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Bella's Night Out

Started by BigToof, January 03, 2013, 06:27:03 PM

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BigToof

Quote from: crisis_vyper on January 09, 2013, 01:05:09 AM
Quote from: BigToof on January 08, 2013, 02:44:47 PM
Hi Crisis,
You're a psych major?  Interesting.
Hopefully you use your powers of the mind for good and not naughtiness :)

You expected some other major Bigtoof? :P

Why not use for both good and naughtiness?   :pie:

Hi Crisis,
Not to say anything bad about psych, but just that most of my mates who play are engineers or math-people (which goes to show how much I know about the latter).  I know that you will use the powers of your mind for good, because evil is...

Wait... which was which again?

Quote from: The Man They Call Jayne on January 09, 2013, 07:41:06 AM
There is a story? How did I miss a story?! Loving it so far, most engaging.

Hi Jayne!
Yes, there is a story.  I think you missed it, as it's my first on-going one here.
Glad you like it and here's another chapter!  Let me know what you think :)

----------------

----------------------------------------
Chapter Three: Through the Looking Glass
----------------------------------------

"This is Stone, flying in hot.  I repeat, hot.  Passcode: Alice-4-1-1-Omega.  I swear Gunney, if you shoot me down, I will cripple you."

Lieutenant Alice Stone swore as she twisted the controls of her rapidly falling apart Valkyrie.  Everything had seemed so smooth when they took off, but, like always, something had to go wrong.  The something in question being the left engine.  She took a quick look to see that the engine was still only mostly on fire, and somehow spinning, keeping them aloft if only so that it could explode later in a shower of death.

"Bella, hang on to something.  This is going to be rough."

When there was no response, Alice swiveled slightly to see the strange Eldar behind her, standing up and hanging dutifully from a loose cord that had fallen from the ceiling.

"Bella!  Sit down!  We're..."

"El-Tee, this is Base.  You've got a place to land.  Try to keep it in one piece."

Alice swiveled back and swore when she saw the rapidly approaching airstrip.  If she got out of this alive, she was going to have a long talk with the Mechanicus and their policy on back-up engines.

------------------

"Dare I ask what in the name of the Throne was going through your head, bringing a Xeno into my camp?"

Alice winced a bit, looking up at her father, General Stone, who was pushing through the last of the stitches in her head.  She had taken a few cuts landing her barely functioning craft, but they always said any landing you can walk away from was a good one.  Of course, they didn't say much about landings that needed you to be covered with fire-foam like an Elysian pastry and then cut out of the wreckage.  She took a moment to glance over at Bella, who was doing her odd head-turning thing, looking around at the Officers' Tent.

"I... agh... I was trying to bring back a civilian who might have intel, General.  Bella..."

"You mean, the Xeno?"

"Yes, she...  Agh...  She might have useful intel on our missing men."

The General cut the last of the stitches off with his serrated Catachan knife.  Alice noticed that he gave Bella a long look before putting his blade away.

"Lieutenant, I don't recall anywhere or anytime that anyone has ever said that Eldar are to be trusted."

Alice nodded, trying to ignore the twinges of pain running through her head.  "Yes, General, but she's not like those in the fething Primer.  She's a civvie.  A... medic or something, I think.  Probably taken just like I was.  Believe me, whatever monsters that are roaming out there aren't anything like her."

General Stone scratched the side of his head.  He picked up the sketch that Alice had made of the enormous creatures that she had seen.  She blushed a bit when the General turned it upside down a few times.  Art wasn't something that was overly taught amongst the Jungle Fighters, and Alice's efforts weren't going to win any contests anytime soon.

"Mutants then?"

Alice shrugged, "It's possible.  I don't know, they didn't look like anything I've seen before.  Could be some kind of messed-up Ogryn, but I'd be hard pressed to say anything meaningful."

The General nodded, "Then get something useful out of your prisoner.  You do know how to interrogate still?"

Alice frowned, then slowly nodded in return.

"I take it, Lieutenant, that you disagree with my decision?"

Alice sighed, "It's just...  She's not that well put together, General.  We start to lean on her, and she could fall apart and give us nothing.  I'm not sure if it's trauma or if she's just... slow, but we use the old knife-and-fists routine, we could get nowhere."

The General folded his arms.  "Then what are you suggesting?  We order out for some Cadian tea and biscuits?  You girls going to do each others' hair?"

Alice glowered at the old man.  He knew how to push her buttons.  "All I'm saying is, is that we keep her under watch, and talk to her.  She'll give us what we want to know, I'm sure of it."

"Good, that's why you and Jonas are going to be doing just that."

Alice opened and closed her mouth a few times as shock, exhaustion and raw fury were mixing together.  It must have been clear on her face, as the General raised himself to his full height and snarled back.

"That is an order, Lieutenant.  The Gunnery Sergeant will be meeting you outside.  You both are assigned to prisoner detail.  There are no questions regarding this assignment.  Dismissed."

Alice turned, grabbed Bella by the arm and stormed out of the tent.  Jonas?  Really?  Of all the people.  Her father knew how much she hated the man.  Why would he dare put her on the same...

"Hey, El-Tee, you don't gotta run, I'm right here."

Alice looked up to see the grinning face of Gunnery Sergeant Jonas Black.  She hated every inch of the man, from his cropped hair and shaggy excuse for a beard down to his filthy boots.  If the Warp were to open up suddenly underneath him and drag him away, the universe as a whole would be better off.

"Gunnery Sergeant.  I take it you know what's going on?"

Jonas nodded, "Yeah, I heard you got me a fresh piece of Xeno meat."

Alice was about to respond, when he brushed by her and put his face a few inches from Bella's.

"Ah, and she's pretty too.  You want me to strip search her here?"

Alice fumed, "No, Sergeant.  I do not want you to lay a finger on her without my consent."

Jonas smirked, "Well, I wasn't thinking about laying a finger.  More like probing.  Which is shorthand for my p..."

"Yes, I know," snarled Alice, pushing past him.

"Don't go too far, El-Tee.  I gotta keep track of where you two ladies go.  And if you both happen to get nekkid together, I..."

Alice turned on her heel to glare at Jonas, "Gunnery Sergeant, you are pushing your luck."

Jonas shrugged, "Gotta, El-Tee.  Life's too short.  Now I..."

A warning siren went off, shutting down the conversation much to Alice's relief.  Comms barked to life as a speaker-amplified voice filled the air.

"Perimeter Breach!  Multiple contacts, headed this way.  Sector 2 compromised, all forces to the front!"

Alice nodded at Jonas, whose face was suddenly all business.  She may not like the man, but in a way, he was a constant throughout most of her life.  They were trained together, and Jonas had started trying to worm his way into her pants when she first hit puberty.  He hadn't gotten anywhere, but it didn't stop him from trying.  Alice would have done more to rebuff him, but she had to admit he was a competent Gunnery Sergeant and had helped in more than a fair share of tight scrapes.  Maybe in a few years if he got his act together, she might think of him as more than an annoyance, but for now, there were other things more important. 

It looked like whatever had taken her and Bella was coming back for round two.  And she aimed to make sure that they remembered it.
---------------------
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

crisis_vyper

Quote from: BigToof on January 09, 2013, 04:26:04 PM
Quote from: crisis_vyper on January 09, 2013, 01:05:09 AM
Quote from: BigToof on January 08, 2013, 02:44:47 PM
Hi Crisis,
You're a psych major?  Interesting.
Hopefully you use your powers of the mind for good and not naughtiness :)

You expected some other major Bigtoof? :P

Why not use for both good and naughtiness?   :pie:

Hi Crisis,
Not to say anything bad about psych, but just that most of my mates who play are engineers or math-people (which goes to show how much I know about the latter).  I know that you will use the powers of your mind for good, because evil is...

Wait... which was which again?

Beats me. :P

BigToof

And now, the Conclusion!

Thank you all for reading and please leave comments!

Best,
-BT

--------------------------------
Chapter Four: Home Sweet Home
---------------------------------

"Heavy Bolters!  Get the Heavy Bolters up there!"

Lieutenant Alice Stone yelled at the Jungle Fighters around her.  The camp had come alive as the alert had come blaring down on them.  Something was walking through their outer perimeter as if it was on a holiday stroll, which meant that they would be knee deep in... whatever it was sooner than later.

She just wished she could see in the dark better.  Kneeling down, she took out her auspex, but, as usual, it was having one of it's off days.  Saying the quick version of the Techmarine's prayer, she slapped the side of the machine.  The spirit seemed to wake up a bit, and the screen came back into focus.  But what it showed wasn't good.

"Multiple targets!" bellowed Alice, "Coming this way!"

"Thanks, El-Tee," snorted Gunnery Sergeant Black, "We didn't figure that out already!"

"Quit the back-talk, Sergeant," boomed General Stone, taking a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow.  "Any sign of flankers?"

Alice shook her head, "No, sir, but they're coming in fast and..."

And that was when the Heavy Bolter next to her started to fire.  Alice turned to chastise the man, when she looked over and saw the trees he was shooting at seem to come to life.  Huge, mishapen monsters threw themselves through the jungle, knocking aside trees like paper.  Alice swore.  There were a lot of them.  Many more than what she had seen before.

"Fire!  Fire!" she ordered, but scarcely needed to, as the men around her began firing at the creatures.  Alice bit her lip as the first few coming out seemed to slow down at the Heavy Bolter barrage, but the concentrated lasgun fire wasn't doing anything more than giving it a lightshow.  And there were more behind it.  A lot more.

"Launchers!" she yelled, "Get the Missiles out!"

Heavy Weapon teams in the back rushed forwards, one man loading while the other took careful aim.  The krak missiles flew through the air, some hitting the monsters, slowing them down, but Alice knew it wasn't enough.

"Special teams!  Demo packs, now!"

A small group of Guardsmen broke free from the front lines, running almost suicidally at the huge things while whirling satchels packed to the brim with explosives.  The men stopped close to the creatures and threw with all their might.  Some hit close, but the primitive weapons didn't need very much in the way of accuracy.  The throwers braced for the explosion as the packs ignited, the shockwave knocking monster and man alike into the air.

Alice ducked her head as rock and shrapnel flew over the assembled lines.  She chanced a look up and saw the creatures pulling back.  Apparently that was enough to stall them.  A few howls and cheers went up through the men, but Alice felt something different.  A kind of familiar dread.  Then she heard screams.

"El-Tee!  They're comin' in from the sky!"

Alice whipped her head up and saw sleek, inhuman ships dive-bombing right on top of them.  Was it some kind of suicide tactic?  The Catachans started to run, getting out of the way of the incoming craft, some firing inaccurate shots as they went.  Alice stood her ground, and noticed something.  They were slowing down.

"Incoming hostiles!  Close Quarters!"

The men within earshot whipped out their Catachan knives as the air suddenly seemed to come alive with falling Xenos.  One landed near Alice and whipped a blade on a long chain at her.  Alice had only a moment to pull away as it flew through the air where her head had once been.  She was about to charge forwards when she took a look at her opponent.  It wasn't a monster.  It was an Eldar.  A strangely dressed one, not like the Primer pictures at all.  Almost like...

"Bella..."

The Eldar took advantage of her hesitation and leapt forward, deadly weapons at the ready.  Before Alice could even think of protecting herself, a half-dozen Catachans ran screaming in front of her.  Alice watched one of them get skewered by the alien weapon, but the others pushed the Xenos back.

"Lieutenant!"

Alice looked back and saw her father, General Stone.  He was pulling his knife out of one of the Xenos, throwing the lithe body onto the ground with a distasteful look.

"Where is your prisoner?!"

Alice looked around.  Bella was gone.  What had happened?

"Doesn't matter, Lieutenant.  We're getting overrun!  Get to the comms!"

Alice nodded a bit woodenly, and then ran back towards the Officers' Tent.  She ran in and skidded to a halt when she realized that it wasn't empty.

"Bella," she snarled, twisting her blade out of it's sheath.  The Xenos was there, looking at their comms.  Alice swore at herself.  She was a fool.  The Eldar were the threat here.  They had gotten one of their spies in and now all of it was torn asunder.  No matter.

Bella looked up with an infuriatingly empty stare, and Alice stormed over.  She grabbed the Eldar by the scruff of her neck and stabbed her knife into the traitor's chest up to the hilt.  She then threw her to the ground and took a look at the comms.  The security was still in place.  She had time.

"This is Lieutenant Alice Stone.  Open secure frequency."

She glared at the incorporated Servo-skull as it's lights blinked.  A mechanical voice replied, "Hand-print identification."

Alice snarled and put her hands on the sides of the skull.  There was a whirring and then a red light glowed in the skull.

"Hand-print not identified."

Alice snarled and threw hands against the skull again, but again, the same message was intoned by the damnable thing.  She swore, and then felt an odd sensation across her left hand.  She looked down in irritation and saw nothing on her left hand.  She was about to look up when something tugged in the back of her mind.

Her first knife-fight.  She was a juve, nothing more than a newcomer to her unit, and she had foolishly taken up one of the older Fighter's challenge.  He beat her within three strokes and then carved his initials into her left hand as a reminder not to be cocky.  It was something she still remembered to this day.  But the scars weren't there.  In fact, her hand felt off.  As if it wasn't her hand at...

"Apologies.  There may be some degradation affecting tactile sensation."

Alice almost jumped out of her pants as she looked over and saw Bella.  Floating and still alive, standing only a few feet from her.

"I...  I stabbed you."

Bella frowned and looked sideways, then down, "Yes."  The Eldar had a contemplative look.  "Am I supposed to stab you now?"

Alice snarled.  Was this some kind of game?  She then stopped as she noticed something.  The camp had gone quiet.  Eerily quiet.  Not a good sign at all.  The door to the tent rustled, and Alice leapt back, grabbing Bella and putting her knife to the Eldar's throat.

A few of the mostly-naked Xenos walked in, then bowed in deference before opening the tent flap.  And in walked a beautiful, tall Eldar, drenched with sweat and blood, carrying a long, whip-like weapon that she kept curled around her waist.  She was dragging something inside and then dropped it.  Alice felt her blood freeze when she saw what was on the ground.  Her father, cut to shreds.  She stifled the scream in her throat and glared at the Xenos.

The tall Eldar clucked her tongue at Alice and walked around her.  Alice barely managed to keep Bella in between them, but she knew things were not going to end well.  The Xenos was clearly faster, and even though Alice could probably cut Bella's throat, she wasn't even sure that would do anything meaningful.

"You know you're trying to threaten me with killing a Haemonculus?"

Alice frowned, "I don't care what she is.  You touch me, and she dies."

The Eldar raised an eyebrow and then laughed a high-pitched mocking cackle, which was then echoed by the Xenos at the door.  Alice only glowered in return.

"Oh, my dear, deluded little Mon-Keigh, you have no idea as to what you're doing.  Now, I'm only keeping you alive, as you're obviously one of the little officers, and I have need to know what your security codes are.  I could just torture them out of you, but what's the fun in that?  Besides, I'm on a schedule."

There was a louder sound at the tent flap, and Alice heard the guards squeal.  The tall Eldar frowned and looked over.  Alice backed up a bit when she saw the large head of one of those masked monsters.  It was looking in at them and staring at her and Bella.  The tall Eldar wrinkled her nose.

"Oh, by Khaine does that thing smell.  Almost as badly as your little men.  At least the dead ones.  The ones unfortunate enough to be alive are going to be my pets and slaves.  Now, if you be a good dear and tell me what I need to know, I'll make sure that I put you with my pleasure slaves.  You'll lead a happy little drug-addled life instead of being gutted in the dark.  What do you say?"

Alice looked at the tall Eldar and then at the monster.  She didn't know much about them, but she could tell when something was on the edge of breaking.  All she needed to do was give it a push.

"What do I say?  I say...  For the Emperor."

Alice drew her knife along Bella's throat, and that was when the huge thing roared.  It swatted the two guards aside like they were toys and came running at her.  Alice threw Bella on top of her as she saw the tall Eldar swing at the monster.

And then everything went black.

--------------------

Alice was first cognizant of a rolling sense of nausea that slowly crept it's way into something resembling consciousness.  She blinked a few times as her vision came back.  She looked up and tried to throw up her hands to strangle Bella, who was inches from her face.  But nothing moved.  Alice looked around, but only her eyes were moving.  She couldn't even talk.

Bella nodded, "I am sorry, Friend Alice, but Bobo was very excited when you stabbed me again.  He is very nice when you get to know him."

Alice looked over at the huge creature, which dutifully lurked next to Bella.  Bella scratched the thing on it's head and it made an almost purring sound, shaking one if it's huge legs violently.

Bella continued, "Luckily, your injuries were not severe.  I only had to replace some of your organs and skeletal structure.  You fared much better than Succubus Arkasha, although I am certain that her remains are sufficient for regenerative purposes.  Your mobility will return as the drugs' effects diminish.  I wish I could stay longer, but I must return.  Thank you for the pleasant evening."

The little Eldar bowed and walked away.  Thankfully, exhaustion took over Alice and she felt herself pass out.

----------------------

Allonia sighed as she watched Bella walk back into their room.  Bella raised an eyebrow and turned her head.  Allonia was not her usual self.  Perhaps she was ill.

"Oh, Bella, I'm glad your back.  I had an absolutely horrible night.  I forgot how irritating Ray'keth is.  That Wych can talk about herself for days.  It's... good to see you.  How was your night?"

Bella turned her head the other way and nodded, "It was very pleasant.  I made a friend."

Allonia nodded, just like Bella to have a better night than her.  She was slightly interested in finding out what Haemonculi did in their spare time.  But she wouldn't ask.  No doubt it was dreadfully boring.  After all, what could possibly have gone on in a single night?
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

Cammerz

Great work BT, this was a fun little read and I look forward to seeing more fluff/battle reports/whatever soon.
I notice that I almost always end up feeling sorry for at least one of your characters in everything you write, Alice had it pretty bad there, maybe not quite as extreme as the pity I felt for Vasily at his peak but we'd had more time to get to know him.

I do hope that we'll be hearing more about Alice in the future, even if its just the odd line in a battle report.

Job's a good un!

Rej

That was great, I enjoyed it immensely! Pretty cunning of Alice to find a way out of that one... kind of haha.
Phew...

LinnScarlett

Ogh, if you have to go, go with a bang, right? That was an absolutely great read, BT! Hadn't seen you had updated twice, so it was even better when I saw the thread pop up among my 'to read' list! Poor Alice, that's a lot to chew down in one go. Although it will be nice to hear more about her, some time. See how she's getting along these days - if at all. ;)
I need more time to do the Emperor's work!

You can read my stuff on 2S's Fluff and Stories.

Or, you can come visit my author page on Archive of Our Own. WARNING: NC-17

BigToof

Thank you all for the very kind words!

Quote from: Cammerz on January 11, 2013, 06:33:36 PM
Great work BT, this was a fun little read and I look forward to seeing more fluff/battle reports/whatever soon.
I notice that I almost always end up feeling sorry for at least one of your characters in everything you write, Alice had it pretty bad there, maybe not quite as extreme as the pity I felt for Vasily at his peak but we'd had more time to get to know him.

I do hope that we'll be hearing more about Alice in the future, even if its just the odd line in a battle report.

Job's a good un!

Ah, I see you're liking Alice  :)

Well, I'll have to see if I can bring her back.  I left her backstory open, so who knows indeed...

Quote from: Rej on January 12, 2013, 07:24:29 AM
That was great, I enjoyed it immensely! Pretty cunning of Alice to find a way out of that one... kind of haha.

Hi Rej,
Yes, Alice did find... a way out.  Maybe not the best way, but considering the circumstances...  And I take it, also an Alice fan?

Quote from: Linn Scarlett on January 12, 2013, 11:31:23 AM
Ogh, if you have to go, go with a bang, right? That was an absolutely great read, BT! Hadn't seen you had updated twice, so it was even better when I saw the thread pop up among my 'to read' list! Poor Alice, that's a lot to chew down in one go. Although it will be nice to hear more about her, some time. See how she's getting along these days - if at all. ;)

Hi Linn,
Glad to see you like the story!
And I see that Alice has left a favorable impression on you as well...

Well, certainly it looks like Alice is coming back :)

I may take a break from writing pure fluff as there is now a new Codex drop, but I'll have to see if I can somehow get characters and fluff running back and forth between them.

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3