#(i know he talks about the several launchers but he could dropped a few important figures here and there)

[beedreamscape]

This bitch bastard man (affectionate)

[helliontherapscallion]

Unexpected Encounters (Adrenaline Junkie Part 8)

Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4     Part 5     Part 6     Part 7     Part 9     Part 10     Part 11     Part 12     Part 13     Part 14     Part 15     Part 16     Part 17

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: minor swearing

Word count: 2,775

You walked down the now worn cobblestone path towards the main plaza of the village by Philza’s house. Whistling the first verse of the L’manberg national anthem, you wove slightly at the crowd of people gathered at the stands that littered the sides of the street. 

The village was much larger than the entire L’manberg nation. It had several different precincts with a large, diverse group of people and a few hybrids living there. It also had more amenities like shops, a library (which, to your delight, grew expansively to include more books on inventions, some being exclusively about yours. They were proud people that embraced whatever fame comes out of the area), and multiple towering office buildings.

Everything’s changed since you’ve last been here a year ago. What was now more modern used to be traditional. What was loosely populated was now bustling with people. What used to be barren was now chock full of shops and apartment complexes. It was kind of jarring to see this much change in a little over a year.

In retrospect, it was jarring how much you changed in a little over a year. The hallucinations have finally almost completely stopped along with the nightmares. They only came about once a week now. You were slowly reincorporating green back into your wardrobe. Your phantom pain has retreated into your subconscious. It was always going to be with you, so you got used to the constant pain and tingling feeling. You learned to appreciate the small things in life and just live in the moment so you would have something positive to look back on in the future.

You invented several different gadgets to help your brothers win the L’manberg War of Independence such as a portable TNT launcher, handheld long-distance communication devices (which you affectionately dubbed walkie talkies since you could walk and talk! Wilbur and Tommy were not as enthusiastic of the name as you were), and a redstone powered crossbow that continuously fired arrows until you released the trigger. Though all of your inventions were practically your babies, they did not come anywhere close to trumping your magnum opus: your metal fully functioning wing. 

After several mishaps and failed attempts, you finally made your wing correspond to the electrical impulses in your muscles so that it copied the movements of your flesh wing. It’s built out of a lightweight hollow iron and has feather shaped metal pieces protruding off from it to emulate your other wing. It was a sleek silver color that always caught a ray of sunshine and reflected it to another place. It was basically permanently attached to your body by now due to it being a pain to take on and off. It was just easier and more efficient to keep it on constantly. 

People around you stared, some in awe and some in admiration. A stark difference from when you first lost your wing. Sometimes, you resented them for treating you differently just because your name became more widely known, but you were always a firm believer that everyone deserves a second chance. Even attention seeking, unscrupulous assholes looking for cheap brownie points from their peers because ‘I knew them before they were discovered! I knew them personally, we were, like, really close!’ So for now, you tried to ignore the ugly indignation bubbling in your gut and threatening to spew out in a string of hurtful words. You were sick of being angry, especially now that L’manberg is at peace. 

You passed several people who pointed at you and whispered amongst themselves. Ignoring them, you continued onward with your head held high and your wings folded in tightly to avoid children grabbing and pulling them with their grubby little hands. It always took you a while to clean and preen them after people touched them. You hated cleaning off fingerprints and grime from the smooth metal.

Walking with a sense of purpose, you continued onwards passing multiple shops and stands until you finally reached the butcher. Opening the decorated glass door, a little bell chimed alerting the burly man behind the counter of your presence. Like the others, he stared wide-eyed at you with his lips slightly parted in shock. Great, another exhausting encounter. 

Putting on a polite smile, you broke the silence of the meat shop. “Hello, I’m here to buy half a pound of fresh ground beef. Would you by chance have any in stock?” That seemed to snap him out of his stupor.

“O-of course, I’ll get that for you right away.”

He disappeared into the backroom where frosty fog rolled out in tiny clouds. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. Maybe he wouldn’t ask any questions or try to get to know you on a personal level.

He returned in a hurry, slapping the wrapped beef onto the counter and giving you a price. Reaching into your wallet for the cash, you paid him generously. “Keep the change.”

“I-thank you, Mx. Minecraft.”

Putting the beef into your satchel, you gave him a more genuine smile. “Don’t mention it.”

Briskly walking out, you made a beeline for the village’s main entrance. You couldn’t stand the feeling of constantly being watched and talked about anymore. Why couldn’t they treat you like a normal person? In your opinion, you were, well, you. Nothing was special about you.

As you were about to cross the threshold of the village, you heard footsteps behind you.

“HEY! MX. MINECRAFT I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.”

Stopping dead in your tracks, you closed your eyes and took a few steadying breaths so that you wouldn’t lash out at this person. You just wanted to go to your childhood home and have a nice, peaceful dinner with your dad. Was that too much to ask? 

Opening your eyes and plastering on a fake smile, you turned around and greeted him. He was a young boy, probably around eleven or twelve years old. His clothes and shaggy auburn hair were disheveled and he had dirt smeared on his face. “Hello, to whom may I owe the pleasure?”

He put his hands on his knees and tried to talk between gasping breaths. “Mx, my name’s Arthur Fox, i-it’s truly an honor to meet you. I’ve admired your work since before the war in L’manberg. You’re an amazing inventor and I wanna be just like you when I grow up. I- oooh I’m sorry, I’m rambling aren’t I?” He kind of reminded you of Tubbo in a strange way.

“No, you’re fine Arthur. Thank you for being a fan of my work, but I must get going. I have an important meeting to attend to.” You weren’t exactly lying to the young boy. Turning on your heel, you started to walk off only to feel a hand on your arm.

“Mx, I need to talk to you.”

“I really have to get going, Arthur. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“No, it’s important.”

You struggled to keep the smile on your face as you shrugged his arm off as politely as you could. This kid is determined. Too determined. “So’s my meeting. I have to go.” You started to walk off into the beaten forest path.

“Do you know about The Warden?”

You halted abruptly and sharply turned around. You let your smile and polite stature drop into pursed lips and sharp eyes.

“...Of course I do. Everyone does.”

Flinching slightly, he quickly recovered his confident facade. “No, that’s not what I meant. Do you know about The Warden?”

“Like I said,” you played stupid, “everybody does. Who doesn’t?”

He puffed his cheeks out in frustration. “Ugh, how could someone so smart be so stupid at the same time? I mean you met it didn’t you? It took your wing.”

You took a step forward and narrowed your eyes, fully facing him now. “How do you know about that? Who told you?” 

He stepped back. “I-I heard rumors a couple of years back that it got someone. I heard your name thrown around here and there.”

You gave him enough of a warning that you didn’t want to talk, but he ignored it and now he has to reap the consequences. At this point, you were so tired and drained from everyone trying to be buddy-buddy with you that you finally snapped. The only thing you wanted was to go home, you did not need this right now. 

“Well, Arthur, you shouldn’t pry into other people’s business. I’ve told you time and time again that I have to leave, yet you persist to stop me. Why? And where are your parents, didn’t they teach you any manners?”

He looked downwards and fiddled with his fingers. “They’re dead. T-The Warden took someone important to me. I… I thought you might be able to help me.”

Shit, you just yelled at a grieving orphan. You were a massive asshole weren’t you? Your eyes softened slightly and you frowned. “...I’m sorry for your loss. Is there anything I could do to make it up to you? Dinner perhaps? We can talk about how I could help you afterwards.”

He glanced up at you. “But-but what about your meeting.”

You winced. “Uh, I’m moving it forward, we have more pressing matters.” You paused awkwardly. “Do… Do you have anybody to ask permission? Any siblings?”

His shoulders drooped. “...No. I’m all by myself.”

Shit, you yelled at a grieving homeless orphan? God what kind of role model were you? 

“C’mon, kid. We’re going to my house.” 

His wordlessly followed you and avoided looking into your eyes. The walk to your childhood home was very awkward, neither of you attempted starting conversation. You sighed.

“Look, Arthur I’m sorry for yelling at you like that. That was really uncalled for, I shouldn’t have yelled or gotten mad. It’s just that- The Warden’s a… touchy subject for me.”

“It’s alright, Mx. Minecraft. You can make it up to me by… making me dinner and showing me some of your blueprints?”

He looked up to you with hope filled, sparkling eyes. You snorted. “It’s a deal, kid. We’re almost there.” 

You could see the silhouette of the house in the nearly setting sun. It was still the same as when you left a year ago. 

“Ya know,” you sighed out, “this is actually my Dad’s house. I’m just visiting him for a couple of weeks.”

“Where do you live then?”

“I live in the heart of L’manberg with my brothers.”

“That’s cool…” He trailed off. You frowned, it seems that he was nervous to meet your Dad. You probably should’ve mentioned that Philza was there to him before taking him here.

You stopped, grabbing Arthur’s shoulders. “Kid, you don’t have to worry about meeting my dad. He’s probably the kindest, most genuine man I’ve ever met. He’ll welcome you with open arms, that’s what he did with me and my three brothers. He adopted us all.”

He gave you a small smile. “Alright, Mx. Minecraft, I trust you.”

“Oh, please don’t call me ‘Mx. Minecraft’, it makes me feel ancient,” you lolled your head back and dramatically groaned out, making him giggle. “I just turned twenty, buddy. Feel free to call me (y/n).”

 Putting your hand on his shoulder, you led him to the front door. You twisted the old door knob and pushed the wooden door open.

“Dad, I’m home and I brought the beef!”

He popped his head out from the kitchen, his messy blond hair flopping onto his face. He gave you a joking smile. “Took you long enough, any longer and I would’ve locked ya out.” 

You watched as his eyes wandered over to Arthur. He frowned, revealing his frilly pink apron that Wilbur got him as a joke. Oh, you could just hear the gears in his head churning.

“...(Y/n), who’s this?”

Grinning sheepishly, you replied. “Dad, this is Arthur Fox. Arthur, this is my dad Philza Minecraft. I promised him dinner and somewhere to stay for the night. Do you have some of Tommy’s old clothes Artie could borrow for the night?”

He sighed, shooting you a we’ll-talk-about-this-later look. “Yes, they’re in the attic. I’ll grab them after dinner so he could shower before going to bed.”

Arthur timidly spoke up. “Thank you, Mr. Minecraft.”

Your dad softened and gave him a gentle smile. “It’s no problem, Arthur. And please, call me Philza. Mr. Minecraft makes me feel old.”

Arthur let out a loud laugh. Despite everything he went through, his laugh still sounds like an innocent child’s laugh. You chuckled, kids always had a silly little laugh. Philza grinned at him, a child’s laughter was something that he missed.

Arthur wiped at his eyes as his laughter died down. “I’m sorry, (y/n) said the same outside.”

“I did,” you smiled lightly at Arthur before looking back at Philza with mischief, standing up straight and putting your hands on your hips. “But I was funnier.”

“Pft, you wish. I was saying that before you were even born. So, I win because I’ve been saying it longer.”

“Whatever ya say, old man. Funniness over age.”

He playfully glared at you, placing an offended hand over his heart. “I’m not that old.”

“Ya kinda are, Dad. You’re practically turning to dust!”

He gasped. “I am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Are too!”

“Am no- wait Dad, that’s cheating!”

“You still said it though!” He sang out, grinning at you cheekily.

“No, that doesn’t count!”

Arthur’s amused brown eyes bounced between you and Philza like he was watching a tennis match. Every so often, he would giggle at something one of you said. You both took your banter to the kitchen where you and Philza started to cook. Dinner was done and the table was set in no time. There was pleasant small talk as dinner neared an end

Your dad swallowed his last bite of beef and turned his attention towards Arthur. “So Arthur, how old are you?”

Arthur gave a small grin. “I’m ten.”

“Do your paren-”

You loudly coughed, throwing a discreet glare at Philza. Mouthing ‘don’t’ from behind your hand, you took a big sip of your water and stood up. “I’ll wash all the dishes. Arthur, would you like to look at some of my blueprints while we wait for my Dad to get you some clothes?”

His eyes shined with excitement. “Yes please!”

You chuckled, putting the plates in the sink and walking down to your old workshop to grab one of the blueprints you left in a filing cabinet. You grabbed the first draft for your prosthetic and the final draft for the automatic farm.

Upstairs, you situated the blueprints in front of Arthur at the dinner table. “Okay buddy, learn to your heart’s content. I’m gonna do the dishes. If you need something just give me a shout.”

Walking into the kitchen, you filled the sink with warm soapy water and got started scrubbing. You moved your wings around subconsciously as you wiped the pots and plates clean of grease. Humming in satisfaction when you were done, you dried your hands and sat next to Arthur who was looking at your designs with complete awe. 

“You like them?”

He nodded his head so fast you thought it might fall off and started to fling questions at you. You smiled fondly at him, it was nice to see someone so interested in how your inventions were made and not just how they worked. 

You two were mid conversation when Philza walked into the room with a bundle of clothes in his arms. You grabbed Arthur’s hand and led him up to the bathroom. You bent down and rested your hands on your knees, looking at him.

“Alright buddy, everything you need is in there, clean towels are in the closet. When you’re done, I’ll be in my room just over there,” you pointed to your door. “Last door on the left. I can show you where you’ll be sleeping for the night when you’re done. Does that sound okay?”

He gave you a gap-toothed smile. “Yes, thank you (y/n)! You’re the best!”

He closed the bathroom door and you stood there. You felt… oddly fond for the boy you just met only hours before. 

Philza cleared his throat and pinned you to the wall with a stern look. “(Y/n), explain now.”

“I will, but let’s talk in my room so Arthur can shower in peace. Poor boy needs it.”

He sighed and walked into your room. You had a long talk ahead of you.

(A/N): so, how do you guys like Arthur?

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[commanderbengiskywalker]

may i req 74 ( “What are you doing?”) whump and found family with Plo and Fordo, my lad?

Who is Watching You’re Back?

74: “What are you doing?”

Characters: Fordo and Plo.

Summary: Ever since he got assigned to the Kel Dor who happened to accompany him on this mission, he noticed things others seem to ignore.

A/N: This is an AU I have been going around in my head and I wish to test it. The Clones aren’t by neither the Jedi, Republic or the Kaminoans. They are Mandalorians and were taken away from Kamino early and have a treaty with Republic. The Jedi, on the other hand, belong to the Republic ever since Darth Malgus’ raid on Coruscant, as they failed to protect the Republic. I hope you enjoy.

The group moved through the dense forest as they proceeded to their target, the Separatists’ comm tower. Fordo has lead countless missions behind enemy lines to get back at Separatists for their Buir and to save his vod for any oncoming assault.

“Thatch,” he called to his comms, as he spied on the comm tower. “What is the amount of resistance?”

There was silence in response, as they waited for the scout team to report.

“Says there are six on the highest platform, six at the entrance.” The voice of Grounder replied.

“How many inside the tower?” Fordo asked.

“Twelve more inside.”

“Seems easy,” chimed Dare through the comms.

“What of our special “help”, Ori’vod?”

Fordo frowned behind his helmet. He didn’t know much of the Kel Dor Jetii that Wolffe dropped on him, but from his loose statements of being a “di’kutla Jetii” on their first meeting, he didn’t say much else. His records show that he was involved in both the Hyperspace War as leader because the previous Jetii died to an ambush, and the Yinchorii Uprising as a servant to the Republic’s whims. He had good reputation as the Republic dog he was, but he never talked much as he preferred to stand at the side during briefings with his vod. Or he would await in the hanger bay or training deck for occupying his time. He was strange compared to how the others were described by working on a ship or meditating alone.

“Kel Dor,” he called into the comms, “what is your position?”

He was only greeted with static. Not the first time a Jetii greeted him with static as response, as he worked with a Shistavavan Jetii who never talked.

He sighed. “Let’s move forward.”

The group moved to the target as Thatch snipped out the ones in front before they could react. They halted at the door while Fordo kicked the droid in the faceplate and shot the other in the chassis.

“Wire, open it up,” Fordo said.

Wire approached the panel, but before she could do anything the door opened to a bunch of dismantled Battle Droids and a single Kel Dor with a brandished Lightsaber.

“How did you get in?” He asked, as he entered.

The Kel Dor deactivated his Lightsaber and hung it belt before clasping his hands behind his back.

“My apologies, General.” The Kel Dor responded. “I merely saw a vantage point to the west of the platform and entered there.”

Fordo huffed and turned to his vod. “Wire, disable their transmissions, inform Cody and Rex that we’re ready.”

“Yes, Ori’vod.” Wire nodded, as she turned to the console.

“The rest, let’s head to the platform.” He ordered, as he walked to the stairs. “You too, Jetii.”

The rest of group made there way up the steps, passing by the occasional droid as they went. Fordo didn’t bother with them, as his concern fell to the Kel Dor’s twitching talons. He frowned from behind his mask. ‘Is he always this twitchy?’ He wondered absently.

They were greeted with a beautiful skyline over looking the forest and the occasional bird flying by from the west. The Kel Dor stood next to Grounder as they scan the area, he noticed him grabbing the railing tightly.

Fordo felt the familiar tap of Thatch, as he turned ti see him point to an oncoming battalion of Super Battle Droids coming from the west. There were also a few tanks accompanying them.

“Grounder, ready the rocket launcher for those tanks,” he ordered, as he grab his pistols.

“What of the rest?” Grounder asked, as he set up his launcher.

“We’ll handle it. Wire, where’s the reinforcements?”

“On there way, but Vultures droids are blocking them.” Wire replied through the comms.

“Then we’ll hold out.”

The group grab their weapons and ready for the assault. Grounder fired a rocket to the nearest tank disabling them, but in turn alerting them of their position. Thatch snipped several on the ground though more took their place.

“If only we had bombers,” Grounder grits, as he fired at the second tank, “then we could take a load of them out.”

“We’ll just have to hold, vod’ika.” Fordo replied shooting down the others.

A blur passed by him as the Kel Dor jumped off the platform and toward the battle below, but the sound of crackling came off of his body while the smell of burning ozone filled his nostrils.

“The Kriff is the matter with him?!” He shouted, as he watched him fall.

Suddenly there was an explosion of electricity that went around the droids. The shockwave went about three feet away from the intisl blast radius, disabling multiple droids in the process. The only thing that was left the smell of burning ozone that filled the air.

Fordo stared blankly as he had never seen anything like that before. Is this what Republic was hiding from them? A Jetii who can shoot lighting. He shook his hea as he fastened his cable to the railing.

“Let’s move.” He ordered, as he jumped off and down to the battle below.

The Kel Dor blocked the on coming blaster fire, as they others reached the ground. Several grazes hit his arms as he attempted to bloc the overwhelming fire, flinched at the ones that suddenly came behind them. He turned to me Fordo’s pistol aimed at the nearest droid.

“We need to talk,” the General shouted, as he walked up beside him.

“Yes, Sir.” The Kel Dor replied automatically, while blocking the shoots

“Hey, Fordo,” called from the comms, “need some help?”

“Get down here, Warthog.” Fordo order to his comms.

Then a line of ships fired down on top of them and at the droids. Then they came back around to fire bombs at those in the rear, cutting off further assult to the ground team.

A gunship landed next to them with blue and animalistic designs. The group ran towards it as Wire followed behind them with the Kel Dor blocking fire for her. They shut the doors as were all accounted for.

“Take us up, Sky.” Fordo called up.

“Alright, Ori’vod.” Sky called back.

Fordo felt the familiar jostling of the ship, but he couldn’t his eyes iff of the twitching Kel Dor as his fingers with crackle with electricity.

_______________________________________

When they reached the Resolute, they stepped off of the gunship. Wire rubbed her arm, as the graze bleeding through her greys, while Grounder and Thatch went to put down their weapons. Fordo walked up to Cody and Rex, they greeted them at the hanger.

“It was successful, I hope,” said Rex as he held his grey a blue helmet under his arm.

“You can say that, vod’ika,” the eldest replied, removing his red and black helmet. “Wolffe never said his Jetii can do lighting, though.”

“What?” The two said in unison with bewildered expressions.

“Di’kut Jetii,” he called, over his shoulder, “come here.”

The Kel Dor walked up beside him with hands clasped behind him, his shoulder straightened and his tilted up.

“Tell me, what did you think you were doing jumping down into battle like that?” He asked firmly.

“Apologies, sir,” the Kel Dor said, bowing. “I merely was providing a solution. I will take the according punishment for my mistake.”

“Punishment?”

The Kel Dor stiffened, as he slowly straightened. He shuffled from foot to foot nervously. Was he always this nervous?

“It is forbidden to use such an ability that I am capable of, sir.” He explained. “If are were to, there must a punishment or it is informed to the Republic.”

“Indeed.” The posh voice of General Tarkin echoed in the hanger bay, followed by another Besalisk Jetii behind him. “The asset is forbidden to use such abilities outside of those that are instructed to them.”

“Is that really necessary? Surely the Jetii has a name.”

“Yet you insist on calling him a Jedi, but never bother to ask.”

Fordo glanced at the Jetii, who stepped back a bit. He never once said his name or neither did he ask. Names are important to his vod as they choose them after Buir run away with them twenty years ago, but he never bothered to ask him.

“What’s your name, Jetii?” He asked gently.

“It doesn’t matter, sir.” He replied flatly.

“No, what is it? You’re name.”

“Plo, sir. Plo of clan Koon.”

He smiled at the clan name. ‘Seems very far away from his clan..’ he thought, as he reached out his hand.

Plo stared blankly at the offer before going to reach, but another hand grabbed his.

“What do you think you are trying to do, Guard?” The Besalisk barked, tightening his grip on his wrist.

“I..I was simply…” Plo stammered, gazing up at the taller Jetii.

“He was being polite and giving me a hand shake.” Fordo cut in.

“Apologies, General, but Kel Dor have the ability see thoughts by touch. He doesn’t do handshakes.”

Fordo tightened his hand into a fist as he brought to his side. He glared up at the Jetii as he glared back at him. His vod murmured in Mando’a insults behind him.

“We shall take the beast with us,” Tarkin states, as he scowled at the Plo. “He shall be punished accordingly for his blunt miss use of his abilities.”

“That isn’t necess—,” the eldest tried to cut in, but they already turned to drag off Plo with them.

“Kriffing Republic scum.” Rex muttered, as he glared at the group.

“Tell Wolffe to comm me if Plo ever returns.” Fordo states, firmly as he walks away from his vod. He didn’t feel right abandoning Plo like that.

—————————————————————

The next time he saw the Kel Dor was on another joint mission a few months later. He walked into the bridge as his vod’ika talked while the Jetii stood off to the side. The Togruta and the two human Jetii stood close to each other near one of the modules while his vod’ikas surrounded the map. What caught his wmeye was Plo, who stood in the far corner clasping his hands, his bandaged hands.

“What kriff?!” He shouted, as he walked up to Plo. “Why didn’t you tell me, Wolffe?!”

Wolffe and the others glanced Fordo, as he approached his Jetii, grabbing his hands. The Jetii stiffened at the outburst.

Wolffe frowned. “I asked as well. He wouldn’t say.”

Fordo frowned as he inspected the injuries, as the fingers were in the splint for obvious broken bones for one reason… he used the lighting.

“What did they do to you…?” He whispered, running his hand against the bandages.

“It is alright, sir,” Plo whispered, as he tried move his hand away. “It is alright, I am fine.”

Fordo frowned. “Someone has to watch your back.”

“Others need their backs watched, sir. Mine is fine.”

That was one thing they had in common, they preferred look after those younger than themselves over watch themselves. Fordo made a vow to adopt this Jetii, if it’s the last thing he does.

__________________________________________

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. I really wanted to try this AU with Clones being actual Mandalorians and leading battles while the Jedi served as their guards. I hopevI achieved with what you wanted. I am still doing more requests if you are interested.

[itsuki-minamy]

“GERMAN SENSEI’S CLASS”

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia 

The high school he goes to is a fairly advanced school, and it seems like there weren't many students who dropped out in the past. A standing basketball case that happened several years ago, immediately after the usual incompetence case, he felt a little nervous, but due to the care of the school side and the positive attitude of the students themselves, it was rather the whole world. He said he was able to get his daily life back a step before the rest of the world and even called it a "model case for recovery."

So it doesn't really matter... but there aren't many people in complementary training today. He was hospitalized this spring in a car accident and his class has been delayed, along with a boy from the same class baseball club, a boy from the same grade sports club and some guys who play a little.

"Guten Morgen, everyone! Good weather today. Let's have fun."

Then when the German teacher entered the classroom, they all fluttered like "Uhhhhh!" and sat in their seats.

The German teacher is a young teacher whose real name is "Adolf K. Weissmann". The name "Weissmann Sensei" is a bit long, and the profile "I am German" is so impressive that everyone calls him "German teacher" or "Doimman".

He's tall and handsome, and he always smiles, making him especially popular with students, but even the boys say, "I don't like being upset, but I don't like it, German.", "He's a nice guy."

"Today's class is physical. Those who have a bad test or who were unable to attend the class are the targets."

When he said it, he attended and looked around the classroom.

"You all had something more important than my lesson. It's really cool."

"It is ironic!"

When a boy from a baseball club suddenly rushes,

"Oh, I wonder if it sounds like that. Communication is difficult..."

For some reason, the German teacher was upset.

"Um, um. Life is a lifelong study! But it's not just about studying at school. There are many other things you should do at this high school age. You can dedicate yourself to your hobbies and club activities. Playing with friends, traveling, watching videos on the Internet, instead of just studying, is a failure in life. First of all, that's a great premise."

He says it with a small gesture like "driving a car".

"But it is a waste to turn the wheel too far, and it is a waste of physics. Why is physics, chemistry, or mathematics a touch of a part of the world mechanism? It is a valuable tool to enrich your life and benefit society. Above all, it is very interesting!"

"No, I don't understand anything about science."

"Since I'm a liberal arts person, it doesn't matter for the exam."

For the mentoring group to say to each other:

"Yes, yes. I was wondering if there are those children. So…"

The German teacher smiled and took out a stack of copy paper.

"At this point, I will have the exercises for "Fundamentals of Physics" printed.”

"Hey, isn't that the content of a year?"

"Yes, this print was made to help you understand your themes and at the same time convey the fun."

While the teacher said in a tone like "Look, look, my work!"

"Coefficient of Friction" or "Kinetic Energy"... is it fun?"

"I only have bad memories."

And all the tutors are frowning.

"Exciting, isn't it?"

The German teacher seems to have fun without change. Maybe he can't read the air that much.

"... Hey, Doimman."

The baseball club pointed at him with a serious face.

"We are fine about it, do it for him. We are self-employed because we are stupid or strange, but he was hospitalized and was unable to take classes."

"Yes, yes. It is wonderful to be considerate of friends."

The German teacher nodded with a smile, and suddenly turned to him.

"You were good at science during the year. I think that course is also for continuing higher education."

Suddenly, he was a little confused.

"I think... if I could do that... but now all the issues are late..."

"Yes, yes."

The German teacher is as he is.

"So, it's warming up today! If you feel good, let's have another study session after school. Let's talk to other teachers and think about taking the test. How about that?"

"Ah... stop."

When he thought about it, the girls behind,

"This, the private class of the German teacher?"

"Unfair! Then I'll be a science student too!"

What were they saying, they started making noise.

And…

"Today is not another official test. I will answer if I have any questions.''

The teacher said while sitting at the window.

"If you don't know what you don't understand, don't worry about it. Go ahead. Don't let the physical constants slip away, even if it takes a while. I'd rather hear from you now."

The impression was simple and he had in mind the basics of the subject, and he was able to continue on his own in some way even though physics touched him after a long time, although he was sometimes obstructed. The rusty gears in his head seem to start spinning again, and it's fun.

"Ah, remember how you did it!"

That said, the baseball club is also seriously working on printing as-is... But when the sound of baseball club practice started to be heard from the window, he immediately started to freak out.

There's a quiche and a bat sound.

"Yeah, I did. Double career."

As he stared at the schoolyard with his arm on the window railing, the breeze coming through the window flickers through the clear, transparent hair.

“The energy that flows from everyone's body converges and collides with a powerful will, forming a dazzling parabolic trajectory. It is really beautiful."

What is the world like for this person?

Suddenly he looks at the teacher's profile,

"Oh, yeah."

The German teacher suddenly turned to him, so he suddenly looked away.

The teacher told the baseball club, not him.

"I wonder if I can go to the baseball club next time... I would like to try the ballgame once."

"Ah, the 'ball game' has a wide range! I haven't done anything in baseball, soccer or basketball."

The baseball club responded with a dead look.

"What kind of life do you have?"

"It is not shameful."

The German teacher smiled.

"Now I am in the midst of a failed life."

++++++++++

A few days later…

"German, from the waist, from the waist! From the waist, this!"

On the way to the "study session" after school, when he look at the schoolyard from the window in the hallway, he saw the German teacher in a white robe, surrounded by some members of the baseball club. The shape looks like an amateur to the layman, and it flaps with every swing.

"German, German! Move the bat!"

The baseball club is too excited trying to teach him.

"Okay, I'll start practicing."

The other members say, that the baseball club is worshiping him,

"Do it once and only once!"

"I cannot do this."

"Come on, you can do it."

The German teacher, who was told to do it,

"Oh... how about that?"

Holding the bat, he looked at the limbs fearlessly.

"Sport is also a phenomenon that follows the laws of physics, I am a genius of physics and I can handle it. Yes, I can already see the magnificent quadratic curve that a white ball draws in the blue sky."

"What did you say, German?"

"If you just say that... well, why don't you try it?"

Being overwhelmed by the mysterious self-confidence of the German teacher, the members reached the defensive agreement.

When the launcher sways, the teacher winks at him looking out the window.

Exciting and happy, he shook the air as much as he could.

[changingourdestiny]

Beyond Light Part 5: Stasis, Secrets & Science

Summary:

Rae and friends travel beneath the ice to Bray Exoscience to locate the next shard and Praksis. But they end up learning something else regarding one of their own members...

Previous Part: Here

Next Part: Here

“To my Eliksni sisters and brothers out amongst the stars and here at home on Europa: we have suffered a great loss today. Our beloved warrior Phylaks was murdered by not only a pawn of the once ‘Great Machine’, but a human Captain of the traitors known as House Light. As always, the machine-spawns eagerly seek to eradicate us. Remember, Light only burns bright for so long, but Darkness is forever.”

 “Traitors? Like she has room to talk!”

Tif pouted as Fireteam Paralight made their way their way down through the ice towards Bray Exoscience where the pull of the next shard was leading them. “Don’t mind her.” Blaze grinned, giving the Titan a playful nudge, “She’s just salty that we beat her best warrior. If she has a problem, she can shove it up her- whoa.”

Blaze cut herself off as they entered the inside of the facility. Despite being around for centuries and buried in ice, the inside was near spotless…aside from the dark shard floating above the platform. “Ok, I still stand by the fact that Clovis is a piece of crap,” Blaze began as she looked around, “But this place looks really nice.”

“Yeah! So shiny!” Tif beamed. Rae and Marcia approached the platform where the shard was. “You mind if I go this time?” Marcia asked, “I’ve had experience with Darkness before and I wanna ensure this doesn’t have any effects on Starlight.”

“Be my guest.” Rae motioned to the shard as she stepped back, allowing Marcia to double jump onto the platform. The Nightstalker took out her splinter and walked up to the shard, holding it up like Tif did. There was a brief glow as Marcia felt herself being frozen in stasis. She closed her eyes and let it happen. As the last of her was frozen, Rae watched as Marcia suddenly burst out of the stasis with a strained yell as what seemed to be two kama blades appeared in her hands. “Whoa!” Marcia exclaimed, examining the blades, “Not bad. Not bad at all!”

“Marcia, Eliksni incoming!” Nox alerted as Marcia spotted Fallen entering from a door at the other end of the room. “Good.” Marcia smirked, “Let’s see what this power can do!” Marcia leapt up into the air and threw her first blade at a group of Fallen, freezing them in place, as the second one exploded on impact and formed a stasis form that hunted down the remaining Fallen. “Whoohoohoo!” Marcia whooped, “This is so much better than Void!” The Hunter summoned what seemed like a stasis shuriken and threw it at a group of shanks. It ricocheted off each of them, striking all of them down. Marcia landed on the ground, rolling in the process, before snapping her fingers, letting out a wave of stasis. It went straight towards a servitor, freezing it in place, before seeking out the surrounding Fallen. Marcia whipped out her rocket launcher, Bad Omens, and fired it at the frozen Fallen, shattering them into pieces. Marcia sighed with a content smirk before feeling the energy leave her once more.

  “Now that!” Marcia grinned, stretching, “That felt satisfying!”

“Marcia, that was awesome!” Tif cheered. “Man…you took out those Eliksni like it was nothing.” Blaze mused, impressed.

“Well, now that that’s taken care of,” Rae began, “I’m gonna take a look around before we head back.”

“Why? There’s not much here. Well, aside from the Exo bodies. Which are very disturbing, might I add?” Blaze asked as she cautiously walked around a robotic body that was laying on the ground. “Eramis isn’t stupid.” Rae replied, sitting at a computer, “There’s no way she wouldn’t use the remaining tech here to her advantage. Chances are we might find something of use here.”

“Knock yourself out.” Marcia shrugged as she sat on the edge of the platform, her legs dangling. Rae browsed through the remaining files on the computer. A few of them were corrupted beyond salvaging, some were just cat pictures. Her curiosity was peaked when she saw a file with the lists of faculty members for each CB site in the system, one of them being Site-6. “Hey there’s a list of staff members for Site-6 here.” Rae called to Blaze. “Cool! We get to know who the assholes were that made SIVA.” Blaze chuckled, leaning over Rae’s shoulder to look at the list as Rae scrolled through it, “Screw you, Dr. Escher Zhang. Screw you, Dr. Marnie Ziglar. Screw you especially, Dr. Wilhelmina Bray. Screw you, Dr. A-”

Blaze went silent. Rae stopped scrolling.

“Uh…you guys okay?” Tif asked from where she was sitting beside Marcia. The two were just staring in disbelief at the screen. Marcia raised an eyebrow before hopping off the platform and walking towards them, “What’s got you two so rattled?” She peered over their shoulders at the screen and her face dropped in realisation, “Oh…”

Dr. Adam Bergfalk.

“It…it can’t be, right?” Blaze chuckled nervously, “There’s…gotta be loads of people with that name.”

“Only one way to find out.” Rae muttered as the clicked the file.

 Name: Dr. Adam Bergfalk.

Age: 36.

Rank: Junior Engineer for SIVA Project.

Assigned to: SIVA Replication Complex Site-6.

Important Notes:

Please ensure Dr. Bergfalk remembers to bring is arm in for weekly maintenance and himself for weekly check-ups. Ensure SIVA has affected no other parts of his body. We don’t need it eating his head too. We need that. ~SIVA.MEM.WB

Dr. Bray, as I’ve said a million times, my arm is FINE. I appreciate the check-ups, but I would also appreciate a little more confidence in my handywork. Speaking of which, whoever graffitied my arm with permanent marker while I was asleep: jokes on you, dumhuvud! I always have a spare on hand. And no, that’s not a pun. Also, I’ll be speaking to HR about some of the ‘statements’ you wrote. ~SIVA.MEM.AB

 In the corner of the profile was a mugshot of Adam. He had a confident and determined smirk on his face – almost a contrast to the quiet yet friendly Titan Rae and Blaze knew for so long. “Adam worked for Clovis…” Rae muttered. “Does it mention anything else?” Blaze asked, “Maybe he saw what assholes they were and quit?” Rae scrolled down through the file which had research notes, information and pictures in it, some of which were pictures of him with several other scientists when he first joined, one was him in a hospital bed without his arm looking very fed up while someone who bared resemblance to him seemed to be berating him, another was of him with a wrench in his mouth while he used a screwdriver to work on his metal arm which looked different to his current one – Rae assumed this arm was a prototype. Finally, Rae came across a note at the bottom.

 NOTICE OF MIA:

Following an explosion is his lab at Site-6, Dr. Adam Bergfalk has been reported as MIA as no trace of his body has been found. Until further notice, position of Junior Engineer has been passed to his assistant, Dr. Sigfrid Bergfalk. Investigation into the accident is underway and any new information will be posted here.

 “My guess is he died in that explosion…but they didn’t find his body?” Blaze spoke. “Maybe he managed to get out after the blast but died somewhere else?” Marcia suggested.

“I can’t believe it…” Rae muttered.

“Me neither.” Blaze replied, “To think he worked on-”

“He looks so smug!” Rae laughed, catching the other two Hunters off guard, “He’d never smirk like that now. He must’ve been a pain to work with. He sounds so sassy in his notes too!”

Rae got up from where she was sitting and turned off the computer, “Well, we better get back to work. Let’s head back to Variks’s place and figure out our next move.”

“You’re…not freaked out that Adam worked for the Brays? On Siva?” Blaze asked, confused. “Why would I be?” Rae replied with a smile, “That Adam died ages ago. He’s definitely not the Adam we know now. It doesn’t matter who he was, it’s who he is now.”

Blaze seemed surprised, her voice leaving her. “Hey!” Tif called over to the trio, “I just got a message from Variks! He says our next target is somewhere here in the facility!”

“C’mon, we got a house to tear down.” Rae smiled as she got her gun at the ready and continued into the labs. “Who he is now…” Blaze muttered as she subconsciously reached to where her ring once hung around her neck before smiling and following Rae alongside Tif and Marcia, feeling reassured.

“Brig incoming!”

“TRAVELLER’S CRACK!!!”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 “I have seen what power has done to Eramis. But…perhaps you are different. Perhaps there is hope. Praksis. He is the visionary mind behind Eramis’s technology. He wrings power from the Darkness itself. But Variks was not privy to his secrets, his experiments. You must discover how he creates these dark weapons…and stop him.”

 “I…hate…BRIGS!” Blaze growled as she tried to catch her breath, the remains of the giant brig smouldering on the platform. “No, no, no…” Praksis’s voice came through the comms, “Troubling. Embarrassing. I must keep this from Eramis. The data must be clean.”

“D’aww! Is he embawwassed that the wittle Guardians twashed his science pwoject?” Marcia cooed before laughing. “Yeah, antagonise the Eliksni in charge of Eramis’s weapons. That’ll end well.” Rae sighed. “Relax! We’ll be fine! Let’s go!” Marcia took off towards the entrance at the back of the room when…

*BA-BOOM!!!*

“Guardian down.” Nox announced as Marcia’s body was thrown across the room by the explosion, “There were tripwires.”

Praksis could be heard laughing through the comms as Nox revived Marcia who then got to her feet. Rae started laughing, “Now you can’t give me slack for the time I triggered Drifter’s tripwires when you fell for the same trap!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Marcia groaned as she stretched, “Let’s just go kill Eramis’s head nerd already.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 “We should be nearly there.” Rae called out as the fireteam traversed the halls of Bray Exoscience.

“Hang on! I’m almost there!”

Rae, Blaze and Marcia turned around to see Tif slowly approaching them on what seemed like a roomba – similar to the ones Rae saw on Titan. “Really?” Marcia smirked, raising an eyebrow. “What? They’re cool!” Tif grinned, “And strong. I’m wearing a good bit of armour and this can still carry my weight no problem.”

“Well, you are pretty small.” Marcia chuckled.

“Am not! I’m 5 ft 6!” Tif pouted, “I’m not that much smaller than you!”

Marcia laughed, “I’m just messin’ with ya, Tif.”

Tif stuck out their tongue before hopping off the roomba and following the others further down the hall.

“Hey, Rae?” Tif asked.

“Yep?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, since you and Variks mentioned him before, but who’s Cayde-6? He’s an Exo, right?”

Rae nodded, “He’s the Hunter vanguard and my boyfriend. He and his Ghost died in the Prison of Elders, but I was able to save him with an ability Paralians have.”

“Awesome!” Tif beamed, “My girlfriend’s a Hunter too. She’s super cool!”

“Wait. You have a girlfriend?” Blaze asked, seeming surprised. “Yup!” Tif replied happily, “Her name’s Azara. But I call her Azzy and she calls me Tiffy! She looks scary and mean but she’s super nice and cool! She likes being in the wild and sometimes visits me at Misraaks’s skiff when she’s passing through. One time, I was about to get blasted by an ogre and she picked me up and saved be before I got exploded. She’s really strong and she’s so fast! It felt like we teleported when she saved me. I love her so much!”

Rae couldn’t help but smile as Tif talked about their girlfriend. Their eyes were practically twinkling, and the smile never left their face. “You two must love each other very much.” Blaze noted. “Of course!” Tif grinned, “I’d do anything for her, and she’d do anything for me too! Right now she’s in the Tangled Shore investigating some Eliksni that were acting weird. I’ll be joining her once I finish up here.”

“Well, let us know if you ever need backup. We’d love to meet her.” Rae smiled.

“I will! She’d love to meet you too!”

 The fireteam arrived in a large room with a catwalk leading to an odd, spherical object. As they approached the catwalk, Praksis’s laugh cut them off as he came flying in on a Shank that exploded as he landed before them. “Well that was an entrance.” Rae muttered. “Eramis does not permit errors, so I will not fail.” Praksis growled as he got is gun at the ready. “What a coincidence!” Marcia gave a dark grin as she activated her super, a void bow appearing in her hands.

“Neither do I.”

 To Be Continued…

[undead--ghost]

Down

Pairing: Rafe x Reader

Words: 4,593

A/N: Hey y’all, this is my first fic! I’ve had this idea for agesss and finally decided to write it out! This fic is based off the song ‘Down’ by Marian Hill. Definitely would recommend listening to it while reading! Just in case it isn’t clear, the italics are like flashbacks to earlier into the night. Hope you guys enjoy!

The gunshots echo throughout the ballroom, you pull up the thin strap of your midnight blue dress and look over from your hiding place behind a pillar. A man in a black suit is quickly approaching, you pull up the gun and fire twice, hitting him in the heart. He falls to the ground with a thump that is barely audible over the other gunshots. How it got to this, you’ll never know. You look over to Rafe who is crouched behind a flipped table, his suit jacket has been discarded on the floor next to him and his crisp white shirt is splattered with blood, thankfully not his own. You knew it was a bad idea to come here, all you wanted to do was stay home and relax.

“Rafe, do we really have to go? How important can an egg be?” You ask as he ties his bowtie in the mirror. “Y/N, you know that the Fabergé egg is vital to the Bishop deal. If I don’t get it- I don’t even know what could happen. Besides, I already promised you that I would get it the clean way.” Rafe says, turning to you and holding your hands. You sigh and look up into his eyes, “okay, let’s just make sure it stays clean.” Rafe chuckles “don’t worry,” he squeezes your hands, “but just to put my worries aside I want us to bring these.” Rafe turns around and picks up two handguns from the bed, handing one to you and tucking the other inside his suit jacket. You reach out your hand to take it but hesitate, you really don’t want to be caught with this. Seeing your hesitation, Rafe places the gun in your hand and places your other hand over it, “we won’t get caught.” You sigh and nod your head, placing the gun in your black clutch.

You survey the ballroom, it’s hard to believe that only half an hour ago it was beautiful and full of rich people having fun. The ice sculptures that sat on the tables were broken into pieces, now scattered all over the floor like broken glass, just creating another hazard. The banners that fell from the ceiling were riddled with bullet holes and the marble floor was stained with blood. Bodies lied on the floor, all of them dressed elegantly, it’s hard to tell who is from Anson’s army and who is Rafe’s. You spot a break in the gunfire and make a run for Rafe, he’s only 20 feet away but with this many people shooting at you both one stumble means certain death.

You keep low and run as fast as you can, bullets fly over your head and it takes all your willpower to not just drop to the ground. A pain flares up on your forearm but you keep on running. It feels like time is moving in slow motion but you finally make it. You jump down next to Rafe who steadies you when you stumble slightly. “Y/N! Are you alright?” He asks, looking you over frantically. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” you say, panting heavily. A gunshot fires directly over your heads and you both flinch, Rafe bending over you quickly. Swiftly pulling up over the table Rafe fires at the man, and the sound of his body hitting the ground confirms his death.

Rafe looks back to you, drawing all his attention onto your arm. “God, you’ve been hit.” He says, pulling his arm closer to his face. You hiss in pain and he loosens his grip and looks up at you sympathetically, “sorry. The bullet just missed, you’ve got a graze but it’s not bleeding too bad.” “It’s fine, let’s just hurry this up.” Rafe nodded and at the same time you both stood up from behind the table, shooting off several rounds, the men from Anson’s side were quickly hitting the floor.

You held onto Rafe’s forearm as you both walked through the grand front doors of the Alexandrov Manor. The ball was in full swing, classical music played throughout, elegant bodies swayed on the dance floor and others stood to the side watching and making idle chit-chat. This ball was a big one, you and Rafe had flown in all the way from your home in Seattle to Moscow, Russia. The Alexandrov Manor was beautiful and you couldn’t help but stare in wonder at everything. It was a traditionally styled mansion with a classy feel. You’re pulled from your thoughts as Rafe leans down to whisper in your ear, “this is Nastasya and Dimitre Alexandrov, they’re good friends of mine but didn’t get rich by playing fair.” You look up to Rafe and raise your eyebrow, “who in this crowd has?” Rafe chuckles and places one hand over yours. You look at the couple coming over, they’re both middle-aged but Dimitre shows it more. He wears a black suit with a red tie that matches Nastasya’s dress. Nastasya wears an elegant red dress that has a slit up to her mid-thigh but is still modest enough. “Hello Rafe, how are you?” Dimitre asks, with a thick Russian accent, as he stops in front of you both, Nastasya next to him smiling brightly. “Dimitre, Nastasya! I’m doing well, how about you both?” Rafe asks. “We are both good, thank you. Who is this beautiful woman next to you though?” Nastasya questions, also with a thick accent. “My apologies, this is my fiancé, Y/N!” Rafe says, proudly. You smile and reach out to shake their hands. “A beautiful name for a beautiful woman!” Dimitre says charmingly. A light blush spreads across your cheeks and you thank him. “So anything in particular you have your eye on tonight?” Dimitre asks, turning back to Rafe. “Actually, I’m planning on buying the Fabergé egg,” Rafe states, his eyes drifting towards it. As it’s the biggest piece going tonight it sat in the middle of the stage, a single spotlight shining on it. It sat inside a glass case, the gold egg was covered in rubies and speckled with emeralds and about the size of your fist. However, it was going for ₽1.8 billion, most of the value was in the history of the egg with 50 made and only 42 found, this was the 43rd one to be discovered. “Ah yes, a wonderful piece, very expensive,” Dimitre says, nodding his head knowingly. “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Rafe chuckles a slight edge to his voice now. “Well,” starts Nastasya, sensing the tension, “we must be off, many guests to greet!” “It was great meeting you both.” You say as they walk away.

You turn back to Rafe, “I’m going to get a drink, do you want one?” “No thanks, I’m good for tonight.” He says, smiling down at you.“Alright, be back in a second,” you say, reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek. You turn back to the crowd and make your way to the bar, careful not to bump into anyone. You reach the bar and ask for a glass of champagne. Once you receive it you thank the bartender and start to make your way back to Rafe. As you get closer you notice a short, blond, man having a conversation with Rafe, but by the way Rafe’s shoulders are squared you can tell it’s not a good one. Just as you get to Rafe’s side the man storms off, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Who was that?” You ask, taking a sip from your glass. “Mark Anson, he came up to me to ‘make connections’, apparently he’s interested in the egg as well and got upset when I told him that I would be the one walking away with it,” Rafe says as he wraps his arm around your waist. You hummed as you took another sip, watching the man from afar as he attempts to talk to another businessman.

The fight continues and is going nowhere, it seems like just as man people are killed more come in and replace them. You turn to Rafe, “I have a plan, but it’s gonna sound crazy.” Rafe doesn’t take his eyes off of the enemies, firing off shots every couple of seconds “okay, what is it?” You sigh, you know he’s not going to like it, especially if it’s you that’s in danger. “There’s a room upstairs with tonnes of weapons, and one of them is a China Lake. If you cover me I can run and get it and get most of them down from the top of the stairs.” You say.

Rafe crouches back down behind the table, and looks you in the eye, “no, absolutely not. It’s too dangerous, you won’t have any cover at all.” You roll your eyes and let out a frustrated huff. “It’s the only thing that will get us out of here in time.” “No! It’s too dangerous!” Rafe says, his voice rising with every word. You shake your head, a fight like this will bring the police immediately it’s only a matter of minutes before they show up and both you and Rafe can’t afford to get caught. “I know what you’re thinking- we can make it out in time and if we don’t I’ve got the money!” Rafe says sternly, grasping your wrist tightly. “Rafe, it’s not about the money, it’s about our- your reputation, you said it earlier this Bishop deal is important we can’t risk it!” You shout now, your frustration trumping your fear of being overheard. “No, I won’t have it- Y/N!” Rafe yells as you slip out of his grasp, making a run up the grand staircase. He turns back to the men and fires off rounds as they aim at you.

You run, your bare feet hitting the marble stairs loudly. Once again you keep your head low to minimise the risk of getting shot. You run in a zigzag pattern to throw off the people shooting at you and you can hear Rafe behind you firing shots. There are a couple of Anson’s men at the top of the stairs but you shoot quickly and they drop like flies.

You sprint down the hall, once you find the door you fling it open and race into the room, slamming the door behind you. You face the door and rest your forehead against it as you allow yourself a few precious moments to catch your breath. You turn around and survey the room, guns of all types line the walls and a mahogany desk sits in the middle of the room with a leather chair behind it. ‘This must be Dimitre’s office’ you think to yourself as you scan the walls for your weapon of choice. You spot the grenade launcher directly behind the desk, sitting just above your head. You step behind the desk and place your handgun on it. You reach up, standing on the tip of your toes to grasp the gun. You seize it by the handle and swiftly pull it off the shelf, it catches you by surprise with how heavy it is but you pull it up to your chest, ready to fight.

Just as you turn around you feel an arm go around your neck and squeeze tightly. You gasp and drop the gun to the floor, clawing at the arm. A deep chuckle emerges from the person behind you and you can tell that it’s useless. You struggle to take in breaths as the grip becomes increasingly tighter and tighter until your vision starts to go black at the edges. You squirm in the arms of your capture but the grip is too tight. Remembering something you once heard, you pull your elbow forward and with all your might swing it back into the person’s stomach. The person behind you let’s go out on shock and you quickly take advantage of the situation, spinning around and swinging at their face, hitting them right in the jaw, they stumble and grab their face.

You get a quick look at the person and see that it’s a man, he’s at least a head taller than you and about twice as wide. He straightens back up and swings at you but you expertly dodge the attack, instead grabbing his arm and kneeing him in the stomach, as he doubles over you swing your fist up once again hitting him in the jaw where a bruise is already forming. He grunts in frustration and grabs you by the shoulders and shoves your back into the desk, you gasp at the pain shooting up your back and he brings his hand back and slaps you across the face. You drop down to the floor as he attempts to hit you again, a loud rip sounds throughout the room as your dress catches on the corner of the desk and tears, leaving a gaping hole in the back of it. You jump back up to your feet and swing your leg, hitting him in the back of the knees. The man falls to the ground and you stomp your foot hard in the middle of his back, holding him in place. You use this opportunity to grab your handgun off the desk, quickly firing a single shot into the back of his head.

Not wanting to waste any more time you grab the China Lake and start to make your way back to the staircase.

“And for our final piece of the night, the 43rd Fabergé egg is going up for auction starting at ₽1.8 billion.” The auctioneer states as the audience start to buzz. This is it, the piece everyone had been waiting for, many of the people here had flown in just to see this egg be auctioned.  Rafe lifted his paddle in the air immediately. “We have our first bid at ₽1.8 billion, does anybody want to offer ₽1.9 billion?” The auctioneer asked, a couple people raised their paddles and thus started the auction.

It went on for a while and eventually people started dropping out as the price got too high, soon enough the price was at ₽3.4 billion and only Rafe and Anson remained. You tightened your grip on Rafe’s arm as both men started to get more agitated. Anson kept looking over at Rafe with a dark glare and you felt shivers up your spine every time he did. “₽5 billion, let’s get this over and done with,” Rafe says, lifting his paddle with a bored expression, but you could tell from his tone that he was getting annoyed. Gasps rose throughout the audience and you looked over to see that Anson had slumped his shoulders in defeat. “That concludes the aucti-“

“Let this be a warning Adler, you will not be leaving this place with that egg,” Anson yelled the audience’s eyes fell to Rafe as you both stood up straighter. “Anson, don’t be stupid, I've already won it.” Rafe states. Anson goes to yell again but is startled by the security guards grabbing his arms, leading him out of the building. “Let go of me!” He cries, struggling pathetically in their grasp, “do you know who I am?” His voice fades out as he is taken further away from the ballroom.

“We apologise for that upset. That concludes the auction, if you have bought anything please come to the stage immediately to collect it.” The auctioneer says, once again gaining the attention of the audience. The music comes back on and people start to make their way to the exit. Rafe turns to you with bright eyes and you giggle as he embraces you tightly. He lets go and you lean up and kiss his cheek lightly, “congratulations, babe.” “We did Y/N! I can’t believe we actually got the damned thing!” Rafe says, still holding you in his arms. “I never doubted you, Rafe,” you say sweetly, you both pull apart and he leads you up to the stage to claim the artefact.

You walk back from the stage, the egg safely inside a black briefcase clutched in Rafe’s left hand and yours in his right. You talk softly among yourself, glad that the stressful night is over. “Adler.” Came a cold voice from behind you. You and Rafe turn around to see Anson standing there with two men behind him like bodyguards. “Anson, here I was thinking that you had been evicted from the premise, yet here you are.” Rafe chuckles sarcastically. Your eyes shift nervously between the two men and you lean closer to your fiancé, “Rafe, don’t.” “I want that egg, and you’re going to give it to me.” Anson declares, stepping forward menacingly. “Now, let’s not play dirty. I got this fair and square.” Rafe says smugly, holding the briefcase up tauntingly. “Rafe!” You whisper aggressively, “lay off.” “Yes, Adler. You better listen to your little girlfriend.” Anson says as he pulls a handgun out from his pocket and aims it at Rafe. “Really? You’re going to threaten me? I would need more than a gun in my face to give this away.” Rafe says, now with a blank expression. “What about now?” Anson says as he changes the aim to you.

Your heart dropped to your stomach and you felt Rafe’s grip tighten on your hand to the point where it was painful. “You keep that gun on me, Anson. Y/N has nothing to do with this,” Rafe says calmly. You’ve always wondered how he could be so calm in situations like this. While you try your best to act confident, you know that your fear eventually finds its way onto your face. Your heart beats fast as you try to evaluate the situation at hand.

“Interesting. Seems like there is something that you would give up the egg for?” Anson says, his aim steady towards your heart. Rafe doesn’t hesitate to take action as he pulls out the gun from inside his jacket pocket and fires two shots, killing the two men behind Anson. Anson takes a moment to react, you see him pull the trigger and immediately leapt out of the way. You gather your bearings as you hide behind a pillar. Looking over to Rafe you see him yelling into his phone before firing back to Anson and his army. Fumbling with the latch of your clutch you pull out the handgun and start to fire into the crowd.

You stand at the top of the staircase with the China Lake in your hands, you’ve yet to be noticed but it won’t be long. Once you make the first shot all the attention will be on you. Now isn’t the time to play it safe. Your palms feel sweaty and you have to fight the temptation to wipe them on your dress. Your heart beats fast and your breathing has become increasingly faster. Luckily for you, most of Anson’s men are on the same side and the ones that are scattered are scarce. The grenade launcher only has 3 rounds so you have to make them count. You take aim carefully at the thick of the battle, your finger rests on the trigger. You mentally count to three and then pull the trigger. The force of the weapon pushes you back and you stumble slightly.  

The reaction is instant, the blast sets off chaos. The men below are now aiming their guns up but not at you, the dust all around has yet to settle so you take this opportunity to fire again. You run halfway down the stairs. The men below are starting to gather their bearings and proceed to aim at you. You duck behind the railing as a hail of bullets come at you. Taking a chance to look over you find that there are only about 10 more guys directly below you. You know that this shot is dangerous, the blast will certainly knock you off your feet, but it’s your only hope. You steady your ground and look over to Rafe once more. His eyes are trained on you and he nods slightly, knowing your plan. You take a deep breath and fire. The impact is instantaneous, you fly back from the railing and hit the wall, the breath gets knocked out of you and you struggle to breathe. Rafe instantly runs up the stairs and shields you with his body. You lift your head up to look at him and give him a weak smile. The edges of your vision are spotted black and your head feels light. Something trickles down the back of your neck and you reach behind and pull your hand back to your face to see it covered in blood.

“You’ll be fine, Y/N,” Rafe says, carefully sliding one arm under your legs and the other under your back. “I know,” you attempt to say confidently, although you can barely hear it over the ringing in your ears. Rafe chuckles weakly and takes up a light jog down the staircase.

You struggle to keep your eyes open and they slowly drift shut but with every jostle they snap open. Suddenly, you remember, “Rafe! The egg!” Rafe looks down at you with a blank expression, stopping in his tracks, “I can't reach it, it’s too late.” “No! It’s not! We have to get it.” You declare, squirming in his arms. Rafe grips you tighter and looks at you with a stern expression, “you’re hurt, we’re getting you out of here.” A bullet flies over your heads and Rafe ducks his head down and starts to run again. He brings you to the corner of the room to readjust his grip. “Rafe,” you say, placing your hand on his cheek, “we have to get the egg. Leave me here, I’ll be fine.” Your head was starting to clear up and your vision was back to normal. “I’m no-“ Rafe starts. “Rafe! Please, you- we need this.” Rafe sighs, “stay here, I promise I’ll be right back.”

He places you on the ground gently and you crouch behind the grand piano, resting your back against it and letting your head fall against to cool wood. You look up at Rafe to find him gazing at you with a worried look, “I’ll be fine. Trust me.” That’s all he needs to hear as he takes off firing off rounds as he dodges the rain of bullets coming his way.

You turn around so you’re facing the fight and see that only a few of Anson’s men remain. Anson is nowhere to be seen, he probably ran the second things got messy. Tonight shouldn’t have been like this, it just started as a quiet Friday night. This fight feels like it’s been going on forever, the constant danger is starting to take its toll on you as you feel your eyes start to get heavy. You know that it won’t stop until the police get here.

The faint sound of police sirens brings you back to reality. Your eyes widen and you start to panic. You and Rafe need to get out of here now, if you two get caught here- you don’t even want to think of the consequences.

“Rafe, come on,” you mutter to yourself, scanning the crowd for him.

You spot him with the black briefcase in his hand, making a run back to you. All attention is on him, you pull up from your hiding spot and fire at the crowd. Your hands shake making it harder for you to hit all your targets.

The police sirens are getting louder and they’ll be here any second. You can’t wait much longer, running towards Rafe to meet him in the middle. He sees you running and picks up his pace. You reach each other and without a moment’s hesitation Rafe grabs your hand and pulls you along.

You run as fast as you can, your feet sting as they pick up bits of broken glass and rubble. Your head starts to feel light again but you still power on. Bullets fly all around you and you keep your head low. Rafe, being bigger than you, practically drags you behind him. You both run out the front doors and you take a deep breath of fresh air, but the battle isn’t over more men stand outside fighting, some Rafe’s and some Anson’s. Rafe doesn’t pay attention to them as he drags you towards the driveway. In the distance, you can see the red and blue of the police cars steadily approaching. The limo is in your sight and the back door is already open for you and Rafe to dive into. Time seems to run in slow motion as you bolt for your getaway vehicle, it feels like it takes hours to reach the limo, but finally, you do. Rafe launches himself in, not letting go of your hand and you leap in after him, slamming the door close. “Go, go, go!” Rafe yells to the driver.

The limo immediately takes off and you speed out of the grounds. The police are just pulling in as you fly past them, but they pay no attention to you.

You take a deep breath and lean into the seat. Next to you Rafe lets out a breath and drops the suitcase onto the floor carefully. You look down at your dress, its torn in many places and is splattered with blood, some of it yours but most of it from others. The bottom of it is covered in mud and dirt and is holding on by a thread You’ve got small cuts scattered all over your arms and bigger wounds as well. You haven’t looked yet but you know that your makeup will be a mess. Your once elegant undo now falls into your face and is caked in blood. Rafe doesn’t look much better. His shirt is covered in mud and dirt and is torn in several places. He’s got cuts speckled across his face and forearms. Yet somehow his hair stays perfect. Rafe turns to you with a weak grin, “we did it?” You smile at him and pull his face closer to yours, “we did it.” He leans in and kisses you carefully on the lips. Once you pull apart you smile, looking up into his eyes, “I love you.” “I love you too, Y/N,” Rafe says as he settles his arm around your shoulders.

You pull your feet up onto the seat and rest your head on Rafe’s shoulder as you snuggle into him. You can’t believe that the night is over, you take a moment to think of all that happened. You feel your eyes getting heavy and you don’t bother to fight the urge to sleep. The soft sound of the car engine and Rafe’s gentle breathing lulls you into a deep sleep.

[typewriterbot]

power struggle

Last City politics are a messy thing. ira does his best to wade through it all

(all of this is speculation and how i see the city being run)

When asked about the politics of the Last City Ira’s face scrunched up, like he was preparing for a blow to the head.

You almost backed away, but he sighed and let his shoulders drop. He waved you over, taking your arm to make you sit down next to him as he cleared a spot on a library bench. His Ghost transmatted a tablet into one hand and a stylus into the other. “This is more for me than for you,” he said, and opened a blank document.

Ira breathed deeply through his nose and wrote out Consensus in cursive at the top of the document. “I don’t know how much you know. I arrived in the City after the Faction War, around the time of Twilight Gap actually, but knowing how everything started is just as important in understanding the present.” You nodded. That was a very Warlock thing of him to say, as if the gold and black robes he wore didn’t give it away when you first saw him.

“So, the Faction Wars ended with the forming of the Consensus. The governing body is headed by the Speaker, or, was headed by the Speaker.” His jaw clicked shut, and your jaw clenched. A second passed. “The Vanguard has taken his place for now in order to keep some sense of balance, but that brings in its own problems. The Vanguard has its own political allegiances within Guardians, the Titan Orders, Warlock Orders, Cayde has his Shadowsmiths, and Ikora has her Hidden, but I digress. Those don’t affect the City as much as the Factions themselves.” On the document, Ira wrote Vanguard + Guardians off to the side and circled them. A sphere of influence that was held outside the inner workings of the City.

You smashed down the desire to ask about that set of politics. You only wanted to know about the Factions and the City, no need to take up more time than what you’ve already asked for.

Below Consensus Ira wrote Dead Orbit, FWC, and New Monarchy. To the left of those, he wrote Concordant. Before you could even ask why the Concordant was written down he explained, “Before Lysander’s exile, this was the Faction that allowed Guardians to have some say in how the City was ran. This was back when Guardians and Civilians intermingled more often than not. It’s changing now, because of Hawthorne and the clans, but after the Concordant, Guardians didn’t really have anything to do with the Consensus.”

And that made sense. When was the last time you had heard of Guardians meddling in City politics. They were kept separate. Between Guardians having a skewed sense of time, there were plenty of people who simply didn’t think that Guardians should have any say in how the City was ran when they had so little to do with it. It seemed unfair, but when Guardians got to live in a Tower, allowed to come and go as they pleased but civilians could not, it made sense. You nodded, and Ira continued.

“Future War Cult became part of the Consensus, and granted access into the Tower. They’re the most military in nature, given the whole war aspect of their title. They have... allies, like Crux/Lomar who are really into rocket launchers and making very big, very loud explosions-” a thought passed through your head, a Crucible match from years ago where a Guardian with a Gjallarhorn managed to wipe out most of the opposing team with one rocket, and you grimaced; yes, Crux/Lomar did like their explosions “-but the reverse of that is that they don’t have many. The Red War shifted this, but FWC still has a ridiculous amount of secrets. Ikora probably knows the most about them, but to the average civilian, hell, to the average Guardian, the War Cult is another faction that’s really into weapons and waging war.” Ira lowered his voice, making you lean closer as he said, “Between you and me, I almost agree with them. The Light will always attract the Darkness, and vice versa, but that doesn’t mean war is all there is to life. Don’t spread that around, by the way. I don’t need people thinking I’m the next Ulan-Tan. Nor do we need the Symmetry to rise to anymore power. Not right now, at least.”

Before you could ask what the Symmetry was, Ira moved on.

A line was drawn underneath FWC, connecting it to Crux/Lomar. Then, he wrote Omolon and connected it to FWC too. A foundry that makes questionable and often times dangerous weapons paired with a faction obsessed with war was plausible. “Omolon is a bit more open with their allegiances,” Ira explained. “Crux/Lomar isn’t. Foundries are a bit more loose with who they back, more quiet too, but still important.”

Now there were the foundries to worry about? No wonder Ira looked like he was about to get hit when you asked him.

“Moving on, Dead Orbit’s main focus is on leaving Earth, which, okay, it’s fair, but between the Vanguard and the rest of the Consensus that’s just not possible for them. Short of a battle in space there’s no real power to stop Dead Orbit from leaving, so most everything is stopped in the Consensus. Here’s what sets them apart from FWC and New Monarchy: they’re open and honest with their intents.” Ira had written the foundry Nadir underneath Dead Orbit and connected the two. “Dead Orbit has this thing, Book of Departures they call it, about what an Arach should do and be like. One tenant is to avoid isolation. Arachs aren’t the happiest bunch around, but at least they have a support network, which is more than the FWC’s Inner Circle. And before you ask, I don’t know who’s part of the Inner Circle.”

You close your mouth.

“That leaves New Monarchy. They’re unpopular because they know every law forward and back and have the funds from private donations to pursue legal action. Between FWC’s questionable ways of obtaining information and Dead Orbit’s general nihilism, New Monarchy has a tough time finding ways to sway the people. Where Dead Orbit wants to use Golden Age vaults to escape Earth, New Monarchy wants to use them to bring back the Golden Age. Therein lies the problem. A little hard to bring back the past. Humanity will never get that back.” Ira sighed, rubbed his jaw, and looked at you. “Their dedication to the City isn’t wrong, but how they go about it is. Executor Hideo is known for trying to have private conversations with Zavala about taking over as a sort of head of state for the City. Dead Orbit and FWC, and Cayde now that I think about it, pretty much go out of their way to make sure those rarely happen. Not that I think Zavala will ever say yes, but it’s the meaning behind the actions that matter, not just the words.”

Ira wrote down Suros and Veist, and connected them to New Monarchy before chuckling. “New Monarchy is pretty obsessed with how things look. Their executors are pretty much told to spend lavishly and dress to impress. Why do you think Hideo’s little hangout in the Bazaar is so nice looking compared to the others? The lavish lifestyle is meant to draw people in, and, like I said, they’re not above being persuasive.”

You glance at the tablet screen, then at Ira. If that was the base of the Consensus, then what more could there be? A battle of ideologies was happening! How many people really knew what was going on with the factions? How much history and how many lies were swept under the rug because of the Consensus watching its own backs?

Ira laughed under his breath, and pointed at you with his stylus. “I know that look. People get that look a lot when I do my best to explain the Consensus.” You try not to blush at that. You couldn’t have been making that obvious of a face, could you?

“Here’s the thing. All the little things that fall under infrastructure are taken care of by the citizens of the cities and district managers. Those are completely out of the Consensus’s hands. Past talks of financing, the Consensus is mostly focused on the direction the City takes.” Underneath where Ira had written the faction names and several foundries, he wrote the City large and circled it. “Laws are slow to pass, but one of the most obvious ones are that no civilian is allowed to leave the City. That didn’t stop many of them, but it was still illegal. With Hawthorne in the City, lobbying for more civilians to be part of the decision making process, she’s pretty much thrown a wrench into how the Consensus will run things now. She’s pushing for independence where the Consensus is very dependent on all three factions and the Vanguard to balance each other. Right now I can’t say where the City’s politics will go, but things will be different.”

How, you ask.

“By learning their language, and barrelling through it. Shaxx is known for it. He argued against going to Luna, the Consensus didn’t listen, and look what happened. He won’t hold it against them, but he knows to take everything they say with a grain of salt.” Ira wrote down a few texts in the margin of the document and tapped at the titles with his stylus. “Look those up. Read them carefully. Remember, the Consensus is still just a bunch of people who would rather argue that find common ground. If it takes a little shouting, don’t be afraid to do that. They’ll listen, one way or another. And if they don’t, try and stay alive long enough to say I told you so.”

You memorized the books Ira had written down. He stood up, and bowed at the waist. “If you ever need my help, just send my Ghost a message, and I’ll do my best.” He straightened up, shoulders squared, and left you behind on the library bench.

Well, that was informative. Now it’s time to get to work.

[psychicdan]

Samurai Jack: Renegade Samurai

Rating M for graphic depictions, language, violence and suggestive themes

Warning:

The following is a work of fanfiction and is not intentionally connected to real world places, events, or people, nor intended to copy others’ work. Samurai Jack is the work of Genndy Tartakovsky, his team and affiliated studios and companies. This is solely fanfiction for fun and not profit.

Chapter V: The Underground City of Penance

           Within a dark void, bright flashes broke through, barely illuminating the darkness to show two fighters, both female, attempting to slash and stab each other to death. One was still too draped in darkness to make out. The other, Ashi, was bearing several deep cuts and wounds, and panting from loss of stamina. She couldn’t make out who her attacker was, but they were very proficient and possessed steeled killing intent. Just when it seemed it couldn’t get any worse, a second dark cloaked attacker came, striking her with a weapon too familiar to her. My old chain and blade, how..?! Ashi thought as she tried to dodge, but her first attacker took advantage of that, and slashed a serious blow near her abdomen. Blood colored the dark ground as Ashi clutched her wound, trying to fight the pain so she could maintain her ground, but it was in vain. Her attackers approached then, and they began to take off their head coverings while gripping their weapons in the other, prepared for the killing blow. Ashi was wide eyed when she saw who they were. One bearing the mask of a Daughter of Aku, the other bearing the slimmed version of a Protectorate helmet born by the Special Assassination Force, both shared her face. “Wh-wha, who, how?!” Ashi asked with confusion and terror as her doppelgangers simultaneously brought down the killing blow.

…

“Ashi, Ashi please”, “GAHH!” Ashi screamed as she looked around in panic, searching for her assassins. All she saw though was Jack, looking concerned at her. “Ashi, Ashi, please calm down, you were just having a bad dream.” Jack comforted her as he held her hand. The tension loosened from Ashi’s face and hand with that as she realized what happened was just a fright of the mind. “S-sorry about that. I’m fine now, thanks.” Ashi said as she turned her face away, still a bit worried. She had nightmares before, given her lifestyle in both timelines, but this was different. Why was she fighting both of her previous selves, and why were they so fiercely resolved on killing her? It was as though the past itself was haunting her in whatever way possible. She decided to just dismiss it as that, the past, and turned to face Jack, a bit more collected now. Jack was still concerned though and holding her hand. “You looked like you were struggling and in pain. Please, if you need to talk, I am here.” Jack said with both resolve and affection. He wasn’t going to force it out of Ashi, but he wasn’t just going to ignore her when she seemed to be dealing with such pain on her own. Remembering about how she wanted to comfort Jack during his own nightmare, Ashi decided to tell a few of her thoughts to put him at ease and make sense of it all. “Well, it was, I was fighting myself.” Ashi said tentatively. “Both of my old selves, like they hated me, but I don’t know why. Guess that’s the past holding me down, huh?” Ashi said with her head down, not at all proud of her past. She became surprised when Jack held his hand to her face as he gave a reassuring look. “Whoever you were then doesn’t control who you are now. When we met, I told you the decisions and actions you make reflect who you are. Ashi, the choices and actions you have taken speak of a very different person than who you think you once were. Take pride in who that person is now, as I do”. Jack said lovingly. Ashi held out her own hand to Jack’s face, reciprocating the loving action. “Thanks Jack.” She said affectionately, her previous tension gone now. She felt her strength return from the embrace of her most important person, but as she gazed at him, she could see lines on his face and under his eyes, detailing fatigue. “Guess you need some help sleeping too, hug?” she said, sympathizing with his troubles. “Yes, rest has not come… smoothly.” Jack said, his face now turning to fatigue and discomfort. Ashi could guess why. It had been three days, but the incident with the Blood Sparrows still haunted Jack. Because he acted the way he did, doing what he thought was right and eliminating evil and injustice where he saw it, his actions got innocents killed and he had to put down the people he helped in the first place. The first night was awful, as there was no way he could sleep, just staring into the fire and seeing the burning settlement and people dying. Though Ashi distracted him from that, she knew he wouldn’t sleep, and so just stayed close to him awake the whole time. The second night, he did try sleeping, but four times he kept waking in cold sweat, fear and guilt there on his face. Ashi had hoped he had fallen asleep for good this night, but it seems it was only partly successful, as it looked like he had awoken and stood watch to avoid returning. “Haah, you need sleep too, you know, come over here.” Ashi said, gesturing to the cloth she slept on. Jack tried to politely reject with, “I…uh” before being stopped with a stern look. Knowing what that look meant, Jack slumped his shoulders in surrender and lied down. Ashi held him from behind as they both smiled, feeling their anxiety replace with warmth and slumber as they began to drift off. Unfortunately, it would not last, as their eyes cracked open at the sound of engines in the distance. They both got to their feet. “Time to go.” Jack said as both he and Ashi strapped on their gear and got on the motorcycle, driving away from the forest cleaning and getting back on the road. They had left the forest area and were now headed to open land area, but the sounds of engines were now pulsing behind. They turned their heads, and sure enough, three armored road vehicles bearing Magnus Protectorate colors and insignias pursued behind. The armored top of each one swerved in their direction, and from the machine guns attached to them, gun fire followed, kicking up fire and dirt as they narrowly missed Jack and Ashi’s motorcycle. Jack and Ashi looked at each other, and Jack nodded. It was time to bring out one of the packed weapons. Like his previous motorcycle, this motorcycle had some modifications for combat. Granted, they got it all of a sudden, so there was limited opportunity, but Jack and Ashi took advantage of that to make room for some weapons. Like the pursuit vehicles, this had two mounted machine guns at the front, but that wasn’t what Jack and Ashi were thinking of. What they were thinking of was what Ashi pulled out of a nearby compartment, an RPG, or missile launcher. Ashi prepped the weapons sight alongside hers as she zoomed in on the speeding pursuit vehicles, and let loose a rocket. The rocket zoomed along the path as it quickly collided with one of the pursuit vehicles, turning it into a racing ball of fire and charred metal as the scrap scattered and skidded to a slow stop. The other two were shaken by this, but continued pursuit and fired. Jack took evasive action even as Ashi loaded another rocket, sacrificing a small amount of speed to increase mobility, as just going straight at full speed would make them easy targets. It made targeting a bit tricky for Ashi, and she knew the Cyber Troopers driving would see it coming now. That’s why this time she aimed at close ground to where a vehicle was driving. The not a direct hit, the vehicle still got caught in the explosion and was turned to shrapnel. The last vehicle turned it’s fire from the motorcycle to the ground around them, hoping to disrupt Jack’s driving and make him crash. What happened  next must have really left the Cyber Troopers stunned. Rather than stop the vehicle and send a straight shot, Ashi stood up and, RPG in hand, jumped offtowards the purcuit vehicle. They were so focused on firing near the motorcycle and stunned at the bizarre move that they didn’t fully realize the meaning until it was too late to swerve as Ashi fired in midair, blowing up the pursuit vehicle and blowing her back. Jack had guessed what was going on though, and drove close enough that Ashi landed as he swerved in her direction and returned to the road. “That was… a bit much.” Jack said with some discomfort on his face. Ashi smirked proudly, saying “It worked, didn’t it?”. Her moment of pride and their peace was short lived, as they saw a shadow come down on them and the roar of engines above. In the sky over them was an aircraft larger than what they saw in the city, covering much of the road including them. By its size, it looked like a cruiser that could carry around 20 people while being armed and armored enough for battle. “Yeah… I don’t think we have a gun for that.” Ashi said with some concern as her eyes were still fixed on the cruiser. A voice boomed from the cruiser, stating “Samurai Jack, this is Inquisitor Maxil of the Magnus Protectorate! Stop the vehicle and drop your weapons, or we will fire.”. Jack’s response to that was hitting the throttle and turned off road, heading in the direction of a mountainous area. The cruiser turned and gave pursuit, and just as they warned, opened fire with mounted miniguns. Jack barely dodged the fire, and was slightly unsuccessful as a few bullets hit the motorcycle and grazed him and Asi, leaving some sharp cuts near their arms and legs, Still, they continued. Within the distance, they could see a small facility, which appeared to be an elevator of some sort to a shaft if one looked closer. Jack paid it no mind though, as that was a dead end. He hoped to lose the cruiser in the mountains, hoping he could find caves or rocky overpasses that could hide them and lose their pursuers. After another volley of gunfire, Ashi decided if she couldn’t take down the cruiser, she could still take down the guns. She aimed and prepped the RPG and fired, striking an explosion on the cruiser, and taking out it’s left minigun. The cruiser was shaken, but straightened and continued pursuit, attempting to fire with its remaining minigun. Ashi followed with another rocket, repeating the damage to the cruiser and costing it another minigun. Still, Jack and Ashi were still some distance from the mountains, and still driving over open ground that left them as targets. Whoever this Inquisitor Maxil was, it seems he had enough, as another weapon apparatus emerged from the cruiser’s underside and fired a missile of its own. “JACK, MOVE!” Ashi shouted. Jack readily complied, speeding dodging just before the missile struck and just barely escaping the explosion. However, they wouldn’t be unaffected, as the crater the missile left crumbled along with the rock all around it, the whole ground collapsing. Jack and Ashi saw the ground itself crumbling and getting swallowed, but it was no use. A second later, the motorcycle tumbled down into the void with the falling rocks, taking Jack and Ashi down with it as they screamed.

…

           “Ughh” Jack groaned as his vision began to return, and so did the feeling in his body as sharp pain and soreness could be felt as he struggled to get up. He felt his leg was a bit sprained, but with a bit of attention he could manage. “Ashi, Ashi, can you hear me?! Jack shouted. “Y-yeah, not so loud, my head is killing me.” Ashi groaned. He turned to the voice to find Ashi among debris like him. One of her arms was also sprained, and blood could be seen coming from her forehead, explaining why she suffered headache, but otherwise she was well enough. She struggled up to her feet. She had assessed Jack’s condition and was relieved he was mostly intact as well. “Well, could have been worse. We could be dead.” Ashi said in a slightly joking tone to lighten the mood. Jack nodded, and then noticed buried under the rubble the motorcycle. There was no way they could dig that out in the condition they were in now. They didn’t even know where they were or how to get out. “For now, let’s find a way back up.” Jack said, straightening out his leg and tasking a few steps before he knelt down in pain, his leg refusing to go further. Ashi made her way to him, and using her well of arm, carried him by his bad side as they walked through the cave. They did not go far when they heard a voice. “Hello, is someone in their?” a voice boomed. Out of the darkness came two figures. They were a little shorter than Jack, but much sturdier, with callused hands and toned muscles and faces being their dominant features. Their skin was a somewhat light red flushed colored, appearing to be of brighter color in comparison to Jack’s fair skin. They were garbed in thick leather clothing and metal coverings, which seemed suited for both mining and crafting, which seemed the case considering the dirt and soot spotting them here and there. One of them appeared to be middle aged with a thick, partially braided red beard and long, slightly graying hair. The other was considerably younger, either late adolescence or early 20s. The older one looked at Jack and Ashi concerned, while the younger one looked at them with cautious guard. “Who are you, what are you doing down here?!” the younger man said. “Movus, have some damn sympathy, can’t you see their hurt?!” the older man. “I apologize for my son, my name is Halangarv, but people down here call me Hal. I’d like to ask you some questions as well, but let’s get you back to the city first and see to those wounds.” Halangarv said reassuringly. Jack and Ashi looked at each other and then turned back to Halangarv, nodding. They weren’t in much condition to refuse, so getting some aid would be better in the long run. “We ae very grateful for your kindness.” Jack said, bowing his head slightly. “Hah, think nothing of it, would be heartless to leave you two down here like this. Alright Movus, help me bring our guests to our home, and wipe that ugly look off your face.” Halangarv said as he carried Jack and Ashi on one side and Movus carried from the other side. Movus grunted, but complied. As they exited the small cave and entered a much larger one, Jack and Ashi opened their eyes and mouths astonished. Before them was a whole city of rock, metal, and lights, bustling with the sounds of people, fire, and hammers. From the center of the city was a shaft, likely the same one from the surface. “Welcome to Havenground, our mine and city. The name’s a bit ironic, given what this place is, but we’ll explain later. Please, come.” Halangarv said. They strolled into the bustling city, and Jack and Ashi could see many men and women of similar skin tone and build to their hosts, all busy with some labor or another. Some toiled at red-and-white-hot forges, hammering at glowing metals to shape them to fine craft. Others pulled carts of minerals or ores. The largest structures looked like factories, and the pair noticed that what came out looked similar to the metal components of various vehicles and weapons of the Protectorate, as well as foundation for metal structures as well. But why build a factory in a mine, along with a living city? Are they not bothered by the danger? Jack thought. On the streets, he saw quite a few people who seemed weary and sick, and some with disturbing discoloration where their veins should be. Halangarv noticed his stare and expression, and with a sigh, turned Jack away. “I’ll explain soon, please come inside my home, we’ll get a look at you.” Halangarv said as he gestured them to a humble, makeshift abode of brick and metal parts. They opened the metal door, and within was a somewhat homey atmosphere. A brick fireplace, some wooden furniture, and more than a few metal ornaments of fine skill and craft. “ Marlun, dear, Movus and I need you and Safa to get the medical supplies, we got some guests who need help!” Halangarv raised in his voice to get their attention. Some rustling could be heard, and coming down the stairs were a sturdy strong woman and young girl, apparently the mother and daughter of this family. The woman, Marlun, was carrying a makeshift steel kit and paced to the group. She was a bit surprised to see strangers, obviously expecting locals, but any line of questioning disappeared when she saw Jack and Ashi’s wounds. “Alright, lay down on the sofa, the both of you. Hal, you give a hand.” she said with stern command. Hal complied, and they looked over Jack and Ashi, disinfecting and stitching up their cuts from earlier. They held they sprained limbs down with casts as they tried to put the bones back in place, Jack and Ashi only grunting in response to the jerking pain. A bandage was applied to Ashi’s forehead with some compress. “Well, that should do for now, but whatever it was that got you like this, don’t do it anytime soon, or ever again.” Marlun said. “Thank you, it feels like I can move well again. You seem rather well practiced at this though.” Jack said, both grateful and curious. “Got to be. Injuries down here are common enough, and with everyone at the clinic dealing with the worst of it, you need to learn how to put up with broken limbs yourself, or you aren’t working in the mines or forge. If you don’t work, well, then there are worse things than aches and pains,” Halangarv said, his gaze turned downward. “You don’t sound like you like how things are” Ashi said, figuring the same as Jack that these people weren’t down here of their own will. “Haah, well this place is a shitty pit, but it’s our pit, so we make the most of it. My old man never would have that we’d make a city out of a mine, but here we are. But yeah, no one really likes this place. Where are manners, like I said before, I’m Halangarv, but call me Hal. This here with the scowl is my grump of a son Movus. That over there is my better half Marlun, and this little thing is my daughter Safa. Welcome to Havenground, the good old incarceration pit for us the Forgeguard.” Halangarv said in false sarcastic pride. “Forgeguard… wait.” Jack said. “Incarceration?” Jack and Ashi asked together in surprise. “Guess not many from the surface know that story, huh? Well, the war was 50 years ago, and it’s not like we were special.” Halangarv said humbly. “Please wait, I have many questions, but I must ask, what is this war, and how are your people involved?” Jack asked, keen on learning about the facts of this spoken war that put Magnus in power. “Huh, you mean you don’t know?! What kind of row are they having up there anyways?” Movus said in discontent. “Movus, show some respect and keep your attitude to yourself!” Halangarv shouted back. This back and forth attitude seemed the norm. “Sorry about that, young lad gets tense easy with all the work. Still, hard to believe there’s a soul that doesn’t know about the Near End War, what with it “nearly ending the world” and all. Well let me tell you what my old man told me. Halangarv said, before he started to explain the long story. “Over 50 years ago, all manner of nation or military power was getting antsy. All those other-worlders from space started making contact too, and that just lit another flame in a whole forest fire. Resource shortages, race conflicts, political power grabs, anything that people said was worth killing over then. Or not, because sometimes the violence was over nothing. It was like the world was going mad, like the end times or something. It got so bad I hear everyone had to hunker down in old bunkers and fallout shelters. As for us, well, we Forgequard are said to be descended from both humans and the old dwarves. We’ve mined and forged long before the war, digging the deepest mines, finding the best materials, and forging the best craft we could, be it art or building. Well, when the war finally erupted, my old man said it seemed like a good idea to get into the arms race. We made and sold all manner of death bringer, from the toughest armor to the fiercest gun. We put together some fierce war machines too. It wasn’t all us, we couldn’t make something fancy like EXO-Armor, but my old man reckoned the infantry were using more than a fair share of our stuff out there. Heck, we even came to fight in the war too when some parties tried taking our lands and resources, not to mention putting some of our own into slavery. That sort of thing was just common then. So, about 50 years ago, the fighting escalated so badly, weapons of mass destruction got involved. Some nations were obliterated, their numbers turned to a few thousand or hundred refuges. Everyone thought that it would be the war to end the world. Then, in the middle of it all, a group called the Savior Alliance emerged, people from all over banded together to make the fighting stop, even if it meant fighting their own people. The one leading it all was, you guessed it, a young man named Magnus. People that him and his Alliance were the underdogs, that only a pipe dream kept them going. But Magnus pressed on, and took down people who fueled the war, from profiteers in the underworld to battle proud nations. It got weird towards the end, ‘cause it was like Magnus just knew where to hit his enemies and how they would move, like he knew the future. Nobody knows how he pulled those kinds of maneuvers and victories, but they didn’t care, because thanks to that, Magnus won and ended the war. Everyone called him and his Saviors Alliance heroes, thanked him for finally ending it all and saving them. Like that, the people put all faith and power in him. There wasn’t much left of the nations and their leaders then, so it was all that could be done. Magnus reformed his Alliance into the Magnus Protectorate, and with that the people named him their Lord Protector. Magnus set to work rebuilding the world, bringing back up societies and punishing hostile elements. Among those on his list were us. You see, as I told you, we sold all kinds of armaments during the war. Turns out, wed were a prime factor in the world, as our business had been fueling the war for years. Magnus didn’t forget, and held us responsible for the travesties brought on by our own weapons. As punishment for what he deemed our war crimes, he demanded we pay penance by reflecting on our sins while supporting his Protectorate. For 100 years we are to labor in these mines and never see the surface until our penance is paid. We must dig and forge materials and supplies for the Lord Protector and his armies till then. That is our penance for what we did in the Near End War.”. Jack and Ashi were stunned by the story, it was honestly very much to take in. A war that nearly ended the world, it was hard to believe, but Jack couldn’t dismiss it as a tall tale. Not only did everyone keep mentioning the war, he couldn’t even go outside without seeing reminders of battlefields everywhere he went. But like Halangarv said, the end didn’t make much sense. How did Magnus end the war like that? Achieving perfect victory in each of the final conflicts was too incredulous. How did Magnus do that? Jack shook his head in frustration, knowing his questions weren’t getting answered anytime soon. “Wait, so you have to stay down here for 50 more years and labor for Magnus? Why, how do you even survive, and why don’t you fight back?” Ashi asked. “That young lady, is something I keep telling the young ones. Magnus beat us soundly, and he was right about the things we di. It’s… harsh, yes, but we weren’t in a position to make the demands. Fighting back now would mean the same thing as fighting back then: Magnus would just put us all down anyway” Halangarv said as he clenched his fists with frustration in his voice and eyes. “As for survival, well, that’s the daily question here. We get supplies from the Protectorate once a month, but it depends on how we meet our quota. If our output is less than Magnus’s demands, than we get cuts in the supplies and have to deal with food and water shortages. Everyone works hard to make sure no one starves to death. That’s why you patch yourself up down here, so no one dies of hunger or thirst. But there are plenty of other issues. We live in a cave, which is all sorts of bad. Everyone takes the risk everyday of a cave collapsing in on you. It’s lucky enough if you only get injured, we lost 5 people this year while mining. That doesn’t tell you underground life is bad, then the mineral poisoning will. Most get sick from it at some point, and some get it so bad they can’t work or even die. I tell you, makes me want to see the sun my old man talked about.” Halangarv said, looking up to where the sky would be, wishing to behold it. Jack and Ashi felt sorrow for Halangarv and the Forgeguard, wishing they could lead them to the surface, but knowing the likely result. “All right, I’ve had enough, who are you two anyways?! You came in from the ceiling with all that motorcycle and those weapons, so I doubt you’re legit. Dad, we should just let the Protectorate know about them before we get-UGHH!” Movus shouted before getting a slap in the face from Marlun. “Sorry about him, he’s a right pain sometimes. So, we got some people taking a look at your motorcycle, so it should be good to go soon. Problem is, we don’t have access to the shaft elevator. You’ll have to wait until the Protectorate check in comes through before…” Marlun said before being interrupted by the sounds of a blaring signal. In the sight of the shaft elevator, yellow lights flashed with the sounds of descending metal. “Shit, a surprise inspection. Movus, take your sister and our guests and lay low, we’ll meet with the inspection”. Halangarv said. “Wait, I am sorry, but if what you say is true than this may be our chance. Please, let us come with you.” Jack said humbly. Halangarv looked at him like he wanted to retort, but knew Jack had a sound point. “Alright, but put on these cloaks so you don’t get the wrong sort of attention.” Halangarv said, giving the pair two brown cloaks. Once they were cloaked, they were about to head out the door when suddenly, “Oh, uh, this is an awkward time, but I, uh, never really did get your names.” Halangarv said sheepishly. “That’s what I’ve been-OOFF!” Movus said before being slapped across the room by Marlun. No one paid it mind. “They call me Jack.”, “Ashi.” they both respectively said. “Alright, Jack, Ashi, let’s go.” Halangarv said.

…

As the four stood with the crowd near the elevator, they watched as it stopped and the door opened. Jack and Ashi were quite surprised, not by the dozen Cyber Troopers, but the one leading them. He was garbed in a somewhat distinguished Protectorate uniform, bearing grey and black fabric with the Protectorate shield insignia, his only armor being a set of light pauldrons. But the strangest part was… “A cat?” Ashi said in somewhat surprise. Yes, the official in question was feline, his face and paw like hands bearing similarity to a cat, his fur being bright yellow in question, though there was nothing cute about his expression that held condescension. “Shhh, that’s a 1st Class Inquisitor you’re talking about, and don’t call him a cat, he hates that.” Halangarv warned. “Inquisitor?” Jack asked. “Yeah, people who go out and be where their Lord Protector can’t be bothered with. Thay do all sorts of things, from espionage to military force command. Their sort of a special unit, they can act on their own, or take and command Protectorate forces based on Class and preference. One thing they all do is weed out any rogue elements that give Magnus trouble. The 1st Class ones are elites. Magnus’s personal and trusted professionals. If he’s here, that’s bad news.” Marlun explained with apprehension. Havangarv approached the Inquisitor. “Ah, Inquisitor Maxil, we weren’t expecting anyone for another week or so. Usually we receive a 2nd or 3rd Class Inquisitor, what brings someone like you here?” Havangarv asked, attempting to get Maxil into a pleasant mood. It didn’t work, as Maxil looked at him with eyes fit for someone of the title Inquisitor. “I doubt I’m the first unexpected visitor you got today. Above ground, we were chasing a couple of renegades, look like this, names are Samurai Jack and Ashi.” Maxil said as he displayed a holograph of both Jack and Ashi. “They… agitated us a bit, but we showed our superiority and blasted them into a chasm. Still, I want to be sure, and I suspect they fell into your mine, so please be honest chief, have you seen these renegades?” Maxil asked, reading Havangarv for any lie. “Nah, never seen them. You know we’re no tourist site, so guests aside from you are not a thing here.” Hvangarv said nonchalantly. Maxil, though he was not suspicious, was not all that impressed either. “Hm, well, I hope you don’t mind if we check just in case their hiding. With luck though, maybe we’ll find a couple of corpses already buried. Besides, I think your due for an inspection anyway. Troops, comb through the city and then the mines. If you find anything suspicious from these Forgeguard, seize it and subdue them immediately. If you see the renegades, do not engage, they are extremely dangerous and can’t be handled with so few. Report back to me and we will eliminate them.” Maxil said as he curled his hand and claws into a fist, eager for the confrontation.

…

           For about an hour or so, Jack and Ashi had hidden above the rooftops, looking over the scene of the Cyber Trooper groups going through the city and then to the caves. After the Cyber Troopers already checked Halangarv’s house, Jack and Ashi returned there with their hosts to wait out the search and hope for an opportunity to use the elevator when they saw it. When they returned though, they saw signs of a struggle and search, the house turned apart and everything either smashed or strewn on the floor. “Movus, Safa…!” Arlun cied out as they looked for their offspring. Coughing could be heard, and sure enough, Movus was there, roughed up to the point he was coughing up blood as he tried getting to his feet. Still, his condition wasn’t fatal, as it seemed these Forgeguard could whether worse. “Movus, thank God, where’s Safa?!” Morlun asked in frenzy. “(Coughing) They, they took her, the Troopers took her, said Dad was an accomplice. After they messed with me when I tried stopping them, they said I needed to tell you to go to the mining area.” Movus said, still coughing up a bit of blood. Jack and Ashi met Halangarv and Marlun with stern gazes, and all four nodded. With Halangarv and Marlun arming themselves forge hammers, they set off for the mines.

…

           Jack, Ashi, Halangarv, and Marlun, stood before the cave. Within their sights was Maxil and his entire group of Cyber Troopers as he had Safa at his side, who looked terrified and about to cry. Not too far away was the motorcycle. “When I had my troops going through the caves, they told me they found a few of your people trying to smuggle this here motorcycle out. You know, based on the description and what I saw topside, if I didn’t know better, I would say this belonged to the renegades. Oh, but the chief of the Forgeguard would never harbor wanted fugitives, is what I thought, but after I had my Troops “make sure” with your friends, lo and behold it went all the way to you Halangarv. So, here’s the deal, you tell me where the renegades are, I’ll give you back your daughter, and maybe your people get off with 10 years added to their penance. What do you say?” Maxim said with that damned condescension. Halangarv and Marlun both had their fists clenched up, wanting to do everything they could to save their daughter, but not wanting to give up Jack and Ashi. It was a horrible, helpless situation. Jack and Ashi, still cloaked, made that decision for them. Walking up with their hands up, Jack stated “Wait, we know where the renegades you seek are.” They got close as Maxil let his guard down, not afraid of a couple of helpless Forgeguard. “Really, and where might they be?” Maxil asked inquisitively. “RIGHT HERE!” Ashi screamed as both her and Jack threw their cloaks at the stunned group. Jack readied his sword and charged while Ashi grabbed Safa and ran towards the cave entrance. “Mommy, Daddy!” Safa cried when she reached her parents. “It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re here.” Marlun said reassuringly. “Listen Safa, go back home to your brother. We’re going to help our new friends here.” Havangarv said, hugging her let her know they would be back soon. Safa, reluctantly, turned back to the city, not wanting to get in the way. “Well, it’s finally time to use those moves my old man taught me.” Havangarv said with a hint of bloodlust in his eyes. The couple charged into the fray, joining both Jack and Ashi, who had returned when Safa was safe. For once, they had the advantage, as they Cyber Troopers were used to ranged gun combat, something that didn’t apply well in the enclosed cave. All four of the opposing fighters though were using close combat tactics though, so the Cyber Troopers fired fruitlessly as they were cut apart by Jack and Ashi and hammered to paste by Havangarv and Marlun. Jack followed the last combatant, Maxil into the cave. Maxil pulled his weapon, a rapier, from its sheath, and dueled with the Samurai. “Hm, it’s nice to meet someone who still appreciates the pleasures of steel blade combat. All these soldiers with their guns get rather boring after a while.” Maxil said with contentment. Jack, not amused with that remark, continued to slash at his opponent. He knew the fighting style his opponent would use. Because his sword had both more edge and substance than the rapier, Maxil dodged and parried rather than taking the full blow, as that would probably get his own sword broken. It was honestly tricky. Jack knew he needed just a few good solid hits, but his opponent had the edge in evasiveness and precision since he lacked Jack’s head on endurance and strength. After several parries, Maxil met back with a few jabs. Jack countered a few, but he didn’t get enough of an opportunity to break the rapier. Even with that, Maxil was able to weave a few hits in, delivering citing blows on Jack’s sides. Jack knew that Magnus’s personal fighters were not slouches, but this was getting irritating. Just then, Ashi, Marlun, and Halangarv came to his side, ready to assault the Inquisitor. “Give up Maxil, you’re outnumbered!” Halangarv shouted. Maxil laughed at that. “Now that is irony, I love it when they say that. Let me show you who is really outnumbered. Light glowed from Maxil, and then dispersed into sharp flashes. When everyone’s vision confirmed the light shapes, they were astounded to see 9 Maxils standing there. “HA, that look, I love that expression every time, priceless!” said one Maxil. “Allow me to explain, each of us 1st Class Inquisitors have received a “gift” from the Lord Protector himself, a blessing he gave to help us carry his will.” Said another Maxil. “Yes, unique powers granted from his knowledge and study of magic, each different.” said another Maxil. “My power is to create 9 of myself. I usually prefer mano-a-mano, but this helps in tricky situations.” said one more Maxil. “I’m not even the strongest 1st Class, in fact the others are considerably more formidable in tactics and power, well, everyone but that stupid guy with the guitar. Still, you won’t need to face that. This cave shall be your grave Samurai Jack.” affirmed one Maxil. “Shut up already, you stupid cat!” Ashi screamed. “ASHI!” Halangarv and Marlun cried out, astonished by her remark. “What, what’d I say?” Ashi asked, wondering why now of all times they thought of respecting Maxil. When she saw the Maxils though, she saw they were agitated beyond measure, their fur riled up and claws extended. “C-C-C-CAAAAT?! I’M NO CAT YOU DAMN BIGOT! We’re called felines to distinguish us from those simple animals, we’re evolved damn it! This is just like the academy, all those damn humans harassing me, dumping water on me, and stuffing litter boxes in my locker! Well, I proved them wrong, I am one of the Lord Protector’s top Inquisitors, and I will prove my standing by bringing your heads!” the leading Maxil screamed as they all charged in. “Oh sorry, didn’t that was racist.” Ashi said apologetically as three charged at her in fury. Jack tried blocking best he can, angling his sword that it blocked three simultaneous attacks. Halangarv and Marlun weren’t so lucky, as they could only drive away the Maxils by sending down their hammers with enough force to keep them away, but they were too agile to strike “It’s no use, we can’t-gugh.” Marlun said before being stabbed through the heart by one Maxil. “MARLUN!” Halangarv shouted, sending one Maxil flying to the wall with his hammer as he raced back to her. “H-Hal, please, don’t let those bastards walk over our people. A-after what they did to Movus and Safa, I-I just can’t take it, I…” Marlun whispered before her life bled from her wound. Another Maxil tried to come up at him, but Halangarv, in blind fury, grabbed the rapier with one bleeding hand, and smashed it. The Maxil was further surprised as Halangarv grabbed by the face and plummeted him straight into the ground. That got the attention of 4 Maxils, cautious of the enraged Forgeguard chief. Jack had witnessed the scene in shocked fury as well, and Maxil just took advantage of that to further goad him. “You know, in the end, this is your fault. I admit, I killed her, took her daughter too, but who forced the hand? Who was it that convinced these people, who were going about their business, to help you? Did I target them on the surface? No, that was you. You and that girl were the only ones involved in this fight, and you had to drag others in with you. No wonder the Lord Protector wants you dead, you are a danger to the public.” Maxil said with real condemnation. Jack tried fighting off both Maxil and the invading thoughts as he applied force to break the deadlock he was in. Still, with the way things were going, they needed something to take out all the Maxils. That was when he noticed on the ground was the RPG they used earlier, still intact and with one rocket. Jack ran and grabbed, and the Maxils noticed and tried to duck and cover further in the cave. It was the wrong move. Jack fired, targeting not the evading enemies, but the ceiling. Following the explosion was rumbling as the whole cave shook and rocks began falling down. “We’ve got to go, NOW!” Jack shouted. Ashi nodded and, helping Halangarv grab Marlun, ran for the exit with Jack. The Maxils were quick to notice and ran as well, but were farther behind as the rocks began claiming a few. Jack’s grouped barely reached a part of the cave that wasn’t collapsing and, as he locked back, he saw last Maxil racing as hard as he could before a ton of rocks fell down on him too just when he made it near end. All that made it was his arm, the rest lying beneath the dirt and rubble. Nearby, Jack noticed a nearby card, which, upon closer examination, gave in-and-out access to Havenground. Picking it up, he turned to Halangarv, whose fury in battle now turned to grief in mourning. “Marlun…” he said as he sobbed to his now departed better half. Jack and Ashi could only stand by him as they consoled him.

…

“M-Mommy!” Safa sobbed, tearful at the news. Everyone else was silent, not able to speak. Finally, Movus spoke up, his eyes filled not just with grief, but anger as well. “T-THIS IS YOUR DAMN FAULT! It was just supposed to be another day for us, and then you, you renegades showed up and brought those asshats here! If you weren’t here, Safa would have been safe, and Mom wouldn’t have died” Movus shouted, his words daggers at Jack’s heart. Maxil’s words still haunted him. “No wonder the Lord Protector wants you dead, you are a danger to the public” Maxil’s last words to him echoed in his mind, condemning him further as the one responsible. “M-Movus, that’s enough. Your mother never held Jack responsible. She hated the Protectorate, she had for years. Pinning it all on Jack is just a poor excuse for venting your grief. Besides, if that’s how you claim he’s responsible, then I … killed her as well. Do you think that sounds just?” Halangarv said. “N-no.” Movus said, his anger shaken to sullen confusion. Halangarv sighed. “Come on, we have to clean up, before the next inspection team comes and notices.”

…

           Jack and Ashi stood near the elevator with the now restored motorcycle, which barely avoided the rockfall earlier. With Maxil’s security pass, they could now use the elevator with no issue. Halangarv joined them to say goodbye. “So, where you headed now?” he asked. “I’m afraid that is uncertain. We intend to find and confront Magnus, but with all these pursuits, there has not been much time for questions.” Jack said, a little troubled. “Sheesh, the Lord Protector himself. That’s certainly ambitious. Well, if I were a betting man, I’d definitely head to Novas Sanctum.” Halangarv said. “Novas Sanctum?” Jack asked as he and Ashi both looked at him. “It’s the Capital of the Magnus Protectorate, the heart of the whole machine. If Magnus would be anywhere, it’s there. Kind of hard to miss, from what I hear. Towering geological architecture, landmarks, the whole city is said to be both a work of art and testament to Magnus’s efforts of rebuilding and protecting the world. Least, that’s what I hear. I swear, those soldiers yap on and on like it’s Eden or something” Halangarv said. Jack stopped in thought, a bit puzzled by the name. He had learned many languages during his travels in his own time and the name Novas Sanctum was latin in origin, roughly referring to “New Sanctuary. The Sanctuary part was no surprise for a Protectorate, but New Sanctuary? What happened to the old one? Jack’s brows furrowed in frustration, knowing it was another question with no answer yet. “Thank you, Hal, for all you’ve done. I am sorry for the pain I brought upon you and your people.” Jack said with sincere gratitude and regret. “Wait, your still bothered by what my son said? Look, you didn’t know about all the craziness that would happen right. As far as I’m concerned, the one responsible for my wife’s death is now six feet under. Can’t say I’m so forgiving of the Protectorate though.” Halangarv said with bitterness. Jack was still troubled, his conscience still not cleared with that and wondering what he could do for his friend. Then he thought of it. He threw the access card that opened the elevator to Halangarv. “Here, if ever you decide to fight for what is yours, you will always have the key.” Jack said with a smile. Halangarv smiled back, knowing he held the key to his people’s freedom. “I know she’d take it. Thanks.” he said. Jack smiled back and turned to Ashi and the elevator as they both ascended up to the surface. Halangarv looked up still smiling, feeling the Samurai’s fighting spirit ignite some of his own.

Author’s Note:

You know, when I started this, I thought it would be shorter than my usual chapter. But we had Ashi’s nightmare, the road chase, explaining the Near End War and the Forgeguard, and the Jack’s first fight with an Inquisitor. It’s all a little much, huh. So, if you made it this far, congratulations, sorry, no prize except more words. I’m going to Chapter VI when I get back my stamina, and in that chapter you can look forward to bandits, a German shepherd mercenary(yes, a canine), and a new original character that will join Jack and Ashi on their journey, followed by another in the next. Oh, that “stupid guitar guy” will be in VII, hope you enjoy. Oh, and the “feline” character, don’t say I abuse cats. I actually love cats and just wanted to go for that SJ feeling where some of Jack’s enemies can be really, uh, unique.

Trivia:

So, Magnus is actually latin in origin, even though I choose it because it sounded cool, haha, and it really just means great. However, a number of actual European kings have had this name. Furthermore, Magnus refers to “Magnus Annus”, or the Great Year, a cycle or time period that starts out great but then deteriorates till it ends in catastrophe. That’s not foreshadowing at all(sarcasm).

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