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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

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #035

It took a good while for Tosca to mentally recover from the scolding.  Shi wanted to work but Wu’s words cut deep.  For an hour or so, the best Tosca could manage was sitting with the ball droid trying not to cry.  Her previous excited planning took a backseat in her thoughts; too emotionally bruised to think properly.

The droid sat on her work station inside a circular cushion.  Staring at the droid, Tosca felt the strange grooved patterns on its surface.  They have to mean something.  Nothing was made haphazardly, especially Mech Fortress droids.  A simple explanation was most likely.  She couldn’t think clearly about it; the scolding echoed fresh in her mind along with unspoken rebuttals.

A lot of what Doctor Wu said made since but other parts had to be exaggerated paranoia.  She admitted to making a risky mistake but judging from the doctor, Tosca had just set a time bomb in the lab and Rubin’s Trail was already destroyed.  AD7 could have everything she needed to go on a rampage covering the entire world with her machines.  And of course, it was all Tosca’s fault for one careless mistake.

The assistant director was usually stiff, but was it really that important?  Could AD7 do all that just by being near a droid?  That was a little farfetched.  Those words were never spoken.  Knowing Wu, Tosca would have lost her job and any little respect of research circles in that moment.  Instead, she kept her job but now it was time to get back to it.

Tosca had used the energy reading devices so often that they were now stored at her work station.  Shaking her despair, she managed to work the devices and compare them to previous energy readings.  As she suspected there was no change.  No energy readings of any kind were recorded.  Strange, she was certain she felt a calming vibe from the droid when she touched it.

Glancing at the clock, she saw that there was less than a fifth of an hour left in hour sixteen.  The workday was ending and she hadn’t accomplished anything, again.  She didn’t like it, but she decided to stay after to set up an experiment.  At the very least, she could do that much.

Buckling down, Tosca prepared all the energy reading machines.  She sat and started making notes of what she had observed about the droid before and things that could give some kind of response.  Many of the observations were repeated elsewhere but it never hurt to post things again.  Perhaps a view from a different angle would expose a small detail that ended up being important.

Shi wrote what she could but there wasn’t much.  The droid was unresponsive to any stimuli; electrical, thermal, magical, or otherwise.  Perhaps the correct combination of different energies would do something.  Her emotional state dulled her excitement but it was a new path to follow.  Still she made sure to plan out as much as she could before she lost her thoughts.  Perhaps sometime next week, she could look on the notes again and gain a ground breaking insight.

As she was sketching out her first set of ideas, the lab was nearly empty.  Tosca returned a few glances as the last few coworkers left.  She was usually chatty but today, they knew to leave her alone.

However, one familiar shadow hung over her desk.  With her weak performance today, she was surprised to see it.  Still, it was always nice to see her.

“Tosca,” said a slightly apologetic voice, “You’re still here?”

Tosca turned around and, as expected, saw Adrianne standing near with Chaeri a few rows back looking down, arms crossed, and leaning against a lab table.  She would never… ever dream of using their first names during work hours.  However, it was no secret that the three were the best of friends since Tosca could remember.

“We’re going to the Ge’s across the valley.  Wanna come?” Adrianne said eagerly without sounding too corny.

Tosca’s eyes darted between Adrianne and Chaeri noting their expressions.  Adrianne had clearly heard about their “discussion.”  Tosca and Chaeri both loved the Ge’s Noodles and Subs restaurant in the city across the valley.  Adrianne had different tastes.  However, as the Big Sister, it was her job to make peace between the two, again.

Though Tosca had no problems with this obvious attempt to keep the three of them together, she found other problems with the plans, “I’ve been wasting time since hour thirteen,” she turned back to her work station, “I have to get some work done today.”

“Don’t worry about that thing,” Chaeri said flatly from the distance, “It’ll still be there in the morning.”

Tosca flinched at hearing Cheari’s stone voice again so soon.  There was a good chance that she was bribed into the dinner as well.  ‘Ge’s Subs and Pastas’ was so very good.  The original one in Bosstown was even better than the one in Rubin’s Trail.  Flying in Silent Blur was always a dream.  Besides, she was very hungry and Chaeri’s reasoning was unquestionable, this time.  The droid never moved.  It’ll be there when she comes back.

After a few moments thought, Tosca gave the only reply that made sense, “Fine, I’ll go.”

#1 – Awakening #34 – Awakening #36