"Ota Kyi," Yang said to the screen that showed his assistant on the other end, "put out the announcement that all drones are to report to the East wing of the main base for the promised nerve stapling."
"I... can't do that." Kyi said somewhat nervously to his leader, "all of the drones are gone."
A pause, "What? What do you mean gone? They couldn't have just disappeared." Yang said quickly loosing his temper, but not showing it. The fact that all of his drones were gone wouldn't phase him one bit normally, but he knew why the drones were escaping.
"All gone."
Nobody ever ventures to the outskirts of this place, why didn't I see this before, Contessa thought to herself as she and some others guarded the rest of the population with shredder pistols. She was released from her punishment sphere fairly early after the incident with the weapons bay, partly because of the new security guard. She wasn't even unconscious before he came in and shut it off manually. According to him he, "Couldn't stand watching her in there." Strange. Moving on, the fact that she was so close to arming the citizens ate away at her furiously as she was escorted back to the quarters. Upon arrival Ian, one of her comrades, informed her that all of the weapons had been confiscated except for about a hundred. Struck with an idea she waited until the guard turned the corner and then she ran out the opposite way.
She didn't know what she was going to do as she ran, but the answer came to her as she had to abruptly turn on her heel and duck into an empty room. Two guards were strolling right along towards the direction she was taking, chit-chatting away.
"Today is that personnel meeting in Yang's quarters. Do you know what he's going to discuss?"
"I don't know, but knowing him it's probably some way to bring down the civilians."
What's up with all of these new recruits, Contessa thought to herself as she listened in on the conversation.
"What time is it going to be held anyway?" guard one asked.
"In about half an hour. It's supposed to last 'til about ten thirtyish."
What dumb luck! Weather it be smart or dumb Contessa was glad to have this bit of luck on her side. She finally had a plan, and she knew just how to go about it.
Now she stood rushing citizens through the doorway she guarded on the outskirts of the grounds nearby a warehouse filled with obsolete, but still in working condition colony modules. It was an impromptu plan, but not a shabby one for being spur of the moment. Under cover of darkness hundreds of thousands of drones filled convoys of colony pods and left the grounds in search of better lives, away from the totalitarian rule of Yang. But there were still roughly a million civilians to evacuate, and already Contessa could see a platoon of Yangs top officers coming their way. After ordering the others who were guarding different spots along the lines of drones she stood with her shredder pistol calmly at her side awaiting the inevitable.
And sure enough they came, except with the addition of Yang himself. Not that Contessa hadn't seen the man before, she was just shocked to find him come out and personally deal with the infraction she had just committed.
"Follow me." he said calmly to her, "Stop what ever colony pods you can and bring them back to this area. The ones you can't catch just let them go, there's nothing out there for kilometers."
"So, I see you've got your wits about you. Surprising, you being among the frailer, weaker vessels of society. And a drone no less." Yang said as he paced back and fourth in front of his throne.
"Your mind games won't work with me Yang. What ever you're going to do to me hurry up and be done with it."
"Mind games she says," he laughed, "I was only commending you Contessa. That was some operation you pulled off out there."
"Oh so you know my name?" she said cheekily.
"Obviously. But, since you don't favor small talk here's what I'm going to do. You will be transferred to the Huddling of the People."
"In the Great Dunes?"
Ignoring her comment Yang proceeded, "That shall remain your permanent home. And, out of the kindness of my heart, I've decided to promote you to a disciplined... prober." he added emphasis to the word prober and inwardly smiled at how far Contessas eyes bulged out of her head.
"Why me? I have no experience in probing whatsoever."
"With that stunt you pulled you're more than qualified to work as a member of the Hive probe team. Henceforth, you will now work for me personally. But do be careful. Some faction leaders dip captured probe teams in vats of biuret. Your first mission will be to retrieve Ecological Engineering from the Gaians."
Huddling of the People wasn't in exactly the right spot to begin with as a living organism supporting facility, and the ungodly weather in that area helped very little. All the Great Dunes were were nutrient drained sands that stretched for miles making farming and irrigation nearly impossible. The entire area of that part of Planet came into no contact of jet streams or cold fronts of any kind, and you could bet ten dollars to a doughnut that at least one sun would be up constantly. Ever continuous light meant ever-continuous work for the drones. Wind speeds of up to seventy kilometers caused massive sandstorms throughout the region, and many of the agricultural drones had much difficulty when attempting to reap what little the land offered. Temperatures reached staggering numbers of at least fifty degrees Celsius per day (About 120 F), and heat stroke became the malady trend.
Contessa hadn't been there for but a week when she was called to acquire the tech from Lady Diedre and her faction.
"I... can't do that." Kyi said somewhat nervously to his leader, "all of the drones are gone."
A pause, "What? What do you mean gone? They couldn't have just disappeared." Yang said quickly loosing his temper, but not showing it. The fact that all of his drones were gone wouldn't phase him one bit normally, but he knew why the drones were escaping.
"All gone."
Nobody ever ventures to the outskirts of this place, why didn't I see this before, Contessa thought to herself as she and some others guarded the rest of the population with shredder pistols. She was released from her punishment sphere fairly early after the incident with the weapons bay, partly because of the new security guard. She wasn't even unconscious before he came in and shut it off manually. According to him he, "Couldn't stand watching her in there." Strange. Moving on, the fact that she was so close to arming the citizens ate away at her furiously as she was escorted back to the quarters. Upon arrival Ian, one of her comrades, informed her that all of the weapons had been confiscated except for about a hundred. Struck with an idea she waited until the guard turned the corner and then she ran out the opposite way.
She didn't know what she was going to do as she ran, but the answer came to her as she had to abruptly turn on her heel and duck into an empty room. Two guards were strolling right along towards the direction she was taking, chit-chatting away.
"Today is that personnel meeting in Yang's quarters. Do you know what he's going to discuss?"
"I don't know, but knowing him it's probably some way to bring down the civilians."
What's up with all of these new recruits, Contessa thought to herself as she listened in on the conversation.
"What time is it going to be held anyway?" guard one asked.
"In about half an hour. It's supposed to last 'til about ten thirtyish."
What dumb luck! Weather it be smart or dumb Contessa was glad to have this bit of luck on her side. She finally had a plan, and she knew just how to go about it.
Now she stood rushing citizens through the doorway she guarded on the outskirts of the grounds nearby a warehouse filled with obsolete, but still in working condition colony modules. It was an impromptu plan, but not a shabby one for being spur of the moment. Under cover of darkness hundreds of thousands of drones filled convoys of colony pods and left the grounds in search of better lives, away from the totalitarian rule of Yang. But there were still roughly a million civilians to evacuate, and already Contessa could see a platoon of Yangs top officers coming their way. After ordering the others who were guarding different spots along the lines of drones she stood with her shredder pistol calmly at her side awaiting the inevitable.
And sure enough they came, except with the addition of Yang himself. Not that Contessa hadn't seen the man before, she was just shocked to find him come out and personally deal with the infraction she had just committed.
"Follow me." he said calmly to her, "Stop what ever colony pods you can and bring them back to this area. The ones you can't catch just let them go, there's nothing out there for kilometers."
"So, I see you've got your wits about you. Surprising, you being among the frailer, weaker vessels of society. And a drone no less." Yang said as he paced back and fourth in front of his throne.
"Your mind games won't work with me Yang. What ever you're going to do to me hurry up and be done with it."
"Mind games she says," he laughed, "I was only commending you Contessa. That was some operation you pulled off out there."
"Oh so you know my name?" she said cheekily.
"Obviously. But, since you don't favor small talk here's what I'm going to do. You will be transferred to the Huddling of the People."
"In the Great Dunes?"
Ignoring her comment Yang proceeded, "That shall remain your permanent home. And, out of the kindness of my heart, I've decided to promote you to a disciplined... prober." he added emphasis to the word prober and inwardly smiled at how far Contessas eyes bulged out of her head.
"Why me? I have no experience in probing whatsoever."
"With that stunt you pulled you're more than qualified to work as a member of the Hive probe team. Henceforth, you will now work for me personally. But do be careful. Some faction leaders dip captured probe teams in vats of biuret. Your first mission will be to retrieve Ecological Engineering from the Gaians."
Huddling of the People wasn't in exactly the right spot to begin with as a living organism supporting facility, and the ungodly weather in that area helped very little. All the Great Dunes were were nutrient drained sands that stretched for miles making farming and irrigation nearly impossible. The entire area of that part of Planet came into no contact of jet streams or cold fronts of any kind, and you could bet ten dollars to a doughnut that at least one sun would be up constantly. Ever continuous light meant ever-continuous work for the drones. Wind speeds of up to seventy kilometers caused massive sandstorms throughout the region, and many of the agricultural drones had much difficulty when attempting to reap what little the land offered. Temperatures reached staggering numbers of at least fifty degrees Celsius per day (About 120 F), and heat stroke became the malady trend.
Contessa hadn't been there for but a week when she was called to acquire the tech from Lady Diedre and her faction.