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Aries intro

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Patrick Goodman

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« on: <05-14-11/2325:03> »
This is a piece of intro fiction that I submitted for an upcoming book that didn't make the cut (mostly because they had some cooler ideas that tied more closely to what the book became, whereas this was kind of shooting in the dark).

It introduces Aries, a character I'm trying to work into the existing canon. Long-time NPC of mine, and a helluva lot of fun to play. I hope to be able to do more with him later, so this might be all you see of him for a while unless there's some interest.

Hope you enjoy it.
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Patrick Goodman

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« Reply #1 on: <05-14-11/2335:31> »
He really didn’t have time for this shit.

Aries stood on the edge of the roof, cursing the events that had brought him here. It was three in the morning, and the bright streetlights did nothing to alleviate the darkness fifteen stories up. The lightly-tinted glasses he wore provided both thermographic and low-light views of his situation, however, and whichever view he chose, things looked bad.

A kilometer to the south was a seemingly nondescript Mercury Comet, his means of escape from the Sons of the Alamo offices he was fleeing. Unfortunately, it was also roughly 50 meters straight down. To the northeast, a pair of terrorists was trying to break down the door he’d jammed a few moments ago. Another half-dozen or so were slowly making their way up the fire escape he’d hoped to use to get away. He was trapped.

A display in the upper-right corner of his glasses told him that the explosives he’d planted in the SOA offices three stories beneath him would detonate in seventeen seconds.

He reached into the cargo pocket on his right leg and pulled out a grapple gun. He hastily fastened the heavy-duty strap around his left wrist, and then stole another look over the edge. The bad guys were still coming, acting as though they hadn’t been seen.

“Really, Derrick? This is your backup plan?” he asked himself. “Really?

He drew his pistol as the countdown reached ten seconds. Behind him, the door collapsed and the terrorists rushed ahead, guns blazing.

00:00:08

Twisting towards the more immediate threat, he fired twice to give them something to think about. He then pointed the weapon down the fire escape and repeated the exercise.

00:00:05

“Oh, Derrick, what the hell are you doing?” he asked as he leaped off the roof and plunged earthward, much to the surprise of the terrorists. Twisting in the air, he aimed the grappler at the wall and fired.

00:00:04

He felt more than heard the grappling spike make contact with the wall, and prayed it had enough purchase to avoid being yanked out by sudden deceleration. He activated the grapple gun’s brake, stopping his fall and nearly dislocating his shoulder in the process.

00:00:03

He twisted and slammed back-first into the wall. The impact knocked his pistol out of his hand; he watched it tumble into the blackness.

00:00:02

One of the thugs regained his composure and began shooting down at him as he reactivated the grappler’s winch and began lowering himself in a much more controlled manner.

00:00:01

Looking up, Aries reached up with his right hand to take some of the strain off his throbbing left shoulder.

00:00:00

The building shook as the charges detonated above him, creating a shower of debris. The terrorists on the fire escape had, with a little luck, been caught in the blast. He didn’t have time to worry about them, though. As quickly as the grappler would let him, he lowered himself in the alley, ditched the grappler, and wandered out to mingle with the late-night crowd as emergency service vehicles finally responded.

EDIT: Just tweaked format a little bit, for aesthetic reasons.
« Last Edit: <05-16-11/1208:58> by Patrick Goodman »
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Crimsondude

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« Reply #2 on: <05-15-11/1932:18> »
Excellent piece. It's a shame that didn't make it in, but I hope that we'll get to see something like that somewhere down the line.

Xzylvador

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« Reply #3 on: <05-17-11/0736:09> »
Thanks for an entertaining read. First thing I do every new book is skipping to this kind of stories at the start of the chapters.

Patrick Goodman

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« Reply #4 on: <05-17-11/1201:39> »
Glad you guys like it. Derrick's a lot of fun to write; I hope to get the opportunity to do more with him in an official capacity in the not-too-distant future.
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Barskor

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« Reply #5 on: <10-02-11/2132:36> »
Nice intro i would keep reading even throught a dead chapter to get more like that!

Patrick Goodman

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« Reply #6 on: <10-05-11/1010:54> »
I hope to be able to grant your wish in the not-too-distant future. Negotiations are ongoing.
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