All posts by ShinJae

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #10

Manna stayed in the booth for a time and finished his food.  It was a lot easier to forget about the winter chill from inside the tavern.  He needed the rest, and not just physical rest.  In silence, he didn’t have to pretend that he was someone else.  Besides, he still had a good fifteen minutes left in his lunch break.

He looked around at the decor.  Trophies of lizard skins lined the wall.  Televisions played the sports channel highlights of the games that played over the past week.  There were street signs and awards of past great moments of the tavern’s history.  The awards were too far away for Manna to read, but obviously meant something to the tavern owners.

The server asked if he wanted any of Guy’s untouched dishes.  The food looked delicious but Manna refused.  He knew what kind of money paid for Guy’s lifestyle.  The food and the clothes was just another way Guy tried to get him into the gang.  It didn’t work.  He would not become jealous of Guy’s stuff.  Whatever the ends, Manna would not participate in those means.  He had fallen for it once, never again.

Manna would prefer not to steal to survive, but that was life.  No matter the excuses he gave himself, he knew it was wrong.  He’d prefer to have a legit life.  He had tried to keep a legit life, but times were hard.

His side business created the need to go to certain lengths to stay protected.  He covered his tracks well but someday a crazy, determined, upset victim would find him.  He looked over his shoulder secretly from time to time just to be safe.  This life wasn’t for him, but what else could he do.

Things were different for Guy.  He started realizing how much money he could make.  Little by little things got out of hand.  He eventually fell in love with the money and started taking more and more risks to find more.  His gang got into all kinds of things.  Smuggling, gambling, bank heists; nothing seemed to be passed them.

And now, who knows what Guy has gotten into?  Manna preferred not to know.  That way, if someone asks about the plans he can honestly be ignorant.

He finished his carrots and celery, paid his portion of the bill, and headed out to go back to work.  Stepping outside, he was immediately thankful he was wearing thermals under his thick robe.  The chill wind thought nothing of his discomfort.

The walk to the bakery was short.  The sky was clear and the air was oh so very cold.  He could see the mighty apple trees in the distance through the buildings.  New comers to the area would be confused about the clear sky and the cold winds.  To Manna, it was ordinary.

As a safety measure, he took note of all the faces he saw on the walk back to the bakery.  Most of the people recognizing him were friendly.  He greeted them with kind words.  He looked for unfriendly faces.  Seeing none, he headed into the bakery.

#1 – Lost and Found #9 – Lost and Found #11

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #14

“Level head… level head… level head…” Adrianne repeated the words over and over again.  It sounded silly but it was one way to keep from focusing on the many negatives of her situation.

With Silent Blur’s weapons still set for her experiment, Adrianne had no choice but to keep running through the forest at far above recommended speeds.  Each tree was in the forward view for about a second before they were shrinking in the distance behind her.  In that time she had to twist and turn around several more trees while keeping track of what was happening on her scanners.  Captain Bubbles rocked and flipped around angrily with each twist warning her of her actions.

It was a shame she had to run.  The gankers avoided entering the canopy, so far.  The only weapons they seemed to use were the hover hunters.  The cloaking hunters never had thick armor.  They relied on surprise and disguise.  Their thin light shell aided their acceleration and battery life.  It also ruined their use in a basic fight.  One good hit from anything was all it took to break one.

If the gankers in the ships above needed the hover hunters to find her, she had a possible advantage.  The ships could outrun her, but the hover hunters already proved to have trouble when Silent Blur was at full speed.

As she was planning her next move, a rather large tree seemed to leap out of nowhere directly in front of her.  “What the… NOT GOOD,” Adrianne shouted to herself.  She twisted the ship and clawed at the ground.  She even used the rockets on Silent Blur’s wings to slow the ship.  She stopped mere centimeters from the tree, leaving scorch marks on the bark.  Full speed could be a little too dangerous.

She looked at the sensors again.  They showed her what she already knew.  The two cloaked ships were circling just over the canopy above her.  The hover hunters tried to keep up with her but were running out of power.  They were flying back up to the ships, perhaps to recharge.

Now that the immediate threat was on pause for a bit, she had to choose the best path back to Rubin’s Trail.  Only two ships were on her scanners.  The other two had to be around somewhere.  These gankers have proven to be well prepared before.  How they got so prepared, she didn’t know.  However, she didn’t want to run into any traps.

By now, she was running again and had reached Rubin’s River which flowed north from Rubin’s Mountains towards Rubin’s Trail.  There was little point in trying to hide from the gankers.  They already knew where she was.  She ran north along the river and conducted another long range scan of the known cloaking frequencies.  She also pinged for motion to see where all the ships were and where they were going.

They were leaving.

It took Adrianne a little time to trust that what she saw was real, but it was.  They were all turning around and heading back towards Rubin’s Mountain.  Surly nothing she had done caused them to fly away in such a hurry.  So what was it?

The answer came with the roar of the mighty sky guard fighters.  These ships didn’t hide their presence at all.  Even if they wanted to they’d have trouble.  There were at least eight of them flying in formation.  Apparently, the gankers were running away before they had a chance to lose the fight.

Adrianne heard a call on her ship communicator.  “This is Sky Guard Es-Gee-Five-Twelve calling Silent Blur,” the voice called calmly, “Greetings Dr. Yu.  Are you in need of any further assistance?”

#1 – Awakening #13 – Awakening #15

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #13

Transport Shuttle: Stirrer 34, Midflight to West Drop

I’m crazy, just crazy.  A sane person wouldn’t do this.  I have to be crazy.  Brisa regretted getting on the shuttle the moment it showed signs that it would start moving.  She was on assignment to track a group people that didn’t like her in the slightest.  Any one of them could kill her.  She knew for sure that one of them hated her; Jaquan hated reporters.  She also knew for sure that one of them found her and attacked with no warning.

The ship had taken off about twenty minutes ago.  Brisa has had plenty of time to think about her mental state since then.  The original event was fresh in her head; forced to stare into those red in black eyes; hanging helpless in the air.  They found her once, they’ll find her again.  They could already know that she was there.

“No, no,” she said out loud trying desperately to push that thought away.  They found her once and she got off with a warning, a warning she will never forget.  She may not be so lucky if they found her again.

They can’t know that she was there.  The shuttle was huge.  There was no way they saw her get in the shuttle.  She sat in the back of the shuttle they were in the front.  They couldn’t have seen her enter the shuttle either.  The fans bombarded the Champion and his crew before she entered.  Besides, if they knew she was there, she would have known by now.

She was safe as long as she stayed out of sight.  Her part of this mission was about finished.  Things were going well.  All she had to do was get to West Drop, meet the other reporter, and go back home.

The pulsing heat on her chest was getting easier to bare.  It was far from gone though.  Maybe she was getting used to it.  The heat was getting to the point where she could possibly ignore it if she was distracted enough.  Now she just had to bare this flight, however long it would be.

—–

In the celebrity cabin, Jaquan, Liana, and Justice were on the phone with the last of the angry fight commission representatives.  Jaquan was under contract to fight Orien Quan plain and simple.  If Jaquan failed to make the appearance at the fight his title was forfeit.

Jaquan was perfectly fine with losing the title.  Things got a little complicated when ticket sales were added into the equation.  The promoters and event center owners were counting on people in the seats and gold in their pockets.  One at a time, everyone with a voice in the matter expressed their displeasure with the situation.  Some even made interesting threats.

Neely and Catlin were sitting on the couch sound asleep.  It was a wonder they slept without stirring.  As the messages played on, the speakers became more and more intense.  However, Jaquan had made his decision.  The BigBad Crew stood with Jaquan.  They were moving forward with this to see where it landed them.  If it gave them troubles later, so be it.

No doubt how Quan would spin this.  He took every opportunity to tell the press Jaquan was dodging a fight with him.  He would use this move to only “prove” his story.  As the messages ended, the three sat in silence.

Liana was the first to speak up, “Now that we’ve disappeared from the promoters, they’ll think you’ve run away from Chuan.”

“Not scared of him,” Jaquan responded as he would to a nagging parent.  When did Chuan get so important anyway?  It really was getting old.  All Quan did was talk about himself on the news.

“How would the public know that,” Liana gave the basic logical response.

Jaquan couldn’t get mad at that.  He was half thinking that to himself, “I’ll say it.”

“To whom,” Liana responded, “Whatever you say, Orien will spin to say whatever he wants it to mean.  He’s been doing it for years.”

“I find that face time is only good for drawing attention,” Justice added with an air of insight, “like advertisements.  Even if you sent a convincing message though the press, Chuan will counter.  But, if we show what you’re doing and prove Chuan a liar, he’ll have nothing to say.”

“No one respectable is here to film us,” Liana said, “We left without any notice to the press.  For all the promoters know, we’re going to West Drop to party.  No one even knows that we’re…”

They all came to the same conclusion, even Jaquan.  He slapped his head with disgust, “A reporter, really.”  He didn’t like it, but it was the fastest option they had to stay credible.  They had to get the word out that he was not hiding or running.  This would silence Quan before his loud mouth even opened.

They looked at Catlin and Neely napping on the couch.  If Brisa was truly from Champion’s Chronicle she’d be on this shuttle somewhere.  Once Catlin woke up, she could easily track Brisa down.  Then they’d have a special exclusive for the rookie news starlet.

#1 – Opportunity #12 – Opportunity #14