Tag Archives: Victor

Arc 14.3.0: Knock Knock

Knock, Knock? Part 7

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“Get me out of here!” Rook’s helmet moved sideways as if he were trying to figure out the best direction to run.

Assuming his wings had been damaged, it didn’t look good for him. To the left stood the lake and aside from the copse of trees there wasn’t anywhere to run to and trees were occupied.

If that weren’t enough, Victor appeared to be having a hard time concentrating under Jaclyn’s assault because he wasn’t even teleporting himself out, much less Rook. Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 7 →

Arc 14.3.0: Knock Knock

Knock, Knock? Part 6

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I don’t have a reputation for attacking people without warning. If I’ve got a reputation as the Rocket, it’s for the exact opposite.

Rook didn’t see the punch coming. I put as much into it as I could, knowing that his armor could take it and that he’d kill all of us if he could.

It was a solid punch, knocking him backward into the henchrook behind him, forcing them to fall over backwards. Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 6 →

Arc 14.3.0: Knock Knock

Knock, Knock? Part 5

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I felt like quibbling about the “greatest inventor on this or any other planet” part of the statement if only because it might distract his attention from Rachel and everyone else.

Despite generally believing that sassing your opposition was more trouble than it was worth, I turned the suit’s PA to the maximum possible volume and said, “Greatest inventor? You’re nothing more than a second-rate copy of the original Rocket. Heck, you might even be a second-rate copy of me or the Rhino for that matter.”

I also activated the sonics as weapons on the off chance it might do any good since I was pointing at the copse of trees anyway. Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 5 →

Arc 14.2.5: Waning Moon

Waning Moon: Part 3

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Abominator Moonbase, Present

“I don’t know what happened after that,” I said.

We all stood in the lab next to the Starplate. Jaclyn had placed Victor’s body there. It hadn’t seemed right to leave it out on the surface. It didn’t feel more right to bring him back here, but there were things I could do here that I couldn’t do there.

“I mean, I know loosely, but not in detail. They scared the Soviets into leaving—not that it was too hard. Abominator booby traps killed a few of their men. The crazy thing is that Grandpa did say he fought a time traveler once, but he didn’t say anything that made me think of Victor. At least, not until now.” Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 3 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 13

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As I flew, Cassie contacted Jaclyn and I, “After you help Shift, get back here. We’re okay, but the stupid monkeys and their boxes reformed already.”

She live-streamed a snippet of her firing at the weird, sludgy “monkeys” while Rachel, stumbling but walking, phased in and out, cutting any monkeys that got close to Cassie into pieces with her axe. Cassie focused her attention on the creatures that weren’t close.

They looked like they’d be okay for now, but the way the monkeys reformed, they’d be outnumbered sooner than I wanted to imagine. A little damage to their suits and exposure to the wrong Abominator device had all the wrong kind of potential. Continue reading Moon: Part 13 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 12

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Thanks to the camera on Marcus’ suit, I could see what he saw—gray mountains covered in dust surrounded where they stood, all free of greenery and life.

The stars above hung in a black sky without clouds or a hint of water.

They were on top of a mountain. The surface slanted without turning into a sheer drop. It wasn’t a cliff there, but if he ran in any direction there would be a drop into the darkness below soon enough. Continue reading Moon: Part 12 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 11

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Activating my rocket pack, I flew toward them as Jaclyn raced across the ground, moving slower and more carefully than usual to avoid launching herself into the ceiling.

I’d done the same with the rockets without thought.

The Xiniti implants helped with that, implanting that skill along with all the other knowledge we had available.

As good as that was, it meant we weren’t moving as quickly as we could on Earth, giving us time to watch the inevitable. Continue reading Moon: Part 11 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 10

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Pushing myself up and jumping to the side, I dodged another punch from Victor, who’d closed the distance in a step.

I fired off two boombots at him. Both hit, throwing him backward into a blue/gray metal device shaped like a doorless refrigerator.

I didn’t want to kill him. I also couldn’t think of an obvious way to prevent it. I hadn’t brought many goobots on this mission and didn’t think they’d do much good against someone with Jaclyn’s strength.

On the other hand, I realized, it might give me time to think of something better. Continue reading Moon: Part 10 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 9

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Plan b was to use an object that the Artificers had designed to end civilizations. It wasn’t a question of whether that would be bad for us, but whether the effect would be to empower Victor or to infect us.

“Not good,” Jaclyn muttered and her hands twitched, activating a new feature of her suit, which I’d described as “essentially a gumball dispenser.”

With a hand motion, she could cause dense balls of an alien-designed alloy to roll out of her suit and land in her hands. Then she could throw it. Continue reading Moon: Part 9 →

Arc 14.2.0: Moon

Moon: Part 8

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Over the comm, I asked, “Was that you?”

“Me?” Marcus shook his head, “No. I just connected.”

Victor stared at me and looked over at Rachel. Then he shouted, “I see you for what you are—avatars of the Artificers. Die!”

Then all the lights winked out as the doors on the boxes that Cassie called “psychotic monkey boxes” opened. For the record, they weren’t monkeys. They were bipedal, but they had two extra arms compared to regular monkeys. They also had tails, but that wasn’t weird.

What was weird is that they didn’t have fur. They had dark, gray skin, glistening with what I assumed to be moisture, but didn’t have to be water. My gut feeling was that it was some kind of oil. Continue reading Moon: Part 8 →