All posts by ShinJae

Champions of Battle: AD7- Awakening #036

With little additional thought, Tosca followed her sisters to the royal garage.  The three of them always, always, always had meals together after work, without exception.  It’s been their routine for the longest of times.  It didn’t matter how the day went.  Every evening, the three of them shared a meal, did an activity, and then went to their separate apartments.  It just wouldn’t feel right for things to change, even today.

The three ladies began their practiced path through Rubin’s Castle.  The transition of architecture was stunning.  Cold, emotionless, plain lab walls were quickly replaced by the tapestries, polished marble floors, and expensive displays of the palace.  The regal elegance caught Tosca’s eye every time the three found an excuse to walk through.

Every now and then, there was a surprise.  A new token or trophy was displayed.  A new exotic rug from who knows where was placed near their path.  Regardless, everything in the palace was perfectly clean and cared for.  Things were definitely classier than they were ten years ago.  It was nice to see how Rubin’s style changed over the years.  Everything was stunning.  However, the best part of the evening still had to be the time the sisters would spend eating together.

The excitement or difficulty of a day usually affected the class of meal they had.  And with all the buzz throughout the facility and Adrianne’s excited tests, news about their new friend’s progress was exciting enough to warrant meal at the Bosstown Ge’s.  No doubt, Adrianne learned incredible things from watching the mechanized woman in action.  In any case, they probably would not hear anything about it tonight.

Work topics rarely made it into their after-work conversations; they were usually top secret.  Besides, they had far too many important things to sort out, especially this time of year.  The Trails were coming up.  They had to get ready to face any challenge thrown their way.  And while Rubin’s Trail turned out to be a wonderful and prosperous kingdom, it never hurt to have two.

The three ladies made up the active part of team Leuk Aga1n, a leading group in the royal clan Rubin’s Trail Mix.  Capable warriors, they fought alongside many other champions to defend the boundaries and honor of Rubin’s Trail.  However, Leuk Aga1n’s main focus was research and developing weapons for the clan and the kingdom.

As they reached the royal garage, Adrianne took the lead flanked closely by Chaeri on her left and Tosca on her right.  After hearing about their discussion earlier, she was surprised that Tosca was following so closely.  Of course, Tosca was the mentally tough one.  She had a much stronger character than Adrianne could muster on the best of days.

Entering the royal garage also never got old.  The lavish cleanliness and expensive style continued even here.  Not a speck of oil or fluid was on the light concrete flooring.  In the distance Rubin’s Royal Shuttle, a sleek black monster of a ship, menaced; even while resting.  Very heavily armed and elegant, it was a combination of Rubin’s older and newer tastes.

As always the kingdoms standard, the simplified sketch of a red trail through the woods, took its place on all the fighter ships.  It was also prominent on the king’s ship and the walls of the garage.

Spotting Dr. Yu, a few of the pilots rushed to their ships.  There were a few questions from her friends about the guards following them.  As a response, Adrianne told the quick story of the gankers she ran into.  In the end, she was just happy to be alive and thankful that Chaeri thought to call the sky guard to help her.  They were all happy for the guard’s foresight to follow along today.

Adrianne’s amazement continued as she spotted her ship among the many docked there.  After the morning’s excitement with the gankers, Silent Blur was covered in scorch marks and other debris.  Only half a day later, it looked as good as new.  The minty-lemon scent gave testimony of the royal garage staff’s tireless work.  Not a speck of soot or sap was on her ship.

Adrianne paused, Chaeri and Tosca followed suit.  “Ready?” she asked.  With no objections, they entered Silent Blur for another daily adventure.

#1 – Awakening #35 – Awakening #37

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #034

Finishing the quick conversation with Neely, Liana turned her whole attention to Jaquan.  She watched as he struggled with the oversized bundle on his shoulders.  Every bit of motion challenged all of his strength and focus.  She had barely seen him take five tiny steps into the light.  Already, he was sweating.  It would be a wonder if he made it to the street.

The whole dilemma brought back memories of the time before he was a household name.  Just as before, she knew better than to even offer any help.  He wanted and needed to earn this victory for himself.  All she could do was offer advice.

After giving the update on Neely and Catlin she said as much as she could in offering help, “You should slow down a bit.  You won’t gain anything if you hurt yourself.”  In all honesty, she could carry the load herself.  Little would trouble her other than balance.  Her advanced Mech suit ridiculously increased her strength, was made of plated compressed metal, and flew.

After a few minutes Jaquan miraculously reached the curb.  He stood as strong as he could pretending not to be completely exhausted.  He wasn’t convincing.  “I’m… fine,” he heaved breath as he spoke.  Setting “the pack” down was more of a challenge than picking it up.  He fell backwards in the attempt.  Getting back up, he rubbed his shoulder, “Might need a heal later though.”

“I gotchu,” Justice offered with no hesitation.

Liana was surprised at the speed of his comment.  Even more so when she remembered that Justice did not use the healing talents; Jaquan did.  Liana decided against commenting on the issue.  Instead, she made a note of it in her suit’s computer.  A few seconds later, she called for the cab to take them to the caravan.  They’d be leaving the city soon

——-

Bome Castle Hospital:

Finally, he had the release forms.  He grabbed a pen immediately.  He was standing and walking on his own power quite easily for the last ten minutes.  The staff should have had the papers waiting for him at the front desk.  He had more important things to do than waste precious time.  Perhaps if he did a subtle story on this hospital’s efficiency they would make changes.

His rushed signature looked more like a looping lasso than a name, but whatever.  They all knew who he was.  He didn’t stop to chat on his way out either.  There was too much for Ace Reporter Duard Ban to do.

The staff had kept him there for almost an entre day.  Granted he needed a carrier droid to get there.  Still their service was the worst he had received in a while.

Cracked ribs, crushed wing joints, and cracked shoulder blades.  Bome Castle’s hospital had completely healed it all with a day’s rest.  Still, South Coast could do the same in an hour or so.  Technology of the day was amazing for those that could afford the treatment.

Duard had the gold.  Now, if only Bome Castle could improve their methods and efficiency a bit.  It made better sense if all healing facilities were up to about the same level.  But, what could he expect from these developing kingdoms.

More importantly, he was now free of the hospital.  Duard had to get back on the trail of that ruffian that which landed him in there in the first place.  Never had he experienced such disrespect.

A scowl enveloped his face at the very thought of the man.  That son of a rat step on me!  I’ll drag his name through catfish infested water!  He could and he would, with little trouble.  Ban had led to the demise of more important people than Jaquan Zu.

#1 – Opportunity #33 – Opportunity #35

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #031

Now that Metcalf had a plan of attack, she had a real chance at victory.  A great holo-movie lie was that someone could be good enough at improvising to escape a challenge such as this.  Being a big fan of the holo-movies, she giggled to herself at the lie.  Without a plan, mistakes and successes were indistinguishable until it was too late.

A small light on Metcalf’s visor flashed signaling information being received.  With a few touches on her glove, she saw what Master Fu was planning.  The convenience store her instructor talked about was not that far, a short walk in a normal situation; pretty convenient.

Thinking ahead, Metcalf also checked Master Fu’s vector.  If Fu stayed at her average speed, she should be at the store within two fifths of an hour.  Not a lot of time given the current situation.  At least, she knew where she was going and about how long she had to get there.

For the extraction to be flawless, Metcalf had to be a swift ghost.  It would be too easy to track her if she leaves a clue in the same area as a mysteriously escaping van.  It would also be suspicious if Master Fu shopped at a convenience store for more than three minutes.  It was time for Metcalf to be on her way.

Metcalf heard the faint marching of the training-bots in the distance.  She crouched low to the ground.  Her suit quickly turned dark shades of the shadowed grey alleyway.  She was impressed as the color of her suit even mimicked the small cracks on the ground.  She crept slowly towards the street hoping not to see any guards but prepared to disappear if any were seen.

Thankfully, the patrols hadn’t made it this far out yet.  She needed to stay ahead of them.  So she needed to move.  Still the street was the most dangerous place she could be right now.  Her color changing suit would not help her unless she crawled on the ground.

Ugh.  I don’t need this right now.

Getting even lower and flatter to the ground, Metcalf prepared for the trek across the street.  There was a good reason why the suit she wore was nicknamed the Chameleon Suit.  She had to pretty slow for it to hide her perfectly.  She was definitely strong enough to handle the crawl.  Her motion energy skills would help her move more easily at the slow pace.

I’ll have to avoid streets from now on.  It took a dreadfully long half minute before she was almost across the street.  Thankfully there were no early morning drivers in the factory district.  Also, it was either a blessing or a curse that there were no patrols flying over her area.  It was wonderful not to be caught.  Still, with no patrols, she could have dashed across the street without a care and had been on her way.

She felt inner joy as she touched the curb.  However, a high-pitched whine above her head ended all how her inner cheer.  Judging from the sound, a speeder patrol hovered just a decimeter away.

Metcalf’s natural response was to freeze in place, a good response since they couldn’t actually see her.  The stealth suit started getting warm as she waited for them to make a move.  It sounded like there were about three speeders.  Metcalf had to be patient and look down not showing them the slightly less camouflaged visor.

After fifteen seconds of pure terror, the speeders lifted higher into the sky and sped off to the intersection.  Instead of celebrating her relief, Metcalf used this time to activate the cloaking field around her suit.

One of the suits flaws was that it could only be reasonably hidden from one angle.  She would prefer them not to see a chisho-shaped bit of concrete sticking out of the road.  That would be an obvious tell.

Unfortunately, activating the suit’s cloaking field exposed another flaw.  It was getting really hot!

#1 – Lost and Found #30 – Lost and Found #32