Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years

Last edited by on Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:30 pm; edited 1 time in total

Right...... It's that time now.
Time to post the collective fruits of three years of bear, working and writing through many sleepless nights, and days, to get to the point that it has reached now.

My first note before continuing is: To save the forum from exploding, I will post only segments of the story at a time, since it's over 150 pages, with minimum margins and small font, so I'll sparse the story out over the pages to follow. Make it easier on everyone's connections.

The second note: Withhold no critisism that might aid the story's progression, save for these:
1. I KNOW the kids are young, yet they talk with college-level vocabulary sometimes. That's something I'm going to have to fix as I work on it, so bear with it for now until I dumb it down.
2. If you treat this too realistically, odds are you won't like it.
3. Don't judge by the first bits, it might seem like 'lol kids fighting with snow', but I depart from that after time and get individual stories going, focusing more on character progression at times over battles being fought. However, there is a balance of those elements throughout, enough to keep the reader intersted.
4. The title is obvious of Blizzard copying, but it's not the final title, I just haven't been able to think of a better title. Bear with it plz
5. There are no chapters to be had, it's a continual story. I may add chapters later, but I find that they interupt with flow, and I want this as fluid a story as I can make it, so onwards it goes continually. I'll try to keep the segments that I post at times as between-happenstances as I can manage, but I can't make any guarentees.
6. If you don't like how reading here looks, ask, and I'll email you the properly indented word document. It will be a much cleaner read, I assure you.

Now...... With that done, I give you.... The first segment of my story, the little tiny bit that I did... so many years ago... To get the (snow)ball rolling...
So.... LET'S..... GET....... POSTING!!!!

"Good afternoon, Deccus. I knew I could trust you in coming here."

Deccus stood up. He has been sitting for awhile, so his legs were slightly stiff and he wobbled a little, but maintained his composure. He was addressing the General, after all.

"Yes, sir. I always keep my word. I agreed to be here, and here I am."

"Good. Then I have an assignment for you. I need you to command a small force and take over an enemy outpost on the outskirts of their territory. It's far enough from their headquarters that they probably won't retake it."

"How large is my force, sir?"

"It consists of five soldiers, including you."

"What? That's a nothing troop!"

"I assure you, they are very well trained in what they do. They're waiting for you at the Academy, ready to leave when you need. They're all in dorm room five. Go meet them, get to know them, and finish your assignment. One of the soldiers knows how to get to the target. Return here after you're done."

"But..."

"GO!"

Deccus left without another word of objection. When the General tells you to go, you go, no questions asked.

Deccus stepped out of the head building and blinked from the sudden change of light. It's always so dark in there. The General never showed his full face, for reasons nobody really knew why. The fresh coat of snow seemed very bright in the noon sun. Regardless of the weather, he headed for the Academy.

Deccus walked through the city of Vahal, a town surrounded by a thick, high wall. There were food stores, weapon shops, suburbs, almost everything you'd expect in a city.

If it weren't completely populated by children.

This didn't surprise Deccus in any way, for he was only a child of twelve years himself. There was no one over fourteen in the town. The wall around the city was composed of only densely packed snow around a wood foundation, since the engineers here didn't know how to mix concrete. It stood over 10 feet high, and a meter thick. Soldiers walked on top of the wall, armed with Snowthrowers. They were basic infantry, only ten years of age. Since Deccus was older, he was a bit more advanced than the standard unit. For one, Deccus had thicker armor. He also had a shield, which clearly marked him as a 'Shield Joe' unit. He wasn't an average Shield Joe, however. He had a much more advanced gun. Instead of holding a small hand-held Snowthrower, he had an S-buster, which enveloped his entire hand and had a com unit built right in. Usually com units were separate walkie-talkies, but not Deccus'. He didn’t use his gun speaker anymore, not since he upgraded his helmet to have a microphone and speaker unit in it. He made the gun himself, as with his entire outfit. No one had a second glance at Deccus. They were all busy, or they didn't care. Most soldiers made their own outfits, so no one criticized any one else's. Except for the Bunny Boy. Rumor was he was annoyed to the brink of insanity, and ran away from Vahal before he graduated from the Academy. Ah, the memories Deccus had at that place...

He arrived at his destination before he realized it. He entered and paused, looking around.

It was exactly as he remembered. From the fountain in the middle of the entry hall, from the four huge stairways leading to different destinations in the massive building.

Deccus took the stairwell that led to the dormitories. The amount of times he took these stairs...

He chuckled. He was only a child, yet he thought like an adult, thinking of past memories in such a way. He felt rather old, as well. Like a senior in a child’s body. A child shouldn't have to feel this way.

He found dorm room five rather quickly, since it used to be his friend Holly's room. Despite the two of them being sort-of rivals, they were good friends regardless the intense competition. Deccus opened the door and entered, the first steps to the beginning of change for him and everyone else.

Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sat Jun 02, 2007 7:14 pm

Cool. You posted a story!
I like the concepts here. It's particuarlly good for a first chapter, because you've already got a hook to draw the reader in. The fact that there's only children in the city makes me want to read the next bit, and find out what on earths going on.

Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sat Jun 02, 2007 11:58 pm

I dig your concept. My only criticizm would be the ammount of tangents. I understand the dilema perfectly. You've created a very interesting world, and you want to show it off--but if you throw it all down at once, then it becomes muddled and difficult to deal with. I don't know what I would take out. Maybe cut down the description of his outfit, and the bit about the bunny boy?

It's all great information, there just seems to be a bumpy flow here.

Just one man's opinion though. You're clearly as talented or moreso than I am.
_________________
"Bears have penises. They can stick it in butts."
~LS

Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:36 am

plz, this is just a mere FRACTION of the entire system that I gradually explain as time goes by. This is just the bare essentials. Haven't even brought up the Howlers yet.

Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:47 am

TEH HOWLERS U SAY?
_________________
"Bears have penises. They can stick it in butts."
~LS

Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:38 pm

So, instead of trying to fiddle with hard-to-read text formatting, I decided to go through and REALLY update my formatting specific to forum posts like this. [believe me when I say that later on, you WILL appreciate this venture]

So, in the action of maintaining interest, the next segment of the story!

In the room were four people, doing various tasks. Two people were playing cards on the table, one losing badly. Another person, whom Deccus recognized immediately as Holly herself, who was leaning against the wall watching the card game with low interest. The only other person in the room was sitting on the window sill, drawing something on a notepad.

"I never expected you to be the commander of this mission. At least you haven't changed since our school days."

Deccus turned to Holly, who had addressed him. "How haven't I changed?"

Holly was wearing tight armor, red with black trim. Deccus had never seen it before, yet it looked good on her. She didn't have a helmet on, so her pony-tailed brown hair hung down past her shoulders. She had a small backpack on, but Deccus didn't know what was in it.

She walked up to him and hit him on the chest with her knuckle, making his armor rattle. "You're late."

"Sorry if the General took longer than expected."

"That's the same excuse you used when you were late for class."

"Well, it worked then..."

"Hey! Lovebirds! Shut up!"

The soldier that was losing at cards had yelled loudly to stop the bickering. Lovebirds? Deccus thought.

The angry soldier was dressed in black armor, black boots, and a black helmet, which was hanging from a cloth strap on his waist. His head seemed slightly small for his body, and the most noticeable feature of it was the tousled and matted black hair. It all seemed to reflect his mood perfectly.

The silence was broken by the person that had been sitting on the windowsill. "Thank you, Kaeden. That will suffice."

Kaeden grunted and sat down.

"Hello, captain. I don't believe we introduced ourselves properly. I am Kleth." He stuck out his hand. "What's your name?"

Deccus shook Kleth's hand. The hand bore fingerless gloves, made of leather. Kleth wore a light coat and boots, with numerous tools hanging from his belt, and a full looking backpack filled with who knows what. "I'm Deccus, your commander for this mission."

Holly spoke up. "If you can even find your way there, that is."

"Don't read too much into what she says, Kleth." Deccus whispered to his companion.

"I've inferred that from the ten minutes that I've known her. You look more than adept at commanding our squad." he replied intelligently.

"Thanks. I don't seem to know the person behind you, though."

Kleth glanced behind him and looked back. "Oh, yes. That's Ted. He's rather quiet, so we don't know him at all well. Kaeden seems to know more of him, though."

"That's cuz he's my neighbor." Kaeden replied loudly. "I've known him since before the Academy."

Ted nodded a hello and started packing the cards. He had a navy-blue down filled coat and a toque on, with a face that clearly said he wasn't much a person for talking.

"I won’t pressure him." Deccus looked to the rest of the group and increased the intensity of his voice. "What are the details to the mission?"

"The fortress we're to surmount is poorly defended." Kleth said and laid his notebook on the table. It was a drawing of a small outpost, drawn in perspective. "If we use a divide and conquer tactic, we can conquer this obstacle with relative ease."

"Divide and conquer? From the looks of it, there are only three fighters in this group!" Deccus exclaimed.

"Well, yes. I'm a Systemator, so I do technical support. Receiving messages, sending and intercepting messages, repairing stuff, things like that. Kaeden is an Elite unit, with a bazooka-like Snowthrower, and such making him lethal on the battlefield. You, as a Shield Joe can defend and attack simultaneously, making you very capable of the assault. Holly is a Snow Fox unit, so she can attack rather deftly with her heavily modified Snowthrower."

"What's so modified about it?"

Deccus was then hit with a cloud of snow. He was partially buried in snow from Holly's Snowthrower. He came up sputtering, amidst the laughter of the others.

"Wha- ph- was that?"

"Instead of packing the snow into one projectile, like Kaeden's, it focuses the snow into a continuous stream, like a real flamethrower." Kleth described the weapon in Holly's arms, consisting of a thin gun connected to a pack on her back. Deccus got up and brushed the snow off of himself, while shooting angry looks at Holly, who only stood there, looking innocently at the roof.

"Don't we have a mission to do?" Kaeden said loudly.

"Right. We should go." Kleth started for the door, but Deccus grabbed his collar.

“It’s my decision when we should go.” He said.

“And can we?”

Deccus kept them on the line for a second, and then replied “Yeah, let’s go.” He went out the door, and everyone followed behind him.

The sun wasn’t as bright when he exited the Academy as it seemed when he left the General’s office. At least, it didn’t seem so.

The group approached the front gate of Vahal. From within a port inside of the thick wall a soldier asked for the password to exit. Deccus gave his master password, a single phrase that all Valiant classes such as he knew.

The first half hour of the trip was spent in silence. Kaeden broke the placid scene by asking when lunch was, but was silenced by a sandwich from Kleth.

It was a two hour hike to the mission target, but only the first quarter was quiet.

“You know what? We should talk, get to know each other better.” Kleth said while hopping to catch up. “Better knowledge of your comrades is proven to lead to better performance on the battlefield, you know.”

He was hushed by a grunt from Kaeden, but Holly came to his rescue. “You know, he’s right. We should talk about each other more. Deccus, tell everyone about yourself.”

Deccus hesitated. “What? Why me?”

“Because, you’re the leader. They always go first.”

“Fine.” He sighed and began to speak.

“I was raised in Alberta, Canada, in a town that you’ve never heard of before. I was fairly average. Good grades, a few friends, things like that. My parents heard about the winter-camp up here, and I was drafted for the Snowcraft force. They thought it would be a good experience for me. I met Holly at the Academy and we became friends, mostly because of spite. After I graduated when I was ten, and I fought on the field for two years, rising in the ranks up to Valiant status, due to my assistance in numerous missions. I was called to meet the General, and here I am. I’ve never seen Holly since graduation, so I was surprised to see her here.

“Now, how about you, Holly?”

She launched into her story immediately, not surprised by Deccus’ haste at all.

“I was born in a farming family in Colorado. I had eight brothers and no sisters, so it’s not a surprise that I don’t act that girl-ish. My parents wanted me to meet other girls my age, so they sent me here. I was already strong from farm work, so the training here was nothing. The only one that could compete with me in the physical department was Deccus, so we always competed for first. He beat me in the end, so that’s why he’s a Valiant and I’m not. Not that I’d care, but I’d like to beat him at something. I was told to talk to the General, and I offered to use my old dorm as a meeting room, you all came along, so now I’m hiking with some idiots.”

“Hey! I’m not at all unintelligent!” Kleth stormed.

“I said some, Kleth. Not all of you.”

“Oh. That’s good. Who’s next?”

No one jumped at the offer.

“Fine. I’ll go.” Kleth cleared his throat and spoke.

“I was actually born in the town of Vahal. Believe it or not, my parents were only ten when I was born.”

“WHAT!?” Everyone was completely caught off guard.

“Isn’t it impossible for someone so young to have kids?” Holly seemed genuinely worried.

“Of course not. The youngest couple in the world to have a child were eight years old, so my parents weren’t too special. If being raised in this climate doesn’t make a person resistant to cold, I don’t know what does. Of course, I was drafted at the Academy when I was seven. I never was good in the physical department, so I compensated by training my mind to the extreme. I graduated with flying colors in the academic courses, but barely passed in anything else. That made me automatically qualified to be a Systemator, so I participated in numerous battles repairing transports while being bombarded by enemy fire. I’ve had to defend myself with my wrench on more than one occasion.”

He patted the said tool strung to his belt. It looked to be a high-quality chrome tool. “I was asked to come on this mission, so I’m here being packboy for you folks.”

Kaeden let out a belch from his just finished sandwich.

“Why don’t you tell us about yourself, Kaeden? I’m sure it’ll be interesting.” Holly asked.

“Sure.” He wiped his mouth and spoke.

“I was born in Billings, Montana. That place had cliffs out to wazoo, so that’s probably why I’m so big now, climbing around all the time. Ted was living next door to me, and he was bugged quite a bit from bullies. I helped him out, and showed him a cave in the cliffs he could hide in. He didn’t always use it, though. He just spent all his time on that computer of his. Ted heard about this place from somewhere, and he decided to go. I knew someone had to look out for him, so here we are.”

Kleth nodded slowly. “Yes, I was right, it was interesting. I guess that explanation goes for both you and Ted, so he doesn’t have to say anything if he doesn’t want to.”

Ted looked at Kleth with such a look of thanks that it took him by surprise.

“Ah, come on.” Holly moved up to Ted and put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure Ted has something to say.”

He shook his head no, but Holly didn’t accept that.

“Don’t you want to say something?” She put her head beside his on his shoulder. He was panicking something fierce, but still shaking his head.

“Please?” She started to massage his shoulders.

Deccus couldn’t take it. “Holly, can I speak to you? Over there?”

She stopped immediately. “Kay.”

Deccus walked off course so they wouldn’t be in earshot with Kleth and the others. Holly followed.

“What’s up?”

“What are you doing!?” Deccus was mad.

She was unperturbed by this. “I told him before you came in that I would help him with girls.”

“Why are you doing that? You hardly know him!”

“C’mon. If I don’t help him, he’s going to spend the rest of his life alone. Look at his face. Picture him in twenty years, all alone, wishing he had spoken up, but never did, so he’s all alone and miserable. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if that happened, knowing I could’ve changed that. If he’s comfortable with me, I can introduce him to some my friends and maybe he’ll get better. He’s kinda cute, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Deccus was touched by this speech. He was only thinking of himself, not anyone else. He just got so envious.

“You know, if we don’t get back they’re gonna think something’s going on.”

Her voice snapped Deccus to attention. “Right. Wouldn’t want that to happen, huh? Ha, ha- ha…”

She looked at him suspiciously, but walked back to the others regardless.

“Sorry, Ted. If you don’t want to tell us, that’s okay.” Holly told him, rubbing his head.

Ted sighed and smiled, enjoying her hand on his head without fear of having to talk about himself. She continued rubbing him, regardless of not having to persuade him of anything. Even though he knew this didn’t mean anything, it still drove Deccus to the brink. Sensing this, Kleth started conversation again.

“Hey, we should see what our interests are. Maybe we can find some similarities between us.”

“Good idea, Kleth. Only this time, Holly goes first.” Deccus wasted no time in making her go first.

“What do I like? Let’s see. Umm…” Her brow was furrowed from mock thinking. “I’d say… Fighting.”

“Fighting?” Deccus hadn’t expected that, but it fit her. “Why fighting?”

“It gives off a feeling that you can’t really explain. You may have felt it, but not like I have. Knowing that when I get home, I could easily beat them all to the ground. The knowledge that I’m the strongest in my family, let alone a family of boys, just makes me feel great. That’s why I’m training as hard as I am. I want to be the strongest one in the Snowcraft force. I want to be a Valiant. I want to single-handedly defeat the Howlers. Then I can return home proud.”

It convinced everyone else, but Deccus was curious on whether that was her true want.

“Let’s see what Kaeden likes. I’m sure it will be most unexpected.” Kleth waved his arm at his large companion.

“Food! I like food!”

“Or… maybe it’s exactly what you expected. Ted?”

Of course, he said nothing.

“C’mon, kid. Get it over with.” Kaeden persuaded his smaller companion.

He still waved no.

Giving up, Kleth decided it was his turn. “What I really like is electronics. If I had the resources, I could make a digital targeting system for Snowthrowers, dramatically increasing the hit rate for units. I have it all drawn out, I just need to make it. But since there’s no metal here on the Island, I can’t construct anything like that.”

“Maybe when we get back to the General, maybe we can talk him into ordering some metal.” Deccus suggested.

Since there was no metal, the people had to get by on the next strongest thing, wood. The inside of the buildings had a foundation of wood, coated with a layer of snow. The armor that they wore was wood, specially made to fit them. There was plenty of trees on the Island, but since it was always winter, the trees couldn’t grow back, so more had to be imported from other countries.

“I think that covers everyone.” Kleth looked around.

“Except Deccus.” Holly pointed out.

Drat. She remembered. Deccus thought to himself.

“Well… Where to start…” He stalled. He had to make something up, since his real passion was not something he was willing to share. But instead of making something up, he remembered what he wanted to do when he first came here. “What I really like is cooking. I love to bake bread, grill steaks and make cookies. I first wanted to be a cook, but since I was so strong they made me a top-notch soldier. I’d rather be a cook than a fighter, any day.”

A silence followed this speech.

“Cooking?” Kaeden was in disbelief.

“You want to be a cook?” Kleth could hardly believe it.

"Well, you did work at the cafeteria back at the Academy." Holly wasn't completely sure that this was what he liked. She looked skeptical.

"I did, yeah.”

Deccus grew silent and looked off into the distance. He noticed a large, dark object on the horizon. “Hey, look. It's the fort."

Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:39 pm

It wasn't at all a big fort. Only two levels, and hardly bigger than a garage. A few soldiers patrolled on top of the wall, but that was all.

"Seems easy enough. At least we're not outnumbered."

"I have a plan. Deccus, you attack the front gate and try to distract them as much as you can. Kaeden, fire at them from a distance, assisting Deccus. Ted will be the medic if the need arises, and I will be here for support functions."

"Sounds good. Let's go!" Deccus yelled and ran towards the fort, firing away with his gun to get their attention. They saw him and countered his attack by launching a barrage of snow at him. He rolled, dodging them with ease. He aimed at one of them, but he was out of ammo. Pulling out his shield, Deccus blocked all attacks while loading his weapon, one handed. He specifically built it to be reloaded in a situation like this.

The roof soldiers had a good strategy. They each fired one blast, then the other one fired, then the next, and so on, so each had a few seconds to reload their weapon.

Finally done reloading, Deccus charged up his gun, adding more snow to the shot. Draining all of his ammo stores into one blast, he put his shield down and fired at them, a super dense blast heading straight for the head of one of the Howlers. He didn't have a helmet on, so he took the hit and fell out of sight behind the wall.

By now, reinforcements had come to their aid, so five people were firing at Deccus instead of three. Using the shield to its full potential, Deccus could charge his weapon from behind its cover, but it wasn't enough. One of the shooters was lobbing shots, hitting Deccus in the head.

"Hey! Kaeden! Where are you! You're supposed to give me support fire!"

"Sorry!" One of the shooters suddenly fell to the floor. "I'm workin' on it!"

Now they separated to two groups to counter both Deccus’ and Kaeden's firing. Kaeden had more power to each hit, but he couldn't charge it, like Deccus could. Plus, he couldn't refill his ammo stores as easily. Deccus made his gun himself, and designed it to be filled one handedly. Kaeden's had more power, so he could fire from greater distances.

The front gate opened a little and three foot soldiers rolled out, while more took to the roof.

Deccus fired a few shots at the foot soldiers, then fired again at the roof, switching between the two. More came out of the gate, and still more on the roof. He couldn't fire fast enough to keep the foot soldiers at bay long enough for Kaeden to knock them down.

His shield has never been tested quite like this. His main job was to distract them, and he was doing it well. All of their forces were focused on him and Kaeden. What was Kleth planning, having him sit here like this?

He didn't have time to think about it, due to the even dozen soldiers marching his way. His shield was large enough to cover his body when crouched down, but no good when they were three feet away.

Deccus turned on his walkie-talkie, which was built right into his gun. "Kaeden! Focus on the ground guys!"

"Sure thing!"

Eventually they came so close that they could fire right above the shield.

"Get off of me!"

With a burst of adrenaline, Deccus ran forward, shield first. They hadn't expected this, and didn't have time to dodge before being knocked to their feet, where Kaeden proceeded to bury them under a layer of snow.

Deccus’ speaker came to life. "Nice tactic. They weren't expecting that."

He turned on his mike and replied. "Thanks Kleth, but what are you planning here? I'm getting pounded here, and you're just sitting back and watching me."

"If you need it, ask for Ted to come."

Suddenly a cloud of snow erupted from the top of the fort, completely covering all the soldiers up there.

"Can't you guys do anything right?" Holly called from up above.

"I thought we were supposed to distract them, not finish them off." Deccus called back to her.

"And a fine job you did at that. They didn't even hear me climb the north wall."

"That's good. Now how about opening the door so we can come in?"

"Give me a second." She disappeared from view.

After a minute the front door opened, allowing access for the rest of the group to come in.

The inside was very well laid out. The second level was only an outrigger of floor a few feet down from the top of the wall. A few people were on the floor, buried from Holly's assault. There were a few rooms on the first floor, but were all very small.

"I'll call HQ to come and pick up these guys." Kleth kicked one unconscious opponent.

"Good idea. I'll see if we can find something we can use."

Deccus went to the dormitory room. The bunks were very close together, and had minimal blankets. Nothing was here except for a few trinkets that the soldiers had.

He stepped back outside and asked Kaeden if he found anything in the armory, but every weapon they had was being used against them. Holly had found nothing in the kitchen either.

"Well, guess we should report back to base. Let's go." Deccus waved his hand towards the door.

"Wait." Holly put her arm up. "Hear that?"

A muffled cry was heard somewhere to their left.

"Sounds like someone's gagged somewhere."

The sound got louder.

"Sounds like it's in the wall."

Deccus tapped a part of it. "Seems pretty solid to me."

"Not there." Holly rapped a section of wall with her knuckle. "Here."

She pushed and prodded, but couldn't find anything. "It sounds kinda hollow."

"Maybe try kicking it."

She kicked the wall. It did sound hollow.

Then the wall shook from a kick on the other side.

"Someone's in there, all right. Kaeden, pull the door down."

Kaeden strolled up to the wall, put his fingers around a loose section and pulled. The snow came loose, revealing a slab of wood separate from the wall.

"Keep pulling!"

With a grunt the wall gave way and led to a very small closet.

With a prisoner.

"What's he doing here?"

"Who'd know better than him? Let him out."

Kaeden helped him stand while Deccus and Holly untied his binds.

Lastly the gag around his mouth was undone.

"Finally. I thought no one would come and rescue me."

He wore minimal armor and had no boots whatsoever. Covering his eyes were a pair of ski goggles, tinted so his eyes weren't visible.

"Who’re you?" Kaeden asked the new arrival gruffly.

"My name is Wedge. I was a sniper for a scout squad, but we were ambushed. All my teammates were taken into separate bases, so we couldn't escape as a team. I was the most dangerous of us, so I was put in the most uncomfortable place possible."

"Maybe we should report back to boss soon, before they find out that this guy's gone." Holly suggested.

"I'd suggest it. I sent a message to HQ and they're waiting for us back at Vahal. If we hurry we can make it back before nightfall."

On the way back Wedge was barraged with questions.

"Where're you from?"

"I'm from Fairbanks, Alaska."

"You've come a long ways."

“Not really, if you think."

"How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"Can you tell us about yourself?"

He cleared his throat. "I was eight when I joined the Snowcraft force. I wasn't the best fighter in my class, but my accuracy with a blaster and my running speed made me ideal for being a sniper class. I fought in the main army for two years before being commissioned for a scout force. We worked for a nearly a full year before we discovered-"

"Hold it."

Everyone stopped.

"What is it Deccus?"

"See that up ahead?"

Everyone looked.

"I don't see anything."

"I can't see much, but I know something's up there."

"It's a Howler army. Roughly forty soldiers, all fighters. If we head that way and hide behind that boulder, we can avoid them." Wedge pointed sideways.

"Good eye."

"I have to have good eyes to be a good sniper. Let's hurry."

Everyone went in the direction Wedge pointed. The army marched past without noticing anything behind the rock, though it came close when Ted was about to sneeze, but Wedge plugged his nose to stop him. After a while, the army's backs receded down a hill and out of sight.

"What's an army like that doing out here?" Kaeden asked. "There's nothing in that direction besides where we were just at."

"That's probably where they were headed." Wedge suggested. "They may be going there to resupply the forces."

"But a tiny place like that? I don't get it. It doesn't even have a strategic location."

"I don't get it either. All I know is that the way they're going is the not the way for us to go."

And so they trudged on. Wedge did a good job of covering their tracks in case they came back.

For an hour they walked, until Vahal was in plain sight.

"Hm. The city seems to have grown since I was last here." Wedge prospected.

"How long has it been since you were captured?"

"About six months ago."

Silence.

"You've been in that hole in the wall for half a year?"

"Yeah. I got pretty stiff, but I made it."

By now they had reached the front gate. Deccus identified himself to the guards on top of the wall, who granted them passage.

They went through the city until they hit the Main office. They walked in and found that the General had been expecting them. The door opened and they all went in.

"Hello again, Deccus. I heard of your victory. Good job." the General said, his face hidden in shadows again.

"Thank you, sir. When we were there, we found this prisoner." Deccus waved his arm at Wedge.

"Yes, Kleth told me of him. You can supply him with weapons if you go to the armory. He will work for you until further notice."

"Yes, sir."

"Now then, your next assignment.

"There is a force of Howler elites going around, taking out our smaller forces. I want you to find them and capture them. They just took over Fort Prodigy, so you may be able to catch them if you move quickly."

“They what!?”

“They recently took Fort Prodigy.”

“But… There was an entire brigade there! What chance do we have against that kind of power?”

“You just took over a fortress that had almost as much defense as Prodigy. Do you have any objections?”

“No, sir…”

“Good. Then go.”

"Yes, sir."

Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:40 pm

The door behind them opened. They walked out, a sense of foreboding about them. Nevertheless, they bucked up and headed for the armory.

They entered. "Hey, Dagor. We got a new guy and he needs some stuff."

The stout boy turned to Deccus’ voice. "Oh, it's you. I've been wanting to talk to you."

"What about?"

"I just built a new type of shield. Since you're the best Shield Joe out there, I want you to try it out." He brought out a huge, four foot high shield from behind the counter. It angled in from the front, making a point, obviously meant to deflect projectiles better than a flat shield, like Deccus’.

"Tempting, but no thanks. My shield is fine."

"That tiny thing? That can't cover any of you."

"It's light, so I can move it quickly. Plus, it can cover all of me when I crouch. Maybe let Kleth use it. He could use some protection while he's working."

"Oh, no thank you. It looks much too heavy for me to use effectively."

"But we aren't here for the shield." Holly spoke up. "We're here to equip our newest member with some sniper equipment."

"Right. What are you, a medium?"

Wedge nodded.

"Give me a sec." Dagor stepped to the back of the shop, where more weapons were kept. He returned with a thin armored coat, some gloves, sniper style boots and a long, thin, rifle like snowthrower.

"Got a whole sniper outfit here for ya."

"Thanks." Wedge picked up his equipment and put them on.

"I'll pay for this. Here." Deccus handed Dagor a few thin pieces of cloth.

The Snowcraft Force used cloth instead of paper for currency since it lasted longer and held its color better than paper did. Plus it was harder to make counterfeits out of fabric, and cloth was better in extreme cold than paper. The currency you earned depended on what rank you were. Money that Privates earned was worth less than what Deccus earned, since he was a Valiant class and as such was among one of the most highly paid people on the island.

Dagor's eye's widened slightly. "That should more than cover the cost."

"Keep the change."

He grabbed it without hesitation.

"Let's go, troop." Deccus thumbed the door

Everyone stepped out of the armory, out onto the street and out of Vahal, then out of the gate and into the field once again.

"Which way, Kleth?"

He pointed to a direction to the east. "That way."

And so they marched.

"How many are in this Howler force?" Holly asked.

"About six." Kleth replied. "They're better equipped than us, more experienced and can work together as an army with expert ease."

"We're the same as they are. This'll be easy."

"But they're better equipped and more experienced than us. They are not to be taken lightly. They can take over entire fortresses."

Deccus laughed. "So can we."

"We took over a very small encampment, with minimal opposition. Fort Prodigy was a very well defended base, with plenty of personnel, and it was completely overtaken! We can't afford to underestimate these people..."

"Ok, Kleth. We get the picture. You can shut up now."

Kleth went to the back of the line and was silent the remainder of the trip.

Holly smacked Deccus on the arm. "That was a bit harsh on him. You should go and apologize."

"He's fine. After a good fight he'll be nice and happy again."

"If you say so. Still, you should go."

"I'll do what I damn well feel like."

She shrugged and fell back.

For the next hour they marched in silence. Kleth kept a stiff upper lip towards Deccus, and relayed messages to him through Holly.

"There they are." Wedge told the others and pointed somewhere south of them.

Deccus squinted but he saw them. Six of them, all in matching red armor.

"Let's get a little closer and do some reconnaissance. Maybe we can find a weakness." Deccus said and crouched behind a boulder.

"It's like what they say." Wedge said and also ducked behind the rock. "'Know thyself and know thy enemy, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles.'"

"I guess it will help to see what they're like." Holly said and crouched too.

Looking down, Deccus saw the enemy.

The first one he saw that stuck out most was a rather portly boy. His armor was very thick, and his weapon was a lethal railgun. His expression clearly said he'd rather be else where.

One other soldier was a small, skinny kid with minimal armor and weapons. He had a small hand snowthrower, but nothing else.

Beside him was a girl about Holly's size. She had long, blonde hair and an expression Deccus didn't want to see again. Her weapons were twin heavy handguns and her armor was reasonably thick, but not enough to seriously hinder movement.

A huge, muscle bound kid was next. His arms were huge, his body was huge, and his guns were huge. Twin cannon blasters, one in each hand, strapped on his arms, connected to an ammo pack on his back. He looked extremely bored.

The other one was a very strange unit. He was barely three feet tall, and his head was nearly as big as the rest of him. He looked to be like Kleth, a support unit, only he had more weapons.

The leader had a shield, very much like Deccus, only it was bigger. He also had a small hand blaster, like Deccus, only it was bigger as well.

The corpulent boy spoke first. "I'm hungry. When can we eat?"

"When you stop badgering me about it." The leader replied fiercely. "The more times we stop, the slower we go."

"Venra, at this rate we can't continue much further anyways." The midget said. "We've gone ten hours without rest or food. We can't go on like this. We're all getting edgy and irritable."

"Shut it, pipsqueak!" The girl yelled and hit his head with her fist.

The skinny one hurried up to the midget's aid. "You all right, Pix?"

He rubbed his head. "Yeah. I think so."

"If he doesn't start closing his trap, he's gonna get more than a thwack on the head."

"Now you should be nice to Pix. He does a lot of work that otherwise you'd be doing."

"Does it look like I give a damn?"

"You all better start shuttin up, or I'm gonna start shootin!" The twin cannoned soldier said, lifting his guns towards the rest of them, his eye twitching.

"Calm down, Allouette. You're gonna hurt yourself."

"I can't calm down! I haven't shot somethin fer hours! I can't take it anymore!"

He unloaded a few rounds of ammo on the boulder Deccus was behind of, yelling. The power of those blasters reverberated through the whole rock. Deccus could feel it through the rock and his shield on his back.

Allouette panted for a minute afterwards.

The leader spoke first. "Cool it, Allouette. You've killed people with those things. Don't add us to the list."

This hit Deccus to the core. Are they so merciless that they kill people?

"They... They killed the guards of Prodigy?" Holly whimpered.

"Who'd be sick enough to do something like that?" Wedge was disgusted.

"We gotta stop these guys. They're a menace to this island. Kaeden, you take on that big guy with the twin cannons. Holly, pick off who you can. Wedge, help Holly out. Ted and Kleth, do what you always do. I'll go after the leader. Ready? Go!"

Dashing shield first, Deccus slammed into the back of the leaders head, knocking him out cold.

"He pegged Venra! Get him!" The girl pulled out her guns and fired at Deccus, but the rounds bounced harmlessly off his shield.

"I'll get through that shield o' yours!" Allouette yelled and started to fire.

The first shot sent Deccus flying. He was more worried about the condition of his shield than his own shape, at least until he saw the rock his head was aimed for.

* * *

"Ow..."

Deccus lifted his head. Such pain... He let it fall down. It hurt too much to move. Breathing heavily, he grunted and got up.

"So he is alive."

"I thought he'd died."

"I'm here. Don't worry." Deccus said and started to open his eyes. "You're leader is tougher than he... Looks..."

Pix was staring him in the face.

"He looks all right."

"Lemme finish im off!"

"No, Allouette. Don't kill unnecessary people if we don't have to."

"Can it, shorty!" The girl punted him a few feet. "Let Allouette have his fun."

"Sweet!"

Reacting quickly, Deccus made a mad dash away from the madman's cannon guns. The shot's followed close to his heels, but he managed to avoid them all.

"Stop runnin so fast!"

Suddenly Deccus fell over something. He had stumbled over Pix's unconscious body.

As if in slow motion, Deccus could see the shell of frost headed for his head. He rolled in time, but was followed by another shot. Making a circular dash around them, he frantically searched for his gun and shield in the snow. Where were they? They had to be buried somewhere. If that was the case, then it was hopeless.

A small shot hit his arm. Both of them were firing at him. He saw the other enemies’ unconscious, faces in the snow. It was just the two of them against him.

Something smashed into Deccus’ stomach. It brought him to the ground, and his armor was destroyed.

"Got him!"

Another hit his arm. He didn't hear the projectile hit his arm, but the snap of bone was audible. His thoughts were on his arm, but soon switched to his leg, which were also hit. Then his other arm, then his chest.

"He survived five hits? What is he, a freak?" Allouette paused to reload.

"He's been trained to specialize in defense." Venra was back up. "His armor is better than ours, and his body adapted to taking hits. You just have to hit him in the right spot."

"Righto. One shot to th head, comin up!"

No... Where's Kaeden? Kleth? Ted?

"Don't move now. It'll only make ya hurt longer."

"Where's... My team...?" Deccus could only make out a few words.

"Oh, them. They're over there." Allouette nodded his head to a pile of people. "Good and dead. Yer all alone."

No... Not them...

"You'll be joinin them soon, though. Don't you worry."

"Not... Not them..."

"What, you gonna start cryin now? Take yer beatin like a man!"

"Not Holly!"

Despite all the pain, Deccus managed to get up and dash for Allouette, only to be knocked down again.

"Jus don learn, do ye? Take this!"

A shot to his head.

Hollllyyyy........

Honor and Virtue Joined : 31 Mar 2007 Posts : 4279

Ooh, nice!
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Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:20 pm

Is it to your likings so far? Anything you see that needs some revamping? I need to know that as well, since 80% of what's being posted here was written AGES AND AGES ago, and thus, is quite lackluster compared to what I'm capable of now.

Anything and all bad points that could be improved is vastly appreciated. I fully intend to publish this some day.

Honor and Virtue Joined : 31 Mar 2007 Posts : 4279

My main peeves are grammatical (the rock he was behind of).

This may be because I've been working all day, but I'm a little fuzzy on the society you've set up. But I get the basic gist, and I really like it.
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Please?

Did you honestly copy/enlarge this? Hahahahahaha

Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:50 pm

This is good to hear indeed!

And (never begin a sentence with a conjunction) yeah, my grammar was stinky then. Now it's just plain smelly!

Honor and Virtue Joined : 31 Mar 2007 Posts : 4279

If I ever end up as an editor like I want, I can say two things:

Everyone will hate the Grammar Goddess's wrath.

I'd publish this.
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Subject: Re: Snowcraft - My pride and joy of 3 years Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:49 pm

Good thing I have the Grammar Capitalist going for me, Lazlo. [amirite, Kas?]

And yes: I want and will publish this.

So yes.

Left the forum Age : 18 Joined : 28 May 2007 Posts : 639

Yes.

P.S. Snowcraft is full of god and win <3