Звездопад / Starfall: Глава 26

Chapter 26

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 11:13

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Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 11:13

A small glider, like a yellow soapbox, was speeding over the black surface of the road, covered with light patches of trash and glowing dots of markings. Forever chained to the ground by the primitive nature of its grav-mirrors, it was content to do little and, with its engine rumbling melodiously, glided at arm's length.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:20

"We arrived here, it was already blazing, but they hadn't taken over the stations yet, and the Flow was running..." Krain said, keeping his eyes on the winding road that was now and then blocked by abandoned and wrecked vehicles. "But now the rebels control all the stations. They don't let anyone take off or land, and they don't give a jump vector either, so it's all over... Only demons know what's going on in orbit now. There were rumors that the Imperials have imposed a blockade..."

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:25

"You mean we can't fly away?" Alex asked, listening half-heartedly, cradling the heavy plastic carcass of the "shorty" in his lap. "Where are we going then?"

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:30

"To contact, I know. We'll get back to our senses and see what's going on. I've got about five more hours, tops. Unless, of course, anyone has a better idea." He added, turning back to the passengers.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:31

Both passengers had no ideas, staring silently out the windows - Lord Cassard in the side and Lord Lister in the back.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:32

"That's what I thought for some reason." The rebel muttered, picking up speed.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:32

My head was buzzing, and I was thirsty. The stress, the drugs, and the constant paralysis were taking their toll, and despite three days of "chemical sleep", I wanted to sleep.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:36

Alex leaned his head against the window. The tight stream of cool air hit his face and took the drowsiness away with it. The lowered glass was completely draped over the anti-blaster waistcoat, but a narrow slit remained at the top. The same waistcoats were sandwiched between the seats and side doors, as well as tucked under the front and rear bonnet, turning the service glider into an improvised armored vehicle. The loose ends of the waistcoats, thrown over the windows, fluttered under the incoming stream like short brown wings, fluttering against the unfamiliar city.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:38

The arrow-straight side streets, alternating with the rhythm of a metronome, were completely empty and would have looked like two peas in a pod were it not for the abandoned cars and the revolutionary proclamations on the walls, which did not shine with the variety either. "PVD", "Don't forget the Four", and calls to "Kill the grey creatures".

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:40

The town seemed extinct. In the twenty minutes they drove, Alex didn't see a single person. Only the granite squares of buildings, the glass strips of floors, surrounded by shiny scatters of broken windows, the gray scraps of security shutters, the black stains of burned machinery, the yellow fluttering drops of small islands of flame, and a thin layer of rubbish - from broken plastic and empty bottles that looked like colorful cones to torn clothing and spent blaster blocs.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:41

Lone figures of small yellow droids, resembling a hybrid of a dustbin and a hoover, tried unsuccessfully to remove this plume of 'revolutionary masses' from the streets, revolutionizing the shops.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:42

"I wonder how 'Death to the Grey Creatures' and shoplifting combine?" Asked Alex a rhetorical question as they drove past another looted building.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:43

"This is a corporate district. Corporations are active supporters of the emperor." Explained Krain. "And a good source of booze." He added, shrugging as if to say, ///It's inevitable and natural."

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:44

The glider plunged into the orange-glowing jaws of the vast tunnel. The windows flickered with the red-black pillars of the many columns, reflected in the white gloss of the walls. Ahead of them was a darkened carcass, lit by yellow flames, partially blocking the passageway. Alex lowered the readiness lever just in case and ducked down. As they drove closer, they could see that the carcass was something that looked like a dark gray APC with hypertrophied huge wheels and two "machine gun" turrets. The transporter was flipped on its side and looked as if someone had chewed it long and hard and spat it out. The walls around it were covered in soot and numerous traces of blaster hits. Near the walls and the APC right on the track, there were numerous piers in which tongues of fire were beating, which from a distance, Alex mistook for the remains of a fire:

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:46

"What are those piallas with the lights?" He asked as the glider picked up speed again, coming around the obstacle.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:47

Lord Lister's voice came from behind before the rebel could open his mouth:

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:47

"They are put at the place where the man died." He said dryly, without turning around, and added for some reason. "It's a tradition."

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:48

//The bloodless revolution didn't work. - Alex commented mentally, turning away from the window and settling deeper into his seat.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:49

"How long has it been like this?" He asked aloud.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 12:49

"The first demonstrations started about twelve days ago. We..." Krain paused for a moment and, catching Alex's gaze, jerked his chin toward the back seat where Lord Brenor was sitting with his back turned to them, watching the tail.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:19

Seeing the rebel's mute question, Alex hummed and shook his head negatively, as if to say, 'Fuck knows, so better not...'.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:19

"... didn't think there could be such a thing," Krain continued after exchanging glances with Alex, "they're just stupid, though... what can you take from them, s-s-students...," he stretched mockingly, "no brains."

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:20

The tunnel curved slightly upwards. Ahead of them was the exit portal, illuminated by the edge of a pearl sky. The glider sprang out onto a curving trestle, which abruptly broke off as it ran into the motley wall of the barricade.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:22

Overturned cars, some huge orange containers, fragments of fences, grates, rubbish bins, and wall debris were all piled together to form a huge barricade that completely blocked the flyover at the point where it branched off in three directions.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:22

Krain reacted almost instantly. Glider braked sharply and spun on the spot. The engine howled, accelerating the car back towards the tunnel. But not fast enough - this was a service vehicle, not a sports car, after all. From somewhere on the right, something very large and orange emerged from under the overpass. A huge arm, like a twin bucket, swung over the car. The interior of the glider was filled with the sounds of scraping metal and cracking plastic, the shattered windows spattering into the interior with a subtle clang.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:24

The manipulator flipped the machine sideways as if it were a toy and ripped it off the scaffolding, and lifted it three meters into the air. From above, the pearly skies were obscured by a massive disk-shaped body with four long arms, one of which was clutched a small yellow glider with the word "Yummy" written on it. Alex, hanging from the harness, saw through the broken and mangled starboard window as a small black sphere spun under the belly of the steel monster, turning to face the clutched glider with a glowing scarlet eye.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:29

//If it's a cannon, we're screwed...

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:29

He tried desperately to reach for the "shorty" that had fallen down somewhere. Krain was busy trying not to fall out. Alex was blocking his view, and Brenor was trapped by the crumpled roof, and he could only hope he was alive.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:31

"Who do we have here?" A speaker-enhanced voice boomed overhead. "Corporants..." The manipulator shook the jammed machine, and the numerous pieces of body armor piled into the glider spilled onto the scaffolding. "Decided to play 'special squad'..."

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:32

During the jolt, the coveted 'shorty' fell out through the broken left-hand side windows, and there was nothing left to shoot back with. That left the usual blaster, but "the chances of damaging such a stupid thing with three shots..." There weren't many options left and, sighing heavily, Alex grabbed the edge of the door and peered out the broken window:

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:37

"Have you all gone mad?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "Don't you see, your own!"

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:38

For a few seconds, nothing happened, but the silence gave way to a measured throbbing hum, and the huge carcass moved towards the barricade with its prey.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:41

"Is everyone all right?" Breathing heavily, Alex asked after he'd climbed back out of harm's way and helped the insurgent, hovering over the control handle, to get comfortable.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:42

"I seem to be in one piece, but I'm pinned down." I heard from the back seat. Krane, in turn, confined himself to nodding.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:43

"So then... no sudden moves - we'll try to "negotiate".

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:46

From below, the piles of barricades floated by, and the humming of the engines of their "captor" changed - it was clearly going down.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:47

"Put it there." Shouted from somewhere on the ground. "We'll see what kind of 'ours' they are."

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:48

The car tipped over again and collapsed with a crash onto the black pavement of the trestle.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:48

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Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:46

By the time Alex had recovered from the concussion, the barrel of a long-barreled hunting rifle was already pointed in his ear, so he looked around without making any sudden movements, with just his eyes.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:50

On the other side of the barricade was a makeshift camp: fifteen or twenty men and non-men and a couple of aerocars. The side door of one of them was open, and a stretching awning was unfurled beside it, partially covering the car. Alex couldn't look up, and the roof would have been in the way, but judging by the quiet hum, the huge spherical carcass was also here, hovering overhead.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:52

The chewed glider was surrounded by about a dozen "rebels", extremely diversely dressed and heavily armed... no less diversely. Judging by the color of their faces and the distinctive glint in their eyes, many of the 'revolutionaries' around them perceived reality to be more beautiful than it was and were at the height of a long binge.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:53

The wielder of the long-barreled gun resting against Alex's ear, a young dark-haired lad with eyes red from either sleep or substance and sporting a tight, bright orange jacket, looked doubtfully at the men he had captured:

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:54

"It really does look like his own..." he said uncertainly and turned to the others. "The jackets are the universities..."

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:55

"Then why did you run from the barricade like a cosmic from his debts?" A categorical objection came from somewhere behind.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:56

After shoving the other observers aside, a mustachioed man of indeterminate age with ripe aubergine skin and glistening dark eyes approached the car. He wore a gray jumpsuit that encased a beer belly and a round orange helmet that had obviously been removed from someone else. He wiped his sweat-shrouded forehead with his sleeve and looked at the prisoners with no small amount of doubt:

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 13:59

"Look at the eyes!" He muttered, glancing unkindly at Alex. "And the jackets must have been stolen or taken from the dead... what a bargain..." He spat at his feet and held his head up, shouting upwards. "Come on, get them out! Get your arms out to the sides..." He added, playing with a short silver blaster.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 14:03

The revolutionaries moved back a little, and a huge metal paw appeared from somewhere above and came down on the bonnet, crumpling the metal like paper. At that moment, there was a rattling noise from above, and a second paw easily tore off the glider's roof and tossed it aside.

Camrad_RIP 18.03.23 в 14:05