Tag Archives: Rachel

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 6

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I used the Rocket suit’s sensors to see if I couldn’t make the sound clearer. When I did, I learned something.

It still didn’t make sense.

Querying my implant, I checked if it might be another language. My implant identified bits of Sumerian, a variant of pidgin Abominator used by their human servants, English, and several ancient human languages that must have been common when the Abominators were on Earth.

Translated into modern English, the mass of words was still gibberish. Continue reading Moon: Part 6 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 5

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Zooming in with the Rocket suit’s sensors, I realized something. I knew this guy. I’d last seen him while fighting Rook and other operatives of the Nine at another lab analyzing alien technology, that one on Earth.

I’d worked for a company called Higher Ground and this guy, Victor, had been my co-worker, mentor, and semi-supervisor in an internship that was an undercover mission. Victor had seemed nice enough at first. Continue reading Moon: Part 5 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 4

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I couldn’t rule out the possibility that some were literally in our basement or one of our storage rooms. The original team confiscated a lot of technology from supervillains that they didn’t feel comfortable handing over to the government.

I also hadn’t forgotten that Yoselin’s father and Russian Victory had also brought some home from the Moon.

I’d always assumed it had been Abominator tech, but seeing the room, it could have been Artificer tech. There were enough empty spots to be nervous about. Continue reading Moon: Part 4 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 3

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Marcus shook his head, “That does not look good. I hope whatever did it is gone. Hey, Accelerando, any idea what killed them?”

Shooting him a look, Jaclyn said, “I’m training to be a doctor, not a forensic pathologist. I have no idea. Without an internship in alien autopsies, I can’t even guess whether it was the Abominators’ defenses or another creature.”

She leaned forward to inspect the bodies anyway and her eyes glazed over as she took what had to be a massive download from her implant. Continue reading Moon: Part 3 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 2

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Daniel might have sensed how long it had been, depending on factors I mostly didn’t know.

I looked down the hall ahead of us. The lights didn’t help much, but with our suits’ sensors, everyone would be able to see what I did. The hall went on as far as I could see, but it wasn’t straight.

It curved enough that the small changes of its path made it impossible to see anything in the hall except for the distant glow coming from the ceiling.

“Hey,” I said, addressing everyone via my comm, “it looks like Rook’s people either were here or are here and I can’t tell more from these… bootprints. It also looks like they might have used a different entrance. So we have no idea how many it is.” Continue reading Moon: Part 2 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 1

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We stepped out of the hatch into the hangar. A thin layer of moon dust covered the floor, capturing our footprints. It wasn’t a good sign if I were hoping to find working machinery, but it might be a good sign if I were hoping that the building’s defenses were in bad shape.

Given that the base was thousands of years old and that it had opened up the doors to the hangar with no issue, I decided not to be optimistic. The universe wouldn’t be handing out that kind of favor unless it planned to collect on it with interest at the worst possible moment. Continue reading Moon: Part 1 →

Arc 14.1.5: If Found Please Return

If Found, Please Return: Part 8

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By then, Marcus had already gone through the checklist, and all systems showed green—even those that allowed interstellar flight.

He glanced at me, “Do you want to take control?”

“If you want to fly it,” I said, “go ahead. You already got everything going.”

He grinned and grabbed the joystick, “Let’s go.” Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 8 →

Arc 14.1.5: If Found Please Return

If Found, Please Return: Part 6

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Vaughn stopped, and frowned, “I mean, I probably can’t do much of anything up there except for throwing lightning inside the jet or my suit, but it’s still the moon. It would be cool. It’s just that the more I think about it, the more I think I’ll be a lead weight—no powers except where they could do more damage than help.”

Looking up from my screen at the table, I said, “We can think about it. It’s probably a bad idea, but if there are… I don’t know… Selenites or something up there, for all we know there might be a secretly inhabitable area. It’s not like that never happens in comics.”

“Or Nazis,” Vaughn said, shrugging. Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 6 →

Arc 14.1.5: If Found Please Return

If Found, Please Return: Part 2

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“His name?” I asked, “who was that guy?”

Daniel nodded, “Constantine Doukas. He’s Greek. He appears to have been raised in one of the Cabal’s hidden colonies. The Nine had some kind of connection to that colony and he ended up fighting us, but here’s the interesting thing—the Nine have their own power impregnators. He went through one and the ability to do that appeared.”

“No shit,” Cassie pushed back from the table. “I don’t know if I told you this, but the first time I fought the Nine, the time Nick picked me up in Washington D.C., I fought another orange guy. He wasn’t the same. He was more spider-like with glowing orange legs that contained some kind of hot liquid? Think they’re related?”

“No idea,” I said, glancing over at Daniel. Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 2 →

Arc 14.1.0: Before Midnight

Before Midnight: Part 4

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Rachel gave a quick grin, “I hope you’re not blaming it on me, but that’s about right. I still can’t navigate hyperspace on my own. The Cosmic Ghosts dropped me off over Earth and disappeared. I floated down from orbit on my own and as I floated down, I felt something. It wasn’t a hum. It felt more like gathering energy. Then I felt a pulse. That’s when the hum started.”

I looked at her, “I missed the pulse—actually, I missed everything but the hum.” Continue reading Before Midnight: Part 4 →