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Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #035

Mahari’s bot lagged about to send the information to the factory computer.  It didn’t take long to set a beacon but Dusk’s bot was long gone before Mahari could finish.  There was no point in trying to slow Dusk down either.  All Mahari could do was mark his speeders location the computer’s internal map and try to follow.

It was flustering to trail behind but they had to keep the target moving and slightly panicked.  Soon, all training-bots and speeders will be in this area to trap the intruder.  If they allowed enough time to hide, they would lose their prey.

Mahari had to judge from sound alone exactly where Dusk had gone.  With the bot’s enhanced hearing, he caught the already faint whine of a speeder flying through the alleyways.  At that, he kicked into gear and raised his speeder above the rooftops towards Dusk’s general direction.  By cutting across the roofs, he caught up and was soon above and behind Dusk again.  As suspected, Dusk was darting quickly through the alleyways at nearly impossible speeds.  Granted, he seemed to be having a little trouble on the turns, but he was as determined as always.  There was no way their target could be far.

This was the tricky part.

Past experiences taught Mahari never to underestimate academy students.  He and Dusk were honored to take part in the academy’s final exams and tournaments.  As a result, he had an idea of what he could be facing.  Hopefully, Dusk remembered as well.  This one was still training but, was being personally tutored by a Founder.

The average students were beyond difficult to beat in groups, more difficult when the groups were organized.  Even though this student was alone, Mahari knew to be careful.  In the tests, his bot was destroyed many times before he knew anything was happening.  That may happen a few times today as well.  He kept an eye on the path ahead of Dusk’s bot to check for odd happenings.  Often, Dusk got so focused on the trail that he may miss things that were right in front of him.

 

Dusk followed the footprints hurriedly on their path.  The distance between prints spread further and further as this student ran faster and faster through the alleys.  It had to be a girl.  There was no way a dude’s feet were that small.  She somehow managed to run ridiculously fast without running into anything on the ground or walls.  

At times, her stride was more than twenty centimeters.  To be honest, he wasn’t certain that he was catching up.  She ran on walls as she turned while Dusk had to slow down to avoid crashing.  They had crossed a few streets but were going so fast, any patrolling bots would only hear his speeder zip by and miss the chase completely.  

Her path seemed random but she was generally heading for a small housing district.  Dusk wasn’t sure if she was going there on purpose or if she was truly panicked.  Either way, he knew where she was going.  He pressed a button on his speeder to contact his partner.  “Mahari.”

“Aye,” received Mahari on the other end.

“She’s goin’ to… OhShu!,” Dusk swerved violently as he twisted around to correctly make a turn.  Sparks flew as he scraped the concrete ground.  Once upright, he kicked the speeder back into gear to get back on her trail.

“Careful,” Mahari warned.

“Always,” Dusk lied.  The concrete scratch on the bottom of his speeder was a testament to that.  “She’s going to Pine Hill.”

“Got it.  I’ll set it up.”

“We’ll catch this one.  First hit is mine.”

Dusk was surprised at his own aggressiveness.  The Protectors had never done any wrong to him or his family, they had actually been very good customers.  Nonetheless, he was currently hunting one down with the hope of beating her to submission.

For a brief second, he considered going easy just this one time.  He pushed the thought aside just as quickly as it came.  Though she was still in training, the harsh realities of Protector life would be realized eventually.  Enemies to Glory City definitely won’t go easy and would have reason not to.  

They would torture and kill gruesomely.

Comparatively, they were being merciful to her and the trap will finish this test.  As planned, all training-bots started converging near the housing district, hidden and ready to pounce.  

She was not getting away.

#1 – Lost and Found #34 – Lost and Found #36

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #034

Oakwood Factory:

In the factory control rooms, a select group of Commoner peasants piloted training-bots.  Each pilot was in a separate room suspended above the floor by machines and harnesses.  The rooms were amazing as the wallpaper in each room doubled as a wrap around monitor showing the world around the bot that each pilot controlled.  Holographic projectors displayed items closer to the bot adding to the illusion.  The pilots even wore special suits applying pressure to the pilot as the bots made contact with their surroundings.  Every footstep, every button press, even the grip on a rifle was felt by the pilots.  A pilot only needed to act naturally and a bot would follow suit.  

However, it was unnatural to act such a way in those conditions.  Some pilots were naturally better than others.  Among the most efficient were Mahari Gan and Dusk Yi.  These two worked so well on the “sticks” they were trusted with the flying speeder patrol.  They usually worked as store clerks so the steep increase in today’s excitement and pay were welcome.

Today was all good fun, for them.  They could do so much more with the bots than they could in reality.  The experience was like being super heroes.  It was also a great mental challenge because everything moved so fast.  The strength, speed, and special abilities of the training-bots meant little if the pilots couldn’t keep up on the sticks.

Driving the speeders with their bots, the two clerks conducted routine scans of the area.  Apparently, a student was training and their expertise was needed.  With the scanners to aid them, it didn’t take long for them to spot an anomaly in the area.  The sudden discovery interrupted their playful banter.

Dusk was using their intercom link to tell a riveting story of how his Character had defeated three others with little effort in the Champions of Battle game.  Mahari was commenting on the fact that he was attacking a low level city when he interrupted himself.

“Why is that dumpster hot?”

“I wouldn’t know that,” was Dusk’s answer.  The story was fun but distracting.  They were there to do a job and it was time to get back to work, “Want to ask it?”

“Why not?”

With little effort, the two guided their speeders into the alleyway that held the odd dumpster.  They kept a close watch on their surroundings as many fatal traps often accompanied a decoy.  Nearing the ground, they both scanned the ground checking for electronic signals and trip wires.  

Seeing the ground was safe, they set the speeders to hover and jumped a decimeter to the ground.  The hydraulic legs on the training-bots absorbed all of the ground’s shock easily.  It made more than a little noise though.

Dusk was first to prepare his rifle while the Mahari prepared to open the dumpster with one hand rifle grasped and ready to aim in the other.  Now ready, there was only the issue of timing.

“Count of three,” Mahari whispered.  

“Just open it,” Dusk shouted.  Role Playing was all fun but, there was no need when no one else could hear them.

“Fine.”

The door flipped open.  Heat rushed out.  No one was inside.

At this realisation, Dusk spun around immediately and scanned the ground.  The other settings on his rifle checked for more than just heat.  

Looking through the scope, Dusk noted something all too important.  “Footprints,” he commented.  

At that, they both jumped back up to their speeders.  Dusk followed the prints careful to fly high enough not to disturb them.  Meanwhile, Mahari signal the factory computer about the anomalies and prepared to follow Dusk.

The hunt was on.

#1 – Lost and Found #33 – Lost and Found #35

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #033

It took a some time for Insula to reach the front of the road block.  As she waited, quite a few vehicles were turned away.  The Founder saw the angry drivers and knew that her act would have to be spot on if she was going to be able to be any help to her student.  Hopefully, this was going to be worth the sleep she missed the night before.

Finally at the front of the queue, Insula saw the bot trying to look intimidating with the heat sensing rifle.  There was a second scanning device set on the road.  This one looked more like a box.  Insula knew everything about what it was for and she wasn’t scared of it one bit.

The training-bot approached Insula’s van as she pulled up.  Everything about the bot was identical to all others.  However, it spoke there was a particular Crisho accented voice, “W… what business have you at this hour ma’am?”  The peasant behind the controls stuttered a bit.  He clearly was enjoying his role in this play.  Still, he recognized his employer.

“I’m trying to get groceries,” Insula replied in frustration.  The Founder enjoyed acting as well.  She rarely had a chance to interact with the little people, but she had to remember her role.  She was supposed to be acting like a lowly peasant like those around her, “I apologize m’lord.  This morning has been nothing but trouble.”

There was a notable pause before the peasant behind the controls spoke again, “V..very well,” he continued.  “Tis a might big car for getting morning groceries is it?”

“Sorry sir,” Insula tried to imitate his accent, “Roommate took the good one barhopping.  I know where she got.  Just can’t get to her right now.”

“Mind if I check the back?”

“No sir.”

“Keep your hands seeable.”

Another notable pause from the mechanical guard.  Perhaps the pilot wasn’t quite used to the controls.  Not surprising, peasants are trusted with so little but expected to do so much.

Once moving again, the bot started fiddling with the box scanner on the road.  This was much faster since the bot only had to stick its hand into the device.  After that, the pilot communicated directly with the device.

The bot lifted the device from its access point and aimed the device at the van.  Circling the van, it saw images of what what was inside through the hull.  There was nothing really: towels, a spare tire, the standard backseat, and a small basket apparently for trash.

Seeing nothing of value, the mechanical guard waved Insula through the blockade.

“Be sure to stay grounded while you’re doing business,” he warned.

“Yes sir.”

With that, the Founder drove into the secured area and

Insula had taken great care in making this scenario.  The town’s folk were used to disruptions in their lives.  They were peasants as well as Commoners so they expected things like this from the higher classes by now.  This particular disruption seemed to be more fun for some of them though.  

Now back to my student’s test.

#1 – Lost and Found #32 – Lost and Found #34