Omega - Chapter 8

  • Omega - Chapter 8

    TOC

    General McCarthy was a seething cauldron of incandescent fury. He stood rigid and tight lipped, glowering at the bridge gunner. Warning lights and chimes were flashing on the alien console and the hapless Enclave technician tried frantically to quieten them.

    "How long will the death-ray be offline?" McCarthy hissed through clenched jaws.

    "P-Perhaps a week?" stammered the terrified gunner.

    "Why did it have no effect on Winterhold, when it could level the top of a mountain?"

    "I d-don't know. The college appears to be protected by an energy field strong enough to  resist any bombardment." The general stalked over to the view screen to see the magnified stone building on the icy cliffs of Winterhold. There was still a green afterglow around the building in a concentric pattern, with blasted rock in a wide radius beyond it. How was the damn place still standing?

    "Did you know that the ray would overload with so many rapid discharges?" the general said to the gunner, more quietly now.

    "Y-yes sir!" he swallowed, shaking now. "But I was following orders!"

    "Blind obedience has some merit," said the general. "But blind stupidity has none." he whipped a high-capacity laser pistol from his holster, aimed and fired. The gunner's head literally dissolved into glowing ash and his lifeless body toppled from his chair. Several other technicians and officers on the bridge stared in shock for a second, and then made themselves busy, away from the scene.

    The doors to the bridge slid open and a large enclave officer wearing black power armor, a short dark pony tail and sporting a scar from forehead to chin entered holding a data slate. Wordlessly he handed it to the glowering general and then stood to attention. McCarthy looked at the slate for a second and then turned deathly pale. 

    "Get Gellar up here now!" he whisper-screamed at the officer. The big man turned and marched back through the bridge doors. Nearly his entire expeditionary force to the north had been destroyed. The footage from the remaining vertibirds clearly showed Thorne, the mutant Fawkes and what could only be described as characters from a horror story ripping his forces apart.

    The door to the bridge slid open again and in walked doctor Gellar, accompanied by the officer. Without a word McCarthy took aim and shot Gellar in the knee. The doctor screamed and fell to the floor hugging his knee to his chest and writhing in agony. The smell of burned plastic and cauterized wiring filled the room. The blasted knee revealed a network of pistons and servomotors, wiring and insulation. Gellar continued to wail and McCarthy stood over him.

    "When I offered you sanctuary from the Institute in exchange for your services, Dr Gellar, I expected that those services would be worth something. Get up." The whimpering scientist staggered to his feet, supported by the Enclave officer. He cringed at the general, half in terror and half in confusion. Wordlessly, the general handed the scientist the data slate. An expression of horror mingled with the pain on the synth scientist's face as he read.

    "It doesn't make sense," he croaked. "The self-destruct on Thorne's armor triggered and we lost contact. The logical assumption was that he died in the explosion."

    "Clearly he didn't, fool. He found a way to circumvent the trap as well as disable the mutant's compulsion chip." Gellar squinted at the slate screen, showing the footage of the battle. 

    "Pause," he said to the screen. He tapped it and then said "Zoom." He handed the slate back to McCarthy who stared at the image of a warrior with shining sword and shield in hands and screaming at the oncoming Enclave troops. Slowly, the dragon materialized into view.

    "Who is that?" asked McCarthy.

    "We've not seen anything like that before," replied Gellar. "A new type of psionic ability. And he is fighting alongside Thorne and Fawkes." The general flung the slate onto the ground, making Gellar flinch.

    "Where are they now?"

    "Satellite telemetry shows the natives disappearing into some kind of mine shaft on the side of a nearby peak." replied Gellar. "They have gone underground." General McCarthy swore.

    "I want them found and destroyed." he spat. "Send down every eyebot to their last known location and search from there."

    "Yes sir." replied Gellar. McCarthy stared at the synthetic for a moment. So human in so many waysIf only we had the Institute's technology added to our own and this alien ship, we'd be invincible. He inspected his laser pistol.

    "You'd better have some good news for me, doctor." he said ominously, motioning to the headless gunner still lying on the floor nearby. "Or you'll be joining him." Gellar swallowed hard.

    "The serum is nearly ready. I have managed to splice the genes into the forced evolutionary virus. I can begin testing on our subjects within twenty four hours."

    "Very well doctor. Inform me as soon as you are ready to begin testing. You are dismissed." Doctor Gellar hobbled to the door as fast as his damaged leg would allow and almost hurled himself through it. The Enclave officer had stood passively in the background during the entire exchange. Now he looked at the general. McCarthy raised an eyebrow.

    "Something else to report, Colonel Veres?" The big man nodded.

    "What are your orders regarding Winterhold, sir?" McCarthy rubbed his chin.

    "I assume we still have some warheads?"

    "Yes sir."

    "Lets see how they defend against nuclear fallout. Lets nuke the bastards."

    *   *   *

    They had seen the flashes of the death ray light up the sky. But no cataclysm had come. The college, Sybile Stentor had said, was under attack and Winterhold had withstood the assault. Then the ray had stopped. To Thorne, the only logical conclusion was that they had overloaded the weapon. He had actually used the death ray himself, years ago in Earth orbit. Then he had been fending off another alien ship hanging over his planet. The ray took time to charge up, and constantly firing it would burn out vital components. It would take time to repair, but how much he was unsure.

    The convoy of refugees had gathered up the wounded, women and children and made for the lift into Blackreach under imperial escort along with the Jarls and their retinues. The rest of the soldiers dragged the dead to one of the still burning vertibirds and added branches and logs to the fire. There was no time to bury the dead, they were so many. They had lost a third of the people, both military and civilian to the attack and the slain lay in heaps. A pyre was the only way.

    Thorne and Fawkes walked among the Enclave dead, salvaging weapons and armor. They ripped out components and weapons from the crashed vertibirds and gathered the gear in great rope sacks. Serana and Maxim, both accomplished healers, tended to the wounded that could still walk. No one had escaped injury. Maxim was able to heal himself with his restoration abilities and Wolfclaw and Aela had, rather grotesquely, fed off the fallen Enclave soldiers to heal their own wounds. Fawkes had removed several fusion power cores from the dead troop's power armor and was sucking the radioactive material out of them like an iced lolly, his wounds closing over as he did so.

    Thorne had received more damage than anyone as he had borne the brunt of the counter attack. His power armor was down to fifty percent suit integrity and power was at sixty five percent. He had received multiple bullet wounds and shrapnel damage to his limbs and some of his synthetic organs had been punctured. Several internal suit doses of stimpaks and combat drugs were coursing through his system, keeping him at peak function but it would take some time for his enhanced immune system to deal with the internal damage. One of his greatest assets was the large volume of nanophages coursing through his bloodstream. They would detect bacteria and foreign bodies and rapidly dissolve them into their molecular components which would then be excreted. But it took time and energy. Which meant rest and that was something he could not afford. He had dosed himself with stimulants again and soldiered on.

    Eventually Maxim's group made it to the lift to supervise the last of the survivor's journey down into the bowels of Skyrim. The Jorvaskr companion Farkas was waiting for them outside in the deserted camp that lay next to the lift. Half of his black ragged hair and beard had been singed off.

    "What happened to you, boy?" grunted Wolfclaw as Farkas approached.

    "Damn Falmer sorcerer threw a fireball at me. Just missed my head. Then I gutted him." Wolfclaw gave a gruff bark of a laugh and punched him on the shoulder.

    "What's the situation down there at the moment?" asked Wolfclaw. Farkas shrugged.

    "We've cleared the city and the surrounding area of Falmer and Dwemer constructs. The refugees are starting to set up tents and the Imperials are stockpiling provisions. The Jarls have moved into the city and are setting up council chambers."

    "The Falmer will be regrouping for a counter attack. We need to shore up the city and build a perimeter of defenses around the camps." said Wolfclaw.

    "Already started," replied Farkas. "Vilkas and Stonearm are onto it."

    "Good man." replied Wolfclaw. They turned to see the final stragglers trudging up the narrow mountain path. They were followed by the imperial rear-guard and finally Thorne and Fawkes dragging their huge piles of salvage. Wolfclaw stared at the pair. "Do we really need all that garbage?" Thorne stopped and removed his helmet, sweat running down his face.

    "This garbage may be your best defense against an Enclave counter attack if they make it to Blackreach." he replied patiently. Lydia was riding next to him, the horse dragging some of the gear as well. One arm was in a sling and her steel armor was badly dented. She glared at the harbinger.

    "After what you've seen you still doubt him?" she snapped at the huge warrior.

    "No, its just that..."

    "Then keep your smart comments to yourself!". Wolfclaw shrugged and rolled his eyes.

    "Women!" he whispered under his breath. Aela, who was standing right next to him drove her knee hard into his thigh. Wolfclaw howled in pain.

    "Why don't you go below and supervise that rabble you call the companions, ice-brain!" she yelled. Grumbling, the harbinger took the lift down with Farkas and the last of the refugees. Once the lift had descended the group began to laugh. It had been days since that sound had been heard. 

    Fortunately the day was clear and still and the sun was shining. The imperial rearguard began to haul provisions and the few remaining livestock that had survived the journey and the Enclave assault up to the lift. It took an hour to shift all of it down. Finally, Maxim and his companions descended down into Blackreach, leaving several imperial lookouts in the camp on the mountainside.

    Blackreach was enormous. A cavern that stretched for miles in every direction with its own underground river. Various plants and animals grew and thrived in the darkness, most of them toxic. The huge cave was now illuminated by multiple campfires from the dozens of large tents erected in the damp earth. There were great blocks of broken masonry lying about and here and there ancient stone buildings dotted the dark landscape. Imperial soldiers patrolled along a wide stone-paved avenue that ran through the dank underground land.

    As they walked slowly along the road, Thorne shook his head in awe at the giant stone buildings. Then they rounded the bend and a great stone city on top of a hill came into view, illuminated by a massive sun-like lamp that hung overhead. Brass pipes weaved along the walls and in several sections valves gave off gouts of steam. Both Thorne and Fawkes whilsted in amazement.

    "Behold the great Dwemer city of  Fal Zhardum Din." said Maxim in a quiet voice but which echoed through the cavern. "Once a thriving underground community of the Dwemer, until their Falmer slaves revolted and destroyed them. Or so the story goes."

    "Falmer?" asked Thorne curiously. Maxim pointed to a nearby goblin-like corpse lying on the ground, its chest cleft by a companion's blade. "They were elves once. But the Dwemer betrayed and enslaved them. The Dwemer fed them the glowing mushrooms you see growing all about you, and it blinded and twisted them into the creature you see lying there."

    Fawkes suddenly spat a great mouthful of glowing mushroom onto the ground.

    "Mutants?" he asked. Maxim nodded.

    "Yes, I suppose you are right."

    Walking beside Maxim, Thorne looked at the warrior curiously.

    "You seem to know a lot about this place."

    "Serana and I traversed its depths many months ago." he replied. "This is where I found the dragon scroll, the very same Elder Scroll that brought your starship here. The very same scroll we need to find to send it back to where it came from."

    "That will be very difficult now I fear," said Thorne. "By now the Enclave will control most of the surface. Getting to the Rift will be almost impossible."

    "Perhaps not," replied Maxim, rubbing his stubbled chin. "The tunnels of Blackreach join to several great Dwemer ruins that are found around the lands of Skyrim. We could traverse much of the lands from underground."

    "Good plan."

    "Yes. But first we must meet the Jarls for a moot to discuss it. And if the college of Winterhold still stands we cannot leave it unaided."

    *   *   * 

    The moot convened in the ancient Dwemer debate hall within the small city. The debris and dead Falmer had been cleared out and the room was now brightly lit with a large fire and wall mounted sconces holding flaming torches.

    The Jarls and their thanes and court mages were sitting around a large stone table. Dwemer carved stone chairs had been dragged over to the table. Maxim and his friends took their seats whilst housecarls served mead and bread and cheese. Fawkes stood nearby, slurping a huge jug of ale. General Tullius cleared his throat and the room quietened.

    "Alright Dragonborn," he said, hands resting on the table. "All those that could be saved are now in Blackreach. We have rationed provisions for about a month. I hope your next move will count."

    Maxim took a sip of mead and drew in a deep breath. Then he proceeded to outline his plan. At the end Tullius drew a weary hand across his eyes.

    "Let me get this straight," he began. "The elder scroll brought Thorne's starship here at the time wound and only the scroll can send it back. "

    "Correct. " replied Maxim.

    "But first you must make it to Fort Dawnguard to retrieve the scrolls, if it's even still standing, then you must reach the time wound where, I am told by my scouts, now has an alien tower sitting on it, from high Hrothgar to where the Throat used to be."

    Maxim nodded.

    "Presumably this tower would be heavily defended. And first you must reach the mountain undetected. How do you propose to do this?"

    Maxim stared hard at the general, trying to hide his own fatigue.

    "We will need a diversion. " he replied. Tullius' eyebrow shot up. "The Enclave told us before the assault that they had taken Windhelm. I can only guess that is where the rest of their forces are based. A surprise attack on the city would divert attention away from the tower whilst a small force infiltrates it"

    "With what forces?" Tullius cried incredulously. "Over half the legion is either dead, captured or scattered through the wilds. What forces we could muster would be overwhelmed by their flyers!"

    "That is why we must enlist the aid of the dragons. I must travel to Skuldafn to convince them. " Jarl Balgruuf stood.

    "It's a desparate plan, aye." He said in his abrasive manner. "But I would rather die fighting than starve cowering in the dark!" Several murmurs of agreement echoed around the table. Tullius looked over to Thorne who sat staring at the cold stone table.

    "What say you, soldier?" Thorne looked up, his face serious.

    "Once the time wound is reopened, mothership Zeta will need to be moved through the wormhole. Which means someone will need to pilot it." Glances were exchanged across the table. Thorne continued.
    "It is likely that many of the people of Tamriel have been captured and imprisoned on the mothership." Now there came nervous murmurs. Thorne looked at Maxim. "You will need to get me on that ship so we can take control of it. And its super weapon. Once it is back online McCarthy will unleash it on this planet without mercy. Twice now he has demonstrated his willingness to use it. "

    "So be it then." said Maxim. He turned to Sybille Stentor. "Can you contact the college?" She shook her hooded head.

    "No, my scrying can no longer perceive it. Perhaps being this deep underground blocks those abilities."

    "Then we must get to Wintehold and evacuate any survivors. Via Dawnstar. There may be survivors there too." said Maxim with finality.

    "There's no time for that!" protested Tullius.

    "We shall make time, general." said Maxim curtly. "I will not abandon those people. We will travel fast and light. Myself, Thorne, Fawkes, Serana and Wolfclaw and Aela."

    "And me!" shouted Lydia suddenly, surging to her feet and turning the heads in the room. "No way are you leaving me behind!" Maxim held up his hands.

    "Lydia, you are wounded. You can't fight and you will slow us down." Lydia swore, tears forming in her eyes, but it was a warrior's fury. Thorne rose and placed his hands on her shoulders, calming her.

    "Lydia," he said in a quiet voice. "Fawkes and I salvaged many intact Enclave weapons from the battle. But no one here knows how to use them. If I can show you how, then you can train the most able warriors here. It's only a matter of time before the Enclave finds their way down here." he glanced over at Tullius who inclined his head slightly. Lydia stared at the big soldier for a few seconds and then nodded submissively. Maxim had never seen her do that before. She leaned up and whispered in Thorne's ear and then quietly left the room. Thorne's cheeks flamed and he turned to Maxim.

    "I'd, er,  better get started on the training..."

    "Its alright Thorne, go." said Maxim with a barely concealed grin. They would need several hours to prepare anyway and then they would take the lift back to the surface at nightfall. Maxim rose from the table. "One last thing, general," he said to Tullius. The general straightened. "Once we leave for the surface fill the lift shaft with as much masonry and rubble as you can. It won't take the Enclave long to discover where we have gone and that may slow them a little. Fortify the city as best you can and the entrances from the ruins on the surface. I will mark the locations on my map for you." 

    "Divines bless you, dragonborn." he replied, a sentiment echoed around the table. The jarls rose and filed out of the chamber, making for their own camps. Serana stepped over to Maxim.

    "You realize that Dawnstar and Winterhold may have already fallen?" she said quietly. Wolfclaw and Aela joined them.

    "Yes," replied Maxim. "But I cannot take the chance that we leave survivors there. And Stentor said the college withstood the death ray. That gives me hope."

    "Alright, my love." Serana replied and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She turned to the two companions. Aela placed her hand on the vampire's shoulder. 

    "It will be an honor to hunt with you again, Serana. You fight with great savagery." Serana took the hunter's hand and grasped it.

    "The honor is all mine, night-sister. Your prowess is most impressive." Aela smiled.

    "Night-sister? I like that!" Wolfclaw grinned and looked at Serana speculatively.

    "Hmm. A moon-lover and a night sister. I wonder..." Aela cut him off with an elbow to the ribs. Wolfclaw gasped.

    "Don't get any ideas, bonehead!" she snapped as the others chuckled.

    *   *   *

    The next several hours were spent packing provisions, sharpening weapons, collecting arrows and pounding dents from armor. Thorne and Lydia went through instruction on the use of various energy and projectile weapons whilst Fawkes repaired Thorne's armor and set up several sentry guns from parts salvaged from the crashed vertibirds with the occasional curse and grumbling about how his fine motor skills were too shit for that kind of work. Maxim took a long, wrapped object from one of his horse's saddle bags and unraveled it, revealing a beautiful golden elven bow. 

    "You brought it." commented Serana.

    "Of course," replied Maxim. "And I will need some of your arrows too, love." he said, handing the vampire a full quiver of fine elven arrows. "The night is our ally."

    "Indeed."

    Finally, after many hours of preparation, the heroes met at the great lift of Alftand. Thorne and Lydia embraced and shared a few whispered words. Then the soldier climbed into his power armor which closed up around him with a clang and a hiss. General Tullius stood by with Legate Rikke by his side.

    "We will not return via this lift, general." said Maxim to the aging soldier. "Be vigilant. There are still Falmer and automatons in the ruins. And the Enclave will be coming, make no mistake."

    "The legion stands ready, dragonborn." he saluted. "Godspeed."

    The group checked their weapons and small bags of provisions and stepped into the lift. Then it ascended into the frozen night.

Comments

11 Comments
  • Andrew Shepherd
    Andrew Shepherd   ·  November 27, 2015
    Oh and also Mothership Zeta and its deathray is actually DLC from Fallout 3 too. You get to fire it at the planet and also another alien ship once you clear the original aliens out of it. One of the cooler chapters of the Fallout universe IMO.
  • Andrew Shepherd
    Andrew Shepherd   ·  November 27, 2015
    Better than Twilight Exuro? Not sure if that's much of a compliment...
    Fawkes is the only actual character from Fallout - Fallout 3 to be exact. He's one of the lone wanderer's companions, Thorne being the player/character, the lone wanderer. 
    ...  more
  • Exuro
    Exuro   ·  November 27, 2015
    Aela/Serena/Wolfclaw love triangle, still a better love story than Twilight.

    I'm not too familiar with Fallout characters, how many in this are from the game? Also the Nirnians won't have to do anything if the General keeps treating his own tro...  more
  • Andrew Shepherd
    Andrew Shepherd   ·  November 27, 2015
    Thanks Sindeed! Yeah my ideas have been progressing through playing fallout 4. Fortunately the mechanics fit the story and haven't contradicted anything I've write so far :)
  • Sindeed
    Sindeed   ·  November 27, 2015
    Great to see you using fallout 4 mechanics!
  • Andrew Shepherd
    Andrew Shepherd   ·  November 26, 2015
    HAHAHA!
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  November 26, 2015
    *sings*  secret scrolls yeah, that's what they are... Secret scrolls yeah... 
    LOL
  • Andrew Shepherd
    Andrew Shepherd   ·  November 26, 2015
    Maxim did originally and then decided to move them. The reason is a secret, known only to Maxim. And I'm not telling either.
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  November 26, 2015
    I know, but still. Be sure that if you nuke, don't nuke the pretty parts. Funny, I have a mod that allows me to store the scrolls in Winterhold. That would've been lucky. 
  • Andrew Shepherd
    Andrew Shepherd   ·  November 26, 2015
    I know, I know. But I can't post this on the wasteland tales section without some nuking...

    Yeah Wolfclaw. He's a big brawny dumb-ass. I like him :)

    McCarthy, hmm. Got some ideas for him...