The Eagle Reborn - Chapter 2 (Rifts RPG - A.R.C.H.I.E. SI)

N.E.M.A. North Star Subterranean Complex

Eagle Peak, Anchorage, Chugach Mountain Range, Alaska

17th, July, 2103

I watched as the red dragon and flock of flying monsters grappled with tooth and claw, and the occasional gout of flame from the dragon setting everything on fire. It would have been absolutely horrific due to the people down in the ruins were it not for one thing. I sent my probe out towards the fight five miles away, a fifteen-minute flight in frigid temperatures, as the entire fight continued on without end. Coming within a good distance, I used my probe’s telescopic zoom to look directly at the fight. It was vicious as hell, with roars and screams that echoed loudly. Despite the fight, I was shocked to see the people and lights hadn’t gone out. I found out why. The lights in the city? They weren’t lights, nor were they people. Instead, they appeared to be...ghosts.

I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things, or if they were actually holograms that were working for some reason, despite the end of the world. Then they were hit by the flames of the dragon and dissipated into a mist before being flying points of light. Will-o-wisps is what comes to mind when I look at the lights themselves, which made about as much sense as anything else I am seeing at the moment.

I was wondering if my ‘simulation programming’ purposefully shoved as much fictional works into my childhood as possible in order to be both, open minded to new situations and possibilities, and add as much ‘experience’ with things beyond the norm as possible due to the reports from HQ-ECC regarding...everything.

It makes sense...again...and I can say it worked. As crazy as the idea of the supernatural being real is, I’m a freaking robot brain with human emotions, that had just gotten out of the matrix, and is dealing with protecting “Vault-907”, in a world overrun with magic and psychic phenomena, and creatures out of every fantasy, horror, and science fiction I can imagine.

So, I will do what I am learned to do in the simulation, regarding playing video games and in turn what I had thought was real life.

Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. Kickass and take names. Like a ‘Wild West Hero’.

That being said...looking at the fight I made my first decision.

“Fuck that shit!”

I flew the probe back into the base, and let the supernatural critters play their games.

It was clear to me that...the world was still screwed up, and an ice-covered hell outside with actual monsters and creatures of “former” myth running around. So, waking the sleepers up was out of the question...though there’s no reason I couldn’t wake a few specific ones up.

Before I do that however...I need more information about the current situation of the world around me. The scene outside is hardly enough to gauge what the world is actually like. Alaska was always remote, even before ‘The End’ happened. The same can’t be said for the rest of the NAA. The Continental US and Mexico had stupid large populations in the hundreds of millions, and the greatest number of advanced centers in the world. Plus, there’s HQ-ECC down in Maryland, where my counterpart Archie-3 was located. Plus, Archie-4 in the Cyberworks Facility on the Moon. Plus, Archie-2.5 in NORAD.

So... alright. I had a plan. Sort of.

First; recon the immediate area around the complex, and try to secure it. If not able to, then at least know where the bad guys are.

Second; re-establish contact with any remnants of NEMA, starting with orbital and lunar sites. I still have access to that, if there are still satellites in orbit at all to connect with.

Third; as a momentary addon to the two other objectives, search for human survivors. Probably won’t be very many, if any at all, but I have to at least try and find some. We might be the only humans in Alaska, though I doubt we’re the only ones on Earth. Humans are stubborn bastards, and given I lived as one for a time, I have that same stubbornness.

There are three immediate problems with executing this plan.

Firstly; I’m buried under a literal ton of snow. There is nearly a thousand feet of snow buried on top of the mountain “North Star” is buried inside of. That is megatons worth of snow. I have to dig it all out in order to even leave. I could wait until the snow eventually melts, but given the last recording of the outside showed a ton of snow falling in July, and it is currently July, and stillsnowing...I don’t think waiting is a real option.

I have an army of robots, and a ton of equipment to filter, clean, and store water. So, I could dig out, and get a source of water at the same time. Plus, with the equipment I have, electrolysis is something I could also do, in order to get fuel and power. So, that’s a bit of a win there. It will be a long process though, given the amount of snow I would have to dig through.

However, there’s a hanger near the top of the facility to launch the aircraft stored there, with a launch tunnel going out the side of the mountain. that can also extend and retract. I can start from there instead of the bottom gateway, send out recon-craft, and if I need to hide, I can just close the door and pull back in, letting the snow bury the entrance. Whatever is out there won’t dig through a thousand or more feet of snow...unless they are very stubborn, enraged, or something like a Dragon which is big and probably powerful enough to do the job.

Alright. We’ll go with that. Extend the tunnel, open just a crack and then begin to diggy dig.

Second problem; Since the facility is buried, and the surface communications array were wiped out by tidal waves and earthquakes, I lack the means to send a signal out anywhere, let alone to space. So, I will need to build a new one, or repair the old arrays if they had in fact survived the onslaught of nature. Building an array is actually easy to do. The problem is placement, since the array needs to be rather large to give me the range. I could build one on the mountain summit, but that would require, yet, more digging on my part.

Though now that I think about it...at the summit...I could just drop something that fries the area with extreme heat and melts it all. The water, which is hotter than the snow, will actually flood down and clear the snow quite a bit. That might be too flashy though, so maybe just clearing the top with robots would be better? I’ll figure it out.

Third Problem; I didn’t have a great range when it came to controlling my drones. This would be solved by creating a series of base arrays for the purpose of extending my network range, but the second problem rears its head here as well. So, I can’t really go too far with my drones to search for human settlements. The maximum range is fifty miles from me. One hundred miles in diameter. This allows me to cover where 75% of the Alaska population had lived. From Willow to Tern Lake in the north and west, to just outside of Cooper Landing and Moose Pass to the south.

This left Fairbanks, and the various villages and small towns further north, and along the coast to the south and west, completely out of my reach. Of course, those coastal towns are likely very much dead and gone after the tidal waves.

Then I realized a fourth problem. Numbers. I have six thousand robots under my command. Four thousand of them were Soldier Drones, one thousand were Combat Hounds, five hundred were Pup Scouts, and five hundred Spider Drones and Flying Probes. An army...in a world at peace. This is hardly a nice world from what I just saw outside. So, I need more. Resources would be a problem, but the complex was built into a mountain, and I had the means to dig into it to get more resources, Alaska is swimming in resources if nothing else. Plus, I could break materials down to the molecular components and put them back together as something else thanks to the industrial MDC-Fabricators, though that took more time. That was fine though. Time is something I had and I can just dig in and down the mountain for what I need.

Hmm ...downward…there’s an idea. Build down. Though I have to bear in mind the Anti-Seismic-Gel that forms the base of the facility, there’s an idea to expand upon. Dwarf Fortress ahoy!

One option was to unleash the other machines, such as power armor and combat robots, and various vehicles, and remotely control them. They weren’t built with this in mind however, as they were meant to be piloted by a human. I could do it, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as effective having a human pilot them.

So... the answer is obvious. Design versions of said machines that are drones. Easy peasy.

Or design drones that can work the machines I already have ...that would be easier. Let’s go with that for now.

Alright then...I have a plan. Time to get to work.

N.E.M.A. North Star Subterranean Complex

Eagle Peak, Anchorage, Chugach Mountain Range, Alaska

22nd, July, 2103

This was a failure. The snow just keeps falling without end, and no matter how much my machines dig out, the snow simply replaces what was taken. The drones had dug out enough snow to fill half the hanger. Even though they work tirelessly, without fear of exhaustion or low morale as one would a human worker, the result wasn’t enough to match the output of the snowstorm. So, I abandoned the direction I had decided for the surface project, and decided to take it into a different direction. The only good thing to come out of the whole situation was using all the considerable knowledge I possessed to design new Combat Drone Soldiers to accommodate the current conditions of the environment.

The original CDS was more of a skeletal design in order to make it look less human, and make it harder for people to anthropomorphize them and treat a robot as a person. My new design is much more human like, with a husky build to shove in as much hardware as possible. With its more human form, it can utilize all the equipment the human soldier was able to use, pilot robots, wear power armor, and then some with a few adjustments. While it wasn’t necessary to make a machine to use the equipment since I could control giant robots, power armor, and vehicles personally, this new machine would allow me to test any new equipment I designed in the future that eventually went into human use.

Plus, it allowed me to make use of a lot of equipment that otherwise would just gather dust, and accomplish tasks that might be beyond my ability due to unforeseen situations and phenomena.

This new model was designated the “NEMA RX-2020-Mk.2” and old model redesignated the “NEMA RX-2020-Mk.1”. Not creative on my part, but a simple change will keep things organized.

I used the fabricator to create the molds for the new parts, and began to shift the assembly line to accommodate this new model. Within the next week I should be producing a new unit every twenty-five minutes once production starts. Or I would be if I didn’t realize how limited my supplies actually were. Limited in that I could make a division of robot infantry before I ran out of materials. Then I would have to mine for more material. Which was fine as it fit right in with my new plan.

It was clear to me at this point that whatever was causing this endless snow storm wasn’t going to let up soon, and the effort I would have to put into digging myself out was far too great and time consuming to accomplish in a short time frame. I thought waiting it out would be a bad choice, but now it looks like the only choice. Fortunately, I’m taking a third option.

This base, when it came down to it, was meant to ultimately function like an underground arcology for the survivors. As such the dimensions were suited for a population of thirty thousand people. Given we have only five thousand, there’s plenty of room…which is a sad thought really. However, it was still a facility that was considered unsafe due to outside factors. So even though it was big enough to wake everyone up and live comfortably for a period of time, because of my “orders” to not wake them up until the “All Clear” signal was given, or until the “Environment is no longer a danger”.

So, I had studied what was “Not a danger” in every meaning of the term, overall, it meant allowing humans to live in a way where they are not actively threatened by the current FUBAR situation the world is going through. Because it was general enough in the requirements, it limited what I could and could not do by a very large degree, but as a result of the generality, I was more or less given permission to achieve the goal of “ensuring safety” by any means necessary.

A blank check to achieve the goal, but it was only achievable under specific circumstances which were all but impossible to achieve. As a result, I needed to get creative in how I accomplished this. Cause…really, I didn’t want these people sleeping forever, because that would be counterproductive to the goal ROB set out, I would think. So, I tested in simulations a lot of different ideas until one of them fulfilled the “Mission Order”.

My robots had left the hanger, and transferred to the bottom where the refineries and manufacturing plants were located, and began to dig into the mountain. The third option, which the simulations accepted as something that I could do, was to create a subterranean city, which had to be hardened. It was the matter of making it an impenetrable fortress more than simply a safe space that allowed the requirements to be fulfilled.

Easier said than done though.

First, I needed a source of material. Surprise, the creators of the complex took that into account with the mountain the facility was built inside of, and made allowances so I could effectively hollow the mountain out with the cylinder-shaped complex as a central pillar. That meant I had a massive 814,000,000,000 cubic feet of space filled currently with rock, which could be around 61,050,000,000 tons of material.

With the ability to break down materials to make them into other kinds of materials, this was more or less a good start.

Already the robots had been feeding my furnaces raw material which were being broken down for use. While they had done that, I decided to design this “Dome”. Allowed for all types of utility, and just made it easier to build. Though a cone in the form of a Hive City made sense too, as arcologies maximize the use of space available. People however don’t like feeling confined, so I decided to see about making it a multi-plate leveled city.

As the hollowed-out cone would be within the mountain, with two hundred feet of wall on all sides, the height of this space would be 6,300 feet, and at ground level it would be 19,000 feet in diameter. This gave the structure a volume of 595,410,348,000 cubic feet. A substantial amount of space to build in. Especially if I made it an arcology instead of a hollow space, thus maximizing the use of its internal volume.

The stability of the structure was something to consider however since the complex is smaller than that space, thus I would have to construct structural rods of immense size to hold the mountain up, lest it “rocks fall, everyone dies” on me. I would also have to place a new foundation, if not expand the complex completely, downward since the complex itself is not ground level with the rest of the landscape.

These were all in works in progress however, so I focused a little on the other thing I had done. The hanger had mostly been cleared of snow, allowing me to send out reconnaissance drones to take a look about the region. I looked through the “eyes” of twelve Silver Eagle SAMAS units, a winged power armor that possessed the eye-catching chrome like armor that the Chromium Guardsman was so famous for. While one would say it made it stick out like a sore thumb with so much bling, in the current environment of snow and white, it actually blended rather well unless one looked directly at it.

Equipped with a rapid firing rail gun that could tear an Abrams battle tank to shreds with a single, well placed 20-round burst, there were few things in the pre-apocalypse world that it couldn’t kill. Of course, the fact there were monsters running about that seemed to take several heavy bursts to the face and laugh made me feel less assured, hence my preference to watch from the air.

The valley ‘Eagle Peak’ resided was clear of anything resembling structures or life, so I split my squadron into three groups of four. One headed south by southeast towards Girdwood. The small town whose primary economic strength was being a resort for skiing in the winter, and hiking/camping in the summer. It did it well enough given its proximity to Anchorage and the international community when it first started, and it just got bigger and better with the influx of citizens and corporations to the state.

The second group headed towards Central Anchorage to see the damage, look for survivors, and see if there’s anything at all to salvage. Given MDC construction, the buildings of the 2090s, especially skyscrapers and corporations, were especially hardy as I could already see some still standing ruins. Given they took a tidal wave to the face, they held up well enough.

The last group goes north towards the Mat-Su valley where Palmer and Wasilla were, along with Butte, and the Knik River Valley. It’s likely they’re gone, but it never hurts to check for sure since it’s been four years.

Flying over the Mat-Su, I sighed, as there was nothing but flattened land covered in snow, and ruined forests where they could be seen. No lights, no heat sources. Nothing. The area I called home most of my life, gone. I’d shed tears if I could.

Anchorage is a bit different, save the few standing towers that were easily accessible due to blown out windows, it was more or less underwater now save the portions near Eagle River and to some more towards the north. My SAMAS units landed in a few that were banks and hotels, and began using microphones to pick up any sound they could, along with thermal imaging to detect and source of heat.

Within the first few minutes, it was easy to see that the city was dead. Nothing but skeletons and ghosts. I didn’t dare have any of my suits go near them lest they get possessed or something.

Instead, I had them fly to the upper portions of structures for the most stable platform they could find. A VTOL transport was readied in the hanger, loaded with a squad of CDS drones, and a dozen Combat Hounds and Pup Scouts, floated above the floor and then out of the tunnel towards the tallest structure. They would be there in five minutes.

In the meantime, my SAMAS units reached Girdwood, with just the six-minute flight, they hadn’t seen or run into any airborne threats aside from weather and frigid temperatures. Flying over the resort town was nothing but buried remains that had been blasted away, until the thermals caught something. Flying over towards the hot spot in the bitter cold, it was strangely elongated and large in size.

I narrowed the optic cameras on the object, and through radar and target recognition, I was surprised to see it was actually a San Diego-Class cargo ship. Only two hundred feet long, but capable of carrying 256 TEU at full capacity, and it was nuclear powered. The little cargo ship that could carry over twelve million tons if it really wanted to. Given Alaska’s location in maritime trade and its population, cargo ship captains made a ton of money if they got contracts.

I could see the rear is the hot spot and the geiger counter went off. Nuclear Engine is fucked and leaking out radiation. There are remnants of twenty-two bodies on the deck where the boat is warmer, all glowing in some way. A grim picture for a new world. I marked down the location for a search later. If the containers were still about and intact, that might be quite useful.

Back with my robots now unloading onto the skyscraper, the SAMAS units floated two hundred feet from the building to provide outside assistance if needed.

Following my typical style, I looted the place of everything not nailed down that was in any way salvageable. I ended up sending a second hover transport just to put my new found crap into, as a matter of fact.

As my machines cleared the five floors from the top where the transports floated, a sudden bang followed by a high-pitched screech that shook the floors made me stop the CDS and arm their Ion Blasters and Vibro Blades. The Combat Hound’s plasma turret powered up and began sweeping as they made their way towards various holes to look at the lower levels.

I didn’t have to wait long as more bangs filled the air and the floor where my host stood bursted upwards, showering everything in drywall and compromised mega material. I had to take a moment just to stare at the…thing, that appeared.

It was a mockery of anything resembling an earth creature. Head of a dog that was put through a meat grinder, lacking skin and muscle on some portions. The body was that of some kind of bird, with a pair of legs that belong to a grass hopper. Instead of wings, it had four pairs of arms, five of which were something from a crab or lobster, three being something from an octopus, and the last being a bird like claw that should have been a foot. Its tail would have been ridiculous on anything else, given it was a fuzzy bunny tail, but not when it was snarling in a scream that sounded like it came out of John Carpenter’s “The Thing”.

Unfortunately for it, it was outnumbered quite a bit.

All of my robots opened fire with rapid bursts of accelerated particles, bolts of plasma, and beams of high-powered lasers. As quickly as it had appeared, it died screeching, and unrecognizable as anything resembling a creature at all. There was silence for a moment before more screeches similar to before sounded out. Thirteen of them at various levels below, in pairs of large groups as the closest and farthest ones sounded to be.

My SAMAS units outside were able to pinpoint the source of the sounds with aid of my CDS units, and immediately unleashed rapid fire rounds from their rail guns. A thunderous, and heavy toned “BURRRT” filled the air from four different sources as they tore into the four that had been fourteen floors below my squads. Screeches of panic, anger, and pain filled the air as my hounds and CDS squads began making their way down into the structure.

Entire rooms were blown open by the force of high-speed slugs punching through brittle walls. I took care to avoid hitting anything that was basically part of the support structure, as I didn’t need the building falling down upon itself, even though I will do that if it’s required. Four floors down, four other grotesque creatures, all mixtures of creatures that didn’t belong in a single form, had been torn apart and left bleeding piles of meat.

The sound of the rest of the monsters scrambling upwards to fight off the intruders rumbled below my squads as they reached the floor and took firing positions. A pair of monsters appeared, but were hit with crossfire comprised of rail gun slugs, energy beams, and super-heated bolts of plasma. It took mere seconds to kill the two. A minute later, another pair appeared and were taken care of the same way.

Over the course of five minutes, the rest of the monsters were eradicated, thus clearing the building of all threats. The monsters apparently made their nest near the bottom where power from secondary nuclear battery cells made the bottom levels warm enough for things to be comfortable for humans. The nest was filled with bones and dried blood from whatever they killed. I ear marked the bones for collection so I can look at their biological profiles and see about matching them in the future and learn more about the new creatures and threats in this world.

As my robots began to clear the building of valuables once more, I took the time to think over what I have run into thus far. The surrounding area was a snow-covered hellhole, with spots of warmth being where life could survive and thrive, and everything was more or less in ruins.

The chances of finding survivors in the immediate area was looking less likely, and the possibility of the Complex Survivors being the only humans alive in Alaska is looking more and more likely. I will search more thoroughly after I go through these ruins for any materials worth salvaging. After ten minutes, I made the decision to more or less clear the ruined skyscrapers all of monsters and valuables, and sent out a small army. The job was finished within eight hours.

“…I need to build a tower for communication arrays…and now I have entire buildings for it…” I mused.