electrobrain's Stories

Asteroids (pt 3) - 1980s video game challenge

2008-03-17T07:08:19Z

There was no hesitation; as soon as the armament light showed ready, Chan rotated the ship slightly and let loose with forward weapons aimed at the dead center of the oncoming asteroid. A low-pitched crunch that was audible even within the enclosed environment of the ship barely preceded the sound of a million particulates hitting the forward section of the hull like hailstones. The dust slipped out of his vision and into cold infinity he watched two smaller chucks of rock pass to both starboard and port.

Another mass careened his direction from high to starboard, so he fired thrusters to point his forward weapons directly at it, then again let loose with a another barrage. The effect was even more pronounced as the asteroid broke into at least four parts, all tumbling different directions.

Settling into a destructive groove, he found and fired on several other asteroids, missing none, creating brief clouds of dust from which improbably large chunks flew free.

New asteroids continued to appear.

Asteroids (pt 2) - 1980s video game challenge

2008-03-16T00:53:05Z

“Oh, shit! Shit shit shit!”

The stream of expletives was not unwarranted. Not only were there more asteroids in his field of vision than he could count, but they were moving. What force made giant space rocks move in zero-g, much less in all different directions, Chan wondered. And where is the rest of my squad?

The adrenaline in his system overtook the alcohol and he snapped into action, banishing all thoughts of physics and friends. Pilot instincts honed by countless battles took over. In three seconds, he was harnessed, the weapons system was coming online, and the tactical display was engaged.

Chan let out a low whistle as the display lit up. It told the same tale as his eyes; his ship, represented (overly crudely, he had always thought) by a triangular shape in the center, was surrounded by jagged shapes more than twice his ship’s size. And one was headed directly towards him.

“Damn, ” he muttered. Still no guns.

A chime sounded. A red light turned green. Weapons were armed.

Asteroids (pt 1) - 1980s video game challenge

2008-03-15T20:18:12Z

Beep. Beep.

Raymond Chan, decorated Armada veteran and the Savior of Sector Seven, awoke in a half-drunken stupor. Without opening his eyes, he slammed his hand down on the button which would disable the alarm on the mass spectrometer.

Beep. Beep.

The alarm continued to sound.

“Ok, ok, I’m awake, “ he slurred to the empty cockpit.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, slowly becoming aware of the throbbing pain centered in his head, as if someone had driven a rod in one temple and out the other. The alarm sent fresh waves of agony through his skull at each sounding. Chan hit the override button three more times, hard, but the high-pitched noise persisted.

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and began to massage his temples. When he opened his eyes, a rock twice the size of his ship was floating by nearly close enough to touch.

“Oh, shit, “ exclaimed Chan, awaking enough to realize that he was alone in the middle of the biggest asteroid field he’d ever seen.

Beep. Beep.

Door Blown Open

2008-03-14T23:15:55Z

They had spent two weeks in a tidy cabin just off the beach where the ocean’s roar was only a slowly pulsing rasp. By night, the air was cool and crisp, the antithesis of the taxing brightness of day.

It must have been four or five days into the trip, the only one Dustin could remember taking with both his parents at once. Moats and ramparts took shape under his hands while a lime green blanket draped over four wooden poles defended him against the blazing sun.

A team of Finders had come home only days before he left for the coast. Among the bounty were several mostly intact books, the most Dustin had ever seen come in at once. One of these was filled only with pictures of giant buildings from Before. The ancient brick structures filled him with an awe that echoed as he recreated them from his mind’s eye.

A gull, one of few birds that had begun to return to this region after The Fall, screeched and wheeled towards the water where his parents stood arm in arm, staring out across the sea.