by Lisa Merlins » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:27 am
30th November 2760 08:23NST
It was a clear day in the Outzone sectors. In the Crahn Church in Outzone 9, Father Angus sat in his Vestry. It was a quiet day, and he wasn’t expecting any visitors. He sat at his desk, and read the bible of Crahn. It was quite lonely here in Outzone 9, with his few servants, but someone from the Brotherhood had to remain behind, when the rest of Crahn left for the Dome of York.
There was a knock at the door. Father Angus looked up and nodded to his servants to open the door. His two servants opened the door to reveal a hooded female monk standing in the doorway. She walked slowly in.
“Child of Crahn, speak.”, said Father Angus.
The female hooded monk fell to her knees and held out a stone. “Forgive me Father Angus for the intrusion, for I have recovered one of the lost stones of Crahn’s pilgrimage.”
She held out a clear blue stone, which was glowing. Father Angus got up from his desk and walked over to the monk. He took the stone and examined the stone. “My holy Crahn.”, he said silently to himself.
He turned to his two servants in the Vestry. “Leave us.”, commanded Father Angus. The two servants bowed, walked out of the Vestry and closed the door. Father Angus, walked to the doors and locked them.
He turned around and walked around the kneeling monk. “Child of Crahn, speak your name.”
“Sue Ceri.”, she replied quietly. She continued to look down, and she stayed on her kneels.
“Sue Ceri, you have done an outstanding service to Crahn. This lost stone you have recovered is a major part of the history and pilgrimage of Crhan.”
“I am honoured father. Crahn showed me the light in my quest for the lost stone.”, Sue replied.
Father Angus smiled a little. “The Black Circle would admire you for your efforts. We need people like you.” Father Angus stopped to consider has thoughts. “Sue Ceri, I have heard many things about you. All true to the light of Crahn. I shall reward your efforts. I shall grant you admission to the Black Circle. You may now call me Brother.”
“I am honoured Brother Angus.”
Father Angus continued. “Hold your commanding hand out.” Sue held out her right hand where she was wearing her PSI glove. Father Angus gently removed it. “You shall also be gifted with a Tacholytium PSI glove. May Crahn show you the true power of his ways with this glove.”
Father Angus turned around, and opened a small chest on his desk. He took out a gold looking glove and fitted it to Sue’s right hand.
“Brother it is an honour to receive this gift from Crahn. I will be true to the light of Crahn.”
Sue used her left hand to adjust the glove to make it a little more comfortable. Suddenly Father Angus walked rapidly forward and pulled her left sleeve of her cloak, and took her left hand. He examined the hand of the female monk and saw five fingernails painted to perfection in a deep red blood colour.
He threw the hand down in disgust. “Blasphemy! You insult the order the Black Circle, and the true light of Crahn. Wearing the filthy nailpolish of Tsunami Syndicate hookers. You are not pure to be a member of the Black Circle. Wait a minute…”
Father Angus yanked the hood of female monk cloak off to reveal a young looking girl in her late twenties, with red hair tied into a ponytail, who was not looking too pleased.
“Well well well. My Holy Crahn, it’s no-one other than Miss Nailpolish herself, Lisa Merlins. Who the Crahn is this Sue Ceri?”
Lisa stood up, feeling annoyed that her cover had been blown. “That my late mother’s maiden name you are insulting…Brother.”
“So what dirty work you doing against us for the Fallen Angels and Phoenix this time?”, shouted Father Angus.
“None! I left Phoenix six months ago, and if you haven’t heard I’m not exactly welcomed in Fallen Angels.”
“Lies!” Father Angus, whispered something to himself. Lisa quickly reacted by stepping a little to her left, as a bolt of lightning hit the floor and cracked the tile on the floor.
“You will not leave this church alive, for the crimes you and those Tech Freaks have committed against Crahn!”. Lisa stepped back to her right as another bolt of lightning hit the Pew to her left. The Pew shattered into a pile of smouldering broken wood.
“Tempesta del fuoco!”, Lisa whispered to herself and thrust her hand in the direction of Father Angus. A blanket of fire approached Father Angus very rapidly, before he waved his hand. In a split second the flames was extinguished. Lisa swore to herself. “Crap!”, before she was knocked backwards twenty feet by a well timed and well placed PSI attack spell from Father Angus.
Lisa was lying her back, feeling a little outclassed by Father Angus’s PSI power. She jumped to her feet. “Lampo Santo”, she whispered.
A bolt of lighting hit the ground and cracked the tiles on the floor. She quickly repeated the spell, but Father Angus was too quick, and managed to dodge each bolt of lightning that Lisa threw at him.
Father Angus waved his hand and held his hand in the air. Suddenly Lisa was slammed against the wall, and held in the air a few feet from the ground. Lisa tried to move her hand, but she could not. The spell was completely restraining her movements. Father Angus waved his other hand, and a spell flew from Lisa’s belt to his hand.
“A fire apocalypse spell. I seem to recall you have burnt quite a few of your enemies with this spell.”, commented Father Angus
Lisa couldn’t reply, as the restraining spell seemed to be grabbing her around the neck preventing her from speaking. A beam of fire formed in the middle of the room and started to approach Lisa slowly, who was starting to struggle a lot more. She started to feel the intense heat of the fire beam as continued to approach her, as the trickling flames danced around the beam. The beam stopped about one foot in front of her face. The heat was intense, and Lisa could feel the fire beam intense heat starting to burn her.
“Rot in hell Lisa.”, said Father Angus.
Lisa closed her eyes to focus her PSI power to force Father Angus PSI grip off her. But before she could command the spell, she heard a loud crack, and Lisa fell to the floor. She opened her eyes to see the fire beam gone, and Father Angus on the floor face down, and a bullet hole in the back of his head. Blood started to pool out from his face on the floor. Lisa quickly looked up to the ledge on the first level of the Vestry. She spotted the brief blue glow of a spy slipping into stealth.
Lisa ran over to the dead body of Father Angus to pick up the clear blue stone and her fire apocalypse spell. There was a banging sound on the locked door to the Vestry.
“Father Angus!”, shouted the two servants, as they continued to bang on the door. The door buckled as the two servants tried to ram the door to open it. Lisa has to make an exit quick, before the Servants got her, but who was the spy who saved her? Was the spy who shot Father Angus friendly, or was she going to be the next target? Lisa spotted the open window on the ledge. She had no choice to go that way out. Quickly she jumped up to the first ledge, and climbed out though the window. She jumped down to the path that led to Outzone 7, and started to run as fast as she could.
For five minutes she ran through the Outzone sectors, until she felt she could no longer run any more. She hoped she had lost the spy as well, but she wasn’t sure. Lisa turned to hide in a dark side alleyway and catch her breath. She turned around to look out of the alleyway. Now she would have to find her way out of the Outzone sectors without the Neocron City runners spotting her or Crahn finding her.
“Lisa!”, said a voice behind her. Lisa jumped and spun around to see a spy wearing power armour looking at her. His sniper weapon was holstered on his back. “Who are you? I owe you one for saving my life.”
The spy took off his helmet, to reveal a face that Lisa knew very well. “Tratos!”, she exclaimed. “Really you stop sneaking up on me like that!” The Director of Phoenix’s Section 2 looked at her. “You are a hard person to track down.”
“I have to be, since I am a wanted person by the Tech Haven Security Council. I still protest my innocence. You here to take me in, as you know I can very easily kill you.”, she told Tratos.
“You was a wanted person Lisa. You was cleared two weeks after the court hearing. Although Brammers had a hard job convincing the Tech Haven Security Court to listen to the evidence that cleared you. Escaping from jail and going on the run didn’t help. Was you planning to join Crahn and fight against the Angels?”
“I wasn’t planning to stay around Crahn for long. I was heading back to Military Base join the Mercs. My mother, Sue Ceri, was a Merc, before she left for the city and met my father. So you been looking for me for the last 6 months to tell me I have been cleared?”
“Actually, we have been looking for you for the last 3 days, something has come up that’s threatening the security of the Fallen Angels again, and you are only expert left on the threat.”
“What threat?”, asked Lisa. Tratos Skarn pulled a blue glowing datadisk from his pocket, and touched the top of it. A holographic image of Brammers standing appeared. The image started to talk.
“Miss Merlins.”, said the holographic image of Brammers. “I trust Section 2 have found you, or you have erm…eliminated them and found this message. I have some news, and the Angels need your help. We fear the Skull Cult is back. I ask you to come to Phoenix HQ in Tech Haven. Be safe out there Lisa.”. The image of Brammers faded away, and the glow of the datadisk faded. The wind in the alleyway started to pick up.
“Is he serious?”, said Lisa. Tratos nodded. “Is Lifewaster and SanityIsLost still with Phoenix?”
“They are, and it’s nothing to do with them. And you know what City Admin did to the cult members they captured, Life and Sil can’t remember very much of their days in the cult. You are the only ex-cult member who knows their ways, and hasn’t had their brain cells screwed by City Admin.” The wind in the alleyway was now a strong breeze.
Lisa thought to herself. Tech Haven was now neutral ground for everyone, so she wouldn’t be arrested there if she walked in there. Also she knew Tratos knew a dozen to capture or kill anyone. So far Tratos had saved her from the mad Father Angus.
“Ok I’ll come to Tech Haven and talk to Brammers. You got a vehicle to give me a lift?”, Lisa started to notice the wind was getting very strong, and she could just hear a roar nearby.
The com-link on Tratos’s power armour beep and cracked. “Sir, we are homing in on your position, status?”. The male voice sounded familiar to Lisa.
Tratos tapped his com-link. “Status is green, target recovered and is willing to co-operate.”
Suddenly a DoY Hovercarrier appeared overhead and remained stationary, and it created a very large back-draft that was making it difficult for Lisa and Tratos to stand. Lisa looked up, to see if she could spot the name on the side of the Hovercarrier. The bay doors of the Hover Carrier opened, and a platform on the end of the cable started to lower down.
“Sir, we got two assault gliders on intercept course. ETA 1 minute…oh and hi hot Lady.” Lisa knew it was John Keel, who was the only person who called her Hot Lady. Lisa smiled a little, she was glad to hear that John was still with Phoenix.
The rescue platform got to about three feet from the ground. Lisa and Tratos jumped onto the platform. Tratos pushed the button to raise the platform back to the Hovercarrier. He opened the com-link. “As soon as the platform has cleared the alleyway walls, hit the throttle Morpheous. Lisa get ready to hold tight, this is going to be a very fast extraction.”
The rescue platform cleared the walls of the alleyway. Lisa looked around to see the roof tops of Outzone, and the Dome that covered the inner sectors of Neocron City. Then she spotted two smoke trails closing very rapidly on their position. The roar of the DoY hovercarrier engines increased to full power and started to accelerate. Lisa and Tratos grabbed the handrail of rescue platform, as there was still fifteen metres to go before the platform was safely inside the hovercarrier.
The 20mm cannon on the hovercarrier turned to face the two rapidly closing assault gliders. It opened fire in the direction of the two Assault Gliders, which both broke formation, but the gunner on the cannon tracked one of the escaping gliders. A black smoke trail appeared from the first glider, and it started to take a nose-dive towards the ground. The second glider, changed direction and started heading away from the Hovercarrier. Once again the cannon tracked the glider and fired, but the glider was now out of range of the cannons.
The rescue platform arrived in the bay of the hovercarrier. A Gen-tank in power-armour hit a switch to close the bay doors. Lisa and Tratos jumped off the rescue platform. Tratos walked over to the communications panel, and flicked a switch.
“Morph, red-line it to Tech Haven.”
“Got it Sir, hold tight and strap in!”, replied Morpheous.
The engines of the hovercarrier increased power. The hovercarrier started to vibrate as the harmonics of the two engines started to creep pass the vibration dampers. John Keel, Tratos and Lisa Merlins quickly strapped themselves in their seats, while Morpheous flew them to Tech Haven.