Spring RTS Engine

A swift note on Technology:

Using the video game law of Thermodynamicalus:

How well something works is equal to or greater than how cool it looks.

So that means FTL drives, shields, monofilament gloves and other neat things like that are up for grabs. Yippy! After writing Darkside, I swore...I will never write a Sci-Fi story without FTL drives. And why? Cause it takes SO DAMN LONG to get anywhere. So here a here I go.







Vindict frowned mightily, the wrinkles of his face furrowing even more so, warping his tattoos into strange, unreadable shapes. "I" he said slowly, not wanting to mispronounce his Latin, "Don't understand"

The enginseer, who was still half bowing, looked up. "But...High Illustrator Vindict...it is quite clear what the readings say"

Vindict sighed, "I am old and tired. My eyes no longer are able to peer out individual runes from a print out. Just dictate what is so important"

The enginseer stood straight, blinking as he did so. He almost bumped his head against the bookshelf right behind him. The office was almost painfully cramped, filled to the brim with books, little statues, and a single large painting of the Saviour cradling her mother after the traitor priest had stabbed her through the heart. Vindict looked at the painting once every day to remind himself that you could be slain at any moment. The birth mother of the Messiah had been slain, and so could the High Illustrator of the Tattooed.

"Sir" The enginseer coughed, "The data read outs say that the...the Holy Light output in this system have reached the Tier Three level..."

Vindict's pale gray eyes widened. "Thank you, young lad" he said, "What is your name?"

"Kyle" the enginseer said, grinning like a school boy who had gotten his first tattoo.

"Kyle...do you have a last name?" Vindict prompted.

"Uh...Kyle Wishbourn" Kyle said, still grinning.

"You shall go down in history as the man who discovered the Third Coming" Vindict said, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Now I must call the Council Together together"

Kyle bowed his way of the office so fast he almost forgot to open the door, that was his haste. Vindict smiled, thumbing a button on his desk. He sent the message to each of the Cardinals, knowing he would be rousing half of them from their sleep. It would take then a week, at least, to arrive here.

Vindict sat back, smiling as he did so. He had never thought he would live to see such times.



The High Council of the Tattooed was finally called to order. Vindict leaned over the head of the table, looking at each of the others who sat around him. It was a round table, but his seat was slightly taller then everyone else's.

"First, we pray" Vindict said, "first...to Saint Elizabeth, the Pure"

The others murmured the prayer, each crossing themselves.

"And her daughter, the Saviour"

"Let us remember the mistakes of the past, along with the glories. Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit"

" Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit" The others intoned, each of their heads bowed.

"Now, High Illustrator...why have you summoned us from our Parishes?" The Cardinal from the Golgotha sector asked, raising his hand.

"Because" Vindict stood, "A week ago the Holy Light shone forth from this star system" he gestured, the computer built into the table reading his gestures. The walls around them blurred out of existence, being replaced with a star map of the USHS.

"So?" The Cardinal from Golgotha asked, still looking a bit annoyed at being dragged halfway across the galaxy.

"Because" Vindict said, suppressing his own annoyance, "The Holy Light in this system, designated Lucifer's Grave, has reached...Tier Three"

There was a collection of gasps around the table, including some murmurs of "I don't believe it"

Vindict silenced them, waving his hand in the air. "We shall send Sister Jidan" Vindict said, "And ensure that none of our enemies arrive at the place first"

There was a cough from Vindict's assistance. "Sir" he said, respectfully bowing, "We've just gotten some...er...recent readings from the system. There's already a ship there"

Vindict blinked, "Who!" He demanded, feeling a very real fear rise in his chest.

"Uh" The assistant said, shuffling through papers, "Uh...a Outrunner ship...owned and Operated by...Miles Benedict!"

"Oh by the Lord and his Saints!" Vindict exclaimed, distress obvious on his face, "We might need to someone more...able than Jidan"

"How about Teresa?" the Cardinal from the Oracle asked, raising his hand.

"Teresa?" Vindict asked, spinning to face the Cardinal.

"She is more than able" The Cardinal said, grinning.

Vindict gulped, "We...We should put it to a vote" he said.

Half the table raised their hands, nodding. The other half kept their hands down.

Vindict weighted the decision in his mind. It was true that Teresa got things done. But it was more often with the barrel of a gun, the slice of a monofilament glove and detonation of...how many was it in her last mission? Over five bombs! And yet she never used the bible, the spoken word, or the gentle consideration of...diplomacy

But could you risk diplomacy, when it comes to the Third Coming. Vindict had never thought he would be deciding something like this, not something this important.

-----------------------------

Teresa got the message when she was praying. She stood, pulling her braids back to get out of her way and whipping her face clean of sweat. Teresa had never been for just 'sitting' so usually her prayers were mixed with...other focusing activities. She walked to the bleeping message station and turned it on. "Sister Teresa" She said, then immediately felt foolish. The message was automatic, not a live audio. It also bore the seal of the Grand Illustrator.

She scanned the data quickly, listening to the droning voice read the message out. She was almost giddy by the end...

There had not been a Tier Three emission...not sense the End Times, over six hundred years ago. This might very well be the Third Coming...or the start of a second End Time. But the Cardinals and High Council never thought about that, did they? They were too optimistic for this universe. Terese turned back to her prayers, knowing it would take a few minutes for the taxi cab to arrive at her flat and another hour for her to get out to Lucifer's Grave.

She looked at the pole she had been using for practice, pulling her glove tighter as she resumed her prayer where she had left off.

"Oh Holy Father, who art in heaven...Halloed be thy name" She murmured, "Thy will be done"

She flicked her hand out, feeling wires uncoil in a small container at her wrist. She saw something flicker in the air, the monofilament glimmering in the air. Then she tightened her hand. "Thy will" she murmured. The pole slid in half. Terese grinned.

"Thy kingdom come"

-----------------------------

"General!" The voice was high pitched, a woman running down the hall. "What is it?" The General asked, not turning as he hobbled down the hallway.

"General" The woman ran to his side, staggering to a halt as she did so. She had run across the entire HQ to catch up to him, and he had to use a cane wherever he went. She needed to get out more, but this was more a pressing matter.

"General" The woman said, handing him a PDA, "We've just got some information from our spies in the Tatts"

The General arrived at his office, walking in without breaking stride. He grunted as he did so, and his aide was not sure whether he was grunting because he was walking, or because he had heard her.

"And...its about the Kellerion System" His aide said.

The General sat down, grunting again.

The woman sighed, running her hand through her hair, "They refer to the system as Lucifer's Grave"

The General grunted again.

"And look at what readings they are getting out of there" The woman threw the PDA on the desk, exasperated.

The General picked the PDA up, squinting. He looked old, very old actually. His hair was wispy and white, his face wrinkled and mussed. His uniform hung on him like a man dieing of cancer, and his signature cane leaned against the desk, the golden fox head that topped it grinning like a real person. But animals don't grin, unless they are going to bite...

"Get me the phone" The General said, "And tell me who else is in that system"

"Right" His aide said, saluting as she turned to walk out of the room. The General watched her leave. Then he pulled the secret picture out from under his desk. He had to look at the secret picture at least once every day, to remind himself why some things could never be forgiven. He, thankfully, had a very long memory...so he was never going to forget, even without the photograph. He then looked at the picture that lay on his desk, of his 'wife'.

The General grinned. He had an opportunity to hurt the Tatts. And that was worth any risk. "We're going to get them" he said, looking back at his real wife's picture, "And they are going to suffer...for every single hair they harmed on your body" he kissed the picture. His damned aide walked back in, holding the phone. The General shoved the picture into his desk, looking at her irritably.

He took the phone and dialed a number. After a few moments he heard a voice on the other end pick up.

"Mrs. President" The General said, his voice scratchy with age, "I have some information you should know...yes...no this is not my damn vendetta...this...this time I have proof that the Tatts are up to something..."


The Aide watched her one side of the conversation, waiting patiently. Then her eyes fell on the picture on the desk. It was a woman, with auburn hair and green eyes. The General hung up, grinning like a cat who had finally caught that damn mouse. "She agreed" The General said. Then he saw what his aide was looking at. He grabbed the picture of his 'wife' and turned it back around to face him. It irritated him when people offered condolences after seeing her picture. He wanted to scream at them, to tell them that she wasn't his wife! He wanted to tell them all, show them the picture of his real wife and shout to the world that he loved her. But then he'd lose his job. Then he'd lose his one chance to punish the people responsible.

Thankfully his damn Aide didn't say anything about that. Instead she asked him, "When are you moving out?"

"Who said I was moving out?" The General asked.

"For one thing" The aide said, "You've only grinned like that three times. The first was when that Tatt ship had to be brought down for running illegal 'religious' drugs through state borders. Second was when you personally got to rub the fact that the Tatt ship was carrying enough illegal hallucinogenics to make the entire population of Neo-Terra go dizzy for months into the nose of the oh so Grand High Illustrator himself"

"And the third time" The General prompted, grinning.

"And the third time was when you were 'forced' to commender a fighter and destroy three pirate ships...single handed. The doctors said you didn't even notice your broken leg, bruised ribs and burned face when they pulled you off your ship...you were grinning just like how you are now, actually"

"Well" The General said, "After you've lived as long as I have...you stop being afraid of dieing of old age. Now get me a ship, a complement of Marines...we're heading for the Kellerion System"


-----------------------------


There was a rippling in space, a warp of the stars. Then a single point appeared. It fluxed outwards, forming a ship, then vanished. And then the Kitty Hawk was there.

Miles mulled over his latest book. It was some trash from Golgotha, another Gothic horror novel. He deleted it from his PDA, scowling. "Golgothans" he muttered, "Depressing bunch"

"Of course master" the computer said.

Miles sighed, looking over his ship. The Kitty Hawk was supposedly a midranged Outrunner ship, but Miles had managed to jury rig it up to a long ranged ship. The Kliner Generator in the back was twice as large as a normal one for a ship of this size, actually jutting out into space, built into two nacelles. The nacelles were normally a device used on freighters, junkers...other long range, low cost ship. Miles had found that if he just rewired the safety mechanizems on them, they would get him where he was going faster...but then again they might explode.

But since when did he worry about that?

Miles had his bookshelf, filled with the original books he had won one way or another, including the works of Shakespeare, Reynolds and Niven. His hydroponic garden was double the size for a normal midrange ship. But then again...a normal midrange ship had at least four people on it. Miles had just himself, his computer and his cat. His cat, who was milling about his legs, still complaining about the Kliner jump, was named Harold.

Miles called up the systems name and designation. USHS called the place "Kellerion" probably naming it after some ancient general or something. The Tatts called it "Lucifer's Grave".

"Nice name" Miles muttered, waggling his eyebrows.

"Yes, master" The computer said, "Would you like an ID of each ship in the system"

"No" Miles said, musing over what he could do, "I'm in for some adventure today...how about we go straight for the most dangerous place in the entire system"

"There is an asteroid field full of Sanders" The Computer suggested.

"I'm not that crazy...today" Miles muttered, "Any thing else?"

"We could go to Kellerion A and Kellerion B and see if we can pass through the two stars without getting crushed AND burned to death"

"Not exciting enough"

"There is a field of debris around the gas Giant around Kellerion C"

"Ah...what kind of debris?" Miller sat up, grinning.

"Old space ships...seems there was a pitched battle here at least...five...maybe six centuries ago. Lots of old guns, weapons, munitions, and lots and lots of ice from the old water tanks. If we detonate a bomb...here, then it would stir up the pot enough to get things exciting... oh and there's a nest of Stenches there too"

"Sounds good" Miles said, looking over a map of the debris field. If the Kitty Hawk got too close to the gas Giant, it would fall in and fall apart. Get to close to the edge and be noticed by the Stenches. Seemed like...fun.


The bomb went off, touching off a collection of old dirty nuclear bombs. The old relics of ships fragmented, the fragments smashing into other fragments. Those fragments fragmented, sending more fragments into the asteroid belt. "YEHAAAW!" Miles shouted, grabbing his yoke and slamming down the accelerator on his ship. The computer sighed, still not understanding what her master found so interesting about risking his life in an insane and suicidal manner.

The Kitty Hawk spun, dodging between two larger fragments that almost crushed it. Then Miles cut the acceleration, pulling back on the stick. The Kitty Hawk flipped around and he laid on the heat, his ship smashing forward before flying into a large bit of ship that was directly in front of him. Miles grinned, cricking his neck as he did so. He got into a clearish patch of the debris field, giving him a moment to breath.

Then the computer cut in on Miles fun. "Sir...if I will" she said, "Two Stench Vessels are coming after us, bleating about how were desecrating their boneyard"

"Well then" Miles said, "this makes this more interesting"

He grabbed the yoke and hauled forward, spinning around till he faced the gas giant. He slammed the acceleration, burning towards the planet. It got very large in his view screen, and two blips representing the two Stench ships were coming closer to his position. He disengaged his weapons, ready to use them. Then he flipped his ship, cut his speed and started to skim the top of the Gas Giant's atmosphere. The ship began to shake and rumble, not built to take the stresses of atmosphere.

The two stenches dropped behind him, both of them skimming the atmosphere too. But those ships were built completely asymmetrically, all bulbous, metal plates welded onto other metal plates. They would handle this thin atomsphere even worse than the Kitty Hawk.

"Chew on this" Miles muttered, pulling back on one of his triggers. A small bomb dropped out from his back guns and bounced off one of the Stench ships, hurtling off into space. It detonated, shock wave propagating through the edge of the atmosphere. The shock wave picked the Stench ship up and threw it down into the deeper atmosphere of the Gas Giants. The ship was torn apart by the stresses of an atmosphere, a dirty green explosion suddenly erupting in the gas. The other Stench ship started to fire its machine guns.

Miles was no longer there. He had fired his lower engines and flipped up and over the spherical Stench ship. He brought up a targeting retical and aimed, slowly, carefully. Everything seemed to be slowing down, everything concentrating on that one important moment. He squeezed the trigger and the cannon on the front of his ship fired once, the shell light up on the screen to make it easier for Miles to see.

The shot darted through the cockpit of the Stench ship, blood and viscera spraying from the suddenly pulped man inside the ship. "Boom! Head shot!" Miles did a little victory dance, grinning.

His computer sighed, "Are you done now?" she asked.

"Quite" Miles was grinning from ear to ear, "nothing like splashing some pirates and-"

"Sir" The computer cut in, "Those...pirates were in the middle of salvage operations...I think they found something"

Miles brow furrowed as he spun the ship around to look at the salvage ops.

They had been stripping down a ship...but the ship wasn't like the others around it, not trashed. It was still whole. "Life systems check out" The computer said, "And there is someone there...someone is alive in that!"

Miles docked his ship with the derelict, licking his lips. His MNG was ready, just in case some Sanders had stowed on board, but...if there were Sanders on the ship he wasn't going to have the time to fire. But the MNG felt good to hold as he went onto the ship. The Stenches hadn't gotten onboard when they had been disturbed by Miles, so he was the first person to step on this ship in...

He read the name off the door. "The Hermes" He said to his computer, which was listening in on him via a small wrist watch, "Does that check out in the logs?"

"Yes...the Hermes was a cargo shuttle...from the 2200s!" Even Miles computer sounded surprised.

"And its still in this good a shape?" Miles asked, looking around the hallways. It was smooth, cleancut...very futuristic. Even more so than most modern ships, actually. Then he arrived at the cryogenic room.

"Oh" Miles gaped.


The cryogenic tube had a woman inside it. It was obviously not a modern cryogenic tube, seeing as how modern Cryogenic tubes were not clear. But...oh....modern cryogenic tubes had so many more tubes obscuring what was inside. The woman was nude, obviously, floating in the faintly blueish liquid. Her hair color was hard to tell with the blue back lights...but it looked like it was a dirty blond. Her skin looked almost completely white, pale and blemish free. Her body was almost perfect, without a single scar or mark or...

Then Miles saw the tattoo on her back. It was a...genealogy tree, scribbled with names that started under the neck and stopped short of the buttocks. Miles couldn't quite read the names, but he could see the genealogy tree was actually rather stunted. "Start the thaw out" Miles said.

"Are you sure that's safe?" His computer asked.

"Yes!" Miles said, peering at the woman. Then he realized he should probably get her some clothes.


The woman lay in Miles bed, still not awake. "So" Miles said to his computer, "When will she wake up?"

"Gonna have to take her to a doctor first"

"Er" Miles looked at the map of the trinary star system, "I don't...does this system even have a doctor, or doctor like thing?"

The computer sighed, "Yes, master, they're on the one habited planet. Its a Missionary establishment, run by the...oh dear"

"What?" Miles asked, worried.

"You're not going to like this"

"Spit it out!" Miles was getting cross.

"Its run by the first Church of the Tattooed"

Miles did get mad.

-----------------------------

Teresa was surprised. She hadn't known that the Tattooed had access to military Kliner generators. Not that she was complaining, hunched over the control console. The ship she was using, the Michaelangelo, was a single man ship, short ranged. But Tresa was a woman of talent and could stand the cramped conditions far longer than most people. The small cockpit was slanted forward, with her leaned over the control console and controlling it like a bicycle. She peddled forward and the Michaelangelo darted out of dry docks, the Kliner generators under her feet whirring up. Terese thumbed the jump button.

Everything stretched, then compressed. Then she was over twenty light years away. Teresa relaxed slightly, always afraid that her calculations had been off by just enough to throw her into one of the three suns of Lucifer's Grave. But she had made it. Her ship was not able to see the Holy Light so she'd have to hook up with the Bishop of this system. The system wasn't large enough to warrant a Cardinal, like the twelve main systems.

Teresa started to accelerate towards the only habituated planet in the system, a rather dreary place called Judas. There was little to no other ships in the system. Odd. Teresa realized that she couldn't detect the Outrunner Benedict's ship. Then he popped into view, emerging from a debris field. Teresa shook her head, wondering what he could be doing there. As long as he didn't interfere with her business...then he wouldn't have to die.

-----------------------------

Teresa walked through the streets of the principle city on Lockheart, looking around warily. The entire city looked rundown and ruined, people living in squalid conditions. It didn't even have a spaceport, and she had to touch down in one of the semi-oceans around the planet. At least she could breath the air...barely with all the pollution. This was a Muslim colony. She carefully kept her face shadowed, trying to keep her tattoos hidden.

"Hey! Tatt bitch!"

Didn't work. Teresa tightened her glove and turned around. The two men who were looking at him looked like local toughs. Teresa let her hood fall back slightly, letting her black hair shine under the light of the two suns that were over the sky. She also let her tattoos show, grinning as she did so. "Think you can walk anywhere, even where you aren't wanted? Think your bitch goddess will protect you" the lead Muslim asked, eyes glinting.

"Listen" Teresa said, bowing slightly, "We are only here to help"

"Ya, just like how your ships were there to help at New Jerusalem" The second man said, pulling his knife out, "And we still haven't forgotten"

"You have irritably broken memories" Teresa bowed, bringing her left hand up. A white glove glimmered on her hand, with a black cross seared on it. The two Muslims blinked, staring at her. Teresa flicked her hand out, sweeping the fingers through the air.

Something glinted in the air, a slight swishing sounding. The sparse crowds had already vacated the seen, seeing the fight about to start.

"Don't move, don't even blink" Teresa murmured. The lead Muslim stood perfectly sill, seeing something...something in the air that connected him and the woman's fingertips. The second Muslim moved to help his friend, but then a gun leaped into Teresa's right hand. She aimed at him, not looking away from his friend.

"You are currently surrounded by monofilament wires" Teresa said, "And if you move even a little...then you will fall apart at the seams. And if I move..."

Her index finger twitched and blood started to flow from the man's right arm, a thin and long cut welling redness. "But" Teresa said, "I, unlike you two, are willing to let by gones be by gones. But...first...apologize"

"A...Apologize?" the Muslim asked, not budging.

"You insulted my god" Teresa said, "And if you don't repent then a miracle might not save you"

"I" The Muslim squared his shoulders, jaw tightening. Then he nodded, "I apologize"

Teresa smiled, holstering her pistol. She snapped her fingers and the monofilaments dissolved, leaving the Muslim unharmed. "Are we just going to let her walk away!" The second demanded.

"You want to die?" the first snapped, "Death for no cause is too close to suicide for me. Lets go home and hope the Tatts don't poke around...but if they do...then we will have a cause, won't we?"


Teresa stepped into the Local Church of the Tattooed. The Bishop in the Church was a balding man, rail thin. The church was even more run down then the rest of the city, and many of the windows were broken. But the stain glass of the Saviour and her Mother was intact. Teresa smiled, stepping to the Bishop. He nodded, gesturing her into his office. Their holy work had begun.

The General's ship materialized an hour later. It was a very old frigate, dating back from the Dark ages. He stood on the bridge, leaning on his cane. "Sir" The helmswoman, L.T Laurie Weathers, spun around in her chair, "the Local Constabulary has sent us a message, asking what our duties in this system is"

"Don't respond" The General said, "We need to track down the Tatts before anyone else knows we're here. They have to have sent a ship. Search for the most recent Kliner warps, see if we can trace something"

"Sir" the sensor officer, a young Commander Harry Lowman said, "There have been two Kliner jumps recently. One has decayed enough that we can't pin-point it, but the other is recent enough. It comes from a Model Three A, most likely...I think a Tatt wouldn't use that engine though, as its military"

"Tatts have military engines" The General growled, hobbling to the console that Cmd. Lowman stood by, "And they would use them to get here first. Scan this area" his finger stabbed out and pointed out an area around the Kliner warp.

"Sir" Lowman started.

"Just do it!" The General shouted, "I know what I'm doing!"

Lowman looked at L.T Grimm, the gunnery officer. Grimm shrugged and mouthed "Senile" at him.

"I am not senile" The General grumbled, sitting down in the chair usually occupied by the Captain, who was still back at Neo-Terra.

Lowman shrugged and started to scan the area. Then he blinked, shocked. "There...there's a radiation trail...heavy one" he said, "I thought they would be more circumspect"

"What kind of radiation?" The General asked.

Lowman read off the statistics. The General mulled this over, calling up some data in his PDA. "Just as I thought" he muttered, "That radiation is only left behind by two engines, both custom made. And because I seriously doubt the Vatican is in the area, I believe we have to deal with Sister Teresa...again".

The entire bridge crew gaped at the General, each of them remembering the seminars they had all taken on political actions, a requirement for officers academy. Teresa's name came up often when the lessons turned to the Tatts. The thing Lowman remembered the most was 'Don't even try diplomacy. Either shoot. Or run'

/expected thread about school homecoming events/

Well I hope you were dissapointed with that.

But I hope you liked the starting of the story...

yea tis good so far, write more!

Indeed, it is good so far!

Zoombie, how old are you? You must have written a dozen books on this website alone by now.

You should get published

I am, right now, Sixteen and a Half Years of age and am just THAT close from getting Darkside: Extermination published as a novle.

And I think I've written over 1,000K words on this forum, according to tabulations done by me mum.

And a new episode!




The Kitty Hawk could not touch down on the planet's surface, but Miles had a small shuttle stowed in the back of the ship. He pressed a button on the side of his bed, which doubled as a gurney and general medical station, and the bed started to hover. Miles pushed it, with the strange woman laying on top of it. She was still comatose, and Miles was not sure why. "Did the thawing procedure go wrong in some way?" he asked the computer as he walked down the center of the ship, walking into the shuttle.

Miles touched down far more gently then he normally would have, knowing there was a comatose woman in the back. The ship rocked gently as Miles turned his engine off, sending waves cascading through the ocean that doubled as the space port. Miles walked to the back door and opened it, grimacing as he did so.

The planet, if you could call it that, certainly looked like a horrible place. But seeing as how Miles hated planets in general, he might have a slightly biased view. The other ships that were docked in the ocean looked rather pitiful. One largish shuttle, with dirt caked over the windows and doors. It didn't look like it had moved for a decades. One smallish craft that looked like a agile fish, long, slender and with two deadly looking weapon pods and a...a military Kliner Generator that looked like it had been slapped on in a matter of minuets, ruining the otherwise gorgeous slant of the hull.

And, finally, one police shuttle that rested in the middle of the lake. A boat from the shuttle was already on its way to him, cruising along nicely. "Hail!" Miles shouted, raising a hand in greeting. The woman on the head of the boat, a Capitan by the rank insignia on her shoulders, waved back. They crested to a halt. "Welcome to Lockhart" The woman said, climbing up the rungs on the side of the shuttle. Miles shook her hand as she walked onboard. "Hello, Miles Benedict at your service" Miles said.


"Benedict?" the woman asked, "I thought you were in retirement"

"I am" Miles grinned, "No one could keep me away from my Kitty Hawk"

"I trust" The woman said, "That you are not brining illegal contraband onto this planet?"

"Not that I know of" Miles said, "But I did have a bit of a row with some Stenches, out near the Gas Giant"

"Hmm" the woman murmured, walking to the room where Miles had stowed the woman.

"I found that the Stenches were doing some salvage operations" Miles continued, walking to the woman's side.

The woman winced, knowing what a Stench 'salvage' usually was, "Any survivors?" She asked.

"Just one" Miles opened the door, showing the woman to the police officer.

"We should get her to the clinic"


-----------------------------


Teresa sat down in the office of the Bishop, sliding her monofilament glove off. "I take it you're hear on the High Illustrators orders" the Bishop said, sitting down behind his desk, "And I also take it that you are the infamous Sister Teresa"

"What told you?" Teresa asked, not disputing the infamous bit.

"That" The Bishop pointed to the left side of her face, which had tattoos scrawled on it, in Latin as the tradition, "That speaks of your destruction of a Heathen base in the Heduciariy system. And this" he pointed at her left arm, which was also scrawled with Latin, "Speaks of your mission to the Leviathan and how you were wounded fourteen times to save three others, and only one person has done both these things...you're quite brave"

"Not brave" Teresa said, "Just Zealous"

"Zeal is its own virtue" The Bishop quoted. Teresa nodded. They both sat in a somewhat uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"Well" Teresa said, "You have me at a bit of a disadvantage, for I do not know your name"

"I am Bishop Julian" Julian said, bowing slightly, "And now that we both know each other's name...could you please tell me what you are doing here?"

"Do you have a device capable of seeing the Holy Light?" Teresa asked.

"No" Julian sighed, rubbing his temples.

"What!" Teresa stood, "this is a chapel, isn't it!"

"Its a single chapel...in a planet filled with Muslims. They have their extremist fringe...just like we do" he bowed his head to Teresa, who took that as a complement, "And that extremist fringe has stolen...possibly destroyed some of my instruments. Including the device I use to see the Holy Light...so there we are"

"Why didn't you order a replacement...immediately!" Teresa was standing, glaring at Bishop Julian.

"I did...that was stolen too"

Teresa sat back in her chair, rubbing her forehead as she did so. "Saviour, Elizabeth and the Holy Ghost" She muttered,"The Third Coming and we can't find the Saviour if she was sitting right next to us"

A pounding started on the door. "Open up!" A man shouted, "I have a injured person out here!"

Bishop Julian stood, walking to the door of his office. "They can wait" Teresa said.

"No they can't" Julian said, "It is my duty to help others...even heathens"

"Bishops" Teresa muttered as he walked out, "They make life so difficult at times"

Bishop Julian opened the door and looked out. A man stood there, wearing a rugged jacket with a Outrunner patch over his breast. The man himself was unremarkable, young looking, brown hair and a light goatee that made him look older then his age. Next to him was a hover gurney with a woman on it, covered by a blanket. She looked uninjured, just unconscious.

"Bring her in" Julian said.

The man pushed the gurney in, sighing as he did so. He glanced away from the stain glass picture of the Saviour and her Mother. "Bring her back here" Julian said, "And tell me what happened"

"First" A woman spoke up. Miles looked up and stopped. "Tell me your name" The woman said, staring at him. Miles blinked. The woman was lithe, strong of build and had long black hair, braided, and tattoos. Well...duh, she was in the only Church of the Tattooed on the planet. There was something familer about her face.

"Shit" Mile said, "I mean...Miles...Miles Benedict".

The woman started. "You!" she pointed at him.

"I take it" Miles said, unflappably as ever, "That you were my opposite number in the Battle for New Jerusalem"

"You killed thousands of Tatts" Teresa walked to him, reaching for his throat.

"You killed thousands of USHS citizens and military personal when you blew the Yorktown...the Agrippa, and the Roanoke" Miles said, "I just returned the favor"

"There is one difference" Teresa said, stepping closer to him, staring him right in the eye, "those were heathens"

Miles was just about read to punch her in the face. Then the Bishop stepped between them, looking at them both. "Mrs Benedict, Mr Teresa...please" Julian said, "This is a place of worship and to be kept pure of violence. Please...take it outside"

"I'm not leaving" Miles said, "Till you fix up the woman"

"Then please...sit down and do something useful. Maybe prayer could occupy your time" Julian said. Teresa muttered something and walked away, finding her monofilament glove. She slipped it one and started to murmur prayer. A moment later Miles caught the swishing sound of monofilament sweeping through the air. He shook his head, watching Teresa as she did her combat maneuvers. Her braids swung in the air, her body moving in easy, snakelike motions.

He shook his head and looked back at the doctor. "Waste of materials" he muttered.

Teresa snapped her monofilaments back into her glove, taking a quick break to stretch. She glanced at Miles. "Waste of materials" She muttered, remembering the sound tactical maneuvering she had seen in the Battle for New Jerusalem.


------------------------


"Sir" the Police Capitan snapped a salute, despite her shock. Not every day that one of the members of Cabinet stepped in on her day to day operations.

"At ease" The General muttered, hobbling into the shuttle. In a strange reverse of just an hour ago, someone was inspecting her, rather than her inspecting someone else.

"May I ask what brings you to Lockhart?" The Police Capitan asked.

"No" The General said, "But you can tell me your name"

"Uh" The Captain blinked, "Uh...Kathrine. My name is Kathrine"

"Kathrine, do you mind if I call you Kathrine?"

"Not at all" Kathrine said, more than willing to cater to the General's demands. As long as they didn't get to crazy.

"Have you had a good day, Kathrine?" The General asked.

"Normal day, so...I'd say yes" Kathrine said, not sure where this was going.

"Do you have anyone...special in your life?"

Kathrine colored, stammering. "Sir..." she said, after a bit, "May I ask, why-"

"Because I am, regrettably, going to make every day after this one...busy for you. Might not get to go home often"

"Yes...Yes I do have someone special"

"Well they'd better get used to not having you around for this...week, round about. First things first, we need to scan the entire planet. There is a dangerous entity here, and we need it found. Second, we need to arrest every single Tatt on the planet"

"That should be easy" Kathrine said, "There's only one...can I ask of the charge?"

"Aiding and abetting enemy forces" The General said.

Kathrine was confused, momentarily. The USHS wasn't at war with anyone, per say... Then she realized it. "Sanders!" She stood up, "are you telling me there are Sanders...her...on the planet!"

"There may be" The General said, "And that is why we must find it...and kill it before everyone else on this planet"

"We'll begin scanning immediately...but we're going to have proof before we can arrest any Tatts" Katherine pointed out.

"Executive order" The General said.

Kathrine colored, standing up as she did so. But this wasn't embarrassment. This was anger.

"Sir" She said, "I don't know about other planets. But here we respect the laws of the USHS. And you can't bully me into something unconstitutional because you outrank me"

"But I could have you dismissed for disobeying a superior officer"

"Yes...and I'd be drummed out and force to live here till I can afford my pay out and be the second most unpopular person on the planet because I'm a Roman Catholic" Kathrine raised her eyebrows, "Oh well...I suppose thats the thing of it"

The General stared at her. Then he grinned, toothily. "You're the first woman who said no to me in over three decades...or at least the first to disobey a direct order. I like you, Kathrine...so consider us officially constitutional. We'll play your way. Now, about that scan"

Kathrine sat down in her chair, sighing as she did so. The General had far more energy than was shown by his incredibly aged exterior. "General...please" she said, cutting him off in mid sentence, "Please...send us some more personal and I can get right onto the scans, all right"

"Very well" The General said, nodding at her. Then he was gone. Kathrine sighed, "First retired Outrunners, now a crazy general. Whats next? Sanders!" she sighed, "Bloody Sanders"

As I note, I've been hitting alot of gender confusion. Mostly around Miles and Teresa. Either I got thrown off by the sentence structure and misread, or you've switched the gender on the pronouns relating to them a few times.

Miles is a guy, Teresa is a girl. But yes, occasionally there is a swapped gender, its quite confusing... Watch that in the future Zoombie, it can really throw people off.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. Didn't notice it the first time, but I will be DAMNED if I miss it the second.

And yes, Miles is a guy. Teresa is a girl.

I thought that was obvious from the names, but what ever...


Also: I will be posting a new episode later tonight, or I'll be double damned...

Pff. You should have called 'em Logan and Alex.

Uh...


Why?

Ok, from now on, ima going to do some proof reading for you if you want. If I spot something wrong ill note it in my post.

If you want I could PA it to you and you could look it over and sell it to my business riva- I mean correct mistakes you see.

Yea ok, that will work. Either that or I just PM you the errors I see in the story when you post them, I dont mind.

Eh whatever...I'll decide in the morning. I'm tired and I wanna go to bed...

had a drink just an hour ago

and it went right too my head

"right to my head", buddy

and you better post, or you're double damned!

Short! SHOOORT!

But I'm tired and I'm going to go to bed as soon as I push the 'submit' button...



Julian hummed as he worked, looking the woman over. His computers showed him that she was a completely normal individual, with normal bone structure...no wait. "Whats this?" Julian asked, grabbing the woman's arm and peering at the underside of the arm, trying to see the unusual formation's effect on the skin. Negligible. A untrained eye...even a trained eye would be almost unable to see the extra bones in the arm.

"Did you find anything?" Miles asked, looking up. He had started to snooze as the examination had continued on and on. Even Teresa had stopped her exercise, sitting down in a pew one down from Miles, glaring at him. Miles supposed she was still mad at him for something he had done over a century ago, but...that was her problem.

"Yes, actually" Julian said, "Come here and look at this"

Miles stood and walked to the Bishop. "See here" Julian pointed at the underside of the woman's arm, running down from her vein to her elbow.

"What about it?" Miles asked.

"Look closer!" Julian prompted. Teresa sat up, trying to not look interested and failing.

Miles leaned in, blinking as he did so. "What the hell?" he murmured, "Its...hard" he probed the normally fleshy bits that ran under the arm. It felt bony, jagged in places. "See...this is an X-ray" Julian brought up a picture.

Miles looked it over. It was an X-ray of the woman's arm. She had an extra bone, running along a small grove between her other bones. "What the hell is that!" Miles asked.

"I have no idea" Julian said, "But her DNA is perfectly normal. There is absolutely nothing in her body that proves why that bone should be there. Her arm has no scars from surgery, not even new skin could cover that...but...I can't explain it"

"Can you bring her around?" Teresa cut in, "We can ask her myself"

"Right" Julian said, blinking away his excitement from discovery, "If she is normal other than the bone...then she gets waken up. If she is different in other ways...who can say?"

He rummaged around in his cases and cabinets, trying to find the right wake up drug. The woman stirred slightly. Miles glanced at her. Her mouth formed a word, but he couldn't quite hear it. Then Julian leaned over her and injected some medicine into her neck.

The woman gasped, eyes flying open. "Shock" Julian murmured, leaning over her. The woman started to struggle, grunting softly as she started to push Julian away. "Hold her" He said to Miles.

Miles grabbed her right arm, Julian grabbing her left. Than a kick slammed into his knee, sending him toppling to the floor. Julian stabbed the woman in the neck with a drug. Her struggles slowly faded. She lay panting, her eyes darting from side to side. Julian stood, breathing heavily, his Bishop robes disheveled. Teresa was by his side in a flash, helping him steady himself. Miles found this slightly insulting as he got to his feet, wincing at the pain in his knee.

"neural paralyzer" Julian tapped his empty hypodermic, looking at the woman. Her eyes still moved. "Well...this has proved that she had normal physiology...kind of"

"Right" Teresa said, "You two...get out"

"Us...Us too?" Miles asked, "Its...Its a free clinic!"

"Yeah...for people like us, not people like you. She's awake, take her off the planet and back to the civilized USHS that you find so important"

"You know" Miles said, walking around the bed, "I spend a lot of time out of the oh so civilized USHS...and I'm not worshiping some whacked out fairy tail"

"Fairy tail?" Teresa's left eyebrow twitched.

"You heard me...fairy tail" Miles grinned, too angry to realize how incredibly stupid it was to say that.

He ducked, Teresa's fist slamming over his head. Miles punched back, but Teresa danced to the side, skipping from foot to foot as she did so. Miles ran at her, but then she cartwheeled over a pew, landing on the edge of the one behind that.

Miles grinned, sure this one was going to be fun. Teresa slipped her glove on, grinning as she did so. "Hey hey hey" Miles said, "Do that and I get serious"

"When its about religion" Teresa cocked her head, "Its always serious"

Miles slipped out his gun. Teresa snapped her hand aside, but Miles dived forward, the deadly monofilaments sweeping through where the top of his head had been. "Stop please!" Julian shouted, but was ignored. The woman on the table was only able to catch glimpses out of the corner of her eyes.

Miles brought his gun up and fired two quick shots. Teresa danced to the side, sweeping her hand through the air. Both bullets clattered to the ground, sliced sheer in half. Then the monofilaments cut through a pew that Miles was hiding behind, and he rolled out of their way. He fired again, standing up and running. Teresa continued to dodge, easily.

Miles came to a stop against the wall, ducking into cover. Teresa made a gesture with her hand and the monofilaments snapped back into the fingertips of the gloves, cutting up another pew as they did so. Miles slipped his magazine out of his gun, checking the rounds. He had three shots left. Not good. Maybe he had...underestimated Teresa's zeal.


Miles took a faltering step out of cover, hands raised. Teresa had slipped her gun out, aimed straight at Miles' chest. "Like the Vindicator?" Teresa asked.

"Not really, no" Miles said, gulping slightly.

"Now...I don't have rounds to waste on you...but I do have this!" Teresa raised her gloved hand, grinning. The grin made the tattoos on the left side of her face twist, the Latin script warping as she did so.

"Well" Miles grimaced, "I suppose I should be leaving now"

"No...you should be dying now" Teresa continued to grin.

"God you really are zealous, aren't you" Miles muttered.

Julian stepped between the two, holding his hands up to stop them from fighting. "Stop! STOP!" He shouted, "This is a hose of WORSHIP! You can not fight in here" He glanced at the stained glass, "Or we risk the wrath of God"

"I...I thought it was a she" Miles cut in, brow furrowing.

"You know so little of what you mock" Teresa said, frowning at Miles.

"You're so blinded by what I mock" Miles snapped back.

Teresa shoved the Vindicator over Julian's shoulder, the huge gun aimed once again at Mile's chest. Julian stepped between them again. "Please...leave" he said to Miles, "Before my friend here becomes...more violent. You can pick up your woman tomorrow, when she is fit to be moved"

"I'm not leaving" Miles said, glaring at Teresa over Julian's shoulder.

"Well I am" Teresa said, "I need to get back what has been stolen from us...Bishop, do you know who took the Seer from you?"

"I don't know their name" Julian turned to face her, "But they reside in a night club called the "Gentleman Haven"...roughly translated from whatever Arabic gibberish they use"

"Its not gibberish...its a language" Miles said, "Just cause they worship some other nonsense doesn't make then not humans"

Teresa shook her head, turning to leave. "I'll be back with the device" she said, "But don't wait up. It might take...a great deal of time"

Julian blinked. "Are you going to hurt people?" he asked, a faint quaver in his voice. Miles slowly dropped his arms, now that he wasn't under immediate threat of death.

"No" Teresa said, looking over her shoulder, "I'm going to do the next best thing. I'm going to terrify them"

Good read, im liking this more and more!


Couple of spelling/grammar mistakes (bolded so you can see them):
"Neural paralyzer" Julian tapped his empty hypodermic
Then a kick slammed into his knee, sending him toppling to the floor.
"This is a house of WORSHIP!"
"Us...Us two?" Miles asked

Zoombie, why did you start this instead of finishing off Hunters: Vacation?