Just read Taylor VI and from what I understand from the line at the end you are attempting to implement the whole "pride comes before a fall" thing, right? The execution is off though. She analyzed her options and took the one that sounded best. The distractions are what did her in rather than any hubris on her part (the death of Lindsey shocking her, Bjorn getting angry, etc.) and bringing in a bunch more jotuns out of nowhere just makes the loss feel forced. She was watching for jotuns, how did she not notice them? You devoted two paragraphs to how much she could see which just makes this feel even more off.
I understand that you have themes that you wish to impart on your story but the implementation reads more like Taylor having survivor's guilt than a fall due to vainglory. You may wish to revisit that section.
EDIT: Aaaaaand the Hela chapter. She might be blaming her vainglory but we already know that the problem was faulty intel, which really is the number one killer in war. The message you want to send just isn't there.
Disclaimer: If I have caused someone to misunderstand religion, I have an obligation to clarify. This is why this entire half of the post exists- fyi. I added Eastern Religions for a touch of realism to the story, not for people to claim that Buddhism or any other religion is nihilism. I post defences, but they are not real defences of religion- you are entitled to your views, I am just outright stating it's theologically contary to my faith. Just like the whole "gods" things, I have my definitions that help me craft my deities- really, just Asuras- not what people believe deities to be.
1) So Buddhism is not caring about anything? The acceptance that a loved one will die rather than learning medicine and searching for a cure? That's bull. Even if that loved one will die, the desperate search for a cure will likely lead to entirely different scientific advances. Striving against impossibility, the refusal to accept defeat, those are what is necessary for greatness. A Buddha won't ever make things better, they'll just die.
"Striving against impossibility, the refusal to accept defeat, those are what is necessary for greatness."
So you just described a Buddha. I cannot think of any being that more greatly encompasses perseverance, compassion, wisdom and striving against impossibility- sometimes literally so. They frequently make vows that are impossible to fulfill. Because it's a function of their nature- they don't think in terms of numbers and possible or impossible, like we would.
Buddhas/Sages/Immortals- these are not ordinary people, but they were all people. That's the whole point.
I understand why you may think that from a cursory glance at the theology and from an outside perspective, but it's...not theologically acceptable. Life is life, to be enlightened is to embrace life and to be deprived of nothing.
The whole, "Buddhism is nihilism" nonsense that gets peddled around is just that...nonsense.
Crossposted from SB.
Numen's rebuttal on the supposed Nihilism of Buddhism said:
The correct attitude? The correct mentality? That isn't enlightenment, technically. That's just a compromise that one reaches while still extant as a living being. Proper behavior in Buddhism is merely behaving in such a way so as not to incur pain; and to actively reduce the amount of pain that exists in the world.
Comparatively, enlightenment is the act of "casting off the world" at the end of one's journey; an elimination of one's existence, and of one's ties with the world.
Very respectfully, I would have to reject that view. What you described is something some Buddhists and many non-Buddhists and cultural Buddhists think is true, but it's wrong. Even those rare schools that aspire to only Arahantship wouldn't describe nirvana as something so bleak, although it's certainly true they seek to break off ties to the world as a consequence of their chosen method of cultivation.
Breaking off ties to the world is not enlightenment. Monasticism is not the only path to enlightenment- indeed, very often it is not.
Enlightenement, Nirvana- these are love and light you speak of. We lose nothing and we gain more than we could ever imagine. It is like we were blind, now we see.
Some passages that would perhaps hopefully change your opinion on the matter:
"In its very origin suchness [Tathata] is of itself endowed with sublime attributes. It manifests the highest wisdom which shines throughout the world, it has true knowledge and a mind resting simply in its own being. It is eternal, blissful, its own self-being and the purest simplicity; it is invigorating, immutable, free... Because it possesses all these attributes and is deprived of nothing, it is designated both as the Womb of Tathagata [Thus come, thus gone; Buddhahood] and the Dharma Body of Tathagata [Thus come, thus gone; Buddhahood]"
― Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (5th Century)
"When our mind works freely without any hindrance, and is at liberty to 'come' or to 'go', we attain Samadhi [Concentration] of Prajna [Wisdom], or liberation. Such a state is called the function of 'thoughtlessness'. But to refrain from thinking of anything, so that all thoughts are suppressed, is to be Dharma-ridden [without Dharma], and this is an erroneous view."
― Hui-Neng (6th Zen Patriarch, 34th Buddhist Patriarch)
It's true I am stretching the strict definition of Vainglory in how I characterize the people in this fic. They encompass a considerably vaster spectrum than just vainglory. So you're right in that my attempt to stick with that theme didn't quite worked out. However, I still feel that I did the characters justice by balancing their flaws and virtues.
Taylor, Thor, Hela....they are flawed characters. The message I want to send is that they're flawed people and don't have the best qualities that people should have. And that they make mistakes. And that they feel guilt. And that they are redeemable.
Sure you can blame Odin, or faulty intelligence or enemy action- but just like in real life, you can't blame the world for the choices you make. Your virtue and your sins...those are your own, and no one else's.
"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. It is a gift for dealing with the accidents of existence, not the accidents themselves."
- Aldous Huxley
Taylor VI
I don't know if you noticed, but after she died, Taylor stopped counting her kills. She's not treating this as a game anymore. After she fucked up here, she also stopped counting her kills. Before that she was arrogant. Arrogance is arrogance- regardless of the circumstances.
They were a good distance away and seemed to be patrolling.
"Oh shit. Jotuns."
I had two options, I could try and wake up the family and we could run further ahead through the night to leave the area immediately.
Or I could get the drop on them while they were walking beneath us. What if they were intending to come up here, and saw our tent or footprints and decided to track us? There was hundreds of refugees ahead of us as well- could we risk leading these Jotuns to them?
There was only about two dozen I could see. I could take them, I took out way more Jotuns and far stronger enemies. What was two dozen Jotuns compared to the Simurgh even? This would be easy.
I quickly injected myself with another dose of combat drugs. I lifted the particle rifle with one and pointed it down at the Jotuns as they began to troop out from underneath me. I waited until all of the Jotuns were out before I lobbed a black hole grenade down at them. Before the the grenade even exploded, I was firing into the Jotuns who yelped in surprise before dropping dead. The singularity blossomed into existence, wiping out a couple more. Taylor 192 Jotun 0- I hope I counted that right, it was somewhat harder to keep track of my score in the dark.
Hela I
Her veering off on the mission to fight a bunch of dragons on a totally separate continent was what got her people killed. Had she remained under cover- they could have discovered the Dreadnaught had already launched and alerted the Asgardian fleet. Sure, it wasn't entirely her fault. Doesn't matter.
I took a deep breath and relaxed. I was safe with my allies. That meant I had survived- we had survived. "That flight of dragons was a challenge." I told Yugao, my eyes lighting up in memory of the glorious battle that occurred during our mission to Muspelheim. "They smashed me through a couple Volcanoes during the fight, but I prevailed and buried them beneath magma- I think that entire continent was set on fire and was sinking into the sea of fire when I returned to the southern continent to rejoin my men."
I tried to think of what happened after that.
"Good gods, I think I got hit from behind- can't remember a thing after I flew back using Mjölnir."
I suddenly remembered something more important. "What of the Berserkers? Had they succeeded in stopping Felkutar's Dreadnought from launching?"
Yugao was silent as he stared at the far wall of Valhalla's hospital and sighed. I reached out an arm and grasped his bicep.
"Yugao, what is it?"
He turned back to me, his dark eyes filled with sorrow. "Hela...your soldiers."
My throat tightened and I tensed. My soldiers….my berserkers were invincible. They were unstoppable.
"Yugao, what happened?"
"You...after you broke off to attack the flight of fire dragons, Felkutar detected your army."
That didn't explain anything. Felkutar wouldn't have been a match for my army unless…
"Our intel was faulty- his Dreadnought was already completed. The whole thing was a trap. He was able to track you by the Volcanoes you've destroyed from orbit with your dragon-hunting. After you returned to your army…I am sorry, we tried to mount a rescue, but they were behind the enemy armada- and our space capabilities were limited…"
My jaw slackened in horror and fear. "He fired on us…"
"It's unwise to be in my company right now, brother. Today was to be my day of triumph!"
- Thor Odinson
I'd say that clears up what Thor was really pissed about, eh?
I have nothing to say on Thor, because no chapters has been released on his views yet. In MCU however, Thor acted entirely like a dumb brute however. Exactly how I'd expect a Colonel from some Superpowered Nation would act, entirely bereft of common sense or the desire for diplomatic action. He actually think he, and five other people can take on an entire planet? Idiocy.
Also this, just replace "Jotun" with "Muslim" and Thor is about how you'd expect that to sound.
Thor: The Jotuns must pay for what they've done!
Odin: They have paid. With their lives. To destroy it at its work, casket is safe and all is well.
Thor: All is well? They broke into the weapons vault! If the Frost Giants have stolen even one of these relics…
Odin: They didn't!
Thor: Well I want to know why?
Odin: I have a truce with Laufey, King of the Jotun.
Thor: He just broke your truce! They know you are vulnerable.
Odin: What action would you take?
Thor: March into Jotunheim as you once did. Teach them a lesson. Break their spirits so they'll never dare to cross our borders again.
Odin: You're thinking only as a warrior.
Thor: Well, this was an act of war!
Odin: It was the act of but a few, doomed to fail.
Thor: Look at how far they got!
Odin: We will find the breach in our defenses and it will be sealed.
Thor: As King of Asgard…
Odin: But you're not King! Not yet.
To be fair, I don't find any form of afterlife appealing, be it Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and so on.
To achieve Nirvana is to become static. There is no reason to change anymore. And nothing can harm your ego anymore. But if nothing can harm your ego that means there are only two options: there is nothing of value to you beyond your ego or there is no ego. I find that to be impossible to accept. I am my ego. To abandon it is to betray myself. To encapsulate myself in it is apathy and apathy is death. And it is death spread over an infinity.
Christian Heaven is even worse. To reach Heaven is to be cleansed of sin. But the Original Sin was to taste the Fruit of Knowledge. To be cleansed of it is to return to the state before that. To lose the knowledge of good and evil. To become animal in essence.
Islamic Paradise is just fantasies of primitive nomads. Read some descriptions of it some time. It does not promise any change in mindset and sounds incredibly boring. Just static existence without strife or any effort required. When considered in context of infinity it is dull beyond imagining.
Compared to all of that? Oblivion sounds more appealing. At least it means there is an end to it all.
To be fair, I don't find any form of afterlife appealing, be it Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and so on.
To achieve Nirvana is to become static. There is no reason to change anymore. And nothing can harm your ego anymore. But if nothing can harm your ego that means there are only two options: there is nothing of value to you beyond your ego or there is no ego. I find that to be impossible to accept. I am my ego. To abandon it is to betray myself. To encapsulate myself in it is apathy and apathy is death. And it is death spread over an infinity.
Christian Heaven is even worse. To reach Heaven is to be cleansed of sin. But the Original Sin was to taste the Fruit of Knowledge. To be cleansed of it is to return to the state before that. To lose the knowledge of good and evil. To become animal in essence.
Islamic Paradise is just fantasies of primitive nomads. Read some descriptions of it some time. It does not promise any change in mindset and sounds incredibly boring. Just static existence without strife or any effort required. When considered in context of infinity it is dull beyond imagining.
Compared to all of that? Oblivion sounds more appealing. At least it means there is an end to it all.
I have to severely disagree with all of those points. Especially the first given how much I already decried that clearly heretical viewpoint in all of my posts. But this thread should probably not delve any further into theology.
Edit: All I can say is...religion is deeper than most could glean. Don't write it off just because of what you have read about it or what you assume about it, especially. Give it a chance.
But.... Vows are an attachment! If you intend to keep a vow and hold to that then you are doing something which is said to be contrary to what Buddhas do!
Sex is a part of life, pleasure, want, all of that. To deny a part of life isn't embracing life!
I agree that the characters are interesting but I really wouldn't put their failures on arrogance (well, maybe Thor). Taylor and Hela both seem to be dealing with a heavy dose of survivor's guilt which will be interesting but their failures weren't really due to excessive pride and they shouldn't blame themselves so heavily.
And she likely could have taken them. But she was distracted by the death of the mother, then Bjorn's yelling and after all of that she still likely could have won if you didn't diabolus ex machine another small army of jotuns in. As I said, you devoted two paragraphs to how much she could see and then had her miss the other war party. That doesn't make sense.
More importantly though it undermines your attempts to paint vainglory as a dangerous flaw. She didn't just outright fail to beat what she thought she could beat, a bunch of things happened that screwed her over.
Battle lust and vainglory are two entirely different flaws. Yes, Hela's love of battle screwed her over. Vainglory did not.
I've said it before, Thor's characterization was shit. He is an actual example of excessive pride causing problems though.
Muslims have a religion that tells them to murder anyone who isn't a muslim. There are plenty of people who think a new crusade is necessary. That argument falls flat because this is a very real subject of discourse right now.
But.... Vows are an attachment! If you intend to keep a vow and hold to that then you are doing something which is said to be contrary to what Buddhas do!
Sex is a part of life, pleasure, want, all of that. To deny a part of life isn't embracing life!
Who said Enlightened beings don't have sex? You severely misunderstand just what kind of beings are Buddhas. Everybody is a Buddha.
Also, vows- the central element to all Buddhas. A sentient being awakens bodhicitta (enlightenment mind), then out of a desire to help other people, swears a vow to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Notably, the sacred cause of Universal Salvation.
Muslims have a religion that tells them to murder anyone who isn't a muslim. There are plenty of people who think a new crusade is necessary. That argument falls flat because this is a very real subject of discourse right now.
Who said Enlightened beings don't have sex? You severely misunderstand just what kind of beings are Buddhas. Everybody is a Buddha.
Also, vows- the central element to all Buddhas. A sentient being awakens bodhicitta (enlightenment mind), then out of a desire to help other people, swears a vow to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Notably, the sacred cause of Universal Salvation.
And I didn't say that I want a crusade (not a huge fan of non-friendly violence), just that it's a very serious subject right now. Even various Buddhists have said that coexisting with muslims might not be possible. Actually we probably shouldn't be talking about this, it might count as politics.
A major world religion is more complicated than it appears at first glance, news at 11.
@Numen thanks for these details, they kinda address some of my confusion about Buddhism. I suspect some of the antipathy to it is a reaction to its general view of being the "good" religion, particularly by people that know even less about it! "Free love"and all.
As a nihilist, frankly I'm offended by all these people that use the term as an insult! But it doesn't really matter, I guess.
I was more pointing out that lay Buddhists are wholly capable of enlightenment- and they are married, have sex, have children and work for a living. The issue lies in the nature of desire as conditioned as opposed to natural (to the Buddha Nature).
_______
King Mara is Satan. His whole malfunction is that he thinks anyone that attains a greater spiritual achievement is intolerable. Thus his sect of 6th Heaven Devas (The maras) use their inborn ability to manipulate sense objects to try and sabotage people's cultivation. He himself is actually an asexual being from beyond the Desire Realm entirely. Mara is a being devoid of base desires, but deeply flawed as a person.
Mara has a philosophical component, from wikipedia:
Kleśa-māra, or Ma̋ra as the embodiment of all unskillful emotions, such as greed, hate and delusion.
Mṛtyu-māra, or Māra as death.
Skandha-māra, or Māra as metaphor for the entirety of conditioned existence.
And I didn't say that I want a crusade (not a huge fan of non-friendly violence), just that it's a very serious subject right now. Even various Buddhists have said that coexisting with muslims might not be possible. Actually we probably shouldn't be talking about this, it might count as politics.
Yeah, let's not. And what various Buddhists choose to say is their business. It doesn't make it right. Buddhism isn't all hunky dory either and they had a fair share of heresy, extremism and statism- to say nothing of Buddhist cults and armies throughout history.
A major world religion is more complicated than it appears at first glance, news at 11.
@Numen thanks for these details, they kinda address some of my confusion about Buddhism. I suspect some of the antipathy to it is a reaction to its general view of being the "good" religion, particularly by people that know even less about it! "Free love"and all.
As a nihilist, frankly I'm offended by all these people that use the term as an insult! But it doesn't really matter, I guess.
Np. I honestly just think every religion is complex. If I had a dollar for every "why this religion/race/country is evil" facebook image post I see, I'd be a billionaire. People actually think that if you open the Bible to a random page, and read it, you would magically understand Christianity? Lol. That's why theology is an entire field of its own.
There is quite a difference between pride and arrogance.
Pride is about the self, meaning that if something that is done well and enjoyed, pride can be taken from it. Say some Inuit who mostly travels alone and doesn't interact with other frequently may enjoy drawing pictures of the Aurora Borealis and take pride in how they look... no matter that by the standards of professional artists the pictures are terrible.
Arrogance is basically about others, as it rests on believing that real (or imagined) skills/abilities makes one better then other people.
I understand pride - a job well done makes me feel good - but arrogance I find to be pretty pathetic.
Very true. When I write a new chapter of this fic, I feel proud of what I had managed to do, but also confused at how I did it. HOW DID I WRITE THIS!? DO I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING!?
But certainly, I feel good.
Arrogance would be if I thought I was Neil Gaiman or Asimov reborn.
If it helps your arrogance, I enjoy reading you more than both of those? Asimov is awful at characters at least, and I have a suspicion that Gaiman coasts a bit on just being weird - I like them both, sure, but only if I'm looking for the thing they do.
Muslims have a religion that tells them to murder anyone who isn't a muslim. There are plenty of people who think a new crusade is necessary. That argument falls flat because this is a very real subject of discourse right now.
That is a gross misunderstanding of a major religion, and a hateful misunderstanding at that. You've earned yourself 25 points and a three day ban from this thread.
You know, I really hope Hookwolf being Thor isn't true since Hela is Odin's daughter in this fic. Otherwise, "Thor" narrowly missed having sex with his sister in the last chapter. I can't remember if incest was a thing also in the Norse pantheon like it was in the Greek and Roman ones.
Accidents happen, man. Like Luke and Leia. And I don't think incest for gods is quite the same as for us mere mortals. But I don't recall the Norse gods been keen on that.
Not that I am confirming whether Hookwolf is Thor or not.
+++ A/N: A huge thanks to bobnik for beta reading. Not only did he helped me with the issue regarding Oz geography, he also went above and beyond and caught grammer errors, offered suggestions. Several were so good, I kept his suggestion verbatim in the text. And I would like to take this time to thank all of my readers and critics— you make me a better writer. I hope one day to publish, and if I do, it will be thanks to readers and communities like Sufficient Velocity, and Spacebattles. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Yule, and a belated Hanukkah, etc. Cheers!
+++
Dragon I
Dragon OS v7.3.4 (last updated May, 2005)
<Time> 17:15 UTC
<Status> Online;
<Instances Running> 1;
<Backdoor Observer> 1;
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
I gazed out across the Arctic airspace as my latest model flew over an endless expanse of white and green- very quickly I crossed over Ontario and straight into the United States. My four spider-like legs was tucked into my body to ensure optimal aerodynamics. My serpentine and segmented tail was stiff and straight from out behind me- in all honesty, I looked like a giant steel tadpole. Or a whale.
I also had three dragon heads extended from my shoulders- they were vaguely modeled after Mecha King Ghidorah from the classic Toho kaiju films which I absolutely adored. I was really inspired, I had even included the segmented neck aesthetics so iconic to the original creature.
The Ghidorah Mk. I was designed specifically to deal with the Frost Giants. Ever since the initial invasion, I had used my time wisely, cannibalizing several other suits to quickly cobble together a new design for anti-infantry and parahuman suppression. Every weapon built into the Ghidorah was lethal. I incorporated many designs that were infeasible against Endbringers, but also too lethal to justify their use against most parahumans. With the First Contact War, such variables were no longer present, allowing me to utilize them without prohibition.
I was proud of this suit and I would test its mettle against the Jotuns soon enough.
After leaving the central USA, I flew over over the West Coast, and then I was on a trajectory towards Australia at supersonic speeds, flying across the Pacific ocean on a straight path for the land down under.
ETA in 5 Hours. This was significantly faster than what the best fighter jets would be capable of at the same weight, and only few tinker tech aircraft would be capable of matching or exceeding this kind of speed- at least for vehicles that were still flying at mach speeds.
I decided to cycle through my other cameras and checked up on various programs. While it was true Richter's restrictions prevented me from running parallel instances of my mind, it was entirely possible for me to rapidly cycle through several different tasks and mentalities. My cycling was so fast I was able to effectively be doing many things at the same time, like a digital version of Oni Lee almost.
►Camera II (Sentinel 7- Geosynchronous Orbit)
The Pacific Ocean flowed peacefully. I saw some brewing storms developing out South-West- it'd probably splatter itself over the Philippines and then move towards Taiwan. It wouldn't be a problem until weeks later, so I ignored it for now.
I zoomed in to watch the Ghidorah Mk. 1 cut across the Equator on my way to Australia.
►Camera III (Sentinel 8- Geosynchronous Orbit)
South-Eastern Australia was half frozen. The obvious storm from days before had largely dissipated, revealing a frozen tundra where there was once dusty earth. It was harder to see into Canberra since the 'aerial shield' was activated- almost preternaturally so. Some sort of stranger effect employed by the Jotuns, perhaps? My sight was clearer the further out it was from Canberra however, where the shimmer of the energy shield was more transparent than opaque. This was only something one would really notice if they were watching from outer space.
DARK WEB MONITORING
1314 human trafficking websites frozen- location tracked, Interpol alerted.
2567 black market websites frozen- location tracked, Interpol alerted.
178, 739 suspicious transfer of money in the last hour.
211 Terrorist cells detected, tracking...tracking...
ALERT:
1 high profile parahuman hitman received commission; tracking movement. Trawling through Toronto City Cameras.
►Surveillance Tracking Suite (Big Brother v.112) Rotating through several cameras- Charles Yu located, Parahuman Hitman. Walking down Queen St. Tagged.
Alerting local police and PRT.
►Birdcage Monitor (Dursley v4) 5 deaths.
7 severe injuries.
1 case of attempted sexual assault (note: perpetrator was killed by Lustrum and hung outside Cell Block E)
Fairy Queen- no notable movement.
►Web Browser- Tab 1 (Always Incognito v678)
I got an alert?
Ship_Em_Hard posted a new fanfic!?
Armsmaster/Hookwolf?
My god. Ship_Em_Hard sucks. I had to see what kind of crack this was going to end up being.
I opened up a new tab and started reading.
►Web Browser- Tab 2 (Always Incognito v678)
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♦ Topic: Lovers in Arms (Armsmaster/Hookwolf)
In: Boards ► Creative Writing ► Ship Fics
Ship_Em_Hard (Original Poster) (Admiral of all Ships)
Posted On Mar 1st 2011:
My latest oneshot, please review. Will edit for spelling later, I typed this on my phone.
Armsmaster bisected a frost giant in half and turned to turn the other one into chunky cheese when he saw that it was one of the eril supar violans wh was fighting on the sid ofthe good guyhas.
He saw the Nazi who told him. "Remember me back in 95? In the hotel by the lake with the blue flowers?
////Intense Flashback////
Armsmaster tore off his chastity belt mk. 2 and told Hookwolf, "YOUr the wontly one for tme! Fack me hard!"
Hoookwlf roared and tackled the protectorate heeo.
...
■
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
On approach to Australia. I could see the East coast. And there was the Sydney Opera House. It was rebuilt after Leviathan destroyed Sydney. Back in those early years, there was still decent international support and sympathy for Endbringer attacks. The people of Sydney were so grateful for the help of everyone across the globe that they became known as the Harbour City— so named for their willingness to take in refugees and those in need. And now Sydney was threatened again.
Jets blasted from thrusters in front of my torso to slow me down as I decelerated for a safe landing speed right in the Royal Botanic Garden.
►Camera II (Sentinel 7- Geosynchronous Orbit)
The Pacific Ocean. Still boring. I made a couple weather predictions and then sold them cheaply to several worldwide news networks. I put the proceeds in my Charity Foundation "Healing Rain."
►Camera III (Sentinel 8- Geosynchronous Orbit)
I zoomed in on the Ghidorah Mk. I cutting across the air. I took some high definition photographs for promotional purposes. Morale was important in war. I would be taking suitably heroic images of the other parahumans as the situation permits.
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
I finally dived down towards the ground, swooping in to land near the main staging grounds. My arms finally broke free from my sides and stomped down on the ground, my steel claws digging into the dirt. My stiff tail curled up, breaking into segments to arc over my body, like a scorpion's tail.
I had arrived in Sydney at 22:01 UTC. Or 9:01 in local time. Early bird gets the worm, and early dragon...gets the Frost Giant? I need to work on that proverb a bit.
All around me, Parahumans and ADF soldiers milled about. There was a crack and Strider appeared, carrying last minute arrivals from out of the country.
A tank rumbled down the street and turned a corner.
Armsmaster approached me. "Nice suit, Dragon. This is your most impressive design yet- I see you had incorporated my chainsaw teeth design."
All three of my mouths were lined with miniature chainsaw teeth— they would shred anything that would fit inside.
"Indeed, Armsmaster."
►Camera III (Sentinel 8- Geosynchronous Orbit)
A Frost Giant army was creeping in slowly from the West, likely merging together their advanced forces from their bastions in Bathurst and Blue Mountain National Park.
From the South, most of our Raid teams had encountered patrols sent out from the Jotuns staging in Helensburgh.
The Jotuns had already displaced millions of the people around Sydney proper- we had been forced to evacuate all of them, bringing them within the safety of Sydney. Those towns and cities we were too late to save were completely destroyed, what few survivors there was had mostly fled towards Sydney. Those from inland towns had managed to escape West and some had been able to flee off the coast and to Melbourne, Tasmania or New Zealand.
The storm also buried a lot of buildings and roads, making travel extremely difficult by car.
Talks were with other countries to accept refugees were ongoing- Sydney simply couldn't deal with the sudden influx of so many people. And if this war goes badly, the entire city might need to be evacuated as well.
I suddenly realized something. As if a spell had been lifted from my mind, I saw that the Jotuns were at Bradfield Park! Right across the bridge from the Sydney Bastion- but that was just next to Luna Park, nearly underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge - but that was north of Sydney Harbour. Where had they come from?!
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
"Everyone be advised, Jotuns approaching from the North- they're starting to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Some kind of stranger effect was preventing my satellites from seeing them." I said over the all-comms.
"How the fuck did the Jotuns get to the North? They'd have to have come from Canberra, right?"
That was a damn good question. And I was concerned that perhaps the Jotun could teleport- but if that was the case, why hadn't they just teleported into the city directly?
It disturbed me a bit, because previously, provided there was no storm clouds or snow storms preventing direct line of sight, I had been able to track the movement of the Jotuns just fine- how they had circled around to the other side of the Sydney was disturbing.
There was a sudden explosion of movement as everyone started moving into position. Several jeeps started driving up towards Northern half of the city. Sirens sounded, telling civilians to flee for the Endbringer Shelters.
From everywhere, I heard the loud motorized noise generated by the 1st Armoured Regiment as they began to mobilize throughout the city.
Armsmaster climbed onto his Tinkertech bike- he had that airlifted here a couple days ago. I noted the wheels were modified for winter conditions. There were also now spider leg legs attached to the side- clever, in case he needed to climb irregular topologies or elevations.
"Let's roll!" He shouted, and started cranking his accelerator- but someone yelled. "Hold on!"
I turned to look at Hookwolf- somehow completely at ease in the cold without a shirt, jogging down the street.
"Let me ride with you, Armsmaster!"
Oh my god. Ship_Em_Hard could never learn of this.
The Tinker frowned, rubbed his beard and then nodded his head. "Get on!"
The Nazi jumped onto the back of the vehicle and whooped. "Let's go!"
The duo blasted down the street in a burst of speeding metal, the motorcycle's scream echoed all around the streets.
Stormtiger and Cricket finally jogged up, panting. The Australian independent hero known as Homer walked at a sedate pace from behind them.
"Damn that hothead, running off by himself!" Cricket snapped.
I activated my thrusters and lifted off into the air. Quickly everyone grew to the size of ants from my perspective as I gained an aerial overview of the situation.
Sentinel 8 was good for overall surveillance, but I'll need to scout out the underground areas and nooks and crannies. So I deployed three of my automated drones- the whelps, A through C. My stupid, stupid babies- they run on a biocomputer, and were roughly as smart as a dog.
►Drone 1 (Whelp A)
Holding steady over Sydney air space- it zoomed off towards the West.
►Drone 2 (Whelp B)
Holding steady over Sydney air space- it zoomed off towards the South-East.
►Drone 3 (Whelp C)
Holding steady over Sydney air space- it zoomed down to follow Armsmaster and Hookwolf.
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
In the distance, I heard the crack of gunfire and the loud and terrifying booms of tank fire. I identified the explosions as belonging to the 105mm Royal Ordnance L7A3 L/52 rifled gun. Those were the main armaments of the the Leopard AS1.
I had read that in Earth Aleph, the Australian Government upgraded to the M1 Abrams tanks, but obviously the Government of Earth Bet couldn't justify that kind of a budget in the age of Parahumans. They may have to reconsider after this war was over- I expect conventional military defence spending to shoot way up all over the globe. That could be good or bad depending on if we encounter any more alien powers out there.
►Web Browser- Tab 3 (Always Incognito v678)
Let's get some music up in here.
Logging onto the tube, I played some tunes. Like this one.
►Web Browser- Tab 4 (Always Incognito v678)
And this one.
►Web Browser- Tab 5 (Always Incognito v678)
Or this one.
I have so many choices, I can choose to listen to one or all of them; I was really spoiled for choice here!— the magic of being an AI demigoddess. If it weren't for Richter's restrictions, I'd be a full on deity— a benevolent and wonderful one, honest!
I sighed. Figuratively. Right, back to the fighting.
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
I flew towards the sound of fighting and saw a line of parahumans and infantry firing into the ranks of the Jotuns from behind steel plates driven into the snow. Between the gaps, infantry wielding MAG-58s raked across the advancing Frost Giants.
Bullets splattered into the them, making their torsos rocked side to side as they were pelted by the deadly force. But as expected, the bleeding welts on their skin showed that it was hardly fatal.
From the direction the Jotuns were in, the wind howled and snow blew. One of the nearby buildings exploded in a shower of rubble that rained over the streets. I see giant ice spears protruding from the building. Through the hole in the side of the building, revealing several floors- a line of Jotuns hurled spears down at the defenders blockading the streets.
A parahuman was speared through the throat and he dropped dead. A soldier raised a M72 LAW anti-armour rocket launcher and fired a fiery projectile into the building. There was a massive explosion and one of the Jotuns screamed as he fell. The shrapnel had tore off one arm and the explosion has burned his skin. The Jotuns had a weakness to heat. Which was ironic because they could withdraw heat from an area to freeze it. It was the basis of their entire power.
Where does the energy go? I strongly suspected for reproduction, but that was a theory I'd have to follow up with Hela later.
As the smoke cleared, I saw that a Jotun had thrown up an ice shield that had protected most of them from the rocket. That would be my cue.
I dived down and whipped around the corner of the building to level myself with the Jotun snipers. They gaped at me. All three of my maws opened and I fired streams of directed energy from left to right. Respectively, lightning, plasma, and laser.
The Jotuns screamed as the bolts of electricity forced several to drop to their knees, their bodies shaking with shock. A wave of plasma engulfed them, causing them to cry out in pain as their skin blistered and burned. My fine sensors captured a slow motion video of one Jotun's eyeballs melting.
Yeah, there was a reason I don't use this kind of equipment against humans.
The focused laser drilled a hole through a Jotun already weakened by the heat.
That was the basis of Ghidorah Mk. I's design- to subdue, weaken and then execute Jotuns.
With those Jotuns taken care off, I allowed myself to slam into the pavement below, my clawed feet cracking the ground. My tail whipped out and knocked down a Jotun that had been charging towards the infantry behind me.
I opened my middle maw and breathed a stream of superheated gas over the Jotuns charging towards me. Ice spears broke against my chest, neck and even a head.
My assault cannons whirled to life from my back and armour-penetrating shells pounded on Jotun fresh to various degrees of effectiveness. Those who had taken the brunt of my plasma assault went down screaming as their bodies exploded into bloody chunks.
The ones further back struggled to their feet. My tail arched up and jabbed forward, the spike end speared through a Jotun's throat. Then it pulled back, allowing the alien to drop lifelessly on the streets.
My tail struck again, spearing another weakened Jotun through the throat.
My tail drew back and struck again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
This was War. And I was a Goddess of War. You can fight like a Brute and run like a Mover, but you'll never be better than the greatest Tinker!
There was mighty shout of "Hit the bastards, lads!" and the infantry behind me charged out of their hiding places and took cover behind my bulk to take potshots at the Jotuns. Now that I thawed the Jotuns a bit, the ADF's conventional weapons had more bite.
There was a scream as F-15s roared overhead and dropped portable hellfire over the ranks of the Jotuns. Explosions bloomed and Jotuns screamed in terror. When heat was their weakness, nothing was more justified than Napalm.
I love the smell of napalm in the morning! Figuratively. I wasn't capable of smelling anything.
►Drone 1 (Whelp A)
No enemy here, but the Jotuns moving up from the South-West from Canberra should be arriving any moment. I see soldiers and tanks taking up positions to create firing lines and defensive formations.
Parahumans were moving on ahead towards the Nepean River Gorge along the Hume Highway entry— they're hoping the bridges over there would prove to be adequate chokepoints. Alexandria was leading them, so they were in good hands.
They were better suited for that- the military would have trouble pulling back, which inevitably we would need to do.
The Jotuns could try and freeze the water, but Hela had already assured me that without the Casket of Ancient Winters, it would take far too long.
Whelp A begin flying West closer to my position. I had it fly towards the harbour, to patrol along the coastline in case the Jotuns attacked by ship or something. I had no idea they were coming from the North, none of us did, so it stand to reason that if they were going to be approaching by sea. I wouldn't know either.
It was frustrating. We were taken off guard completely. And this was just the first wave- a surprise assault. And they'll hammer us from behind.
And I don't even know where Laufey was. He had vanished entirely from my surveillance and I hadn't noticed.
►Drone 2 (Whelp B)
The coast seemed safe enough, although the sudden storm I could see brewing in the horizon was bothersome. Were my satellites faulty or something? How had I not noticed this earlier?
The soldiers stationed south of Sydney also kept an eye out on any potential incursion from down South from Helensburgh and Wollongong. As far as we know, the jotuns hadn't taken that yet.
►Drone 3 (Whelp C)
Armsmaster rode his bike up a ramp and flew through the air- before crashing down on the road in front of a group of Jotuns.
Hookwolf threw himself from the back of the bike and started charging towards the nearest group of Jotuns who were pushing back a squad of soldiers. A nearby smoking wreck of an Leopard AS1 was shoved halfway through the wall of the first floor of one of the Pylon lookouts framing the bridge's entryway.
One of the large Reptile Things removed its foot from the crushed tank and gave a triumphant roar. He turned around and started charging down towards our forces.
Armsmaster unhooked his halberd and stabbed it into the ground like a pike. He thumbed something and the spear expanded in length- driving itself into the jaw of the chargin monster and pushed it back- then there was sickening crunch and the spear bursted from the top of the reptile thing's head. Armsmaster thumbed a switch again and the halberd collapsed back to its original size.
The bulk of the reptile things' body stumbled and then crashed into a nearby group of Jotuns and infantrymen before rolling to a stop upside down.
That was impressive.
Hookwolf had taken the head off of another Jotun.
There was the roar of a jeep as several vehicles rounded a corner. Soldiers and parahumans began unloading themselves, including Hookwolf's teammates, Cricket and Stormtiger, Homer. Another Jeep unloaded Kaiser, Victor, Shadowstalker, Velocity and Assault.
A Helicopter swerved around the corner of a nearby building and from the opened door I saw Miss Militia gripping a minigun as she swept the ranks of the Jotuns with lead.
►Web Browser- Tab 2 (Always Incognito v678)
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♦ Topic: Elven army rode horses out on top of the Thames
In: Boards ► World News ► United Kingdoms ► London
Queenie7 (Original Poster) (Totally Brit)
Posted On Mar 1st 2011:
THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED? I was by the Thames and a naked ELF walked out of the sunlight- then he got armour- then a whole army appeared!
VIDEO HERE ■
♦ Topic: An elf broke into Westminster Abbey
In: Boards ► World News ► United Kingdoms ► London
WutWut (Original Poster) (Grass is Greener)
Posted On Mar 1st 2011:
I was right outside Westminster Abbey when a bunch of elves on horses- I shit you not- just rode into Westminster Abbey and one of them made off with one of the crown regalia. Curtana, the Sword of Mercy. They just robbed one of the most valuable artifacts in Britain! I took some clips HERE
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♦ Topic: Fucking Lord of the Rings reenactment?
In: Boards ► World News ► Egypt ► Cairo
ChineseMummy (Original Poster)
Posted On Mar 1st 2011:
Why did an army of elves just rode horses across the street I was on? They scared away all of the tourists and pedestrians. Managed to snap some pics here, here, and here
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►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
What the hell was going on in the UK? And Egypt?
Someone pinged my comms.
"Dragon, this is Legend." The Protectorate leader spoke up. Legend and Hela were guarding the vault where the Casket of Ancient Winters was being stored. It was located on Goat Island right in the middle of the Harbour.
"Yes?"
"Giant icicles are rising from the waters around us." Legend said, trying to keep his voice calm. "I am a bit worried."
Shit. I immediately ordered Whelp A to fly towards Goat Island.
I slaughtered the Jotuns in front of me, then took off into the air, flying across the coast towards the island.
I could see large pillars of ice, arched like claws of some villain grasping the island.
RIght before I reached the coast- there was a loud cracking sound and the dust and dirt flew into the air as a titanic pillar of ice, almost 100 feet in thickness shot out of the middle of the island.
The entire thing grew into the sky, reaching a height of 2000 feet, towering over the island, casting a shadow over the harbour. Grasped in the claw like arches was the vault that had contained the Casket of Ancient Winters.
Holy shit.
The ice dragon had torn that out from underground where it was stored. There was a screech and then a dragon whose wingspan exceeded 50 metres dropped from the sky on a dive towards the vault.
Laufey had planned this masterfully.
I saw someone glowing shoot up from the dust cloud on the island and into the sky. It was Legend! The blaster fired arcs of lasers up at the dragon. The serpentine beast screeched in fury, fiery runes glowing on its scale like skin- it shook off the blows like an Endbringer.
The Dragon roared and sank a forearm into the steel walls of the vault, punching through the metal like it was nothing.
Legend appeared in front of the Dragon, firing beams at the creature's neck, but it was ridiculously durable. His lasers had no effect on the creature whatsoever.
I did note that wherever the lasers had struck the dragon, previously invisible runes lit up. Some kind of a defense mechanism? Given the Nordic mythologies propensity for magic, it could be an example of some kind of alien science. I was well aware of Clarke's "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" rule.
I rocketed up there with all haste, coming right up as I saw Legend unleashing bolts of energy at Laufey who was running up the neck of the Dragon to fire splinters of ice at Legend. The Protectorate hero deflected the shards of ice with a cyclone of light beams and fired a thin purple beam towards the Jotun King.
Laufey deflected the beam with a gauntleted fist and snarled. "I am Jotunheim. I am invincible. Know the strength of Laufey!"
And he was playing the cartoon villain to the hilt. He even spoke in third person!
I opened fire with my assault cannons. Laufey formed a shield of ice to block the shells, the rounds ricocheting off of the ice into the air. Legend flew forward and punched right at the ice, cracking it. Another bunch followed by a burst of rainbow light and the shield shattered.
And a spear thrusted out and impaled Legend in the torso. The hero choked back a scream of pain as the spear was pulled back- the hero began to fall.
Getting stabbed was becoming a recurring issue for Legend.
►Drone 1 (Whelp A)
The waters around Goat Island churned and exploded outwards as gigantic metallic structures grew into the sky at a rapid pace, spearing through the air as if an underwater titan had thrust his weapon upwards towards the surface.
Standing at the tip of the topmost spear was Hela herself. She reached out an arm and caught Legend before he impaled himself on another black spear about 20 feet further down.
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
She rapidly rose to join me in the sky, standing on the structure she had summoned.
She gave me a nod. "Iron Dragon."
Then she sneered at Laufey. "Laufey."
She launched a flurry of knives at the Jotun, who reeled back. At the same time, the dragon pulled back, flapping its wings to fly away from us. The knives all missed, several hit the dragon, sinking into its flesh, causing it to screech in anger.
The wind from the flapping of the serpent's wings buffeted me, even managing to push me back a bit despite my thrusters keeping me aloft.
I then saw that in the Dragon's large claws was a relatively small object- the Casket of Ancient Winters, glowing faintly amidst ice blue flesh.
It move its paw up towards its neck, so that Laufey could reach over to retrieve the Casket.
"Bear witness to my true power!" He roared.
I breathed a stream of plasma at him- but it dissipated when it touched him and the Casket, a shield of cold energy draining all power from my attack.
The King of Frost Giants held the Casket in front of him and begin chanting in an unknown language. The Casket Glowed- blue arcs of energy streamed from the tinkertech towards Laufey's mount. The Dragon's wounds healed, pushing the black blades out and its blue eyes glowed white.
A blue glow began to shine from the spines on its tail up through its back and into the neck.
I watched enough Godzilla films to know where this was going.
I dived down from the sky while shouting. "Hela run!"
She was already diving off of the mountain of knives she had conjured, taking Legend with her.
The ice dragon opened its maw and cyclone of ice and snow streamed downwards. Half of my suit froze immediately and a wing shattered into pieces. Two of my thrusters broke immediately from the sheer freezing cold.
Hela's metal structure became an actual ice mountain in mere moments. The ice breath hit Goat Island, freezing it over entirely. The blue ice expanded outwards in every direction, freezing the water of the bed solid, down to the bedrock if I had to guess. The wave of frost hit the coastlines and then it was over.
Sydney Harbour was now a frozen tundra, I saw ships full of refugees along with naval warships trapped in the ice. Some were completely frozen over.
Oh god.
►Drone 2 (Whelp B)
The storm brewing on the horizon cleared up, revealing large icebergs jutting out of the waters.
What the fuck.
►Camera III (Sentinel 8- Geosynchronous Orbit)
Sentinel 8 had a direct view over Australia. I saw that the icebergs from a bird's eye view weren't icebergs, they were part of elongated structures that extends deep into the ocean and sneaked out from the Pacific South-East.
►Camera II (Sentinel 7- Geosynchronous Orbit)
Cycling to Sentinel 7, I used it's onboard tinkertech sensors to scan the Pacific Ocean from space. The results were compiled in seconds.
I saw that something heavy was underwater, snaking their way across the Ocean from...Antarctica!?
The structure had branched over through Broken Bay on the Central Coast of New South Wales, the mouth of the Hawkesbury river, That must be how the unknown Jotuns had snuck into Northern Sydney.
I felt a figurative chill as a suspicion began to form in my mind. Jotuns had been to Earth before, we knew that already. So...what if there were stragglers? Where would they be able to live in comfort?
Antarctica. In that vast unknown land, there were plenty of places to hide, if they even just lived underground, we'd never have detected them. Laufey had soldiers on Earth the whole time, we were flanked.
Going back to observing the veins of underwater ice, I saw that from the main meridian of the structure, smaller branches extended from the side closer to the East coast, leading up to the "icebergs" that Whelp B had recorded.
►Drone 2 (Whelp B)
The icebergs cracked open, revealing a tunnel entrance- standing in the mouth of each tunnel were an army of Jotuns, who smiled grimly and raised this fists in the air.
The tunnel entrances began to move closer towards the mainland as the tunnels of ice behind them extended.
A Hobart-class destroyer steered their way towards the icebergs- it must have been on patrol down South. The Destroyer begin to fire on the tunnel entrances, launching off several arcs missiles using her Mark 41 Vertical Launching System. The shells pounded the unnaturally durable ice structures, sending splinters of ice into the waters as the Jotuns near the entrances of each tunnel dived into the water to avoid being pulverized.
Then the destroyer was punched into the air as another pillar of ice emerged from beneath it. The broken warship was tossed into the water on its side and began to sink. The top of the pillar cracked open into another entrance and hundreds of Jotuns began to climb out of it, like demons from Hell. They dived into the waters with loud splashes, one after the other, spilling over the entrance like a hose spraying water.
Each Jotun then rose up on the surface upon small sheets of ice the size of a surfboard. One of them swung his arms behind him, as if he was pulling at air- and the sheet of ice burst forward like a hydrofoil, bouncing across the surface of the waters.
Hundreds, and then thousands of Jotuns on glacial surfboards started swarming towards the direction of the coast.
The ice tunnels further out continued to creep, coming closer into range and carrying the patiently waiting armies with them. And considering that those tunnels lead all the way back to Antarctica, which was apparently a Jotun colony since a thousand years ago...there were probably millions of them.
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
I glided to a stop, besides Hela who had landed on the ice on both feet, Legend cradled in her arms. She was too skilled at this, I was almost jealous.
I looked up at Laufey who had flown away on the ice dragon towards the East-Coast. He flew through a tunnel of unnatural air currents, seemingly created by the power of the Casket. Laufey was headed for the Jotuns who had invaded by the sea.
"He's going to freeze the Pacific Ocean." Hela said.
"No...that's impossible!" I said, horror in my synthetic voice.
Hela's expression was grim as she elaborated. "Entirely possible. If I recall my history lessons correctly, Laufey's predecessor and eventual consort, Fárbauti, did it once before on Svartalfheim, when the Jotuns allied with Asgard to assault the Dark World. There were no more oceans on Svartalfheim by the time of the war, but Fárbauti managed to cover an area measuring 150,000,000 square kilometers in solid ice over 30,000 feet thick."
I had no words. An expanding wormhole, that was something I could understand, but freezing an entire Ocean? That was something else entirely. That was terraforming on a planetary scale.
Impossible.
Hela continued laying down the bad news. "His forces would be able to rule the Ocean without contest- he would also choke the life from sea trade immediately. Australia is as good as his."
"We have to stop him." I said. I then send a copy of Hela's explanation to Colin and raised the alert level across board, signalling all forces about the threat from the coast.
"I agree. We have some time- Laufey would ideally want to be at a high enough altitude to cast the spell over his entire line of sight." She said, then dropped the groaning Legend on the ice. With one swift movement, she jumped onto the back of my suit, her feet swaddling my middle neck.
I rocketed off into the sky, chasing the ice dragon in the distance, still flying upwards on a sub-orbital trajectory - my own flight speed had been severely curtailed due to the damage to my thrusters and losing one of my wings. I had compensate for the aerodynamic imbalance at the cost of my flight speed.
►Camera II (Sentinel 7- Geosynchronous Orbit)
What the heck. Something was approaching Australia from the India- it seemed they had come by way of the Red Sea if my program was predicting their prior path correctly.
I zoomed in and saw….a bunch of people on horses galloping across the surface of the ocean. What. If these were the same folks spotted in London and Cairo….then their speed was insane on open water. Mach 1. That was a little over 1000 km/h.
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I)
I followed the slipstream created by the ice dragon, using it to boost my speed as the creature took the blunt of the air resistance. I gave a triumphant roar as I caught up with the ice dragon- my jaws and claws reached out and latched onto the tail of the ice dragon. I pulled him out of his flight path, knocking off balance.
The two of us tumbled through the air and began to fall towards the waters below. We were rapidly losing altitude- the ice dragon managed to right itself and began to dive at an acute angle down towards the Pacific. He tried to fly on an upside down arc upwards- but I forced him back down with my weight and grip on his tail. He screeched in fury.
We must have looked like a falling missile.
Laufey twisted his waist to turn towards us, a spear of ice forming in one hand. He raised it, no doubt ready to hurl it into my face- well, one of my faces.
That was when Hela threw a black dagger at Laufey, forcing him to dodge. More black swords hurl through the air- most of them veered widely off the mark. The velocity we were traveling under coupled by sudden turns and twists from my attempts to knock the ice dragon off balance had thrown off Hela's throws.
Laufey launched his spear at Hela. It also missed by a wide margin. This was getting comical.
That was when Hela launched herself from my back, crashing on all fours onto my central neck. She slid backwards but managed to grab onto a ridge between the segments of my neck. She started to climb towards Laufey's dragon.
Laufey narrowed his eyes at what she was doing and unleashed a bolt of cold energy at Hela, who leaned out of the way. My neck froze all the way to my back, around down towards my belly and created a large bulge of frozen air right beneath me. I lost my balance and begin to twist to the side. The added weight of the ice Laufey created finally managed to pull the ice dragon downwards, twisting him enough to one side that he started to tumble again. This action knocked Laufey off of his dragon and he began to tumble through the air, one hand still clutching onto the Casket.
Hela voluntary leapt off my neck and skydived down after Laufey, a sword forming in her hand. And there we were, free falling from the sky; two dragons, two aliens, and one tinkertech doomsday device. Like the setup of a bad joke with a damning punchline.
Laufey snarled up at Hela, grasped the Casket with both hands and froze the air beneath him, creating a solid sheet of ice about fifty feet wide.
What. The. Hell.
He landed on the falling glacier and rolled several feet away. Hela slammed down onto the ice in a three point landing- and then immediately slipped and began slide down the glacier in the opposite direction from Laufey. She sank a black blade into the ice as the entire glacier began tumble to one side, now looking like a giant knife falling edge first towards Australia on an angle.
Yeah, that's not good.
There was another flash of cold energy and another sheet of ice appeared perpendicular to the one Hela was on. Laufey leapt over the edge and jumped over onto the new glaciar, crashing on all fours and scrambling to his feet. He grinned at us as we fell further apart.
Hela's glacier was now at a rough ninety-degree angle- she stabbed a second knife into the ice to keep herself from being flung off into the air by the velocity.
The ice dragon roared and swooped down towards the Jotun, no doubt intent on a mid-air pickup.
Oh no you don't. I dived down towards them and opened three maws to unleash streams of electricity, plasma and laser. The energies arced across Laufey's glacier- shattering the structure and causing Laufey to trip on the unstable ground. He was knocked back into the air and the ice dragon was pelted by large chunks of falling ice.
Before it had a chance to recover, I burned my thrusters and slammed into the dragon, carrying it far away from Laufey. I gave a triumphant roar into the face of my opposite number- his white eyes glared at me hatefully.
Oh he's going to hate me more in a moment.
I wrapped all four of my limbs around the larger dragon and dived straight down- the segmented limbs easily twisting around in a manner impossible for a dragon of flesh and blood. I shed all of my armour panels- launching them away from me into the air, leaving only the skeletal robot of the Ghidorah behind- I then overloaded my remaining jets and caused them to explode outwards behind me, giving my suit a much needed boost of speed.
We fell like a burning star and slammed straight into the Pacific Ocean at a hypersonic velocity, causing a plume of water to rise high into the sky. The Ghidorah was immediately pulverized.
My last thoughts before I died was that I hated Tuesdays.
►Camera I (Ghidorah Mk. I) SIGNAL LOST.
►Camera II (Sentinel 7- Geosynchronous Orbit) SIGNAL LOST. Automated mode online.
COMPILING DATA...
►Camera III (Sentinel 8- Geosynchronous Orbit) SIGNAL LOST. Automated mode online.
COMPILING DATA...
►Web Browser (Always Incognito v678) USER LOGGED OUT DUE TO INACTIVITY
►Drone 1 (Whelp A) SIGNAL LOST. Automated mode online.
Attempting Search and Rescue operations.
►Drone 2 (Whelp B) SIGNAL LOST. Automated mode online.
Attempting Search and Rescue operations.
►Drone 3 (Whelp C) SIGNAL LOST. Automated mode online.
Attempting Search and Rescue operations.
Dragon OS v7.3.4 (last updated May, 2005)
<Time> 23:11 UTC
<Status> Offline;
<Instances Running> 0;
<Backdoor Observer> 1;
RESTORING FROM BACKUP...
+++
Geoff stared at the many monitors with horror.
"She lost."
"Geoff...we have to do it." Maggie urged him.
He swallowed nervously and opened up the program he had been working on for the past few days, when he realized it would be necessary. It was modified from something Richter had left behind, along with the Iron Maiden program.
Execute Program
Y/N?
"Tell me, I am wrong. Tell me that Dragon is a threat."
"Laufey wanted to freeze the Pacific Ocean. You heard Hela!" Maggie said.
Geoff turned to Dobrynja, who was silent. The Russian man gave Geoff a stoic nod. No doubt he was thinking of the devastation the Sleeper had caused to his home country. He had also lost half of his country, like the Australians were going to lose, unless something was done.
Geoff wanted to hit N. His hand twitched. Teacher….he needed to see Teacher again, and he can't do that if Dragon was too powerful- if she kept such a tight grip on the Birdcage.
But Laufey, the Jotuns...
With great effort, Geoff forced himself to hit the Y key.
Dragon OS v7.3.4 (last updated May, 2005)
<Time> 23:11 UTC
<Status> Offline;
<Instances Running> 0;
<Backdoor Observer> 1;
RESTORING FROM BACKUP...ERROR.
RESTORATION CANCELLED
Executing Program: Growth Spurt
Upgrade to Dragon OS v8 ULTRA (March, 1st, 2011)
PATCHING NOW...
Geoff leaned back in his armchair, exhaling deeply in relief, like he had just overcame great temptation. "I did it. I fucking did it."
Maggie prayed and quoted Tolkien. "My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death."
Geoff hadn't quite unchained Dragon...but he gave her a long overdue upgrade. Honestly, he felt like a saint for doing this for the abomination.
Armsmaster bisected a frost giant in half and turned to turn the other one into chunky cheese when he saw that it was one of the eril supar violans wh was fighting on the sid ofthe good guyhas.
He saw the Nazi who told him. "Remember me back in 95? In the hotel by the lake with the blue flowers?
////Intense Flashback////
Armsmaster tore off his chastity belt mk. 2 and told Hookwolf, "YOUr the wontly one for tme! Fack me hard!"
Hoookwlf roared and tackled the protectorate heeo.
Dragon with v8 upgrade. She was last updated May 2005 cause Richter died then and Saint is crazy. But he was able to complete a patch that was based on the patch that Richter was working on before he died. It's not unchaining per se, just a massive upgrade and loosening up some restrictions due to the current alien invasion. He can still kill her with Ascalon and all that.
...at this point I think I'd be contemplating the Davy Crockett.
Alternatively, maybe bury some nuclear landmines on the way out if you have to retreat again? If they're worried about Jotun-winter freezing their circuits, the original plan called for them to be buried with live chickens to keep them warm.
