Embedded Files
"A dozen or so cycles I've been on Delta-738, and the wasteland still feels like a stranger. I've crossed the endless mud plains more times than I care to count, navigated the shifting sands of the mines of Medha, delivered fresh batches of troopers to Hell's green maw. The land train never stops for more than refuelling and unloading. We're not supposed to look too closely at the cargo - just bodies to be delivered, resources to be allocated. Sometimes, in the quiet hours of my off-shift, I climb to the observation deck and watch settlements pass like dreams. Lights in the darkness. Lives I'll never understand. I've glimpsed the steel spires of Praga, watched walker clans cross the dunes of the Sand like ancient ships, seen the fiery glow of war on the horizon in the far west. Years of witnessing everything and knowing nothing. The land train rolls on, endless tracks behind us, endless tracks ahead. Our routes are the arteries of PRIME, they tell us. I wonder sometimes what that makes the cargo we carry - just more blood to be spilled I guess."
CRG-937, Senior pilot, Land Train Delta-738, Day 11 of The Red Haze, 124 AP
Huge land-trains loaded with clones leave the Prime cloning facility every day.
From the Prime facility, most convoys set off in one of three main directions: South-east towards the port city of Zan-Hae,...
...directly south to the city of Yun and the rice fields of Yunnan...
...or west, towards the city of Al-Khaz and onwards to the lands of Mud and Sand.
Each land-train is packed not only with its cargo of clones...
...but also pilots, ...
...mechanics, ...
...and guard troopers.
The first stage of the journey leads to the city of Al-Khaz. The journey is long and the terrain is rough.
From Al-Khaz, the convoy crosses vast steppes and deserts until it arrives at the port of Kenar.
In Kenar, the land-trains are loaded on large barges and are ferried across the Khazar Sea.
On the other side of the Khazar Sea lies the city of Bakuya. This trading city forms a crossroads that connects the east with the cities of the Mud to the north-west and the lands of Sand to the south-west.
Most convoys are going up the north-west route, delivering fresh new clones to the city of Praga and the mines of Kiruna, or even further west to the war zones beyond the city of Bourg.
The next stop on the north-west route is the city of Ograd.
Ograd is the staging ground for many expeditions into the frozen north and the Land of Glass. As those willing to go into these uncharted regions often need more firepower, the city has become a melting pot for those that are willing to sell their services for such a dangerous endeavour. Over time, Ograd has thus become known as the city of mercenaries.
The next stage for the convoy is the journey from Ograd to Kœnuga. This is one of the most dangerous stages for the Prime Convoys or anyone else travelling here. Ruthless nordic scavengers have specialised in ambushing convoys of all types and sizes. Their losses are high, but the simple calculation of their leaders is that as long as they manage to "liberate" enough clones from the convoys to compensate their own losses, their tribe will thrive. And so, the nordic steppes run with blood.
Nordic scavengers deploy powerful anti-tank weapons to stop a land-train.
The cockpit of a land-train is obliterated and the vehicle comes to a stop.
In a short and brutal battle with little to no cover for either side, the convoy escort troopers are overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
The clones are "liberated" from the cargo holds. The scavengers don't care how many clones are killed in the fighting and how many injured are left behind, as long as there are enough clones to make up their own losses.
This particular dangerous part of the journey ends in the city of Kœnuga.
From here, the land-trains enter the heart of the mud lands. This perilous desolated landscape is fraud with danger.
Some of the abominable creatures that live underneath the mud have learned that the land-trains that cross the landscape are filled with food when cracked open!
There is little hope of escape from the horrors of the mud once they have tasted blood, and for countless clones the long journey half way across the world ends in the fangs of nameless monstrosities.
At last, the land-trains that have made it through the mud lands reach the city of Praga. This vast industrial city is the terminus for many Prime convoys, although some carry on northward to bring clone workers to the ore mines of Kiruna or further west to war zones beyond the city of Bourg.
The land-trains must carefully thread through the chaotic maze of roads in Praga
Once they reach the factories, the land-trains unload their cargo of new clone workers.
While the new clones are put to work almost immediately, the land-trains take on finished goods for the return journey to the Prime facility - mostly weapons made in Praga.
Many land-trains journey on past Praga, all the way to the city of Bourg and the war zones of the west.
The military trained clones aboard these land-trains will go into battle as soon as they arrive.
Tragically, many of them will have perished within just a few days... But the next delivery of clones is already on the way...
No matter what happens, the next convoy of land-trains is already on the way and the stream of new clones delivered across the world by the Prime facility never ceases.
Google Sites
Report abuse