Saiyan

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

At Zara's report of the goods in the cave, Isaac commented, "Score." He checked both ways for danger before walking into the cave to stand beside her at look at the teddy bear. "Cute. Yeah, see what you can do with it."

He appraised the knives they'd acquired, testing the grips and looking down the edge of the blades for nicks and rust. Zara was right, they were decent indeed. They took everything of value, including some choice canned foods that would make a decent meal on the road, then exited the cave together. "No need to stop here, the day's still pretty young. We can still make some distance to Liberty Point before dark. Let's get back to the Sheriff. Tell him job's done."

And they did.

A deputy was sent down to the molerat den to confirm the job while Isaac and Zara hung around in the Sheriff's office. Isaac was sat leaning dangerously far back two legs of a chair, his feet up on the windowsill as he looked out at the sky.

"You two drifters?" the Sheriff suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had fallen on the room. Isaac looked at him. "Which way is wind takin ya?"

"Over the ways to Liberty Point," Isaac answered the second question. "Got some people that way."

The town's leader nodded a few times, sticking a pinky finger in his ear to dig a little wax out, then flicking it on the floor. "Good folks up yonder. Good folks." Isaac agreed, then the Sheriff continued. "Colour me surprised you got our little pest problem solved so quickly."

Isaac pointed at Zara. "You can thank her for that," the wastelander replied.

The Sheriff raised his bushy grey eyebrows in approval and tipped his hat in salute to Zara. "That was your handiwork, was it?" he said to her. "I had a couple men take a look for where those pesky rodents were coming from. Musta been half a dozen times I sent them out. Couldn't find anything past their noses. I thank you for your service, young lady." He then asked, "You do this kinda thing often?"

Eventually the deputy came back, then Isaac and Zara got paid. When the Sheriff asked if there was any loot at the den, the deputy looked at the two wastelanders and said that everything had been taken. Isaac smiled and shrugged at the Sheriff who conceded a shrug back. First come first serve, as always in the wasteland of New York.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Zell sat up in a flash, one hand grabbing his scabbard next to him and looking to his left where the disturbance had come from. It seemed in his wariness of this new world, even the security of watch-shifts wouldn't stop him from being a light sleeper. He was next to the well-made shelter of Lillianna, staring at the wall of branches near the mouth that was the entrance. A scan of the camp showed no movement - no further noises of the same sort - the only activity coming from MacKensie and Adam, who were quietly chatting and hadn't noticed him. The sky was pale, dawn was here.

Coast clear. The swordsman's muscles relaxed, no longer ready to spring him into action. Reluctantly he let go of his weapon and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes to wake himself up a bit. There was no point in going back to sleep now anyway.

"Oww..."

"?" Zell grunted, sat there for a second as his mind put together the pieces - the sound of the disturbance along with Lillianna's report. He got up, then went and squatted down at the shelter's front entrance to get the final part of the puzzle; the sight of the wizard lay there rubbing her head. He smirked as it all began to make sense. "Morning Lilly pad," he greeted, continuing his streak of giving nicknames to the gang. "You alright there?"

His eyes were drawn to the gold, metal cube cradled in her arms. So this is it, he thought. The oh-so-important package requiring a nine-man courier team. It certainly looked special. Fuck knows why Lillianna had seen fit to hold it like a small baby while she slept, but Zell didn't ask. In fact, not wanting to stare overly long, he looked away, then reached over to grab his backpack and then the end of his bed roll, before dragging it toward himself so he could begin rolling it up to pack away.

MacKensie and Adam had begun waking up the others. "Morning guys," he offered, before turning his attention back to the woman in the shelter. He rose to stand, offering a hand out for her to grab and aid his comrade to her feet. Just like with handing out nicknames, with the formation 'team talk' yesterday evening, he was having trouble leaving the sports habits back in the old world.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

I really wanna go but I'll wait for a couple more folks to get some words in.

@CalleIt's morning now. No official update this weekend, we're pushing on without xenon

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Dark CloudMy bad, mate. I dunno what timezeone you're in, so when you said 'tonight' I didn't know what you meant. It's closing in on midnight here in England and I have a lot of shit to do tomorrow so, yeah...

Have a fantastic weekend people!

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

After everyone retired, Saiyan got up and walked over to a tree that was providing a canopy above the campsite. He folded his arms and leaned against the trunk, crossing an ankle over the other as he looked on the surround. He could barely see anything, making him wonder just how effective a sentry he could be in this darkness.

What. A. Fucking. Day.

Zell let out an audible breath. So far he'd just gone along with the flow, but finally he had a moment to himself. In his mind he envisioned his brain with legs and arms, stood with it's back to a crowd of anthropomorphised questions who were like, 'er excuse me.' The brain was trying to ignore them, but they started walking up and tapping it on the shoulder. 'Can we have some answers now please?'

To delay having to answer any those questions, the swordsman shook his head, annoyed. "Those traffic lights were fucking red," he muttered into the night. "I hope that dumbass gets locked up."

He had a second chance at life. But it just happened to be in a world that was about to get destroyed unless something changed. Not much of a second chance, really. That police chief, Vadim, said he and the others were here for a reason. Could it be true? Was this some kind of destiny? Were they supposed to be the difference-makers? And was that difference more than just playing U.P.S for this skeleton cube thingy? More importantly, what were the options here? He'd told Joji that he was down to kill the Witch Queen - that he had nothing better to do. His trademark nonchalance. But even in the short time Peter and Paul had talked about adventurers, some of the famous ones sounded unbelievabley powerful. Ten times more powerful than Zell's team. Dante Valeron - the leader of the party; The Good Fight, and chairman of the Council of Heroes - would obliterate those ogres and skeletons on his own? If that was true, and this same famed adventurer... this same Council of Heroes... haven't been able to help The Empire win a single battle!?

What the hell are we expected to pull off?

He eventually went to sit back down on the log, watching the campfire slowly die down. It all sounded so insurmountable. But if he wanted this second chance at life, he'd have to fight for it. He'd have to get stronger - get to the Adventurer's Guild, find out how to get this Source stuff fast. Whatever it takes.

For himself. For his new friends. For his new world. But first order of business - delivering this cube.

He stretched and yawned, then cracked the kinks out of his neck. "Those lights were red," he muttered again tiredly.

A little later, he woke James and Joji for their shift on watch, then lay flat on his back with a hand for his pillow and fell asleep.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Screw it, I'll just post.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Dark CloudAre you gonna be posting in the next few hours? If so I can wait to see what the man, the myth, the legend is doing lol but I won't be around Fri/Sat so I have to post tonight.

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

The molerat's head blew up with a spray of red, it's body skidding and tumbling to a stop before Isaac's feet. The wastelander looked at the corpse dispassionately for a moment, before thumbing the safety back up on his Taurus and holstering it. Then he knelt down to grab his things off the floor and resumed reloading the Beretta, sparing a glance up at Zara as she spoke while he did it.

"Hey, don't sweat it. That was the dumbest shooting lesson in the world. Besides..." he sharply pushed the magazine back and jerked the slide to load a round, then looked at her properly. "...pretty sure you hit one," he told her, his eyebrows raised as if daring her to be proud of herself. "Not bad, huh?"

He accompanied her to the den, Beretta in one hand and knife, reverse-grip, in the other. There might be one or two more defending the nest, but if he could get away with it, he wouldn't waste any more bullets. The Sheriff was going to shit a brick when they came back so quickly to report the job complete. Isaac reckoned he would just give directions to the den and then wait around while someone from town went to go and see the evidence that the job was done. Even so, they'd be back on the road in record time, thanks to the tracking skills of his new buddy, Zara Singh.

Pulling her weight already, who'da thunk it.

When the coast was clear, he waited on guard while she checked for loot. "Anything good, emerald eyes?"

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZoolFake news. I won unanymously. The election was rigged.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Zell's brow furrowed at the first response to the battle plan. He froze in confusion as he looked on the orange-stained clouds, then turned his head in Adam's direction, about to explain that this was just a formation for battle - not something they were expected to stay in at all times. Fortunately Fenna cut him off.

"That is a good strategy," she said to him. "When it's time for battle we should try to get into this formation. During travel, someone who can navigate the land should go first. I'm fairly good at recognising animal tracks and the likes, so there may be times I will go ahead of the group."

"Yeah, good idea," Zell said back to her, a note of confusion lingering in his voice. At least someone's listening properly. One thing about Fenna that was interesting to Zell was that; although the swordsman rarely heard her talk, when she did talk it had an important weight to it. She was sharp, alright. Content to stay in the background, it seemed, but always aware - no wasted words. Maybe she was just apprehensive, everyone being strangers n all, but she certainly wasn't no fool.

He looked over his shoulder and nodded to MacKensie when she subscribed to the plan, then shot a teethy snarl at Joji for the big guy's contribution. "Oorah, Meathead Unit, let's go," he growled, giving his fellow swordsman next to him a soft shoulder-bump.

He grabbed a portion of fish and put it on his plate, "Ppreciate it, Plant man," and when he sat back down, dumped a few rations on the plate as a nice side dish.

As he ate, distantly listening to MacKensie and Joji talking fishing, he enjoyed the slow-changing sky which was starting to wash out shades of red and purple. He realised that his whole life he'd never actually appreciated a sunset before. To him, it was just something to colour the City of London - maybe set the mood with a girl he was trying to sleep with. Something to accent his tiredness after a long day of football training, or a signal to jump in that shower and have a shave because it was going to be a wild night on the town. But a beautiful sunset wasn't just an accessory - it was a phenomenon amazing all on it's own. There was just always so much going on and so much to do, that he'd never took a moment to notice it.

Sweet.

"We should probably take turns keeping watch during the night," and there she was again; Fenna coming in hot with the wisdom. "Maybe in pairs? It's a strange land after all, and who knows, maybe some others will be interested in that cube we have."

After MacKensie and James offered themselves on shifts, Zell briefly raised his fork in the air. "I'll take the first watch. I doubt I'd sleep right away, anyway. Hey Clive, wanna jump on the first shift with me?"