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| Good Old Sci-Fi | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 7 2005, 12:36 PM (440 Views) | |
| lil fairyfly | Jan 4 2006, 07:40 AM Post #26 |
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Brackenwood Lightweight
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didnt u see my second post?!?!?!?!?!?! ......... owell wateva yea its my fault for jus asking. o and for ur imformation, im not lil. im vertically challenged. squish me 4 wat?!?!?! wat did i do?! o jus cause i asked sum1 to sumerize?! and bug?!?! im not a bug! a fly is a insect durrr!!! (i think) and plz, im not a princess, nor do i wish to be. although im sry 4 being ignorant did u really have do say all that? i mean really my first day and already ppl r bitching me 4 no reason. p.s the story was really nice! thxs shrike 4 telling me to read it! |
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| Ignia | Jan 5 2006, 12:33 PM Post #27 |
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Lady of Roman Fire
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See? Would you have gone back to read it if we hadn't harped? Sorry to be so harsh, but I'm afraid that WAS a very rude thing to ask. Try writing a bit and you'll understand real quick. Welcome to Brackenwood, Virtically Challenged Pixyinsect! May I suggest the Cration writing game, or just pop into the Pub for a drink some time
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| Phoenixphire44 | Jan 6 2006, 09:35 AM Post #28 |
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Gone
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Not sure we serve bugs at the pub Ignia my love. |
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| Shrike | Jan 6 2006, 11:39 AM Post #29 |
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The Spikeadelic One
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Heh. Nice, you guys, but howza bout we get some actual sci-fi in the sci-fi thread? I finally got motivated and wrote another battle scene, so enjoy. You'd better.
The railgun’s shrill whine hit its climax as the weapon barked and discharged a cloud of Catharsian dust as its shell flew over Lucianus’ head with a supersonic crack. Bright floodlights from the Cancer tanks lit the battlefield as the massive war machines fired their main guns into the Vespae positions that lay three hundred meters on the other side of a Gothic maze of twisted metal wreckage and debris. Fighting through this terrain was hell. There were hidey-holes everywhere for Vespa snipers and artillery teams to lay ambushes for Republican infantry, and although the Neo-Roman troops had adapted quickly to the hostile conditions, casualties were still too high for comfort. Lucianus likened the fighting style to that of a rat: hunker down and worm your way through the maze, no heroics, no glory, and no scruples. Get down in the thin Catharsian mud and crawl, furtive, like a predator. Only keep in mind that this prey is just as likely to blaze you down as vice versa. Granted, the Equus suit’s size made this more difficult, but Lucianus had fared just fine, even with the golden aquila mounted on his back. Having to carry a bright SHOOT ME sign around with him had complicated things – he was sure he was drawing more than his fair share of enemy fire – but his instinct to survive and kill was strong. Catharsis had transformed him into an animal. The near-instantaneous detonation of the railgun shells threw up gouts of molten metal as the warheads broke open and released disruptor fields tailored to the exact alloy that comprised the bulk of Vespae construction. Samples of hive city debris had been sent up to the military laboratories on board the Cerberus and analyzed, and the standard disruptor field algorithms had been tweaked to fit the new metal. The field’s quantum resonance with the molecules of the wreckage sent blasts of chaotic energy through the nuclei and played havoc with the metal’s physical characteristics, the reaction flinging globs of molten metal, plasma, and superheated alloy gas in all directions. Lucianus imagined the hapless Vespae being cooked alive in their exoskeletons in the split second before they too were vaporized, and shivered. Death in mano-a-mano combat was one thing, but the terror of being burned alive was permanently fixed in the primeval depths of his psyche. Subsonic booms and crackles of violent energies echoed across the dark battlefield. Lucianus hunkered down in a shallow trench with the rest of his turma as they waited for the tanks to finish their bombardment. Four other turmae and a legion of Marines had been assigned infantry support to the Romana Legio Mechanica Vicesima Mallei Inferorum, the Hell’s Hammers Twentieth Mechanized Legion. Ahala had been particularly thrilled about supporting a tank legion, mentioning something about serving with them during the Rim campaign he was so fond of boasting about. Lucianus had found the experience both exciting and a little intimidating. Whenever he looked at one of the Cancri, Lucianus suddenly felt very small. Rocks the size of his Equus’ fist danced around his feet when the titanic machines sunk their treads into the thin Catharsian soil and rolled ponderously forward, dealing death with their disruptor shells and delayed-fire gun rounds. Lucianus had always been told that the Republic’s pride was in its infantry, but his faith had been shaken when he had first laid eyes on the massive engines of destruction. Each Cancer had two double railgun turrets mounted on a flat, solid chassis with ten-foot-wide treads. Each railgun turret sprouted multiple antennas and sensor arrays and was flanked by two heavy machine-gun turrets, with another two mounted on the front. The entire machine was dull grey in color, and bore the stylized gear surrounded by a laurel wreath insignia of the Legiones Mechanicae above the letters SPQR in black. The engines of the massive tanks roared and rumbled like primordial beasts or hellish machines from the very pits of Tartarus. Vespae resistance had been rising steadily since the Republic first made planetfall, and the aliens had actually fought the Roman shock troops and light air squadrons to a standstill before the heavy weapons began arriving. Mechanized legions, specialized Fury squadrons, and atmospheric attack carriers had turned the tide swiftly in the Republic’s favor, and the Vespae were still in the process of reeling from the Republic’s sudden and terrible offensive. Far off, Lucianus saw the silhouettes of three Spartani attack carriers bombarding another Vespa fortified position. He magnified the image and watched dozens of air-to-ground missiles emerged from their tubes and streaked toward the ground. Hive city ruins blocked the sight of them hitting their targets. Decurion Lupinus’ crisp comm command snapped him immediately back to the present. “Equites, prepare to advance on the enemy position.” Ferrus immediately hopped to his feet, readying his trumpet to sound the advance. Lucianus drew his sword and stood, the golden aquila gleaming in the harsh white glare of the floodlights. Around him Republican foot soldiers jacked new clips into their rifles and loosened swords in their scabbards, crouching in tense readiness for the impending charge. Twelve Arenae stalked out of the darkness behind the Cancri where they had been skulking. The bizarre machines stood eight meters tall on three spindly legs, sporting a smaller railgun and two machine-gun turrets. The Legiones Mechanicae used them for light tank support, but their slender forms made them vulnerable in a pitched battle. A railgun with legs, Ahala had called them. The spidery things mounted the ridge between the soldiers and the field and fired one last round of disruptor shells, raking the Vespae positions with machine-gun fire before scuttling back to safety. One retaliation shot from the Vespae tore through the leg of one unlucky Arena, sending it crashing to the ground. “That’s it!” Lupinus said, yelling in his excitement. “Sound the advance!” Ferrus, along with a half-dozen other Equus signiferi, struck a heroic pose and lifted the silver trumpet, fitting it into a slot on his Equus’ face. A blast of compressed air from a tank on his back rushed through a pair of tubes leading up to the mouthpiece on the head, and a deep blaring note erupted from the argent maw of the instrument. Six other notes boomed across the battlefield like a chorus of foghorns, accentuated by the wordless roar of a thousand Republican troops as they surged out of their trenches and descended into the twisted urban jungle. Lucianus added his voice to theirs as he swung his sword overhead and cleared the ridge in one mech-powered leap, landing among the forest of blackened metal and pounding Marine boot heels, riding the human wave that swept him toward the enemy. The Vespae counterattack was prompt and deadly. Projectiles and beam weapons stabbed indiscriminately from Vespae positions, clanging off of debris in a shower of sparks and shrapnel or melting through the wreckage completely, making the mud boil and crack. Roman soldiers began falling in twos and threes, leaving burning corpses that filled the battlefield with the stench of burning flesh and melting polyglass. Lucianus paid all of this no heed as his heart pounded in the icy grip of his adrenaline rush along to the rhythm of his pounding feet. A projectile shot glanced off his Equus’ chest and spun him around, but he recovered his balance and ran doggedly forward. He clicked on his infras and saw the Vespae only a few tens of yards away. To his right and his left a line of Marines waved swords and fired their Caedes rifles wildly into the Vespae line as they swooped in. The Vespae soldiers rose up and returned fire with equal tenacity. The front lines of both sides were cut down within seconds, the Marines not even making it into close range. Handheld beam weapons crackled and buzzed as they sliced into the screaming mass of flesh, bullets and slugs flying so thick in either direction that the Republican charge faltered even as their foes were scythed down like wheat. There was a pause as the survivors of each side frantically sought cover, anything, to get out of the killing zone. Dead Marines lay in heaps of cracked carbon-polymer armor and blood, and Lucianus watched one poor soul staggering around with a flaming stump instead of an arm before a stray bullet caught him in the face and dropped him. A second wave of Marines followed hard on the heels of the first, even as Vespae reinforcements boiled up out the ground. Tunnels, Lucianus realized. The nothi must have honeycombs everywhere. He rose from where he had been crouching behind a large chunk of debris and emptied his Ultor clip into the mass of enemies, swinging his sword above his head as he leaped the distance into the Vespae ranks. He cut down three Vespae with a savage backhand swing of his sword, smashed his armored fist into the head of a fourth, and lashed out with his powerful foot, feeling exoskeleton crunch under his mechanized assault. Behind him the Vespae were being cut down mercilessly before the onslaught of Roman poly-steel, their claws and gun-butts ineffectual against the Romans’ superior equipment. Lucianus whirled his five-foot blade in a figure eight, feeling the edge bite into Vespa exoskeleton and body armor. A severed Vespa head flew past him, black ichor spiraling through the air as it twirled and disappeared into the chaotic haze of melee. Projectiles pinged and ricocheted off of his Equus’ plating, knocking him this way and that, but failed to penetrate. He paid the distractions no heed as he continued to wield his ichor-stained weapon, hacking and slashing at such speed that the blade hummed as it swept through air and Vespa flesh with equal impunity. Time lost all meaning in the adrenaline blur of battle, and after what seemed no time at all the Vespae broke and began to flee, throwing down weapons and scuttling headlong in the opposite direction. Lucianus faintly heard Lupinus repeating the command to hold position over the comm channel took a deep breath, willing the adrenaline to fade away as he sheathed his sword and jacked a new clip into his empty rifle. Railgun shells cracked over his head as the Cancri resumed their bombardment, firing into the dead city ruins where the Vespa survivors had disappeared. I kinda cut it off cuz I wasn't sure how to end it a little more smoothly, but I'm working on that. So yeah. Read it, ya bloody-minded perverts! :lol: |
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| Jdave | Jan 6 2006, 12:40 PM Post #30 |
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Brackenwood Heavyweight
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This is good, I like how you actually kept the romans going far into the future. |
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| Kithas | Jan 6 2006, 01:33 PM Post #31 |
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Pillow King
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Yeah, that was pretty bad ass. I like they way you can draw me in to a massive battle like that. The only problem I'm having is picturing a bunch of giant rabbit-mechs charging into what seem to be a bunch of bugs. Otherwise, and even so really, it's fucking carnage, and I love it. Way to go Shrike. |
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| Jdave | Jan 7 2006, 12:10 PM Post #32 |
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Brackenwood Heavyweight
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I was thinking about the name of these things, Equites, which is the latin word for, basically, horseman, cavalry, these things are basically future cavalry, because they move faster than footsoldiers (marines in your story) and well the name fits well. |
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| lil fairyfly | Jan 8 2006, 12:57 AM Post #33 |
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Brackenwood Lightweight
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You know wat? I'm not gonna even argue with people like you. Im not goona waste my breath. :angry: |
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You'd better.

5:11 AM Jul 12