My story features actual players - and I did obtain their consent (sort of) Slack - he is a musician, and his name refers to the style of his playing. He is nothing like I have portrayed him - the opposite if anything he is a really nice person. Father Jack - he is not a practitioner of what the Victorians called "secret vice" . He has a wife and family for Gods sake. He just dared me to include some things in my story, so it was only fair he starred in them He reckons he is always drunk - but I doubt that, he plays at too high a level to be drunk. Mega Volt is the leader of Kaos society. He is an excellent and caring leader & new players would benefit greatly from joining & getting his help & advice - always freely given. I really wanted to portray him as a Colonel Wilhelm Klink in my tale - but it did not work out. Nor am I a obsessive bimbo slowly descending into madness. Its a work of fiction after all
Chapter 1:1 Arrival Mood Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu968lK0vA0 I am so excited, bursting with happy anticipation. The Ships intercom was proclaiming “Entering Planetary space, please begin collecting & stowing your belongings & prepare for landing. I looked around, we were all doing that, smiling & laughing at each other, young single ladies embarking on our grand adventure – leaving smoggy overcrowded earth to arrive at the place of our dreams. Arkadia, pure and unsullied, where valuable ores & ematters could be picked up at will, beautiful vegetation & friendly animals abound. Mind you, there was still some remaining disturbances by a nasty shambling race of ugly beings called Orotans? But they were being neutralised even as we speak. Some of us were going to take up high paying jobs as AuPairs & companions, others going as Mail Order Brides, to finally meet the rich handsome men they had been corresponding with. We were all lucky & fortunate, because we had taken the time to organise our adventure legally, not like other young girls lured by the promises of people smugglers to a rich & rewarding lives here. I considered myself the most fortunate of them all – I know exactly who I was going to meet. My Darling Slack, I took out his last letter, much creased and soggy with my kisses. He has such great dreams, but fate had time & time again cruelly ensured they came to nothing. But this time is different – I had given him the last of my money to enable him to set himself up here at Arkadia. We would both get a Land Grant & high paying jobs, we would be rich & invited to the Balls & Soirees held by Arkadian high society. Slack would look so handsome & I would look so beautiful in my expensive gowns – we would be rich and envied. I would have come so far from my humble Trailer Park beginnings on Earth. We were all warned time & again “Do Not Bring Stackables into Space” as that would attract pirates. As if I had any, I barely had the clothes I could stand up in. Yet we were all advised to carry a kilo of dung so that if we happened to meet Jolly Pirates, when they cried “Yaagh give us yer Shite” , we could give them that – why none of us had any idea, there was idle speculation that it was a cultural/religious thing – that pirates were originally made from shite & so revered it, or that they somehow just liked the taste & feel of it?? Who knows or cares. As our ship came to a bumpy landing, and the airlocks opened we tossed our ziplock bags of shite in the disposal, picked up our meger belongings and disembarked, skipping gladly down the gangplank with barely a glance at all the soldiers with their armour & crowd killing guns. Hurridlly hugging & kissing our goodbyes to each other & following the glowing signs to immigration. Our wonderful adventure had begun................. Chapter 1:2 to Come. Bureaucratic Problems & Unanticiptated Dismay
Mood Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHgZnMtWNiI “What do you mean 10K sweat !!” I screamed. Glaring at his shifty, watery bloodshot eyes, blotchy skin, lumpy booze blossom of a nose, I felt an overpowering urge to reach over grab his scrawny pencil neck & squeeze. “Now Miss, settle down now, do I need to call Security”? I suddenly remembered the presence of all the armed guards I had barely noticed when I had disembarked, maybe this type of scenario had happened before. I would have to adopt a more polite and conciliatory manner. Pulling out the official paperwork I had regarding my application & approval for coming to Arkadia, I held it under his nose stabbing my finger at the relevant sections. “Look tard” I said “here & here and yet again here, do you see anything about 10K sweat? It says everywhere free & welcome. I assume you can read and that inbreeding amongst your forbears has not depressed your IQ that much – has it?” His smug answer was almost too much to bear. “Of course it is free to come here and you are so welcome, what the 10K sweat is for is to get a passport. To fully take advantage of all the goodies that the paradise that is Arkadia has to offer, you need a passport! You are welcome to stay here for free as a stateless person, there are plenty of menial jobs to do that I am sure you will be very good at, you seem to have the capabilities & temperament. But to demonstrate that you have what it takes to be a proper citizen (which I doubt—snigger) you have to collect 10K sweat.” “Of course it does not say that anywhere, you have to firstly ask, and you will be told, like I’m telling you now” he smugly stated. What could I do, I started to blubber “But my Darling Slack would have asked & he would have been told – yet he mentioned nothing to me” I sobbed. “Slack, you know my good drinking buddy Slack? Oh you must be his squeeze then, he has told us so much about you” he leeringly said. “Actually he mentioned that you would be collecting 10K sweat on his behalf as well, he usually hangs out at the Moonshine Bar in Celeste city, a couple of days journey south – he does most of his business there, though strangely he has not been in touch, seems to have disappeared, but the Moonshine Bar would be a good place to start looking” “Just take care on the way there, there may be dangerous animals”. Slack was not here to meet me, and is missing, there must be trouble, I must go to him at the double – like straight away. He must be saved. “Why thank you Mr Passport Officer for all your help. Maybe I will meet you in PvP some day” “AAh yes sweetie” he replied – “I often go there to protect the Pandi Pups from the depredations of bad people. See you are learning some responsibilities already – maybe there is hope for you” he beamed. “Sure, the eer, Pandi pups count on seeing me (wanker)” I was able to call upon some natural skills, I rolled a few drunks, inspired shoplifting & stealthy muggings, I had enough peds to obtain a crappy TT gun for protection. Jogging and hitching rides I was on my way south to find my Darling.
Tom Tennant was the Bartender at Moonshine Bar, he seemed helpful & approachable. “So you are Slack’s little lady, he had so much to say about you” Obviously telling everyone how much he missed me I thought. “ he just disappeared, & we have really noticed a drop in our takings since he has gone” He left a note for you though, also a bar tab which he said you would be picking up. I snatched the note holding it for a while against my breast till the fluttering in my heart started to subside. Then, with shaking hands, I tore open the envelope & started reading. “My Dearest Louise, There has been some problems, while you were taking your own sweet time to come to me, I felt I had no option but to try to increase my (what’s this MY its OUR, finances) by skilful investments. I have placed all the funds in Treasure Maps J I am sure they will repay my financial acumen in due course – but it has left us with a cash flow problem. Of course this could all have been avoided if you had left earlier and/or caught a faster ship. But for all that I still love you dearly, if you would just cover my tab, and pay my mate Fred Hackett the Passport Officer 10K for my passport, buy the necessary items to enable me to activate my treasure maps, then everything will be cool. In the meantime I am off to the Oilfields to earn money for our future together – it is a horrible dangerous place, but I am quite prepared to make sacrifices for you. Your Darling Slack “He loves me” I thought “I am the most fortunate of women “ The hard earned peds I had acquired on my trip to Celeste were all gone in paying my Darlings necessary expenses – I had no way of getting the 10K sweat. Lucky for me Tom had some suggestions – “check your Planetary Storage luv “ there you will find a VSE Mark 1, go to Celeste Outpost & join the sweaters there & use it to suck the life force out of random Nusuls there – they love it, its like tickles them, you will have your 20K sweat in no time “ “And may I say, there are other ways for someone like you to earn some peds.– There are plenty of young single men on Arkadia and they have “appetites” get me ( nudge nudge wink wink).” They can pay handsomely to have these “appetites” satisfied. Here take this phone number & if you ever feel the need I can organi......” “What type of a girl do you take me for” I retorted angrily while carefully tucking the note with the phone number in my purse. How dare you sirrah – I am off now to the Outpost, I will have the sweat & peds in no time.
Mood Music “Move up to the circle you stupid noob” I was dozing again, almost delirious with fatigue. I have been working 22 hours a day gathering life force from Nusuls, who instead of loving the experience objected strongly, kicking and biting at every opportunity My yellow onesie, instead of being the sexy fashion statement I once thought it was, identified me as one of the lowest of the low, a “stoopid noob” who “neva does nothing right. Always goin AFK & preventing us getting what we want & deserve”. All the cool people seemed to sweat (yes that’s what they call it) in sexy microskirts & undergarments. All the while rabbiting on how good they were & yelling insults at us noobs in that whiney irritating Arkadian accent. Obviously there must be another way to earn peds, “Think Louise Think” I thought. A while later after forwarding yet more peds to my Darling & checking out the shops for new clothes, I realised I was feeling a bit...guilty. I was hunting the mobs around Celeste and each time as I blasted one with my laser, as it died in terror & agony, I seemed to see my Darlings face instead of its own – why was this happening? Was I missing Slack that much?. I did not know what to do L everything seemed so grey & foreboding. But as I walked the streets of Celeste, suddenly a beam of sunlight blazed down, illuminating the sign on a building. Father Jack Hackett’s Temple of Love and Forgiveness; Haloes polished – Karmic Debts Removed – Absolution Granted. It indeed is a sign , I hurried up the steps through the door and there was the saintly man himself. As he quickly put aside a bottle & turned to meet me I thought “ Wow, he must keep holy water in whiskey bottles he has so much of it – I have come to the right place”. “What can I do for you My Child” he intoned . It struck me – he looked familiar – “”Are you related to a certain Passport Officer “ I questioned. “Why yes, Fred is my brother, he got the good looks in the family, but we all serve as we can.” “Father I need redemption I sobbed”. “ Well come this way to the confessional & lets sort this out.” In the confessional I fell to my knees intoning the ancient ritual. “Father forgive me for I have sinned” “Tut tut My Dear, what seems to be the problem” came the response. “Oh Father, I have exchanged my virtue for material possessions; namely full sets of Ma’ketta & Holplite armour (F) of course, A Terratech PH3, a an Xtent 3 light Rifle plus a102 enhancer Tiered to level 2, with laser sights & plus ammo, various items of clothing & underwear, just to name a few” “All that for your virtue my child, seems you got a very good bargain” “WHAT!!!!!” “Were your “friends” disabled in any way?” “Well not really legally blind bu........” “Enough!” Shouted the good Father –“ your immortal soul is in mortal peril, you must be redeemed ASAP. Tell me everything – in great detail – everything that happened. Were you naked??” “Well not to start with” I was wearing a havoc thong, an enigma bra – you know the translucent one, and foxy high stiletto boots. Undulating slowly I was purring in a husky voice “Hey big boy. Feeling se.....” “Father, is this really necessary?” “Oh yes my child “ quickly came the reply “In order to remove the stain of sin we, I mean you must fully relive it – now keep going and try to put more life and excitement into your recounting”. Sadly I recounted all the details of my sordid escapades, and as I approached the sorry sinful climax, I became aware of gaspings and pantings in the next booth – as I got there, “Aaaaregh, eeerghh” was shouted out. I felt even more discouraged – the litany of my sins had so outraged this saintly man, it sounded like he was having a heart attack. “Father are you all right I exclaimed” “My Dear, (gasp) your sins, your many sins, are forgiven (pant) subject to you paying a penance – as the desire for peds caused your fall from grace, so paying peds can redeem you”. A grasping hand was shoved through the window in the booth “pay all the peds you are carrying to me and I will ensure that they go to needy widows & orphans. From your encounters I suspect you would be too exhausted to take the peds to them yourself” Father Jack, always thinking of the welfare of others I thought. Placing all my peds into his palm – while taking care not to touch it – seemed strangely sticky. The ceremony was complete – I had received absolution – I was redeemed !! “Hallalulah, I am born again “ I cried skipping down the steps from Father Jacks Chapel I felt so much lighter spiritually (and financially ) “Whenever I need rel... I mean you need redemption come back – I feel this may be a regular occurrence” cried Father Jack to my retreating back. Whatever, I had things I needed to do. Later at RavenJades Scarlet Crypt of Shadows trying on various “clothes” Tight black leather, mesh stockings, thigh length black high heeled boots mmmmm yes, I pondered the problem I could see arising with my Darling. His intentions were always good, his dreams were magnificent – but always seemed problems bringing them to reality. I think he needs some discipline I thought. Toying idly with a Dominax Original Garter whip I had acquired, it seemed the problem was my Darling needed some “discipline”. I could supply that, He would love it Or soon come to learn to SLASH!!!!!!!!
Mood Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W68CZUT6FaE Time is passing. So quickly and yet it drags. Most of my time on Arkadia now is hunting, I move I hunt I loot, I hunt almost robotically grinding away in some strange fever dream. But I can never seem to amass enough peds to bring my original hopes to reality. These seem unreal now, impossible and ridiculous. Reality has changed since the letter. Yet it does not seem to matter, anymore. I am aware I have changed both physically and mentally. Burned black by Arkadia’s pitiless sun, my being seems to have been stripped down to its bare essentials. Hard steel muscles, implacable will and a calm deadly intent. The beauties & terrors of the Arkadian landscape are nothing to me now. Its burning deserts, freezing snows, dark jungles, pleasent glades leave me untouched. . No longer a rather pretty young girl, but I have become another me is seems. Did I mention the letter? Things changed after my Darling Slack wrote that he has found someone new and that he hopes we will still remain good friends and that my generosity will continue. My Dearest, it does not matter I replied, have your fun, for when I sent you all those peds I was buying you. You are bought, I own you, I own you completely and when I am ready I will come for you and we will always be together, for eternity. I hope he will love the new me, but it is immaterial, he will in time, I will ensure it. Slack and his “friend” have fled and he thinks he is hiding from my love, poor deluded fool. I love him still and his friends scalp will make a nice trophy. Her head I will stick on a stake as a monument. There is much talk of erecting monuments to “worthy” people. She will make a fitting example. I am far from stupid and can see the dark skull behind Arkadia’s beautiful smiling face. Everything you have been told is a lie. Cannot you see that? I can and I no longer care. I am rather surprised not more people realise this. Arkadians are living in a fool’s paradise happily playing while time is ticking away to a horrible future. The signs & portents are all before us. Arkadia, a beautiful planet where a wise & just race of beings were exterminated by another evil race of beings called Orotans. They rob and steal and plunder. Just like us don’t you think! They probably find us as ugly as we find them. Our whole purpose here is to loot and plunder, we do not create, we take, inasmuch as anything we do craft is made from looted/plundered things. Every creature here – every one of them hates us and attacks us at every opportunity. They don’t view the Orotans that way, they even seem to see them as protectors. And have you noticed that all Arkadian creatures all are intelligent, even the hornets – individually not, they are analogues of insects, but each hive has a mind of its own rather more intelligent than us I suspect. The creatures here all talk, I hear them in my mind chattering away their hopes, their fears, their plans & their thirst for revenge. I have joined the IFN and am rising rapidly through its ranks. It is considered that I embody everything the IFN stands for. All think this except that irritatingly politically correct IFN psychologist who had another opinion, he questioned my sanity. But would you believe it, a gang of Orotans burst into his office, battered him to a bloody pulp and burnt his notes. Obviously the IFN (and Arkadia) need people like me to protect them from such depredations. I am presently on a mission to remove Orotans from an area. I silently come across a group of prospectors, looks like they are taking morning tea, gossiping and just chillin. “Hai guys” I say, “Do you want to party?” the terror and panic in their eyes I find exciting in a strange dark way, seeing there is nowhere they can escape to, they grab their picks and dash at me. Gosh their reflexes are fast. Here they come right into range. Bank Bang, Shoot Shoot. Indeed happiness is a warm gun.
Mood Music War!! Hostilities have broken out. The enemy? The creatures of Arkadia, not just the Orotans who have never stopped resisting our might, but all the creatures here, all banded together. Against us. No declaration of war has been announced, there is no correspondence between the warring sides nevertheless we are fighting, and much as I hate to admit it, we are losing. Of course, there is none who can equal us for disciplined aggression & savagery but the odds are against us now. There are so few of us, so many of them If you look for historical examples – there was the Axis forces in 1944. I hate to admit it, but we are in that position now. Many citizens here refuse to believe the true situation. Its all down to mysterious outbreaks caused by viruses or suchlike, Global Warming, continuing Orotan nastiness etc. Our propaganda machine has not helped here. Much talk of reclaiming, of Orotan defeats and suchlike. People cannot understand and ask they why have things changed? They feel safe with the great hulking shapes of our spaceships over our bases. But these wont stop us losing - they will just stop the Orotans winning. We have never made any attempt to deal with the creatures (that’s what we refer to them as, or as mobs), they had tried to contact us – we just did not listen. Looks like they have now decided to talk to us in the only language we understand. Why should those cranky Haradaras like us? We chopped down their ancient “Tree of Souls” the very cornerstone of their existence – and put a quarry there. The ancient and sacred places of Arkadian dreaming, where all creatures could come together in love and harmony. Well we have named these places “Event Areas” and flock to them for easy kills. You see parties of drunken humans zooming around, Yee Haring, weapons set to full automatic, seeing who could get the highest kill count in the shortest time. Here is a picture of me doing that very thing. Are the creatures there attacking me, or beseeching me? It does sound like I am being a Social Justice Warrior for Arkadia. Not really, my aims are different. My ire is directed against the Society here. Where are the Land Grants that hopeful idealistic settlers (like that sad naive original me) came looking for. Looking for a peaceful happy prosperous life? There does not seem to be any. Yet there are Land Grants available – to rich well connected individuals. And what do they do with them, well hunting preserves for rich powerful people – and the creatures there, genetically mutated to make dangerous intelligent aggressive creatures even more so (now that may well come back to bite us – lol a pun, I still have the capacity for humour then). Made more so for some benefit for rich powerful people. Now these movers & shakers want everybody to sacrifice themselves to preserve this whole rotten system. Why, sure, count on my help – for a price. What I want & you are prepared to pay may well be different, like you will have much of a choice when the time comes. Have you noticed that the creatures we are fighting are equipped with armour & weapons – maybe better than our forces possess. They did not make these weapons, they are of human construction. Some looted of course, but most purchased from us by such lovely examples of sub humanity like Smugglers and of course Pirates. Nobody seemed to wonder why Orotans went to such trouble to mine ores that they had no use for, but we found valuable. And while I am venting, Sweating. Sucking the life force out of beings is the ultimate form of rape. You can see the outrage, hurt & terror in their eyes as we do it, causally removing what makes them, themselves – and after that, casually killing them. And most hateful to me of all, Pets. Taking an animal from its mother, breaking its spirit with the judicious application of pain & terror. So that they anxiously perform “tricks” for our amusement – and when they are old, render them down for peds. This is a perversion of what pets are I am conflicted here. For I remember Shep, my childhood friend & companion. Maybe I will talk about him later. Orders have just come down – we are to move out in force, to take up positions that will deny the Orotan forces a strategic area, then to go on the offensive and finally remove them from their heartland – the beginning of the end for Orotans in Arkadia. And, Glory Be, this is where my Slack and his “friend” have fled to – they are cut off and no word has been received – but I will be able to come to them and save them. For myself
Escaping the awful present, and my mind cast itself back to the recent past, when this all started, when the orders were handed out. I was summoned to General Mega’s office; to find there the great man keeping himself at his awesome level of fitness by doing his daily drill: “This is my rifle, This is my gun, This one’s for fighting, This one’s for fun!” “Oh God, he has got them mixed up, yet again” I thought. Still I supposed it was keeping him happy. “Ah Louise, or as of now Obersturmbannführer Louise, your new rank is to go with the gravity of your mission – you are to take all available troops and intercept & then crush the Orotan forces at this location. (hands me map with arrows & important writing on it, all in red). Of course there is no possibility (or opportunity even) of retreat – you know how the saying goes “Yours is not to reason why etc etc”. “To assist you in this I have emptied all the gaols, special schools & old people’s homes & conscripted the inmates into your forces – you should have more than enough troops to carry out your mission successfully. And, with absolutely no thought or worry about history or even precedent, I have given the operation code name of “Operation Michael” !! Now off you go, time is wasting........ I saluted (sort of) and left. Yay !!! like all ‘Operation Michales’ the opening was a complete success. Delivered by dropships we fell on the Orotan forces & their auxillaries, quickly and totally defeating them, captured the target area and dug in. This area included an abandoned outpost , now my headquarters – we had access to weapons & supplies and there was a revival booth, though no teleport facilities. And we were out of range of other revival facilities. Well, if we lost control of this one it will be curtains for anyone of us killed. It was a strategically very important site as a basis for attacking, but useless, of no strategic value at all, for defense. Not that I would let my loyal troops know that of course, that we were to be chaff, thrown beneath the wheels of the advancing Orotans, maybe slowing them down a tad, to enable the defences of Celeste to be better prepared Direct observation revealed that the approaching Orotan forces were immense – it was a planetwide uprising against humans. Ever more disheartening, they possessed weapons armour & vehicles – Smugglers & Pirates had become very rich supplying these to our enemy. And maybe more disheartening to me, General Mega had taken all the vehicles – there was no way I would be leaving other than by foot. Looks like I would have to take the defense of our outpost seriously. I knew very little about commanding troops and of military tactics and procedures etc. Nor had I any experience in military stuff, even saluting. But, I was experienced in terrorising and killing Orotans & others. I could use this natural gift to organise the troops at my disposal. This gift, together with my ability for bribing and lying my head off about the chances of their survival, should suffice. I still had my whip, so my originally unhappy but now more compliant troops – they all love me now, they realised how it was so much in their interests to just do what I demanded of them. (See Slack there is hope for you yet) The Orotans knew where we were (or should be) so I set my positions with all our cannons & heavy weapons along one flank with only a small force guarding the revival booth. I expected that when we were killed & revived we would then be able to defend the booth directly. What I was intending – using my heavy weapons to take out their vehicles – they march on Celeste, then they would need to carry everything on their backs & use their legs. So... here they come, right into range, moving past us heading for the outpost. “Pick your marks, relax everyone, FIRE!!” Time seemed to slow right down, the sound of the cannons making a low thump thump thumping, felt in ones bones rather than heard, the sounds of other weapons made a steady stuttering beat, they were being aimed carefully not fired off in panic. (see, even old fogies could benefit from the intense last minute training I put them through. That plus the fact that everyone on Arkadia had military training to some degree. We achieved total surprise, with our opening salvos the lines Orotan vehicles went up in a chorus of explosions & flames – looks like they suffered 80% casualties straight off, just as soon though our advantage disappeared - Arkadian mobs, the speed of their responses is amazing. There is a flame throwing tank, quickly take it out before it gets into range – destroy that and it will light up so many of their forces. Aim for it now, over open sights, its that close and....... There are still enemy units trickling past our position. Celeste is on fire but General Mega is directing its defense from one of our space ships. Looks like Slack & his floozie have escaped both the Orotans & my love - they hitched a ride on a war criminal Pirate Ship, maybe they will make a new life for themselves on Calypso, or even become jolly Space Pirates, breaking hearts, looting shite from space travellers & whining on Space Forums. Some scattered elements of my troops are disappearing over the horizon – gosh even with walking frames those grandpas can move. My outpost lies in ruins All this should concern me, but it doesn’t Because I am Dead
