Lost Rain

Outrun - Chapter 180

I carefully pulled myself through the hole, dodging a mound of bones just before me. I had ways of taking care of visual detection, but any sound I made could set off the security lurking in the shadows of the theatre. Good thing I had ole reliable Fox's Paw to take care of noises.

Once I was through the gap, I stood up and flicked on Cold-Blooded. Combined with my poncho, they completely removed any chance of getting detected by thermal sensors even with my tech active.

I twisted...

Outrun - Chapter 179

"Zuku, it's here.” Lia brought down the rather lightweight plasma torch. 

“Set it down over there… think you could get it hooked up to the Prowler?” I asked as I fiddled with the jammer. It was the first time I’d actually gotten around to using it since I got the thing, so I was taking my time to set it all up.

The KairoTech jammer, still held together by tape and glue since I’d never gotten around to fixing it all up, looked like a piece of junk. I knew from firs...

Outrun - Chapter 178

I got a day of rest after returning from New Tress Radio. The doc gave me a quick check-over just before I went to sleep. The stim Yonrow administered had already stopped the internal bleeding of my muscles and stabilized my ankle by then, so he just ordered some sleep. Not that I was complaining. Sleep was exactly what I needed for Quick Healing.

The second day I spent repairing burned-out fuel lines of the various Prowlers and setting up the antennae in camp so Captain Roger could con...

Outrun - Chapter 177

”How’s it look?” A call came from above, causing me to lose focus as I glanced over my shoulder. Renold and Hampton stood at the uppermost balcony, the latter of which waved down to us.

I checked the diagnostic report one last time. I’d already run it several times. The old wiring was on the fritz, causing me to run several diagnostics from different terminals scattered around the place. “Nova. Just some slight fixes to the stuff on the roof, and I'll be able to get it back up...

Outrun - Chapter 176

The other three would probably be fine, but Lia and I were squishy compared to them. I grabbed the recovering woman’s arm, pulling her with me as I used Burst Step to get out of the area. My legs throbbed as the movement’s strain doubled, nearly tripping me as I felt my muscles turn to jelly.

With an additional person, I couldn’t get far with Burst Step. We did get just far enough for the hail of spikes to miss though. The rest of the squad tanked the blows, covering their fragile...

Outrun - Chapter 175

Everything was going fine as the squad carefully scouted the place, leaving no corner unchecked. We ascended Floor by floor, carefully watching for any signs of trouble. We couldn’t just leave floors unchecked either considering we were looking specifically for the spare part storage. Unfortunately, every floor so far was a mish-mash of offices, so we wasted quite a bit of time.

It wasn’t until we were about a dozen floors from the roof that said trouble made itself known. Everythin...

Outrun - Chapter 174

I looked over my scrappy handiwork with a vague sense of satisfaction. Course, that sense of satisfaction was nearly smothered by my worries that the modified chrome would even hold together, but at the very least it should be a quick reversion back to how it was. Renold had been very adamant during the modification process that I knew how to put his arm back together.

Here's to hoping it didn't explode! I most probably couldn't afford to buy a new one with my bank account...

Outrun - Chapter 173

I don’t know what I was expecting from the area around New Tress Radio, but it certainly wasn’t this. A thick junk barricade made from scraps of cars and broken blocks of cement blocked in the entirety of Karaoke Plaza. It didn’t necessarily look handmade as much as it appeared some massive natural force drove junk out of the area, making the barricade by accident.

“Well… that throws a wrench in our plans, doesn’t it?” Lia asked.

”We proceed on foot then.” Hampto...

Outrun - Chapter 172

We met up with the rest of the Crimson Company near the middle of the city, near a massive sinkhole that swallowed the entire city center. It was a cataclysmic sinkhole, looking as though a titanic cavern had collapsed, leading to the earth swallowing several dozen skyscrapers. Sand coated the site of destruction in thick dunes, though the tops of skyscrapers and shattered buildings stuck out of the sand-filled hole, reflecting the sunlight all around. 

Interestingly, inside of the...

Outrun - Chapter 171

The APC continued to get hit with potshots for several blocks till we lost our pursuers. The bastards just didn’t give up, or at least that's the feeling I got from them as they continued to hammer us just inside the safety of the surrounding buildings. Thankfully, there wasn’t another one of those Heavy Combat Drones, so for the most part we ignored them in favor of saving ammunition.

I leaned forward, tapping Hampton on the shoulder to get his attention. “Is the Urjune Company s...

Restless - Chapter 5

Clyde took the lead as soon as we started coming across patrols of guards. Not city guards though. They were more… militaristic. With what Moll said earlier about a defensive line… were we near a warzone? Hmm… how do I ask without getting caught… 

“Uh- crazy about all that fighting, huh?” Too obvious, way too obvious! Cinders! Please let them fill in on their own!

”No kiddin’. They don’t call it the Blood Fields for notin’. Glad we got ya’ out of there a...

Outrun - Chapter 170

The repair was going smoothly. Too smoothly, almost. With Melas making the exact parts I needed from bits of scrap metal, I could easily replace the parts of the drivetrain that were messed up. Sure, the new parts weren’t high quality and would need to be replaced at the first opportunity, but for now, they were good enough. They'd last till the company returned and it wouldn't be my problem, at least.

The main issues were the heat and the armor. Once I figured out how the armor was s...

Outrun - Chapter 169

I stared out the window at shattered buildings and vine-entwined architecture. We were pretty far into what would’ve used to be the city’s downtown area. Even back when everything was built forty years ago, skyscrapers were the way to go. They hid the surrounding desert entirely, though unlike back home I could still see the blue sky far above. 

This place was quite a bit more tame than Aythryn City. At least, as far as the concrete jungle goes. The same couldn’t be said for ...

Outrun - Chapter 168

I checked the fitting one last time, ensuring the line wouldn’t detach if it was jostled too much. The first time I ‘fixed’ a Prowler’s fuel line, I hadn’t secured it enough. They barely got out of the camp before the AE3 ‘eroded’ the fitting once more and I had to fix it. At least, that's the excuse I gave to make it look like I wasn’t entirely incompetent. Yeah, wouldn't be messing up that again.

I gathered up my tools and rolled out from under the Prowler, smearing gr...

Outrun - Chapter 167

“Zuku! Got another one for ya’!” A woman’s voice called out to me, a hint of nerves evident through the shake in her voice, yet the shake was so suppressed it could easily be missed. Triss, one of the other Squad leaders. Red-Two, I think.

My eyes slowly eased open as I stared up at the fabric of my tent. A tired hand sprung up to my face, covering my mouth as a yawn eased out. “I’m coming…”

I heard the soft crunching of footsteps on sand recede as Triss left me al...

Outrun - Chapter 166

A man stepped out of the truck, waving his hand to the Prowler as it approached. We watched as Captain Roger himself got out of the prowler. Unfortunately, the magic screen Lia made couldn’t send audio back, just the wolf’s visuals. We couldn't hear the exchange between the two. Knowing how versatile magic was though, there was probably a more advanced spell somewhere that could do both. Lia either didn’t know, or the cost was too high.

They conversed for several minutes before br...

Outrun - Chapter 165

The smooth rumble of an engine chugging along woke me up. Instantly, my drowsiness vanished as my brain kicked into high alert. It took a few moments to settle back down. 

I rubbed at my eyes, feeling quite happy all things considered. The soreness in my limbs had faded entirely. My hearing had also returned, thankfully. Though I was incredibly parched. And my trust, albeit begrudgingly given considering my own dire straits, hadn’t been betrayed! That was a victory in itself. At ...

Outrun - Chapter 164

The central point of the approaching wall was just in front of us. They’d gotten close enough that their forms were distinguishable through the sands. And oh man did I wish they weren’t.

Dune Walkers. It was my first time seeing them in the flesh- err, the rotting flesh. The once-human forms walking around with sand-stripped skin were barely recognizable amongst the horde. They clambered over mounds of fallen Dune Walkers, each just as eager as the last to get some fresh human meat....

Name-a-Squire

Been a long time since I did one of these. Probably will be a while before the Squires actually pop up, but I figured I'd get the names sorted out now.

If you're interested, it's on a first come first serve basis. Simply reply with an adjective. I'll then take that adjective and your profile name(or a different name if you want), and base the character around that. It's all good fun, and the characters might be anywhere between a one-time pop-up character or a recurring character like...

Outrun - Chapter 163

The silence lasted for several minutes, only covered by the hum of engines and a subtle tension that held the entire camp active. Something had to give. And eventually, it did. Engines from afar slowly echoed from the edges of the sandstorm, the hums seeming to be a reassurance as if everything was taken care of.

Then the Prowlers came into view. Covered in blood. Dismembered body parts hung from the grills of the vehicles as if they’d rammed through a crowd of people to get away. The...

Outrun - Chapter 162

The night, as it turns out, was anything but uneventful. Where did it start going wrong? Somewhere after I laid down for the night, and then paranoia kept me from falling asleep amongst a bunch of strangers. Sure, Athena had been very clear she wanted me back in one piece, but logic didn’t always defeat instinct.

I decided to stay up a bit later, deliberating on the choice between instinct, which could be wrong, and logic which could be misinformed. It was a hard choice, though in the...

Outrun - Chapter 161

To be honest, I don’t know quite what they were expecting to happen when they decided to ram what they suspected to be an ambush. Mine laying is pretty basic when it comes to vehicular ambushes. Hell, they were fairly common in general as long as the one laying them didn’t care about blowing up the surroundings. My recent experience with Hope in the Underground comes to mind.

As soon as the mine blew, covering the APC in fire and sand so thick the wolf’s shared vision couldn’t s...

Outrun - Chapter 160

I wiped a streak of sweat from my brow as I pumped up the cooling from my poncho. It was still cold out, but the intense heat radiating from the Mouse was something else. I rolled out from under the truck, bringing along my tools. “Try it now!”

The driver hit the ignition. It churned for a few seconds, retching smog out the back tailpipe. Then, with a rough rumble, the Mouse roared to life. I tiredly stretched out, dropping the frown that’d been crossing my face ever since I walke...

Outrun - Chapter 159

It’d been four days since my meeting with Athena and Captain Roger of the Crimson Company, and things hadn’t been going all that well. At first, I thought I’d get done with the whole Blackout thing in barely a day, but the truth hadn’t been all that kind. It’d been four days, and not only were most of my printed components gone, but I was still back to where I started.

I threw my latest creation, a scrap metal ball sparking with electricity and glowing red, to the side in frus...

Restless - Chapter 4

I slammed my shovel down into the dirt, forcing myself to slowly breathe. What would Vayne do? …probably make a shit pun and help dig out this Moll person anyway. He was always like that; ever the helpful hero. Not sure if digging up a grave was considered heroic though.

As we dug up the grave, I tried to piece together what I could from the few available clues. As far as I was aware, I was no longer captive to the woman in white. Well- unless this was some elaborate setup.

I al...

Outrun - Chapter 158

Rain tapped against a far window of the Jagged Clover, drawing my attention away momentarily as a yawn stretched my jaw. My phone buzzed as a city-ordained warning about mass shootings in Bricktown came, shortly followed by a strict order to stay indoors. Good thing I was on the other side of the city.

For a moment, I wondered if I’d get called in to work the case by the Inquisitor. Then that curiosity passed as I realized he was probably too drunk off his ass to care much about such ...

Outrun - Chapter 157

I sat at the bar of the speakeasy, drinking from my canteen as I idly toyed with my ectrobola. I already got everything moved over, most of which was in the back. Unfortunately for me though, my choice of tables was rather lacking. The bar was the best thing in the speakeasy to work on, at least until I got some other stuff down here, so it was my temporary workstation.

Once I went semi-public with the place, I’d have to move it all down to my stash, but for now? I was lazy. And I did...

Outrun - Chapter 156

A guard with a Constellation patch on his arm passed me the same black card I’d gotten the last couple times I’d been through the initial checkpoint. “Don’t lose this. We don’t offer seconds, and it's your pass to the next market. Just scan it with your phone.”

”Yeah yeah.” I waved a hand, taking the offered card as I headed further into the warehouse. The PMCs, outside of looking cool, were kinda boring. It’s like they had a teleprompter in their helmet telling them w...

Outrun - Chapter 155

I idly stroked the top of Corvid’s head as he chowed on a burger. It’d already been a day since I infiltrated Cold Moon Solutions, and yet I still found myself stuck watching the news clips over and over again. Of course, the rest of the city had long gone on. It was just another explosion in a sea of them.

I restarted the clip one more time as I rested my head on my table. The newscaster, a pretty woman with far too many aesthetic augments, smiled at the camera as a picture of a ma...

Outrun - Chapter 154

I downloaded all the files from the various projects I could access while I waited for the AI’s response. I took a particular interest in the ones missing Cold Moon Solution’s label.

Definitely a Savant Lab. Couldn’t tell which corp was behind it, but that wasn’t a surprise. Hard to cut ties if their name were in bold all over the research papers. Housing a Savant Lab was probably where all the money for Project Methuze came from.

Included in the bunch that weren’t marke...