All posts by ShinJae

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #035

The Bome City Shuttle Port was relatively far from the hospital, but Duard’s constant irritations led the cab driver through the fastest possible routes.  Duard had no interest in seeing the sights or even the locals.  Only the shuttle port mattered.  Consequently, it took much less time to reach than usual.  Of course, his next destination was still a mystery but he was definitely leaving this land.  

Being a booming city, Bome’s port was always busy.  There were more shuttles parked than one would care to count.  Every space was full.  A few shuttles were preparing to launch while others hovered and spun in the sky preparing to land in the soon to be empty spots.

Each shuttle had a graphic noting their next stop.  After leaving the cab, Duard leaned on a pillar to think and make a call.  The shuttles’ graphics animations were slightly entertaining.  Duard watched as the graphics described their next destination while writing out the city’s name.

The call was to Champion’s Chronicle Headquarters.  If Duard was to make any impact on events, he had to be informed.  A lot may have changed in a day.  

It was just after hour seventeen so in Bome City it was well into evening.  However in South Coast, it was a very uncomfortable hour of morning .  Understandably, it took more than a few rings for Humberto to answer, but he was there.  The Chief was always there.  As expected, Chief Meng was a little grumpy this time of day; or night.  However, he knew about all the important stories at the Chronicle.  He seemed unusually glad that Duard was up and about and shared the story freely.

The tale of Juquan and the BigBad Crew moved quickly as Humberto only spoke in important facts.  Apparently they partied and cheated the casino.  After that, the story took a few unexpected turns.  The strangest turn was the reporter Humberto used to follow them.  Duard’s keen memory often kept him from asking for the same information twice, but Chief Meng’s selection was simply inconceivable.

“There has to be a mistake,” Duard corrected with unhideable disbelief, “Brisa?  My Brisa?”  Duard had to stop and lean the communicator to his ear.  There was no way he had heard that part right.

“Yeah Brisa Gan, your errand girl,” the Chief said with certainty, “She hasn’t called in for a while though.  She’s either doing fine or she’s dead.”

“What do you mean dead?”  He asked the question without thinking.  This whole situation seemed like a road trip horror story, “Where did they go?”

“West Drop.”

“West Drop!”  Duard knew for certain that his errand girl hoped to be as good a decent reporter.  However, following the BigBad Crew was too much for her as was going to West Drop.  The two facts together made absolutely no sense.   “Why not throw her to the bear-frogs while you’re at it!”

“She was there, and she could walk,” Humberto shouted back reminding Duard that he could not at the time, “If you want to catch up on the rest of the story, I suggest you go there and talk with her.”  Those were the Chief’s words before ending the connection.

Things were going terribly.  Sadly, things were probably much worse than Duard believed.  His plan to destroy Jaquan hung on a thread.  How could he find evidence to damage Jaquan if he couldn’t find Jaquan.  However, he was glad to have called.  He would look a fool if he had walked into this with the information he had only yesterday.  

Duard rushed to his private craft.  There was no time to lose. He should be there in a few hours.  

He scoffed at the idea of Brisa doing fine on anything.  All she’s fine for is getting my tea and sandwiches.  If she went to West Drop, chances are that she’s already robbed and stranded.  I’ll have to clean up whatever mess she’s found herself in.

#1 – Opportunity #34 – Opportunity #36

What exactly is a Crisho

Crishi (plural for Crisho) are the main race of creatures for the Sons of Sword Universe.  They were created by the last surviving humans who stayed safe by hiding in a bunker.  Due to the aftermath of some failed experiment or terror attack (I haven’t decided yet) the atmosphere would kill the humans, and only the humans, if they were to venture out of the bunker without protective gear.  Unfortunately, other beings created by these scientists led to their end.  (Uh… spoiler?)

The end of these scientists is referred to as Year One by those that remember the event.  (Year One: Another book perhaps.  Try to act surprised.)  The whole experience was bitter-sweet for the Crishi it has affected.  However, the stories in Sons of Sword take place thousands of years after this event.  Most Crishi think of this part of their history as myth.

The Crisho race is on a scale of centimeters to feet with humans.  So, the average height of a Crisho is about five to six centimeters.  Some are taller or shorter.  They have been granted human intelligence and have the same reactions to their height as humans do.

The first Crishi were given the intelligence of the scientists that made them.  As a result, technology came rather quickly for them.  Immune to the atmosphere, they are allowed to roam free in the world and thus change it to suit them.  They have made adjustments and use technology to thrive in any environment with their devices

The Crishi were created by blending cricket, lizard, grasshopper, and human DNA.  However, the end result is not as ghastly as one would expect.  The humans designed the Crisho race to look almost like humans.  This means the heads, arms, legs, fingers, toes, hips, and torsos of Crishi would be almost indistinguishable from humans in a silhouette.  However, there are still significant differences between human and Crisho anatomy.  

Crishi have grasshopper-like wings on their backs (of course) that reach from their shoulders to their waists.  However, their clothing is very similar to ours.  When the Crisho wings are not in use, they fold perfectly onto their backs, so the Crishi can behave much like a human would in most situations.  At times, a Crisho may wear clothing altered to allow the wings to be used.  

Still, wings go unused in daily life.  Perhaps a thief would want to use wings to get around a little easier outside.  Crisho athletes may use their wings in their respective sport.  Maybe the Chisho just wants to make a fashion statement.  Either way, although displaying one’s wings is not considered obscene, it’s just not done often.

Even if they were used, they are much like grasshopper wings and not meant for sustained flight or even gliding.  At best, the wings could be used to direct a jump or ease a fall if the Crisho has strengthened its wings to do so.  If the Chisho is wearing clothing that has any weight to it, these acts become much more of a challenge.  If there is a strong wind, forget about it; the “flyer” would be at its mercy.

Another difference is that Chishi have much thicker skin that sheds in large sections every few months.  The process is as uncomfortable as it sounds and results in a great deal of irritability.  However, after the process the Crisho’s skin is perfect for a short while.  

During the skin rebirth process, small amounts of a damaged or severed limb could be reformed.  Eventually, a Chisho limb would regrow if severed.  This is good because limb severing is an elementary part of certain fighting styles in the Sons of Sword Universe.  After a few months, an arm or leg can be completely replaced.  Even the bone would be as strong as it ever was.  

A side effect of limb regrowth is an increased appetite and strange cravings as the limb is reforming.  The body needs to replace all the bone and tissue lost by the trauma.  The unique minerals the body needs may be hard to find in the usual diet.  

This ability also causes doctors to be slightly less concerned about the conditions of a limb.  It’ll grow back or repair itself to become just as good as it was, so there is little concern for the outer limbs.  They instead focus on internal organs, which don’t grow back.

Crishi skin appears different as well.  When Crishi are born, they all share a bright, light leaf green pigmentation.  As they mature, continued shedding reveals the colors and patterns the Crisho will have for life.  This color can be any color imaginable with patches, spots, or stripes of up to any two other colors imaginable.  However, only about fifty colors will be mentioned to keep things simple.  

The Crishi are a spirited, intelligent, creative race that have survived a great deal of hardship and challenge.  They have built vast empires, technologies, and machines to stand against the giant beasts that inhabit their world.  I hope you enjoy their adventures.

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #032

The suit was getting hot; really, REALLY hot.  It became painful for Metcalf to move as movement forced more contact with the scalding suit.  It took a great deal of concentration for Metcalf not to cry out or turn the suit off right then and there.  She still needed its protection to stay relatively invisible and safe from the training-bots.

Enduring the searing pains, Metcalf managed to get into the alley’s shadow.  She immediately disabled the suit’s light bending technology.  Though she was no longer invisible, she was still hidden enough.  The neutral colors of the suit blended well enough to hide her from the flying patrols.  Crouched near a dumpster, she was safe enough from the wandering patrols.

Though the suit’s visual protection was deactivated, the thermal guard was still active.  The heat from the mechanism was still trapped in the suit, it would not cool by itself.  Metcalf was still cooking and the discomfort pressured her steady mind.  She had to do something, anything immediately before she could rest comfortably.   

After a few frantic seconds, an idea came to mind.  Though Metcalf was not a Thermal Master, she could use her Motion Mastery to cool her suit almost immediately and be on her way again.  The bots may get a clue of where she is, but hopefully, she’d be gone by the time they’d solve the puzzle.

The dumpster had a disgusting rusted hole in the bottom corner.  Gross, but it would have to do.  Metcalf barely opened her sleeves exposing just a little heat to the air.  Sticking one hand into the hole, she reached out with the other hand and prepared for the chill.  

With the next gust of wind, Metcalf pushed the air out of her suit replacing it with the air from the outside wind.  The hot air went into the dumpster while the cool air filled her suit.  Of course, her body needed time to stop sweating and the chilled air and what sweat she had suddenly felt the chill.

Now she was freezing again.

——

As Master Fu drove across town in the van, she took in the scenery.  The sight of this simple city in the morning was a welcome contrast to the life she knew in the capital.  Closed stores and large gaps between building gave testament to the lower population and the simple income of the locals.  

Insula also thought of her student’s progress.  Metcalf was doing quite well up until now.  There were a few rookie mistakes here and there, but that was expected on her first test mission.  Metcalf had shown vast improvements in just a few months, evidence that she was taking the training very seriously.  

There was a good chance that Metcalf could have already been a wonderful agent under different circumstances.  Unfortunately, she had found herself stuck and this particular goal was still far from achievable.  Metcalf had been at Sword Mint Academy for so long that the grading curve placed on her would be nearly impossible to overcome.  She would have to become better, train harder.  

Insula had been keeping close tabs on the test everything in this test especially the training-bots used for the mission.  Some of them were controlled by the peasant Commoners to give an added element of realism.  According to what she had noted, none of the bots or the guards had noticed any kind of disturbance.  Her student was hiding well so far.  However, Metcalf still needed to get to the van in time for a smooth extraction.

In the road ahead, the robotic guards had made a road block.  Insula didn’t know if her automated bots did this or the bots that were controlled.  Either way, Insula couldn’t help but smile to herself.  

This is going to be fun.

#1 – Lost and Found #31