Being as it is I'm kinda out of inspiration at the moment, I've devided to post what bits of my story I have so far for you to read. Enjoy!

PS. I apologize to Skyknight and Twister for the small stolen parts.. ;)

C&C is wanted! 


Project Firehawke X     ---    Prelude Chapter ZERO

The sun streaming through the sun's windows illuminated the room. An extremely cluttered room, sounds of light snoring eminated from the bed. Next to the bed, several dozen empty Mountain Dew cans testified to the caffeine intake of the young man on the bed.  Upon a desk next to the bed, a computer sat, silently contemplating a screensaver with its cover off. Cables of every sort were attached to the computer -- a sure sign the man in question was into computers heavily. Across the floor, a sea of cables, cords, books, clothes, and papers floated, a mute testiment to the man's bachelor tendencies.

With an audible ring, the old-fashioned steel clock on the computer began to protest the fact that John was still sleeping.

John was average, really, teetering on the brink between manhood and teenager. He was 18 years old, with black hair, and hazel eyes. Standing about 5'6, he seemed to have an aura of power around him whever he stood at a terminal-- he was at home with any kind of PC.

The clock's immensely annoying ringing continued for about 15 seconds before John even twitched a foot. The ringing didn't stop, and John blearily opened a bloodshot eye. One glance at the clock explained it all, and an instant later the clock was introduced to Mr. Wall one more time, denting it yet again. The ringing stopped.

John reached to the floor, searching for an unopened Mountain Dew.. "Grargh.. There HAS to be one here somewhere!", he muttered aloud, "Grarrrrgh.."

Finding none, the morning seemed a lot worse than it was-- which was considerably bad, mind you! Crawling to his feet, he glanced at the 'screensaver' on his PC.. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo ran on Demo Mode on the PC. <Hmm.. Ryu VS Sagat.. A good battle.. I bet my odds on Ryu.>

He didn't stay to watch the outcome of the battle-- instead, he exited his room (tripping over only 30 or 40 items along the way), and headed to the kitchen. Opening the refridgerator didn't reveal any Dew in the house, much to John's chagrin. <Ohno! We're out of 'Spew! AARGH!!! I can't start my morning without my 'Spew!>

A note on the table read, "Found this card at a yard sale yesterday.. looks to be PC compatible.. try it in your PC, it might be interesting." and beside it sat a small halfcard.

<Hmm.. I wonder what it is.. no external ports on it..>

Careful examination of the card showed it to have a processor of some sort on it,
and several other chips, but oddly enough none of the chips were recognizable.

<I guess the only way to check out the card is to actually put it into my machine and
see.. I hope it doesn't fry my PC..>

He carried the card over to his PC, and flipped the BigRedSwitch(TM). He glanced
warily around.. "What, no sirens? No flashing red lights?"

Finding an empty slot among all the cables running out of every imaginable orifice
was a difficult-- no, NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE-- task. His skill prevailed against the cable
beasts and he was able to install the card into an open slot. John proceeded to
power the machine up.

The screen blinked to life and filled with jumbled ascii characters, then the
overwhelming smell of burnt electronics filled the air. Panicking, John grabbed the
card with one hand and flipped the power switch with the other. His vision filled to
white, an immense explosion rocking the room, then there was nothing...

His mind burst into white flame, consciousness falling to pain. He screamed, but
nothing came out of his lungs-- he couldn't see it, but every cell in his body was
losing cohesion. As his last thoughts themselves lost cohesion, the world had
blacked out to his remaining senses. 

The Void between universes is not quite the empty nothingness it is
believed to be. Forces beyond most beings contend here for supremacy
over the others. Some are mindless, some are not, and some are not even
able to be described on those terms.

Powers from some planes spill out here and are tapped by other
universes. The reality-warping forces changing the "normal" ways of those
places. Natural or not, in whichever universe, the power behind the throne
is located here. 

Two such forces, well known to mankind, can be found in the Void. The
spillage from their planes can be found relatively nearby each other
and travellers going from universe to universe witness their mighty
clash. For these forces, siblings of a sort if you will, are both attracted
and repelled by the other.

They collide in an area where they meet and separate, for natural
laws are absent in one yet entrenched in the other. The energies stay in that
spot before going to other universes where they are tapped or dissipated.
Many beings have tried to control this spot when they discovered it, but in
vain. When either of the forces can control the controllers it becomes
a hopeless task. Experienced races merely leave this spot alone, knowing
what it is and gaze in awe over the power involved.

Only one man has ever actually tried to enter this area. The powerful
energies there are random and capricious. Only the insane would attempt such a
feat. Or perhaps...someone with no choice at all.... The story of that man, originally Darren Steffler, who became Twister, is related in the story Twisted Path.

John's energy form entered the Void, the rip closing behind him. His consciousness
was still lost, as he had no physical mind. Passing by the famed Event, a few swirls of magic and psionics mingled with him then went on to their desinations.

A new rip opened in front of him, and he was pulled in. Then, nothing.

The dull sound of acid rain splashing among dying buildings filled the air, then a crash of thunder filled John's ears as his consciousness began to revive. <Odd.. it wasn't raining when I got up this morning..>

His eyes opened to a dark blur. Slowly, everything focused among his vision. A dead metropolis, crumbling, lied all around him. Building after building, shattered, crumbling, lie in silent testimony to the death of this city. The tallest building caught John's eye. He peered at it through the rain. The faint markings on the building were burned into his mind forever... Genom... This was MegaTokyo! How had he gotten into an anime? Or... could this be real? The MegaTokyo John knew was a thriving world, protected by the Knight Sabers and AD Police. Why was this so... dead?

The whole scene lying before his eyes was overwhelming. He shivered, the eerie desolation making him nervous. He looked down, rubbing his arms. <It's cold.. What happened here?>

He noticed a small computer expension card sitting by his foot. The card jolted his memory and he remembered. <The explosion.. could I really be in MegaTokyo?>

John reached down and picked up the card. It was still intact and completely undamaged. He looked quickly around for the closest shelter from the rain. About 10 meters away, a building sat, fairly intact. His mind was set.

He sprinted to the building and forced the metal door open. The musty smell of an ancient tomb rushed to his nostrils, causing him to wince slightly. Bile rose into his throat, fear threatening to overtake him. He swallowed hard and walked inside.

John's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the building. The hall was in perfect condition-- no spiderwebs covered the walls. <That's odd.. if there was any life, you'd see some sign.. but this seems completely devoid of life!>

He cautiously walked through the hallway, the surrounding areas growing darker. He reached an intersection. To the right, a faint glow.. Forward, utter darkness. John thought a moment and headed right. Entering a small room, the glint of a terminal caught his eye. A terminal? Still running? He frowned and walked to the terminal. A message warning of low reserve power. Of course! The PC was running off a battery backup of some kind. In front of the terminal, a lone chair sat. He sat at the terminal and pressed the spacebar.

The terminal came to life, displaying a still logged-in account. John studied all the login information. Sylia Stingray was the last user.. and she'd been logged in for... 30 years. <My god... The city has been dead for 30 years...>

John shivered. Spending several hours on the terminal, he was able to at last piece together the final hours of MegaTokyo. The Knight Sabers had been killed, except for Sylia, on a suicide mission. She was wounded badly enough that she'd never be able to fight again. Several years passed, the boomer rampages becoming more and more violent. They turned against and destroyed Genom utterly. All of humanity was helpless to stop the advance. In one final battle, all life on the planet was destroyed, but all of the boomers were destroyed as well.. a dead planet remaining.

[The part upcoming sucks, IMHO-- needs severe work..]

John also discovered files describing hardsuit design. A lot of the files were wrecked with age, but enough was readable to get a basic theory of design.

Leaving the terminal, he walked back to the intersection and down the dark corridor. His footsteps echoed into his mind, the death march of an entire population weighting his soul. At the end of the corridor, another metal security door lay, shattered. He stepped over the remains of the door and into the room beyond.

Glass cylinders, hardsuits inside, filled the room. Most of the hardsuits were severely damaged, to the point of uselessness. He studied each of the suits, an idea beginning to take shape. He could take parts from some of the hardsuits here and put together a working suit using the designs on the computer. A determined smile lit John's face for the first time in this world. 


...more to come...




John "Firehawke" Peasley                     /|
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