Post by Mizagium on May 28, 2009 15:19:22 GMT -5
Chapter Null
“Oi! Keep pushing that drill; we have to at least breach this wall by tomorrow!” Sergeant Galbrinth Roil’l called to his team operating the pneumatic drill. They were in the middle of a massive project: tearing down the wall separating the territories of the Lundel Federation and the J’vein Union. “And be careful with it, damn you! That drill bit’s worth more ‘en the lot o’ ya!”
Shaking his head, he turned back to the map laid out on the table. He tilted his head one way, then the other, trying to make sense of it. Whole world’s one giant maze, one giant fucking maze. And he meant that literally. Zhi-arkk was a giant maze – a labyrinth – and Sergeant Roil’l’s team, the Lundel Labyrinth Deconstruction Project, was responsible for tearing it down. Already they had torn down many walls, allowing the Federation to be formed. Now they were engaged in opening a quick route to the nest largest faction in the Labyrinth: the J’vein Union. But the wall that was currently being drilled was providing a particular amount of problems for him.
A deep chuckle brought Roil’l out of his reverie. “Never were comfortable in the Labyrinth, were ya, Roil’l?” Commander Taun Shaa flashed a genuine smile. Shaa was never a man to take things too seriously; if there existed a way to twist or pervert a situation, he would exploit it. Despite his laid-back attitude, and upbeat demeanor, Shaa had risen to Commander fairly quickly. With no wars to be fought, Shaa had spent his days lounging around the military bases with other officers and soldiers. The soldiers were quite fond of him; the officers found him annoying. When a position in the LLDP opened up, he was placed as the “supervising officer” – a purely paper title that gave him no power.
“No, it never sat right with me, living between walls. I don’t think it sat right with anyone; ‘cept maybe the Nalms.” Roil’l walked around the table until he was opposite Shaa, and turned the map to face him. All straight lines and right angles. How he yearned for even a single curved wall.
“Now don’t you be putting’ down the Nalms, they just makin’ the best of what they got.”
Roil’l regarded him for a moment before looking back down at the map. “I still think they’re filthy wall-huggers.” The Nalms were a group living in the North-Central region of the Labyrinth that claimed to love the confinement of the walls and the security it offered. On top of that, they were pacifists, a trait that never sat to well with Roil’l. War and conflict was a part of being human, why try and deny it? But nothing he could say or do would change anything, so he let the thought slip from his mind, allowing the frustration of the LLPD creep in.
“Dammit!” Roil’l slammed his fist on the table, causing a lantern and several other cartographic instruments to rattle. “We should be through by now! Why the hell is this taking so long?” The steady chugging (like mocking laughter) of the drill only further enraged him.
Shaa laid both his palms on the table and lowered his head to be level with Roil’l’s. “Now you calm yourself, Sergeant. We’re gonna get through this wall, just like we got through all the others.” His reassurance calmed Roil’l, but he was reluctant o let go of his anger.
“Maybe…but on the other walls we were through in half the time we’ve spent on this one; and we haven’t even nicked this one!” Try as he might, his fury slipped away; it was very difficult to stay angry around Taun Shaa.
“Like I said: we’ll get through this one just the same.”
“Yeah, I suppose so – oi! What are you doin’?” Roil’l yelled and stormed off to scold his men once again. While he was gone, Commander Shaa turned the map his way once more. In seconds he found the area he had been studying before. He rotated on his heels to face an open corridor behind him, then to face Sergeant Roil’l.
“Sergeant Roil’l!” he called.
“What?” Roil’l called back in the middle of lecturing his men.
“What’s down this corridor?” he pointed with his thumb.
“What d’ya – “ he waved his men away. “What do you mean?”
“I mean: have any of your men investigated down that corridor?”
“No. There was no reason to. The assignment was – is – to breach and demolish this wall. Why?” Roil’l had returned to his place at the map table.
“Figured I do a little spelunkin’,” Shaa grinned.
“Alone? In an uncharted corridor? Sir, that’s highly inadvisable.”
“What’s with the sudden formal attitude?”
“I just feel that I must remind you, sir, that you are the senior officer at this drill site.”
“And you think I should start acting like it?” Shaa sniffed, crossing his arms.
“Well, yes…sir.”
“Uh-huh,” Taun Shaa narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying that you want me to be a strict, by-the-book commander” Is that it; ‘cause I’ll be that if you want me to.”
“N-No, sir, that’s not what – ”
“Good then. See ya later,” Shaa shouldered his rifle and sauntered off victoriously, humming a military hymn as he went, leaving Roil’l more than a little irritated.
“I suppose there are worse officers out there then Taun Shaa. At least he cares about his men; some treat us like animals, or numbers. Or bullet shields,” Roil’l reflected. He was just turning back to the Labyrinth map when a sharp cracking noise split the air. The noise was quickly followed by someone shouting, “Shut it off! Shut it off!” Galbrinth Roil’l very nearly slammed his head on the table in sheer futility before stalking over to the drill. Steam was gushing from several vents in the machine, and the drill head was cracked and breaking apart. He noted almost casually that the wall remained flawless.
“What happened?” he demanded, resisting the urge to pull out his revolver and shoot someone.
“I don’t know, sir,” one soldier declared, “It was runnin’ great, then all the sudden the drill went into overdrive and cracked! Something else in the machine snapped when the drill broke, but we aren’t sure exactly what.”
Perfect. That drill head alone was worth several million yarcs. And something else broke? It might be easier to say, “screw it” and build a whole new machine than repair this one.
“And the wall remains unmarked…” Roil’l observed quietly, not really addressing anyone.
“Yessir…”
Roil’l ran his hands through his hair. Then again. And again. General Wyrgauss will be anything but thrilled, and the Federation Council will be much less forgiving; they are basically going to have to throw away over six million yarcs worth of machinery. “Okay, This is what we’re going to – “ a sudden shrill scream echoed out from the corridor Commander Shaa had gone off to explore. “Commander Shaa! Everyone, grab your weapons and follow me!” The soldiers obeyed without question and within sixty seconds, the entire drilling team was sprinting into the corridor behind Sergeant Galbrinth Roil’l…
“Oi! Keep pushing that drill; we have to at least breach this wall by tomorrow!” Sergeant Galbrinth Roil’l called to his team operating the pneumatic drill. They were in the middle of a massive project: tearing down the wall separating the territories of the Lundel Federation and the J’vein Union. “And be careful with it, damn you! That drill bit’s worth more ‘en the lot o’ ya!”
Shaking his head, he turned back to the map laid out on the table. He tilted his head one way, then the other, trying to make sense of it. Whole world’s one giant maze, one giant fucking maze. And he meant that literally. Zhi-arkk was a giant maze – a labyrinth – and Sergeant Roil’l’s team, the Lundel Labyrinth Deconstruction Project, was responsible for tearing it down. Already they had torn down many walls, allowing the Federation to be formed. Now they were engaged in opening a quick route to the nest largest faction in the Labyrinth: the J’vein Union. But the wall that was currently being drilled was providing a particular amount of problems for him.
A deep chuckle brought Roil’l out of his reverie. “Never were comfortable in the Labyrinth, were ya, Roil’l?” Commander Taun Shaa flashed a genuine smile. Shaa was never a man to take things too seriously; if there existed a way to twist or pervert a situation, he would exploit it. Despite his laid-back attitude, and upbeat demeanor, Shaa had risen to Commander fairly quickly. With no wars to be fought, Shaa had spent his days lounging around the military bases with other officers and soldiers. The soldiers were quite fond of him; the officers found him annoying. When a position in the LLDP opened up, he was placed as the “supervising officer” – a purely paper title that gave him no power.
“No, it never sat right with me, living between walls. I don’t think it sat right with anyone; ‘cept maybe the Nalms.” Roil’l walked around the table until he was opposite Shaa, and turned the map to face him. All straight lines and right angles. How he yearned for even a single curved wall.
“Now don’t you be putting’ down the Nalms, they just makin’ the best of what they got.”
Roil’l regarded him for a moment before looking back down at the map. “I still think they’re filthy wall-huggers.” The Nalms were a group living in the North-Central region of the Labyrinth that claimed to love the confinement of the walls and the security it offered. On top of that, they were pacifists, a trait that never sat to well with Roil’l. War and conflict was a part of being human, why try and deny it? But nothing he could say or do would change anything, so he let the thought slip from his mind, allowing the frustration of the LLPD creep in.
“Dammit!” Roil’l slammed his fist on the table, causing a lantern and several other cartographic instruments to rattle. “We should be through by now! Why the hell is this taking so long?” The steady chugging (like mocking laughter) of the drill only further enraged him.
Shaa laid both his palms on the table and lowered his head to be level with Roil’l’s. “Now you calm yourself, Sergeant. We’re gonna get through this wall, just like we got through all the others.” His reassurance calmed Roil’l, but he was reluctant o let go of his anger.
“Maybe…but on the other walls we were through in half the time we’ve spent on this one; and we haven’t even nicked this one!” Try as he might, his fury slipped away; it was very difficult to stay angry around Taun Shaa.
“Like I said: we’ll get through this one just the same.”
“Yeah, I suppose so – oi! What are you doin’?” Roil’l yelled and stormed off to scold his men once again. While he was gone, Commander Shaa turned the map his way once more. In seconds he found the area he had been studying before. He rotated on his heels to face an open corridor behind him, then to face Sergeant Roil’l.
“Sergeant Roil’l!” he called.
“What?” Roil’l called back in the middle of lecturing his men.
“What’s down this corridor?” he pointed with his thumb.
“What d’ya – “ he waved his men away. “What do you mean?”
“I mean: have any of your men investigated down that corridor?”
“No. There was no reason to. The assignment was – is – to breach and demolish this wall. Why?” Roil’l had returned to his place at the map table.
“Figured I do a little spelunkin’,” Shaa grinned.
“Alone? In an uncharted corridor? Sir, that’s highly inadvisable.”
“What’s with the sudden formal attitude?”
“I just feel that I must remind you, sir, that you are the senior officer at this drill site.”
“And you think I should start acting like it?” Shaa sniffed, crossing his arms.
“Well, yes…sir.”
“Uh-huh,” Taun Shaa narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying that you want me to be a strict, by-the-book commander” Is that it; ‘cause I’ll be that if you want me to.”
“N-No, sir, that’s not what – ”
“Good then. See ya later,” Shaa shouldered his rifle and sauntered off victoriously, humming a military hymn as he went, leaving Roil’l more than a little irritated.
“I suppose there are worse officers out there then Taun Shaa. At least he cares about his men; some treat us like animals, or numbers. Or bullet shields,” Roil’l reflected. He was just turning back to the Labyrinth map when a sharp cracking noise split the air. The noise was quickly followed by someone shouting, “Shut it off! Shut it off!” Galbrinth Roil’l very nearly slammed his head on the table in sheer futility before stalking over to the drill. Steam was gushing from several vents in the machine, and the drill head was cracked and breaking apart. He noted almost casually that the wall remained flawless.
“What happened?” he demanded, resisting the urge to pull out his revolver and shoot someone.
“I don’t know, sir,” one soldier declared, “It was runnin’ great, then all the sudden the drill went into overdrive and cracked! Something else in the machine snapped when the drill broke, but we aren’t sure exactly what.”
Perfect. That drill head alone was worth several million yarcs. And something else broke? It might be easier to say, “screw it” and build a whole new machine than repair this one.
“And the wall remains unmarked…” Roil’l observed quietly, not really addressing anyone.
“Yessir…”
Roil’l ran his hands through his hair. Then again. And again. General Wyrgauss will be anything but thrilled, and the Federation Council will be much less forgiving; they are basically going to have to throw away over six million yarcs worth of machinery. “Okay, This is what we’re going to – “ a sudden shrill scream echoed out from the corridor Commander Shaa had gone off to explore. “Commander Shaa! Everyone, grab your weapons and follow me!” The soldiers obeyed without question and within sixty seconds, the entire drilling team was sprinting into the corridor behind Sergeant Galbrinth Roil’l…