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Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #033

Keyanna stopped walking and thought for a bit to correct herself, “Well, Building is a thing.  It’s just not an official Talent Set, more of a side skill.”

AD7 stopped just as she reached Keyanna trying to think of a good reason her favorite Talent Set would disband.  None came to mind.  Building was never the strongest of Talent Sets.  It was mostly used to surprise opponents with tricky gadgets or aid those that lacked fighting skill.  AD7 enjoyed planning her machines and seeing what she could do with the gadgets.

She only used what she built to create wonderful cities and tower style defenses.  Of course, the only real limit was what the Builder knew how to build.  With eyes wide and mouth open she couldn’t believe what she had just learned.  Her Talent Set, what she used to define herself for all her life was no more, “But… Why?”

Keyanna stood at the entrance to the Talent Square and scratched her head awkwardly looking at the mossy ground.  She wanted to think of a good answer other than the obvious reason AD7 was famous, or infamous.  She finally gave up and spoke her way around the issue, “I’m not really sure exactly what happened.  I wasn’t around.  I do remember something about it causing problems.”

AD7 listened intently and thought.  Unsafe?  That was possible if someone abused machines, it would cause problems.  Regardless of what she thought of her favorite Talent Set, it was gone now.  She had to choose another one or come up with something close to it.

“All the old designs were destroyed,” Keyanna continued, “only a few plans have survived.”  She glanced at AD7 and started walking.

AD7 followed Keyanna suddenly realizing why she was so important to Pure in Sanity.  She was the only one that still had plans for the old style machines.  Granted, they were buried somewhere in her mind, but she used them before they were never really forgetten.

The two ladies looked into the Talent Square and its restless activity as they passed.  There were a few targets made of wood in the center of the square.  Most were broken, burning or otherwise destroyed.  Champions continued to strike at their remains though.  Other Champions sparred in the open field.

There were two sparring Champions that seemed out of place.  While lacking none of the fighter’s spirit, they were far less talented than others.  Their clumsy attacks and awkward movements made AD7 giggle a bit.  She could only imagine herself as one of them when she started training.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted you before,” Keyanna said beginning to meander towards the equipment sellers, “We really are happy that the two of you decided to help us.  But we’ll have to act fast to get your friend out of Rubin’s Trail.”

AD7 followed Keyanna taking the hint of their next destination.  The two of us, she thought.  AD7’s mind went back to the hanger entrance.  Was she talking about that guy?  He was kind enough but something about the way he looked at her was just plain creepy.  “No.  It’s perfectly fine.”  The way AD7 spoke said more than her words could have.  She was quite happy to be away from Cyd.

“I thought so,” Keyanna smiled as she spoke.  Looking at AD7’s clothes and the fact that she had no possessions, Keyanna decided to start with the basics, “We’ll need some good equipment for you.”

AD7 followed Keyanna’s gaze to her clothes.  She was still wearing the simple brown shirt and pants from the Rejuvenation Center.  She picked that particular shirt for the fitting dark humorous message.  The words “I Live Again” were printed in bold letters on the front while “Why is everyone older” was printed on the back.

The clothes did their job well enough, but she’d need a bit more if she was going to survive an adventure, “Sure, where are we going?”

#1 – Awakening #32 – Awakening #34

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #031

Shinsaku and Ione grabbed their handhelds and rushed to the pile of armor.  They knew better than to fiddle with the droids.  Sure they could check the alley but they’d completely give away their position.  Any competent guard would check for things like that.

Ione looked at the pile franticly.  There was no way the team could sort through all this in the next two minutes and find the best items.  “What do we do,” the sound of hurriedness escaped her voice.  Her strong instinct was to grab random items and run for it.  She looked at Phillip and Taigi.  They were supposed to be done by now!

Time was against them.  Ione knew the team would be in big trouble if they were caught.  They had a plan for escape.  They also planned to catch all the targets and for all targets to be stuck in rejuvenation centers for the next few weeks.  Having one target escape was trouble.  Now, two slayers and possibly a horde of guards were on their trail.  Everything was falling appart!

Taigi looked at Ione’s overly concerned posture, “We relax,” she instructed rolling her eyes.  It seemed Ione’s first reaction was always to worry, often hindering their progress.

Shinsaku nodded in agreement, “Get ready to move.”  He was the rock staying calm even though he was most exposed in all this.  It was what made him the best fighter of the group.  He traded glances between Taigi and Phillip.  They’ve had plenty of time to do their job, “Alright, what are we taking?

After gathering the selected armor, RedBatty followed the plan and split into three teams.  To Taigi’s dismay, she was stuck with Ione who needed to change clothes.  Therefore she had to linger in a soon to be compromised area while listening to Ione whine as she fumbled around with her armor and helmet.  Shinsaku and Phillip had long since left the building by then.  It was good since it reduced suspicion.

Unfortunately, in her rush Ione forgot to deactivate the hover droid tracking their latest target.

—–

     A strange twist in the World Circuit today as Jaquan Zu, World Circuit title holder for several years, has decided to leave the World Circuit instead of facing his longtime rival Orien Quan. 

     Sources say that Zu had become increasingly bitter towards Quan saying that Quan had used underhanded tactics during their most recent bout.  Zu has since not been available for comment. 

     However, Quan had this to say, “I’m surprised that he’d disappear like that.  I could tell he was losing nerve as the fight got closer.  I never thought he’d quit.”  Quan went on to say that he’d, “lost all respect Zu.  I used to look up to him.  Fighting him told me that I was nearing the top.  But if he [is] scared, he [is] scared.”

     The Championship fight will continue only a little later than originally scheduled.  Instead of fighting Zu, Quan will battle against Madrid Li, the third in line for the World Circuit Title.  We can only wait to see how she will respond to this opportunity.

Jaquan sat in his chair getting angrier and angrier as he watched the news feed.  This was the reason he hated reporters.  No matter what really happened, the reporters would run with a story and shout their message until enough people agreed with them.  By the time the whole truth came out.  The public already had an opinion washed into their brains.

He resists throwing his handheld down in anger.  Deciding instead to slap the holographic image it was presenting.  His handheld got the message to shut off as Jaquan stood from his seat.

Looking around the resting area, he spotted his comrades and the clock.  It was almost hour seventeen.  “Liana,” he said, “Call Neely.  Ask him where he’s at.  It’s time to go.”

#1 – Opportunity #30 – Opportunity #32

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #028

Moss Hills, Oakwood Factory:

“Focus.  Be ready for anything,” Insula Fu instructed from Metcalf’s earpiece.

Metcalf had no choice but to remain silent.  She was already doing what Master Fu had said.  She had so much to focus on simultaneously and keeping her shaky position on the wall was hard enough.  She preferred not to be reminded of the obvious.

After only two months of intense training, Metcalf’s abilities had greatly improved.  Her friends turned out to be wonderful teachers.  Their crunch-time classes combined with Master Fu’s early morning sessions taught Metcalf far more than she thought possible.  Though painstakingly well-constructed and realistic, Master Fu’s lessons were also unorthodox and challenging.  She never knew what she would have to do next.

This time, Metcalf found herself just outside an open fifteenth story window of a factory guarded by training-bots; the androids that trained with and sometimes defeated the highest level of students.  Her task required that she retrieve a secret microchip from a room in the factory.  Metcalf knew she was good at combat, but she didn’t consider herself good enough to take on a factory full of highly skilled fighting machines.  Instead, she used stealth and her motion energy skills to find and hopefully remove the chip without combat.

Metcalf found that the stealthiest body positions were rarely the most comfortable.  Currently, she was upside down looking into a large open window avoiding the nose shattering window sill and the annoying breeze an open window creates.  The only thing keeping her body pressed against the brick wall was her motion abilities.  It took a lot of concentration to pull off this trick especially with the wind outside.  Of course, the trick was impossible a few short months ago.  She was excited about her improvement but knew full well the safety risks.

Metcalf was masked and dressed completely in an indigo cloth outfit.  With a night seeing magnifying monocle over her right eye and a set of small mirrors, she searched the room hoping not to make too much noise.  She had to examine every inch of this room for something useful.  There had to be something in the room with information about the layout of the building or the location of the chip.  If she was really lucky, she could find microchip itself but that was pushing it.

These crucial moments of her sessions were the ones she dreaded the most.  Master Fu’s training methods were as bizarre as they were intense.

“What’s the square root of half of eighteen,” Master Fu shouted quickly into her microphone.  Master Fu could afford to yell; she was safe in a van half a town away.

“Ni… Uhh three,” Metcalf replied.

The answer was correct, but the sudden change in brain function broke Metcalf’s concentration just enough.  The distraction was all it took to end the mission.  She cursed as she slipped down the wall.  The mirrors she held so steady seconds ago fell to the floor.  She could climb back up to look into the window again but she needed her mirrors to search properly.  She would have to enter the room herself and find the mirrors before she started searching again.

Not willing to take the risk being caught and beaten while searching, she preferred to abort everything and come back another day.  Mirrors were cheap and could be found anywhere.  If that was all they had to go on, she was in the clear for now.

Metcalf continued sliding down the wall but started to control and slow her decent.  Finding a ledge on the wall, she leapt off the wall and used her crisho wings to guide herself and land on a roof across the street.  She heard the sirens in the factory start to sound.  By now she was far enough away to evade capture.  Still she kept running.

She wouldn’t be caught, but she would also have more problems when she tried again.  Next time, the guards would take more precautions to secure anything of value.  That’s what real people would do anyway.

#1 – Lost and Found #27 – Lost and Found #29