Ok How bout I do a twice a week drop. One on Mondays and the second on Thursdays. Ill drop them in sections in new posts so they dont get overwhelming as you said. In the end I will do a final post with the whole story in one post if post word count allows.
Gangs Installmnt 2 permalink
5-3-2043
The Doctors have finally moved me off the watched list and into the main facility
with the other wounded settlers that have sought refuge here. The almost primitive
setup they have as a hospital here is more like that of the old west. A skittish
old lady with a paranoid look, a doctor that is more apt to drink the whiskey then
use it as an antiseptic, and a few strangers acting as a clean up staff just to be
able to stay in the safety of the compound.
I inquire as to how long I will have to recover here. The orderly gets a sly smile
on his face and tells me that depends on how fast I can settle my bill for the stay
here. I ask the stranger where my gear was and he tells me I had nothing when they
brought me in except the shredded cloths that were burned since they were soaked
with infection from my wounds.
I am glad that I have been through this all before. Knowing this was a good
probability that I would be helpless and not able to keep track of my belongings I
was smart enough to find a decent spot to hide my weapons and mining gear. Only
keeping a small amount of ore on me to test the population of this camp but not
so little it was obvious I had more somewhere else. I thought to my self who is
laughing now you toothless decrepit shell of a man.
I learned long ago to show no pity for the people who came to this realm. Most
are here for personal gains. A few may have even come here with good intentions
of making this place a new and civilized world for people to have families, jobs,
and maybe a few of the finer things in life many enjoyed back on Earth. Far too
many of them came unprepared not even smart enough to avoid the petty thieves that
hide in the shadows just meters away from the hangar they arrived at. Only the
burned out damaged soldiers from the Robot Wars were prepared to survive here.
Only the battle hardened ones with the 1000 meter stare will make it out here.
Sure the new cities and towns that are sprouting up here and there will change
that but this will take decades. With no true law on this unforgiving place it
is like the wild west all over again.
For now I will rest in this little haven and learn what I can about the land.
Study both the dangers and the treasures to be found in the forests and hills
surrounding this remote junkyard of broken aircraft, broken people, and broken
dreams. There is much to be learned from the ramblings of the old men who seem
to be worn to the nub. Many have endured far more then we can ever imagine. Maybe
that is why we dismiss them so easily as senile or mentally burned out so we do not
have to admit that we are truly in way over our heads. That we are really just
frightened and small and helpless in a very, very hostile place.
9-3-2043
They have let me wander around the encampment now. The infections are gone, the
wounds all scabbed over. Now all that remains is the many crude stitches that
remind me of the old electric train set I had as a boy. I have found that I can
escape prying eyes out in the wreckage to sneak in a few exercises and stretches.
It wont be long before the predators start to circle. Places like this are full of
them. The tougher ones of the area, the ones that are stronger then the wounded
yet not so strong or brave they wander far beyond the fences and the safety of the
cannons. They make the occasional excursion into the wild so they can weave tales
of chaos to impress those too weak minded to see and not capable to rebuke them as
just the Street Gangs they are. How fun it would be to take them on a real tour
among the wildlife and harsh lands they so pathetically hide from.
There is one old man that I need to speak with in depth before I leave. He sits
quietly in a chair out by the gates. Watching. Like he is the guardian of the
realm, the one responsible for the lives of the many this place shelters. He sits
there day in, day out, his meals brought to him from the one makeshift bunkhouse
that none of the locals ever is allowed into.
Now that I am up and moving I see what he is doing. HE is the the one that
brought me into the medical area in HIS camp. This old man is Billy. Billy is
responsible for EVERYONE in this encampment, everyone here owes his or her life
to Billy.
The one thing that stands out about the man most is the solitude he cultures
around himself. Not at all an imposing figure, he stands roughly 1.9 Meters and is
barely 75 kilos, yet you know not to disturb him. You know he is a formidable
opponent even though he is twice the age of most he manages to save out here.
Billy has seen it all. All the horrors that await us, horrors we could never
imagine, horrors that would shut your brain down in so strong a fear you would
never stop shaking the rest of your days. Yet he still holds his humanity well.
Not one person has gone near and spoke to Billy since I have been able to wander.
Only the spastic nurse goes near, and that is only to set his food on the little
metal table next to the chair carved from the tree stump at the south entrance
to the compound.
At times I can feel eyes upon me as I make my way between the hulkish shells of
the spacecraft, both ours and robot. The ships are strewn across the yard like
the cars in the south buried in tall grass that all the hick jokes were made
for back on Earth. Billy has been keeping an eye on me for some reason. Does he
know I am not what I try to project being? Does he know me from somewhere, maybe
he knew my father back on Earth, or my uncles that were the first to pilot the
Forces that explored Calypso initially. All in due time, all in its place. I can
feel a change coming, the air is speaking to us now as if to announce the arrival
of something.
12-3-2043 early morning
I woke to a ruckus this morning. It could not have been an attack as the cannons
around the camp did not fire. It sounded almost like a fight but I am sure they
would not let people go on like that here. I got dressed and ready to step outside
to see when the door to my hut started to slowly open as if the wind were pushing
it gently in. This is NEVER a good sign, especially after a commotion breaks out
in the strange place you happened to hang your hat for a while.
Not knowing what was about to happen I grab the bed slat that I removed from under
the bunk next to mine. I had used it like a cane around camp so no one will think
any different if it now has to be my only weapon. The door stops its swing about
halfway open and I hear a voice that has only been heard once since my arrival. It
was Billy, asking for permission to enter. I pause to listen, knowing that a no
answer would not be acceptable yet not sure if he was alone. I count five and
answer as if still groggy from sleep, Billy slowly enters looking around for any
sign of a problem.
He introduces himself even though he knows EVERYONE who comes here finds out who
he is shortly after arrival. As he steps fully into the room he asks if we could
talk about what has happened to me before I was found and brought here to safety.
I nod and ask if he would like some coffee since I was making some for myself. Not
seeming too cordial I took his grunt to mean yes and added water to the rusty cast
iron frying pan that had been left in here long ago.
Sitting quietly at the makeshift table Billy kind of sizes me up as I make my way
back to acknowledge him face to face. With a grin he tells me he is glad I have
healed so well and that the "cane" really isn't necessary here, now. I inquire if
his visit has something to do with the racket earlier since we have not spoken in
the week or so I have been here. Again Billy grunts. He says one of the patrols
had come back... a man short. Seems he sent them to backtrack where I came from
to make sure there will be no surprise attacks due to my being here. He then looks
me straight in the eye and asks who the team was that ambushed his men at the north
western part of the swamp. Not batting an eye I told him I had no idea and that I
had surveyed them and determined avoidance was my best option at that time. I told
him I KNEW they were professionals hunting for something or someone. Strange part
is where they were ambushed as I had seen them much farther to the northwest in
the mutant territory above swamp camp.
Billy stared me down for a moment and then stood up and told me it was time to
fetch my gear from the outskirts before that team comes across it and I have
nothing to survive on out here. He then hands me the ores his orderly took from
me when I first arrived. Come to my office when you return he tells me, the guards
will not bother you if you are armed. He walks out of the room leaving the door
open as to suggest I go now.
12-3-2043 Late afternoon
Tired now from the injuries and lack of any real exercise for all that time I was
at Billys I knew I had to find a hiding spot soon where I could not be tracked.
They were too close and I know these guys know I am here and are hunting me. I
have spent the last 3 hours ducking and dodging them, leading them in a slow arc
away from Billy's and farther north. I hear the sound of running water! My saving
point. I can follow that for a short distance and double back to keep an eye on my
hunters.
First I must throw them off my trail. I peel a short section of bandage from my leg
wounds and tear it on the split of a broken branch leaving just a few threads
hanging for them to see. Then I slide down the embankment making sure I leave an
obvious trail, one that says I am wounded. I lead them to the stream with drops of
blood from where I bit my tongue hard enough to make it bleed pretty good. Then I
limp hobble my way back up the other side making another wide arch. My plan is to
lead them right back to the branch where I left my first clue.
This takes about an hour to do as I had to make it look like I am hurt yet be quiet
so they would not hear me if they had gotten too close. I climb the tree where I
had left my bandage fragments hanging. Its the perfect spot as the trees here are
very dense and close together. I make my way from tree to tree as quietly as
possible. Stopping every time I move a branch to show as little motion as possible.
After I get about 50 meters from where I had started them on the goose chase I hear
a crack that echos a bit not far from me. I freeze where I am and hold my breath so
I could hear any little noise that follows. One of them had stepped hard on a
downed branch and broke it hard enough that the whole forest could hear.
After what seemed to be five or more minutes I saw him coming out of a stand of
trees not far from where I was. He wasn't at all hard to spot as his Angel armor
almost glows in the evening light. I ease myself to the far side of the tree I am
in limiting my exposure to him hoping to blend well in the pine type trees in this
area. As the soldier points to the east where I had left them their first clue I see
two more stepping into view about 20 meters to the south of the first one. Two more
and I will have marked the team visually and confirmed my ruse is working.
I stay very still, watching my predators move away. Predator.... funny I say this.
Just as that thought runs in my head I am jolted back to reality as I hear a voice
yell from the top of a tree not 10 meters from me.. DAM RADIO!!!!!! Where you guys
at!!? a soldier in Predator armor leans out into view. A second voice issues a
command to shut the hell up and get outta the tree now that you have blown our
position. The team leader emerges from between the cracks in a huge tree that looks
as if it were split by lightning long ago. How did I manage to NOT get caught with
them being so well concealed and so close. They must have positioned themselves
JUST after the first one I saw broke the branch alerting me to his position.
14-3-2043
After telling Billy of my run in with the Hunters he decided it was time to
reinforce the camp. All patrols were kept within one kilometer of camp. Guards were
posted at the gates and the corner towers at all times. All ring activity was
halted and a complete lights out / darkness policy strictly enforced. No one in
the camp was to leave or transmit any form of radio signals and the guns were set
to kill anything that moved within its range without the proper binary code
transmitted on the frequency for that hour of that day. Billy knew his stuff
when it came to this kind of lock-down as the robots here had gotten good enough
with cybernetics in the later parts of the war and had wiped out whole startup
towns by using them.
Billy and I had setup in the western part of the camp in the wreckage. Here he
had setup an underground monitoring station complete with seismic monitors, heat
sensing cameras, and infra red sensors that were motion activated at various points
around the perimeter of camp. Remote controlled laser cannons were controlled by a
few of the sensors to hit the enemy from behind should they get between the forest
edge and the outer fences of the camp its self. The first night was very quiet no
activity at all.
15-3-2043
The first alarm triggered off of an IR sensor shortly after 22:19. The cameras
showed nothing but all guards were put to full alert. The rest of the camp was
going about normal camp function except none were to be out of battle gear. The
second alarm triggered fifteen minutes later same sensor opposite side of the
first trigger. Exactly 15 minutes later a third alarm triggered from a different
sensor. This continued around the perimeter for the next three hours. They were
probing, testing, trying to find the weak spot. What was here they wanted so badly
they would risk life to gain access to this compound.
Silence. No Alarms. No Motion. No Noise. Not even the seismic sensors were
triggering. Had they moved on or were they playing the waiting game. They Know
we are watching and can tell where they are. Soldiers like this I know could
disable ANY of these outer defenses, maybe even fake them out so we don't know
they are past and closing in. I think they are biding time, waiting for mistakes
to be made on our part.
I was worried about the guards in the towers being sniped but Billy assured me that
the treeline was well out of even the Marber Tangos range even with the best of
todays amplifiers. He did suppose someone that had trained on that gun could get
in a lucky shot but with all the sensors they would immediately divulge their
position and open themselves for a retaliatory strike.
The waiting game continues.
16-3-2043
Sunrise. The tension in the air around the camp was thick, everyone on edge, no
patrols today. Not to many were aware of the happenings of the night. Only a chosen
few even knew that other measures were in place to protect the camp, and the rest
will never know. Were they to find out then they may feel overly safe and get
complaisant with their duties and need to protect themselves.
"So now what?" I asked Billy as we sat having coffee after breakfast. He said
someone needs to go meet with our aggressors and find out what they are after.
Not wanting to risk my life for a place or a people I have no intentions of
staying with I thought hard about volunteering to be that person. Then I realized
that only Billy or myself were strong willed enough let alone in any shape to face
them where they would not just shoot you outright for being weak. I also felt I
owe Billy that much for saving me when I first arrived here.
I will go I tell Billy. Again only a grunt was his reply.
When I was ready to go meet our new friends Billy shut down a few of the battlements
so I could safely traverse the open perimeter to summon our new acquaintances. I
went out in full armor after I swapped plates so I might withstand one maybe two
rounds from a laser or plasma rifle. Grandfathers Maddox on my side, in holster,
unstrapped for quick removal if the need arises. My Justifier MKII draped over my
right arm like I was casually walking though the woods hunting rabbits back home
on Earth. Weird how I was not nervous to face these strangers, after seeing them
work as a team and watching them I almost feel comfortable that they will not
attack me straight off. That is, NOT until we have met and they state what they
have come for.
Twenty five meters from the treeline the front of my armor lit up like a Christmas
tree from my childhood with ten lasers all on critical organs. Not one wavered
from its intended target. I was instructed to set my weapons down and move forward
past them. I laughed as loud as I could. Five of you and one of me, you give me far
more credit then I deserve I'm afraid. I yelled to them what chance do I stand
against you even were I to get a clean shot off?. Kind of a moot point I believe I
add.
What is your business here I yelled. A voice behind me says we are looking for
someone. Impressive was the only word that filled my mind as I realized one had
gotten past ALL the sensors thru the night and KNEW where we would send someone to
meet them at. Their scout had dug in and stayed in a hole all night while we were
occupied tracking the others as they went systematically sensor to sensor as a
distraction for their man to get in place.
Who then I ask are you looking for and for what are you searching I say in a very
quiet voice as I hear his footsteps stealthily approaching from behind. As I turn
to face this soldier it dawns on me... I only ever saw five in their team, who and
where did this one come from. As he got within arms reach he held his hand out with
some papers with the official seal of the Planetary Defense Forces of United Earth.
This was not the standard issue soldiers from robot wars. The man I am looking at
wears no armor, no insignia's, nothing to even show he is, was, or could ever be
military other then the way he holds himself.
The name on the papers was mine.
After reading the documents I decided it was time to fill Billy in.
