Okay, now to clear things up a bit here. First, this isn't the
teaser I released eariler called The Omega Project. Rather, I scrapped that
plan, and applied the title to the Timewarp idea I sent out. For those of
you who don't remember, just read on and ignore this. ^_^
Ranma 1/2 used without permission
Jed M. Bidwell, Idiot At Large, presents:
The Omega Project
===================================
The room was softly lit by the banks of flourescent lights in the
high ceiling, their soft glow too weak for the twelve cylindrical pods to
cast any significant shadow.
She stared down at herself, unable to recall who she was, or why she
was there. She searched her memory, but nothing came to answer her myriad
questions. Something felt odd, however, when she looked at her impossibly
buoyant breasts. For some reason, their presence just felt wrong.
Looking up, she studied the other pods situated in neat rows in the
center of the chamber. She felt cold, the air raising goosebumps along her
skin as the tile floor chilled her feet. Rows of sophisticated computer
equipment lined all four walls, monitors flickering as tiny lights blinked
in varying colors all across the machines. Several of the monitors displayed
a flashing word in large red text: MALFUNCTION.
//What's goin' on here?\\ she thought as she made her way to the
nearest pod. The capsule was roughly three meters long, with a small
computer panel on the side. Several digital gagues were on the display, the
images making no sense at all to the confused girl.
On the top of the capsule was what appeared to be a fogged glass
window. The window covered only a fourth of the space, wrapping around from
one side of the hatch to the other. Painted on the side was the number
"012". Maybe there was a clue inside? Slowly, she reached ot her left hand
to wipe the mist off the window.
Her hand stopped just short of the capsule when a noise from the
right clanged out into the room. Spinning, she saw a large doorway open with
more flourescent light spilling in from the corridor outside.
A shadow raced in through the widening gap, a long black coat
billowing behind him. Whirling about, he slapped a panel on the wall next to
the door, causing it to close before it had opened all the way.
She just stood there, staring in wide-eyed confusion at the stranger
who had just appeared. He fiddled with the panel for a few seconds, then
suddenly seemed to bristle. Quick as a snake, he spun around, a large black
weapon in his hand.
The black coat fell just past his knees, a black bodysuit beneath it
that appeared to be made of metal. Beneath the black fedora he wore was a
mask made of the same material, deep red eyes glaring at her.
"One of you is active?" it said in a raspy, mechanical voice. "Oh,
well, it doesn't matter." He raised the weapon, a red light shooting from
the underside to form a dot above her heart.
Instinct took over as she vaulted over the capsule just before he
opened fire. The sound of bullets ricocheting off the metal capsules and the
staccatto roar or the gun filled the room as she crouched behind her
impromptu shelter.
//Who is this guy?\\ she thought as she desperately searched for a
way out. She knew she wouldn't be able to last against that kind of point
blank pounding for very long. Maybe if she got behind him?
The gunfire ceased abruptly as the shriek of tearing metal took its
place. Risking a quick look, she saw the door bending inward as several
gleaming claws pierced the surface. //What's goin' on here?\\
"Damnit!" he shouted as the mech unit gradually forced the blast
door open. They wouldn't risk using the thermal limpets, not with all this
equipment here running their most vile experiment. Kuno Industries wouldn't
risk that much just to get rid of him, no matter how dangerous he was to them.
"Gotta work fast," he muttered as he ran toward the main computer
bank. His eyes scanned the MALFUNCTION message briefly, realizing that the
unit he saw had been activated prematurely. The programming probably wasn't
fully integrated yet. Not that it really mattered much. In a few seconds, it
would join its brothers and sisters in hell.
He reached into the pocket of his coat, pulling out a small
spherical device which he then affixed to the control panel. Pressing the
small button atop the sphere, he stepped back and looked around for the
active unit. The thermal detonator would explode in ninety seconds, and that
didn't leave him much time.
The door was forced nearly a quarter of the way open, just wide
enough for a person to get through. Rolling up his left sleeve, he aimed his
fist at the gap. A small rectangular portion of the smooth black metal slid
open, a micro-missle popping into position. It might not destroy the mech,
but the soldeirs accompanying it would definitely get theirs from the blast.
The missle launched from his arm, a small jet of orange flame
roaring from the back as it screamed to the entrance. The Kuno Industries
mech unit blocked out the light from the corridor, unable to dodge before
the missle hit.
A ball of red fire exploded from the front of the mech, a flurry of
sparks accompanying the flame. With an inhuman roar the machine fell
backward, sparks flying from the gaping hole in its armor as its internal
systems shorted out. Not wasting a second, he charged for the door. His
movements were inhumanly quick and precise as he easily somersaulted past
the confused and injured soldiers.
The night wasn't a complete failure, at least one of those genesis
chambers was destoyed. It may not have meant much in the long run, but at
least there was now twelve less of those clones in the world.
===============================
She watched the missle shoot from the stranger's arm, blasting
something behind the door with impressive force. Then, without pause he
charged forward and somersaulted with a grace and agility that she found
rather remarkable. In the back of her mind she knew she could do better, but
that was neither here nor there.
She cast her gaze over to the strange thing he had placed on the
console. Whatever it was, it had been beeping steadily for the past minute
or so. The beeping changed pitch and pattern, becoming much higher and more
frantic.
//BOMB!\\ she thought as the detonator cycled down. Darting out from
behind the capsule, she leapt through the gap in the door, bounding off the
now-smoking wreckage of the mech.
Just as she hit the floor, a deafening roar filled the world around
her. The floor shook madly with the force of the explosion, a rush of hot
wind slamming into her back through the space in the doorway. The heavy
metal blast doors had absorbed much of the impact, keeping the brunt of the
force away from her.
She turned briefly, eyes scanning the smoke and fire pouring out of
the door. The mech was badly damaged, unable to rise on its own. Four men in
black combat suits lay around it, one injured and the other three dead.
The corridor was suddenly filled with a flashing red light, a
strident alarm klaxon blaring throughout the four meter wide space.
//What now?\\ she thought in desperation as she charged down the
only path available to her. The sound of thundering footsteps stormed
relentlessly nearer as she veered left at an intersection partway down the
corridor.
The present hallway was nearly identical to the last, as was the
next, and the next. As she ran, fear and uncertainty gnawing at her mind,
she began to wonder if she would ever find her way out of whatever this
place was. Was it built like some kind of maze?
"Hey, you!" a male voice shouted from behind. She stopped cold in
the middle of the hall, turning about to face the man who had called. He
wore the same suit as the three men she had seen at the exit of the room she
had awoken in, a bodysuit made of some dull black material with gleaming
metal arm and shin guards. A torso plate of the same metal adorned his upper
body, a black helmet with a mirrored faceplate covering his head. "Stay
right there!"
In his hands was a gun, much the same as the one the guy in the
trenchcoat had, aimed directly at her. As he approached, she tried to think
of a way out. Run? No, she'd never make it. Bullets moved a good deal faster
than she did. Surrender? Never, she knew deep inside that surrender was
never an option. She may not have known much else, but that fact was
certain. Her only choice, then, was to fight.
"Now, what the hell is some naked chick doin' runnin' around here?"
he asked, looking up and down at her. She remained silent, eyes locked on
that faceplate. "Answer me!" he shouted, thrusting the gun forward a little.
Siezing the opportunity, she lashed out at the gun, snatching it
free of his grip and tossing it aside. The guard stood sputtering in
disbelief as his weapon clattered to the floor. Her hand clinched around his
throat before he could regain his composure, hoisting him into the air with
a strength that defied her size.
"Tell me," she hissed, "how do I get out?" The guard hung in her
grasp, struggling wildly as she stared at her reflection in the faceplate. A
thick mop of red hair rested on her head, trailng down past her shoulders.
Piercing blue eyes stared back at her from beneath her crimson bangs, set
within an almost delicate female face. She gazed at the image, the face
staring back at her seemingly that of a total stranger.
"HOW?" she shouted, tightening her grip just enough to get her point
across.
"gack... all right..." he managed, "ease up..." She loosened her
hold onthe guard's neck to allow him to speak, but still held him aloft.
"Down the corridor there... is an elevator...," he said, "take it... up four
floors... to the parking garage... it's the fastest way out."
The sounds of men shouting at one another began to grow closer as
the klaxon continued to blare its piercing wail. Realizing that she was out
of time, she lashed out at his faceplate with her free hand. The plate
shattered like glass, her fist connecting solidly with the face behind it.
She felt the guard go limp in her grasp as he lost conscousness from the
impact. Dropping the unconscious man, she ran down the corridor in search of
the elevator that would take her to the parking garage. She hoped.
======================================
//Huh? No guards?\\ he thought as he scanned the dimly lit parking
garage. He saw the surrounding area in a greenish tint, his low-light vision
enhancing the existing illumination as much as it could.
A long crosshair moved across his field of vision as several streams
of data scrolled at the fringes. In the top right corner was a small compass
display, pointing north by northeast. The crosshair moved over every car and
pillar in sight, locking onto nothing.
//Motion and targeting sensors show nada,\\ he thought, a sense of
unease growing in his gut, or what was once his gut. It had been a long time
since he'd had one of those.
The greenish tint of his vision was immediately replaced by several
shades of dark blue with a few faint traces of orange. Nothing in the garage
seemed to stand out at all.
//Noting on thermograph,\\ he thought as he shifted his vision back
to low-light. //Looks like it's all clear.\\ Deep inside, however, he knew
that it wasn't. Every instinct he had kept screaming that something was
wrong, and he had always gone by his instincts. Nevertheless, he knew he had
to get out, and this was the shortest path to take. Remaining in the
shadows, he slowly made his way to the exit.
From across the expansive concrete garage came the rumbling sound of
a roll-up door rising into the ceiling. He turned, motion and targeting
sensors locking on to the movement, and what lay beyond it.
//Oh, crap,\\ he thought as a feeling of dread set in,
//Juggernaut!\\ The door opened completely, the enormous mech lumbering out
into the parking garage. It towered over him, the massive monstrosity
measuring well over five meters in height. Its two legs were
backwards-hinged, much the same way as any four-legged animal, ending in a
pair of three-toed feet. The torso of the giant machine was composed of
sharply-curved metal, bending upward and out to form a sharp protrusion near
the top that somewhat resembled a head. Each massive arm ended with three
pincer-like claws, capable of rending or crushing nearly anything. But what
concerned him the most was the two fixed 20mm Vulcan guns mounted on each
shoulder that were being trained on him.
With balletic grace, he leapt clear just as the rotating turrets
began to fire. The roar of the twin Vulcans echoed off the concrete surfaces
of the garage as the maelstrom of bullets smashed the pillar that he once
stood before. Juggernaut kept firing, turning as quickly as it could manage
in a vain attempt to keep up with him. Juggernaut mave have had loads of
armor and firepower, but it wasn't very agile. It was meant for taking on
entire groups, not a lone intruder. If he could keep his distance and stay
ahead of it, he had a chance to get away. Scrapping the Juggernaut wasn't an
option.
Juggernaut's torso began to rotate towards him, independent of the
legs. He kept moving, knowing that standing still would mean getting a
target lock and something for Juggernaut to fix its weapons on.
The Vulcan guns roared again, hot lead cratering the concrete and
ripping the metal of the myriad vehicles stored down there. He continued to
dodge around, moving faster than any man had a right to. The garage offered
no real shelter from Juggernaut's onslaught, nor would his armored body
withstand any sort of pounding from it.
Its left arm shot out, a beam of red energy blasting forth from the
center of its hand. The beam lanced the air that he had occupied not even a
second before, lancing through the front of a grey Mercedes parked in its
path. The Mercedes and the two cars next to it erupted in a fiery ball, the
sound of the explosion filling the air and rebounding off of the floor and
walls as burning scraps of jagged metal flew in every direction.
//Damn plasma cannon,\\ he thought as a piece of flaming shrapnel
embedded itself at his feet. Water began to rain down from the ceiling as
the fire suppression systems engaged. He almost cringed as the water hit and
chastised himself for it. It had been a long time since he'd had to worry
about getting wet. He had to get out, he wouldn't last much longer against
Juggernaut. As he darted between columns and cars, evading the flak from the
mech's guns, he thought of the rumors surrounding Juggernaut, that there was
actually a human brain in there. Most who knew of the hulking death-mobile
discounted such stories. If they only knew...
The fire ceased without any warning, the air getting quiet save for
the sound of cars burning and water soaking the concrete. Looking around, he
saw the Juggernaut's torso pointed toward a lone patch of light around an
elevator door. the doors opened to reveal a nude red-haired girl staring in
wide-eyed surprise at the monstrous robot.
//What the?\\ How did she survive the explosion in the genesis
chamber? He briefly considered moving to eliminate the clone once and for
all, instead choosing to sieze the chance for escape. He was fast enough to
get away before Juggernaut's targeting systems could lock on, and the clone
wouldn't stand a chance against the hulking killing machine. He vanished
into the night, moving for the tunnel that led to the streets above. The
night wasn't a total failure, and it was time to leave.
============================
"SHIT!" she cursed as the enormous robot's shoulder guns rained hell
into the confines of the elevator. She hit the wet concrete floor, coming
out of her roll and darting to the left before it could retaliate.
As she ran, she head the sound of hydraulics engaging and the
thunder of the machine's legs as it turned to pursue. Her legs hit the floor
at a furious pace as she tried to escape the metal creature, the soles of
her feet stinging from the impacts.
The floor began to vibrate slightly in time with the robot's
crushing footfalls as it lumbered after her. Terror and confusion warred for
dominance as she fled from her robotic adversary. What had she gotten
herself into?
A strange warning sensation overtook her, screaming for her to
dodge. Following the feeling, she sprung to the right a half second before
the twin cannons of the machine's shoulders roared. She kept running,
staying as low as she could between the cars as bullets shredded their thin
metal frames. Tires popped and glass shattered from the hail of bullets, the
small projectiles hitting with a short zinging sound.
She ducked and rolled beneath a red truck-type vehicles, an SUV she
realized. Just as she rolled clear, the sound of something launching came
from where the robot stood, an explosion ripping the air a second later. She
hit the floor again, covering her head as the corpse of what was once a car
flipped into the air to land on another car near her. The crashing noise
nearly deafened her as the bottom car was mercelissly flattened. Adrenaline
racing through her veins and panic threatening to break loose, she rose to
her feet and continued her flight. She had to get out. Forget finding out
who she was, she needed to get away from that... whatever it was!
From the corner of her eye, she saw its torso follow her as its legs
rotated back in alignment. Lifting one of its massive legs, the robot
brought its huge foot down on the roof of a small car in its way. The
compact's body crumpled like a soda can under the enormous weight of the
mech, doing little to impede its progress.
Its chestplate slid open, revealing several red-tipped cones nestled
within the structure. Three of the cones launched from their bays, arcing
toward the running girl.
She jumped forward just as the first rocket hit, the force of the
blast hitting her back hard as the small explosion burst from the floor. The
second rocket hit just after the first, blowing a crater in the wall of the
garage. The third rocket hit much closer than the other two, knocking her
off of her feet. She tumbled across the floor, her head smacking the wall
with enough force to black her out.
She opened her eyes, pain throbbing in the back of her head, as the
water sprayed down on her body. Wincing, she rose to a sitting position just
as a metal three-toed foot stomped down in front of her.
Shivering, she looked up to the robot that towered over her. Her
legs felt weak and rubbery when she tried to move them, desperate to get
away. The machine just stood there, as if it was trying to intimidate her
before the end.
"Hurry up and finish it," she said with as much bravery as she could
muster. She wouldn't let this thing see her fear. If she was going to die,
she would do it with her eyes wide open.
"P...." it said in a raspy metallic voice,
"p........iiiiii.....ppppiiiiiiiii...."
"What?" What was it trying to say?
"Piiii....ggggg......Piigggg...."
"Pig?" Was this thing trying to insult her? Why was it calling her a
pig?
Its hands clamped down on the protrusion that may have been its
head, a bellowing roar bursting forth from whatever it used to speak. The
robot began to hit itself furiously, the clang of metal striking metal
crying out as it screamed.
//Now's my chance!\\ she thought as she rose to her knees.
Stumbling, she regained her feet and lumbered to the tunnel she saw in the
distance. That had to be the way out.
==============================
"It's going nuts!" the tech shouted as his fingers tapped
frantically on the control panel before him. The room was lined with some of
the most sophisticated computer equipment money could buy, their soft
humming noises providing a subliminal aural backdrop as the technicians
worked furiously at their assigned stations. The monitors placed before each
white-clad scientist displayed various technical readouts and schematics of
the rampaging mech in the parking garage. A large monitor in the center
showed the view Juggernaut saw, the image jumping wildly with each
self-inflicted blow.
"Increasing barbituate concentration!" the tech at the far right
station shouted.
"Shutting down sub-routines Alpha-four-niner and Alpha-three-two!"
exclaimed another.
"It's not responding!"
"Attempt system shutdown!"
"Negative! Juggernaut's not responding!"