All posts by ShinJae

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #7

A thousand points?!  No way, way too much!  Even though a small win would be outstanding, a wager that large is not even close to being worth the risk.  Metcalf didn’t even try to hide her reluctance.  The amount may have been reasonable for Isabeau.  The top students had many more points to play with.  For Metcalf, a big loss at those stakes would set her down to zero.

“If that’s too much, we can change the amount.”  Isabeau’s expression showed as well.  This made no sense.  Metcalf was wasting her talents here.  She had seen students gambling points in training centers; the competition it created.  Even when students worked together, they never stayed in this arena for as long as Metcalf, Naoh, or Koh.

The students here usually had no other way to get the extra points they desperately needed.  They had to win Academy Points or face expulsion, utter failure, and disgrace.  There were no other options.  Their future, their hopes, the free life of an academy student, the honor of a Protector, everything depended winning.

Most only knew the basics but they used those basics in ways never taught in the classrooms.  They fought hard for those points, the fiercest competition she had ever seen.  At times, more inventive students happened upon variations of advanced strategies and techniques.  Isabeau only hoped to gleam some of the techniques to use as her own.

At the end of the mid-season, the winners and losers were determined.  Losers never came back, expelled after the final.  Winners rarely came back, not wanting to fight in the Training Center again unless it was absolutely necessary.  Metcalf stayed in this environment and thrived.  True, Metcalf was low in the student rankings but only because she wasted her time here playing for tens and twenties.

Isabeau had no doubt that Metcalf would win with the proper incentive.  More points meant a stronger fight, right?  She was pretty much giving Metcalf points for the honor of a challenge.  But, if a thousand points a target was too much, “What about five hundred?”

Well.  Maybe, less than that. Though it was definitely more reasonable, it was quite a lot more than usual.  So much, much more than Metcalf had ever played for before.  Isabeau could be using a negotiating tactic; starting unreasonably high so that a sucker could suggest something unusually high.  Things rarely ended well for the sucker.  Metcalf was having no more of this. “Two fifty,” she spoke with certainty.  It still could be a trap.  The amount was well more than double what she expected to bet, but it was still recoverable if she lost.  However, that was her final offer, no higher.

Two fifty?!  Metcalf is definitely showing her a lot of respect.  But if that’s the way she wants it, “Deal.”  Such a low bet.  She was going to be very upset if she won.

The negotiations finished, they waited for their number to be called.  They sat without speaking for a while.  Sometimes, the wagers were the hardest part of the challenges.  They both wanted their way, and each had to flex their wills to get it.  It was especially tough for the nicer students.  If they became friends later, it would be great.  It was never certain though.  After the awkward silence, Isabeau suggested they eat somewhere after the mid-season.

“Sure,” Metcalf said without hesitation.  She was still a growing young lady of course.  She loved to eat.  Also, she could ask her about a few special techniques.  Such a high ranked student had to know some techniques that only the Quarter Masters taught.

“I’ll give you my contact after this.”

#1 – Lost and Found #6 – Lost and Found #8

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #11

Entering the canopy, Adrianne stretched her hands forward.  Silent Blur followed suit, obeying her commands perfectly.  In this position, the forward legs acted as a shield to protect the control cab from extensive damage.

While the Silent Blur was in this form, every part of Adrianne’s body was used to control the ship.  Her arms and legs controlled Silent Blur’s legs.  Her wings controlled Silent Blur’s wings if she still needed them for mid-air maneuvering.  Even her waist would twist Silent Blur’s mid-section.  Only the tail was controlled by the computers to correct Silent Blur’s balance.  In many ways, she was Silent Blur at this point.  She would look silly to someone watching in the cockpit.  However, with the split second decisions she was making it was necessary for controlling the ship correctly.

In years past, she had watched the squirrels in action.  They were nearly flawless acrobats, the best in the trees.  She modified Silent Blur so she could imitate them.  She had perfected a landing technique from watching them.  She had never tried it at this speed before but lacked the time for logical decision making.

The sensors gave her all the information they could, but at this speed they had trouble keeping up.  Their information fed into a holographic display that surrounded her.  It showed the woods around Silent Blur set to her scale.  Everything about the woods was there everything down to the shapes of the leaves and vision into the distance.  Usually in life-like detail, the objects were mere string outlines and simple shades at this speed.

She found many branches to help her slow her decent, crashing into one after another.  The frantic search took an agonizing fraction of a second.  She decided that any branch would do and grabbed at one.  It bowed heavily with Silent Blur’s weight, but Silent Blur’s sharp metal claws held fast.

The branch bent hitting another branch, then another.  The branches took a lot of the energy away from her momentum but not enough to satisfy physics.  She had to start moving or risk breaking several branches causing more problems.

The claws sunk deep into the branch shredding it as she and momentum worked around the unpredictable branches.  Soon she regained complete control and ran up to the thicker parts of the branches.  Reaching the trunk, Silent Blur’s claws dug deep into the bark as she ran around it a few times descending the tree.

By the time she reached the lowest strong branches, she was moving at regular speeds.  Much faster than a squirrels, but slow enough for her sensors to pick up the slightest details of the woods around her.

She stopped the ship to think.  Though counter-intuitive to escape, it was the smartest thing for her to do at that point.  She positioned Silent Blur into a position similar to that of a sitting squirrel.  This could fool the gankers temporarily.

No doubt they were finding their own way through the canopy by now.  Without her modifications, they would have to slow their ships and descend very carefully.  They would ping for motion just as she could, but this could work against them.  There was a good chance they knew about where she was, but they would not know exactly.  There were real squirrels in the woods too.  Without seeing her, the gankers could mistake her for one.

She ran a quick check of Silent Blur’s systems to make sure that she would not be unpleasantly surprised at a very bad time.  Everything checked out except her weapons system.  They were still in the weapons test mode she had set while experimenting with the missile.  In her haste to get back to Rubin’s Trail, she neglected to set the weapons back to standard mode.  Those adjustments could only be done from outside the ship?!

With no working weapons she had no way to hide in the woods and shoot them down one at a time, a plan that was just coming to her.  She was way too far to reach the city.  She had to get out of their jamming range to call for help.

She had a feeling the gankers could be near enough to almost her about now.  She had to make sure to stay out of their sight.  Though she moved like a squirrel, she certainly looked nothing like one.  Even a slight glance would blow her cover.  She had to make a quick decision which way to go.

They knew she was headed toward Rubin’s Trail.  Her sensors and Captain Bubbles agreed that the city was straight ahead.  However, only a fool would continue to head for the city at this point.  A tricky person would run left or right to try and approach the city from a different angle; she would have to do that but not now.  The only thing she could do to stay alive was run away from Rubin’s Trail.

#1 – Awakening #10 – Awakening #12

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #10

Brisa Gan hung in the air about a centimeter and a half away from Catlin and a half centimeter off the ground.  She was a little less than five centimeters tall.  Her skin was fairly well kept, sky blue with large red patches.  She wore the nearly formal attired of a news reporter but looked somewhat out of place in them; she was way too young.

Faint hints of black flame escaped from Catlin’s red in black eyes as she stared at the very scared young lady.  Brisa had no intention of being this close to them, especially like this.  She was completely at a loss.  Realizing this, Catlin’s demeanor changed from the angry killer to a falsely sympathetic inquisitor.

A faint smile crossed her lips.  She noticed Brisa’s bowtie was not correctly tied.  Maybe it went out of place during the unexpected, split-second trip.  Either that or she didn’t know how to tie one.

Catlin spoke slowly and calmly as she started.  “So, Brisa Gan from the Champion’s Chronicle,” her voice was distorted.  It sounded darker almost beast-like, a side effect of her Unholy Talent use.  She reached out correcting Brisa’s tie, “What do you hope to accomplish by spying on us.”  Catlin’s hands, still aflame, left scorch marks on the fabric.

Brisa tried to think of some way to correct her situation but nothing was coming to mind.  Held within Catlin’s motion grip, she couldn’t move… anything.  Every member of her body seemed to be trapped in steel.  She was forced to stare back into those burning red in black eyes or seem like an obvious liar.  “I…I was doing a report on the shuttle port.”  She tried to sound as confident as she could.  “There was an attack here the other day.”

“That’s not what this says,” Liana spoke happily as she read from Brisa’s handheld.  Though she had let go of it in her surprise, it had hung in the air a millimeter away from her hand until Liana grabbed it.  “You have been keeping close tabs on us since last night.”

Brisa knew she was busted, “Sorry,” Brisa’s voice went up an octave.  The flames from Catlin’s hands seeped deep into her chest.  She must not like being lied to.  “We were interested in where Jaquan was going.”  The flames started to hurt more.

“Why,” Catlin looked up at her as she asked calmly.  She had finished correcting the bowtie.  It looked perfect apart from the scorched fabric.

The flames left Catlin’s hands.  Instead, an intense chill came upon her.   Catlin’s hands, now covered in frost, froze the bowtie in place.  Now Brisa’s chest was almost freezing, but she continued, “He’s scheduled to fight Orien Chuan in a month but decides to leave instead of training.  We were curious.”  Even after Catlin’s hands left the bowtie, the chill stung into her chest.  It penetrated much deeper than the heat it had replaced.

“What I do and where I go is my business,” Jaquan countered.  He walked between her and Catlin making sure she saw what he was saying, “I don’t need no reporter commenting on everything I do.”  He was utterly disgusted.  He worked hard for a living, endured pain both in training and in the arenas.  After all he did, this kid wanted to take his life and use it to get a story.  “Get lost,” he added waving her off.

Catlin released her grip and Brisa fell to the ground, strait on her butt.  Neely’s empowerment aura fell as well.  Liana gave Brisa’s handheld back and they started walking away from her one by one.  Brisa had only just been giving this assignment.  Even with her limited knowledge on reporting, she knew that she was not getting any more information from them.

Neely was the last to leave.  He stood there with her and spoke as her helped her up, “If I was you, I wouldn’t follow us.”  He was a stark contrast to Catlin; peaceful, calming, and sincere.  This made his words stick even more.  “You should write about safer places.”  Brisa agreed, and he walked off to join his group.

She was left alone at the shuttle port holding her handheld in complete defeat.  There was no chance she was going to get any of them to talk to her again.  That was a short assignment.

#1 – Opportunity #9 – Opportunity #11