The Jolly Contrarian

Where Legal Eagles Dare: An Opco Boone Adventure: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Where Legal Eagles Dare: An Opco Boone Adventure (view source)

Revision as of 16:30, 16 December 2021

35 bytes added ,  16 December 2021
no edit summary
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 107: Line 107:
The convoy kicked up a desert plume.  
The convoy kicked up a desert plume.  


The hounds of hell descended on the fortified town all legal eagles called the Settlement.
The hounds of hell descended on the fortified town all [[legal eagle]]<nowiki/>s called “the Settlement”.


{{divider}}
{{divider}}


The Eagle Squad leader stood high on the mountain promontory, seven klicks west and 4,000 metres up, Boone shook his head in disbelief at the rising plume on the desert floor. These guys were so ''brazen''. He didn’t need his telegraphic scope to watch: These morons were clear as day. Their MIS signature lit up half the goddamn sky. ''Well, it makes targeting a cinch.''
The Eagle Squad leader stood high on the mountain promontory, seven klicks west and 4,000 metres up. Boone shook his head in disbelief at the rising plume on the desert floor. These guys were so ''brazen''. He didn’t need his telegraphic scope to watch: These morons were clear as day. Their MIS signature lit up half the goddamn sky. ''Well, it makes targeting a cinch.''


Boone barked into his wrist-com. “All right, [[Genevieve “Chip” Fryer|Chip]], I’m going in.”
Boone barked into his wrist-com. “All right, [[Genevieve “Chip” Fryer|Chip]], I’m going in.”
Line 123: Line 123:
“''Jesus'', Boone. When will you learn? This storm is coming, whether we like it or not. It’s ''coming''. We just have to deal with it. We can get through this. But we have to be ''aligned''.”
“''Jesus'', Boone. When will you learn? This storm is coming, whether we like it or not. It’s ''coming''. We just have to deal with it. We can get through this. But we have to be ''aligned''.”


Boone looked up from the wrist-com. He regarded the great expanse beneath him, yawning away to the horizon. He survveyed the Settlement. For a moment, he smiled at the brilliantine recollections of his life in that wonderful place. He drank in the beauty. These were his kin. His people. His ''life''. His ''home''.  These were ''his'' tranquil traditions. The ancient solemnity. The august institutions. The whole gamut of ''[[precedent]]''. Imponderable. ''Indispensable''. All of it was ''his''. And they were surrendering. They were lying down and taking it. As these death machines advanced, he saw their collective futures dangling above the abyss, hanging by a single [[golden thread]]. He knew it: ''he was that golden thread''.  
Boone looked up from the wrist-com. He regarded the great expanse beneath him, yawning away to the horizon. He surveyed the Settlement. For a moment, he smiled at the brilliantine recollections of his life in that wonderful place. He drank in the beauty. These were his kin. His people. His ''life''. His ''home''.  These were ''his'' tranquil traditions. The ancient solemnity. The august institutions. The whole gamut of ''[[precedent]]''. Imponderable. ''Indispensable''. All of it was ''his''. And they were surrendering. They were lying down and taking it. As these death machines advanced, he saw their collective futures dangling above the abyss, hanging by a single [[golden thread]]. He knew it: ''he was that golden thread''.  


“There is too much at stake, Chip”.   
“There is too much at stake, Chip”.   
Line 172: Line 172:
“GODDAMN IT B—”
“GODDAMN IT B—”


Boone stood on the cliff edge. As he snapped it down, the sun caught his visor for an instant and flashed a beam down into the valley. If Operating Officer Kurzweil caught the sparkle through his windscreen, ten klicks away, it didn't register in the progress of that train of destruction.  
Boone stood on the cliff edge. As he snapped it down, the sun caught his visor for an instant and flashed a beam down into the valley. If Operating Officer Kurzweil caught the sparkle through his windscreen, ten klicks away, it didn’t register in the progress of that train of destruction.  
   
   
The time had come. Boone inched to the cliff-edge. A brisk thermal whistled up the couloir. He flipped off the safety catch on his wingsuit, caught the buffet, and ''dived''.{{divider}}
The time had come. Boone inched to the cliff-edge. A brisk thermal whistled up the couloir. He flipped off the safety catch on his wingsuit, caught the buffet, and ''dived''.{{divider}}
Kurzweil switched the rig to auto and started to tool up. The rig steered itself.  
Kurzweil switched the rig to auto and started to tool up. The rig steered itself.  


Kurzweil took a moment to take in the grandeur of the desert. The windscreen gave a rich panorama. The mountains swept up to a vertical, levelling off to a table four thousand metres above the valley floor. They rose like — like — well, like ''[[Africa|Olympus, above the Serengeti]]''.  
The Senior Operations Officer took a moment to drink in the desert grandeur. The windscreen gave a rich panorama. The mountains swept up to a vertical, levelling off to a table four thousand metres above the valley floor. They rose like — like — well, like ''[[Africa|Olympus, above the Serengeti]]''.  


High up on the ''gipfel'' the setting sun picked out a halo of eagles circling the summit. Suddenly, one wing-morphed and dropped. Kurzweil double-took: that is one ''absolute unit'' of a hunting bird — must be a monstrous condor of some kind. At this remove, the majestic predator seemed to drift so serenely down from the crest, but Kurzweil knew it was dropping like a bullet towards some hapless creature on the valley floor.  
High up on the ''gipfel'' the setting sun picked out a halo of eagles circling the summit. Suddenly, one wing-morphed and dropped. Kurzweil double-took: that is one ''absolute unit'' of a hunting bird — must be a monstrous condor of some kind. At this remove, the majestic predator seemed to drift so serenely down from the crest, but Kurzweil knew it was dropping like a bullet towards some hapless creature on the valley floor.  
Retrieved from "https://jollycontrarian.com/index.php?title=Special:MobileDiff/60934"