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Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #036

So much for that idea.

The high pitched motor to the rear was unmistakable.  Metcalf was just a few turns ahead of a speeder and had a pretty good idea what the driver intended.  She went into a sprint to gain ground on her pursuer.  It was working but the walls and turns came up that much faster.

Uhh… Left turn

Speed training in armor didn’t seem a useful lesson during classes, but now her half hearted participation was greatly rewarded.  She had learned to use her motion energy skills to push herself faster while running.  She moved quite well before in her armor.  Her current suit was cloth-like; made for stealth.  She managed wondrous speeds, but there was a slight problem.  With the maze of alleyways and vacant streets, she had next to no time between seeing a wall and turning to avoid running into it.  And, as realistic as her current test was, there was most likely a stiff punishment if she failed even once.

Right juke, Forward

She didn’t know exactly how fast she was going.  She did know she was running out of time.  There was no audible alarm but the bots were most likely on high alert.  This meant there would be a trap waiting somewhere.  Hopefully, it was in the wrong place.

Left wall run, Right turn

There was so little time to chose a turning direction as the walls approached.  It was too important that she keep moving and not back track.

Right turn.  WALL!!  Right turn

But, it was also quite important that she make it to the rally point on time.  The map on her visor was always there.  As always, it directed correctly but she was primarily concerned with the ever present walls appearing out of nowhere.  When she had time to choose a direction, she went the way that made the most sense to be the correct.  However, she often saw the location beacon behind her.  

Great!  Wrong way again.  

Hopefully, her wrong turns confused her pursuers as well.  It would be the worst to run headlong into blaster fire.

The state of the art cloaking suit was keeping up with the street patterns.  It was changing colors so quickly, that it appeared a lightening shade of grey to her.

Daylight was starting to become a real problem.  With more light, there were more colors.  With more colors, there was more work for the suit.  It was already getting warm again.  It was only a matter of time before it got hot.  She could not continue like this.  Metcalf needed an idea; hopefully one that works.

Left tur… HARD Left

She hit an impressively hard turn and watched the map on her visor spin.  After the corrective turn, an idea was fully formed.  Finding the perfect four point intersection ahead, she leapt into the air and hovered for the briefest of moments.  Her sleeves were already slightly opened.  She duplicated the wind transfer from before but pointed her right sleeve to the sky and her left sleeve to the ground and intensified it into a blast .  

The blast caused her to spin unexpectedly fast and lifted her into the air.  Dust and debris kicked up from the ground in a large cloud that spread as an explosion from her intersection.  The action caught her off guard but did not overwhelm her thanks to her Crisho wings.  Landing slightly dizzied she blew the dust off of her feet with her motion skills.  Her disorientation training came into play as she began running in what her visor stated was the correct direction.  

 

“Dusk!  Eyes Up!!”

“Wha?”

WHOOOSSH

Mahari’s warning came too late.  Dusk’s tunnel-visioned pursuit turned his bot’s speeder directly into the dust explosion.  Knocked off kilter as random bits of debris flew into the speeder’s air intake Dusk was unable to correct the speeder’s orientation from the controls in the factory.  Dusk was too familiar with this sight as his remote station shut off and then reset his controls to another bot flying in a far off patrol.

Mahari saw the explosion from the roofs and went to investigate.  Tuning into all the scans available, he searched the epicenter of the blast.  It was illogical for someone to stay there after such an event.  However, this one was clever.  She may be counting on that assumption.

After a thorough search of the area, he realized that he had guessed wrong and lost several precious seconds in the process.  Angrily, he continued in the general direction she seemed to be going since they left the factory.

#1 – Lost and Found #35 –  Lost and Found #37

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #040

South of Downtown Bosstown:

Silent Blur landed with a soft thud and ran through the rough wooded area northward towards the busiest part of the Bosstown.  The ride was a little bumpy as Adrianne juked and jumped Silent Blur through tall path-blocking weeds and randomly sprouting rocks.  The land route was necessary since the canopy over Bosstown was thick enough to prevent any aerial approach.  That approach would guarantee similar hull damage done in earlier travels.

There were, of course, other approaches.  The east and west routes left them with too long a walk.  The north route was clear and full of nice ruins.  That approach would allow one to imagine the city’s former prosperity while walking through the old ruined neighborhoods.  The path was usually a pleasing walk as there was always something new to see.  However, the ladies didn’t feel like fighting wild, hungry ratcoons quite yet so avoided it.  

This route was best.  They only wanted to eat, shop, and have a little fun.  The sisters could hunt, fight, and kill things later.

The coordinates of their landing zone was set into Captain Bubbles.  As Silent Blur walked, its little sailboat turned notably atop the orb’s scented oil.  The city was definitely close but it was hard to recognize the land as new growths changed the landscape dramatically from season to season.  

During their approach, Silent Blur came suddenly into a lighted area that up until now were familiar rocky paths dotted with soil.  Powerful lamps shone everywhere making the whole area look completely different.  Its new appearance was a makeshift farm for edible leafy plants.  This week’s crop was mustard greens while the dandelions held aggressively onto their natural territory.  

The ship slowed as Adrianne was careful to step around the plants.  Not that Silent Blur would truly damage anything, just that she always thought it rude to step on someone else’s food.  Once passed the makeshift farm, she found familiar territory and their landing zone.  Soon the three disembarked and walked the streets towards their major destination.

Bosstown was always becoming a nice city.  Its people had a spirit to sacrifice and work hard to making the city relevant again.  It was working.  Every time the sisters visited, something improved or was new.  The city looked very modern in some areas.  Other areas needed more work but here and there they found upgrades.

The ladies knew the struggles having heard the stories over and over again in Rubin’s Trail.  Visiting the city and slowly seeing it recover was refreshing as well.  However, their mission was quite specific at this time.  

Their trip into the town ended at Ge’s Noodles and Subs.  This one was far better than the one at Rubin’s Trail.  The decor was a bit “traditional” but so was the scent that floated through the air.  It permeated the walls after decades of the Ge family’s fine foods.  That familiar scent pulled them into the restaurant.

The restaurant was packed as always.  Others from Rubin’s Trail as well as those from the other side of the mountain came to eat the fine foods created by the Ge kitchen.  This was by far the greatest treasure of Bosstown.  

The host recognized the three ladies immediately.  “Welcome ladies, would you like your regular table,” the host said rising and facing them yet already walking towards the elevator.

“Yes. Thank you Kamber,” Adrianne spoke up for the three as they followed.

Kamber Ma had been a host at the restaurant long enough to know the honored guests from Rubin’s Trail.  Stopping just long enough to grab a single menu, he continues on the familiar path to their favorite table.  A booth on the tenth level.  Near the window with the greatest view they could have of the Mech Fortress main wall’s ruins.

The ladies took their seats.  Cheari and Toska sat opposite Adrianne while Adrianne always insisted on facing the ruined Mech Fortress.  It was just barely visible through the canopy and thick foliage.  

Even in ruins, Adrianne felt the power of the fortress.  It must have been greater than Rubin’s Trail history made it out to be.  Rubin’s Trail required so much assistance from roaming Champions and even then, the battle went on for so long.  She feared what would happen if the Mech Fortress ever regained power.

“Do you ladies need any time to look through the menu or do are you ready?” Kamber asked as the ladies sat.  He held onto the menu waiting for their answers.

“I’m ready,” Tosca spoke quickly.

“Ready,” Adrianne said almost as quickly as her little sister.

Cheari didn’t even bother answering.  Everyone present knew what was going to be ordered. 

#1 – Awakening #39 – Awakening #41

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #038

There was no known land route to Bear Gate; or air route actually.  Pilots would waste an entire evenings searching for the city with no sign.  There were however, widespread rumors of it being somewhere south of West Drop.  No one knew exactly where.  Pictures from inside the city depicted a rustic rural place with hints of modern technology scattered about.  Regardless of the rumors, Jaquan and his companions were headed there.  At least they had every reason to believe they were.  

The tunnel they entered a half hour ago was marked to lead them there; as was the subway car they boarded.  Jaquan occasionally checked his communicator’s compass, and for the third time it stated that they were headed northwest.  Despite the discrepancy with known facts, there was nothing he could do about the travel plans now.  They were in the car and no amount of unwarranted panicking would make any difference.  Besides, he wanted to keep up appearances in front of Justice.

The subway car was much like any other only exceptionally clean, and empty.  Shiny compressed steel surfaces were highlighted with burgundy cushions.  There were windows but there was no point in looking through them.  Bright lights from the tunnel whipped passed and didn’t add anything to the trip.

The crew’s luggage was packed away in a pushable cart just on the other side of the car.  As much as Jaquan wanted to train by carrying the load, he didn’t want risk pushing himself too far so near the tournament.  The maker of their healing water was off on an adventure leaving them no hints when she’d be back.

Again, he looked at the compass hologram.   He blinked as it shifted slightly, pointing their direction more northward.  Instead of revealing a worried face, Jaquan looked up and heard Justice talk about the tournament’s specifics.  Justice made certain to stress that Jaquan should be especially careful not to lose any of the opening rounds.

“Why not?”

Liana slapped her face in frustration, “Listen for a bit will you,” she pleaded, “This is a coin based tournament.”

Jaquan’s confused face told Liana and Justice that Jaquan’s mind had been elsewhere for the last fifteen minutes.  So after a deep inhale and purposeful exhale, Justice started again.  “A coin based tournament is like this.”  He thought for a bit to put things in terms that Jaquan could understand.  “At the beginning of the tournament, all the fighters have two coins credited to an account,” he paused again to make sure he was saying everything correctly and that Jaquan was following, “At the end of a fight, the winner gets a coin from the loser.  If at any point you run out of coins you’re out of the tournament.”

“So why do I have to be careful in the beginning?” Jaquan asked.  The thought of losing was never a good one.  To go through so much to acheive nothing was such a waste of time, money, and effort.  He wanted to avoid it at all cost.  

“Oh.  I forgot,” Justice corrected himself, “on the third round, the bank takes a coin from everyone still in the tournament.  They keep doing that every other round until only one player remains.”

“Oh!” Jaquan realized the severity now, “That changes everything.”

“So,” Liana chimed in to conclude the original point, “He was saying that if you don’t maintain a winning record during the first four matches, you’re done.  Even a tied record causes elimination.”

“The chumps and wanna-bes are eliminated early.”  This was truly going to be a challenge.  In a tournament such as this, everyone will be on top of their game.  Everyone will be looking for an edge on whoever they fight.  “So who am I fighting first?”

Justice leaned back in his chair, covered his face with his hands and purposefully exhaled again, “I have no idea.”

#1 – Opportunity #37 – Opportunity #39