Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!
Who: Everyone
When: About mid-day, five days after Time to put up--
Where: The Whole Colony Site
Invited: ALL PLAY!
Status: Complete ( Read more... )
When: About mid-day, five days after Time to put up--
Where: The Whole Colony Site
Invited: ALL PLAY!
Status: Complete ( Read more... )
But her overall canvas jumpsuit, steel toes boots and gloves covered all but her neck and face. She was as safe as she could get under the massive lump of iron infused metal.
She hadn’t heard the sonic boom due to the small headphones currently pumping Credence into her ears. She ignored her fear by singing along.
“Dont go around tonight,
Well, its bound to take your life,
There’s a bad moon on the rise.”
Someone grabbed her foot and half dragged her out from beneath the Jeep.
“Bobby, what the hell…” She jumped up and was about to lay into him when she noted everyone looking up. Following their gaze she felt her jaw drop, but not her ratchet fall from her hand.
“I know the end is coming soon.
I fear rivers over flowing.
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.”
She snapped her mouth shut and yanked the earphones off.
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The monitor flickered again and the columns of numbers broke up into static again. (Shit,) Valerie thought. When the screen cleared momentarily, she tried to save her work. She wasn't sure if it succeeded, but she powered down the machine anyhow.
Only then did she notice that it had grown dark. At lunchtime. She got up and walked over to the window, expecting to see storm clouds. "Holy fuck!"
Valerie ran from the room, down a corridor and out into the open. A vast black...void obscured the sky. It seemed to be hanging low enough that she could reach up and touch it. But the tallest trees in the colony were standing upright. It was clearly higher in the air than it seemed.
And it was fucking huge. Valerie could see blue sky and sunlit landscape miles away, out of the shadow of this...thing. Flying eclipse? Spacecraft--it had to be some kind of spacecraft. A thrill of terror shot through Valerie as she wondered if this was related to the aliens who'd destroyed earth. Had it tracked them to this world to complete the job? Was this why the Alpha and Beta sites had gone silent?
Valerie tore her gaze away from the black void and looked around. It looked like almost everyone in the colony was gaping up at it with her. A couple of mechanics from the motor pool were closest, staring up in mute shock.
Feeling suddenly in need of company, Valerie walked over to join them.
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Some colonists were already running in panic as Bobby looked around for the threat. He spotted it at the same time as Ted and the other mechanics: a gigantic black orb hovering like an obese balloon. Aasif stared at it wild-eyed, whispering a prayer in what Bobby assumed to be his native Farsi. Jasmine whimpered and darted off.
"Hey!" Bobby shouted after her. He breathed a sigh of relief when the dark-skinned woman stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Stay here. It's not doing anything." (Yet.) "Might be some nice, friendly E.T.s looking for Reese's Pieces. 'kay, Jasmine?" She nodded and joined Ted and Aasif, who'd already moved closer to Bobby.
While keeping an eye on the supersized magic eight ball Bobby looked to see what their intrepid leaders were doing. In the process he noticed Red's booted feet sticking out from under the Jeep. "Red!" he barked. No reaction. He stomped over there and started hauling her skinny frame out.
"Bobby, what the hell..." Red's grease-smeared, freckled face went slack upon spotting the black orb.
Although she yanked her headphones off, Bobby noticed that she kept her ratchet in hand. (Good girl.)
Motion to Bobby's left drew his attention. That cute egghead was walking toward them, looking as scared as Bobby felt. He motioned her into the group. "Let's get some cover until we know more. They might just be stopping by to fuel up." Bobby sincerely hoped his glib comment was correct.
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Molly stripped off her gloves. Her tool set was her own and all were made of titanium with the strength of steel but without the iron. She kept her ratchet in a white knuckled grip and sort of wished for the great honking wrench she had. Like it would be any more effective than getting under cover. At least she'd feel she'd gone down fighting.
Molly looked at Bobby. "I don't suppose you have a Bowler Shooter, huh?"
Then she realized he might never have played marbles as a kid. Not like they'd knock this one out of the ring.
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Val felt better just being among other people even as she realized how stupid that feeling was. As if that would make a lick of difference if the vessel overhead decided to smite them. Or, as the redheaded mechanic suggested, just settled down on top of the colony.
"What the hell happened?" Val asked. "Where did it come from?"
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"What the hell happened?" Cutie asked. "Where did it come from?"
"The sky," Bobby deadpanned, earning him a sour look from the blonde. Then he shrugged, motioning at the SGC folks. Although they had a few (pretty sweet-looking) weapons, they were doing the exact same thing Bobby's group was -- gawking. "I think they're as clueless as us. And a bowler shooter's a big marble," he added with a grin for Red.
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"Yeah, the one you start the game with where I come from, knocks all the others helter skelter. I think that one wins." She gestured upward.
"Too bad we don't have a board of colored lights and a synthasizer." Molly hummed the famous refrain from 'Close Encounters.'
See, not panicking with giant black ball about to go bowling with the settlement, and not in a good way. Humor the best defense against an overwhelming offense.
Molly looked in the direction of the school, but there was no way anyone could see it from here. Hopefully the teachers had gotten the littles away from the windows and kept them occupied instead of gawking, themselves. Children picked up on adults panic easily.
"So the army is aiming peashooters at it and gawping like we are. Don't you hate it when company comes unannounced and you haven't picked up the living room?"
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Everyone go this-a-way.
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