Tag Archives: Silent Blur

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: AD7- Awakening #036

With little additional thought, Tosca followed her sisters to the royal garage.  The three of them always, always, always had meals together after work, without exception.  It’s been their routine for the longest of times.  It didn’t matter how the day went.  Every evening, the three of them shared a meal, did an activity, and then went to their separate apartments.  It just wouldn’t feel right for things to change, even today.

The three ladies began their practiced path through Rubin’s Castle.  The transition of architecture was stunning.  Cold, emotionless, plain lab walls were quickly replaced by the tapestries, polished marble floors, and expensive displays of the palace.  The regal elegance caught Tosca’s eye every time the three found an excuse to walk through.

Every now and then, there was a surprise.  A new token or trophy was displayed.  A new exotic rug from who knows where was placed near their path.  Regardless, everything in the palace was perfectly clean and cared for.  Things were definitely classier than they were ten years ago.  It was nice to see how Rubin’s style changed over the years.  Everything was stunning.  However, the best part of the evening still had to be the time the sisters would spend eating together.

The excitement or difficulty of a day usually affected the class of meal they had.  And with all the buzz throughout the facility and Adrianne’s excited tests, news about their new friend’s progress was exciting enough to warrant meal at the Bosstown Ge’s.  No doubt, Adrianne learned incredible things from watching the mechanized woman in action.  In any case, they probably would not hear anything about it tonight.

Work topics rarely made it into their after-work conversations; they were usually top secret.  Besides, they had far too many important things to sort out, especially this time of year.  The Trails were coming up.  They had to get ready to face any challenge thrown their way.  And while Rubin’s Trail turned out to be a wonderful and prosperous kingdom, it never hurt to have two.

The three ladies made up the active part of team Leuk Aga1n, a leading group in the royal clan Rubin’s Trail Mix.  Capable warriors, they fought alongside many other champions to defend the boundaries and honor of Rubin’s Trail.  However, Leuk Aga1n’s main focus was research and developing weapons for the clan and the kingdom.

As they reached the royal garage, Adrianne took the lead flanked closely by Chaeri on her left and Tosca on her right.  After hearing about their discussion earlier, she was surprised that Tosca was following so closely.  Of course, Tosca was the mentally tough one.  She had a much stronger character than Adrianne could muster on the best of days.

Entering the royal garage also never got old.  The lavish cleanliness and expensive style continued even here.  Not a speck of oil or fluid was on the light concrete flooring.  In the distance Rubin’s Royal Shuttle, a sleek black monster of a ship, menaced; even while resting.  Very heavily armed and elegant, it was a combination of Rubin’s older and newer tastes.

As always the kingdoms standard, the simplified sketch of a red trail through the woods, took its place on all the fighter ships.  It was also prominent on the king’s ship and the walls of the garage.

Spotting Dr. Yu, a few of the pilots rushed to their ships.  There were a few questions from her friends about the guards following them.  As a response, Adrianne told the quick story of the gankers she ran into.  In the end, she was just happy to be alive and thankful that Chaeri thought to call the sky guard to help her.  They were all happy for the guard’s foresight to follow along today.

Adrianne’s amazement continued as she spotted her ship among the many docked there.  After the morning’s excitement with the gankers, Silent Blur was covered in scorch marks and other debris.  Only half a day later, it looked as good as new.  The minty-lemon scent gave testimony of the royal garage staff’s tireless work.  Not a speck of soot or sap was on her ship.

Adrianne paused, Chaeri and Tosca followed suit.  “Ready?” she asked.  With no objections, they entered Silent Blur for another daily adventure.

#1 – Awakening #35 – Awakening #37

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