Tag Archives: Mech Talents

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #26

Stealth Phrygian was an amazing ship.  AD7 noticed that from the moment it decloaked above them in the woods.  She didn’t hear anything while floated just above them.  It just appeared out of nowhere.  The ship had to be almost a meter long and about three decimeters wide.  She had no idea how tall it was until they were inside.

She followed Keyanna on a path through the ship.  They had to walk a ways to reach the captain’s cabin.  The flight was so smooth AD7 forgot that she was in an airship for a while.  She mistook it for a building when eating in the conference room.  Eleven people were able to sit there with room to spare.  Still, the conference room was on a lower level.  They had climbed a few ladders on their way to see Tirzah.

It was vitally important that AD7 speak with her.  It seemed they all were convinced that AD7 was some kind of Mech wizard.  While the Mech Talent Schools were a result of her actions, the Mech Army was not her doing.  If they expect her to help them, they would have to rescue Eighty-Seven.  They would all be very disappointed if they relied on AD7 as she was.

Keyanna lead her directly to Tirzah’s office.  As they walked in, they saw Tirzah looking at a detailed layout for a large castle city.  The slightly opaque image covered her desk.  It disappeared at the desk’s edges.  By the motions of her hands, the image moved to a different area and zoomed in and out.  She studied every bit of the city, even the sewers underneath.  Keyanna and AD7 walked in unannounced yet Tirzah wasn’t at all surprised to see them.

“Done eating,” she asked after giving them the slightest of glances.  She returned her gaze to the image on her desk.  They approached and noticed that her lamp and desk decorations were now on the floor behind her.

“Yes,” AD7 answered.  After a pause she continued, “I’m sorry to interrupt but I’m probably not the person that you need for your trails.  I don’t know anything about any war.”

Keyanna didn’t like hearing that.  She looked at AD7 with piercing eyes.  AD7 nodded to her acknowledging her disapproval.

Tirzah didn’t seem to like it either.  She stopped looking at the city’s image and focused on AD7 as she spoke again, “You are exactly the person that I need.”  She saw AD7’s confused look.  Then she asked, “Do you remember much about the machines you left at your wall?”  AD7 gave a negative response.  “We’ll try to help you,” she said with true sympathy, “Well; Rubin’s Trail has had your mechanized counterpart for the better part of twenty years.  They have yet to get anything from her directly.”  She paused letting the information sink in.  “I’m sure that you and her need to work together again for either of you to be close to what you were before.”

AD7 smile and said, “I was thinking the same thing.”

Tirzah smiled as well, “We had better start planning then.”  She brought the image of Rubin’s Trail back onto her desk.  Glancing at AD7 again she said, “The sandwiches were amazing by the way.”

#1 – Awakening #25 – Awakening #27

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #25

The conference table quickly became a dinner table.  The long rounded table was black and bolted to the floor.  There were black chairs with soft brown cushions all along its length.  Everyone grabbed a sandwich, sat, and ate.  All except the pilot of course, Jai left for the front of the ship with an extra sandwich for April.  After Tirzah grabbed her sandwich, she left for her personal chambers as well.

AD7 opened the rapping and found the fragrant smell that she remembered so well.  Ge’s Noodles and Subs never disappointed.  The sandwiches were cold and a little soggy.  It looked a little suspect.  However, after tasting the sandwich, her mind was put at ease.  The recipe had not changed even after all these decades.  She should have expected no less from the Ge family.  The sandwich was outstanding, even when cold.

GarDNAnge1 agreed.  They were eating in near silence though many napkins were needed.  Once the talking started, AD7 found herself at the center of discussion.  Everyone wanted to meet the lady they had traveled all this way to find.  They were interested in Cyd too, just nowhere near as much.

They wanted to know everything about her.  Where she was originally from; how she landed in Bosstown; the origin of her name; what inspired her to become a builder; the planning of the Mech Wall; how she built and programmed the machines so quickly; how she stayed one step ahead of Rubin’s Trail; what times were really like fifty years ago; the questions kept coming.  AD7 had a little trouble answering them all.  Her memory was returning, but there were still very large bits of her history that remained blank.

Keyanna was really interested in her.  Scientists, blacksmiths, and mechanics were able to copy some of Mech Fortress’ technology and open Mech Talent Schools.  Keyanna used these talents with the Berserker and Archery Talents to create a devastating style.  To actually meet the inspiration behind her most powerful talent set was an absolute dream.

This was a little overwhelming for AD7.  The sudden fame was a bit confusing.  She still considered herself a simple builder.  She didn’t do anything special.  She only built a defensive wall as best she could.  Maybe she did a little too well.

After initial introductions and questions, AD7 sat back and watched them talk while she ate.  Even the three she knew took on different roles with the others around.  They laughed and joked and commented on the food.  Oyintsa and Royal were making fun of each other on how they fought the ratcoon.  It was an incredible story the way they told it.

They all seemed like good people.  AD7 wanted to know all of them.  She wanted to know them as well as they knew each other, but there were so many.  They were all from different places and had unique abilities.  They were a strong team.  Even with their strength, they needed her help.

AD7 kept thinking about what Tirzah had told her.  She was supposed to build great working buildings for them.  They expected her to do something similar to what she made before she died.  But even then, she desperately needed her helper.  They needed to free Eighty-Seven.

After they had finished eating, AD7 turned to Keyanna and said, “I really need to talk to Tirzah.”

“Sure, no problem,” was her honest response, “I’ll take you to her.”

#1 – Awakening #24 – Awakening #26

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #11

Entering the canopy, Adrianne stretched her hands forward.  Silent Blur followed suit, obeying her commands perfectly.  In this position, the forward legs acted as a shield to protect the control cab from extensive damage.

While the Silent Blur was in this form, every part of Adrianne’s body was used to control the ship.  Her arms and legs controlled Silent Blur’s legs.  Her wings controlled Silent Blur’s wings if she still needed them for mid-air maneuvering.  Even her waist would twist Silent Blur’s mid-section.  Only the tail was controlled by the computers to correct Silent Blur’s balance.  In many ways, she was Silent Blur at this point.  She would look silly to someone watching in the cockpit.  However, with the split second decisions she was making it was necessary for controlling the ship correctly.

In years past, she had watched the squirrels in action.  They were nearly flawless acrobats, the best in the trees.  She modified Silent Blur so she could imitate them.  She had perfected a landing technique from watching them.  She had never tried it at this speed before but lacked the time for logical decision making.

The sensors gave her all the information they could, but at this speed they had trouble keeping up.  Their information fed into a holographic display that surrounded her.  It showed the woods around Silent Blur set to her scale.  Everything about the woods was there everything down to the shapes of the leaves and vision into the distance.  Usually in life-like detail, the objects were mere string outlines and simple shades at this speed.

She found many branches to help her slow her decent, crashing into one after another.  The frantic search took an agonizing fraction of a second.  She decided that any branch would do and grabbed at one.  It bowed heavily with Silent Blur’s weight, but Silent Blur’s sharp metal claws held fast.

The branch bent hitting another branch, then another.  The branches took a lot of the energy away from her momentum but not enough to satisfy physics.  She had to start moving or risk breaking several branches causing more problems.

The claws sunk deep into the branch shredding it as she and momentum worked around the unpredictable branches.  Soon she regained complete control and ran up to the thicker parts of the branches.  Reaching the trunk, Silent Blur’s claws dug deep into the bark as she ran around it a few times descending the tree.

By the time she reached the lowest strong branches, she was moving at regular speeds.  Much faster than a squirrels, but slow enough for her sensors to pick up the slightest details of the woods around her.

She stopped the ship to think.  Though counter-intuitive to escape, it was the smartest thing for her to do at that point.  She positioned Silent Blur into a position similar to that of a sitting squirrel.  This could fool the gankers temporarily.

No doubt they were finding their own way through the canopy by now.  Without her modifications, they would have to slow their ships and descend very carefully.  They would ping for motion just as she could, but this could work against them.  There was a good chance they knew about where she was, but they would not know exactly.  There were real squirrels in the woods too.  Without seeing her, the gankers could mistake her for one.

She ran a quick check of Silent Blur’s systems to make sure that she would not be unpleasantly surprised at a very bad time.  Everything checked out except her weapons system.  They were still in the weapons test mode she had set while experimenting with the missile.  In her haste to get back to Rubin’s Trail, she neglected to set the weapons back to standard mode.  Those adjustments could only be done from outside the ship?!

With no working weapons she had no way to hide in the woods and shoot them down one at a time, a plan that was just coming to her.  She was way too far to reach the city.  She had to get out of their jamming range to call for help.

She had a feeling the gankers could be near enough to almost her about now.  She had to make sure to stay out of their sight.  Though she moved like a squirrel, she certainly looked nothing like one.  Even a slight glance would blow her cover.  She had to make a quick decision which way to go.

They knew she was headed toward Rubin’s Trail.  Her sensors and Captain Bubbles agreed that the city was straight ahead.  However, only a fool would continue to head for the city at this point.  A tricky person would run left or right to try and approach the city from a different angle; she would have to do that but not now.  The only thing she could do to stay alive was run away from Rubin’s Trail.

#1 – Awakening #10 – Awakening #12