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metalfic · 6 years ago

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Screaming Metal (Part 023)

The morning exploded in thunder and the screeches of palm-sized, winged mammals as they took flight.

A plume of vaporized garbage rocketed into the air accompanied by hurtling shards of long-buried metal and materials.

Within the forest surrounding Priyanka's camp, startled ground animals hurtled and scampered to safety with a clamor that elevated the cacophony.

Priyanka was up and on her feet, intensely focused as a second blast ripped through the morning.

Standing next to the optical array, Suen cursed, her hands on her head in dismay as she stared down on the plains.

Deshel was messing with the array's controls and reported. "The device recorded no discernable movement or action up until 15 minutes ago."

Priyanka joined her two crew members. "That when they planted the devices?" The tell-tale signs of explosives were obvious.

Deshel nodded, "Apparently so."

Swelling up from beneath the warship, a second giant dust cloud belched forth from the pit engulfing the hull.

The view of the ship was quickly lost in the dirty haze created by the two explosions.

Priyanka started to ask who had been on watch but anything she had to say was lost in the sight of a third explosion.

Several minutes passed before the grime, parts and history settled once more.

Suen's disbelief was evident. "They're using explosives to extract the Metal?"

Said Deshel, "That crevasse is going to collapse in upon itself."

Several figures in exoframes exited the ship.

Priyanka grabbed a pair of binocs linked to the optical array.

She watched as the figures below stumbled around in the marked, jerky movements of persons unfamiliar with the frame.

The figures began digging, recklessly tearing away at the junk and tossing it aside. Yet in the half hour they labored, no significant gain was made.

Their effort was uncoordinated and random. It would have been comical to watch otherwise. Like children playing at the beach.

"Those guys are going to get themselves killed," Deshel remarked.

"Well, you'd better hope they don't," said Priyanka. "Last thing we need is the local authorities poking around."

"I'm surprised they haven't shown up already," Suen said.

The smaller woman leaned over the monitor and adjusted the zoom. "So are they going down?"

Priyanka watched as the figures continued to scramble around on uneasy legs, leaping from heap to heap.

They had already blasted away chucks of the rim, making an already dangerous surface, even more so.

Several figures looked down into the gash periodically and gave orders, but it appeared that no one was yet ready to descend into it.

The crew of the Ally Cat continued their vigil in silence. Another quarter hour passed and the exoframed men reboarded their ship.

Suen's face soured. "Well, what the? Are they finished? What was all that for?"

Deshel straightened in his chair. "Movement!"

All three crouched to avoid detection as the warship began to maneuver.

"They've spotted us. I'm ready," Suen sneered, the fight in her rekindled.

Priyanka remained calm, yet cautious, "Relax. I don’t think they have."

"Should we get back to the Alley Cat?" Deshel was already packing some of the smaller gear away.

"Not just yet." Our friends down there are just restless; frustrated, she thought. They weren't going anywhere yet.

But she remained silent instead of sharing that reasoning with her crew.

The trio watched as the warship awkwardly maneuvered around the crevasse like a giant bird trying to settle over a nest.

Priyanka's sigh was long and resigned. Just as she thought: the claimjumpers were settling in. Not quite yet ready to give up.

Had they thought it was going to be a quick job? Thought they knew was the Alley Cat was after, and had taken a chance?

What had the interlopers been expecting to find at the site? A treasure just awaiting them?

Anyone properly prepared should have been able to pull the Metal by now. But they hadn't even descended.

The only reason could be lack of said preparation. So why not give up, especially if they believed they were successful in chasing Priyanka off?

Whomever was running this operation was deeply invested, possibly moreso than she. The commissioning of a warship backed that assumption.

Moreover, it further suggested that someone understood that there was indeed something extraordinary buried in the junkyard.

This did not bode well.

Priyanka needed to understand whom she was dealing with and why. The question was how to go about it.

#ScreamingMetal #MetalFic #mecha #robots #battletech #robotech #transformers #scifi #science fiction

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metalfic · 6 years ago

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Screaming Metal (Part 022)

Shake Hands was a planet on the cool side, occupying an outer position of its sun's circumstellar habitable zone. While cold at times, it wasn't completely intolerable. Even overnight.

Wrapped in heavy blankets that drew heat from a porta-gen, the three had set up along a tree-lined ridge overlooking the vast plains stretching out below.

Aside from the massive junkyard that she and her crew had been eager to plunder, the planet was still relatively pristine.

Great swaths were covered in natural wilds outside the seven small cities and the farmlands surrounding them.

While predators existed, no species larger than beasts akin to the dogs of Earth or the kinuu of Nesca had been recorded.

Fortunately a good light source and a few anti-pest sonics would keep them at a comfortable distance.

Priyanka periodically watched the old warship from afar, a portable optical array enhancing the distant view.

After settling over the junkyard rather than giving chase as it had, the junk-merc had been confident the warship wouldn't bother to search for them.

She'd been right. Whomever was running the show wasn't interested in the Alley Cat crew.

It was the one thing Priyanka was grateful for in this whole damned situation.

Being run off their marker was one thing, being chased down and taken into custody, or worse, was quite another story.

Now all she had to do was hold out and hope for a little luck that whomever was down there wouldn't pull Il'on's braincore.

"Il’on…"

Priyanka looked over at a Suen's sleeping form. The orange-red glow of the porta-gen illuminated the woman's features.

Priyanka had never mentioned the Metal's designation to either Deshel or Suen, and yet, Suen had clearly said its name, even referred to it as "him".

An uneasy feeling settled over her. More than ever, she just wanted to be done with this job.

It wasn't too late to pull out, but the money she'd invested in Il'on's recovery – fuel, food, crew pay, courier licenses, administrative fees…

It would put the kibosh on her cash flow, force her to let her crew go, and, in all likelihood, send her ship to mothballs.

On the other hand, with all that had happened, letting the crew go might not be such a bad idea.

And yet, despite all that had happened, it wasn't an easy decision. She had honestly grown fond of Deshel and Suen.

To think that one or both of them might have betrayed her…

Priyanka shook her head, mentally admonishing herself. Enough. She was going to give herself an ulcer.

She returned once again to the display of the warship.

It hovered over the pit as the Alley Cat had, floodlights illuminating the crevasse directly, and yet no one stirred around the gaping hole where Il'on lie.

With the wattage they were poring over the area, they had enough light to shine even to the depths Priyanka had explored to.

They could have dug it out in a few hours. Were the waiting until morning? Why? It made no sense to her.

Were they not receiving the same broadcasts and pings the junk-mercs had picked up?

If the voices she'd heard were Il'on, and not some crazy scheme to frighten her off, wouldn't it broadcast to anyone who'd listen?

Maybe they couldn't hear it. At least not aboard the warship.

Deshel had said they were using old radio waves to broadcast on the ground, but the warship might not be equipped to pick them up.

Or the crew didn't know how, because they weren't trained to use the warship. They had simply put it on auto-pilot and pointed it in a direction.

This further supported the idea that these people might be clueless as to the braincore's location, or even its existence.

That they were just opportunists – simply seeking whatever treasure they thought the crew of the Alley Cat was after.

In other words, the warship had been a bluff, a show of potential deadly force in the face of an unknown and potentially dangerous enemy.

Pretty ballsy gamble.

Be that as it may, they'd fired on her. Twice. The first time, nearly killing her.

Now that Priyanka and her crew been chased off, there was no reason to pretend they were here on delivery runs.

So as long as they weren't detected, they could hide out in the mountains for a few weeks before they themselves needed supplies.

If what she was beginning to suspect was true, the next few days would be telling.

If the locals pulled something out of the junk, Priyanka's crew might have to resort to a little theft to retrieve their property.

On the other hand, if these claim jumpers came up empty-handed, they might just leave, and she and her crew could get back to work.

Hopefully they would finish before they attracted any further attention. And if wishes were fishes, she'd be swimming in an ocean about now.

"Anything?" Deshel's voice rose from the darkness behind her.

Priyanka shook her head, "No. They could have had the braincore dug out by now if they wanted it so badly they were willing to fire on another ship for it."

"Unless they're just desperate," he returned.

"And how would you know about their desperation?"

"Nothing. Just an open ear picking up the obvious."

True. In all the bars on all the planets she'd visited, an open ear often paid off far better than greasing palms.

More often than not, palms were dirty and disingenuous.

Still, she wasn't going to let him off that easily. "You get buddy-buddy with the locals?"

Deshel sat down beside her and made a face. "A beer or two. C'mon, you know the game."

She nodded noncommittally. They fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Deshel spoke, "Take over for you?"

Priyanka glanced at the chronometer on the optical array. Deshel still had a little less than an hour before his shift.

She sat silently, suddenly feeling the weight of the day come down on her.

"It's yours," she said flatly before moving aside and lying down. She was asleep within moments.

#ScreamingMetal #MetalFic #mecha #robots #scifi #science fiction #anime

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