(Colin) My kingdom for a longer story entry!
I've got the first "real" installment of my story up. It details a particular initiation session within the Order. It's pathetically short. More will follow.
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Nights of Blackened Winter – Part One: The Converts
9 June 2156
Somewhere in the remains of the Denver Metrozone...
“I am called Kato,” the armored man said. The suit of ferro-aluminium was heavy upon his shoulders, particularly for one as short as he...he barely stood five feet six inches.
Before him, within the dim light of the Great Chamber of Abbasid, the eight refugees stood, each one looking worn and tired. The clothes they wore upon their backs were little more than rags, and many had cuts, some from simple overuse and others from...confrontations.
“You have all expressed an interest in joining the Order,” Kato continued. He took a step forward. “This is to be commended. Blessed be you who would swell our ranks and give us glory.” He paused. “However, there are doubtless those among you who would join us for reasons that are...less than noble.”
A few of the refugees looked confused, others stricken. They did not know what was to come, and none of them had done anything to bring doom upon themselves.
Not yet, anyway.
“However, I have little doubt that the less than faithful among you will be weeded out before long.” He held up a finger. “Before I go on, let me say this...”
He lowered his arm and began walking a slow circuit around the refugees.
“I am not interested your lineage.”
As he passed a refugee, Kato saw one of them barely suppress a flinch. He reached the end of the refugee line and turned about, and began walking slowly and deliberately along behind the initiates.
“I am not interested in your history.”
He reached the end of the line and once more resumed his position in front of the refugees.
“I am not even interested in how well you can fight.”
At this, the line of haggard people looked stumped. Joining the Order almost certainly meant going into battle at one point or another. What was this man talking about?
“What I am interested in...is your breaking point.”
From a belt around his waist, he removed a mean-looking stunner. It was a relatively simple device, little more than a piece of metal attached to a hilt. When activated, an electric charge ran through the metal, and—depending on what setting it happened to be on—when it came into contact with human skin, it transmitted an electric charge that could be calibrated from something as harmless as a small static bolt to power levels whose effects were...less than pleasant.
Before anyone knew what was happening, Kato lunged forward with the stunner and caught one of the refugees between his ribs. The stunner was on the highest setting.
The refugee, a wiry young man with dark hair, fell to the ground like a sack of meat, twitching and quivering wildly for a full minute before laying still.
Once the reality of what had happened set in, the other refugees stared in open shock.
Kato bent down on one knee and quickly rifled through the man’s pockets. Near his shoulder, he found a golden medallion that bore a picture of Earth with a flaming sword driven through it—the symbol of the Order.
“This man was clever,” Kato said to their faces of mixed shock and fear. “I suspect that he was once a very good pickpocket. I saw him take this medallion from one of our guards. Most skillful indeed.”
He gestured towards the body with the stunner. “This is the fate of those who would bring wickedness to our ranks. Learning, and acts of worth, will be just as quickly rewarded.”
Unbidden, a pair of servants dressed in simple brown robes came from the shadows and dragged the body of the dead refugee away.
Ignoring this, Kato continued.
“What is an act of worth?” He smiled wolfishly. “That is something each of you will have to find out for yourself...”
---
Nights of Blackened Winter – Part One: The Converts
9 June 2156
Somewhere in the remains of the Denver Metrozone...
“I am called Kato,” the armored man said. The suit of ferro-aluminium was heavy upon his shoulders, particularly for one as short as he...he barely stood five feet six inches.
Before him, within the dim light of the Great Chamber of Abbasid, the eight refugees stood, each one looking worn and tired. The clothes they wore upon their backs were little more than rags, and many had cuts, some from simple overuse and others from...confrontations.
“You have all expressed an interest in joining the Order,” Kato continued. He took a step forward. “This is to be commended. Blessed be you who would swell our ranks and give us glory.” He paused. “However, there are doubtless those among you who would join us for reasons that are...less than noble.”
A few of the refugees looked confused, others stricken. They did not know what was to come, and none of them had done anything to bring doom upon themselves.
Not yet, anyway.
“However, I have little doubt that the less than faithful among you will be weeded out before long.” He held up a finger. “Before I go on, let me say this...”
He lowered his arm and began walking a slow circuit around the refugees.
“I am not interested your lineage.”
As he passed a refugee, Kato saw one of them barely suppress a flinch. He reached the end of the refugee line and turned about, and began walking slowly and deliberately along behind the initiates.
“I am not interested in your history.”
He reached the end of the line and once more resumed his position in front of the refugees.
“I am not even interested in how well you can fight.”
At this, the line of haggard people looked stumped. Joining the Order almost certainly meant going into battle at one point or another. What was this man talking about?
“What I am interested in...is your breaking point.”
From a belt around his waist, he removed a mean-looking stunner. It was a relatively simple device, little more than a piece of metal attached to a hilt. When activated, an electric charge ran through the metal, and—depending on what setting it happened to be on—when it came into contact with human skin, it transmitted an electric charge that could be calibrated from something as harmless as a small static bolt to power levels whose effects were...less than pleasant.
Before anyone knew what was happening, Kato lunged forward with the stunner and caught one of the refugees between his ribs. The stunner was on the highest setting.
The refugee, a wiry young man with dark hair, fell to the ground like a sack of meat, twitching and quivering wildly for a full minute before laying still.
Once the reality of what had happened set in, the other refugees stared in open shock.
Kato bent down on one knee and quickly rifled through the man’s pockets. Near his shoulder, he found a golden medallion that bore a picture of Earth with a flaming sword driven through it—the symbol of the Order.
“This man was clever,” Kato said to their faces of mixed shock and fear. “I suspect that he was once a very good pickpocket. I saw him take this medallion from one of our guards. Most skillful indeed.”
He gestured towards the body with the stunner. “This is the fate of those who would bring wickedness to our ranks. Learning, and acts of worth, will be just as quickly rewarded.”
Unbidden, a pair of servants dressed in simple brown robes came from the shadows and dragged the body of the dead refugee away.
Ignoring this, Kato continued.
“What is an act of worth?” He smiled wolfishly. “That is something each of you will have to find out for yourself...”
posted by Thea at 8:37 p.m.
1 Comments:
Go cruel religious cults! They make such good villains, or even ambiguously bad guys! That was pretty cool, definately interested in seeing more!
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