Um, okay. I need to apologize for the very LONG wait for this chapter. I had serious writers block. Where's the Metamucil for that?
Mission year: 2501
The usual order and rigidity of The Huddling of the People was crumbling before ones very eyes. The drone population ran wildly about tearing apart anything and everything they could get their hands on. Armories were raided and now everyone was armed with as much ammunition as they could carry. The looming scene of warehouses that dotted the grounds was now burning to the ground in flames of spite for the regime, and the drones couldn't have been happier at their newly acquired homelessness, for this was not a raid, it was liberation.
************
The probing mission for Ecological Engineering was a success, and the technology went straight to Yang himself for whatever plans he had concocted.
"There, I have your damned tech." Contessa said as she threw the disk with the information onto his desk.
"I had a feeling you'd come through for this faction." Yang said as he picked up the tech and pocketed it.
"You and I both know very well that you only want this for yourself, Yang, so don't EVEN go into that whole "I'm only looking out for my faction" spiel with me, you cock sucker."
"Someone's woken up on the wrong side of the cell. Perhaps you should return to your punishment sphere until I need you further."
With a huff Contessa left and began the all too usual walk to where she practically lived. On her way, however, she passed by Ian, who as he passed gave a look that one could plainly read as 'traitor'
Contessa seemed unfazed by this reaction and instead smiled and handed Ian a floppy disk. "Look into it, and then get back to me with what you can find." After a double take and a grin, he pocked the floppy and continued with whatever he was doing. As Contessa walked she couldn't help but smile to herself. Finally, a type of technology that would get Huddling of the People out of the dark ages. She went and served her sentence in her sphere, and upon leaving she didn't bother to remove the magnets from her limbs. She'd just land herself back in there within an hours' time anyway. And, the magnetic force of her bonds would be enough to scramble the main computers hard drive, giving Ian ample time to see what could be dug up out of the tech.
******************
The police from neighboring bases had finally arrived to attempt to quell the riots of Huddling of the People. To an onlooker the premises was a melee of drones and police fighting tooth and nail, one side driven by command, the other by the prospect of freedom. Life would have remained its monotonous cycle of slavery, had it not been for Yang. As the drones knew Yang was the cause of their enslavement to begin with, but his actions prior to the riots were just what the faction needed to lose fear about the ramifications of their actions.
****************
Upon delving deeper into Ecological Engineering, Ian had discovered it to be more promising than previously expected.
"You can build formers," he explained to Contessa one evening, "they do everything! They plant farms and forests, they dig mines, they build solar collectors and boreholes, they build condensers...."
"Wait, condensers help change rain patterns, am I correct?" Contessa asked coming to attention. She had known everything else about what could be done with formers, but she had not known that they changed weather patterns.
"Well, yeah." Ian said, "So what?"
Contessa gaped at Ian with an "I can't believe you" expression on her face. "Get me some schematics on the condensers, I have an idea."
After a few months of tactful scraping and clever hiding, all of the materials were needed to build camouflaged condensers around the base. "I'll disguise them as attachments to the antennae that stick up out of the warehouses. Then, we'll se what we get from there." Contessa said to Ian one day. After more building in between guard shifts all of the condensers were finally finished. One could say that it was odd from that point on. Fields of xenofungus that lay outside out the Great Dunes began to close in nonstop for a month and a half plus, and then suddenly it stopped on the fifty-first day. Despite all efforts to destroy the fauna, it just kept closing in when some would be burned.
One morning however, the moment of truth had arrived. The soft patter of raindrops could be heard from inside the drones holding cells', and as they walked out onto the grounds they were met with a gentle rain. The response was awed numbness. Some people stopped once a few drops hit them, some fainted, and in extreme cases a few drones even shed tears at the break in the harsh heat wave. That hope was however not to be taken lightly, as the drones began to think that this could just be temporary. But, as time waned on the drizzle grew into a storm, and those few cases of hysterics among the drones became epidemic. A grateful one mind you.
*******************
As they feared though, once Yang had gotten word of this misdemeanor, he sent over inspectors to locate the condensers and then destroy them, much to the drones distaste. The grateful hysterics turned mournful, and tempers flared at the rash decision. The one who seemed bothered by this the most was Contessa. 'How dare he!' she thought to herself as she ran to her quarters to retrieve her graviton rifle. 'I was nearly killed to give this faction a break, and here he goes destroying it.' She said as she remembered her near escape from Gaia's Landing. Emerging from the crowd seconds later she fired her weapon and took out fifteen guards and inspectors in one blast.
"It's high time we begin to think for ourselves!" she told her peers. Contessa was promptly met with cheers of assent as the crowd broke and began to attack their oppressors.
The riots intensified as the reinforcements for Yang arrived.
"These drones are beginning to overpower us," an officer half spoke half yelled into his radio, "We need more back up! I repeat, we have a 286 -" he was cut off by an elbow to the back of the head.
"1-8-7 mother fucker!" a drone yelled as he handcuffed the guard, threw him on the ground, and began to kick him in the ribs in a sort of happy rage.
The scene around them worsened. Everywhere you looked there was someone taking on a police officer. If you looked to the left, you could see a group of men taking turns flogging an officer with his own night stick. If you looked left, you could see a group of women procuring fallen officers' shredder pistols in order to begin rampaging against oncoming police. There was even about five children no older than ten overpowering one officer, all the while taking away his weapons and anything else on him. That spat was obviously a sign saying that Yang had done all of the wrong things for far too long.
********************
"Chairman, we haven't been able to stop rioting at Huddling of the People. Officers have asked for your assistance." Ota Kyi said to Yang as he sat back on his throne and contemplated the proposal. "Alright," he said after a few minutes' pause, "Their resolve is sure to crumble at my orders." And with that he boarded his personal needle jet and set off for the problem base.
Upon arrival, he was met with the order he had expected, unfortunately. His sentence to them was nerve stapling, which again made the tempers of the drones flare.
"All each and every one of you are is a servant. You have no other purpose in life but to serve the Hive, and to-"
Parts of the Chairman flew onto Yang's officers that were standing behind him at the moment. A collective gasp came from the crowd below as they turned around and saw Contessa pointing her graviton rifle at the place Yang stood. Remaining officers began to spray her with a shower of bullets, no matter though, Yang was finally gone.
"Attention, attention! The Cybernetic Consciousness has arrived upon request to aid this faction!" called a voice from above. All that remained looked up to the sight of an armada of various aircrafts. Finally, a chance for retribution was in sight.
Mission year: 2501
The usual order and rigidity of The Huddling of the People was crumbling before ones very eyes. The drone population ran wildly about tearing apart anything and everything they could get their hands on. Armories were raided and now everyone was armed with as much ammunition as they could carry. The looming scene of warehouses that dotted the grounds was now burning to the ground in flames of spite for the regime, and the drones couldn't have been happier at their newly acquired homelessness, for this was not a raid, it was liberation.
************
The probing mission for Ecological Engineering was a success, and the technology went straight to Yang himself for whatever plans he had concocted.
"There, I have your damned tech." Contessa said as she threw the disk with the information onto his desk.
"I had a feeling you'd come through for this faction." Yang said as he picked up the tech and pocketed it.
"You and I both know very well that you only want this for yourself, Yang, so don't EVEN go into that whole "I'm only looking out for my faction" spiel with me, you cock sucker."
"Someone's woken up on the wrong side of the cell. Perhaps you should return to your punishment sphere until I need you further."
With a huff Contessa left and began the all too usual walk to where she practically lived. On her way, however, she passed by Ian, who as he passed gave a look that one could plainly read as 'traitor'
Contessa seemed unfazed by this reaction and instead smiled and handed Ian a floppy disk. "Look into it, and then get back to me with what you can find." After a double take and a grin, he pocked the floppy and continued with whatever he was doing. As Contessa walked she couldn't help but smile to herself. Finally, a type of technology that would get Huddling of the People out of the dark ages. She went and served her sentence in her sphere, and upon leaving she didn't bother to remove the magnets from her limbs. She'd just land herself back in there within an hours' time anyway. And, the magnetic force of her bonds would be enough to scramble the main computers hard drive, giving Ian ample time to see what could be dug up out of the tech.
******************
The police from neighboring bases had finally arrived to attempt to quell the riots of Huddling of the People. To an onlooker the premises was a melee of drones and police fighting tooth and nail, one side driven by command, the other by the prospect of freedom. Life would have remained its monotonous cycle of slavery, had it not been for Yang. As the drones knew Yang was the cause of their enslavement to begin with, but his actions prior to the riots were just what the faction needed to lose fear about the ramifications of their actions.
****************
Upon delving deeper into Ecological Engineering, Ian had discovered it to be more promising than previously expected.
"You can build formers," he explained to Contessa one evening, "they do everything! They plant farms and forests, they dig mines, they build solar collectors and boreholes, they build condensers...."
"Wait, condensers help change rain patterns, am I correct?" Contessa asked coming to attention. She had known everything else about what could be done with formers, but she had not known that they changed weather patterns.
"Well, yeah." Ian said, "So what?"
Contessa gaped at Ian with an "I can't believe you" expression on her face. "Get me some schematics on the condensers, I have an idea."
After a few months of tactful scraping and clever hiding, all of the materials were needed to build camouflaged condensers around the base. "I'll disguise them as attachments to the antennae that stick up out of the warehouses. Then, we'll se what we get from there." Contessa said to Ian one day. After more building in between guard shifts all of the condensers were finally finished. One could say that it was odd from that point on. Fields of xenofungus that lay outside out the Great Dunes began to close in nonstop for a month and a half plus, and then suddenly it stopped on the fifty-first day. Despite all efforts to destroy the fauna, it just kept closing in when some would be burned.
One morning however, the moment of truth had arrived. The soft patter of raindrops could be heard from inside the drones holding cells', and as they walked out onto the grounds they were met with a gentle rain. The response was awed numbness. Some people stopped once a few drops hit them, some fainted, and in extreme cases a few drones even shed tears at the break in the harsh heat wave. That hope was however not to be taken lightly, as the drones began to think that this could just be temporary. But, as time waned on the drizzle grew into a storm, and those few cases of hysterics among the drones became epidemic. A grateful one mind you.
*******************
As they feared though, once Yang had gotten word of this misdemeanor, he sent over inspectors to locate the condensers and then destroy them, much to the drones distaste. The grateful hysterics turned mournful, and tempers flared at the rash decision. The one who seemed bothered by this the most was Contessa. 'How dare he!' she thought to herself as she ran to her quarters to retrieve her graviton rifle. 'I was nearly killed to give this faction a break, and here he goes destroying it.' She said as she remembered her near escape from Gaia's Landing. Emerging from the crowd seconds later she fired her weapon and took out fifteen guards and inspectors in one blast.
"It's high time we begin to think for ourselves!" she told her peers. Contessa was promptly met with cheers of assent as the crowd broke and began to attack their oppressors.
The riots intensified as the reinforcements for Yang arrived.
"These drones are beginning to overpower us," an officer half spoke half yelled into his radio, "We need more back up! I repeat, we have a 286 -" he was cut off by an elbow to the back of the head.
"1-8-7 mother fucker!" a drone yelled as he handcuffed the guard, threw him on the ground, and began to kick him in the ribs in a sort of happy rage.
The scene around them worsened. Everywhere you looked there was someone taking on a police officer. If you looked to the left, you could see a group of men taking turns flogging an officer with his own night stick. If you looked left, you could see a group of women procuring fallen officers' shredder pistols in order to begin rampaging against oncoming police. There was even about five children no older than ten overpowering one officer, all the while taking away his weapons and anything else on him. That spat was obviously a sign saying that Yang had done all of the wrong things for far too long.
********************
"Chairman, we haven't been able to stop rioting at Huddling of the People. Officers have asked for your assistance." Ota Kyi said to Yang as he sat back on his throne and contemplated the proposal. "Alright," he said after a few minutes' pause, "Their resolve is sure to crumble at my orders." And with that he boarded his personal needle jet and set off for the problem base.
Upon arrival, he was met with the order he had expected, unfortunately. His sentence to them was nerve stapling, which again made the tempers of the drones flare.
"All each and every one of you are is a servant. You have no other purpose in life but to serve the Hive, and to-"
Parts of the Chairman flew onto Yang's officers that were standing behind him at the moment. A collective gasp came from the crowd below as they turned around and saw Contessa pointing her graviton rifle at the place Yang stood. Remaining officers began to spray her with a shower of bullets, no matter though, Yang was finally gone.
"Attention, attention! The Cybernetic Consciousness has arrived upon request to aid this faction!" called a voice from above. All that remained looked up to the sight of an armada of various aircrafts. Finally, a chance for retribution was in sight.