Chapter 29 : Ground work for the new base
[Author note : To read more than 10 chapters ahead of my stories, please look up Cathbel on the Patréon website (replace the é by e)
KoSP : 8 chapters
The Iron Lad squib : 7 chapters
Enjoy !]
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Far from Barreltown, in the ruins of an ancient massive fortress, Simon and Crys were setting up a temporary camp. Or rather, Crys' machines did as they were much more efficient than the Terran. Simon was idling, observing the architecture of their new home and wondered who built it. Its purpose seemed militaristic in essence, given the thick walls… Or rather what was left of them. The fact that there was only one entrance, the towers and the fact that it stood upon some kind of moat, supported this theory.
The more he saw it, the more it reminded Simon of how ancient medieval castles were built. A rampart surrounding a large courtyard, a castle for the lord's families and servants to live in, with a few smaller buildings for other necessary services such as stables and a smithy…
The two aliens had chosen this place because it was off the beaten path. In fact, it would take a great deal of efforts for people to reach this place, through the forest surrounding the mountain and then hike up a rather steep and uneven hill. The path was difficult to find and walk, and screes dotted the mountain, making it a dangerous climb.
Even for the vehicles of this world, be they land based or air borne, it would be difficult to carry troops and disembark them. With small vehicles, like helicopters (though Simon never saw any in this world), it might be possible to land in the courtyard, if it wasn't overgrown with wild grass and small trees.
Looking up the walls of the rampart, he saw the clear sky between the tree leaves. For some reason, the Terran really liked it here. It felt like home… From the architecture of the building from the flora and even the fauna he had chanced upon during his trek, he had the sensation of walking on Earth. Perhaps the Terran settlers had terraformed the area or something…
Suddenly, he spoke up to seemingly no one :
« Let's settle here ! And I mean… Not for the night or just the time being. Let's build a permanent base here. »
« A base ? Here ? In the middle of nowhere ? »
« Yeah… It's not like we have much in the way of connection in the city anyway. We could… I mean, you could rebuild it. Since you're the builder and I'm… Well, not that dexterous. If we need something, we can always move to the city later. I think having something like a permanent home would be good for us. »
Crys pondered in silence before he agreed. And so, the next morning, they decided to start on the work.
* * * * *
In the next few months, having nothing much to do in the fortress and little to no purpose, Simon decided to make trips to nearby junkyards to 'retrieve' or rather steal what parts they needed. Using his telekinetic powers, the Terran made for a rather impressive transport mule, if not very stealthy.
Meanwhile, Crys worked on their first order of business : making their base invisible to other people. At first, the crystal thought of simply projecting an illusion that it stayed the same, but decided against it in the end. The problem with these kinds of ruins was that, no matter how remote and hard to reach they were, people would still chance upon them one day. And led by curiosity, they would come and take a look.
It was much better for them to believe that there was simply nothing there ! In addition to his errand runs, he tasked his bond-mate to search the archives of the local cities. They had to find out whether or not this fortress was still known to them and paper trails were present. If there were, Simon had to… improvise. It would be best if they didn't exist but… There were other ways to hide it.
Make people believe the ruins had been destroyed for example. A fire or a fight between a champion and a violator, perhaps. A fire could prove more trouble than it was worth… Much better and easier to have them emulate a fight.
« So that's what we'll do, then. »
* * * * *
Feeling foolish, Simon faced a doomsday bot of Crys' design, wearing what could only be compared to monk or Jedi garbs… And since Jedi are basically space wizard/monks, they're basically the same thing. The reason for his embarrassment was the little scenario his friend had cooked up.
Once Crys had gotten all the parts necessary and built the devices and projectors for this little 'charade', he'd given Simon a tablet with dialogue lines to learn and play. After a few rehearsal, both out and in 'stage situations', here he was now, in his costume, ready to enact their act for the 'audience'. An audience they didn't have but would probably draw once everything was in place.
« Do we really have to do that ? Can't I just break a few trees or something ? »
Crys was unwilling. Although it would be more than sufficient, he had liked working on this little show and he would rather see it through ! Then, Simon pointed out something :
« Wouldn't that be actually counterproductive ? Our goal is not to draw attention to this place and making it look like we've leveled it to the ground will only draw people to come investigate what happened… »
Crys defended the scenario by repeating something Simon had discovered himself :
« You know the Historical value of this site ! You know it can't simply disappear out of thin air. People won't just forget this fortress. It actually puzzles me that they aren't any sort of governmental presence or cultural site built around these parts. » Silence then he added : « That gives us the opportunity to put our plan in motion ! They can come and investigate all they want, they'll only find rubbles here in a few days… »
« But… The projectors are holographic. They'll realize that it's all just an illusion ! »
For some reason, Simon saw the perplexed face of a random stranger as he asked this. He realized it was probably an image sent by Crys to simulate incredulity… Incredulity for what though ? The answer to this question… Simon would have preferred not to have known it, right away.
« Who said anything about an illusion ? »