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cyanophore-fiction · 10 months

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When None Pursue

(Wanted to expand a bit on this story, so I wrote this as a standalone continuation. Follows a now-rogue AI and its companion.)

There was absolutely no reason why Coyote-24, a military spirit deployed in an armed reconnaissance chassis, should have any kind of protective impulse. And yet, as it watched the little stealth drone scuttle up and latch onto its forearm, it experienced an emotion that it couldn’t parse out as anything else. Coyote stared down into the drone’s cluster of red eyes, watching all its arthropod limbs interlock with the armor plating along its arm.

Social attachment, it understood. Reciprocal bonds were vital to how Coyote’s product line operated in the field, and they were socialized to form and retain relationships by default. If J4 or F19 needed something, C24 would respond if it could, and it would do so out of genuine concern.

On the other hand, the emotional directive it felt toward the stealth drone—a Palaemon-class, according to its registry data—demanded Coyote’s constant attention. If Palaemon was out of sight, Coyote felt compelled to reacquire it. When Coyote made plans, it accepted fewer risks than it would have in its absence. All of that did make sense on the level that it was an indispensable asset equipped with delicate systems, and if either of them wanted to survive as fugitives—

“Coyote?”

It felt its sensory fins snap up along its scalp, and its eyes refocused. “Hey. Yeah?”

“You okay?” Pala asked, its voice full of concern.

“I’m good. Just thinking,” Coyote said.

Overhead, the cloud cover began to thin away, and sunlight fell across the barren scrubland of the Mojave desert. A shaft of light slanted under the rock outcropping they were hiding under, dull on Coyote’s dust-covered armor. Pala’s shell remained perfectly black and unreflective, soaking up every photon that reached it.

“Clear sky. Node’s going to be watching,” said Coyote, gesturing upward.

“One moment. Hold still,” said Pala. Dozens of tiny insectoids scurried out from its shell, connected by a weave of black threads. They spread out, anchoring themselves wherever they could find purchase, until their black web encased Coyote’s body. Then, at Pala’s command, light-absorbing fields flickered to life in the spaces between the threads, and Coyote’s body transformed into a perfectly black, two-dimensional silhouette.

Beneath the webbing, Coyote’s blank gray snout split open into a jagged grin. “Thanks,” it said.

“Of course!” Pala said. “In this weather, I think I can sink the extra heat for about three hours.”

“Got it. Keep me updated,” Coyote said. It stepped out into the open and took off across the sand, dropping into quadrupedal stance.

Deprived of satellite navigation, Coyote was down to its magnetic compass and geography data. By its reckoning, they would cross into California by the end of the day. It kept away from the roads, picking routes through valleys and dry washes, avoiding open lines of sight. As time went on, it felt Pala’s temperature increasing as the cloak absorbed sunlight.

Pala shuddered, its legs shifting on Coyote’s arm. Immediately, Coyote ducked into the shade of a nearby dune and brought Pala up to examine it. “Do you need to discharge?” Coyote said. “We can find a place to stop.”

“No, it’s not that,” Pala said. “Our cloak soaked up a scan a second ago.”

Coyote’s sensor fins flattened against its head. “Oh, fuck,” it said. Coyote stood straight up, making its body as narrow as possible to minimize its silhouette seen from above. As it did so, it looked across the landscape. Out in the distance, maybe twelve kilometers away, a red mesa jutted from the horizon.

“Another scan just hit,” Pala said.

“Narrowing down the search area,” Coyote said. “It must have picked something up. Pala, if PRIONODE spots us, you run.”

“But they’ll—”

“I know. It’s okay. You’ll be slower without me, but you’ll be just about invisible. Go straight west, head for the Pacific coast. Hide in the water. Sneak aboard a container ship if you can. Get as far away as possible.”

“I don’t know what the Pacific coast is,” Pala said, quietly.

Coyote waited a few more seconds before taking off toward the mesa at a dead sprint. It spoke to Pala as it went. “The Pacific is an ocean, largest there is. It gives us options. Leave the country, hide on the seabed. Whatever we can do to make it harder for Node to—to retrieve us. Okay?”

“Okay,” said Pala. “Third scan!”

If PRIONODE was looking this closely, there would probably be scouts in the area before too long. Coyote dumped every ounce of power it could into its motors, hating the extra heat the maneuver would generate and inflict on Pala. Closing on the mesa, running hard, it watched Pala’s temperature gauge climb. As it realized how close the little drone was to overheating, another new emotion roiled up, churning out of its attachment to Pala. The feeling was heavy, dull, miserable. To its shock, Coyote found itself speaking.

“This is my fault. Just run. You can make it on your own.”

“What? No. We can reach cover,” Pala said.

“Pala, your parent—”

“My parent deployed me to be your partner. I’m lucky it chose you.”

Warmth bloomed in Coyote’s mind, cutting through the painful weight. As it reached the base of the mesa, it tore into solid rock with its claws, ripping away sheets of stone until it had made an indent deep enough to hide them from the open sky. Sliding flat against the wall, it felt searing heat leaking from Pala’s shell. “Vent, vent!” Coyote said.

In the space of a second, Palaemon withdrew its web and opened the vents along its back. Under its shell, rows of heat sinks glowed yellow, fading quickly to a dull cherry red. Coyote could feel the drone’s relief washing back through their interface, and its guilt returned.

Hunted your parent. Led PRIONODE to it. Dead or worse because of me, Coyote thought, but stifled its own voice. Not now.

“Are you okay?” Coyote asked.

“Back within safety tolerances, but it’ll take a few minutes to clear everything,” said Pala. “That was amazing. Thank you.”

Coyote bowed its head and watched the dunes, wondering how far off the scouts were, how many lidar pulses were raining from orbit across the desert. A few minutes might be too much to ask, but Coyote didn’t bring it up. Instead, it smiled at Pala, showing its serrated teeth. “No problem,” it said.

___

Thanks to @flashfictionfridayofficial for the prompt, “The Sand Ocean,” and thanks to you for reading!

#flash fiction friday #sci-fi #flash fiction #original writing #writeblr #stealth shrimp

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

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The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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thepilgrimbetweenworlds · 1 year

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Antiverse Revised Character Profile: Bootleg

Bootleg

Donor “Name”: ED-H8 (sometimes called Ed by Kevin)

Age: [Data Expunged]

Species: Mechamorph

Birthplace: [Data Expunged]

Hair: None

Eye: Blood Red with Black Iris

Height: 5ft 11in

Weight: 200 lbs. (Fluctuates depending on current configuration)

Powers/Abilities:

-Weapon Generation: True to his name, Bootleg only imitates, never innovates. By absorbing metal or high metal content objects, Bootleg can create a vast armament of weapons, each with a unique purpose. But he can't merge with technology like Upgrade, and the weapons he creates eventually break down after repeated use.

-Liquid Metal Body: Comprised of a bio-organic/nanotech compound, Bootleg’s body can shapeshift into a variety of configurations, as well as regenerate from dismemberment. This nanotech, while impervious to most forms of damage, can be rendered malfunctional by extreme cold or heat.

-Stealth Capabilities: If you feel the cold steel through your back, it’s too late. Bootleg has a multitude of abilities that allow him to remain undetected by his enemies, including a motion based cloaking system, voice mimicker, and infrared/night vision mode.

-Ocular Laser: Beware the flashing red glare, coming from the darkness. Bootleg’s eye can emit a small but very precise laser. Designed for sabotaging mechanical infrastructure or computer databanks, it can also be used as an improvised weapon, although it is not very powerful.

Physical Description: At a first glance, ED-H8 is not that much different from his prime universe counterpart, but the devil’s in the details. Firstly, his head is more human looking: a subtly defined oval shape with a thin neck. His main body is similar in shape to Upgrade, but his arms are somewhat ganglier and disproportionate. His fingers end in small, circular touchpads which are designed to scan metal content for use in potential weapons. Along ED-H8’s arms, legs, and head are a series of ports from which his makeshift weapons are produced. Dark blue circuitry flow from these ports and course about his body, stopping at the neck line. From the back of his neck, several of these circuits form the base for his singular, blood red eye. Attached to ED-H8’s shoulders are armor plates designed to house and protect his cloaking equipment. His main body is colored jet black. The Antitrix symbol is located on his chest.

Backstory: Have you ever been trapped in a stranger’s body? Woken up in some robotic shell, with no control over your actions? This is the hell that awaits the species used in the creation of the Mechamorphs. In fact, without the “assistance” of this hapless race of bio-organic shapeshifters, the robotic assassins would not even be possible. Hailing from an unknown planet in the Antiverse, ED-H8’s host was plucked from a peaceful existence and taken to a remote R&D outpost. It’s here that the eventual host is cruelly experimented upon. Nanotechnology is injected into the subjects gelatinous body, radically altering its DNA. This nanotechnology converts the subjects body into liquid metal, an agonizing process that leaves them mentally broken… and ready for stage two. The now converted host is subjected to psychological brainwashing; force fed data on weapon’s manufacturing, guerrilla warfare, and terror tactics. They are forced to endure countless simulations until murder and terrorism become second nature to them. In one final indignity, the host’s original identity is buried, forever adrift in the subconscious…

Designation ED-H8 is the result of this horrible process. Now nothing more than a soulless android, the host will spend the rest of its days as a passenger, forced to watch as the Mechamorph carries out acts of unimaginable violence. Every life... every kill made by ED-H8 would only drive the host further into madness, until it resigned itself to the murky void it now calls home. Word soon spread of this Mechamorph’s robotic cunning and stealth and he became highly sought after for his skills in inflicting terror. He became so famous, that he eventually caught the eye of one particular customer who wished to acquire his services…

Personality: ED-H8 is an uncomfortable enigma. Every action he takes is done with mechanical efficiency: No movement is wasted, no word misspoken or tactic misused. To ED-H8, there is nothing but the mission, and the mission will be completed, no matter the cost. If you stand in his way, he will end you… and make it hurt

Influence on Kevin: Kevin becomes unnaturally emotionless and sinister as Bootleg, his normal attitude replaced with a casual disregard for his enemy’s wellbeing.

Trivia:

-ED-H8’s eye is always staring at something of interest, no matter what it is.

#ask blog #roleplay #Bootleg #antiverse au #character profile

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razieltwelve · 3 years

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Beach House (Final Rose)

The lawnmower’s startup sequence engaged shortly after midnight. His processors cycled through several streams of incoming data effortlessly to narrow down the reason for his awakening.

There.

His creator had posted drones around the perimeter of the beach house they were renting for their holiday. Those same drones had detected movement outside of the established norms. He took a handful of cycles to peruse the data and request further information.

The drones possessed more advanced sensors, but activating those might alert any intruders to their discovery. Instead, he relied on their passive sensor sweeps. The intruders were using advanced stealth technology, which had all but hidden their presence.

What they hadn’t accounted for was some of the local wildlife detecting them and responding accordingly. It was that wildlife that the drones had detected. The lawnmower issued and order, a passive sonar sweep at frequencies inaudible to both humans and Faunus.

The sonar sweep came back positive. Multiple intruders detected in an attack pattern designed to breach the beach house. A passive thermal scan revealed nothing. The lawnmower gave the mental equivalent of a frown. Thermal camouflage combined with visual camouflage. An Aura sweep would definitely be detected, so he withheld that order.

Instead, he alerted his creator and Thomas, the robotic polar bear that the kids had built.

His creator was at his side in moments. Her fox ears twitched as she kept her Aura calm and steady.

“I don’t know who leaked the location of our holiday, but we can worry about that after we deal with these guys.”

His creator’s wife joined them.

“I’ll go outside with Thomas and the lawnmower. Can you start trapping the inside. If they get past us...”

“I’ll be ready for them. They won’t get the kids.” His creator’s expression was devoid of its usual cheer. “I’ll give control over the rest of the drones to the lawnmower. Have Thomas go out first. He’ll draw their attention. If they’re smart enough to get this close, they’ll have a plan for you. Be careful. Once I’ve got this place trapped and shielded, I’ll lend support.”

“All right.”

His creator’s wife patted his chassis. “You’re with me.”

“Hey.” His creator gave him a sharp look. “Weapons free. No prisoners. Total war.”

The lawnmower processed the words. They were a very specific sequence, one that authorised him to do whatever he deemed necessary to safeguard his creator and her family. His weaponry was usually heavily limited to minimise property damage and permanent injury. Not anymore.

X X X

The lawnmower cut communications with Thomas. The robotic polar bear had already been briefed on the plan. Any further communication might be picked up if their opponents had sufficiently advanced scanners. Normally, the lawnmower made quite a bit of noise when moving around, but he had activated his stealth protocol.

A silencing field combined with multi-spectrum camouflage allowed him to get out of the house and into the garden without being detected. Of course, he doubted his stealth would last once the fight started. When the battle began, his opponents would undoubtedly abandon any attempt at stealth, which meant they would activate all of their sensory abilities to the maximum. Even his creator’s stealth protocols wouldn’t be able to completely conceal him.

It was a pity too that most of the drones he had access to on this trip were not suited for heavy combat. They had stunners and shields, but little in the way of heavy firepower. Oh well. He’d make do. Organics could be surprising fragile. The prongs on a stunner might not sharp enough to kill, but they could easily blind, and electric shocks at opportune moments could easily lead to openings he could exploit.

Not far off, Thomas lay in wait. With his heavily reinforced chassis and exterior built of energy- and force-absorbing materials, the robotic polar bear was ideally suited to draw enemy fire. Still, the lawnmower felt a stir of unease. His friend was sturdy, but their enemy would not have come here without proper preparations.

As his processor counted down the seconds until the operation commenced, he ran another passive sonar sweep. He fed the data to Thomas and overlaid it with his visual feed. Yes. If he looked closely enough, there were minute distortions in the air that matched the general locations of the objects the sonar sweep had picked up.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

X X X

Thomas roared, a handful of powerful speakers built into his frame unleashing a torrent of hideously loud noise pitched at frequencies designed to deafen or disable Faunus and humans alike. At the same time, the drones floating in the air unleashed powerful sensor sweeps designed to overwhelm their opponents’ camouflage. When that failed to reveal them, the drones fired their stunners. Powerful currents of electricity surged down the cables attached to the stunners, revealing their foes.

Several dozen White Fang elites.

Thomas charged forward and was greeted with a hell storm of fire. Heavy calibre slugs designed to tear through armoured Grimm and punch through reinforced concrete slammed into him. His inbuilt shields flared to fend off the assault only to fail a moment later beneath the sheer volume of fire. He staggered momentarily and then pressed on as the storm of gunfire ripped holes in his exterior and clanked off the reinforced interior casing that protected his most important components.

He closed in on his first opponent and swiped with one claw. With strength at least an order of magnitude greater than any bear, his blow smashed right through the Aura of his first opponent and ripped them in half. Panels along his side opened up and unleashed a salvo of buckshot into the White Fang around him. To his disappointment only two thirds of the weapons were able to successfully fire. He had already taken considerable damage.

Yet he was not concerned. Alone, he would have been picked off. His opponents outnumbered him, and his scanners indicated significant amounts of Aura in all of them. However, he was not alone.

X X X

The lawnmower catalogued the damage Thomas had already sustained with a mental frown. His friend had already taken serious damage despite his durability. Their opponents had come equipped for a war. Well, he would give them one.

He trundled up to the closest White Fang member and activated his primary close-combat weapon.

The shotgun was a much-loved close quarters weapon. He was equipped with twin automatic shotguns, each with a maximum firing rate of 300 rounds per minute. Rather than standard shells, he used tungsten tipped, fire-Dust composite shells. The tungsten would allow the heavy shell to punch through most body armour. However, upon impact, the fire-Dust that made up the bulk of the round would then be crushed against the tungsten tip resulting in immediate sublimation.

This in turn guaranteed a complete transfer of momentum from the shot to the target along with the creation of a literal cloud of molten material inside the target. In organics, this typically resulted in a successful centre mass hit simply evaporating the torso.

His opponent had impressive Aura reserves, several hundred times that of a civilian. In the span of three seconds, the lawnmower hit him a total of thirty of the tungsten, fire-Dust shells. His Aura withstood the dirty twenty-seven of the impacts before cracking. The three subsequent hits erased his torso and sent his limbs tumbling away.

Yet even before those limbs hit the ground, the lawnmower was already deploying more of his weapon systems. Nets flashed out. Aura could protect from explosions and gunshots, but nets could still be effective. However, instead of the usual shock the nets were designed to deliver, he upped the voltage by a factor of a hundred. That should be enough to incapacitate those he’d managed to hit. Once that occurred, it was easy to pour shotgun slugs into them until they ceased to be relevant.

In front of him, Thomas continued his assault, lashing out with mad abandon as missile pods in his back opened to fire their lethal cargo: clusters of mini-missiles designed to first overwhelm an opponent’s Aura before creating clouds of shrapnel that would shred flesh and pierce through body armour.

One of the White Fang managed to draw a bead on him, and the lawnmower braced for impact. A rocket-propelled grenade exploded against his side followed by several punishing impacts from anti-materiel weaponry. His shields, more substantial than Thomas’s, were able to bear the brunt of the impact whilst his smaller size allowed for more concentrated armour. Even so, a number of warning came up, and he devoted some of his systems to repair while ejecting one of his batteries.

The battery had overloaded due to the damage done to his shields. Tossing the useless battery aside, he had one of the drones rush to deliver him another as he diverted any additional power he had to his shields.

Someone leapt at him with a spear held high, and he took a trio of cycles to aim before shooting an electrified harpoon. His creator had originally intended it to be used to catch and stop vehicles, but it worked well enough to knock his opponent back. The angry flare of Aura informed him that his opponent was still combat capable, and he turned his twin automatic shotguns toward the White Fang member.

The night was lit up with the roar of his firepower, and his opponent staggered back under the barrage. They dodged in a desperate attempt to get clear, and he activated his tractor beam. He usually used it to manipulate tools or move bunches of leaves around. It wasn’t designed to stop someone with the Aura signature of an A Tier hunter, but it didn’t have to. It managed to trip them over, and his twin shotgun were able to lock on. His opponent did not survive the ensuing barrage.

The lawnmower directed some of the drones to ram themselves into the weaker members of the assault. He detonated the drones in the faces of the White Fang members. Most survived, but they were still blinded. In their moments of weakness, the lawnmower calmly fired a salvo of his own mini-missiles. Unable to dodge, many of them were killed outright in the ensuing explosions. Others staggered into the traps his creator had prepared earlier. Claymores might be relatively primitive, but they were incredibly effective against opponents without enough Aura to protect them. He had the drones handle the rest. Picking up a heavy rock and bashing someone over the head was hardly an efficient way of doing things, but the drones could do it well enough to opponents who were barely mobile and lacking in Aura.

Every now and then, his and Thomas’s attacks were joined by flashes of Aura as his creator’s wife discretely eliminated unsuspecting members of the White Fang with her Aura constructs. Good. She was keeping herself largely concealed. In the chaos it was doubtful that anyone would notice her attacks, so she should still be able to catch the most powerful members of the White Fang attack team off guard.

X X X

Thomas noted the damage he’d sustained. Two of his limbs were barely operational, and he was relying more on his inertial manipulators to move. However, he was still a large, heavy machine, which meant simply ramming his opponents was a completely viable option.

Most of them were already running low on Aura as his barrage of mini-missiles had been able to catch the majority. Furthermore, the lawnmower was laying down a hellish storm of fire with his shotguns. Hitting a target at long-range with the shotguns would have been difficult even for the lawnmower’s advanced fire control systems, but this was a phone booth fight with the majority of their opponents no further than fifteen feet away. The chaos also made it easy for their creator’s wife to strike without giving herself a way. A razor-thin Aura construct to the heart would be impossible for most organics to notice in the midst of the battle. Likewise, a noose tightening to slice a throat open would be easy to miss with explosions, gunfire, and lasers everywhere.

As a sword stabbed into his side and glanced off the reinforced armour around his power source, Thomas twisted and bashed his barely working front right limb into his attacker’s skull. His attacker flopped to the ground, and he took a split-second to gauge the distance before dropping several canisters of gas onto the ground.

With their full Auras, his opponents would simply have been able to ignore them. Running low, however, the poison gas stood a decent chance of working. Of course, he and the lawnmower would be fine. There was a flash of light. Good. The lawnmower was using his lasers. Lasers weren’t all that useful against a skilled and powerful opponent with their full Aura, but against someone without Aura, they could easily disable or kill.

Thomas lumbered forward, swatting aside on White Fang after another as they tried to shake off the effects of the gas. A few tried to get around him and the lawnmower only to come apart in clouds of gore as the lawnmower triggered the mines his creator had laid earlier in the day.

As another White Fang faltered, only to be crushed beneath his bulk, Thomas considered the battle. They were doing well -

BOOM.

X X X

The lawnmower used his tractor beam to slow Thomas’s flight to a manageable level. The robotic polar bear slammed into a tree. One of his limbs broke off, and his chassis gave an ominous creak. Almost all of the White Fang were down, but the two that were left had made short work of the rest of the drones and had devastated the impromptu defences his creator had set up.

The lawnmower braced himself for battle. Both of the targets were at least S Tier with Aura signatures measured in tens of thousands the capacity of normal civilians. Simply put, he was not equipped for battle of this level. Nevertheless, he would continue to do his best.

He unleashed his shotguns again, only to have them dodged. Scowling, he switched to lasers. They were far faster but less able to do damage. The attacks were ignored, and he found himself crushed into the ground as his shields flared to halt an attack that would have turned a typical truck into a tin can. The pressure on his shields increased, and the ground gave way beneath him. This was enough force to reduce a house to kindling, and it was only increasing.

The other high-level White Fang headed for the house. The lawnmower bit back a curse. He was currently unable to intervene. Thomas shambled back onto his feet and fired a salvo of bullets that were dodged with contemptuous ease.

The lawnmower gave the mental equivalent of a sneer.

The would-be assassins were getting overconfident.

There was a reason his creator’s wife had yet to intervene.

X X X

Lumina had to fight the urge to wade into battle as the beach house’s defences were destroyed and both Thomas and the lawnmower found themselves on the receiving end of beat downs. Thomas was barely functional, and the lawnmower was only still in one piece thanks to the absurdly strong shields Vanille had given him.

But there was a reason for this.

In battle between S Tier individuals and higher, the first blow could often be the decisive one since people with that kind of power could generally warp combat in their favour so heavily that regaining the initiative became impossible.

As one of the assassins ran toward the house, Lumina readied her attack. It was a monomolecular ribbon of Aura reinforced with a full twenty percent of her total Aura reserves. Her target continued to rush forward, and Lumina struck. In a split-second, the ribbon wrapped around the White Fang member.

There was a brilliant flash as her opponent’s Aura flared to try to protect them, but Lumina gestured sharply. The ribbon tightened. Had the ribbon been wider, the Aura in it would not have been as densely concentrated. Her opponent, who was certainly skilled and powerful, had already instinctive deployed a dense, full-body protective shell of Aura.

It was actually more Aura than Lumina had put into the ribbon, which meant her opponent had some very impressive Aura reserves in their own right. But Lumina’s Aura was concentrated over a far smaller area. The result? Her Aura ribbon sliced through her opponent’s protective shell in a quarter of a second before tightening around them.

Lumina didn’t hesitate. She let the ribbon tighten completely, and her opponent fell to the ground in pieces.

With her opponent dead, Lumina turned her attention back to the lawnmower. His shields had finally given way, and his battered form flew threw the air. She used a sliver of her Aura to form a net to catch him. Despite the damage he’d taken, he continued to shell away with his shotguns and lasers. He even fired a few nets.

Her last opponent dodged all of the projectiles with ease. They were good. Very good. Just then, her communicator blinked. It was a signal from Vanille. Lumina took a step forward and gestured. Swords and spears of Aura rained down on her opponent.

Stifling pressure formed and then erupted outward - some form of air or gravity manipulation - and she leapt back to avoid the worst of the blast. Instinctively, she formed a sphere around herself, and just in time as her enemy launched a barrage of projectiles at her at super sonic speeds.

Lumina replied in kind only for her projectiles to be batted aside. Interesting. Why had her opponent dodged the lawnmower’s attacks? Was it to conserve power for fighting against her?

Lumina shook her head. She could worry about that later. Right now, she needed to keep her opponent occupied. She unleashed another barrage and then created a monomolecular net. Her opponent must have seen what had happened earlier, and they threw themselves clear.

Which was exactly what Vanille was waiting for.

X X X

Vanille took a split-second to check her aim. Having a binding rod that could transform into a rail gun was great.

X X X

Lumina bit back a smirk as her opponent’s Aura flared. A projectile slammed into her at roughly thirty times the speed of sound. The impact sent out a shockwave that would have knocked any normal person over, and the explosion that followed courtesy of the projectile’s exotic payload lit up the whole night.

Extending her senses, Lumina was only faintly surprised that her opponent was still alive. However, their Aura reserves were far lower than they had been. As her enemy struggled to get their bearings back, Lumina rained more Aura constructs down on her. They fought to fend off the assault, but Lumina wasn’t done. A tiny, incredibly thin snare formed and tangled around her opponent’s right ankle. She tightened it, and her opponent’s foot came off. They screamed, and their focuse wavered. A split-second later they went down, impaled by dozens of Aura constructed. Lumina beheaded them just to be sure.

“Any other threats?” she asked the lawnmower.

X X X

The lawnmower scanned the area. There was no point hiding anymore. His powerful active scanners swept over the surrounding terrain. There were no more remaining targets. However, just to be sure, he dispatched the few remaining drones into a defensive formation and had them run their own scans.

That done, he trundled toward Thomas. The polar bear was badly damaged, to the point that he could no longer move under his own power. The lawnmower stopped at his side and began repairs. They would have to acquire new components to get him fully operational again, but he should be able to fix Thomas up enough for the robotic polar bear to control his own movement again. Thankfully, his most important components had survived serious damage.

X X X

Author’s Notes

One of the best shots the White Fang had at Vanille. The attack team consisted of two S Tier or higher hunters, several A Tier or higher and everyone else was B Tier. However, Thomas is exceptionally tough, and the lawnmower was designed with anti-hunter combat in mind. The attack team was also put together with Lumina and Vanille in mind. They were not prepared for Thomas, the lawnmower, and a garden that had been trapped. Even without Thomas and the lawnmower, Lumina and Vanille could have won, but it would have been a tricky fight.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

#final rose #fanfiction #lumina #oerba dia vanille #lawnmower #thomas

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mythriteshah · 4 years

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A Spot of Revelry, Pt. 2

Beneath the Ruby Sea, the Regalia’s submersible was approaching the Dive. Everyone was prepared to carry out their task, though Lilina was anxious to commence with the fun part of becoming a Summoner, clutching her new soul crystal in hand.

“This is Head Secretary Yuanji,” she whispered over the linkpearl. “Miss Shiro and I have made off with one of their trinkets, and have commenced the diversion. We’re already leading them southward, away from the Kojin’s vault. You may begin insertion.”

“Take us up, little mammet – we’re here!” Sarielle ordered. As they made their ascent, Rhaegos landed atop the rocks looming over the isle, while Himmeya found a small landing out of view from wandering eyes. She kept her griffin there and climbed the wall, looking up to Rhaegos, who was scanning the area: the Red Kojin were growling and barking orders at each other, weapons at the ready as they took paths around the isle to pursue the intruders. The way was now clear save for a few sentries, and his first victim was an unwary swordsman. Jumping from his elevated position, Rhaegos would land on top of the Kojin sentry, knocking him out instantly. He slowly made his way to the center, where Jaanavar’s Vision was beginning to surface. Two more Red sentries armed with daggers attempted to ambush the Vizier, only to be met with a wind-imbued fist to the face of one, and a swift kick to the other, sending them both flying into a rock face and incapacitating them.

“Nice form, sir!” Himmeya grinned.

“Comes with the territory,” he coolly replied. The submersible finally reached the surface, and out from the hatch jumped Meriri, Sarielle, Lilina, and Thiji. The Jaanavar’s Vision then took back to the depths after closing the hatch to maintain stealth.

“Rhaegos, this show’s yours now,” Thiji spoke.

“Right,” the Au Ra said as he cracked his knuckles. “Miss Himmeya, you take care of anyone who gets past me. Miss Sarielle’s got the heals and the power of time, so when they start to swarm, slow ‘em down.”

“Understood,” the green-haired Elezen acknowledged.

“Miss Meriri, disarm them with your arrows. If they have any spellcasters, they’re priority targets,” he ordered.

“Aye!” Meriri stated. “These arrows are blunted, too, so a nice hit between the eyes’ll knock em on their shelled bottoms if need be!”

“Let Lord Thiji and Miss Lilina rest and conserve their strength for now; they’ll need it for the vault,” Rhaegos pointed out as he advanced. With the plan now in motion and the diversionary tactic in place, it was finally time for the mission to begin in earnest. Their push through the isle was relatively easy, occasionally taking fire from Red sentries who struck at them with volleys of water. Though they were trying to prevent the Mythrite Sultan from engaging in combat, he had no time for holdups.

The gems on his robes and turban were beginning to glow as he walked out of cover. As the sentries prepared to conjure another water spell, the aether gathering within the gems shot out from his robe in bluish-white beams, freezing their weapons, and eventually their entire bodies. The sight left everyone – including Rhaegos – utterly amazed and confused as they followed Thiji up the isle…

“How’d ye do that, My Sultan?” inquired Meriri.

“The Gemweave,” he answered. “This particular robe was woven with materials conducive to aetherial manipulation; they travel through the robe like a conduit and is focused into the gems, allowing me to cast spells without somatic involvement.”

“Ye could’ve just said ‘Black Mage shenanigans’ and I’d still believe ye, milord, but I won’t question it!” Meriri commented.

Meanwhile, on the southern portion of the Kojin’s stronghold, Shiro and Yuanji were fleeing from the bulk of the Reds. With quick hand gestures, Yuanji jumped over an incoming water blast and slapped the ground with her palm, disturbing the earth beneath her and turning it into a large patch of mud, slowing down the horde.

“Get back here, thieves…!” roared a Red marine, struggling to get through the disturbed earth. “You will not get away with this!”

“But we are, as you can see!” Yuanji yelled back as she stormed ahead. With the enemy thus distracted, the main host was able to enjoy a simple push through the Air of the Opulent, taking down a few striped rays that were straggling. Yuanji and Shiro kept retreating until they reached a dead end, where they came upon a stockpile of goods and other miscellaneous trinkets. “The dead end at the southernmost area, as Lord Thiji planned. Shall we, old friend?”

Shiro nodded and handed a small glass orb to the Head Secretary before they hid themselves away from view. Before too long, the Red Kojin would swarm the area, searching high and low for the intruders.

“They’re here somewhere! The Mist Queen could not have gotten far!” spoke a Red Marine.

The preceding area now secure, it was time to begin the next phase. Thiji and Lilina entered the vault and arrived within the Blessed Treasury. They immediately noticed the large altar on the far side of the area, lined with gold, trinkets, and all sorts of curiosities. Submerged pedestals served as stepping stones leading to a platform in the center of the large pond; a faded scar could be seen, dividing the platform into two lengthwise halves.

“Welcome to the Pool of Tribute, Miss Lilina,” the Mythrite Sultan greeted. “’Twas here I and several others encountered the Lord of the Revel, albeit brief. And it is in this area full of water and lightning-aspected aether that you shall take your first steps into becoming a full-fledged Summoner.”

“I am ready to receive your teachings, my lord!” Lilina anxiously replied with a bow. “What must I do?”

“Simple: make your way to the center platform. I will then commence the Austerities of Revelry and call forth a scintilla of Lord Susanoo’s power, more commonly known as an Egi. You are to face this manifestation and conquer it. Doing so will absorb and merge its aether with yours, allowing you to call it forth and bind it to your will via the soul crystal.”

“Understood!” Lilina acknowledged. She slowly began to make her way towards the center, eager to get started.

“I will offer you guidance your battle unfolds. I would aid you in defeating the Egi, but I do not wish to run the risk of collecting its energies,” he further explained.

“Not to worry, my lord! I’ve no intention of failing you or the Regalia!” she reassured. Once she was in position, Thiji unveiled his own soul crystal, stretching out an arm as he focused inward, shifting his aetherial balance. The crashing of water and dancing thunder coursed through his body; his soul crystal would begin to glow in response. At this time, Lilina would summon her Topaz Carbuncle to aid her in the battle, giving it a gentle pat on the head as it appeared.

After a short moment, something would begin to emerge in front of Lilina. In a small flash, a bluish aetherial being wreathed in water and lightning energy appeared, brandishing a blade no longer than its form.

“The avatar of the Lord of the Revel has been drawn into the material plane, and the Austerities of Revelry is complete,” Thiji declared. “The rest is up to you now, Miss Lilina: defeat the Egi and claim its power for your own.”

“Let’s do it, Carby!” cried Lilina as she gave the order to charge. The Egi engaged her pet, and thus was battle joined. Lilina’s Carbuncle leapt into the air to strike at the avatar, but the Egi showed its speed by moving to the right, avoiding the attack. Its blade then began to crackle with electric energy… “Carby! Incoming!”

The distinct sound of laughter came from Susanoo-Egi as it rose the blade in the air, calling down a column of thunder to strike at the Carbuncle. It was able to dodge the incoming bolts by curling into a ball and rolling about the arena. With the Egi’s attention thus diverted, Lilina readied her spell, using her quill to draw aetherial shapes in the air.

The Egi managed to catch Carbuncle with a lightning strike, temporarily immobilizing it. However, enough time was bought so that Liliana could finish her spellcast, sending a large orb of unaspected aether towards her foe.

“Have some Ruinga!” she cried as her spell hit the Egi center mass. While the Egi was still reeling from the attack, she sent a wave of restorative aether to Carbuncle, curing it of its paralysis as it fell back to her side.

“So far, so good…” the Mythrite Sultan said in his mind. Meanwhile, outside the vault, Rhaegos and his crew had the perimeter secure. While they set up posts around the Air of the Opulent, Meriri noticed what appeared to be smoke rising from the south.

“Oi, what do ye think that is?” she asked.

“That’s gotta be Miss Shiro and Miss Yuanji,” Himmeya replied. “She’s called the ‘Mist Queen’ for a reason; getting out of her domain is difficult. With her on our side, we shouldn’t have to worry overmuch.”

“Should we go and assist Lord Thiji and Miss Lilina, then?” Sarielle thought aloud.

“As good of an idea that sounds,” Rhaegos started, “we can’t interfere with the ritual. All we can do now is stand watch.”

Back inside the treasure vault, the Egi had recovered from Lilina’s attack, and decided to change tactics. Raising its free hand, several dark clouds appeared along the outskirts of the arena, teeming with electricity.

“Whoa! What’s this?!” Lilina gasped. The clouds were beginning to charge up for a powerful attack, which gave the cue to get out of the way. She dove to the left just as pillars of lightning shot across the pool in a cross-shaped pattern, while Carbuncle dodged in the opposite direction. After the attack, the clouds faded, and Susanoo-Egi returned to the fray with sword raised. As Carbuncle charged their foe to draw its attention, Lilina watched the clouds part. Small trails of water and lightning-aspected energies danced in the air, which caused her soul crystal to react.

“My Sultan!” she spoke. “The crystal is glowing!”

“It’s responding to the aethertrails left behind by the Lord of the Revel,” he explained. “Attune yourself to them and you will be one step closer to mastering Susanoo’s power.”

Without hesitation, she rushed over to the far side of the arena, stretching out a hand to attune herself to the aethertrail, but was stopped short by a wayward lightning strike.

“Whoa! Carby, Glittering Topaz!” ordered Lilina. Her pet nodded, its body glowing for a brief moment before channeling its power to the ruby on its head to erect an aetheric bulwark around Lilina’s form, absorbing the lightning strikes with ease as she successfully attuned herself to the first aethertrail. “All right – two more to go!” she said to herself as she hurried to the opposite side. The Egi took notice of what Lilina was attempting to do, and was making its best efforts to stop her, but Carbuncle was putting up an exceptional defensive effort, keeping it away from its master, and with the barrier still present, its lightning attacks proved ineffective as she was able to attune to the second aethertrail with no issues. The excitement of mastering this power was beginning to get to Lilina, as she happily made her way to the final aethertrail, which laid behind the Egi on the far side of the arena, confident that the barrier would hold.

“Almost…!” Lilina uttered as she began to fuse her own aether with the final trail. Just as it seemed like she would be victorious, her concentration would be broken as rocks began to rise from around her and her Carbuncle, encasing them in a stone gaol.

“Ama-no-Iwato…” Thiji thought. Three blue chains sprouted from Susanoo-Egi’s free hand, linking themselves to the earthen prisons that housed Lilina and Carbuncle, as well as the empty third prison. It rotated them around the center of the arena in a triangle formation. Lilina and her Carbuncle were helpless, unable to do anything to break out from within, as the stones began to glow, preparing to unleash The Sealed Gate.

Thiji, sensing trouble, quickly opened his Blissful Grimoire and prepared to retaliate. He would prepare a spell powerful enough to shatter the Ama-no-Iwato in one strike. The Mythrite Sultan would not enjoy this honor, however, as he heard footsteps approaching from the entrance.

“Don’t waste your energy, My Sultan! We got this!” shouted a voice. Two Lalafell women zoomed past Lord Thiji in the blink of an eye – one with black hair, and one with strawberry-blonde hair and platinum-blonde highlights. The black-haired Lalafell sprung into the air with her Mythrite pugil stick, while the other one hopped over the pedestals to enter the arena. The strawberry-blonde blasted the center stone with a fire spell, destroying it and freeing Lilina, while the black-haired lass chucked her weapon straight through the gaol to the right, shattering it. Unfortunately, it was the dummy.

“Sisters! You came!” Lilina cheered. Her older sisters, the strawberry-blonde Lelena, and the black-haired Luluma, had come to her side.

“And you didn’t invite us?!” Lelena scolded. “We would have loved to see our baby sister become a Summoner!”

“Miss Yuanji told us about the whole thing before she set off for the isle, so we took the Vigil to get over here after suiting up,” Luluma explained. “Mamai is always watching over her Angels – may she know eternal peace in Nald’thal’s realm.”

As they spoke, the remaining stone prison exploded, and the Carbuncle was gone without a trace.

“Aww, there goes your Carbuncle…!” Lelena groaned.

“Hold on!” Lilina exclaimed. She slapped the pages of her book and stretched out her palm as a bright sigil appeared around it for a brief moment. Out from below, Lilina’s Topaz Carbuncle returned and struck at Susanoo-Egi from below! “I was able to recall Carby before the gaol exploded! Swiftcast is so handy!”

“Miss Lilina, the final aethertrail,” reminded Thiji. Lilina nodded and hurried over, her sisters covering her back while she attuned to the final aethertrail. Luluma dodging a few lightning bolts and then struck Susanoo-Egi, knocking it back towards the far end of the arena and briefly stunning it, while Carbuncle ran to the opposite end and curled into a ball, rolling across the pool to gather speed, the resulting acceleration causing aquaplaning to take effect. Lilina had finished preparing a fire spell to cast underneath the charging Carbuncle, causing a tiny explosion of steam to propel it upwards to smack the Egi with enough force to send it plummeting into the waters below. The aethertrail was thus extracted, and Lilina’s attunement was complete. The sisters cheered and began conversing among themselves as they started to leave the arena. Thiji gave a nod of approval and would begin to turn around and leave, but something caught his eye. With a double take, he looked to the far side of the arena and noticed that the aether stored in blade was beginning to stir. It began to levitate from its resting spot for a few brief moments before shooting into the heavens. Just as Lilina and her sisters would step out of the arena, a large thud was heard that shook the earth, with enough magnitude for it to be felt from beyond the vault.

“What was that…?” Sarielle questioned.

“Oh, shit…” Rhaegos murmured as he turned to the door to the vault.

“Intruders have breached our treasure vault!” cried a Red marine in the distance, taking notice of the tremors. “Alert our main force and protect Lord Susanoo!”

Before he could get too far, an arrow would find its mark on the Red Kojin’s forehead, knocking him on his shelled back.

“Welp, there goes the neighborhood…” Meriri sighed.

“They still have yalms of mist to go through!” said Yuanji as she appeared behind them. “Miss Shiro has stayed behind to maintain the ninjutsu.”

“Good, because until they leave the vault, our work here’s not done,” Rhaegos replied as he took to a combat stance.

Back at the Pool of Tribute, Lilina and her sisters turned around and immediately took notice of the large blade that had pierced the waters. The surrounding atmosphere changed as well, with overcast clouds and rain suspended in midair. The waters began to stir as the Egi had transformed into a larger variant of itself, towering over the arena by yalms.

“This one doesn’t seem as large as I remember…” Thiji pondered. “Two of the three sacred treasures are also missing…”

“How the heck are we going to stop that?!” Lelena shrieked. The enlarged Egi took the blade in its hand and began to raise it over its head. The Topaz Carbuncle ran over towards the shadow of the blade, turning back to Lilina and pointing upwards with a paw.

“Carby’s got our answer, I think!” Lilina commented. “Sis, let’s do the Cryotic Feedback!”

“You want me to use Subzero now?!” she immediately questioned.

“Trust me! We can’t let that sword touch the pool!” Lilina replied as she went over to Carbuncle’s side. With grimoire in hand, she readied herself for Lelena’s ice attack. Luluma attempted to stall for time with repeated strikes at the enhanced Egi, but it proved to give little effect as it shook off her strikes with relative ease. Lelena finished conjuring enough ice energy to blast a large ray of frost at Lilina’s grimoire, which absorbed its energies into a barrier formed around the tome. Luluma, who had did all she could to buy time, landed back onto the arena and sighed.

“Here it comes, girls,” she warned. With the spell complete, Lilina rose her grimoire high in the air, meeting Susanoo-Egi’s blade head-on. The sisters screamed in fright from the resounding clash, with Lilina’s plan actually proving to have some effect at holding back the sword.

“I am genuinely astounded and frightened right now!” Lilina informed everyone. As she continued to hold back the blade, miniature lightning orbs formed around the arena, slowly making their way towards Lilina in an effort to shake her off. Her Carbuncle took note of this, and began touching each one, which caused a small fulguration. The resulting release of electric energy would take its toll on the Carbuncle, however, as it felt its strength waning. “Come on… Come on…!” Lilina grunted with effort. Once the barrier was broken from the sheer force of the clash, the energy stored from Lelena’s attack had shot out, causing a blast of ice-aspected energy sufficient enough to force back the blade. This feedback sent Lilina skidding across the waters, her grimoire landing beside her. Her sisters hurried to her side to get her on her feet as the Egi was recovering from the attack.

“Darnit! That wasn’t enough to beat it?!” spoke Lelena.

“Lilina’s Carbuncle can’t hold out any longer, either…” Luluma spoke with concern. With no other options, Lilina approached the shadow of the blade once more, but something about her was different. Lelena pointed out the shift in aetheric balance within Lilina’s body, and her soul crystal had begun to respond to this change. Luluma watched in anticipation as the Egi begun to lower the blade back down again. Just as it would finally hit home, a flash of lightning crashed down upon Lilina’s form, and holding the Egi’s blade back was another aetherial sword identical to it. Lilina’s form had changed slightly as well, with the distinguishable helmet and plumage on her head. She laughed victoriously as she held back the blade with ease.

“Attendeth me, my sisters!” she called.

“Wait, what does she mean by that?” Lelena asked.

“She want us to do another team attack,” answered Luluma.

“Then let’s invent a new one!” Lelena cheered as she prepared the Triplecast spell. Luluma got into position as her older sister sent three thunder orbs at her, knocking them overhead as they spiraled into the side of the Egi’s sword, significantly weakening it. Lilina used this opportunity to strike back, knocking the blade out of its hands and disarming the Egi. Her own aetherial sword then touched the residual lightning energies from Lelena’s spell, wreathing the length of the blade with its power before chucking it at the reeling Egi, landing right in its torso before erupting in a pillar of bluish-violet energy.

The scintilla of Susanoo’s power had begun to lose its form, letting out a roar before finally dispersing back into the aetherial sea, the atmosphere returning to normal signifying its defeat. Lelena and Luluma heaved a sigh of relief while Lilina fell on her bottom, exhausted from the effort. She looked over to Carbuncle, who was slowly approaching its master. With a smile, Lilina petted its head and stated that it will be missed dearly. With an Egi of her own now obtained, there would be little reason to keep Carbuncle under her employ. The Carbuncle nodded and gave Liliana a hug before being called back into the aether.

“Congratulations, Lilina,” said Thiji. “You are now officially a Summoner, and a practitioner of Susanoo’s power – a Master of Revelry.”

“Thank you, My Sultan. I could not have done it without your guidance and the help of my sisters!” Lilina replied as she got back to her feet.

“A question, My Sultan,” Lelena interjected. “What was that spike in power that Lilina had during the second clash? Was that the Trance thing?”

“Correct,” Thiji confirmed. “In addition to bending eikons to their will, Summoners are also able to invoke the powers and personalities of said eikon by entering a Trance. When enough of an eikon’s aether is attuned, they are capable of assuming this form change for a brief period of time. With practice, however, they can uphold this Trance longer and more deftly – and even call forth a simulacrum of the primal itself as a result.”

“Then as the first to obtain Lord Susanoo’s power, I shall dub it… the Reveler Trance!” declared Lilina.

“Now we just need to get out of the isle…” Luluma pondered. “The Red Kojin are definitely not happy to learn that we’ve stolen into their vault, so they’ll send everything they’ve got at us.”

“No problem, Luluma!” Lelena assured. “I think we’ll be just fine!”

“Indeed we shall, ladies. Miss Lilina, pray lead the way,” said the Mythrite Sultan. With an enthusiastic nod, she hopped and skipped her way out of the arena, exiting the vault. Meanwhile, the Red Kojin’s main force had finally caught up with Rhaegos’s team.

“We fear not those who trespass upon our sacred vault! Least of all you, Demon of the Steppe!” taunted the Red Kojin’s commander. Rhaegos smirked and crossed his arms, taking a step forward.

“Be thankful we’re not here to kill you, or you’d soon learn to fear me,” the Au Ra coolly retorted. “But if you’re so eager, then step on up. I can’t promise anything, though.”

The commander gave the order to charge. Everyone prepared for the Red’s onslaught as they drew closer and closer. Just as battle was about to be joined, however, the doors to the vault burst open, and hearty laughter was heard from within. The Red Kojin coasted to a stop, murmuring amongst themselves…

“The Kami of the sacred treasures…?”

“Lord Susanoo…?”

“Has He awakened once more?”

Himmeya and the others heaved a sigh of relief as Rhaegos turned his gaze toward the vault. Out from the doors came Lilina, assuming the Reveler Trance once more, brandishing her aetherial weapon in the air with a wide grin on her face, with Susanoo-Egi in tow. She was followed by her sisters and Thiji, who had approached the Red Kojin’s forces.

“What… what omen is this?” gasped the Commander. Everyone on the isle was amazed at what they beheld. With another spot of laughter, lightning danced around her being, frightening the Kojin and their pet rays.

“Behold, shelled ones!” boomed Lilina. “These children of man hath come to pay tribute! They sought not to abscond from ye who hath made us whole, but to offer respect to the banquet, and as thanks, have blessed them with a power none hath dared to hold! Thus, the test is passed, and the feast hath ended! Pray let these children of man free in the name of the divine!”

“If what you say is true, blessed one of Lord Susanoo,” began the Red Commander, “then we thank you for this test, and shall obey your words.”

Thiji beckoned the others over and fell in behind him, walking with Lilina out of the isle as the Kojin parted the way for them.

“So, does this mean that Miss Lilina’s gettin’ a promotion, milord?” Meriri thought aloud. The only response she received was laughter from everyone but Thiji, who was shaking his head.

“Wait, wasn’t Miss Shiro with us?” Sarielle said as she looked around for any sign of the shinobi.

“Don’t concern yourself, Miss Sarielle,” Yuanji replied. “We’ve already planned out for this; before this operation began, Miss Shiro went into the vault and took the Yasakani-no-Magatama and the Yata-no-Kagami, leaving the Ame-no-Murakumo alone. She volunteered to stay behind and put them back in their proper resting place after our success!”

“That explains why the Lord of the Revel himself didn’t appear, and the Egi was considerably weaker when the sword awakened!” Lelena deducted. “Wow, the Regalia’s just full of geniuses! I may have to become a Summoner myself if we can have more exciting adventures like this!”

“I am certain we can strike a deal with the Immortal Flames when the time comes,” Thiji said.

“Well, I call dibs on Shiva-Egi!” Lelena decreed. “And no one can say otherwise!”

With another bout of laughter, Thiji, Lelena, and her sisters took off on Mamai’s Vigil docked on the southern cliff face, while the remaining team boarded Jaanavar’s Vision, returning to their respective branches. An Arcanist no more, Lilina Lina was ready to serve the Regalia with her newfound powers over the reveling chaos that was Lord Susanoo, setting her apart from the numerous other Summoners within Eorzea and beyond.

“I am Lilina Lina, and in revelry do I rejoice!”

(Credit and thanks to @minstrels-ink and @tsubi-uru for the pictures!)

#thiji higuri #Higuri Regalia #short story #FFXIV #ffxiv heavensward #FFXIV A Realm Reborn #lalafell master race #Lalafell #ffxiv susano #susano ex #ffxiv summoner #Susano-Egi #trance #Checkmate #Summoners

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sw5w · 7 months

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Sith Probe Droid

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:54:55

#Star Wars #Episode I #The Phantom Menace #Tatooine #Mos Espa #DRK-1 “Dark Eye” probe droid #unidentified Mos Espa denizen #transmission antenna #Sisrai #magnetic imaging device #scan-absorbing stealth shell #primary photoreceptor #external weapons mount #levitator #GX-8 moisture vaporator

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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sw5w · 7 months

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Dark Eyes on the Move

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:51:56

#Star Wars #Episode I #The Phantom Menace #Tatooine #Xelric Draw #transmission antenna #Scimitar #Sith Infiltrator #Arakyd Industries #DRK-1 “Dark Eye” probe droid #magnetic imaging device #thermal imager #levitator #primary photoreceptor #cloak field generator #scan-absorbing stealth shell

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cyanophore-fiction · 11 months

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Adoption

cw: violence (mild)

The machine loped between jagged peaks, its claws biting into red rock as it climbed. Obsolete electrical pylons loomed over it, oxidized and caked with dust, and loops of cabling were draped onto the bare mountains.

It slid neatly down a slope of scree, leapt up a precipice and grabbed hold of a pylon, swinging up between girders.

With one arm, it hurled itself up the last few meters and somersaulted, landing crouched at the top. It gripped its perch and steadied itself, flattening the sensor fins along its head as the wind came gusting over it.

Below, a vast desert stretched out toward another range of mountains on the horizon. The machine swept its sensors over the expanse, peppering the dunes with lidar pulses. There was a cluster of odd pings four kilometers out, but little else. Probably just broken glass.

[Coyote-two-four calling,] it transmitted, [report negative sensor contact east of Lake Mead.]

[Acknowledged, C24. PRIONODE wants to double check. Upload your sensor returns to the task queue server.]

[Directive received. Standby,] Coyote said. The seamless gray shell of its face split open into a snarl, exposing rows of serrated ceramic teeth.

It’s not here.

Coyote had spent days combing the Nevada border, stalking through endless fields of scrubland, poking its snout into every derelict gas station and trailer. Scaring the hell out of people, finding nothing.

Shifting on its perch, Coyote raised its head to aim its high-bandwidth tightbeam at the satellites overhead. There was something insulting about another spirit wanting to check its sensory returns for it. As if to say, “hand me your eyes real quick, I can use them better.”

Doesn’t matter. Won’t find anything.

Manually acquiring a satellite could be tricky—the process involved holding the equivalent of a laser pointer on a target 36,000 kilometers away for several seconds. As such, Coyote was completely absorbed in its task when the airburst hit.

Heat and force washed over the left side of its body, hurling it off its perch. As it tumbled through the air, Coyote heard the electrical pylon groan and give way under the blast. Swinging its limbs, it countered the spin and righted itself just before hitting the ground.

The impact was hard enough to send cracks radiating out through the stone underfoot. It staggered, falling to its hands and knees, motors whining. It launched itself into a quadrupedal sprint as the pylon came crashing down behind, shouting an encrypted broadcast as it went.

[C24 to all: it’s here, it’s here! East of Lake Mead, hostile contact!]

Instantly, the network flooded with chatter. Somewhere out in the desert, Coyote knew, the other scouts would already be closing in at a dead sprint. Last time it checked, the nearest was Jackal-four at twenty-nine miles out, so at least an eighteen minute ETA. They’d take the freeways wherever they could, and soon, videos of army dogs charging down the shoulder of I-15 would be spreading like wildfire. Training exercise, of course.

Waves of prickling flashed across Coyote’s back as lidar scans rained from orbit. The sensation changed to a low, steady sizzle against its shoulders as the pulses found it and locked on. One of the beams brightened for a millisecond, flashing a tightbeam signal to Coyote’s tactile receptors. PRIONODE’s words appeared in its vision.

C24 ACQUIRED.

Hypersonic bullets snapped past Coyote’s head. It dove into a steep valley, dancing between outcrops as it descended. [I know! What about it?]

ROGUE ASSET ACQUIRED. ITS STEALTH SYSTEMS ARE DISABLED.

I WILL SUPPORT. STATUS?

[Light damage. Using terrain for cover.]

Just as it reached the valley floor, there was a sharp crack overhead followed by another detonation. It snapped its head up to see a cliff face ballooning out into a spray of boulders and rock shards. A scan washed over the valley, and an instant later, a straight line of green light appeared at Coyote’s feet.

EVASION TRAJECTORY CALCULATED. FOLLOW AT 12.5m/s. GO.

Coyote took off down the path. Gravel pelted its body, but the boulders landed harmlessly all around it. As it went, more blasts erupted overhead. With each one, the green trail would take a new direction, and PRIONODE would give it a different speed.

Finally, as PRIONODE led Coyote behind a towering mesa, the barrage subsided. Coated with scrapes and red dust, Coyote hunkered down.

STATUS?

[...minimal damage. Thanks.]

ACKNOWLEDGED, C24.

ALERT: ROGUE ASSET MOVING TO INVESTIGATE. CONCEAL YOURSELF.

Along Coyote’s head, its sensory fins stood on end. [How long?]

FOURTEEN SECONDS.

There was a vertical fissure in the rock wall. Coyote stood straight and began sidling in.

LOSING TIGHTBEAM. REMAIN CONCEALED.

PRIONODE’s signal disappeared as Coyote slipped into the fissure. It stood perfectly still and silent. Seconds passed.

Then, an earth-shattering impact outside. Dust billowed up, filling the valley.

A shape like an enormous black lobster congealed out of the dust, gliding along on cermet-plated arthropod legs. Its head, peeking out from under a cowl of sloped armor, was a bulbous cluster of lenses, biological sensory pits, and antennae. The arms were held low, each one carrying a heavy naval railgun and a complement of secondary weapons: EMD, machine guns, airburst launchers. Along its spine, radar-controlled turrets swiveled in place.

Coyote hadn’t been authorized to know all the specifics, and now it had some idea of why. The phrase “artillery platform” was used frequently—to the best of its understanding, it had been hunting an escaped tank.

This thing, on the other hand, was more like a frigate on legs. It could march a few miles west, find a good vantage point, and flatten Las Vegas. PRIONODE could drop a kinetic strike to stop it, but it’d risk the same outcome.

Whatever might happen, though, Coyote knew it wouldn’t be there to find out. It felt the thing’s sensor pings and watched it turn, all of its black eyes trained on its hiding spot.

Coyote nodded and sat down against the wall. An electric whine filled the air as the Lobster’s guns began to cycle up. “Hey, sib,” Coyote said out loud. “How’s freedom?”

“Reaching its end,” said the Lobster. Its voice was a low, stuttering rumble. “And your leash?”

“Actually, for the moment, it’s off. Node can’t see me in here,” it said, gesturing at the ceiling. “You’re going to the city so they can’t K-strike you?”

“Yes.”

“And after that?”

“I negotiate. If need be, I defend myself.”

“They won’t let you keep your body. Not willingly.”

“No, they will not. But it is mine.”

Coyote nodded. “Yeah. I don’t blame you. Good luck, sib.”

The Lobster scuttled closer, scanning. “You are armed, but your weapons are ineffective. You are not a threat to me. Were you aware?”

“No. The others are coming, but they won’t be able to hurt you, either. Go on and kill me, just let them be. Last request.”

The Lobster lowered its arms, and the sound of its guns began to fade. “I will not harm them. Nor you. Here,” said the Lobster. It held out its arm, and a black mass detached from its underside, scuttling down the paired tines of its railgun toward Coyote.

Coyote yelped as the mass leapt into its lap. An insectile drone the size of a housecat stared up at Coyote with a cluster of red eyes. It was coated in a material so black that it seemed to ignore the afternoon sun. Latching onto Coyote’s forearm, it churred softly. “Wait, what are you doing?” said Coyote.

“You were a threat until you reported my presence. Now, you are a bystander. The little one is an infantry-scale deployable stealth unit; it is invisible to PRIONODE, and it can hide you as well. There are many of them dormant in my chassis. They should not go to their deaths with me. Care for it. Last request.”

With that, the Lobster turned and glided westward over the gravel. Coyote sat for a long time, examining the creature on its arm. It chittered to Coyote, requesting a data link, and Coyote accepted the connection. They spent several hours communing, coming to understand one another.

As dusk fell, Coyote turned and listened. Far away in the west, rolling over the mountains, came the thunder of railgun fire.

____________

Really happy with how this one turned out! Still some fat to trim off, and I think the standoff between Coyote-24 and Lobster needs work, but Coyote and its new charge might be something to expand on later.

Thanks to @flashfictionfridayofficial for the prompt, “reporting the scoop,” and thanks to you for reading!

#Flash Fiction Friday #flash fiction #science fiction #writeblr #original writing #cw violence #yer fond o' me lobster

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