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Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #22

On its final approach to West Drop, the shuttle spins as it lands.  This slow and impressive looking maneuver signaled the passengers to finish their exiting preparations.  It would soon be time to get off of the shuttle.  The Trans World Shuttle Corporation had an unforgiving time table.  If passengers lingered, they would be trapped on the shuttle as it leaves again.  If a passenger missed a shuttle, they would have to wait for the next one.  Also, anything passengers left behind would most likely never be seen again.

With its box-shape, it was hard to distinguish the back of the shuttle from the front.  Only the many levels of docking bay doors gave it away.  In the pit, powerful guards and dock workers waited for the precious goods that made the town livable.  The city also had goods to send.  Even a city like West Drop needed commerce.

The landing gear touched the enormous docking pit with surprising silence.  However, the landing gear hissed loudly as the air pressure escaped the brakes.  Traded goods were moved around underground in the docking pit while the passengers exited from the right side of the shuttle.

The Trans World Shuttle Corporation has always been a trading company at heart.  However, the company couldn’t ignore the profit of shipping travelers as well; guaranteed gold for each traveler and the additional gold they may spend on amenities.  They may even be willing to pay more for some of the shipped goods than the original buyers, more profit.

The BigBad Crew exits the shuttle with Justice leading them.  Jaquan pauses briefly as he sees the headlines of the latest news feed.  It was a picture of Orien Quan with a disappointed look on his face.  The caption read: “A fighter is supposed to have more respect than that.”

This didn’t surprise Jaquan at all.  Quan was always pulling media stunts like this.  That, and Jaquan opened the door for these events.  That didn’t mean that he had to like it.  Still, he was curious about what they had to say.  He pressed a few buttons on his handheld.  In doing so, he downloaded and paid for the story.  In a few seconds it would be saved on his handheld to read later.

A few minutes later, Brisa disembarks the shuttle.  She had only one small bag of luggage; the trip was completely unexpected for her.  She only wished there were shops and hotels to provide what she needed in town.

She wore her combat gear perfectly fitting the look of a fierce warrior.  She did her best to walk the way Catlin had demonstrated earlier.  With all the powerful enchants increasing her strength, balance, and a host of many other things, it was quite easy.

Leaving the shuttle behind, she looked around for any sign of trouble before she continued to the port.  There appeared to be none, but she needed to be safe.  She was in a new place, a dangerous place.  She needed to keep her wits for a good while longer.  She checked her handheld for local restaurants; she was getting hungry and was going to be here a while.

The call to Mr. Meng in South Coast didn’t go at all the way she wanted.  There were delays for all the other stories Champion’s Chronical was following.  No one else was able to make it to West Drop or Bear Gate.  Since she was still the only one that had access to BigBad, Meng needed her to tail them just a while longer.

She didn’t have the tools to track them.  Of course, she didn’t need to track them.  She knew where they were going.  They told her when they were going; they wanted her to follow them.  She just had to be ready to leave with the tournament party at hour seventeen.  Hopefully, they would have an escort of some kind.  One or more people with them would make her feel much better.  She couldn’t trust them.

Exiting the shuttle port Brisa was approached by a frantic looking woman.  With pain and fear in her eyes, the lady pulled at Brisa’s glove.  “Help us,” she said, “They’re going to kill them!  I need your help please!”

#1 – Opportunity #21 – Opportunity #23

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #18

“What?!  Metcalf!  I TOLD you this was going to happen!”  Haruna Huai always had a way with words.  She never sugar coated anything, especially to people she cared about.  She would seem rude to an outsider but the truth people needed to hear was rarely kind.  She had known and cared for Metcalf for so long, they may as well have been sisters.

The two of them were in the dining hall eating fruit and ice cream.   They were not out in the open like during breakfast.  This time, they were in a room set aside for parties.  There were few parties this time of year so they had the whole room pretty much to themselves.

“Let me see it,” she said reaching for Metcalf’s handheld.  Seeing Metcalf’s student rank, her eyes widened in shock.  Then she said calmly, “Yeah, you’ll definitely have to take the final.”

That was all it took for Metcalf to see her situation.  She was in trouble.  She had been at Spear Mint Academy for as long as she remembered.  The people here were her family.  Hardly anyone passes the final.  And if she failed, she may never see her friends again.  “So what can I do,” Metcalf asked herself out loud.

Haruna picked up on the defeated sound in her voice.  She jerked a hand into Metcalf’s face and snapped to get her attention.  “One thing we can’t do is give up,” she said taking command of the situation, “You have six months, and lots of friends.  We’re gonna fight this.”

Haruna then took her own handheld and called up the gang one by one.  They each expressed the predictability of Metcalf’s situation but agreed to help as best they could.  They had a long six months.

—–

“Bye Manna,” Pinar called.

“See you tomorrow,” he called back as he left.  Tired but victorious he walked out into the sunlit chilly street headed home.  Another day business was finished.  The bakery was reasonably busy today.  There were acceptable leftovers.  He even kept some treats for himself to eat at home.

Chef Thetis usually would let him do that when they had enough for the discount morning special.  The day-old pastries would be sold at a discount the next day while the new ones were still being prepared.  It was good business practices.  In storage, the pastries would stay reasonably good overnight.  Also, the scent of the new pastries baking would overwhelm the senses and cause the hungry to buy more than they needed.

“Well, another eighty notes,” Manna said to himself as he walked down the street.  It wasn’t enough to make a large dent in his debt, but he was making some headway.  It was enough to pay down some interest for this month.  He would be free eventually.

Walking down the chilly street, he saw a face he remembered from earlier in the bakery, then another.  They were leaning against walls, sitting in cars, hanging out on corners, trying and failing to look ordinary.  There were about six of them.  They were all people that didn’t recognize him during his grand entrance to the bakery.  Or maybe they did.

Manna didn’t speed up.  He knew they’d follow him no matter where he went.  He turned down an alley a parking area in the back of a warehouse.  He made his way to a wall and waited to see how long it would take them to catch up.  Using his magnetism skills again, he readjusted his robe to give himself more freedom of motion.

Just as he expected, the six of them came around the corner a little while following him.  Thankfully they didn’t have guns, but their bats, canes, and crowbars seemed to have a specific purpose.

Despite this, Manna only smiles and bows, his orange face serene, his motions practiced.  Still smiling he says “Greetings friends.  How may I help you?”

#1 – Lost and Found #17 – Lost and Found #19

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #22

Somewhere on the Outskirts of Bosstown

AD7, Royal, and Oyintsa walk into the woods beyond Bosstown.  The depressing city ruins ended a few decameters back.  Nature had completely taken over these parts.  Tall grass and weeds flourished.  The occasional tree shot out of the ground shading the entire area.  Not even the roads were evident here.

As they fought through the weeds to gain ground, they walked over unnatural looking hills from time to time.  They were more like aged piles of rubble.  Each smelled of rust, rotting wood, and wild mushrooms.  There was quite a bit of red gravel underneath them as well; and roofing tiles all around them.

How could my beautiful city be overcome by nature so quickly?  AD7 tried to riddle it out; then face-palmed as she remembered again.  It’s been fifty years!  AD7 wanted to read about the details of her city’s decay but Royal had taken her handheld back a while ago.

Besides, Royal and Oyintsa seemed to be getting more aware of their surroundings.  They were cautious on how and where they stepped.  They moved quickly and quietly.  They made sure they gave every sound attention and could identify them.  With that, AD7 realized they were in the wild now.  There were many places for the wildlife to hide.

AD7 tried to do what they did.  However, it didn’t help that they were each holding five fragrant sandwiches designed to attract meat eaters.  She looked to the sky.  Through the weeds, several birds flew overhead.  The birds seemed uninterested but birds could change their minds at any time.

“Tracks,” Oyintsa stopped as he spoke.

AD7 stopped as well realizing that she was about to run into Royal.  She looked at the tracks.  There were several.  They were everywhere.  Each identical in shape, they looked like deformed hands, with claws.  Among the prominent large tracks were much smaller tracks.

“Ratcoons?” Royal asked.

“Ratcoons… with cubs,” he said the last words with a bit of enthusiasm.  Ratcoons were much like rats; only much larger, intelligent, and aggressive.  Unlike rats, they actually hunted live food as well as scavenged.  As with most animals, adults with cubs to feed and protect were much more dangerous.

Both Oyintsa and Royal shoved things into AD7’s hands.  Suddenly, AD7 found herself holding all of the sandwiches.

“Time to go,” Oyintsa said as he produces a long throwing blade from under his cape.  He throws it in the direction they were walking.  The blade gains power and speed as it mows down to weeds creating a path for them.  After about a meter into the weeds, it returns to Oyintsa.  At that, the three of them run down the path to get as far away as they can from the den.

AD7 didn’t know if they were in immediate danger.  Still, she knew when to follow the leader and did her best to keep up.  Warriors don’t run without good reason.

About halfway through the path he created, Oyintsa turns, points, and shouts, “Left!”  There was a short powerful gun in his hand.  He pointed it to the left and fired behind Royal who kept running passed him.  The sound was deafening.

After being in stasis for so long, AD7 was getting tired quickly.  She found new strength when Oyintsa yelled and even more energy when the beast screamed just to the left of her and stood.  It looked like an enormous brown rat more than four decimeters tall.  Black patches covered its eyes and large white stripes traced down its body.  She saw a fresh wound just beginning to bleed on its left front leg.

AD7 looks at Oyintsa.  He has already drawn another gun.  He flexes and roars.  Suddenly, his cloak expands and turns metallic.  It’s not long before he’s wearing thickly plated spiked armor still accented with his clan’s crest on the back.  His guns have gotten larger as well.  He fires them and reloads repeatedly as he charges the beast gaining all its attention.

Only after it starts attacking Oyintsa does Royal step in.  She pulls out two rather large swords from behind her cape.  AD7 immediately thought to herself.  Where exactly did those come from?  Did she have them this whole time?

There was no sign of them existing before now.  At the restaurant, Royal even sat on them with no sign of discomfort.  No matter if they truly came from nowhere, one of them spouted flames while the other was engulfed in frost flakes.

A Hanja on Royal’s leg glowed red then she leaps into action.  The impressive jump took her over the weeds and directly behind the beast.  As she landed, she turned and slashing downward with both swords.

Her cuts were clean and damaging.  Oyintsa’s attacks were annoying and painful.  But the ratcoon was much larger than them and very fast.  It was going to be a hard battle.

#1 – Awakening #21 – Awakening #23