Tag Archives: Ione Zhang

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.”

#1Opportunity #30 – Opportunity #32

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #29

Not far from where the Ganker’s trap was laid, a small pile of stolen equipment sat in a room with four Champions.  Two Champions, a male and a female, checked the equipment for any upgrades they could steal.  Another pair, the leader and his right hand lady studied a holographic image.  The team had used it to keep track of a fearsome quarry.  However, the trail was a continuous puzzle.

Shinsaku Yu sat at the desk in what was now his warrior’s garb, the most powerful armor picked from the stolen gear.  He was rather tall for a Crisho and not all of the pieces fit.  His gold skin peeked from beneath the helmet while a red patch of skin escaped for his right glove.  The armor didn’t look right on him, but it could easily be refitted.

The Champion they tracked had stood out as a tournament hopeful from the moment she stepped off the shuttle.  She looked utterly fearsome especially with that maul.  If anyone in RedBatty was going to win, this warrior could not be allowed to fight in the tournament.

“Now she’s going into the Casting Talent School,” Shinsaku stated while pointing at the miniature image on his desk.

It was a comment of utter confusion.  His companion Ione Zhang had watched the same image for the last hour.  She knew everything the mysterious warrior had done.  Their cloaked tracking droid had followed the target since she walked away from their alley.

Ione watched the image of the warrior entering the Caster Talent School.  Her orange skin and thin mahogany stripes shown through her tattered disguise.  “How do you know it’s a she?  He seemed quite strong to me.”

Shinsaku couldn’t help but glance at Ione.  She was an essential member of RedBatty, but she questioned just about everything he said.  Sometimes he wondered if he was really the leader of this team, “The warrior’s armor, particularly the belt, suggests a torso to leg ratio fitting that of a female.”

Whatever, smarty-pants… Ione couldn’t help but roll her eyes listening to Shinsaku’s intellectual dribble.  “Fine whatever, why is she going there,” Ione asked resigning to his logic.  She snapped her fingers with the dawn of inspiration, “She’s an enchanter.”

Ione had charmed the fearsome looking warrior just as they planned.  She guided the warrior directly towards the trap but it took a great deal of strength to get her moving.  If this was truly a lady, powerful strength enchants must be in play.

Shinsaku had pegged her for a Combatant Talent user.  That was the only explanation he could find for that heavy destructive weapon.  It was big enough to wreck someone with a single hit, the focus of the Combatant Talent Set.  But now she went into the Caster school?

“She has to be an enchantress,” Shinsaku was confident in that statement.  Enchanting skills were usually taught in the Casting Schools so that explained things well enough.  Ione was the most powerful enchantress he knew but this warrior shook off her charms.  That was only possible if this fighter had powerful enchants of her own.

While someone could be a Combatant and a Caster, there were only a few moves in the two sets that worked well together.  The other moves took too long to channel or were too weak to make a difference.  She had to be walking from school to school for a reason.

“Fine.  So, how are we going to get her,” Ione looked to Shinsaku.

Shinsaku had no immediate answer.  After a little though he spoke, “I don’t know.”  He stood and turned away from the image, “Keep watching her.  I’ll review the tapes for clues.  I could have sworn she was talking to herself earlier.”

#1Opportunity #28 – Opportunity #30