@Macavity116: There’s another shoe to drop?! What’s next? Lovecraftian monstrosities demanding worship?
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Well, it's not going to come out of the blue. Ever since I started this thread, I've been telegraphing (rather loudly) that this story has a strong metafiction angle going on.
Tell me, have you ever played Stellaris? If so...
did you ever stumble upon the ruins of a long-dead civilization called The Vultaum?
Have you ever read a short Stellaris fanfic called The Great Lie?
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Well, as mentioned up-thread in a previous passing mention on monstrosities, "The Broken Gates" is actually an event in Stellaris, and one of the possible outcomes is spawning a Dimensional Horror named "The Elder One". @Macavity116 has said it's gone in a different direction since the early planning that linked it, so we probably won't see it. But...
If it was me writing the plot, I'd find a way to Let It Out.
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Oh dear. That was said half in jest. Well, there’s only thing to do when encountering Lovecraftian monstrosities.
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As usual, many post-chapter happenings and chatterings (some that have little to do with the chapter, but still quite amusing).
(Yes, accuse me of being a social climber. I'm alright with the truth.)
When Chosenpai is awake she is quite good at editing this work for @Macavity116 . However, can she truly be available 24/7 especially while jet-lagged?
Thank you for the promotion @Rensslaer . I will definitely take any boost upward.Or @Chac1-tay (which is one better than @Chac0-tay)?
(Yes, accuse me of being a social climber. I'm alright with the truth.)
Ah, I see what you did there now @Lord Durham ! I am not high enough in the ranks to have a person handling the press and the rest of the influencer media. However, if I did, they would put forward a media release stating that any linking of me to Chosenpai romantically is not only unconfirmed gossip but inappropriate if I'm to be helping her mind to the issues in this particular @Macavity116 story/event.I was going more for the Bennifer, Brangelina, Garfleck, TarKat angle. The press eats that stuff up.
She's been interesting from the start. (The above statements notwithstanding, this may betray my actual history of entanglements with Filipinas.)
When Chosenpai is awake she is quite good at editing this work for @Macavity116 . However, can she truly be available 24/7 especially while jet-lagged?
Not a historic detail that I knew about, but PDX has done its homework here (I won't comment about 360 day calendars). Iceland converted at the beginning of the 11th Century.
Will there be music? Will the Olinbari be blasting music from their LAVs or drones?Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet. There's a reason I named the next chapter after a Wagner song.
SHE has arrived. Not a moment too soon. I did feel the walls shake a bit.
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ANNOUNCEMENT: Weekend Post(s) ahead!
On Monday, April 8, I'll be leaving Michigan to watch the total solar eclipse from someplace actually inside the path of totality. Due to the disruption of normal day-to-day doings, you should expect at least one new chapter (possibly two) to be posted this weekend.
On Monday, April 8, I'll be leaving Michigan to watch the total solar eclipse from someplace actually inside the path of totality. Due to the disruption of normal day-to-day doings, you should expect at least one new chapter (possibly two) to be posted this weekend.
Excellent, this is great to hear.
I still haven't found proof that she sleeps... like... ever. She does say that she naps on the redeye flights. When I looked up flights from the Philippines to the US and back again, they turn out to be stupidly long. 17 to 22 hours. She might be telling the truth.
A rare win for PDX!
The next chapter is an homage to a TV show I really like. I strongly recommend the following music be played alongside tomorrow's decent into insanity:
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Chapter 6
Ride of the Valkyries
Earldom of Dún Pádraig, Petty Kingdom of Ulster
12th of April, 1117 AD
“Contact front! Infantry, medium range! Weapons free!”
The Olinbar soldiers began to fire their weapons. The sound of Gauss Rifle fire rent the air like thunderclaps, causing the Irish defenders to flinch. A few panicked. Enemy soldiers fell with each gunshot, but the surging mass of bodies continued toward the breach unabated.
“Grenade launchers!” Arcavius yelled. “Load high explosive rounds and fire!”
Each of the Olinbar soldiers had a grenade launcher mounted on the underside of their rifle barrels. As soon as permission was given, they changed grip and let loose a volley. A dozen explosions rocked the enemy formation, killing dozens, wounding dozens more, and causing widespread confusion throughout the enemy lines. The advance slowed, giving time for Private Sevso to set up a tripod and secure a light machine gun to it.
“What’s happening?” Jarl Ylva demanded an update from her captains. “It looks like the earth is erupting!”
“The enemy is throwing fire from the walls!” Captain Sven replied.
“The gate is open! Get our men inside the gate!” Ylva roared. “Overwhelm them!”
Up on the wall, Lieutenant Arcavius was the first one to spot the danger.
“Some of them are getting through!” He yelled. “Sevso, get on the LMG! Remember, short bursts, don’t lay on the trigger. Old Man, send up the FPV drones and start hitting their commanders! Avita, you’re with me! Fix bayonets!
Vipsania Avita cheerfully attached a long bladed weapon to the end of her rifle and then let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“WWAAAAAHHHOOOO!!”
Without waiting for orders, Sergeant Avita bounded down the stairs five at a time, holding her rifle like a spear and screeching a fearsome war cry as she went.
“Dumbass!” Sergeant Valgus said. “What good’s all that bravery if she gets herself killed!?”
Despite the best efforts of the Olinbar fighters, about one hundred Norse warriors had reached the broken stretch of wall. A large group of Irish defenders were nearby, trying to form a shield wall with whatever they had on hand, but they were terribly outnumbered and could only fall back as they were overwhelmed.
Duke Dermot appeared at the front of the Irish formation, trying to rally his troops while someone passed him a wooden shield.
“Close ranks!” Dermot yelled. “Everyone stay together!”
“Look out!” Someone screamed.
The first Norsemen passed through the breach and entered the castle grounds. At Dermot’s orders, the Irish defenders raised their spears, ready to stand their ground. The battle lines pressed into each other in a bloody melee, then separated after a few moments. In the midst of the chaos, Dermot briefly came face-to-face with a very well-dressed enemy.
A noble.
Duke Dermot and Jarl Causantín MaDuib both swiped at each other with their swords before they were separated by the press. Then, a loud blasting sound caused panic to ripple through the battlefield! Both Irish and Norse pulled away from each other as a bright flash of light and puff of smoke blinked into existence in midair.
“Stun grenades out!” Arcavius yelled. “Support Vip before she gets her head cut off!”
The Olinbar soldiers threw a volley of flashbang grenades, causing the crowd to scatter in terror. Dermot slipped in the mud and fell to the ground. Jarl Causantín found his footing, turned, and tried to strike the young Duke while he was on the ground!
“NO!”
A red and white blur shot across the blood-soaked ground.
“A wolf!” Someone screamed in panic. “There’s a wolf here!”
The din of battle was so loud that none of the Olinbar soldiers noticed their Psionic energy detectors, which had begun to sound an alarm. But there was one who quickly figured things out.
Aisling and Avita reached Dermot’s location almost simultaneously. Jarl Causantín was caught off-guard as a huge white wolf sank its teeth into his sword-arm. Its red eyes gleamed as though the Devil were behind them. Panicking, the nobleman called out for his personal champion to save him.
A huge soldier, armed and armored far better than his comrades, pushed his way through the crowd and raised his club high, aiming to strike Aisling. Avita changed course, crouch running through the scene with her bayonet held aloft.
Avita’s blade dug through the champion’s armor and embedded itself to the hilt, stopping only when the muzzle pressed firmly against the metal plate. Avita held the trigger down and filled her enemy with hypersonic Gauss slugs.
Aisling resumed her Human form and grabbed onto the Jarl. She did not care that people would witness her transformation. She was seeing red, full of fury that someone had dared try to harm her friend. She grabbed the small hand axe attached to Causantín’s belt and pulled it free.
“Get away from my friend!” Aisling screamed as she swung the axe at Causantín’s head.
The enemy noble tried to fight back, but he slipped in the mud and fell down. It seemed as though all of his luck had evaporated like a puddle of water on a hot day.
Several Norse champions threw themselves into the fight, trying to reach their lord and attack Aisling from behind. Avita saw this and lunged into action. She bayoneted another man, shot two more as they charged, and then found herself in close combat. Ducking beneath a spear, Avita used her rifle to parry an incoming sword-blow.
“Sergeant Avita’s in trouble!” Private Sevso called from the wall.
Avita was not in trouble. She was having fun.
She was happily in her element, more so than her comrades knew. Avita was a close combat specialist… and she enjoyed it. Surrounded by enemies, one mistake away from death, with only her strength and wits to save her… Avita was having the best day of her life.
Out of the corner of her eye, Avita spotted an armored footman trying to flank her. She swung her rifle at him like a club. It bounced off his shield and the bayonet snapped in half. The broken blade fell into the mud and was lost. The footman tried to stab Avita with his sword and she parried it with her own rifle. Clutching the weapon in her right hand, Avita reached down with her free hand and unholstered her pistol. She fired directly into the metal shield, puncturing it and forcing the armored footman to fall back.
Stepping back, Avita noticed her rifle was making a noise. She looked down just in time to see the electromagnet assembly break into pieces before falling off the barrel. Her Gauss Rifle was destroyed.
“Aw, fuck me!” Avita cursed.
The Norse tried to form a shield wall of their own, having realized how dangerous Avita was, but there were still four Olinbar soldiers atop the wall nearby. Stun grenades fell and detonated behind the enemy, causing mass panic to finally take hold in their ranks.
Only a few Norsemen were left in the fight. One of them lunged at Aisling, and Avita shot him in the head with her pistol. Aisling turned to look at Avita, then her eyes went wide, peering at something behind Avita. Aisling shouted something in her own language. Avita did not understand, but she understood the gist of it:
Don’t move!
Ailsing raised her hand and threw the axe she was holding. It sailed past Avita’s head, missing by inches. There was a loud cry and a Norse soldier collapsed behind Avita, coming to rest at her feet.
Aisling and Avita stood back-to-back, glaring at their enemies.
“Come on!” Avita shouted, reloading her Gauss Pistol. “Who’s next!?”
The battle was still very loud. Norse commanders were trying to force as many of their men through the breach in the wall as possible, while the Olinbar engaged with rifles, machine guns, and grenades. But somehow, above the din… Avita could hear two things:
First, she could hear a deep thundering sound, like a rapidly approaching thunderstorm.
Second, there was a voice coming from her radio:
“Recon 15, this is Overlord 6. We are approaching from the west. Weapons hot in ten seconds. Take cover.”
“GUNSHIPS!” Private Sevso yelled. “FRIENDLY GUNSHIPS AT NINE O’CLOCK!”
Four heavily armed Starfighters roared into view, flying low over the castle. The air was, for a moment, filled with screams.
“Flying monsters!” An Irish defender cried out. “Run for your lives! It’s the end of the world!!”
And then the gunships opened fire.
“Overlord 6, this is Prefect Ravilla. We’ve got friendlies inside the walls. Engage targets outside the walls. Outside the walls only.”
The Starfighters circled the scene and began to strafe the horde of Norse fighters congregated outside the castle. Almost immediately, the Norse Army began to disintegrate as men fled in all directions.
“Squadron leader, this is Wing 2. I’ve got weapon emplacements on my scope. Possible siege weapons. Six total. Request permission to engage with missiles.”
“Granted. Switch to wire-guided and engage.”
Two of the Gunships broke formation and focused their fire on the mangonels. The siege weapons were destroyed systematically, one-by-one. Meanwhile, the lead Gunship engaged its VTOL engine and began to hover over the castle itself. The copilot began to transmit a message:
“Recon 15, this is Overlord 6. We are about to engage targets inside the castle. Deploy blue signals to indicate friendly positions. Red signals for enemy positions.”
Lieutenant Arcavius shouted as loud as he could.
“SEVSO! BLUE SMOKE, NOW! AVITA! GIMME A RED FLARE!”
At that moment, an enemy archer got lucky. Private Sevso screamed and fell away from his machine gun. An arrow had struck him between two armor segments, just below his left armpit.
“Medic!” one of the other MSI soldiers shouted. “We need a medic! Sevso’s down!”
“Calm down! Don’t panic.” Sergeant Valgus had quickly reached the downed solider. “Keep him still and don’t remove that thing. You’ll just kill him faster if you pull it out wrong!”
Avita stabbed a Norse soldier with her combat knife and shouted back:
“Negative! My GL is inop! Black on GL!”
Arcavius swore and transmitted a reply.
“Overlord 6, Recon 15 actual! Negative! We have nothing to signal with!”
“Gimme a landmark, 15.” Replied the Gunship copilot. “I need a reference.”
Arcavius looked around frantically, then he replied:
“Just fucking kill everything magnetic north of that albino girl in the courtyard! Extreme danger close!”
Avita heard this, turned, and jumped on top of Aisling.
“Get down, kid!” Avita yelled.
The gunship launched two plasma bombs. The explosive force knocked down another part of the wall, incinerated several nearby buildings, damaged the Keep, killed several Irish soldiers who were too close, wounded two more members of Recon Team 15…
And ended the battle immediately.
| Chosenpai: Wow, you sent this in fast. |
| Macavity116: Writing pitched battles is like a whirlwind for me. I guess I kinda get into a zone. Start to finish, this whole chapter took about 3 and a half hours to write. |
| Chosenpai: Damn. (⚆ᗝ⚆) |
| Chosenpai: Obvious things first, exclamation marks. There’s 74 of them. Can you tone it down? |
| Chosenpai: Also, a consistency issue. Is Avita using a Gauss Pistol or a Laser Pistol? The narration switches back and forth. Pick one. |
| Chosenpai: Also, I really don’t think the gunship pilots would classify the catapults as “anti-air weapons.” May as well just call them what they are. |
| Macavity116: Found and fixed all. Anything else? |
| Chosenpai: Aisling saved Dermot’s life. They REALLY need to have a conversation about this. |
| Chosenpai: A really long… (-‿◦) |
| Chosenpai: Intimate (─‿‿─) ♡ |
| Chosenpai: Conversation. (ꈍ◡ꈍ)♥(❛ε❛⋆) |
| Macavity116: I’m not escaping from this, am I? |
| Chosenpai: Not until (づ ￣ ³￣)づ |
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Incoming messy romantic three-way, the question is whether Avita will be paired with Aisling or Dermot. The Norse put up a better fight than I expected. I expected instant annihilation. Thanks and enjoy the sun's end.
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If I could write combat scenes this good, Life2.0's narrative would have been several pages more detailed.
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Well at this point in time, the Norse were converting to Catholicism, but they were generally treating many of the tenets as more suggestions than rules. See as examples Sveyn Forkbeard’s and his son Knut the Great’s conquest of England, the constant blood feud over who the rightful king of Norway was, and the practice of more danico that we today would call common-law marriage.
The Church for its part was at least happy that less of their clergy were getting killed.
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Enjoy the eclipse. I was able to be in a part of the country with 100% coverage for the one a couple of years ago. It was amazing!
I don't think the Irish will take kindly to the MSI's explosive tactics. I'm sure Dermot will try to awkwardly thank Aisling for saving his life. Did anyone see Aisling's transformation, or was the battle too chaotic?
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Action packed. Thanks for the unexpected weekend gift.
Also, Francis Ford Coppola would no doubt be very interested (and likely happy to see) that program and maybe even this AAR.
It seems like Chosenpai would be interested in these connections too if she could jump into the story.
I was unaware of that program. Good to see from where this AAR draws its inspiration.
Also, Francis Ford Coppola would no doubt be very interested (and likely happy to see) that program and maybe even this AAR.
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Fortunately, I'm writing Avita as a stereotypical violent sadist. Her interest in Aisling and Dermot probably doesn't go farther than "I wonder if I could beat them in a fight?"
Will do!
Another rare win for CKIII. PDX isn't insane all of the time.
Same here! I watched the 2017 eclipse from the summit of Devil's Courthouse in North Carolina. Best damn experience I had all that year.
Aisling was spotted by the Olinbar soldiers, including Avita.
Gate - Thus the JSDF Fought There! is an utterly insane anime series depicting an invasion of a magical fantasy world by the modern Japanese military. It's totally a recruiting tool for the real-life JSDF and I shamelessly love every second of that show.
Not enough to repulse another attack, that's for sure.
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Nice, fast paced battle. Very tense. Avita fought like a woman possessed, which I assume wasn't surprising. What kind of repercussions will Aisling face after her very public transformation (with or without clothes). Mind you, with blue skinned aliens, gauss weapons, drones and what not, her reveal would probably elicit a "Yeah, okay, now what?" from witnesses.
And yes, another irreverent observation. Vikings didn't use metal shields. They were typically crafted from pine, were round, about 36" in diameter, had a metal boss, and were painted. Maybe the warrior in question had acquired his as spoils from a raid.
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The immediate repercussions might not be clear, but anyone who has read my previous Stellaris stories has probably already guessed the following: Those Olinbar soldiers are likely carrying Psionic Energy Detectors. Aisling's mid-battle transformation has probably caused those devices to light up like a Christmas tree.
You know, if I swapped that metal shield for a wooden one, Vipsania Avita would probably get mad at me. She would hate it if I gave her an easier target, and I already deprived her of a Laser Pistol in the editing phase, so giving her enemies wooden shields might make her go home out of boredom.
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You see I read those passages the way @Lord Durham imagined with wooden shields, but I suppose a bayonet might not break on wood. I did think when she fired her weapon into a shield and the Viking survived with the shield not disintegrating entirely that perhaps those weapons were a not as powerful as I imagined. But maybe I'm not remembering all the details correctly?You know, if I swapped that metal shield for a wooden one, Vipsania Avita would probably get mad at me. She would hate it if I gave her an easier target, and I already deprived her of a Laser Pistol in the editing phase, so giving her enemies wooden shields might make her go home out of boredom.
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Avita's gunshot passed directly through the enemy shield and hit the poor soul on the other side. I just didn't feel the need to clarify his fate beyond the fact that his assault was stopped.
The damage Avita did is related to the type of weapon she was using. In the wider world of what I'm starting to call "Macavity116's Narrative Multiverse" Gauss Weapons have become the standard type of small-arms/light weapons.
"Gauss Weapon" is my catch-all term for magnetic weapons. Railguns and similar stuff. The key detail with magnetic weapons is that the projectile is fired at speeds well beyond what we would consider "hypersonic." These guns punch straight through most anything they're aimed at and pair nicely with armor-piercing munitions.
(Example pictured: a typical Gauss Pistol used by the United Nations of Earth during the Second Hyperspace War, 2015 to 2036)
Laser and Plasma weapons also exist in my universe and are used as both small arms and anti-ship weapons. Highly destructive in any capacity.
Ion Beam weapons and nuclear weapons are only starship-based due to massive destructive potential.
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No it is. There’s messes and absurdities all over the place, and this is before we get into the very real, Paradox clearly intended this to be a feature, possibility of having a character become a cannibal, capturing or otherwise kidnapping the Pope (who by the way usually lives past the age of 100 by virtue of being blessed by G-d/being maxed out in the learning tree), and eating His Holiness, without somehow triggering an automatic crusade for his depraved head.
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