The Sky Is Falling

[Firmhanded_Daddy]

(Closed for myself and IvoryTigress.)

Name: Christoph Adwin
Age: 28
Occupation: Scavenger.
Appearance: Red hair, brown eyes. 180 lbs
Special items: Survival Suit


“How’s it look up there Godwin?”

“How does it ever look? Best as I can tell we should be fine. I didn't see any sign of crawlers, or flingers. Nothing but a cold dead planet up there.”

He nodded his head. The movement was metallic and accompanied by the soft whine of hydraulic force. The armor was too blasted heavy to wear all day without the aid of mechanical energy. It easily added ten stone to his body weight. With the dampeners engaged he could move much more quietly, but that used up precious energy that was needed for other things.

“Ok lets move out then. We can’t afford to play it too close to the chest. We already know that we have competition. Lets go.”

Surface expeditions were suicide, everyone knew that. If the near perpetual storms, or the cold didn’t get you then the few things that did still walk on the surface would. Anything that could survive in this harsh remain of a world was something you did not want to find stalking you in the dark. It had been four hundred years since The Great Impact and as much as what remained of humanity wished and hoped for the world had never healed from the wounds carved by the series of hyper dense meteors that littered the surface world like the scars of a long forgotten disease.

It had been generations since there was a human who remembered what the sun even looked like, or what grass smelled like, or what it was like to not have to come to the surface armed to the teeth if you came at all.

As the carved tunnel started to level out the temperature dropped significantly. If not for the assault suit he wore he would have been freezing. Judging by the conditions it had been snowing meteoric ash and snow for days. The chill even managed to seep into the metal before the life support system kicked in to gently warm the inside of the suit.

The helmet mounted radio chirped to life as Godwin spoke up.

“Man, this place is even worse than the reports say. You sure we can make it to the impact site and back before the next storm hits Christoph?”

“The reports say we have a week and a half. We should have more than enough time but this window won’t be back for another six months. Now cut the excess chatter and get low and tight!”

The men formed two groups, moving from shattered remains of buildings to the next pile of lifeless stone, steel, and broken glass. There was more destruction here than the strike would have accounted for. In some places the ground was scored as if by a fiery impact or explosion. In other places the earth was turned to glass. There had been battles here, terrible battles. Not everyone fled to the bowels of the earth when it was discovered that the world would be struck by the strange meteor shower. Many stayed above ground and most were killed, either instantly or very slowly by a strange sickness in which they simply wasted away, complete with flesh coming off the bone. Some however survived. All those who did were never the same. Strange things happened, some mutated into strange blood drinking monsters, others gained a bizarre control over the forces of nature. He had seen men throw lightning like it was a stone. The world was not only destroyed, the very fabric of the world seemed to have been torn to shreds.

Then there was the reason they were venturing to the surface in the first place. The very same metals that had fallen from the sky and doomed the surface of the earth also was a highly sought after material. It was super durable but light and flexible, and it also gave off a strange sort of energy that was still being explored, but already being utilized. It was that metal that powered the survival suits. It did not seem to come without dangers however. Whatever changed those on the surface seemed to be slowly changing those beneath the earth as well, much slower, but it was happening.

The lenses of the suit caught movement out of the right corner. A warning flashed on the HUD and Christoph turned his head toward the heat signature. He registered the danger just in time. Raising his left hand. The clockwork gauntlets gave off a red glow as the very air around the suit warped and changed. It was one of the many new advances made possible by the meteors. In less time than it took to blink the eye a large shield made of super heated molecules was simply there, fashioned from seemingly nothing.

The gangled, but impossibly strong creature slashed a clawed hand that deflected off the shield.

“Contact, contact! I thought you said there was no fucking crawlers! I've got 5, no, 20. Fuck, just run! Back to the cavern! Evac now!”

It was too late. The sounds of gunfire and screaming was already all around them as the hunched over, pallid skinned monsters descended upon the ten men in such numbers that it took them waves. Already two suits off line and he could see the heart rate of all of the other men spiking, they were scared out of their skin.

“Form ranks! Pick your targets and carve a path back to the tunnel!”

The men were well disciplined and they only lost one more man before the clump of survivors. If there was one thing that scared the shit out of crawlers it was fire. Several men were brandishing wrist mounted flame throwers, but Christoph favored the molten flack gun. It literally fired molten hot shrapnel of metal at the targets. It was great for stopping groups, much quicker than the flame throwers. Anything that got in front of him never got back up.

They were almost to the tunnel entrance when the air split with a crackle and a roar. The flash of lightning temporarily blinded him, but Christoph didn't need to see to know what happened. He could hear the tunnel caving in on itself and shortly after blinking away the spots in his eyes his fears were confirmed. Someone had collapsed the only way to safety, and now their backs were up against smoking rubble.

He was scanning the rubble frantically, that was no natural stroke of lightning. It had been too precise, too advantageous to the enemy. Then he saw a crawler that looked so remarkably different from the others. There was a gleam of intelligence in his eyes, and the aura of power around him was obvious.

“Flinger, six o’clock. Four hundred yards!”

It was a split second decision, it was reckless, and it was also the only choice they had. The flack gun and shield glowed and evaporated into nothingness. In their place was two heavy, broad wrist blade. With the mechanical assistance and the extra weight even the powerful crawlers were not able to stand up to his charge. He broke their rank, making a straight line for the magic throwing crawler.

That split second decision was what saved his life. Magic and tech had been one thing that they had yet to successfully merge. There was no way one could translate the other effectively, so Christoph had no clue that the flinger had been preparing some sort of horrible explosive spell. The crawlers had been intended to group them up, and the flinger was going to mop them up.

The shock wave struck him in the back, but all it managed to do was propel him forward. The damage alarm sounded and he felt slick wetness sliding down his back but he couldn't stop, not now. He had to avenge the men who had just died a horrible bloody death.

He twisted both his hands. The wrists blades shifted and detached from their mounts. He flung the weapons with all the strength he could wring out of the survival suit. The red glowing blades spun end over end and struck the creature with such force that they were going to need a mop to clean him up.

He heard chaos erupt behind him and he turned to see the mass of seething crawlers suddenly leaderless. They were feasting upon those men and each other in an orgy of blood and death. There was nothing more he could do except stand his ground and die. So he did the only thing he could do. He ran. So much for this expedition. New plan… find out how to get home.

 

[IvoryTigress]

Name: Alexandra Sha
Age: 27
Occupation: Whatever pays the bills at the time
Apperance: Black hair, unknown eye color, 125lbs
Special items: Her tool kits, silver mechanical goggles with pitch black lenses.

Alexandra leaned over the handle bars of her specialized and armored motorcycle. She had designed and built the bike herself. The tires were made from a substance she had created all by her lonesome. Sure, she may have blown up three separate labs before she had finally gotten it right. But it was worth having to be on the run for a while. The tires could travel any of the terrain on the surface world without breaking down from wear and tear. Acids didn't break through. It was going to take repeated, direct assaults to get one to break and she was fairly certain she would be out running anything that had the strength to do that kind of damage.

The extra fire power the bike was packing was a lovely little side bonus, if she did say so herself. It had two high powered demolition cannons mounted on the front. They were useful for taking out the little bastards that were currently surrounding one of the top recovery teams in the business. There were also a wide variety of smaller weapons that would slide out of hidden compartments all along the bike, if she required them. She was hoping she wouldn't. She and the bike were small compared to the massive convoy the team at the bottom of the hill. Small enough to possibly go unnoticed by the dangers that lurked on the surface. But one could never be too careful....or have too many explosives.

Alexandra herself was a tiny woman. She barely hit 5'3. She was pretty, in an absent minded, mischievous way. Her face was almost always smudged with whatever she had on her hands from her tinkering. She was proud of her 125 pounds of solid muscle. She had earned it by learning to take apart and fix pretty much everything. She also ran. She ran a lot. It wasn't entirely her fault that the explosive she had built for the gang lord in the slums had gone off before it was supposed to. She couldn't be blamed when the idiot pushed the wrong button....or maybe she could. She might have told him the wrong one. She couldn't remember exactly, but it didn't matter. Even by then, she was used to running every where she went.

It left her in a prime physical condition, one which she protected in a suit that seemed a lot more suited for the land than that hideously large, clunky, mechanical piece of junk the leader of the salvage team was wearing. She shook her head. She was protected by the same metal that she was going to find some more of, hopefully beat them to it. It didn't seem like it would be much of a challenge, considering they were in the process of dying. Her suit was tailored to fit her perfectly. The metal was light weight and it was covering a thin layer of bio mechanical cloth. The cloth was pressed tightly to her skin and it reacted to the electrical currents of her nervous system. She had made the joints in the metal out of a series of subtle, flexible springs and counter balances. They better absorbed the shock of her rapid movements. She had painted the armor black. Her face was covered by a helmet that was plated and had cameras and scanners built in on all sides, giving her a constant stream of information for 360 degrees around her body.

The engine of the bike purred beneath her thighs and she sighed to herself as all but one of the men in the team below her was wiped out. They were her competition, so she didn't feel entirely bad for them. They were stupid enough to not send out scouting drones ahead of time and get themselves trapped. Most people didn't believe the life forms on the surface existed. The ones that did believe it didn't believe the creatures were smart. Alex knew better. Up on the surface, they were at a disadvantage. They were the hunted. The creatures up here had been exposed to large amounts of the unidentified energies that the precious meteor metals gave off. In small amounts, its uses seemed to be limitless. But the line between too little and too much was extremely fine. The creatures that were alive were not mutated freaks. They were evolved. They were stronger, smarter, and faster than those who lived in the Under Cities.

She watched the man start to run for his life as the swarm began to swallow his team. They had been one of the first ones to laugh at her when she had signed up alone. No crew. No shared equipment. A suit that looked like it wouldn't keep a mouse from penetrating it. She was less inclined to help him because of it. On the other hand, he was from the Underground. She knew that one day the creatures from above would find a way to penetrate the Under City defenses if they chose to. Then it wouldn't matter how many people had laughed at her. They would all be brothers and sisters in the fight for their lives.

Having hacked his comm frequency long ago, she had listened to the entire mess. She revved her engine and shot off the mountain. She ducked her head down low and opened the bike up to its full speed. She drove in a wide circle around the beasts before shooting out in a line perpendicular to the direction he was fleeing. She skidded her bike to a stop ten feet in front of the fleeing man. She revved her engine just before her voice sounded into his communication frequency.

"Get on the bike, you idiot. You're not going to make it far enough on foot. They'll find you by nightfall. I'm only offering once. If you hesitate, I'm going to leave your ass here."

As soon as she finished talking, she revved her engine again. She had every intention of leaving him to his fate if he wasn't on the bike in the next fifteen seconds.

 

[Firmhanded_Daddy]

A small motor bike screeched past him, then came to a skidding halt. He heard a voice chirping into his communication line even as he saw the small woman look right at him.

"Get on the bike, you idiot. You're not going to make it far enough on foot. They'll find you by nightfall. I'm only offering once. If you hesitate, I'm going to leave your ass here."

He had not been moving at full speed because he knew they were not following him. Without their leader there was chaos. Not all of the creatures were as intelligent as their magic wielding leader had been, yet there was a reason he had not been running at full speed. Movement and noise would attract their attention. He was banking on the fact that he could get lost in the madness of their feasting. Yet the growling bike’s noise and speed drew them like moths to a flame.

Suddenly he was running full speed. Each thick muscle straining for every last bit of strength with every stride, the hydraulic systems running at maximum pressure to keep him ahead of the pack of monsters. He reached the woman, and the bike in a few more strides and knew she wasn’t kidding about leaving him behind. With a whim his thighs magnetized and attached him to the back of the motor bikes seat. He spun and extended his palms outward. The metal glowed red hot once more and at the end of his hands bulging launchers extended from the ends of his fists. He didn’t pause, he was already firing the payload in a wide arc behind them. He had to take care as he estimated just how far away to fire, close enough to act as a defensive weapon, far enough away to keep from blowing the both of them up.

“Go! I’m on. They will be on us on seconds. I think the noise from the bike pissed them off!”

Thud, thud, thud, thud

His torso absorbed the shock with each expulsion from the launchers. The devices fired what almost looked like mushrooms. With thick ballooned heads, and spikes they landed with a loud whining noise. The spikes twisted at a high speed and burrowed into stone, earth, steel. After they burrowed in nothing happened immediately. Until the first of the crawlers got too close. With an echoing pop the heads shot free from spikes and launched about two feet into the air before simply exploding. It wasn’t the explosion that was deadly, it was the shrapnel that devastated. Each mine had a kill radius of around ten feet. It was perfect for killing large groups, but despite the devastating effect of the weapon they just kept coming. With the taste of blood in the air the crawlers were in a frenzy. It didn’t even slow them down.

“Shit, you better open this up, they are catching up!”

Even as he continued to fire mines at the mass of crawlers his suit began flooding the inside with a thick clear liquid that closed his wound and stopped the bleeding, and then adhered to the suit itself which also closed the large claw score in the armor.

 

[IvoryTigress]

Alex turned and faced forward, making herself as small as possible. The bike was going to be a bit slower, as it was now encumbered by the man's weight. She would take every aerodynamical advantage she could get. A nice side bonus was it also made her a smaller target. On the slim chance the crawlers did catch up, they would go for the large man sitting on the butt of her bike. He was bigger and hopefully more tasty.

The small cameras in her helmet displayed the creatures coming up fast. It only marginally worried her. She had built the bike for speed on rough terrain. Her voice came through the comm sounding as calm and confident as she felt.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, jeeze. There's not -that- many of them. Have some spine there, stud."

With that, she flicked the throttle on her bike. The machine took off with a surprising speed, despite being burdened with more weight. She continued to let him waste his power supply and ammunition at the crawlers giving chase. Better his supplies than hers. He would be going home soon. She still had days of work ahead of her. Refardless, it wasn't long before the creatures began to lose ground and motivation of chasing food that was faster than them.

Small compartments in her suit's shoulders popped open and fired out four small spheres. They hovered around the moving bike for a moment before shooing off in the four cardinal directions. The probes relayed terrain information, the probabily and confirmed sightings of biological threats, and visual scans of the long range area around the bike. It allowed Alex to see packs of crawlers and maybe some flingers, as well as other threats, far enough in advance to change her course to avoid them.

She piloted the bike out of the ruins of the city and toward the mountain range. The impact site where the ore of interest rested was deep within those mountains. She wasn't changing her plan of action for the man behind her. She'd just make a pit stop. But it would have to wait until morning. Dark was, at most, four hours away. Travel at night was possible, but Alex didn't prefer it. The temperature plummeted even more and she would rather face the creatures of the day than their nocturnal brotheren any day. The closest entrance to the underground cities was at least five hours away. She's find shelter in one of the abandoned caves and make camp for the night. She hoped the man wasn't miserable company.

Her voice slid back through the comm. "Billiant job back there, slick. Now you're stuck team less and broken. I'm scanning for a spot to camp for the night, but it'll still be another two or three hours of riding before I'm ready to hunker down. I'll drop your sorry tush off at the closest underground entrance in the morning. Until then, sit tight and try not to scratch my baby. I might have to cut off a finger as compensation."

Her tone was light and playful. She was joking, of course. Mostly, anyway. She did love her bike. But the man could probably use a few laughs. She sympathized with how it must feel to lose an entire team. That didn't mean she'd get all cosy with him, though. The first time he showed any threatening or rude behaviors beyond the laugh he had shared at her expense when she signed up, she would drop him like a bad habit.

 

[Firmhanded_Daddy]

"Don't get your panties in a twist, jeeze. There's not -that- many of them. Have some spine there, stud."

He felt his blood boiling at her comment. Had she no respect? Sure some of those guys had poked fun at her, but that was no reason to dishonor the dead. He wanted to shout at her, he wanted to slap her across the back of the head. He did none of these things however. Disrespectful or not, she did help him get out of a tight spot. He might have outran them and escaped, then again he may not have. Instead of replying to her jab he said nothing. He did not trust himself to say anything other than hateful words that he felt.

Despite her protests of there not being so many of them, he noticed that she did listen and picked up speed. He followed the young woman’s lead and hunkered himself down against the rushing wind. A small amount of time passed and he saw her releasing more probes. He said nothing, he was busy focusing on trying to overcome his grief.

"Billiant job back there, slick. Now you're stuck team less and broken. I'm scanning for a spot to camp for the night, but it'll still be another two or three hours of riding before I'm ready to hunker down. I'll drop your sorry tush off at the closest underground entrance in the morning. Until then, sit tight and try not to scratch my baby. I might have to cut off a finger as compensation."

He could not hold it all in anymore. Try as he might to contain his anger it was quite obvious in his tone. The hard edge in his tone and the clipped way his words came out. If the sound of his voice was any indication, she was lucky that he was trying to keep calm.

“Joke as you wish, girl. The truth is you would have not done any better. You had the benefit of coming across the scene when the fighting had already started. The only reason I am sharing this information with you is that I owe you a debt for helping me. The flingers found a way to beat our scanners. We ran all the same scans you do and nothing showed up. So you might just want to recalibrate your probes.”

He shifted his weight, creating as much separation between them as he could. She disgusted him, and being so close to her only made him furious.

“Those were good men back there. I know they made light of you, but that does not give you license to joke about their deaths. If listening to your vitriol is the price I have to pay for the ride then I’d rather walk. Stop the vehicle and I will make my way to the crash site on my own.”