Category Archives: Arc 12.4.5: Underground Tower

Underground Tower: Part 12

It wasn’t all bad news though, because even if Izzy was out, Jaclyn wasn’t. In a blur, she ran out from behind a group of crates, grabbed Izzy, and disappeared before the True could do anything. White light hit the spot where they’d been.

For all the True’s ability to predict people’s moves, they couldn’t necessarily move quickly enough for it to matter. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 12

Underground Tower: Part 11

After all that Izzy and Jaclyn had done and the damage they’d taken, I probably was the person most ready to take point. The Rocket suit might not be in perfect shape, but I could take a few shots from the True I knew had to be up there.

Of course, Cassie was already moving. She jumped through the hole in the ceiling even as I aimed myself in that direction. I shot off a bot to scout as she passed me because I wanted to know what was up there if I could. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 11

Underground Tower: Part 10

I aimed my sonics at Ana’s suit. Even though firing them off was something of a crapshoot and you never knew what you’d damage, you generally damaged something, sometimes even something important. Given that Ana’s suit was no longer protected by either stasis or a force field, I had a real chance now.

Despite that, it didn’t spark, blow smoke, or stop moving.

Even though her suit wobbled, she still took a punch at me. It missed, passing a few inches in front of my helmet. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 10

Underground Tower: Part 9

It touched the plate, the silvery color wobbling at the edges and then I let more energy through, wondering how long I’d be able to keep it going and how large I could make it. It’s not that I hadn’t experimented, but there was a difference between expanding a mote to include a desk or sphere of air versus an object attached to a person who might choose to move.

I felt fairly sure I could expand it to include the chest plate and keep it going for a while though, so I took a shot at it. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 9

Underground Tower: Part 8

What was disappointing though, was how the force field regenerated before my eyes in an instant. Noticing that, I swerved to the right, whipping around her toward the wall behind her with the idea that I’d be able to go around her back.

For a change, an idea that struck me as questionable even as I put it into practice worked. The force field generated a pseudopod and struck at me except this time it missed, possibly because she didn’t have as wide a perspective in her helmet or possibly because I’d moved too quickly. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 8

Underground Tower: Part 7

As Ana ran for me, her suit’s color changed, turning silver—which told me a lot. First, that all of the  suits might be able to turn on stasis and second, that they didn’t do it all the time. If I had to guess, that would be because it sucked power—which meant that we might be able to outlast them.

It made me wonder if it was possible to power a plate of armor with a battery that was inside the plate. In theory, assuming it stopped time in the right moment, that could last forever. The fact that they didn’t seem to be doing it that way indicated that it was more complicated than I assumed. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 7

Underground Tower: Part 6

Feeling the rockets throw me forward, I weaved through the air, doing my best to be hard to hit, knowing that the True could predict my moves before I made them—if they had enough information.

Half of the True ran forward, but only on this side of the room. It made flying across the room and following the far wall seem like the best option except that the True would be trying to trick me into a bad choice. Flying across the room would allow the whole group more time to fire at me and flying next to the far wall would do more of the same. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 6

Underground Tower: Part 5

I didn’t need to explain the toxic waste comment, Daniel caught the gist of it from my head.

Got it, he said, but then I felt a pulse of worry from him. One more thing… They’ve got mental shields built into their suits, so I can’t get a read on what they’re thinking, but I did learn something. One of them jumped up and tried to grab me. I knew it was coming before he did, but still, I only barely got away. As he got close though, I got a flash of Rook talking about the armor. I heard one word, ‘stasis.’ Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 5

Underground Tower: Part 4

Looking at the group of mechs ahead of me, I had to ask myself the next question, “How?”

I didn’t have a pile of plastique bots and while they’d worked on one guy, they were designed with unmoving objects like walls in mind. I had a few killbots, but the last time I’d fought people in Rook’s armor, the killbots didn’t work. Plus, I didn’t want to kill them anyway.

So, I decided to target their faceplates with boombots, figuring that killing them wasn’t possible, but it’d at least be a distraction. The only problem was that I’d just done it and bearing in mind that I was fighting True, they’d anticipate it. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 4

Underground Tower: Part 3

The True didn’t make it easy for me. Even as I swerved toward the far left table in the line, they started running for me—except for the one that was already there and waiting.

The bots hit that one first, exploding and throwing him backward. They hit the other two at almost the same time, whipping around them and shooting them not backward, but forward in a fiery explosion, generally in the opposite direction that I was flying. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 3