Timothy Nugent Author
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Chapter 90 - Powers Revealed
🕑 Added 2024-12-13 01:06:32 +0000 UTCI’ve got to get them out of here.
Blake was all but invulnerable to the cops. However, his family and faction members within the town were not. Before the SWAT team could descend on their ropes, Blake leapt into the air. As he rose, he cast Gale toward the ground and propelled himself even higher. He ignored the sudden message from Montgomery, and instructed the interface to suppress all notifications for the next five minutes. Finally, when he was only fifteen feet from the helicopter, he used a Guided Spatial Step.
Blake landed on the nose of the helicopter with his knife now in hand and stabbed through the windshield to stabilize his position. Within the crowded cockpit, the pilot jerked the joystick back in surprise, and the craft darted into the sky. Out of the corner of his eye, Blake saw a black shape fall toward the ground.
Shit!
Blake immediately released his handhold and threw himself off the front of the helicopter. The sharp movement had unbalanced one of the SWAT team members. The policeman flailed his arms below Blake, as he plummeted seventy-five feet to the ground.
Stupid cooldowns!
His Hastened Gale was still in cooldown, and only a single charge of his teleport spell remained. Blake could not use that charge to reach the SWAT member, as he needed it to arrest their velocity, or this fiasco was for nothing.
Why the hell am I saving him?
Blake ignored the internal complaint and made his body more aerodynamic. Once he did so, he quickly began to narrow the gap between them. As Blake grew closer, the man’s screams echoed in his ears. Unfortunately, they only fell from a height of seventy-five feet, and the ground was rushing up at them.
Almost there!
Just before the police officer impacted with the unyielding dirt, Blake wrapped his arms around his chest. He activated his last Charged Guided Spatial Step. The teleport carried them only a foot in total distance, but the end result was significant. All of their momentum had been stripped away, and they now stood in the middle of the field.
The bewildered SWAT team member continued to scream until he fell limp in his arms. Blake observed the officer, to ensure he was unharmed. He then used his right arm to grab the M4 rifle tethered to his chest, and ripped it away.
That got his attention.
Blake released him and the man fell forward to the ground. With wide eyes, he turned and scrambled away until he was at least ten feet from Blake. He raised his hands and begged, “Don’t shoot!”
Blake rolled his eyes. “Why would I save you if I was just going to shoot you?”
The man’s brows furrowed in confusion. He glanced to the helicopter, which descended once again, and then down to the ground. The officer shook his head, but kept his hands in the air and his eyes locked on Blake.
“What? No, thank you?” Blake said sarcastically.
Ropes were thrown out of the door of the helicopter, and men began to fast-walk down.
Seriously?! I just teleported on top of your helicopter, and the mission is still on? What’s wrong with you people!
That was when his Alacrity finally faded. It would be a full minute before he could reuse it, and by then, everything would be over.
He hurled the M4 away, pointed his finger at his ‘prisoner’, and ordered, “Stay!”
Blake turned immediately to address the new threat. He sprinted toward the three descending SWAT members, thirty feet away. The first two landed and immediately cradled their submachine guns as they searched for a threat.
Just as they spotted him, Blake ran past and clothes-lined them with his arms extended. They fired into the air as they were propelled backward. Before they even hit the ground, Blake turned and snatched the last man by his throat.
Blake deftly ripped the man’s gun away and tossed it into the field. While the SWAT member struggled in futility, Blake glanced over his shoulder at the two men he had thrown. They had rolled another twenty feet and were clearly dazed. When Blake returned to the man in his grip, he noticed zip strips attached to his vest.
They’ll be less likely to attack if I take hostages.
He collected a handful, forced the man’s arms behind his back, and quickly zipped them together. That was when he noticed a pistol in the pit of the officer’s back. He tossed the weapon, patted the confused man’s helmet with a smile, trotted over to his companions, and repeated the action. When the three were bound, he searched for the officer he saved and swore when he found the man searching frantically for his discarded rifle.
With a sigh, Blake took off at a run, and quickly overtook him. “Looking for something?” he asked innocently.
The officer whirled around, his eyes wide, and brandished a pistol. Blake slapped it away, and winced when the man screamed.
I need to be gentler.
With exaggerated care, he grasped the SWAT member’s probably broken wrist, forced it behind his back, and zipped it together with his other arm. Blake then marched the man toward his fellow team members.
Above them, the helicopter continued to hover as the pilots watched in horror at what took place below. Blake imagined their terror as they watched their highly trained tactical team disarmed and captured with ease.
Blake could faintly hear one of the captured men use code phrases as he yelled into the microphone of his headset. He was not sure what his prisoner conveyed, but wanted that helicopter gone.
It was extremely loud and annoying.
He leaned over, carefully pinched the wireless headset between his fingers, and then placed it on his own head. The roar of the helicopter’s rotors was immediately dampened, and he heard the calm, controlled voice of command in his ears.
Noise-cancelling, that’s cool.
His Adjustable Dampen Sound spell was far superior, but had the opposite effect. It kept noises in rather than out. He could always evolve the ability in the future so it could be inverted, but did not really see the need.
“... I repeat, are you ten thirty-three?” the controlled voice asked.
“Hello, this is Blake.” He was sure the recipient could hear his smile.
The voice went silent for a full four seconds before it finally stated, “This is Commander Niles of Phoenix Special Weapons and Tactics. Blake Summers, what are your demands?”
Blake glanced over to the four furious men on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs. “First, I want that helicopter gone. It’s loud, and it's kind of pointless anyway.”
Commander Niles hesitated. “I’m sorry, but we need that helicopter for visual oversight of the situation.”
Blake glanced up and tried to find a camera, but failed. “So, you have a camera on it that’s transmitting to what, Phoenix?”
“Correct.”
“Well, I’m about to drag my new hostages over to our jail, so you’re going to lose visual anyway. But, if you send the helicopter away, I’ll let these guys keep their headsets. Sound good?”
There was another short delay before Commander Niles responded. “If they remain in contact, that is acceptable.”
A moment later, the helicopter retreated, but was quickly replaced by an unarmed drone.
Whatever.
Once Blake could hear himself think again, he turned to his captives and grinned. “Stand up. You guys are going to come with me.”
The four men struggled to their feet, but refused to follow. Instead, they glared at him.
“We have complied with your wishes,” Commander Niles spoke through his headset. “As a show of good faith, would you release one of the hostages?”
“No,” Blake answered simply.
In a pained voice, Commander Niles said, “Mister Summers, this is a give and take relationship. If you are unwilling to cooperate, we have no motivation to grant any of your demands.”
“Well, my only demand is that you don’t send anyone else inside these walls.”
Niles hesitated. “You don’t wish to escape your fortification?”
“Nope, I’m good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to move the hostages. For their own good, you probably want to tell them to cooperate. Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”
Blake lifted the headset off his ears and placed it back on its original owner. He watched as the man narrowed his eyes and then said, “Yes, sir.” To Blake, he said, “I’m to follow you to the holding cell.”
“Excellent. Now I don’t have to carry you all.” Blake gestured with his hand and said, “This way.”
They marched across the field toward the large faction hall building. Down the graveled street, he saw his father peak from the doorway of the cookhouse. When Peter looked as if he wanted to join his son, he shook his head.
Lord Blake, Scion of Humanity: Dad, please go back inside. Actually, can you make sure everyone else stays inside as well? I’d rather these guys not recognize any of you.
After his father read the message, he nodded and ducked inside. While they walked down the empty street, Blake contacted his mother to ensure the bottom floor of the faction hall as well as the basement remained empty. He then had to reassure her that he was fine, and the situation was under control.
A minute later, they stood before the three story, marble faction hall and Blake had them open the large, double doors. The captives shuffled inside, trailed through the lobby and into the rooms beyond, until they finally reached the entrance to the basement.
Blake opened the door for them, as they did not have access, and then gestured for them to descend the steps. They hesitated and blinked in the scant light, but in the end, complied.
Of the twelve jail cells in the narrow basement, all were full of canned or dry goods, except Jerome’s cell. He strode up to the bored man and said, “It’s your lucky day, Jerome. You’re free.”
The native’s eyes darted to the zip tied SWAT team and his eyebrows rose. “It’s Invasion day already?”
Blake shook his head. “Nope. Not for another two weeks. But, as you can see, the police already know about us. No reason to keep you here anymore.”
The former prisoner seemed unwilling to test his luck and remained cooperative. He calmly exited the cell and waited by Blake’s side while the four new prisoners entered the eight by ten foot room. After the door was closed, Blake looked his hostages in the eye. “Okay, you guys might as well get comfy. You’re going to be in this cell for a while. After I escort Jerome here off our property, I’ll be back to talk to your Commander, got it?”
The team leader narrowed his eyes and looked like he wanted to argue. However, he held his tongue and replied, “Affirmative.”
Blake nodded to himself and strode away. “Let’s go, Jerome,” he called over his shoulder. Confident the native would follow, he marched up the stairs to the floor level, and escorted him out of the building.
On his way outside, he grabbed one of the onboarding pamphlets. What had started off as a two-page document was now almost fifty pages thick, and included an extensive guide on how to survive the apocalypse.
Once they exited, Jerome followed behind him silently as they navigated the gravel roads. However, when Blake began to ascend the battlement stairs, the native halted and said in a confused voice, “Uh, aren’t we going to use the gate?”
“Nope, I want a flashy entrance for the sheriff,” Blake explained.
At the top of the battlement, he looked out the crenelation. He noted that their audience had increased in size. At least twenty vehicles lined the rural road. Most belonged to the Navajo county sheriff’s office, but it looked as if the Show Low police force had joined them as well.
The crowd of mixed law enforcement officers huddled behind their cars while the sheriff argued with someone on his cell phone. His face was red as he shouted replies into the tiny phone’s microphone. Beside him were two extendable ladders discarded on the ground.
Looks like someone didn’t get permission to climb the wall.
Blake smirked in satisfaction before he turned to Jerome. “Okay, time to let you go.”
Jerome looked confused and then frightened when Blake hugged him from behind. With the native in his grip, he leapt atop the merlons. Jerome stared at the ground, twenty-six feet beneath them, and cried, “Please! Don’t throw me off the wall! I promise I won’t tell them anything!”
Blake snorted. “I’m not going to throw you, and you can tell them whatever you want. Actually, I insist on it. Here, hold on to this,” he forced the booklet into Jerome’s hands. “Make sure to hand it over. Just not to the sheriff. Give it to one of the Show Low policemen. If the sheriff tries to take it, tell him he can blow me.”
By the time he finished his instruction, the police were fully aware of his presence and watched with bated breath. When he leapt off the wall with Jerome in his arms, he heard a few gasps of surprise.
Before they were even half-way down, Blake teleported to place them on the ground, without their previous momentum. Then, to their shocked gazes and open mouths, he waved, turned, and jumped. When he was almost ten feet into the air, he used the second charge of his teleport and appeared atop a merlon, twenty-six feet above.
Blake glanced down at his captivated audience and was not surprised when he saw them frozen in shock. Even the sheriff had stopped screaming into his phone. Instead, the overweight man’s jaw hung low and his eyes were wide.
With a smile of satisfaction, he announced in a loud voice, “I wouldn’t try to come inside if I were you guys.”
After the short proclamation, he turned and stepped off the battlement, inside the walls. He quickly headed for the fields and began to collect their discarded rifles.
Jordan Weeks: Uh, Blake, I think we have a problem.
Damnit! What else can go wrong?
Lord Blake, Scion of Humanity: Is it an emergency?
Jordan Weeks: I’d say so.
Lord Blake, Scion of Humanity: Okay. Where are you at? I’ll talk in person.
Jordan Weeks: Probably a good idea. I’m at the shield generator.
Lord Blake, Scion of Humanity: I’ll be right there.
Less than a minute later, with confiscated firearms in hand, Blake arrived at the construction site. Both Jordan and Brent, their constructors, were present, however, no one else accompanied them.
“What’s going on? Is it going to take longer without the other two constructors?”
Brent snorted. “That’s the least of our worries, Uberman.”
Blake rolled his eyes.
“I’d say so,” Jordan agreed in his thick, southern accent. “You ever hear of a ‘construction complication’?
Huh?
“No, what are you talking about?”
Jordan scratched his head. “Well, see, while you were up there playing in the sky, we both got a message that said there was a complication in construction. All progress stopped, and we can’t continue until it’s addressed.”
What the hell?
“What’s the complication?” Blake asked, nervous.
“It says we need new materials to complete the building,” Brent answered.
“Uh,” Blake stammered. “Don’t you need all required materials before it’ll even allow you to start?”
“Sure do,” Jordan confirmed. “Which is why it’s so strange, this hasn’t happened before. Says here we need ten pounds of ‘Tungsten-Iron alloy’ from off-world.”
What the hell? That freakin’ AI!
Blake swore. “I assume we don’t have any in the warehouse, or you would have just used that.”
Brent rolled his eyes. “Of course we would. We’re not idiots.”
Blake agreed, but his concern about the seemingly random change to the construction procedure grew. “Okay. The native combat teams are on the outside. I’ll contact one of them and have them complete a scenario. Kuruk can head inside the portal after they complete it and transport the alloy to the warehouse. Problem solved.”
Jordan shook his head. “Kuruk’s living with his mother in the bunkhouse now, so he can’t help. But, there’s a bigger issue. It says it has to come from a level one scenario. I don’t think any of the teams can handle it, and I’m pretty sure you need to stay here.”
Well crap.
Comments
L Pedersen
mmhmm I smell a chapter on the wind....
Timothy Nugent
Replaced it with "jerked the controls"
John Doe
Copy that. Thanks for the heads-up.
Michael Mitchell
Love this chapter - I've read it several times now. A comment about this line: Within the crowded cockpit, the pilot jerked the joystick back in surprise, and the craft darted into the sky. - Helicopters have a cyclic and a collective - the cyclic controls orientation, the collective controls the lift - so it would be better to say the pilot jerked the collective (and you get the effect of lifting)
Laura Pilkington
The AI is not following its own rules. that’s… bad.
Maze
Thank you for replying Timothy, I must say that curious how this will resolve itself. Thank you for your hard work on this. And as L Pedersen said, this will likely be less of an issue once it can be read as a book. And no spoilers ofc :) .
Timothy Nugent
I could easily answer your question and remove any fears you have about this. However, then the rest of book 1 would be spoiled. All I will say is all of your concerns will be addressed by the end of book 1. That should be within 10 to 15 chapters from now.
Timothy Nugent
I'll fix this.
Timothy Nugent
You are making some assumptions there. He was informed about massive permit violations and was asked to send a deputy to check it out. He went personally because of his hunch. The warrant was for the permit violation, and had nothing to do with Blake. However, when he sae Peter, he didn't need the warrant any longer.
Timothy Nugent
I suppose we will have to see if I pull it off or not.
L Pedersen
Eh. I made a similar point in my post. However I think it's mostly problem because it isn't what we were expecting, we had an immediate event in mind for the story that has been forshadowed and then it was pushed back by what looks like bs deus machina. The thing is, if we as readers can just turn the page and read the next chapter then stuff like this isn't that big a deal. So it's really only a problem right now but in the finished book? I doubt anyone will care to comment on it.
L Pedersen
There are real world examples of such search warrents so I don't find it too strange. Also the Sheriff is crooked as a 3 dollar bill, he could have just faked the warrent.
Maze
I get and appreciate that. I was not trying to counter what you said. But normally you'd have a little understanding why the system is or can be belligerent in that case. Foreshadowing. We have nothing like that in this story. We haven't gotten a PoV from the administrator. Its not prefaced. His summon knows the exact best strategies to get started, so we know between worlds the system is the same. Blake does not know about this happening in the past either. Why would a single human be that special. Surely over the hundreds or thousands of years where the system has been active, it has encountered special cases? The BBEG from the intro was set up as the bad guy. Why does the admin care that a single human is a little ahead on the leveling curve on a galactic scale ... I just dont get it. At this point it's just giving Blake extra hardship to give variance to the story, but it's poorly executed. The rules are changed on the fly. That does not make for enjoyable reading.
Devlon Stapleton
Again, I agree with you. I was offering a potential that perhaps, the writer has an explanation on why the architect appears to be unfair towards him. 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️ there are many stories that have the system be an antagonist towards the character or worlds being inducted. Let's hope that's what it is because if it isn't, the system just arbitrarily changing things can be unsatisfying, as you say. I'm just erring on the side of giving the author the benefit of the doubt l.
John Doe
You are 100% on that point!
Devlon Stapleton
Hmm that's true, but that's the sheriff. For Swat to do this, the commander of Swat and all the individual Swat members all have to be dumb asses too. This isn't a hostage situation or circumstances which they have to rush. Think about how Swat approach a banking heist where the robbers are trapped inside. Again, for the sake of pacing, writer probably decided to skip all of that.
John Doe
I agree with your statement about "real" L.E. doing human/drone recon first. I gave the author a pass on that because the Sheriff is a complete amateur, an idiot AND an A-hole. It is quite understandable that he would shoot first and look at what he was shooting after his target was down (hypothetically, speaking). It has been his M.O. for a while. P.S.: The C.I.A. just wishes they could suppress info from the N.S.A.. The folks at Ft. Meade run rings around the C.I.A. when it comes to ELINT anywhere upon the Earth. :-)
Maze
We might get an explanation, but Blake already got the 1v6 versus the aliens and the survive till dawn missions. Skill wise we keep being reminded by Blakes inner thoughts how unusual it is that certain rare energy types keep popping up in his scenarios. Last chapter it messed with his skillups. If the Architect now starts fiddeling with hard requirements, aka backtrack on earlier agreed points as well ... Then the system is belligerent. But it misses the point, because it can just make Blakes next upgrade cost 100x more and he'd still be screwed. It might mess with his stats. With his achievements. Whats the point of the system and the story at that point?
Devlon Stapleton
While I agree with your point. I wonder if the architect is monitoring the situation and is modifying the initial quests and requirements due to Blake having future knowledge. However, I don't really have an excuse for the architect changing the building requirements for the shield. Maybe because while being built, enemy forces infiltrated the compound, so the faction is penalized? I don't know.
Devlon Stapleton
Lol i do have a slight disagreement with your point, despite our initial agreement. None of those agencies are gonna be notified. It'll get to Jerome's team and once they determine that blake is apart of the architect, they're gonna suppress all info. They probably monitoring all cops comms & all the cops are probably gonna be dismissed to told to leave. I think that's why the sheriff was screaming into the phone. But that's also why that packet would've been so valuable. The CIA is in the dark. They don't know what's coming and are scrambling to prepare. They wouldve paid the most for that info. I understand that Blake doesn't understand the full scope of their existence but he knows that some men in black cordon off the Ursula portal, so it would've be smart to assume that the govt is at least aware of these portals. He just doesn't understand that while this info can save untold number of people, it would still be smart to leverage it for safety and assistance from the govt, turning an enemy into an ally. Knowledge is key in any engagement and he just freely hands his enemies Intel. It was shortsighted and arrogant. However, I absolutely agree with the notification suppression. I thought that was hilarious. Blake told Montgomery to contact him, but when he does, you ignore it lol also there's no line about him unmuting his notifications. He just all of a sudden getting them again. Also swat wouldn't of done this. If cops pulled up to a compound with medieval walls, with untold number of people inside without knowledge of what type of threat exist within the compound, they would've investigated first. Sent drones first. Try to gather Intel through binoculars, that type of thing. However, I get that for the sake of time as a writer, pacing has to be considered.
Maze
First off, thank you for writing the story. I appreciate the effort and dedication. I liked it so far. However, to be honest, I am not a fan of the 'plot twists' the story is adding. Why even have quests and requirements, if you have an AI that can just say 'oh, and one more thing...' . Sure, once or twice at a critical moment is okay to make it special. But you make it sound like every single time something now needs to happen, the AI will intervene, it will just be the new norm. Anything will mess with Blake for the sake of giving the protagonist an extra difficulty, and its feeling incredibly contrived at this point. The AI can just up the initial difficulty when the requirements get shown to us with Blake remarking on it. However, once its shown to us or known to people in story, to change what the goal was means that we no longer need to care what any quest/requirement/level up says. It also means the AI could just say 'you now have 10 stats less, i've deactivated the nano that you earned and have invested in it, enjoy'. If it continues like this you might just want to phase out the system from your story, because it will be useless and untrustworthy. Numbers go up only matters if it actually is beneficial. Your system rewriting rules on the fly all the time is really getting annoying.
John Doe
P.S.: EVERY officer carries a sidearm in addition to their assault rifle. No exceptions!!! Author: You may wish to rewrite the chapter to have Blake check each officer for a sidearm AND their back up weapon at the small of their backs, between the shoulder blades or upon the ankles. Also, when clearing a sidearm from a modern duty holster, remember that for the last 20-25 years all departments use Lock Holsters.
Djinko
lol lv1 scenario nice he gonna use the new found tactical workforce :)
John Doe
BTW: I was not going to bring this up before, but... The sheriff originally stated that he had a "hunch" that Blake was at this compound. That means that he did not get a tip or actually know that Blake or his family were there. The property is still under that old man's ownership in the county records. How exactly did the sheriff show probable cause to have a judge issue a warrant? "Hey judge, there is some new construction in the county." Sheriff: "Can I have a warrant to go search it?" Judge: "Why?". Sheriff: "There might be some fugitives hiding there". REALLY!?!? I don't care how corrupt the local authorities are, judges can actually be disbarred/jailed for stuff like that when the U.S.D.O.J. gets involved. No Probable Cause means the judge's career/freedom is on the line. Self interest is HIGHLY motivating to judges. :-)
John Doe
I concur that his decisions today were really, really bad. Jerome is eventually going to be debriefed by the county and state police. It will eventually get kicked to the F.B.I. due to " home-grown terrorism" labels. Right after that, N.S.A., D.O.D. and C.I.A. get involved. Giving any information about the invasion away was a HUGE mistake. They WILL pull out the Big Guns now. That potentially includes mortars, nerve gas, cruise missiles, GBU-43 MOAB, GBU-57 MOP, GBU-28 or BLU-109. When "national security" is on the table, there are no restrictions, rules or laws. If he had done this 12 or 24 hours before D-Day, it might have not turned into a Charlie Foxtrot. But, with D-Day being 2 WEEKS away, Blake just turned into a solid, gold idiot. *sigh* I am now officially bummed about the story direction. :-( BTW: Since Blake told Montgomery to watch for people trying to come over the wall, why the heck did he block messages from him when Montgomery sent him an alert? Really? This does not compute, cap'n. ( Ahh, I found the sentence again. I thought that I was losing my marbles until I found it again. "He ignored the sudden message from Montgomery, and instructed the interface to suppress all notifications." ) *Thanks for the new extra chapter, author. But, I am not sure how you are gonna' make the next two weeks of the story rational and believable.
Undead Writer
Thanks for the chapter!!
Devlon Stapleton
Theres definitely some truth to the criticism of Blake that Rajesh spewed. Handing over all the info about the system freely to the cops was very stupid. He couldve used it as a bargaining chip for a pardon, money, recruits, etc. Information is very valuable, especially the knowledge that Blake has. That just isn't a decision that a good leader would make in this context. Blake is a soldier, not a leader. He just doesn't have the strategic, objective mind that a leader should have. I'm not saying that he needs to be cold and calculated as Rajesh is, but there's definitely alot to be improved upon.
David Ford
I personally would rather see this situation resolved than another fetch quest. Just my 2c
L Pedersen
damn I need to read my stuff before I post, I begin two paragraphs in a row with the same word >.<
L Pedersen
wooo! Well I initially put it down to paranoia but it really does seem like the Architect is out to get Blake. It's hard to view this as the entity wanting to strengthen Blake since a level 1 scenario isn't an issue for him and only a problem since he has to play guardian of the gate right now. The only possible angle for a benevolent explaination is that it sees the imbalance between Blake and the rest of his faction and wants to force them to carry more of the weight. Still it seems kind of strange that Blake and his faction would warrent so much attention. After all, Blake has been bitching about the Architect being annoying for a while now. Still though, I'm excited about what's to come. Hopefully Blake will end up recruiting a lot of cops and their dependants which would be a great boon to his faction. Not only would it mean more combat teams but it would also help him save as many as possible later. I can't wait for his conversation with the SWAT commander though, that's probably gonna light a fire under the Sheriff's ass once the SWAT guys start checking his story :D
