Seriously, why doesn't this ever happen?
By
Acanous_Quietus,
Posted on: 2007-10-07 05:57 in Roleplaying
((This is really, genuinely interesting stuff, Te. I'm looking forward to the next installment.))
Energon X hovered silently and invisibly above Diviner Maros, keeping a wary lookout for Arachnos troops or any of the more 'freelance' villains of the Isles. Sergeant Allerdyced, wreathed in concealing shadows, was conferring quietly with Maros, although the snatches of conversation that the Blaster was able to catch were along the lines of "So..." "I have foreseen what you will request, and the gist of your plan. You have my support." "But..." "The shifting flows of time indicate that you will help further my agenda." "Well..." "I will be ready for my part."
Eventually, Allerdyced faded completely from view to rejoin Energon X, muttering on the commlink about finding something to stab, and the two jumped to the D, using it as a shortcut to get back to Paragon. "I take it the conferral went well?" the Blaster asked drily as they traversed the club. "Bloody ghost git's a total flake, bu' if e's got the pull in Club Dead he claims he does, that bit's in the bag... pendin' fixing time n' all, o'course." Energon X just nodded- he couldn't smile enigmatically, what with the metal plate covering where his lower face used to be, but gave off the definite sense he would've liked to have done so.
Back in the Row, the two heroes hopped a tram back to the displaced Atlas Park... bizarrely, the trains still functioned through the dimensional barrier, disappearing into whatever dimensional interface allowed the wine-red water to flow from the Shard into where Atlas Park used to be, and out again.
A short floating island-hop later, and Energon X, K'ssn'dreh, Flashpoint Zeo, and Sergeant Allerdyced were in the empty side room in City Hall they had been using as an unofficial 'headquarters'. Target Lad was still hovering in the Freedom Phalanx' room, ostensibly still trying to get Manticore's autograph, but in reality more practising 'kid invisibility'- he wasn't doing anything annoying, posed no threat, and thus, as such, pretty much didn't exist insofar as this mighty assemblage of heroes was concerned.
Once they had regrouped and restocked, Energon X simply nodded briefly to K'ssn'dreh, who sent out a very gentle mental nudge to Sister Psyche.
In the conference room, the redheaded telepath glanced back at the (semi-) patiently waiting Danny, and elbowed her husband in the ribs. "Come on, Justin- let the poor kid have his autograph. A short break would probably do you good." Manticore gave his wife an odd look, but a telepathic whisper of This could be important... across their shared bond stifled any objection he had been planning to make. He grabbed a pen from the table, took the paper Danny offered him, and glanced at it for a moment. Then, his expression not changing in the slightest, he scrawled his name across it and handed it back to the smaller archer and sat back down at the table, absent-mindedly pocketing the pen.
Danny nervously stammered his thanks, not really acting, and then ducked out of the room as if expecting the Phalanxers to take the bullseye on his shirt as a literal invitation to target practice. Taking to the air as soon as he was out of the room, Target Lad zipped through the halls, fetching up with his Uncle and the rest of their little 'superteam'. Energon X prodded the crystal set into his wrist again, and, with a flare of golden light, the team was once again off into the timestream.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
((Gahhh. Cliffhangers!))
((Ack! I hate getting into a series during a cliff hanger.
Great work Te! Read the Henchman as well. 
edited for RP Forum conventions. ))
The small team once again found themselves on the windswept plain they had left hours before, give or take twelve millennia or so... although, if one was in a position to see Energon X' wrist-mounted display, it would be revealed that they were actually arriving less than ten minutes after they left. "Everybody, run silent- get cloaked, no active EM transmissions, voice communication only." the Blaster whispered hoarsely. "Flashpoint, with me- I need you to channel some of your flame into the crystals we planted. Assuming we did it right, we'll get an impressive lightshow with ten-metre-high flaming runes. The rest of you, stand watch over our LZ- there may be an Ouro taskforce through to try and stop us." Energon X and the big fire tanker started to move out, but then the Blaster paused. "Here, Flashpoint- rather than us trying to synchronize the fire and the vocals, just hit this remote- should trigger the recording in my armour." Handing over the indicated piece of equipment, Energon X led the way again.
Back at what Energon X had colourfully dubbed the "LZ", the remaining three stood at nervous attention, Target Lad with heavy stunning arrow nocked and ready, an odd premonition prompting him to have one that punched through invulnerability out. Sure enough, a moment after the team's second arrival, Mender Lazarus stepped out of another golden flash, then folded up with a sigh as Target Lad's arrow (and K'ssn'dreh's psychic attack) hit at the same moment as Energon X' promised 'lightshow', towering runes of mystic fire throwing the landscape into sharp relief as a sonorous voice roared out 'prophecy' in ringing tones, the harsh gutturals of the Orabengan 'trade language' echoing across the dim strand.
As the voice began to fade, the opposing armies rushed forwards to claim the crystalline remnants of the awe-inspiring 'visitation' they had just seen, with the Orabengans (as planned) claiming just enough of an advantage to grab the main part of the slab... but not quite enough of one to have time to search more thoroughly, resulting in one of the Mu mystics snagging the smaller 'endpiece' of the prophecy that a short bluff had kept the Orabengans from seeing, either in fiery letters or slab form.
Target Lad sat thoughtfully on Mender Lazarus' prone body, glancing up as his uncle reappeared, prodding his wrist control. "Is it jus' me, or is this bloke the only one who ever does anything f'r that pack o' gits on their funny floating islands?" he questioned. Energon X just laughed shortly, sounding a little strained, as the little archer was abruptly deposited on his rump when Lazarus distintegrated in a shower of golden light, returning to Ouroboros central. "You could be right, Danny, but it doesn't matter right now- we're up against the clock. Let's go, all."
And with that, they leapt back into the present.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
The pitched battle (or possibly extended munchies run... it was hard to tell) in Independence Port had finally tapered off somewhat, if the news reports were anything to go by- the stuffed Warshades had retreated (to general mumblings about Pepto-Bismol, Maalox, or Tums) after nearly two hours of feasting, and Lusca had put up a spirited brawl for nearly that long before retreating beneath the waves to sleep off the psionic equivalent of a really, really, really bad acid trip.
The slack had been picked up by the Midnighters and the Vanguard Mages, magically harrying the mad titan. A brief call to Montague Castanella indicated that the Midnight Squad was aware of the ancient Circle of Thorns prophecy and the Mu corollary, and that the Midnighters were ready to do their part to make sure things went smoothly. Montague also hinted that he was aware of exactly how 'ancient' the prophecy was, but Energon X cut him off before he could pursue it.
Planting himself in front of the window, the blaster pulled out a coin and held up a hand. facing his little team. "Alrighty, gang... heads we jump back to dear old Atlas Park, and tails, we hang here and help with the fireworks." Counting silently, the blaster hit 'three... two... one...' and flipped the coin.
Behind him, space went mad, distorting wildly into twisting shapes, shattered fragments of light sleeting across the displaced buildings with a roar. Huh... what do you know. Old Akarist predicted how long it would take them to figure it out nearly to the second..
Outwardly unperturbed, he snagged the coin and slapped it onto his forearm. "Tails. Maybe just as well... not sure I want to try a jump when that's happening." he commented, jerking his thumb at the stressed area of spacetime.
The rest of the team was looking at him oddly- K'ssn'dreh inscrutably, Target Lad with a speculative gleam in his eye, Flashpoint Zeo with a kind of resigned amusement, and Sergeant Allerdyced with something that bordered on awe. "You made the call already, Danny?" Target Lad just nodded, still looking thoughtful. "Good... let's join the Phalanx out 'front', then."
A few minutes later, Energon X and Target Lad were soaring above City Hall, watching the Phalanx as they stood down the Rikti fleet, preventing them from jumping the portal and interfering. Flashpoint Zeo and Sergeant Allerdyced were holding the line, along with the majority of the other non-flying heroes who had gotten pulled through, on the main City Hall "Island", standing guard in case the Rikti got any smart ideas about landing ground troops.
"So... when d'we actually get t'do anything?" Target Lad demanded. "Oh... don't worry. We've got some fun coming our way very, very soon."
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Energon X hung in the sky next to the flyers of the Freedom Phalanx, cape flaring in the howling alien winds of the Shadow Shard. The guardian line of airborne heroes had already been dubbed 'the thin spandex line', or at least 'A thin spandex line' by the more literary-minded of those assembled. Before them, space shuddered and heaved as though trying to give birth, sundered shards of light spilling forth at irregular intervals to spike across the fantastic skies over the storm-tossed fragments of Atlas Park, momentarily turning the sky-islands into lightning-lit black and white tableaux.
A faint groaning, on the distant edge of ordinary hearing, leant an uneasy suggestion that the continuum itself was in pain, as unearthly energies stabbed through the fabric of space and time, terrible forces dragging the dimension-devourer back to his prison. The tension was almost palpable, when...
Energon X' train of thought was interrupted when Target Lad elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "Y're narratin' all this, aren't you?" the boy demanded, rubbing his elbow where he'd forgotten that his uncle wore armour plate. "In your head, like. I c'n tell, y'know. Y'get this funny abstracted look." The elder blaster raised an eyebrow, but declined to comment, instead saying "So what are you planning on doing when Rularuu pops through? Did you get an arrow labelled "godslayer" from Manticore, or something?" "Oh, no. Y're na gettin' out o' this that easy." Target Lad snapped. "Y'promised me 'some fun', an' y're goin' to deliver, one way or another, e'en if it's just me gettin' to make fun o' your mental bloggin'." "Wouldn't that be... get one of your magic-killing arrows ready, by the way... 'mlogging'?" Energon X riposted, his tone light, almost playful, but the warning there nonetheless.
The creaking and groaning had intensified steadily throughout their conversation, indescribable sounds of time and space being put through a cosmic wringer. Civilians lined the rooftops, tense, bloodless faces rendered even paler by the harsh light pouring out of the rift. The shrieking vortex of wind spiralling into whatever oblivion awaited within the hole in space threatened to overwhelm the airborne heroes before an enemy could even be seen, but they held the line.
Finally, as the noise reached proportions where a relay team of sonic-empowered heroes had to shunt the vibrations around the space-lost city pieces to prevent them from being shaken to bits, a psionic whisper could be heard, sussurating across the edge of consciousness- K'ssn'dreh's "voice", shaking with dread and amplified by a subtle boost from Sister Psyche- He: comes! The Ravager: magic: stinking of!
Then everything went white.
With a roar that was more shockwave than sound, a noise so vast that the human mind simply tuned it out, (although Target Lad would, in later life, always swear that it sounded like a million people saying "WOP!" at precisely the same time) Rularuu the Ravager was forcibly ejected from the rift. A frozen instant... and then the rift expanded hugely, spitting out in rapid succession, Ruladak, Chularn, Kuularth, Aloore, Uularur, and finally, a very, very angry-looking Lanaru... along with thousands of Circle of Thorns demons, Behemoths and Nerva Spectra alike.
The warped pieces of Atlas Park shimmered a little, then began to evaporate like heat mirages, replaced with their Shard counterparts as both sides of the mirror began to reassert themselves in their proper place. All this was overshadowed, though, by the Rikti reaction to the abrupt presence of the mad demigod and the demons that seemed to be dancing attendance upon him... or at least, were as stunned by the sudden transition as he was.
A wordless scream of rage from the lead ship could briefly be heard over the terrible cacophony of worlds not-quite-colliding, and a volley of blazing plasma so thick it briefly outshone the space warp exploded from the Rikti position, shattering through the demons and hammering Rularuu and his aspects mercilessly.
All this had taken barely ten seconds. The thin spandex line twitched towards the pitched battle, but Energon X (backed up, to everyone's surprise but his own and theirs, by Sister Psyche and Manticore) barked out "Into the rift! Quickly!" before bolting straight through the disputed area of space and into the warp.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
(( Oooooo!! perched on seat, waiting for moooore! ))
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."
(( Great read Te. ))
The Battle of Atlas Park had been raging for nearly four hours now, bolts of lightning, lances of flame, and streaks of pure energy occasionally lighting up the room. Energon X stood at ease in front of the assembled Freedom Phalanx and Vanguard leadership. Target Lad had joined up with some of his schoolmates- current reports put them somewhere in the warehouse district in the Southwest, hunting a cadre of Wisps that were trying to reopen the portal from Earth-side. Flashpoint Zeo was working with Sergeant Allerdyced and a number of others to herd a large group of Brutes back towards the space warp back into the Shard that Portal Corp was still maintaining above City Hall, and K'ssn'dreh was ensconsced with Argot'Burwot in one of the Vanguard compounds.
Energon X had been called out of the battle to give an accounting for what he had done during the Rularuu invasion, or, as it seemed now, to confirm or deny the guesses that the Phalanxers and the Vanguard had made as to the various players in this little drama.
"So... you were the one responsible for the failure of the plan to use the Rikti battlestation to stop Rularuu, instead choosing to use a ridiculous tangle of half-truths and manipulations?" Statesman demanded, sounding irritable. "Ease off, Marcus. He was right to." Positron interjected. "With things calming down, I was able to recheck my calculations, and they were right to question them- I had dropped a decimal place, and allowing the battlestation to warp through would have destabilized the Shard enough to let Rularuu break completely free of it, ending the fight before we ever got near him. He would have consumed our dimension and been done with it. We would've been snacks, not heroes." Statesman subsided, grumbling, and Manticore spoke next.
"Alright, so the next time you used the Freedom Phalanx was as a stalking horse- to keep the Rikti focussed on Rularuu's portal, but also to keep them from interfering with it until he was back through. But what tossed the big jerk back through?" "I think I can answer that, Justin; I was able to converse with young Monty of the Midnighters when we came back through. You were giving him something of a fit, dear." Lady Grey told Energon X reprovingly. "He had sensed a very, very small temporal disturbance- an infintesimal shift in the timeline that added up to a very big difference in the present day." Energon X simply nodded, and Numina spoke up. "You've certainly got the Midnighters in a twist- until today, nobody (except maybe Montague) could figure out why there was a Circle of Thorns prophecy that dated back to Mu'Rakhmet's rebellion, twelve thousand years ago, that made clear reference to modern-day Paragon City and Rularuu, bore traces of Tsoo magic and Rikti Psionics... and used modern syntax." At that, Energon X snorted briefly, his vocoder echoing tinnily. "Looks like even old Orabengan has experienced some linguistic drift. Either that or Akarist's memory isn't as sharp as it once was. The prophecy was pretty easy, though- just promise the Circle vast power once Rularuu was reintegrated with 'all his parts', and they were pretty much guaranteed to jump in with both feet, jamming him back together. Of course, the bit of the prophecy they didn't see went to the Mu, telling the rest of the story- the vast power 'released' by stuffing Rularuu's bits back together would be Rularuu falling apart- something they thought was great, since it would result in the Circle humiliated, at the very least, and, if the spell fragment that came with the prophecy fragment worked as promised, it would weaken them severely with the loss of their otherworldly allies."
Numina raised an eyebrow. "So... this spell? A multi-stage incantation, obviously... but where did you..?" "Joint effort by Akarist and Azuria- the first stage, cast by the Circle of Thorns, jammed Rularuu back together, causing Lanaru's madness to shatter the gestalt, and the second stage, cast by the Mu in an attempt to demoralize or weaken the Circle, made it so all the extradimensional entities in the area would be pulled into the spacetime rip that Portal Corp was trying to force Rularuu into... including the Circle's demon allies who had come to lend their power to the spell."
Numina nodded. "And Akarist provided what you needed, since it would weaken the hold the demons had on his kinsmen." "We also got Diviner Maros in on this- he agreed, I suspect for much the same reason, and also possibly to try and catch a glimpse of Ouroboros' inner workings." Energon X added. "He failed, I trust?" Lady Grey inquired a bit archly. "The Circle is enough of a difficulty without them jumping about through time, even if it would muddle things dreadfully for that Prussian twit... really, as if he were the only one who could do anagrams..." she trailed off.
"And it's fairly obvious why Marcus let his Mystics loose- he has access to Recluse' Victory as much as we do, and he would have seen that Circle-of-Thorns-world it turned into without being interfered with." Statesman murmured, having finally calmed down a bit. The Dark Watcher nodded. "And the Rikti reaction to the appearance of the demons and Rularuu, right under their guns, was... predictable, given their feelings on magic. A bold stroke." he finished. Gaussian held up a data pad. "Well... in the minuses column, the heart of the city is being wrecked up a bit- all these Soldiers of Rularuu seem reluctant to leave quietly." Energon X made to protest, but Lady Grey cut him off sharply and motioned for Gaussian to continue. "Of course, in the plusses column, Rularuu himself is gone. The War Lineage is weakened and scattered after their battle with Rularuu and his aspects, along with the Circle demons, who did not take kindly to the plasma bolts up the snoot- the latest reports out of Firebase Zulu indicate that once Lanaru the Mad recovered what few senses he posesses, space began to warp around him once more, causing the many of the Rikti ships to mis-jump when they tried to return to our dimension. The Circle of Thorns has been drastically weakened by the abrupt loss of so many of their demonic allies and a vicious Mu assault on Orabenga once they realized that they'd caught the Orabengans with their metaphorical pants down- the spell backlash when the demons disappeared laid a lot of the Circle out. In turn, the Mu have been dramatically weakened by losing a lot of their mystics in that assault on Orabenga, since they either badly underestimated just how many Orabengans were down there, or else their hatred overwhelmed their reason. Of course, this means that Arachnos has been diminished, thanks to losing so many of their mystic resources. And of course the Banished Pantheon was crippled earlier by our... reaction... to discovering that they were 'fated' to capture the Ravager."
Gaussian paused for breath. "So... in one stroke, the Circle of Thorns, Arachnos and the Mu, the Rikti, and Rularuu the Ravager himself were dealt crippling blows, and in such a fashion that they defeated themselves without ever suspecting a thing and almost zero collateral damage to us or any civilians." The head of Vanguard Counter-Intelligence gave the blaster a sidelong look. "Remind me never to play poker with you." Energon X gave a short bark of laughter and nodded. "Anyways, I think you've got a pretty good idea of what's been happening- will you excuse me? My Supergroup is calling, they've got a pack of Overseers and their minions at bay near the Steel tunnel, and they want all hands on deck." Statesman simply nodded, and Energon X turned to go, glancing back briefly. Now that the more formal hearing was ended, the Phalanxers and senior Vanguard were standing and milling about, getting ready to move out (a whiffle of wind and a red-and-blue blur told him that Synapse was already long gone), and chatting amongst themselves. Just before he left, the Dark Watcher caught his eye. The trench-coated teleporter nodded to him, tipping his hat, very slightly. Energon X nodded back, wishing he could still grin, and stepped out into the hallway, headed back into the fray.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
((And that's it. Hard to believe that all this started by my noticing that they'd re-used the teleport graphic for the Rikti Invasions that they'd used back at the start of i3 for the introduction of the Shadow Shard and the Rularuu invasion. It certainly evolved a bit.
Anyways, if you've had even half as much fun reading this as I did writing it, then a good time has been had by all- thanks for your attention and the kind words- the encouragement made a difference!))
((EDIT- Hrm... so, did I manage to surprise anyone with the ending? I... *think*... I managed to segue into the less action-oriented portion fairly naturally- and, although I'm not sure that I portrayed it clearly in the story, Energon X, while he can be a bit blast-first-and-think-later-or-maybe-never, had a good reason for taking a more... mental Judo-ish approach, since a repeat of the Rikti invasion, with a huge portion of the world's hero population getting killed, probably wouldn't be a good thing.))
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
(( very well done! ))
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."
((nice TeC....very interesting story...and Bladewing is NEVER going to play poker against EnergonX now...NEVER!))
"You, dear sir, are a legend. "- nelly. "PIE DOESN'T HAVE TENTACLES!"
Bladewing Draconian lvl 30 KAT/SR scrapper
DarkNinjutsu lvl 50 DM/REG scrapper
Dajoji Hino lvl 50 elm/ela scrapper
Bloody Byakko lvl 20 claws/sr scrapper
Not bad, but I'm gonna have to be honest with you - I didn't really feel entirely there. This story seemed to me more like an outside account rather than the type that really draws the reader in and gives the sensation of 'you see; you hear; you feel'.
In addition, it was pretty predictable, and I never got the sense that the balance truly teetered at any given point in the story. Sure, the consequences of failure were nicely detailed and strongly apocalyptic (maybe that was it - they were too catastrophic to have any real chance of happening, hence I was never afraid they would), but I didn't get much in the sense of pressure and suspense in the 'if this doesn't happen right now, we're all dead!' fashion. The possibility of failure just sat too far removed, at least for my tastes. Every potential mistake was seen and fixed in time, being eliminated well before it could become a threat.
Tying into this is that the main characters never truly seemed in danger, what with everything going according to plan and no enemy they faced needing more than a few sentences' worth of mention. However, even if that had been present, I don't think it would've done much, as I didn't really connect with them. I didn't care whether they lived or died because their selves never opened to me. Who are they, what makes them tick, what makes them fight? Those questions remained unanswered, and without feeling a character as a living, breathing (or maybe not) being, they're very hard for me to care about.
However, your writing style flowed well and stood eloquently comprehensive, making the painting of a picture with your words delightfully effortless. Your tone contained color (sometimes literally 
), texture, and subtle mood, and though some things were harder to see than others, overall I never felt I'd lost the picture thanks to your verbal craftsmanship.
You might want to space things out a little more, but that's more format and aesthetics than actual story quality.
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Thanks for the feedback, everyone... especially the detailed critique on your part, Devious.
I have to admit, you've touched on something that is both my greatest strength and my greatest weakness when it comes to my writing. I tend to be extremely narrative-driven; the characters are a thing to hang a clever plot on, rather than the other way around; it's a story they're part of, rather than their story.
And the 'everything according to plan' bit? Eh, I've always felt that was too much the province of the villains, with the heroes getting by on luck or providence. Personally, I kind of like it when the villains (even clever ones) are completely out-thought, at least once in a while.
And, maybe one of these days, I'll get around to telling a story that's more about my characters- this was more a fun experiment with the game's lore (and I like to think I stuck with it pretty well- the Mu hating the Circle, the Circle wanting free of the demons and pursuing Rularuu's power, the Rikti hating magic... that's all there in the story bible). Again, as I said, thanks for reading
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
This was a Great Story it was worth staying up 4 hours after i planed to go to sleep, to read all of it. well im off to bed, and i think u can become a book wrihter if u tryed or as a hobby
Going to miss the fun and nice people here at CoH. Feel free to add me on PS3/XBox360
PS3X360: OmniNogard
Currently playing: Mass Effect 3(PS3) Minecraft(X360) Skyrim(X360).
((For those of you that enjoyed this story, I'm currently working on the tale of Energon X' origin, here. And please, feel free to comment- feedback is appreciated.))
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
((In a word - masterful. I stumbled across this today as I don't drift by the roleplaying section much and this happened to be on the first page. I was hooked from page one. Thank goodness it was finished when I found it, cause I don't think I could have taken the suspense!
I can see what DeviousMe was saying about the detachment from the story, but for me that gave it a truly epic quality. Of course everything was going to work out okay, so why not make it big? There was enough detachment that sacrificing one of the main characters for the climax wouldn't have detracted from the story. But there wasn't so much detachment that the loss wouldn't have been felt. This wasn't a story about character development (though it could certainly lead into one - ala Picard and the Borg) it was about a monumental clash and a very clever plot (IMHO). In fact, now that I bring it up, I realize I got the same feeling reading this as I did watching that "Best of Both Worlds" episode for the first time. Epic, grand, and suspenseful with dozens of wonderful little hooks to dangle new plots off of.
Finally, kudos to you for drawing all the different factions and storylines together so seamlessly. If you hadn't said so I never would have guessed you'd made this up as you went.))
Scrappers: Because no plan survives first contact with the enemy intact.
Wonderful story. Enjoyed 99.999% of it. My only complaint is an esthetic one -- PLEASE use text colors with more contrast. My eyes aren't what they used to be, and purple on blue is REALLY hard to read. And I really want to read more of Energon's adventures!
OTOH, the story was engrossing enough to get me to wade through all that purple text. You can take that as high compliment.
I found it today, read it in one sitting, and am SO glad the story was complete. Patience is not one of my strengths. Having to wait for the rest of the story would have been TORTURE!
Good work!
*long applause*
great story.
most recent 50 - psy/mm blaster
That wasn't a Gambit. That was pretty darn close to a Roulette.
Well done.
((bwahahahahah great chapter.....wahoonie-shaped? that plus the mu joke have made my day))
"You, dear sir, are a legend. "- nelly. "PIE DOESN'T HAVE TENTACLES!"
Bladewing Draconian lvl 30 KAT/SR scrapper
DarkNinjutsu lvl 50 DM/REG scrapper
Dajoji Hino lvl 50 elm/ela scrapper
Bloody Byakko lvl 20 claws/sr scrapper