Must know what the Horde is. Is dying from trying to look into the future.
I'm picturing ravenous bugs.
Like locusts, only as big as ponies and horses.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm picturing ravenous bugs.
Like locusts, only as big as ponies and horses.
[/ QUOTE ]
Too small and not enough of them.
Odviously, THIS is the invasion the oroboros have been hinting about.
Very good story. I am SO glad CK finally is able to clear his concious (and gain some fame in the bargain). Penny brought his humanity (at least, the good part of humanity). Now he can fight for humanity.
Odviously, Hope is about to join him and she will prove worthy of her name and heritage.
beautiful as always, BB.
*waits for more*
most recent 50 - psy/mm blaster
Extremely well done.
I believe this qualifies as a "Big Damn Hero" moment...
Ya know, this kinda reminds me of Saperhagen's BOLO series. That was typified by self-aware robots of extreme size dedicated to protecting humanity.
That clock-worked ritki mother ship may walk, but it still reminds me of a BOLO.
The Horde skittered, scurried, slithered, and hopped towards the last remaining humans on Earth. Endless, voraciousthey came to finish the job they had started.
They were stopped cold by a wall of bronze and brass.
The Horde had devastated our world. Where it passed, nothing living remainedplants, animals, peopleonly shattered marble, broken buildings, and lifeless metal remained in their wake. Even Statesman and Lord Recluse had finally fallen to their insatiable appetites.
The Horde made their preys strength their own. They drained the powerthe lifeof their victims. The greater their foe, the stronger they became. And the stronger they became, the stronger the prey they could take down
But in the Clockwork Kingdom they found an enemy they could not devour.
The Clockwork were metal, but they were not lifeless. The Horde could batter them, they could shatter themthey could destroy them.
But they could not feed off them.
And Daddy and his Assemblers could rebuild new Clockwork from the rubble of the old as soon as they fell.
All through the day and into the night Daddy held the line while Tina MacIntyre ferried the last survivors of the Earth to new worlds. When the great generators of Portal Corps began to fail, Rick Davies cobbled together equipment that allowed the surviving electric blasters who had been too low to journey to the Rogue Islands to aid Statesman to power the Portals. Jonathan Smythe worked frantically at the controls to keep the Portals operating at above peak capacity to get as many people through as possible. Azuria cast spells to clear their minds of exhaustion so the operators of the Portal could keep on working long after they should have keeled over in exhaustion. Susan Davies walked among the survivors using sheer force of personality to quiet rebellion and prevent panic as they lined up to be sent through the Portals.
Grandpa Yin and I walked among the survivors outside, providing whatever first aid we could. Grandpa had a way of calming even the surliest people, and in spite of everyones fear, there were no fightsnot even between the surviving Longbow and Arachnos soldiers.
Mama stood apart, watching the battle between the Clockwork and the Horde. Occasionally she would flinch when there was a flash of power indicating that Daddy had been forced to use his powers in his own defense. She hugged herself and watched and I could see the tears pour down her face.
Mama, you have to eat something, I said as I pressed a cup of coffee into her hands. You have to take care of yourself.
He needs me, baby. Mama squeezed my hand as she took the coffee from me. Im sharing my strength with him. Its not much, but it helps.
How is he, Mama?
Mama bit her lip. No one knows what this is costing him, Hope. No one knows what this is doing to him.
Mama? I could not hide the fear in my voice.
Hes never used so much power so long, baby. Hes reaching deep into himself to find the strength to keep on going. It hurts him. It hurts him so much
Again she cried
I should help him, Mama! My hands took on the glow again.
No! Hope, dont you dare go out there! Your father is able to fight so hard because he knows were safe. If something happened to us, he might be distractedand that could get him killed! Stay where you are!
I wasnt happy about it, but I stayed.
By dawn, more than seventy percent of the survivors were safely away.
The one thing I dont understand is how were going to keep them from following us, I said to Mama and Grandpa Yin.
Grandpa and Mama exchanged looks. Your father is going to destroy the Portal as soon as everyone is safely away.
Butif he destroys the Portal, how is he going to come with us?
Hes not, Hope. Mama hugged me. Your father intends to stay here on Earth and destroy the Horde so that no other worlds are ever threatened by them.
But if he does that, hell be all alonejust him and the Clockwork!
And hell never hear another human voice ever again
Mama said, and she broke down in tears.
No! I cried. I wont let that happen! Im not going to let Daddy do this! I can stay, Mama! The Horde wont be able to kill me either! I know they wont! Ill destroy the Portalyou and Daddy can go away together!
No, Hope! Your father and I would both rather die than let you do that! You are our daughter and we will not let you sacrifice yourself for us! Mama took my face into her hands. We wont give you up, baby!
And then Jill came running screaming my name. Hope! Hope! Colin! Theyre killing Colin!
Colin? I stared at the girl I hated more than anyone else in the world. Wheres Colin?!
The Horde! Some of them have broken through! Theyre trying to reach the Portal! Colin and the other Longbow are trying to stop them!
I turned my chocked gaze from the battle and gasped in horror at what I saw:
Some of the Horde had managed to break through the line of Clockwork that opposed them. There werent very many of themscarcely more than a dozen or sobut they were heading towards the Portals!
In the doorway, fighting them, were half a dozen Longbowand Arachnos Soldiers. One of the Longbow wore the uniform of a traineeand his mask was thrown back as he pounded at a Hordeling with the butt of an energy rifle.
It was Colin.
I was running before I even knew I was moving.
Hope! Mama cried.
Its Colin, Mama! Its Colin!
Hands blazing, I ran back towards the Portal Building, dodging and pushing my way through the fleeing survivors.
I got there just in time to see Colin die.
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Well, we finally have some discription of the horde. As guessed earlier by some posters... they're HUGE bugs. The terminalogy reminds me of the bugs in another game called STARCRAFT, tho in that game, it's zergling- not hordling.
reminds me of that movie called Starship Troopers..I think that was it...was a good movie...great story!
Now comes with solar-powered flashlights!
Star Empath emp/rad 50
Krazy Katana. kat/regen 50
Stone Insect stone/ss 50
Col. Lightning elec/nrg 50
Aulus Livinius Naso bs/inv 50
Star Mastermind bot/poison 50
Don't be too sure you know exactly what the Horde is... 
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
In starship troopers, the antagonists were called 'spiders' or 'bugs'.
Star, you're right. This is VERY much like that.
Two differences:
1>the SST 'bugs' were tunnellers and this 'horde' does not appear to be.
2> As a race, this 'horde' seems to have an exaggerated version of dark miasma. Their ability to drain the life energy from their opponents was not present in SST.
It's kind of sad that, when we think of "Hordes," we immediately think "Bugs."
Ants tend to work like this. Hornets, too.
Beetles? Spiders? Hell no.
Of course, so do people if given sufficient numbers. Heck, sometimes we don't even need the sufficient numbers, we just need time and neglect. Look at the rain forests, for instance.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Cockroaches in hordes = yes.
Locusts can also be found in hordes. There's numerous amounts of tiny creatures we call insects that can be found in hordes/swarms.
Don't really see too many arachnids in hordes, but giant, alien spiders in hordes? That'd be pretty hellacious.
Yes, people can also be found in hordes too - for mammals it's more a pack mentality than a horde - but same difference, basically.
[ QUOTE ]
It's kind of sad that, when we think of "Hordes," we immediately think "Bugs."
Ants tend to work like this. Hornets, too.
Beetles? Spiders? Hell no.
Of course, so do people if given sufficient numbers. Heck, sometimes we don't even need the sufficient numbers, we just need time and neglect. Look at the rain forests, for instance.
[/ QUOTE ]
So you fell for that, huh?
Look again. You truly think the jungle (call it what it truly is) doesn't reclaim land?
The workers who till the land in Brazil will tell you the jungle reclaims the land at a pace actually notable after only a week.
If the humans truly have been claiming the 50 acres per day the E-wackos claim. We would have no amazon jungle NOW.
The e-wackos have been wrong so often, I pity anyone who actually believes them.
Watch Life After Humans on History Channel. Shows some city over in Russia that was devastated from the Chernobyl incident, and how nature is reclaiming the buildings and everything. Deer are back in the area.
It's only been 20 years since that time.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It's kind of sad that, when we think of "Hordes," we immediately think "Bugs."
Ants tend to work like this. Hornets, too.
Beetles? Spiders? Hell no.
Of course, so do people if given sufficient numbers. Heck, sometimes we don't even need the sufficient numbers, we just need time and neglect. Look at the rain forests, for instance.
[/ QUOTE ]
So you fell for that, huh?
Look again. You truly think the jungle (call it what it truly is) doesn't reclaim land?
The workers who till the land in Brazil will tell you the jungle reclaims the land at a pace actually notable after only a week.
If the humans truly have been claiming the 50 acres per day the E-wackos claim. We would have no amazon jungle NOW.
The e-wackos have been wrong so often, I pity anyone who actually believes them.
[/ QUOTE ]
Vines, grasses, and other "soft-stem" plants grow back that quickly. Maybe.
Trees don't.
Also...
Rain Forest
Jungle
You can find a jungle in a rain forest, but not the other way around.
[ QUOTE ]
Watch Life After Humans on History Channel. Shows some city over in Russia that was devastated from the Chernobyl incident, and how nature is reclaiming the buildings and everything. Deer are back in the area.
It's only been 20 years since that time.
[/ QUOTE ]
People aren't there. That's not so unbelievable. Still, you're not going to find whole trees smashed through the buildings just yet.
Please don't start turning into bats on me.
Now, I'm not saying the "E-Wackos" aren't exaggerating, but there's definitely a problem with how human progress has all but ignored the long term effects of slaughtering everything for humanity's convenience.
Of course, all of this is neither here-nor-there as to the story. The Horde could be anything at this point, and the discussion on plants "encroaching" suddenly has me wondering whether or not it's Hamidon gone out of control.
Or Blue Battler could be pulling the same stuff as Steampunk Charlie, and just slapping an army of monsters together from the recesses of his imagination.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
The Horde is not neccessarily a bunch of bugs just because they're described as moving in a fashion similar to the way bugs are described. Bugs don't suck the life force out of their prey and add it to their own.
I'm not convinced it really matters. All you need to know about the Horde is that they're ravenous and they've eaten the world.
Here's the thing - This story isn't just Hope's story. It's also the backstory of the Psychic Clockwork King. We've always assumed that he rules his insane, devastated clockwork world because he was the one that devastated it. Bluebattler, in his typical spin it another direction way, is suggesting that maybe there's a different explanation for what we find in that dimension.
The Horde is a plot device; nothing more. Spending a lot of energy on them is sort of missing the point.
Having spent a fair amount of Saturday running around fighting the Circle of Thorns, I'd point out that there are "Hordelings" in the game world. The mini-Bat'Zul's with ice attacks. Maybe he just got fed up with being a battery and broke free.
On another note, I'm loving the story so far.
"Skittered, scurried, and hopped" is a pretty good description of the fashion in which the Horedlings move, IMO. The CoT is also mentioned specifically by name, so I'd say that's a pretty fair guess for the origins of The Horde.
[ QUOTE ]
"Skittered, scurried, and hopped" is a pretty good description of the fashion in which the Horedlings move, IMO. The CoT is also mentioned specifically by name, so I'd say that's a pretty fair guess for the origins of The Horde.
[/ QUOTE ]
Good point. The 'horde' of the story has NOT been discribed, only the methods its various individuals move.
'Hordelings' of various types (only some types have ice powers, other types have other powers) are in deed in the realm of the CoT. The statement that the CoT had fled the earth COULD mean those hordelings (and their fellow minions) are no longer controlled by the various mages of the CoT.
I do note Hope has not stated where the horde came from. Does she even know?
the horde BB is describing remind me of the Ing from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
most recent 50 - psy/mm blaster
[ QUOTE ]
the horde BB is describing remind me of the Ing from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
[/ QUOTE ]
Have no idea what you're talking about. Never heard of it.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the horde BB is describing remind me of the Ing from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
[/ QUOTE ]
Have no idea what you're talking about. Never heard of it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Creatures made of dark energy or something to that effect. Possible tie-in with a quasi-sentient bio-hazard form of organic crystal called phazon. They feed on life force to make themselves stronger, and are capable of limited shape-shifting. The really powerful ones can merge with objects, like modern weaponry or armor, phase shift, and teleport.
The horde doesn't remind me too much of the ing though. The ing never travel in groups larger than three, generally, and there simply aren't that many of them. Also, they are severely weakened/injured by atmosphers that can sustain what we consider to be life. They can only live on barren worlds, preferably without atmospheres.
.......
>.>
<.<
Yea. I'm done. *Runs away*
Dang!
They sound nasty. Glad they are so few.
Glad they don't group in more than threes.
One week after Colin broke my heart I found myself standing at Portal Corps with all that was left of humanity as they prepared to leave Earth forever to The Endless Horde that had destroyed it.
The skies were a boiling mass of dark angry clouds. Mama and Grandpa were coughing constantly because the air wasnt fit to breathe. Ash and smoke came down in a black snow. If the sun still shone, there was no way to tell.
Uncle Line and Auntie Nette werent with us. Vanguard had been the first force sent out to meet The Horde. They had been the first to fall.
Daddy wasnt with us. No one had seen him since The Horde had first arrived. All Mama would say when I asked her about it was that he wasnt dead.
But she cried when she thought I wasnt looking, and I dont think that all the tears were for Uncle Line and Auntie Nette.
I cant believe that Statesman is dead. I cant believe that Statesman is dead. An old woman kept repeating those words over and over again. She was holding onto the hand of a little girl, but didnt seem to be aware of itor anything, reallyany longer. I cant believe Statesman is dead.
Well he is dead, you old hag, one of the Rogue Island refugees said. He still wore the tattered remains of his Arachnos uniform, but all the fight had been taken out of him. I was there. I saw it. I saw him and Recluse fighting side by side while the ferries took us away. I saw the Horde take him down. I saw the Horde take both of them down. Theyre dead, and so are we.
While breath remains, hope remains, Grandpa Yin said, squeezing the shoulder of the old woman and digging into his pockets to pull out a piece of candy to hand to the little girl.
Hope? What kind of hope do we have left? The former Arachnos soldier demanded. Recluse and his Lieutenants are dead. The Freedom Phalanx is dead. The Rikti have fled this world, and so has the Circle of Thorns. How many heroes and villains have died just getting us to this point? Look at the sky! The air is probably going to kill us before The Horde does! Were all going to die! He turned and looked at me. Well, all of us except your robot girl there.
I am not a robot!
Youre not human. Youre not freezing and youre not coughing. When were all gone, youll be the only one left, robot girl. The Arachnos stared at me spitefully.
Suddenly, I realized that he was right. I didnt have to breathe. I didnt need food. As long as I could find some source of power, Id be able to stay alive
Id be alone, but Id be alive.
On a frozen, dark, dead world.
The thought didnt please me.
Were not going to die here, a woman in a lab coat said as she walked up to us. Were going to leave. As soon as the Portal is powered up, were going to go away to another world. Another Earth. Well have to start over, but well be safe. Hello, Penny. Mr. Yin. Its good to see the two of you again. And this must be Hope. I just wish we could have met under more pleasant circumstances. My name is Tina MacIntyre.
There are still thousands of people here, the Arachnos soldier snorted, gesturing at the crowded parking lot. You really think youre going to have the time to get everyone through the portal before the Horde gets us?
Yes, yes we are, Mama said. You see, my husband is going to buy us that time.
Your husband? The Horde killed the strongest heroes and villains of the world! Whos going to have the power to save us now?
As if in answer, the ground shook.
I call him CK, Mama said with a wicked smile. I could tell that she didnt much like this Arachnos soldier. Most people call him the Clockwork King.
And then I saw them.
Clockwork. So many that I couldnt count them. Little Oscillators. Large Princes. Dozens of Paladins and scores of Babbages.
And behind them, a Clockwork larger than any I had ever seen before. It was the reason that the ground shook. It was bigger by far than the Paladins, bigger than two or three Babbages standing on each others shoulders.
The Rikti ship, Tina MacIntyre whispered in awe. He turned the Rikti ship into a Clockwork!
And leading them, shambling, stumbling, shuffling awkwardly, came the bronze and brass figure of the Clockwork King.
My Daddy.
He halted in front of the crowd of people he had come to save. His weak eyes couldnt see them very well, but he knew they were there.
Mama held her breath and grabbed my hand.
The crowd was silent.
I have come to save you, my father said in his emotionless electronic monotone. I have come to save all of you.
And the crowd cheered.
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