[Or] [ZuNoWriMo] Zianzo is Lost

[Hastina Fleegin Lish]

Ah! I spent half an hour making an explanation of why I'm posting this drivel before it is finished, only to have it explode with NYERROR! messages... Sigh... You'll just have to find out for yourself.

Anyway, enjoy.

(I'll post some of my designs for the ships mentioned in the story if anyone is interested. Just not now, my brain hurts. I might post some form of lexicon/pronunciation guide also, but again, only if there is interest and if the brain-juice returns)
1301 Words.


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Chapter One: The Harsh Induction



The nimble fighters deftly flew through the incandescence and brilliance that was the explosion of a Super Cruiser. Their sleek, black hulls contrasted against the shattered remains of the white ship, hurled apart as the vessel was rent in two by an intense energy beam. Mile-high fireballs mushroomed as they sucked the air and crew out of the craft, then were extinguished as they met the vacuum of space. Those lucky enough to escape rode the escape pods as far as they could, fleeing the raging destruction of their late ship, some of them being hurled into another’s.

Such was only a scene of many amid the carnage of the battlespace above the many-mooned planet, Zianzo. The gargantuan cruisers led the smaller gunships into the mêlée, while the titanic Motherships remained behind, spilling evermore ships endlessly into the void. The TAPA fighters unfolded their stabiliser wings as they entered the combat out of the cramped confines of the hangars. Their targeting sensors instantly found their prey and followed in hot pursuit, charging quark cannons and powering-up kinetic matter-launchers.

One could barely see for all the debris and ion discharges littering the area. The many two-mile long cruisers only worsened matters. But even this could not impede recognition of the enemy: The Zhian. While the Human warships were for the most part identical and clean, the Zhianzan ships were dark and crudely built, many of them painted in the style preferred by the pilot. Their fighters were slow and poorly-armed, but many. For every one destroyed by the sparkling plasma of the cannons on the Super cruisers, or the miniature seeker missiles deployed by the TAPA fighters, ten more would round one of the hundred moons and moonlets covering the relatively large planet Zianzo.

Many of the moons were equipped with huge cannons as tall as any mountain, surrounded by maintenance facilities and power stations. Every so often, a moon would rotate thanks to an internal gyroscope, and the gun would fire. It could cause the complete obliteration of a formation of fighters, or tear a larger ship in two. The generals sitting safely behind the lines in their Motherships decided this could not continue, and deployed Special Forces One.

They were sent quickly. Within minutes their trademark pin-capsules were fired from the missile tubes of a Mothership. Four containers, each no longer than a metre, and no wider than a compact disk. Lustrous silver in colour, they reflected vast panoramas of the battle across their curving hull. Not too dissimilarly to a missile, they each had a small jet at the rear, which were seen to be expelling a small plume of blue gas. Stamped on the hull in tiny, bold letters was SF-1.

In fact, their resemblance to a missile stayed any curiosity from enemy fighters. They travelled fast, incapable of correcting orientation. The conflict raced past them, a blur of technicolour flames, energy beams and debris. The largest of the turrets loomed in front of them; built atop a brown-red moon covered in solar panels, making the most of the Zianzo system’s scorching star. Even as the microscopic cameras on the nose of the pins watched, the satellite moved majestically on its axis. The gun and the facilities around it shook as it fired a beam that terminated a nearby Super Cruiser.

As the squadron entered the thin atmosphere, airborne nanobots exited via an aperture on the back of the rockets and physically pushed them into a deceleration. Nonetheless, each of them crashed into the sea of mirrors with an almighty crash. Their hulls barely held as they absorbed the impact. The collision tore a small crater in the ground and sent buckled solar panels soaring in the low gravity.

There was a hiss, the only precursor to the transformation. It was instantaneous. Quite suddenly, there was a blinding flash in the form of four bodies; four erect and shining bodies in the crater of the impact. The image would have burned onto the retinas of anyone present. Left in the residue of the flare were four men, fully equipped and queasy. Their last memory was going to sleep before the beginning of the clash of species. They were told of a possibility of service during the battle.

Micro-transport was an imperfect science. The chosen subjects were manipulated by nanobots, taken apart atom by atom and in a super-dense form, forced into a container. It happened so quickly a person would have no memory of it, nor feel it. The containers were somehow gotten to their destination, and the same microbots would re-assemble the human instantly. They moved so quickly and there were so many of them with their bright ion trail that they were seen only as a flash. Mistakes could happen during the disassembly and the assembly: One could find himself with parts of his memory missing, due to the complication of assembling synapses in the exact way they were found. Sometimes the person could end out with entirely new memories randomly generated.

The process had raised many questions about the nature of humanity. The primary one unsettled most people: At what point is a pile of atoms considered a human being? It was thought by many conspiracy theories that this government-run operation was a ploy to remake all humans with the same brain, one that would follow the ideas of the empire blindly, but it had never been proven.

All four of the team stumbled as they re-materialised, one of them bent over and retched. It was a mystery to most scientists why one felt sick after a transformation. Even these highly trained, genetically engineered warriors succumbed to the effects. Clad in black uniform and equipped with more than one utility belt and a wide array of gadgets and visors, even while in their miserable state, they were a formidable force.

While waiting for their bionics to counteract the consequences, the team conversed in wireless neural connection telepathy, discussing their plan of approach.

“My memory implant shows we have been selected to upload new target trajectories into this moon-platform,” the first commando stated, designated Gamma.

“Confirmed. Target is shielded, heavily armed and swarming with Zhianzan guards. I recommend a full-frontal assault into the main station, and continue as a stealth operation,” the second said, deciding he would be entitled Lambda.

“Seconded, though I put forward that an all-out storm of the exterior of the base would prove troublesome, considering the perimeter cannons have a range of one kilometre, and rarely miss,” the third said, called Psi. He had discovered this after reviewing the base schematics superimposed on his vision.

“We can request the nanobots build us a high speed Cave Scout. Its speed and manoeuvrability will prove more than a match for the turrets,” Lambda argued, “They can also prove useful for jumping the trenches encircling the camp.”

“Agreed, we can build two and screen them in a secluded area outside. We can use them for our escape subsequent to our exit of the facility,” the fourth said, known as Sigma.

The words echoed in their minds for a time before they received an update from command, “Sun to pass over the planet Zianzo in approximately seven minutes. Light to reach your moon several seconds later. Estimated heat: 650 degrees Celsius.”

Any normal human would have quailed in the realisation of that simple fact. But not anyone from SF-1. Trained for twenty years with little or no human contact, fear simply did not come to them. The fact they had little to fear helped as well; their weapon implants, strict exercise, specially formulated diet and genetically modified muscles and vital organs made them among the most significant killing machines in the galaxy, at least among the human race.

Nonetheless, they recognised the seriousness of their situation.



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TO BE CONTINUED

Yes, and I know it's a bit far-fetched (and bad), but this is high science-fiction! My favourite kind, you know. Did you know that? Betcha didn't. And anyway, I'm open to criticism. Constructive criticism.

[Hastina Fleegin Lish]

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Chapter Two: Sunrise, Sunset


Acting quickly, Psi ordered the nanobots to build a Cave Scout for them. He got their attention simply by thinking it. Immediately, his sight and sound detection merged with theirs, giving him a almost a billion additional perspectives lined up beside his eyes. Selecting one, he designated it the leader and gave it the instruction. Gesturing with his hands made thinking the action easier. He pointed to the sea of solar panels and made a simple mime with his hand signifying that they bring as many of them as possible over here. He opened a link to the design office of the army and sent a schematic of a Cave Scout to his army of microbots.

They got to work instantly. Nanobots were the result of centuries of research and development by most of the empire’s finest scientists. They began their testing on the nano scale, but found it was too small for the kind of complexity and functionality that was expected. Moving up to the micro scale, they were capable of adding in tools such as lasers, flamethrowers, a complex AI, tentacles and several other devices that could be used for construction. Even though the robots were built on the micro scale, the name nanobots has never worn off. Nanobots were the most technologically advanced item in the universe. Capable of speeds up to 1100 kilometres per hour, able to lift weights that vastly exceed their own, able to kill a man faster than a gunshot, and capable of much, much more.

They flew to a particularly large pile of solar panels and with their combined strength, carried them over to an area another group of microbots had cleared for construction. Stripping the panels of useful materials and sorting them took several seconds. The steel was brought into an airtight bubble and compressed to unimaginable pressures, melting it. It was then shaped into a hull. Meanwhile, the panel glass was shaped into a windscreen and circuitry was reconfigured to suit the Cave Scout.

While waiting for the nanobots, the team reworked their plan.

“The Cave Scouts could make it if only for the solar panels…” Sigma said, taking a glance at them. Roughly a square metre in size each, and supported by stilts larger than most men, they would prove most troublesome to navigate.

“And the base will no doubt throw up a shield in preparation for the sunrise. Even their concrete buildings cannot withstand that heat,” Gamma added, while peering at the sprawl of facilities several kilometres forward of him.

“I have a solution,” Lambda said, “Why not use the anti-cyclone manoeuvre with the Cave Scouts?”

“Is that a built-in function?” Sigma asked, while receiving information on the manoeuvre from Lambda. He had a glazed expression in his eyes as he said this, his eyes unfocused as they stared blankly at the details on his vision.

“The nanobots should have little difficulty in pulling it off,” Lambda replied.

They turned to see the nanobots had completed. Sitting on the construction site were two identical Cave Scouts, a dull silver in colour. Shaped like an oval, slightly sharpened at the front. It was higher at the back than at the front. A small cockpit was located at the front, devoid of any visible controls. A small jet was located at the back, as well as two handholds and two grooves for feet, where a man could stoop quite comfortably.

They hastily clambered onto the crafts, one taking the pilot’s seat and the other begrudgingly taking the rear. The pilots set up an uplink with the Cave Scouts, allowing them to control by thought. They were powered up, and three small helicopter rotors silently slid out from underneath, one at each side and one at the front. They began to spin, and were soon supporting the vessels quite easily in the low gravity. A cloud of nanobots flew to each vehicle and began the anti-cyclone manoeuvre.

The anti-cyclone manoeuvre involved a swarm of nanobots spinning around an object at an extremely high speed. More nanobots would work in tandem with the object to suck air from outside the spinning swarm and move it inside the ring, creating a area of very high pressure inside the hoop and low pressure outside. This caused extremely fast clockwise winds, helped by the spinning nanobots. It was named after the weather phenomenon in which the same process occurred, albeit naturally.

The Cave Scouts accelerated and headed straight for the canopy of solar panels. Upon collision, the nanobots cut through the stilts like an electric saw and they were sucked into the anti-cyclone. The nanobots further abraded them until they were little more than razor-sharp blades of steel. The Cave Scouts picked up speed and continued through the sea. Solar panels fell before them and their volume added to the now already opaque hoop of killer metal. The steel further abraded itself until it was nothing but sand, razor-sand.

From above, the scene was ungraceful, but awe-inspiring. Amid the mirrors that stretched over the horizon, an endless slog of shiny monotony, there were two thin black lines carving their way across. There would be a millisecond of twitching, then the solar panels would fly into the mêlée, obliterated in seconds. Stray particles of steel would escape from the ring, and soar to nearby solar panels at several hundred kilometres and hour, shattering them instantly.

Progress was extremely quick. They had exited perimeter of the energy field within four minutes, leaving them with 90 seconds to cross the plain to the facility and enter the shield area before their brains were melted out of their skulls. True to Psi’s word, the targeting sensors of the perimeter cannons picked them out instantly, and fired a barrage of energy beams at them. True to Lambda’s word, the Cave Scouts and their pilots evaded the beams easily, leaving smoking scores on the rock behind them. Looking backward at them, Sigma couldn’t help but notice the thin halo behind Zianzo that was a star emerging.

With less than a minute left, three rapid-response Zhianzan fighters floated out of a docking port inside the facility, and turned like slow lifeboats towards them, picking up speed quickly. The twenty-metre wide trench surrounding the base loomed before them. With this, the approaching enemy fighters, the turrets and the impending sunrise, the anti-cyclone manoeuvre pulled off its most extraordinary feature.

Air-sucking nanobots discontinued their work, and, moving so fast, faster than it took the anti-cyclone to crumble, they flew above and below the Cave Scouts. Those below sucked air into their area and vice-versa. The effect was immediate. With low pressure above and high pressure below, the Cave Scouts jetted upwards much like an aeroplane wing and jumped the trench. While high in the air, the nanobots reversed the anti-cyclone effect. With low pressure inside and high pressure outside, the ring of sand-steel was flung in all directions.

Before the enemy fighters had even a chance to fire, they were pummelled with a considerable amount of steel. Enough of it pierced the hull near the fuel tanks to warrant an explosion in one of the fighters, destroying it and another near it instantly. The third swerved to avoid the fireball and flew off course, outside the perimeter.

Supported by nanobots, with engines struggling, the Cave Scouts and their crew managed to stay airborne long enough to pass into the facility campus. Behind them, the last remaining enemy fighter rotated on its axis, and started straight for them. Seconds later, the shield went up. Though not visible to the naked eye, it emitted a quantum-overlap signature apparent to SF-1’s visors. The enemy vessel could not stop quick enough and crashed into the shield, much as it would were the shield a brick wall.

Before the flames dissipated, the star was visible for a fraction of a second before the shield opaqued, blocking out the light of the star and the battle. It was pitch-black inside the shield for a time, then lights on the walls of the exteriors flickered, lighting the way.

Ahead of SF-1 was The Facility.


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1301 Words + 1363 Words = 2664 Words.

Good, I seem to maintaining a quota. Scrumptious.

[Szerenade]

I'm afraid I don't have any constructive criticism to offer, but I'd just like to say I enjoyed it. Far-fetched is fun. I liked how their memories were mangled after transformation - seems to have potential for lots of interesting points.

[Hastina Fleegin Lish]

Why, thank you for your kind words. You like far-fetched? Then here we go!


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Chapter Three: Discovery!


SF-1 dismounted their cave scouts. Gamma scanned for electrical readings that would signify CCTV. There were none. Psi ordered that the nanobots screen the cave scouts. Screening was a procedure that involved covering an item in flexible televisual screens. The screens displayed whatever was captured by microscopic cameras on the opposite side. The effect was near-invisibility. They walked slowly, the sounds of their hard shoes echoed across the angular buildings. Fixed onto them in tight iron brackets were bright halogen lights. The path was brightly lit, like a corridor.

“Thermal readings detected ahead, Zhianzan,” Sigma said abruptly over the wireless, “Hurried movements and increased body heat indicates they know we’re here.”

“Crap,” the team said in unison.

“Kill the lights,” Gamma told his nanobots. They flew to the six nearest halogen strip lights and shorted their circuitry. Darkness fell, and the team scurried to the walls. They pressed flat against it and watched the Zhianzan guards. There were four of them, still in the light up ahead. They took alarm to the sudden absence of light ahead and primed their weapons.

Standing eight feet tall, Zhianzans were insect-like aliens with slender bodies and a series of small, many-jointed legs on their fronts. They could stand upright on their four, lowest legs. This allowed them to bear a single arm that ended in two large, opposing fingers that were capable of moulding to many shapes. They had more balance and speed when walking on all sixteen all of their legs, though. A unique feature of their anatomy was their ability to call at will a thick, flexible neck from almost any part of their body. This neck contained two large eyes, a highly sensitive nose and a patch of fine hairs that twitched at the slightest air vibration and acted as an ear. The neck would extend out of the body and retreat back inside when it sensed danger. It could travel through the body and emerge on the other side.

It was best that the team did not kill these guards, their absence would no doubt arouse suspicion among the already-wary security division in the complex. The three missing fighters and activated turrets mustn’t have helped.

Lambda and Sigma drew their pistols and fired a cord ending in an apparently plain lead weight. Pulling the carbon-nanotube cord after it, it was propelled into the darkness and landed with a cringingly loud thump on the roof. The duo activated the thermite inside the weight, melting it into a near-liquid within seconds. The lead froze quickly, and stuck hard to the concrete roof. Pulling hard on the durable cord, Lambda and Sigma shimmied up the wall. Psi and Gamma followed suit, ever aware of the slowly-approaching Zhianzan guards.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gamma saw the guards had activated strong torches on their weaponry, illuminating the area. Quickening his vertical climb, he saw the other two had arrived at the top and were pulling both his and Psi’s cord. Ten seconds from the top, a wide shaft of light swung over him. There was a second of hesitation, and then the guards opened fire. Gamma was instantly hit by plasma bolts on his left arm and along his left flank, crying out, he relinquished the cord and dropped two storeys onto the ground.

After that, things happened very fast. Psi, still grasping the rope, kicked out from the wall and released in mid-air. He flew across the air, and in that terse interval, sent a brief message to the rest of his team. Landing several metres in front of the Zhianzan guards, he had to act quickly before they opened fire on him. Raising himself to full height, he pulled an EMP bomb from his belt and activated it. His EMP bomb was capable of knocking out all circuitry within a ten-meter radius for several minutes. Only his, Gamma‘s, and the guards‘ electronics would be affected . Before the enemy had even turned to the noise of his landing, he ran to opposite wall, crouching against it.

Meanwhile, Sigma activated his thermal visor, in reaction to a short message from Psi: Imminent use of ion bomb, lack of light. He saw the lukewarm bodies of the Zhianzan guards scatter for a better position and Psi lining up against a wall. Drawing his rifle, he assumed a sniper position on the roof, peering through the scope at the partially-covered Zhianzans. Lambda was doing the same, but also attempted to contact the nanobots currently screening the Cave Scouts. Something was blocking their communications.

Together, they opened fire on the nearest of the Zhianzans. Thin, orange streaks of light cut the air struck a corner of the building it was cowering behind. Their silence was disturbing, surely a weapon of this power would produce a zoom sound? Forsaking its cover, the Zhianzan leapt out and fired a volley of plasma bolts before being riddled with ion. Lambda saw one of the guards was fleeing the scene, no doubt to raise the alarm.

“Psi, get him,” he called across the telepathy. He sent a blurred thermal picture of “him” along with the message. Crouching low, Psi cautiously ran between the fire and opened into a sprint once he was in the clear. Using bionics and his years of training, he quickly accelerated to a speed of nearly 40 kilometres per hour. Tripping at that speed could kill him. His quarry was no match for him, and it knew full well. Even on all-sixteens it could not outrun him. Its sensory neck morphed out of its back while still running, and his long arm bent back and fired on Psi. Reacting instantly, Psi jumped forward, shifting into a rocket shape; arms pointed forward, legs locked. He dodged the bolts, shot the beast in mid-flight, and skidded to a halt on his frontal body armour.

He shot the corpse twice more to be sure, then ran back to his companions.

He returned to find the remaining two Zhianzan guards had been gunned down by Lambda and Sigma. Their corpses were still twitching, left with three gaudy holes spewing a thick, yellow substance that quickly hardened and sealed the wounds shut. He rushed to Gamma’s aid, finding him somewhat propped up against the wall. Psi winced when he saw the pool of blood around his legs; his side and arm were bleeding profusely.

“Psi,” he began, “I… I don’t,” his words were punctuated with fits of spluttering and coughing. Now his front was stained dark red.

“It’s fine. The nanobots will fix you up,” Psi assured him. Gamma looked doubtful. That very moment, Lambda arrived at his side.

“The nanobots have been destroyed,” he said quickly, obviously wanting to get it over with. He overrode their cries of distress and disbelief , “Looks like ion damage. Must have been your ion bomb, Psi.”

“That’s impossible,” Psi countered, a little too quickly, “They don’t have a range that far. And anyway, it’s only temporary damage.”

“Nanobots are more severely affected, due to their size. They‘re gone beyond repair.”

“Crap. Crap!” Psi said, “What are we going to do with Gamma?”

“Just… Plaster me up,” he demanded, and a fit of coughing ensued, “My implants… Can take… C-care of the rest.”

Psi and Lambda exchanged glances. They began covering his wounds with foam-plaster. Sigma arrived several minutes later after a quick scouting mission and Lambda filled him in on the nanobots situation. That left Psi with Gamma.

“Psi, I need… A promise,” Gamma said, with considerable difficulty.

Psi thought for a moment before saying, “What is it?” He finished spraying the foam plaster on, and began covering it in an adhesive cloth. It was lucky they brought a small medkit. With the growing use of nanobots, they were quickly becoming obsolete. But there was always a chance.

“The Super Cruiser… I served on… There… Was a woman…”

Psi understood. “If you don’t make it through this, you want me to tell her how you died saving the armada?” In spite of himself, a grin tugged at his lips.

Gamma gave a small laugh, resulting in another coughing fit.

“What was her name? What was the name of the Cruiser?”

“We served… On… The Paul Levy II. Her name was… Was Christina Kelly.”

“Alright, no problem. Now just relax…” He injected a tranquilliser into his neck, slowly rendering him unconscious. He joined Sigma and Lambda.

“Okay, he’s out,” he said.

“We’ll need to put him somewhere dark until we get back,” Sigma said.

“This place’ll be swarming with Zhianzans in a few minutes,” Lambda replied, warily scanning the vicinity, “We should just put him on top of a building and knock out as many lights as we can on our way out.”

They agreed, and hastily pulled the dreaming Gamma onto the nearest building with a cord and weight.

“He should wake up within the hour,” Psi said.

“We’ll contact him every ten minutes until he does,” Lambda replied, and they continued with their mission.



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2664 words + 1509 = 4173 Words.
My, that's a big chapter.

[Hastina Fleegin Lish]

Okay, there's no hope I'm going to finish.

Work was hard so I quit.