Cold Machines
Chapter 9
*Explosions* Okay okay this is fine *even more exposions* Not fine Damn it all! *Looks at screen* Oh HEY! So ...long time no see right? Ehh ? Sorry had thing to do. Important things! (Background yelling- LIES! HE WAS LAZY AF) Don't listen to the voices i don't. So chapter 9 enjoy.
"Demon woman."-murmured Ivan as he began removing his facemask and goggles. The first thing I saw was his green eyes. Old and tired yet still sharp enough to cut glass. The eyes of an officer of a thousand battles. Next was his bald head with several small scars. His face was wrinkled with large scar going down his left cheek. The bottom half of his face was a covered in thick bushy beard that showed signs of regular grooming.
I did not know much about him. I often saw him reading books. I later found out that those were romantic dramas. I didn't know what to think of that maybe he was reliving old flames with them or a life that never was? Or maybe he just liked them? What little I knew of him was because I once went to the pub with him. After one too many drinks I asked about his old life. He was the bastard son of the Tsar's brother. He had spent his childhood in the Royal court before going to an officer academy. After graduating he wasn't popular with the higher-ups due to his Reformist views which also led to his early "retirement".
Now to understand what that meant you have to go back to the beginning of the 19th century. The introduction of new technologies such as automatons, landships, zeppelins, radios and other quickly drew the opportunistic eyes of the military force. And thus to camps were formed. The Reformists who wanted such technologies to be incorporated and new tactics to be made around the fact mass assault and line infantry were no longer viable "tactics" with the invention of autoguns. This camp was popular with the soldiers and officers due to the fact it favored quick action and not prolonged attrition based battles. The other camp was The Traditionalists. It was largely represented by the old generals and high nobles. They both had different reasons to support it. The Old Guards saw it as a an attempt to have the positions they earned through steel and blood be taken by "fools who no not of true war". The Nobles had similar views, they would never admit it but they were declining. Positions once reserved for those of high birth were given out to the common man. And thus such changes were dangerous if not handled properly and slowly. The world was going faster and faster and it threatened them to leave them all behind.
The hotspots for the Reformists were The British and German Empire due to their massive industrial and technological potential. The Traditionalist took a strong hold over The Russian Empire and Iberian Kingdom. The French Republic was undecided, mostly because such modernization would most likely bankrupt the nation which was having civil unrest at the time.
Ivan spoke how he had given his best years to the army. Unfortunately he was rarely promoted due to him butting heads with those higher up the command chain. He always refused to follow orders which would lead to massive casualties or commit things such as looting and executions. The final nail in the coffin was when he began to speak up in favor of the Reformists. The traditionalist general he was under had finally had enough of him. During an incursion of the Chinese Commonwealth in Russian lands his battalion along with three others was deployed to stop them. He was given orders to move forward along with others. Unfortunately he realized too late that the general had set him up. The other battalions received no such orders. Surrounded by the enemy his entire battalion was slaughtered. He and only he had survived. He then spoke about how he had spent months in Siberia surviving off the land before finally reaching civilization.
Any men would have just let go and died along with their friend but not him. He had a mission. Catching a ride on a train he reached St. Petersburg where he found the generals mansion. Five bullets from his revolver was all it took. Four for each limb and one in the gut to make it slow and painful. After that he had returned home packed what he had and went west. He then showed me a medal. He told me that this was the medal that made him Podpolkovnik. The medal that gave him the best years of his life. A medal that showed him the best and worst of mankind. He kept it as a memory of the man that he lost. The greatest men he had ever met
My mind drifted to the secretary, Natalie. She was a part of the initial colonists. I could remember seeing her on the dreadnought. She never leaves the Captain's side. Whenever the Captain goes somewhere she shadows him with a clipboard in hand. You would think she is your average secretary. Until you see her eyes. She watches everyone and everything. She knows everyone and everything. Her smile is the most terrifying thing. She could smile at three people and send a different message to each of them ranging from "Hello and welcome" to "You will not wake up tomorrow".
Her small frame often made people doubt her combat skills. Such doubt often resulted in broken bones and stab wounds. She had a thing for bladed weapons. It was never a question IF she carries a knife with her but how many knives she carries. That doesn't mean she shies away from guns. On one of the mandatory weapons training sessions she completely eclipsed the hunters. Whoever she was I am glad she was on our side.
"Demon? Maybe. Cultured? Yes. You may enter now"-she answered.
As three men entered the other room the woman turned towards the platform.
"Mr. Geth would you kindly sit down and wait for the Captain?"- asked the female human.
The Geth saw no reason to not do that. Sitting down they could examine the room which they were in. Two doors, on opposite sides of the room, one from which they entered and the other leading to the Captain's room. They were sitting on a bench with a small table littered with papers. Upon closer examinations they were, in Citadel terms, newspapers and tabloids. Some of them were several years old while some were newer. The main page of few of them had titles like "Queens says Global Cooling a fear tactic by the mainland", "Heaviest Winter in recorded history!","Mass crop death leads to prices of vegetables and fruit on the rise.", "Africa in ruin. Weather becoming unpredictable" and apparently the last issue of the newspaper "The British Isles last stronghold of mankind but for how long?".
3 years. 3 years is all it took for their civilization to fall according to the dates on the newspaper. Yet they survived. The humans were tenacious creatures. To survive such a thing. Many other species would have fallen to these circumstances. They knew of the strange ability of organics to survive when the odds are stacked against them after the creators survived in space for so long but this was beyond parameters. For all intents and purposes the world they were currently on wouldn't be even be considered for tarraformation even.
The Geth were interested in what was going on behind the door. They rerouted additional power to audio receptors and picked up something.
An unknown voice presumably the Captain's:"…come from?"
Jacob answered"13 was delivering coal from the Winterhome Coal mines so anywhere between here and there…sir."
"I see. Well the story checks out last night the guard shift outside spotted two meteorites falling down one to the east, somewhere in the described position, and the other far west behind the mountains."- said the Captain.
The Geth terminal's programs went into overdrive. They thought the other half of the ship had been disintegrated on entry into the atmosphere but according to the Captain it had survived. The rear part of the ship contained the mass effect core, engines, repair drones and supplies for long range reconnaissance. They might not be able to repair the ship but they could build a beacon and launch it to send a distress signal. They did launch one before entering the atmosphere but the chances of it being functional were 60%. An acceptable percentage for organics but not for them.
"We should send a salvage team to bring it here who knows what it has."- Suddenly said Leon.
"First I will speak with this Geth automaton, by all right he owns those wrecks then we will decide. "
"What about the other half of the vessel?"-questioned Ivan.
"I have been planning something for a while but that doesn't matter right now. Thank you for your service men. I have already written for you and your families to get a little bonus rations for the week. Also since the Geth knows you best you will be showing him around our fair city. I will be making the announcement about our new guest on tomorrows morning's gathering. Please wait outside"
"Yes sir"-they said in unison.
The Geth attention shifted towards the woman on the desk. She was staring directly at their visual sensor. She had a small smile, but the smile never reached here eyes, and said "In our culture it is considered quite rude to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations"
Had the Geth been organics this would have terrified them. That's not to say they weren't affected. It unnerved them, how did she know? The Geth needed to say something and quickly. A single thought crossed the Geth combined consciousness. That woman could probably make an Asari matriarch cower in fear.
"We apologize."- Immediately said Geth unit.
"It's alright, you should know when trying to eavesdrop on someone you should draw as little attention as possible. Your mistake was the fact that you froze looking directly at the door. It was obvious. If you plan on being covert one must fool others that they have something better to do than cause trouble. For example you could have picked up one of those newspaper and make yourself appear interested in it."-Natalie informed them.
The three guards left the Captain's Cabin. "He is ready to see you."-said Jacob.
"Please enter ."-The Geth platform got up from the bench and walked towards the door. But right before entering the secretary looked directly into their visual sensor and said: "Right after you leave your weapon of course."- The Geth platform froze in place. They had carried their pulse rifle folded on their back. How did she know it was a weapon? A consensus later it was decided that this woman could definitely make an Asari matriarch cower in fear.
Quickly they removed the pulse rifle from their back and the human sidearm they found and laid them upon Natalie's desk. "You may continue now, your weapon will not be touched."-she said as she continued typing on the typewriter. And so they did.
The Captain's room was no bigger was a little bigger than the waiting room. On right side of it they were different object on display a strange circle shaped thing with the words "HMS" on top and the "Salvation" on the bottom, a piece of colored cloth ,reminiscent of Turian banners of the past, It was blue background with a red X over a larger white X and on top of them a large plus with red plus inside of it and beneath it a copper plaque saying : "Remember us". On the wall to the left was a large map of the local area centering on New London. The map looked like someone took a large piece of cloth and started drawing on it. Where Winterhome was supposed to be laid a large red X and under it was written Lumber Outpost. They were other point of interest Fishing village outpost, Coal mines, Potential Lookout outposts and many other, the Geth made sure to take a picture of the map, crude it might be but useful it was.
In the middle of the room stood a large desk, with paper sheets covering it. On the side was a sphere with drawing it in. The drawings were like the world maps they found in the research outpost. Most likely a representation of the planet. In the middle was a large typewriter like object. It had cables coming in and out of it leading towards the back of the room where a massive machine stood. It was like the ones back in the administrative section of the building but larger and more advanced. And behind the typewriter was sitting a man. The Captain.
The Captain wore a massive overcoat made out of reinforced leather that fit him perfectly. But the coat was just the first layer. All of his clothes were of similar make. They were on the outside made of reinforced leather, they had wool as inner lining and rubber was mostly used in the gloves and boots though traces could be found in his entire attire. On his side there was a large leather holder and in it was a massive sidearm it looked like the weapon they had found except this one was larger. Much larger, it had a blocky design unlike the weapon from before its barrel wasn't alone was it was surrounded by a rectangular parallelepiped. The cylinder for ammo storage was larger as well. The weapon looked powerful. Geth had the strongest kinetic barriers in the galaxy. However they did not want to try them out against that monstrosity of a weapon.
The man himself was taller than the observed humans until now. He looked older the Jacob but younger than Ivan. He had a short brown hair and lacked the beards some humans had. His face was passive his eyes however told a different story. Light blue eyes scanned the lone geth platform from top to bottom. He rose from his seat with hand behind his back.
"Welcome to New London, Geth. "-he said while extending his hand for handshake. The Geth platform obliged the gesture. "We have much to discuss"-continued the Captain
The Geth couldn't agree more. " Yes, Yes we do."
Alright big apologies for the long wait time a took all my exams but i failed one because of a single god damn thing needed 150 point out of 200 and had 140 so you can understand if i was a little ticked off. Still it doesnt explain the long wait time. I got lazy plus its spring break i would much rather be on the beach than on computer plus my entire sleep schedule is FUBAR.
Whatever I, BattleUnit3, apologize to you, the magnificent readers, for my inability to post.
The plan was to have the conversation with the Captain this episode but that fell. Like the rest of my life.
Reviews! Everybody likes those...right?
Vampirelord101: 1. Around 700 basically best case scenario for the city
2. I dont know most likely dead or a private city
3. Humanity *currently* does not need a military force but it the future its a given that they would put guns on the 10 meter tall metal giants
CReaper210: This story wont go to the far future but the sequels ,if it happens, will
CBase: Hunters rarely actually hunt since because of the storm most animals were wiped out even if they were sent to hunt its on capture alive orders. Animals are put in special building to breed them. Small animals dont expect polar bears. Hunter are usually scouts now to seek out places such other abandoned convoys, building or other cities.
Fecy: Nothing can stop that nightmare
MrMorriss: "So how are you finding the Citadel" "This place is such a waste of resource I would have shot the man who proposed it"
