My Village is Number One

[Brian]

When Tim concentrates, where's a hollow-sounding "whuff" of air, and the ground immediately before him sinks, as though under the weight of the APC's treads.  But no APC appears, and when Tim stops concentrating, the ground returns to normal.

[Halbarad]

Tim shakes his head a bit. "Figures. Although I wonder WHY it didn't work..." he muses.

"Anyway, that's about the extent of what I can do for now. It seems to be mostly things I've made before in the Dream, as far as what I can make in the real world. Next time I Dream I'm going to try some experiments, see what I can make and hopefully figure out how it works a bit more."

[Dracos]

"Hum, if you could do that in a dream it would be pretty nice, especially if we end up in MiddleEarth the Thirty Second Reference again.  What about you rat?  Or just surviving by luck?"

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"I hurt things and break people with the power of my FISTS!" says Tom, smacking Drac upside the head.

"Well, uh, yeah. Luck. That's the ticket."

[Dracos]

Dracos sways out of the way.  "Rat with kung fu annoyance kick attacK?  Maybe you'll be lucky and come out of this without being scarred beyond reckoning."

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"Nah. Tom with HASSAN-CHOP!"

Tom recalibrates his attack to strike Drac, changing his overhead smack to the head into... an overhead smack to the head a few inches further away.

[Dracos]

"Got to be faster than that." Dracos teased, slipping back with a few quick steps out of range.  "Anyhow, how'd you get tied in again?  I know Hal had gunsmen after him."

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"It is a long story," intones Tom. "One of pain and woe... well, no.

I dunno exactly how, anymore. I was doing deliveries for some lawyer at the time. And lo and behold, I find a bomb in the storeroom. Then the Bigfire guys show up and defuse the bomb, get rid of it, and give me their number 'in case I get into trouble'.

Whaddya know, very next day, I get accused of stealing my own credit card, and after a, erm, scuffle, I valiantly escape from the perils of the South Mall. So I calls Bigfire, and they picks me up.

And that, as they say, is that."

[Brian]

Sterling has at this point snuck up behind Tom, and hops, bringing his palms down on Tom's shoulders.  "FBI!" he yells.  "Boo!"

[Carthrat]

Tom grabs one of Sterlings arms, turns around, and twists it behind his back.

"Oh yeah! There were some FBI guys, which Bigfire handled with their usual tact and subtlety," comments Tom. "Sterling managed to look worse than he usually does at the time, y'know. I think he's into pain."

[Brian]

Sterling nods, before yanking his arm free of Tom's hold.  "It's not that I enjoy it as much as I don't really feel it anymore," Sterling says indifferently.  "I can tell it hurts, but pain is pretty much to promote survival.  We learn not to do things that cause pain," he continues, drawing his combat knife from his belt, and holding it point down over the palm of his left hand.  He drives the knife into his palm, but not all the way to the barbed edges along the back.  A dozen drops of blood fall to the ground, as Sterling cleans his knife on the edge of his shirt, then wipes his hand also.  "But when the impact of an injury is dramatically less severe, the point of worrying about it."

Sterling then shrugs.  "That's why you could grab me easy, probably even if I were fighting you.  I don't really care what my enemies do to me, as long as they don't capture me or hurt my friends."

He nods at Dracos, then.  "That thing in Oz that Tom was talking about was really just another fight.  It's kind of funny, but after a few months, even the adrenaline can't keep them from blurring together when you remember them.  Mostly I came by here," he says, extending one hand, "to say thanks for letting us crash here.  The whole idea of having a place that's remotely 'safe' is something I'd really given up on."

[Dracos]

"Heh, I can hear that." Dracos shook his hand.  "It's nice to be able to sleep and say "Hey, this place won't be swarming with killers in the morning."

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"I'll say that it's nice to be able to keep my feet on the ground," comments Tom. "The last five days have been pretty damn hectic. Still, that's nothing compared to you, I guess.. but hey, being new to this stuff can suck."

[Dracos]

Dracos shrugged.  "Yeah, anyhow, I'm going to go get a bit warmed up."

Hey bjorn, there any training area and equipment around here?  Want to check out how things have changed with the ward and such.

Dracos

[Bjorn]

Philip, how long have you been in this village?