Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

Ah. . . . Then I'll quickly finish this book and get on to the next one, then. But after work.

Oh, right . . . the next one is the pap-- oh, right, Saffa doesn't want spoilers.

[redtailedsaffa]

LOL, I have the list, don't worry about that one.

[Cloak]

Heh.

Well -- pay attention to the next book, because something big'll happen towards the end. Like Chapter 19 of the next book.

[redtailedsaffa]

Now THAT is a spoiler.

[Cloak]

Eh, not really. You'll see when we get there.

Now a chapter -- maybe two if I've the energy.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Switch and Squish

"Sir?" said the Fmek pilot through his boy exosuit's mouth. "Sir, what's our next move?"

"We must leave nothing to chance," he said. Then he went over to the boy, an exosuit that was unrecognizable without its glasses and with its hair in a different style, and pushed the ear lobe. With a hiss, the face opened to reveal a perplexed Fmek. Then the commander opened his exosuit, and he got up. "Hold out its hand."

The Fmek did as he was told, and the Fmek commander stood upon it, leaving his abandoned exosuit inert.

"Move over," the Fmek commander ordered, and he took over piloting over the exosuit, signified by the slight tremor that raced the length of the exosuit. "Get on the hand."

The Fmek followed these directions and the Fmek commander practically shoved his subordinate into the ****pit.

"Uh, sir, if I may be so bold," said the Fmek subordinate, leaving the face plate open, as the commander used the exosuit's hand to close the face plate, completing the disguise as a human boy with a blond buzz cut. "But why did we switch exosuits?"

"Because I will not allow you to foul this up again." he said, speaking with a child's voice. "I'll go myself."

The subordinate did not argue, did not protest. He just shut his new exosuit's face plate.

"Stay in the shadows," he commanded, looking rather paradoxical, these adults taking crap from a snot-nosed brat. "Do not be seen. The cloaked alien should have gone for the Arquillians, thinking we would ambush them at the makeshift base."

"Sir, wh-what if he didn't?" Girl Scout asked timidly.

"Don't question me," he snarled.

***

Squish! Squish! Squish!

"Ah! God d-- where'd all these bloody Helmacrons come from?!" Gaz demanded, having stepped on three with enough direct pressure to squish them. It was like seeing army ants move along upon the ground.

"Dunno," Aquilai said, sending the Helmacrons back with a powerful gust of wind.

Goom was stomping them in his armored form, "This is a lot of Helmacrons."

"A whole armada," Poparena commented, accidentally tripping and crushing several with his backside.

It wasn't long before the seige relented. Many Helmacrons were dead, and all were killed accidentally. Altjough none were truly "dead".

[DinosaurNothlit]

*posts from hiding place underneath numerical-safety-blanket*

Also, I keep wondering what AmberKatira must be thinking about all this.  Isn't she a Helmacron?

Isn't she also a lurker?

Uh, I'd explain it away as the Mark interrupts the postmortem mental fluidity of Helmacrons, making them saner?

The explanation for her sanity makes perfect sense.  I interpret most of their crazy to be due to a total lack of the fear of death, anyhow, so with that removed, I would see no reason for one of them to be less crazy than . . . waaaaait, wait, wait, are we really saying, here, that being a RAFian can make you LESS insane?  *headsplosion*

*scrubs brain residue out of numerical-safety-blanket*  But, anyway, I think you had actually pointed that detail out before.  So, no, that wasn't what I was talking about.  I was merely wondering about Amber's general opinion on the matter.  Whether she would be like, "Oh, good lord, is this my species?  This must be how humans feel when they see the Westboro Baptist Church," or whether she'd think more along the lines of "Hey, they're Helmacrons, I'm a Helmacron, maybe I can talk some sense into- oh wait, they're Helmacrons."

Just sort of a random stray thought I had.  *shrugs*  But I see no reason you would need to include it in your story.  Mostly I'm just thinking out loud.

[Cloak]

And the real fact of the matter is that I haven't any real interaction with her, nor have I really read any of her posts, so I'd feel uncomfortable including her.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Pity for the Deranged

"They're gone," Underseen said, relieved. Then he saw just how many Helmacrons "died", it almost seemed like a pyrrhic victory.

"I know when a Helmacron dies," Gaz said, "they're just, uh, 'absorbed' by the species as a whole, but still . . ."

"I never expect a swarm of them to come, or to even exist. But, then again, no one really knows what planet they originated on . . ."

Yarin was massaging his head, all six of his eyes shut. It looked as if he was suffering a massive migrane.

"Yarin, what's wrong?" Kelly said immediately. She crossed over to the suffering Nyac.

"Never . . . never trying that . . . a-again." he muttered.

"Never trying what again?" Poparena said at once.

But Aquilai figured it out. He facepalmed. "Yarin -- you didn't."

"Didn't what?" Underseen interjected.

"Read the Helmacron's minds! Or try to anyway." Aquilai cried, exasperated. "Yarin, you knew of their mental fluidity."

"I thought I could find a way . . . a way to dissuade them. Or a kill switch." Yarin said, but his tone was evasive.

He wasn't fooling anyone. He wanted to prove that he was more than capable of taking care of himself. Kelly stepped up and healed this migraine in a thrice.

***

"Sir," said the surfer, having ditched the surfboard at the base, "it appears the fortress has been overrun with vermin."

"Excellent," he said, with his child's voice, "this could fit very well with my plan."

"Uh, sir?" said the mailman's pilot. "The vermin are withdrawing. Many seem to be dead."

"Futile gesture, on their part," he said. "But they'll come again."

"Forgive me, commander," Girl Scout said, hesitantly, "but what if they don't."

"Don't dare question me again." he threatened.

[Cloak]

How's about another chapter?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
A Deceptive Con

"And here they come again," Goom said.

"Gotta admire their persistence." Aquilai sighed, assuming an airbending stance.

"No, you don't." Poparena said, drily.

"Pity that you cannot reason with a Helmacron," Kelly said.

"Especially because all the deaths have made their minds destabilized all the more." Underseen pointed out.

"That too," Kelly amended.

"Don't try to attack them psychically, Yarin," Goom said reproachfully. Yarin glared at the Goomba, who had his back to him.

None of them felt the rumbling from below. The rage of the caged beast with, yearning to get out again.

***

Meanwhile, the Fmek commander, after being informed of the Helmacron swarm recommencing their attack, was going to deliberately place himself in harm's way, but with his forces placed strategically around.

"Do not come out until I give my command," he said, assuring himself that the faceplact was closed and the seam hidden. He also applied what appeared to be a small earring -- in reality, it was to prevent the exosuit from being open on the outside. But it didn't look gaudy or even noticeable.

Everything of this deception had to be perfect, and nothing could be left to chance.

He seemed to be overrun with Helmacrons, who seemed to haven't any interest in him, though he deliberately kept his head -- the ****pit -- well out of reach. But that didn't stop him from screaming, terrified, in his child's voice, for help.

This was all an act, however. Although it did garner the attention of the guard.

"Help me! Please!"

Somehow, the way it was said put off Poparena, though he wasn't sure why. It just seemed a little to overacted, in a way.

Kelly moved toward the faux boy, following her instincts to heal, but Yarin stopped her.

"Don't waste your time."

"He needs help! Can't you --"

"Read his thoughts?" Yarin finished. "Yes, and that's not a real boy."

Yarin gazed intently at him, saying, "It is nothing more than an exosuit."

[Underseen]

Nothing beats drinking a cup of tea and reading new chapters.

[redtailedsaffa]

Took a bit of a dark turn, too. But then, I like the dark turns, I'm not complaining...

[Cloak]

Uh, there seems to be a slight misunderstanding -- which I hope to rectify with this chapter. (At this rate this book will be done by this weekend's end.)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Keep Away

"Wha . . ." Underseen said, then his expression hardened. "Of course. We should have realized they would try deception."

"Help!" the commander cried, still feigning fear.

"And, look, the Helmacrons are starting to thin." Poparena said.

"Help!" the Fmek commander said, still overacting.

"Oh, stop!" Gaz snarled. "You're not fooling anyone . . . ahem, any more."

"Yarin, get back." Goom warned. "It's you they're after."

"I can fight!"

"If you fought, it would render everything we've done thus far moot." Goom said.

"Not to mention that they might get their exosuit's hands on you," Aquilai said, clearly considering Fmeks a bigger threat than the Helmacrons. "And who knows what they'd do to when they couldn't pull the intel they want from you."

This seemed to silence any further objection from the Nyac. Meanwhile, the commander was still trying to keep up the pretense.

"Help me! Why aren't you helping me?!"

It was now that he realized that it was glaringly obvious that he had been found out, his cover blown.

"Oh, fine." he said, standing up, causing the Helmacrons to tumble off him like crumbs or grains of sand. He commanded in ringing tones, "Assemble and atrack!"

"I would guess that you would be the big boss one?" said Gaz lazily, with a heavy-lidded look.

"Assemble and attack!" he roared again, stamping his exosuit's foot and killing two Helmacrons doing so.

"Sorry, sir!" cried Girl Scout as all seven tumbled into sight.

"No excuses, lackwits!"

"You know, this is kind of cute -- in a cruel and twisted way." Kelly said, reffering to what appeared to be a child disrespectfully barrading adults. But, as with most things, there was more to this than there appeared to be.

This time the rumble wasn't to be missed. The beast was free and looking for seal meat.

"Oh, this is so not the time for this," Poparena said.

"It's out," Yarin said.

"Fools! Your lies do not trick or frighten me!" shouted the commander, yet he continued to have his face plate locked and seamless.

"They're not lies." Goom said, drawing the Damocles Blade. "Turn around if you don't believe me."

Behind them, the Pootang loomed feasting on Helmacrons -- to which it considered akin to M&Ms or Skittles.

[redtailedsaffa]

I wonder how the Pootang likes his Helmacrons? Ketchup, mayonnaise or barbecue sauce?

[Cloak]

Scrambled, and a little bit runny.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
The Cavalry Cometh

The Pootang charged the boy exosuit, but he managed to easily subdue the beast into a headlock. The RAFians were in shock. They hadn't battled these things directly.

"Yes, fools. These disguises may be horrendously hideous, but they are strong enough to bend piping, to lift one of your primitive land transports." the Fmek commander crowed as the Pootang whimpered. The beast may have acted fierce but it wasn't that much of a savage. Its impulses were just . . . just unrestrained and uninhibited. It was brutal and could be unyielding, but the same could be said of some RAFians.

But the Fmek commander wasn't finished gloating. "So, you see, these exosuits have other uses other than blending in your pathetic society! Now you will feel our wrath."

The boy exosuit's face stop speaking and stayed frozen so the last four words were spoken by the Fmek, and not through the exosuit. It seemed as if the exosuit, and its fellows, were seizing up.

"Pity, they don't seem to prevent you from gloating and monologuing," said a voice.

Pootang withdrew whimpering. It was quickly retreated to the safety of its cage.

Footsteps echoed ominously, until the RAFians realized the voice was familiar -- it was Cloak. He was mechbending the exosuits, while the others were carrying the rightful owners of the exosuits, eight Arquillians.

HISS!! HISS!! HISS!! HISS!! HISS!! HISS!! HISS!! HISS!!

"Uh uh uh!" Cloak said, and the face plates did not swing open. "Not this time, you deminuative demons!"

"They're not damaged at all " said a Arquillian quietly. She looked to Yarin's guard. "You showed a lot of restraint."

The RAFians felt a bit churlish and modest at this mild compliment.

"Guys, compliments later. Action now." Cloak said, reproachfully. "You know how much I hate mechbending."

"Which first?" Horse asked.

"Like it matters," Cloak grumbled.

"The blond boy there has the commander." Goom said.

"Eeeeew." said a child Arquillian, presumably the rightful pilot.

"Sounds like a suitable starting place," Parker said.

[Cloak]

Two chapters from the end now -- although you probably could already tell. It's already starting to wind down.

Now the penultimate chapter of this book.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Captured and Grilled

So, it was one-by-one the Fmeks were removed from the exosuits -- forcibly -- and they were returned to their rightful owners. The Girl Scout was the last one.

"Whoo!" said the boy, who had his face plate opened, waving the exosuit's hand in front of it. "It really smells in here. It really needs to air out."

"Sorry, we don't have any air freshners that . . . that wouldn't crowd you in there." Kelly said, sweetly and gently. "But, still, if you want maintain the pretense, the illusion, you're gonna have to shut your face plate."

"I know that!" he said, with a jovial smile. Then he began to fan it out, by waving the face plate on its hinging, much like someone would attempting to air out a car with the door. Neither was very effective.

The Helmacrons were gone. The Pootang either scared them away, or ate them. The Pootang iitself was locked back in its cage where it still cowered and whimpered.

But there was one more business to attend to before they were done.

"I will never talk!!" the Fmek commander snarled.

They decided to forgo questioning the subordinates, as they didn't appear to be very smart anyway. The commander wasn't much smarter, especially when one considers how he was strapped to a doll's chair.

"I just asked if you were comfortable, Fmek." Parker said smoothly.

"You know I'm not!"

"Then I would wager that you spill what you know," Parker said calmly. "And then you can run along home."

"What do you take me for?! I'm not a Helmacron!" he said, spitting the last word.

"No," Parker said, not disquieted or perturbed at all. "No, it's obvious you aren't. But if you don't talk of you own volation, we might be forced to use more . . . intimate," he laid a delicate stress on the word, "ways to extract the information. We don't really want to go that far. But we must know."

Parker lowered his face so that it was a vast billboard in the Fmek's eyeline.

"Tell us, how'd you know of the microwave?"

"FOOD YIELD INCREASER!!" cried a voice in the back.

Parker stood back,and said, "Answer the question."

The Fmek resolutely refused.

"Answer the question, or the Nyac over there will invade your mind telepathically and take the info."

"You lie!"

"How d'you think we got wise to your deception?" Parker said. "It wasn't your lackluster, ham acting. You might as well been directed by M. Night Shama-dingdong."

The Fmek did not understand the reference, but understood the main import of the message.

[redtailedsaffa]

This could be a meme. Top frame: screencap of a movie/TV dialogue with microwave in it. Bottom frame: "FOOD YIELD INCREASER!!"