dying I was sure of it!
Then I saw it… A Paranid. A crown of wires about its head. A spike plugged into the wall. It released me. “So my little play thing… When will the master awaken? This Sry’akl? The pilot? Tell me does he control you as I do or did you come of your free will? But it was too late. My feet gave way and I let the tunnel of blackness take me. My last thoughts as I felt the ship lurch clumsily into space… I was scared? Not just for myself but for Sry’akl…

[Mr. Stubb]

Damn cliffhangers!

I've just read this story from the beginning and I've got to say it's extremely interesting. Quite a welcome relief from DiDs. It seems difficult for people to break from the norm, but you've done it and done it well. I'm currently writing a DiD but I'm beginning to find it pretty boring, perhaps I'll try something a bit more like this.

Anyway, wonderful work and I'm looking forward to reading more.

[silentWitness]

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I have a little competition for my readers!

Can you describe Lyssa Farrow or Sry'akl? Who they are and what they are like as people? and what you think of them.

The Prize is you get to choose a concept, action or phase that will go into the next story part!

Entry will be accepted up until the post count reaches 150 reads (please don't cheat, the post count seems to be jumping fast with this one... already at 70... so I'll choose a higher target... I'd like atleast two entries if I am to do this) or up until I am ready to release the next part whichever is most suitable...



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Damn cliffhangers!

I've just read this story from the beginning and I've got to say it's extremely interesting. Quite a welcome relief from DiDs. It seems difficult for people to break from the norm, but you've done it and done it well. I'm currently writing a DiD but I'm beginning to find it pretty boring, perhaps I'll try something a bit more like this.

Anyway, wonderful work and I'm looking forward to reading more.

If it is a story you wish to tide you over... There is Flames from ashes... it was my 'X3:Reunion Masterpiece'... Although it must seem dull an uninteresting to most I guess...

I warn you though... Apparently it's a hard read almost devoid of interesting content...


1. Flames From Ashes: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=81586

2. Day Like Any Other: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=85680

3. Dawn: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=86009

4. An Awakening: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=91593

5. Beyond Terra: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=181350

6. Reunion: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=186983

7. Puppet to the lie: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=188999

[Maskelyne]

I'll give Flames from Ashes a read, just to hold me over for now. And as far as the competition goes, I'll see what I can do.(this is Mr. Stubb btw, just got access to my old account. Couldn't register my game with the new one, as it was already registered to this one.)

Edit: What exactly is the object of the competition? An accurate description of them based on your view of the characters?

[silentWitness]

Yeah... what's your view of a character... What are they like? personality, looks... etc... the most interesting answer to me gets the prize! The object of the competition is to engage with my readers... get more responses... perhaps gain a little responsive interaction from them...

Just like the Did's get...

[silentWitness]

Could I get a tally as to how many would like to complete and then I can know... and I can wait for those and then we won't need to wait too long for the next part...

[silentWitness]

Ok... Part seven...

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=3633829