5 minutes...... oldwrench tries story telling

[Hiki]

Rest as much as you want! Health before writing

[oldwrench]

Finally, I got a little something written. At least I got going again. I'll try to get another chapter done soon. I have to see what will happen when those mechs attack again, and will Chad end up shot? What about Dominic, did he survive? Will Arisa get a chance to prove herself in battle? What about Georgianna, can she stop this from turning into another nightmare? So many questions.

Chapter 68

Tom was reluctant to report the loss of the connection with the Krikav to General Parker,
but he’d waited as long as he dared. Though Jack had been trying, He hadn’t been able to re-
establish contact with the ship.
“Sir, we were in contact with the Krikav,” Tom told the general over his cell phone
connection, “But, the contact was broken, on their end. We haven’t been able to re-establish
connection.” Tom had rarely heard the general swear.

General Parker clenched his fist. Damn, he thought, just when they had some hope, it gets
torn away. “Keep trying,” he answered his aid, “I’ll try to get under way as soon as possible. We
have to find out what’s happening there.”

Suddenly, the generals com screen lit up with another call. It was one of the techs from
the EDF com base at Tycho 2, on the moon. “General, sir, we just received a transmission from
Mar Sara.”

“Good,” the general replied, “the Krikav finally got their subspace back on line. Get
colonel Hellwind on.”

“Ah.... It’s not the Krikav, sir,” the tech stammered. “The transmission is from a recon
mech, sir. We were lucky to notice it, it’s on an old channel, and barely strong enough to pick
up.”

General Parker wondered what was going on, “There weren’t any recon mechs on the
Krikav.” He stated. “Whose mech is it?”

“There is,” Tom’s voice came from the com, “Doctor Mueller told me that experimental
mech they have is an older recon model.”

“Get that pilot on my com,” the general ordered the com tech. “I have to find out what’s
going on there.”

“Sir, we haven’t been in contact with the pilot.” The com tech told him. “We’ve been
communicating with a mech, sir.”

“What? Mechs don’t have AI. Someone is screwing with you. Get him on my com.”
General Parker ordered.

“Yes sir, but I don’t think it’s a joke sir, It really seems like an AI. It says the pilot left a
message for, ah....... whoever the idiot is that’s in charge of this mess.” The man replied.

“General,” Tom’s voice came over the com. The general hadn’t broken the connection
with his aid. “Doctor Moeller says his mech was fitted with an experimental AI.”

“Great,” Parker muttered, “I have to talk to a machine.”
The general looked at the monitor as the message came over as text. “I have a message
for the commander of this operation.” It read.
“This is general George Parker, commander of the four hundred twenty seventh. Who are
you?” Parker demanded
Almost immediately text began to fill the monitor. No human could have typed or spoken
that fast. “I am DFX -04, assigned to lieutenant Chad Ross. He has given me the name, Ghost. I
have a message he has left for you. ‘This is lieutenant Ross, blue dragon group from the EDF
Krikav. We were ambushed at both positions we were ordered to. My mech was damaged while I
was on recon, after the last attack, and I was forced to land on the planet. The Krikav was
damaged by a super weapon and I can’t get through to them. I’ll send the video I collected of the
weapon and the base area to you. If I can find some tools and supplies, I’ll repair my mech and
try to get back to the Krikav. If those cloaked black mecks attack again they might need me.’
That is the message. I will send all of the intel we gathered of the base on Mar Sara.”

The general stared at the monitor, “the Krikav damaged............how badly? What’s their
status? What cloaked mechs? I didn’t think anyone had cloaking ready yet. Damn! What’s going
on? What super weapon could a colony planet have?

The monitor filled with text. “The Krikav had lost power, the hull was compromised in
the engineering section. One warp nascell was destroyed. I do not have the answers to the other
questions. Lieutenant Ross has gone in search of repair supplies, I do not know how long he will
remain away.”

“Have him contact me when he returns.” Parker told the mech. “Alright, let’s see what
that video shows.” The video of the Mar Sara base came up on the screens. “So where’s that
super weapon? All I see is some industrial mech carrying a cannon.” As they watched another
mech came from the mine shaft in the side of the mountain and walked past the mech on the
screen. The general sat up in his seat. “Replay that,” he yelled. The watched the mech walk past
again. “Good lord” Parker said in a hushed voice. “That was a Lancer, and it was only a third the
size of that thing. A mech that size, It shouldn’t be able to work. It should be to heavy......... And
if that’s the weapon that it’s carrying. How could it damage a ship if they fired from the planet’s
surface.” He looked up at his com, back to his voice of command. “Tom keep trying to get
through to that tech. We have to find out what the situation is on the Krikav. We’ll be ready for
warp in less than two hours.”

[Zeratul2k]

Ooooh, finally! I was wondering what you were up to with this.

[Sakura]

Meow... the pdf is missing 8 chapters, what about sending an update?

[oldwrench]

Will do, as soon as I can get some time. The painting at the house is really wearing this old body down. I started another chapter, I might get it this weekend. Things are heating up.

[oldwrench]

Ok, I promised another chapter this weekend, and here it is. When I started this project, I didn't think this was going to be an epic......... Ah well, we're getting closer to the good part. At least we get to find out what happened to a couple of the pilots. At least a little of what happened. I'll try to get more done soon. There are some good parts coming up.


Chapter 69

Consciousness slowly returned to Dominic. He groaned, his head throbbed. Well, he
thought, this can’t be heaven or it wouldn’t hurt this much. Gingerly he tried to move his arms
and legs, taking stock of his situation. There was some good and some bad. He took a couple
deep breaths to try to settle himself, it didn’t seem anything was broken, and he wasn’t wearing
his flight suit and helmet, he was lying on some type of bed, but, He was shackled to the bed and
he was blind. Try as hard as he might, he couldn’t see a thing, he’d never known such total
blackness.

Chad froze in place, he quickly glanced around, but the machine tools and tool boxes
were along the walls, there was nothing near that he could duck behind. He looked back at his
nightmare, the black bore of the gun looked huge, and to make the nightmare worse, there was a
woman holding the gun. She was an older woman, well, her curly black hair showed streaks of
grey and her brown face had lines from years of working in the sun. She was built as solid as
captain McFairlane, but was shorter. Her dark eyes were intense and she certainly looked like she
knew how to use that gun.
The woman watched the boy glance around, she knew he had no where to go. He was tall
and lean, dark hair and dark eyes. He must be older than he looked. She’d have guessed he was a
school boy, but his coveralls had EDF insignia.
“The EDF must be really hard up, sending boys to steal tools.” She remarked in a
menacing voice.

“I was going to bring them back...... I wasn’t stealing them.” Chad told her, truthfully.
Though he’d stolen many times, Chad had gained enough respect for tools and their owners that
stealing them hadn’t crossed his mind.

“Sure kid, you expect me to believe that?” The woman sneered.

“Well, ya..... My mech got damaged and I need the tools to repair it.” Chad answered.

The gun’s safety snapped off and the woman’s expression got darker, “So, your part of
the invasion.”

“Huh?” Chad looked dumfounded, “What invasion?........... We aren’t invading anyone. I
was just trying to do some recon and one of those rocks up there hit my mech.”

“Recon! So you’re getting ready to bomb us to hell like you did Tarsonis.” She accused
him.

“We don’t even have any bombs,” Chad shot back. “We came here to fix your com
satellite, and you guys started shooting at us. You damaged the ship and now my mech is
damaged and I can’t even call them to find out if they’re alright.”

The gun lowered a bit, “Attacked your ship?” She wondered out loud. “It must be that
damn bunch that bought out the mines. They put those asteroids in orbit, and they’ve been taking
over the planet government.” She looked up at the young man, she was sure she knew his accent.
“Ok, so maybe you aren’t attacking. Who are you and where are you from?”

“Lieutenant Chad Ross,” Chad snapped, “four hundred twenty seventh armored............”

“Oh cut the military crap,” The woman ordered him. “You’re from Earth. Where?”

“Ah.... Detroit, mam” Chad stammered, surprised by the sudden turn.

“You’re no high rise boy,” The woman said with a bit of a smile. “What gang are you?”

“Ahh, Midnight Rockers, mam,” Chad told her, still off balance at the turn in the
conversation.

“Ya, scourge of the southside,” The woman replied, with a wry smile The gun raised back
to level at Chad. “I’m from the Erie Rangers, Toledo dome. Are we still at war?”

“On and off, mam,” Chad told her truthfully. “On, last I knew.”

The woman swung the gun barrel up to her shoulder and laughed, “some things never
change. My name’s Rachel, quit calling me mam, it makes me feel old.”

“Ahhhh, yes mam......... err, Rachel” Chad stammered, almost weak with relief now that
the threat of the gun had been taken away.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve talked to anyone from earth,” Rachel told Chad. I’ve got
lunch cooking, why don’t you put down those tools and come in for some lunch. I’m sure a boy
like you is always hungry.”

Chad was sorely tempted. That pop and candy he’d eaten earlier just weren’t going the
distance. “I really can’t.” He told her sadly. “I need to get my mech fixed so I can find out what’s
happened to my ship.”

Rachel thought for a moment, “Where’s that mech of yours?”

“About a kilometer away, toward the desert.” Chad admitted.

“And you were going to carry that load of tools that far?” Rachel shook her head. “Tell
you what, Roy is going to be here for lunch in a few minutes. If you come have lunch with us, I’ll
have him drive us out to your mech when we’re done. You’ll get there just about as soon as you
would walking.”

Chad mulled that over. He really was hungry, and, it would be a lot easier if he didn’t
have to carry the heavy tools. Chad put the pile of tools on one of the benches. “Ok, I guess,
mam........err, Rachel.”

Chad started toward the door but stopped short when the animal standing next to Rachel
snarled and showed it’s sharp teeth. Chad assumed it was a dog, but it was larger and more
menacing than the dogs he’d seen in the rich peoples homes. It was more than knee high, it had
short sleek fur, pointed ears and a long muzzle holding those sharp looking teeth.

“Dammit dog, settle down, he’s a friend,” Rachel commanded the dog. The dog looked
up at her, “Alright, get out, we’re headed for the house.” She told it and the dog turned and ran
out the door.

Chad followed Rachel out toward the house. So that was how he’d been found out. He
was so sure that he hadn’t been seen, the dog must have tipped her off. “What’s your dog’s
name?” He asked, as the dog followed him, sniffing at his coveralls.

“Dammit dog,” Rachel said.

Chad turned and looked at the dog, “What? Did he do something?”

“No,” Rachel said, “that’s his name.”

“What?” Chad asked , confused

“We named him Alex, but when he was a pup, he was always into everything and Souske
was always yelling ‘Dammit dog quit that’ and such. Pretty soon, the only name he would answer
to was Dammit Dog.”

“Ah..... Oh,” Chad looked at the dog, things here were a bit different than he had
envisioned. “Umm, who’s Souske?”

Rachel sighed, “He’s my husband, or I should say was my husband, He died a couple years
ago, in an accident, while out prospecting. He was a great tech but not much of a farmer, and even
worse as a prospector. He always thought he was going to strike it big someday though.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about that, I guess,” Chad said somberly. “But, if you’re from lower
Toledo, How did you end up here? I mean, if you don’t mind telling.”

Rachel pulled open the door to the house. Come in and take a seat and I’ll tell you the
whole story. Then you can tell me how you ended up here.”

[oldwrench]

I was going to get another chapter ready, but it looks like I'll be taking a detour.........

[Zeratul2k]

A detour? Anime detour?

[oldwrench]

Yup, and I just made it back. Survived another year. JH took some pictures, I'll have a few comments about what we did. To tired now, spent this morning painting at the house again.

[Sakura]

Why, the paintdipped grandchildren are doing all the work.