HAT WEARING AUNTIE
GUYS! GUYS! COME QUICK!
GUYS! GUYS! HURRY UP!
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
What? What's going on?
Are we being invaded? We're being invaded again, aren't we?
Oh, God, is it the Mar-gite?
THERE'S ONE IN HERE WITH US ISN'T THERE?
OH, IT'S ON MY FACE, ISN'T IT?
THERE'S A FUZZY BLUE HISSING MAR-GITE ON MY HEAD, ISN'T THERE?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT
No, there isn't.
Stop panicking.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
Sis's screaming freaked me out.
We're a high strung people.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS
What? What's everyone yelling about?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
LEEBAW CONTEMPLATION POOL
DOOM! DOOM!
>runs in circles
DOOM!
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
TELKAN FORGE WORLDS
WHAT ARE WE YELLING ABOUT?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
HAT WEARING AUNTIE
Check the media feed! Hurry!
The commercial is almost over!
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
AKLTAK SOARING FIELDS
What commercial?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
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TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
The what now?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
HAT WEARING AUNTIE
Shhhh... it's back on.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS--
Vuxten straightened up and moved carefully around the birds. The seven paddling in the unfrozen pond and the six on the podiums all looked mean and hissed when he got too close. He moved past the podiums and looked around.
A single trail led through the snow laden bushes.
--which way which way-- 471 said, putting up a laughing emoji.
"Yeah, tell me you're gonna ambush me without telling me you're gonna ambush me," Vuxten said, then gave a low chuckle. "You know what, I don't even care any more."
Vuxten pushed between the bushes, the snow falling from them and onto the ground. He followed the trail slowly, keeping an eye out for mines, hidden Dwellerspawn, or maybe just a slippery section of ice that would dump him on his ass.
Finally, he managed to push through more bushes, stumbling slightly, exiting out into a wide open spot. The snow covered his visor for a moment but at least the proximity warnings vanished from his HUD, which was now in crystalline looking letters rather than amber and red.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
--great-- 471 said. --sorry still cold--
"Great, another clearing," Vuxten mumbled, pawing the snow off his visor.
Before him was a large clearing, with walls at the edges that went up ten or fifteen feet. At the edges stood dozens of mask wearing, jewelry adorned people, Terrans, frozen solid in their finery. In the middle of the clearing, on a floor completely bare of ice, were nine female Terrans and ten male Terrans, all dressed in finery that was coated with a rime of frost.
A single male Terran stood between Vuxten and the clearing. He was dressed in a brown T-shirt and woodland camouflage pants, his hair cut short and his face sunburned. He was looking into the distance.
Vuxten went to ask him what he was looking at when he suddenly saw it.
A twisting vortex of snow lifted up from behind the far wall on the other side of the clearing. He could faintly see a brown skinned female Terran with blonde hair, dressed in a red outfit with furry white trim, inside of the vortex.
Instead of a roar of high speed wind, Vuxten could hear the tinkling sound of a music box and a woman vocalizing.
The vortex began roaring toward the clearing, the frozen Terrans, and the walls around the mosaic dance floor. Trees exploded, snow and ice whipped around the vortex as it sped toward the clearing and the frozen dancers, the Terran woman inside the vortex starting to dance, with her hands held out and her head thrown back, a smile on her face.
"HERE SHE COMES!" the Terran yelled, pointing at the vortex and turning to face Vuxten.
Pulling free the cutting bar, Vuxten took two steps forward and went down into the assault recovery/resistance position. Cutting bar jammed into the ground to halfway up the warsteel bar, left hand wrapped around the pommel. Right fist and forearm in front of his face instead of jammed into the ground. Right knee against the ground. Left knee bent. Head down, using the heavy brow of the helmet to deflect anything incoming. He tabbed two pieces of stimgum, gratified that system still worked.
The cold wave washed over the dance floor, the walls, the frozen Terrans, sped across the ground, and hit the Terran pointing, who vanished instantly. Vuxten bit down on the two pieces of stim gum, one on each side of the back of his jaws, clenching his chewing teeth hard.
The vortex slammed against him, the Terran woman's voice reverberating his armor, shaking him inside the kinetic sleeve till his cybereyes blurred.
--the holiday banshee-- 471 said. --doom doom-- The words were so badly blurred from the vibration that Vuxten could barely make them out.
"I JUST WANT YOUR SOUL FOR MY OWN!" the banshee inside the vortex of snow and ice howled out.
Vuxten gritted his teeth as the cold clawed at his skin even through the armor, the thermal layers, and the kinetic shock sleeve. His HUD was blurred, streaked, smeared.
Vortex. Gotta get to the center, Vuxten thought, heaving himself up by shoving off with his right foot and pulling on the pommel held in his left hand. He was almost knocked down, but still managed to keep his feet as he yanked the cutting bar free. He had to lean forward, the strength assist alarms wailing as he pushed forward. The gears on his knees, hips, and ankles spun, increasing torque as he kept his forearm in front of his face.
Step by slow step he pushed his way through the buffeting winds of the vortex, his cyberears shutting down from the reverberations of the banshee's screaming.
"MAKE MY WISH COME TRUE!" roared out as he struggled through the resonance and the wind, step by brutal step.
"THE ONLY SOUL I WANT IS FROM YOU!" the banshee screamed.
Vuxten stumbled out of the vortex, into the center, and went down on one knee, this time pressing his fist against the ground instead of shielding his face. He panted heavily, staring at the mosaic pattern under his knee and fist.
The music was tinkling, gentle, a slow, lyrical, alluring voice in the background.
"...the pain sweeps through..." the voice sang, melancholy and understanding at the same time.
The feedback let Vuxten know someone was touching his shoulder. He looked up and saw that ten men were dancing with the nine women, the men leaping about in an energetic dance, the women moving stately and slowly. The crowd closed around them before he could get a good look.
Looking up, Vuxten saw a masked Terran woman reaching down to him. He took her hand and she lifted him to his feet by her fingertips as if he only weighed as much as a feather. He released his cutting bar and it snapped onto his hip, pulled there by the mag-tac system.
"...makes no sense for you..." came the lyrics as the woman took Vuxten's other hand. She led him onto the dance floor, slowly beginning to pull him in a circle.
For a second, before the crowd and his angle shifted so he lost sight of the person, Vuxten could see a male Terran. Bluish skin, whitish-gold hair in a spiky cut with long hair down the sides to drape on his chest, the ends a pale whitish-blue. The Terran male's eyes were intent, with silver and blue shining makeup around them.
And a World Engine key on one finger.
"471?" Vuxten asked.
No answer.
"...every thrill is gone..." the singer whispered as the Terran woman reached down, touching the side of Vuxten's visor. Vuxten clamped his teeth and resisted the urge to retract the visor as the Terran woman moved him slowly in a circle with the other dancers.
Vuxten saw the male again as the Terran lowered an ornate fan to stare at Vuxten for a long moment before the gap in the crowd vanished, the dancers moving slowly and stately.
The woman turned Vuxten again, holding the fingertips of his right hand with her left, her right hand held out to touch her fingertips lightly against the side of his visor.
A fan shifted and the male Terran appeared, moving the female Terran out of the way, smoothly taking Vuxten's hands in his own, staring down at Vuxten with expressive eyes. The crown on his head was made of ice, a delicate thing that looked almost too feyish to exist under its own weight.
"...wasn't too much fun at all..." the hidden singer's voice was lulling, hypnotic.
The male Terran moved Vuxten to the edge of the dance floor, Vuxten just staring, feeling slightly sleepy, logy, warmth slowly seeping into his frozen limbs. For some reason the Terran's eyes held Vuxten's, making the Telkan unable to look away.
"...we're choosing the path..."
The Terran moved aside to reveal Brentili'ik, garbed in a gown of silver and white, jewelry sparkling on her wrists, her ears, from around her neck. The fur around her eyes was smeared with white makeup with silver sparkles.
Vuxten stared at her, his mouth dry, as she slowly turned him, moving him back into the dancers. He stared in her eyes, memorizing her features all over. She was just as lovely as he remembered, just as beautiful as her pictures.
"...between the stars..."
Her hand pulled free of his as they moved to the outside of the dancers, past a buffet where lavishly dressed dancers chatted with one another, their faces hidden by masks, drinking sparkling wine and tasting delicacies. A row of eight cartons labeled H'LEK, each featuring a Terran maid milking a happy looking moo-moo, was on the buffet, the dancers tasting the frozen confection with sharp knives.
Brentili'ik reached up, touching the side of his helmet, turning his head so he was looking at her.
"...you'll leave your love..."
His visor retracted.
He could smell her. Smell their broodcarriers on her. Smell the smell of happy podlings.
She smiled at him, turning to bring him back into the dancers.
"...between the stars..."
Vuxten saw himself reflected in the large mirror that made up the back of the dance hall.
Everyone was in cloth finery. Everyone was laughing as they danced.
He was in armor emblazoned with the markings of the Crusade of Wrath. His stubber hung from one side of his waist, the cutting bar from the other.
Around his left forearm and left gauntlet was the broken chain of a cutting bar.
Covered in frost.
Vuxten yanked his head around, looking down at Brentili'ik.
"... you'll leave your love..."
Vuxten snatched his hands free and looked around.
The walls were of white granite, with thick pillars. He couldn't see any doors through the crowd.
He turned around, staring at the reflective surface of the back wall.
Brentili'ik gave him a soft smile and held her hand out again.
The scent of her flooded his senses.
Vuxten slapped the side of his helmet, the visor closing.
He put up his forearm as he flexed his knees and hocks.
Brentili'ik's hand was a hairsbreadth from touching him.
Vuxten threw himself against the reflecting wall.
It shattered inward, snow and wind roaring in.
--vux vux vux its not real its not her vux vux its jack frost vux vux its not real its not her-- rapidly scrolled by on his visor.
He stumbled through the wind and the snow.
Faintly, from behind him, he heard Brentili'ik call his name.