Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#16 Post by anonfox123 »

Alright, people. It's a bit late, but here it is, the next update!

EDIT: WHOOO!!! Second page!!!

*************************
Completely oblivious to Kara's dark expression, Zen merely chuckled and said, "Test our skills? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"I was under the impression I was talking to two wolves named Zen and Natani." Kara shot back.

Suddenly recognizing the names, one of the Bastitins, an albino, rolled his eyes. "Pfft... Watch out guys, we're dealing with the Magi Brothers over here!"

"Kyle, shut up. We don't have time for this." Jason interrupted. Kara's change in mood had put him on edge. Turning to the wolves, "You two, I think you should follow me."

*************************
"And through this door, we have the training and practice area." Alaric stated as he threw open the doors to the observation deck with a flourish.

Keith looked down. Below was a six-sided ring, larger than the ones used for training bouts back on the Islands, but still tight enough to keep a fight going.

Keith sighed. "Right, right, but really, most of this tour of yours has been real self-explanatory. Besides, what about meeting the team? Where is everyone? Come on, I feel like I'm dreaming again!"

"Look, I know I said 'meet the team', and that's why I took you through the living areas and bunk-rooms first. Heck if I know where everyone's all gone..." Alaric glanced down as the downstairs doors opened. "Ah, nevermind. There they are."

He began rattling off names as the rest of the Alphas filed into the room. "Alright, the albino Bastitin, over there. His name's Kyle. Bit of a smartass, likes to brag, but in the end he always backs it up. The second one, Jenna, she's a westerner, or at least descended from westerners. Agile on her feet and a quick thinker as well. Definitely a force to be reckoned with."

After pausing for breath, he continued. "Now, the Keidran. The mixed breed, that's Kara. Its not official, but everyone regards her as the team leader." Noting Keith's expression, he added, "I know, she's a splitting image of that "specialty" slave you showed up with, but trust me, she's vicious. As for the huge tiger over there, he's Markus. See that feral gleam in his eyes? Some incident left him teetering on the brink, and that control collar he's wearing is the only way we can keep him going over the edge. No one ever told me just what happened though."

"Who's it linked to?" Keith asked.

"Kara. Those two... They're close. She's the only one he trusts with that kind of power, even though its one of the loosest spells that can still keep his mind tethered. And finally the two humans, Jonathan Sage and Jason Kiet. Sage is the calm, collected one. In a way he has to be, seeing as he serves as the medic for the Alphas. Jason... He's a damn fool sometimes, but luck always seems to be on his side, let's leave it at that."

Keith nodded. "So how about you? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm a decent fighter, but remember how I said the Alphas are the Confederacy's best in both times of peace, and in times of war? We're diplomats too, in a way. If we can negotiate with outsiders, great, we negotiate. If we have to fight, so be it. Lately I've been in charge of working out a deal with the mayor of Maine. Long story short, we thrashed a bunch of his troops, and rather than get mad, he gets interested."

Suddenly, Alaric stepped back from the edge of the observation deck as the Magi Brothers entered the room.

Keith looked after him in surprise. "Wait, what's the big rush?"

"Well, I've heard you've already met those two coming in. And one of them saw me on the Island, so I'll be right back with that mask I dumped a while ago. You can stay here, but DON'T mention my name. Not until I do it myself, or until I tell you to."

****************************
Back on the training floor, Zen glanced up at the balcony above the practice ring, his attention drawn by a swinging door. Nudging Natani, he said, "Hey, isn't that your... Ok, woah, end of story." He stopped short as his sibling gave him a venomous glare.

Keith's presence had not gone unnoticed by Kara either. "You there!" She called. "Ambassador General Keith Keiser, right?" Rather than wait for a reply, she simply continued. "Well, seeing as the Directors invited you to have a look around, feel free to stay and watch; we're about to put our new recruits through a test fight." Turning to the siblings, she said. "As for you two, get ready. I'm not going to go easy on you."

Natani shot her a skeptical look. "Two on one? Oh please, that's the kind of thing you hear about in exaggerated tavern-tales."

"Its not the first time I've had two guys coming at me." Kara retorted darkly. "Now move it. We're starting with an unarmed round, so ditch your weapons. The round's over when both of you get thrown out of the ring or get knocked out, or when I get thrown out or put down."

Natani turned and walked back to where Zen was already laying down his sword, bow, and other equipment. "So, what do you think, Zen? Regretting the decision you made for us already?"

"No, actually. Not yet. We'll either fit in perfectly or get chewed up and spit out. Just have to wait and see." Kara's dark words had finally gotten through to the young assassin.

Stepping into the ring, the two wolves stood by each other, bouncing on their feet, ready to either make the opening move or respond to their opponent, the dark, intimidating twin of a specialty slave they both knew in their shared memories.

Time seemed to slow down as the twins made their first mistake. In the split second that Zen had stepped an inch to far away from his brother, Kara rushed forward, getting between them, turning a two on one fight into a solo match against Natani, with Zen left spectating, one step too far away to help his sibling in time.

Kara fended off Natani's first few punches, attacking and defending at the same time, landing even more blows that left the wolf reeling. But suddenly, a swipe from Natani got through Kara's tight defense, sending her to the floor. That was the second mistake. In the brief pause as Natani savored her brief victory, Kara exploded off the floor, swinging both legs into Natani's side. Zen winced as he heard the sickening crack of bones breaking, grateful that they had figured out how to keep pain jumping across their link a long time ago.

Landing on her feet behind Natani, Kara twisted around, grabbed Natani's wrist, and fueled by the momentum from the initial strike, threw the wolf out of the ring and dislocated his shoulder in a single, fluid roundhouse kick.

Turning back to Zen, Kara flashed a predatory grin as she danced just beyond his reach. Seeing his brother trashed so quickly both angered and terrified Zen, but Kara's next words cemented his resolve.

"Well, looks like its just you and me, dear." She taunted. It was then that Zen knew the only way he was leaving the ring was out cold and bleeding from a hundred wounds, or victorious with Kara laying at his feet. Nothing in between, and no compromises.
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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#17 Post by TinyVoices »

Awesome. Our "assassin's" just didn't know what they were getting into, did they? :grin:


Reread that last sentence carefully, I feel there's a mistake in there.

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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#18 Post by anonfox123 »

TinyVoices wrote:Reread that last sentence carefully, I feel there's a mistake in there.
Hmm... Minor stuff, fiddled with the parts a bit, should be better now.

EDIT: Alright guys, I'm getting ready for a big move as I'm writing this edit. Between the clean-up, movers coming, the plane ride, and all that other stuff, updates might be even more off-schedule than usual. In the meantime, I'll try and carve out a bit of time to post screen-shots of my minecraft model of the Nova Liberty base.
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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#19 Post by anonfox123 »

Well, here's the minecraft tour of the Nova Liberty base, as promised.
http://imageshack.us/g/849/overviewt.png/

You don't have to take it as a super-detailed, true to the story visual, but it gives the basic idea of what the place looks like.
I might put in more pics as I expand it.

This is my last night with internet in Hong Kong, as I'm moving out and headed off to college, with some stopovers in between. If I rushed this and the link doesn't work... Oh well, I'll fix it when I can.

Still, I'll have a lot more downtime after the move, so I'll try to update the story more often.
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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#20 Post by anonfox123 »

Well, here it is! Its been a while, but the latest installment of Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy is here! Read and Review!

****************************
Turning back to Zen, Kara flashed a predatory grin as she danced just beyond his reach. Seeing his brother trashed so quickly both angered and terrified Zen, but Kara's next words cemented his resolve.

"Well, looks like its just you and me, dear." She taunted. It was then that Zen knew that the only way we was leaving the ring was out cold and bleeding from a hundred wounds, or victorious with Kara laying at his feet, with nothing in between.

****************************
Despite his anger at his sibling's swift defeat, Zen knew he couldn't rush in fists flying. Instead, he hung back, dodging Kara's first few jabs. Natani had been overwhelmed by a rapid barrage of extremely close quarters blows, with Kara starting the exchange on her own terms. It was a fighting style that suited the slightly shorter mix-breed, being able to duck under the defenses of larger opponents to get up close.

Blocking another jab, Zen started throwing a series of hooks and swipes, trying to keep enough space between him and his opponent to counter Kara's technique. Even though Kara dodged the first few swings, the first blow to connect slammed into the side of her muzzle, jerking her head to the side and severely disorienting her.

But the moment Zen tried to press the advantage, coming in with a hard, fast kick, Kara managed to backflip out of reach. Now they were back at square one, circling each other, Zen's angry stare locked to Kara's cold, emotionless void.

Suddenly, Kara rushed straight at Zen, throwing herself into a roll and then spinning around, launching into another wild, gyrating kick similar to the one that now had Natani nursing a cracked rib on the sidelines.

In the instant that Zen noticed Kara turning herself into a Keidran tornado, he reached down into the back of his mind and called forth his feral side. Time seemed to slow down as his senses were kicked into overdrive by adrenaline coursing through his body. Kara's footpaw came up and around, aiming for Zen's face, but Zen's newfound speed let him lean back and away from the strike, causing Kara to miss him by inches. Right as Kara finished her kick, Zen saw an opening, and went for it, tackling her to the floor. Despite having 170 pounds of angry wolf crash into her, Kara grabbed Zen's wrists as they tumbled over, grappling with him from the floor. When Zen tried to lean in and get more of his weight on her, Kara managed to lift her foot up and planted it firmly in Zen's gut, kicking him into one of the posts that bordered the ring.

"Alright, that's it. Time to finish this." Kara hissed as Zen struggled to his feet, his eyes still glowing with a yellow feral light. The necklace Kara was wearing started to glow blue as she drew her emergency store of mana out of it, shaping the energy into a jagged shard of ice that appeared in her hand with a snap and flash of light. As Zen was still catching his breath, Kara rushed at him once more, her improvised knife in hand. Before he could react, Kara had slashed him across the muzzle, drawing a worried, collective gasp from the rest of the Alphas.

"What the hell? I thought she said this was an unarmed fight. What's she playing at?" asked the albino Bastitin, Kyle.

"Well, you know Kara. Never goes by the rules, but she's got her reasons." The medic Sage replied from his seat next to Natani's gurney. "Even when those reasons are beyond our comprehension." He added.

"Hey, aren't any of you going to get off your butts and go help my brother? He's getting cut to ribbons out there!" Natani snapped at the two soldiers. "Grah, why doesn't he just run?"

"She's right, we've got to stop this." Jason said as Zen received another gash, this time in his leg. "Markus, you head left and I'll..."

"Markus! Direct order, get my staff over here, NOW!" Kara shouted at the tiger Keidran, interrupting Jason mid-sentence. An expression of anger, shock and betrayal crossed Markus' face as his hand leapt to his control collar, even as his other hand snatched a casting staff from a nearby rack, and tossed it into the ring.

Limping from the wound on his leg, Zen tried to scramble over the ropes and out of the ring, but Kara had other ideas. As her staff flew towards her, she leaped into the air, kicked Zen in the head, sent him face-first into the floor, caught the staff, and slammed it into the floor. Jagged tendrils of ice exploded from the point of impact, racing across the floor, climbing up the posts, and forming a thick shell of ice over the whole arena. Zen and Kara were closed in, and the rest of the Alphas were shut out .

Zen, still on the floor, tried to scoot away, but was stoped short by the ice. Kara stood over him with a dark expression, mana swirling around her hands. With a flick of her thoughts, she formed that mana into several spikes of ice, sending them flying into Zen's arms and legs, nailing him to the floor. Zen, choking back a howl of pain, managed to grind out from between clenched teeth, "Why... the hell... are you doing this? What... Did I ever... do to you?"

Kara knelt down above him, a cold, cruel smirk on her face. "Oh, don't worry, you'll find out soon enough... Now that you're not about to go anywhere, I think its about time we had a little chat."
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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#21 Post by TinyVoices »

My "ex-girlfriend" theory is bubbling up again. Exciting fight, though. Kept me on edge. :D

"Alright, thats it. Time to finish this." < Apostrophe needed for thats. I'm ok with the alright. Makes it feel smoother sometimes.

"his eye's still glowing" < That is a bit of a tough one for me. Is it better to be "his eye is," as you basically wrote it, or is that apostrophe not needed? :?

"Zen, still, on the floor, tried to scoot away, but was stooped short by the ice." < This is one that depends on what you were trying to say. Is he lying still on the floor (as in not moving), because perhaps you should change the words around a bit. Or is he still on the floor (like time wise: "they were still there when I left"), because if so, that comma after "still" is extra. Pretty much, that comma is messing with me. I would think he isn't immobile, since he tried to scoot away, but... And, of course, "stooped" has an issue.

Beyond that, I don't see any other problems. Sorry that my grammar review was a billion times larger than the rest of my post. :oops:

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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#22 Post by anonfox123 »

TinyVoices wrote:My "ex-girlfriend" theory is bubbling up again. Exciting fight, though. Kept me on edge. :D
#Grammarreview
Beyond that, I don't see any other problems. Sorry that my grammar review was a billion times larger than the rest of my post. :oops:
No problem, all fixed now. Thanks for the compliment about the fight, I was a bit worried about that scene. Would it be too hard to follow? Was it too this, was it too that? Nice to know that someone likes it!

(What? Nothing to say about the minecraft model?)
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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#23 Post by Maakisu Suzaki »

Ok I'm readding it now but its long and I don't have much time to read it so I'm gonna dip in every now and then so that you don't pester me about comments. Will write real reply later. Night to you (its mid day here).
-edit removed-

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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#24 Post by TinyVoices »

anonfox123 wrote:(What? Nothing to say about the minecraft model?)
Spongebob: You are going to receive no comments, and you are going to like it!


No, but really it's pretty cool. I don't know where it's from, though, so I can't vouch for accuracy or anything. :P

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark, though, and guess that it's from one of the Fallouts. :?

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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#25 Post by anonfox123 »

TinyVoices wrote:
anonfox123 wrote:(What? Nothing to say about the minecraft model?)
Spongebob: You are going to receive no comments, and you are going to like it!


No, but really it's pretty cool. I don't know where it's from, though, so I can't vouch for accuracy or anything. :P

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark, though, and guess that it's from one of the Fallouts. :?
Oops, maybe I should make it more clear that it is a model of Nova Liberty, the base of the Alpha Guard (from this fanfic).
You know, the very building where Zen is, at this moment, getting his butt handed to him on a silver platter? :?
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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#26 Post by TinyVoices »

There ya go. Now I get it. I feel stupid, though. It was mentioned twice, I think. Both at the start, but still. I don't remember place names easily. :oops:

Like the training dummy, though. What mod is it? Is it... is it a given?

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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#27 Post by anonfox123 »

Well, on with the show!

****************************
All was pandemonium outside the shell of ice that Kara had conjured. Sage was still trying to keep a livid Natani on his bed, while Markus, in a fit of rage, had rushed straight back to the equipment rack to get his large, curved sword and started attacking the ice, bowling over Kyle along the way. Jason was yelling, attempting to dissuade Jenna from bringing out the shaped charges used by miners and the militia alike, while Alaric, returning with his mask and helmet on, took one look at the situation and had run off to get word out to the Strategy Director, who was in charge of the Alpha Guard program.

Back inside the ice, Kara's smirk grew into a grin as she saw Zen's brief, hopeful expression at the noises outside. "Oh, don't worry about them. We'll still have plenty of time to get reacquainted." She said. "Now, where do we begin... How about I refresh your memory a little bit. Think back, to about, oh, 4 years ago." Here she paused to cut the number into Zen's arm, eliciting another hiss of pain. Kara only chuckled in response. "Hold back your screams as much as you want. I know you're in pain. And yes, I'm enjoying it."

"Now, where were we... Ah, yes, four years ago. You were on a mission, weren't you, you heartless assassin."

Zen could only give a blank look in response. All other thoughts had been whited out by the pain and fear.

"Oh, I'm sorry, maybe I should have been more specific. You must have had so many missions with the guild. Well then, how about a name. Everett Wright, aging human, a rich trader that even a few of his own kind wanted six feet under. So they turned to the Guild. And the Guild turned to you." Kara emphasized her point by pricking Zen in the chest with her blade of ice.

"You probably staked out his home, monitored the guards, the whole package. But you made two big mistakes. First, you left a piece of your cloak that was torn off. That's how I recognized your scent. Second, you overlooked one little detail. Me. His little slave. Purchased at the instance of his friends, to help around the house, a pretty face to look at in his final years."

Kara leaned in close, bringing her mouth to Zen's ear. "You couldn't imagine the rumors that started, respectable gentleman Everett buying a specialty slave." She whispered, before closing her mouth around Zen's ear and biting down hard, the needle-sharp teeth inherited from Kara's feline lineage turning the appendage to bloody ribbons in an instant. Zen could hold back his yells no longer, loosing a tormented howl that reverberated inside the ice dome.

Kara's eyes flashed maliciously as she continued. "None of the rumors were true, of course. But everything changed when you killed my master. Everett himself was a nice man, but his relatives were bickering backstabbers, all of them. I was shunted from household to household as they squabbled over his will, treated like the piece of property that I was. Between his cousin, his nephew, and his niece, I was beaten just for being a Keidran, was used to sate carnal desires, and was burdened with so many petty tasks that I could hardly stand."

Once again, Kara went to work with her improvised knife, paying no heed to Zen's whimpers. When she was finished, three scarlet words stood out against Zen's light brown fur.

Beaten.
Used.
Burdened.

Kara looked up from her grim handiwork and stared straight into Zen's eyes. "And in the end, it was too much. They killed me. I died, having to live that life. All because of you! I died!" Kara slammed a fist into Zen's guts.

"And then I was free. The pain didn't matter, because I was dead. The violation didn't matter, because I was dead. Their orders, the control collar, didn't matter, because I was dead. And then they were dead. The cousin. The nephew. The niece."

Kara frowned. Zen was slipping into unconsciousness too quickly. He had to know the full impact of his actions. Gathering mana at her fingertips once more, she froze over his wounds, stopping the bleeding and shocking Zen back to wakefulness from the sheer drop in temperature. "Pay attention." She snapped coldly as Zen's eyes shot open.

"Once those three [censored] were dead, I ran. But, young and foolish as I was, I didn't have any place to run to. I survived day to day, never thinking ahead. My newfound hate consumed me. Long story short, I found myself at the border with the Tiger territories, and picked a fight with a bunch of Confederate troops. Back then, without any real training, they managed to subdue me. As luck would have it, they were guarding the Director of Strategy as he visited the Tiger clans to try and negotiate."

"He took me in. Trained me. Looked after me... He gave me everything. He gave me a new life." Kara smiled briefly. A small, fleeting, but genuine smile. "And then when you showed up today, you brought back all that pain, and I hated you so much for it. I had to make you suffer." Kara continued, her smile turning back to a furious scowl. "And now, you're going to die." Kara raised her knife, and brought it down.

Zen stared dumbly at the shard of ice that was now buried in the floor, inches from his neck. Then he understood. The pain and numbness from his frozen-over wounds didn't matter, because he was dead. the spikes of ice that kept him pinned to the floor didn't matter, because he was dead. Kara had killed him, just like he had killed her. And now he was about to get a new life.

****************************

Outside, the other Alphas were still at a loss as to what they could do. Markus sat in a corner, growling in frustration as he re-sharpened his sword after wearing it down on the enchanted ice. Sage, Kyle, and a disguised Alaric were explaining what had happened to the Director, Euchre. Suddenly a yell from Natani caught everyone's attention. "Can you guys hurry the hell up?! I can't quite see whats going on in there but some pain is starting to come across our link; something is seriously wrong!" he said, rubbing his wrists in obvious discomfort.

Jason looked up from his debate with Jenna on whether they should set off a shaped charge with the Director in the room, a look of utter frustration on his face. "Right. You know what? Its time to forget finesse." And with that, he pulled a bulky contraption out of a pouch strapped to his side, and leveled it at the wall of ice. It was standard issue C-2 Confederate Revolver. Steadying his aim, he pulled the trigger.

BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

In little over a second, Jason had depleted all eight of the gun's power stone rounds, unleashing a barrage of searing heat and kinetic energy at the ice. But it had just about as much effect as the other attempts to break the ice; no effect at all. Jason stuffed the gun back in its holster in disgust. "Sheesh, forget this. I need a bigger weapon." He said.

"Looking for something, sir?" Jenna said dryly, as she held out a bigger weapon, the C-10 Confederate Carbine.

"Why thank you dear... Aw crap!" Before he could take the gun, he noticed a movement within the ice, a blur rising from the floor and slamming straight into another indistinct figure.

Then, with an almighty crash, the tangled forms Zen and Kara smashed through the ice and tumbled to the floor, nearly taking Jason with them. Shakily, Zen managed to stand up. Kara didn't. He'd done it. Kara had left the ring before he did, and now he was victorious with Kara laying at his feet. He looked up from his opponent, staring into the stunned faces of the Alphas, his brother, the Director. Flashing a weak grin, he asked, "So, are we done here?" Then he slumped forwards onto the floor. Before he passed out cold, bleeding from a hundred wounds, he managed to have the final word. "Yeah, I think we're done here."

****************************
If you are interested, I have some rough MS paint doodles of the weapons mentioned, the C-2 Revolver and the C-10 Carbine. These will be posted shortly.

Oh, and I hardly proofread this, so if there are any spelling/grammar issues, PM me. The list might be rather long this time...
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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#28 Post by TinyVoices »

Damn she can hold a grudge. If I read this right, though, then Everett was a nice guy. It's just that a few people wanted him dead because of how rich he was? I suppose she had a right to hate Zen then.

I guess this makes that saying true, though. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. :|


There are a bunch of simple errors. "An" rather than "a", stuff like that. I'll get around to collecting them all up. I like the word choices, though.


Edit: 4 days late, but murr. Hmm, but only about 3 errors. I didn't fully notice that Euchre is there, during my first read. I take it that you're making him a good guy, then? Fighting for Lyn'knoll, or at least against the Humans. In-comic it's still anyone's guess as what his intentions are.

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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#29 Post by anonfox123 »

Well, here are my little doodles of the two pieces of confederate kit I mentioned, the C-2 revolver and the C-10 carbine. Once I get more pics up, I'll make an art thread where they will show as images rather than links.
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Re: Alpha Guard: Rise of the Confederacy (A TK fanfic)

#30 Post by anonfox123 »

Without further ado, more adventures of the Confederacy!!!

****************************
In the instant Zen realized he was dead, he gave an almighty wrench, pulling the spikes of ice that pinned him down all the way through his limbs, freeing himself and leaving the ice stuck in the floor. It hurt big time, but that didn't matter. He was dead. Scrambling to his feet he locked a maniac stare on Kara's eyes, making her recoil from the force of his gaze. Before he even realized it, he'd launched himself at her, bending down low and tackling her around the waist. Straightening up, he picked her up off the floor entirely, and let his momentum send both of them crashing into the wall of ice. Kara hit the wall first, her back then head getting slammed into the wall. Suddenly, the glazed transparent white of the ice gave way to the warm glow of the lamps and sunlight streaming into the training area. Picking himself up off the floor, he flashed a weak grin at the Alphas, his brother, the Director. He felt himself say something, but was interrupted by something landing on his face. When he went to wipe it off, he found that it was the floor; then everything went dark.

****************************
"I just hope this doesn't become a trend. I mean, the last recruit came in just a couple months ago, and HE arrived all bent out of shape..."

Zen stirred at the sound of someone else's voice. Opening his eyes, he saw two humans standing by the door. One of them noticed the slight movement, and pointed it out to his companion.

"Hey Sage, looks like your patient is awake." The human said. Zen recognized him as the one who first greeted him and his brother, but couldn't quite place the name right away. What was it, again? Oh, right. Jason.

"About damn time, too. He's been out of it a whole day." The one called Sage replied as Jason walked out. Turning to Zen, he said bluntly, "You're real lucky to be alive, you know that?"

"No, I don't know that. What did I miss?" Zen replied sarcastically.

"Well for starters, you lost about a third of your body's blood supply from all those cuts Kara gave you. Add to that the frostbite and borderline hypothermia from the ice spells she used on you, as well as some minor self-inflicted damage to your tendons from going all out in your feral state..." Sage shook his head and sighed. "What the hell she had against you I don't know, but..."

Zen interrupted him. "I killed her."

"What? No you didn't, I mean, that was a nasty knock on the head you gave her but she's not dead..."

"No, no, not just now, four years ago. Don't you get it?"

Sage stared dumbly at Zen, wondering if Kara's torments had driven him insane. His hypothesis seemed to be confirmed when Zen burst out laughing at his expression. Throwing his hands in the air, Sage turned to the doors of the medical room. "Forget it. You're alive, uninjured, my job is done here." He paused before stomping out. "Oh, and seeing as you're both bedridden now, you two should sort out your differences in a more civilized manner." With that, he drew back the curtains around the bed across from Zen, revealing a mound under the covers that started squirming under the afternoon sun streaming into the window.

"Mrr, wha...? SAGE! If I wasn't more awake I'd..."

"He's already gone."Zen said, cutting off Kara. "Who was that, anyway? In all of the rush that day it seems like we completely forgot about the introductions."

"That would be Jonathan Sage, team medic for the Alpha guard. 'Course, he is fully qualified as a doctor as well. Really helps when we have a problem off the battlefield, but he gets really stressed whenever he feels responsible for our well being." Kara smiled. "Sometimes its actually pretty funny, but other times... Well, you get the idea."

"I see. Heh, sort out our differences... Somehow I don't think that's necessary anymore."

"You got that right."

A moment of silence passed, with neither of them having anything to say.

After pondering for a while, Zen spoke up. "Thinking back, there's something a little odd about what you said to me back in the arena."

"You remember what I said? How touching."

"Yeah well, it wasn't like you were beating me around the head... Anyway, you said Everett was in his final years. Wouldn't you have gone off to those terrible relatives of his anyway?"

Kara scowled. "Because I was just a "dumb Keidran", no one thought to shoo me out of the room when they read his will. As it happened, I was moping in a corner when I heard this stuffy guy read: "Should I die of natural causes, I wish for my faithful slave Kara to be freed, and returned to Keidran territories. If, in the event that I die under suspicious circumstances, I trust..." Kara paused. "That was where some scrawled handwriting started the whole row over who got me. But you get the idea. If it wasn't for you, I might have been freed."

"I'm sorry..." Zen muttered.

"Actually, don't be." Kara replied. "I wouldn't be where I am right now if you hadn't killed him. You played a part in dumping me into a life of suffering, but at the same time, I do have to thank you in a way. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not about to apologize for what I did to you. You got what you deserved, no less. But no more, either."

Zen nodded in understanding. "Right. I see just where you're coming from now. So, thats it then? Not enemies, at least?"

Kara smiled slightly. "Not enemies."

Both of them lapsed back into silence once more. After a while, a series of clicks and whirrs drew Zen's attention to the contraptions at his bedside. A counter had ticked up from 86 to 88.

"Don't mind those things," Kara said. "They're just some runic medical machines that keep tabs on how well you're recovering. Automated diagnostic spells and all. That counter, I think, keeps track of how your blood supply is regenerating; once it shows 100, you're good to go."

"And now?" Zen asked, keeping a wary eye on the device, noting the faint shimmer of said diagnostic spell emanating from it.

"Now, you're only at 88, whatever that means. Take my advice, don't get up until it says your fully recovered, not unless you want to argue with Sage. And unless you want to get overwhelmed with a flood of medical terminology, you do NOT want to argue with Sage."

Zen sank back onto his pillow with a sigh. "So, how long is it going to take?"

"Don't ask me, I'm not the doctor." Kara said "A few hours, at least. If you're worried about being bored, have a look through the book Jason left you. Should help you get your bearings around here."

Turning to his bedside table, Zen saw a slim book, titled "The Citizen's Guide: An Aid for Newcomers" (A/N link coming soon!)

"Jason, huh? Is he the only nice guy here or something?" Zen asked.

"Just read the damn book. Can't have one of our newest elite troops asking about everything like some out of town yokel..."

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A few days earlier...

"Well, this sucks..." Maren Taverndatter stomped off a streetcar and sat down heavily on a bench, soon joined by her sister Karen and their read-headed companion, [REDACTED], who spoke up next. "I can't freakin believe it. We go through all the trouble of getting here, dragging not one, but TWO Keidran with us, then they get all the attention, and all of a sudden Raine runs off to her mother, and now here were are lost in the middle of a mask-forsaken zoo!"

With two fuming individuals on either side of her, even Karen's optimism was dampened, her extra ears drooping along with her mood. Brightening for a second, she piped up "Well, at least they gave us a room for the night at the arrival hall. I mean, at least we're all cleaned up after being on the run, and they gave us a map to a real inn..."

"Yeah, and then they kicked us out the next morning to make room for a bunch of mangy furballs." [REDACTED] spat. "You'd think they would have their priorities straight over here, but no..."

Maren turned to glare at him. "AND we're still stuck wearing the same stupid potato sacks that SOMEBODY bought us before we got wanted posters of us plastered all over the place."

"Aw crap, I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"No, you're not. And now you've gotten us lost, AND lost our map. How the heck are we going to find the Century Inn now?!?"

"I didn't loose it, it must have been one of those pickpocketing mutts on that, that crowded... whatever it was!" [REDACTED] shot back, failing to find the word for the streetcar in his frustration.

"Excuse me..." A small, child-like voice went completely unnoticed by the trio on the bench. The small figure fell silent, but soon tried again, speaking up louder and tugging on [REDACTED]'s sleeve.

Turning around, [REDACTED] was greeted with the sight of a small Keidran cub, dressed in a simple, purple shirt along with brown pants. "Whaddya want, furball?" he snapped.

The cub shrank back at [REDACTED]'s harsh tone, but still spoke up again. "If you're looking for the Century Inn, I can help take you there..."

"We. Don't. Need. Your. Help, fuzzbrains. If we wanted your help we would have asked for it." [REDACTED] reached over and cuffed the cub about his ears. "So shut up and learn your place, ya little creep!"

The cub was left standing there, completely stunned by the sudden hostility and the painful ringing in his ears. Tears welled up in his eyes as he started whimpering.

Maren turned to scold [REDACTED] for his actions as Karen rushed forward to try and console the little Keidran. "Now look what you did, what the hell was that for?" Maren snapped angrily.

"What, are you saying I should care about some scrappy cohort to the sickos who burned down our village?"

"Cohort?!? He's just a cub!"

"Like that makes a difference. Besides..."

An enraged shout cut the red-headed warrior off mid-sentence. "HEY!"

Another Keidran stomped his way down the street. Where the cub was still small and meek, the newcomer held himself defiant and tall. While the cub had a plain purple shirt, the older Keidran had a purple shirt with green stripes on the sleeves. "HEY YOU!" He shouted, raising his hand to point a clawed finger straight at [REDACTED]. "What the hell are you doing, messing with my little cousin Theta?"
Ice-cold science-fantasy space-ninja operative!

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