Robert Meta

The Brink and Back (Poll)

The group are going on one last Wraith raid. What sort of location/group are they going to target?

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 197

I followed K'Kruhk down the nearly pristine hallway, then down the spiraling staircase. It was a bit of one heck of a walk, as the hole they ran around went down a considerable distance, but there were no railings anywhere, just a gap in the middle that went all the way down to the bottom. 

The thick layer of dust making the stairs just a bit more slippery didn't help.

When we reached the bottom of the massive OSHA violation, we stepped into a large arched hallway. Murals wer...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Seventy Four

It certainly seemed like some of what Sarah Pelham had said to Director Piggot had gotten through to the retired soldier, because while the PRT agents asked way too many questions, they were surprisingly happy to accept non answers. They asked things like how I knew Miss Militia was in danger and seemed to accept, or at least tolerate, my response of "I dunno, I just felt it."

Before starting anything, they moved me to a conference room for my statement, or maybe it was a debriefing. Ei...

The Brink and Back - Chapter Fifty - Sable and Dakota Interlude

Sable Arcturus Interlude

Sable had been trained from a very young age to handle just about any sort of business situation. Her family, while nowhere near as famous as some of the other dynasty families, was known enough that there was a certain expectancy attached to her name. Her generation, namely her siblings and cousins, were expected to rise up the ranks and add glory and power to the Arcturus name. They were expected to push the name to new heights, str...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Seventy Three

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the police to arrive at the rundown gas station. When they did, they quickly set up a perimeter before taking the criminals away. According to the officer who seemed to be assigned to us, due to the amount of drugs on location, they had every intention of sticking around and investigating the area. They quickly set up shop and began going over the gas station with a fine tooth comb, apparently looking for any link to other locations they could find.

T...

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 196

Together, Malua and I told our story. Malua focused on the journey of the padawans and Knight Amescoll on Nirn, including the arrival of the ocean dwellers, while I gave a brief intro to the origin of the Skyforged. I also gave a general explanation of what's been going on in the wider galaxy since they were stranded here. Most of our audience, especially the younger members, were captivated, obviously starved for news from the wider galaxy, though they did seem to know some of what was going...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage (Poll)

Alright, everyone! William has proven that things he can make are pretty potent, and now that he has access to some basic enchantments. There are going to be opportunities to help or use them in different circumstances, but there is also the question of whether he should sell them or not.

WARNING: In all honesty, this is more of a background rule than a story beat, as I do not have a specific moment designed around the poll at the moment. The opportunity may arise for characters to ask ...

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 195

The journey to Boden 3 did not take long, as the system it was located in resided inside the Inner Rim. That meant there were plenty of clear-cut travel lanes, which greatly cut down travel time. During the two-and-a-half-day trip, I passed the time by mostly enchanting piloting equipment to keep busy, though I did do a little sparring with Malua. She was actually pretty good with her saber, even if she hadn't had a functioning one for very long. Power was one of the first things they lost wh...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Seventy Two

We sat there for a second or five, basking in the awkwardness of having talked over each other like that. Then I snorted, and Olivia threw the crumpled wrapper of her burrito at me, though it went wide when the wind caught it. Rather than compete for whoever was going to go first, I gestured for her to talk. For a few seconds, I thought she might have missed it. Finally, she leaned forward and uncrossed her arms, seeming ready to talk.

"I'm still not happy about the whole secret watcher...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Seventy One

It took some time for me to calm down, a mixture of frustration and disgust giving me a sort of nervous, manic energy that seemed to rattle around in my bones, fighting to explode out of me. I cried, I cursed, I shouted at the trees and to the sky, but both Kali and Alya stayed close, keeping me from doing anything stupid until I finally worked through it. I ended up making my way to my room, barely taking the time to finish getting out of my costume before collapsing into my bed. 

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 194

Yoda was at the same meditation park as he had been before we left, which was unsurprising considering it was the only one that was even close to being complete. The Uneti tree at its heart was impossible to miss, but the rows and beds filled with plants made the whole thing look like a flower garden park. I had to assume that the plants were transplanted from the forests around us because they were already grown and flourishing. It looked substantially more luscious and grown than it had jus...

New Year's Sickness!

Hello! I just wanted to let everyone know that I have become the latest victim of whatever the heck is going around ATM. It's hit me pretty hard, and I'm starting to lose ground on my writing schedule. I apologize immensely, and I feel terrible for doing this right after having just taken a break, but the only thing I hate more than missing an update is posting subpar work.

For right now, I am postponing this coming week's installment of The Brink and Back. The chapter isn't ready, and...

Rise of the Battlemage (Poll)

Hello everyone! This is one of those "testing the waters" type polls, where I see how you guys feel about something rather than getting you guys to make a concrete choice. I have been considering giving Battlemage a time skip, both to let things settle, and to skip over some of the boring logistical stuff. The time skip could be anywhere from days to weeks to even months. What do you guys think?

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 193

With negotiation finally over, Princess Leia invited us to a closing session of sorts, which basically amounted to sharing drinks in a much smaller room, more private setting. General Dodanna and Rieekan, as well as Commander Vitali, all departed to begin preparations for their newly purchased goods, as well as to gather our twenty-seven million credits. Once we had received our payment and we finished offloading what we had negotiated to keep, both the Munificent and the Diamond class ships ...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Seventy

The police took a good ten minutes to finally arrive, during which we managed to get all of the ABB members up to the top, all but throwing them out of the warehouse. It was hard not to get a little rough with them. They deserved it, after all, for just being involved with this monstrous undertaking. I ended up leaving most of the work to my golems as I quickly found myself too tempted to enact my own justice.

When the police arrived, most of the team returned to the surface to watch fo...

The Brink and Back - Chapter Forty Nine

I woke up the next morning to my alarm blaring. I was bleary-eyed and very much not ready for the day, which was exactly what I got for staying up so late in the first place. I quickly made myself some coffee and enjoyed the first cup while still lying in bed, my back against the headrest. It wasn't until I had poured my second cup that I finally felt mentally prepared to leave my trailer.

I headed to the Shack, to the small kitchen we had tucked into the corner. Jackie wasn't in town, ...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Sixty Nine

After a quiet and rather somber lunch, in which most of us just nibbled on something light to keep us going and not much more, we returned to the basement. We were finished planning as much as we could with what information Alya had provided. The only remaining decision to make was when we would engage in our raid.

"I can't vote for anything beyond as soon as possible," I admitted with a deep frown, almost a scowl. "We've already left the victims in that hell overnight. We need to act n...

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 192

We were quickly escorted back to the Talos Chariot, all of us piling inside and heading up to the lounge. I resisted the urge to loosen my uniform to sit casually, as it would only make getting back into "character" that much harder. When I sat down on the lounge couch, I let out a long sigh, running my hand through my hair.

"So," I said as everyone found a seat or leaned against something. " Anyone have any thoughts?"

"You went a bit deeper than planned when compensating...

The Brink and Back (Poll)

It's interlude time! Within one or a few chapters, I will be writing an interlude for The Brink and Back, and it's up to you guys to pick who it will be focused on. Slight twist: since The Brink and Back has longer chapters, I will be cutting it in half and writing from two perspectives, chosen by who wins first and second!

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 191

Despite me drawing a clear-cut line in the sand, stating that the negotiations for the Lucrehulk and the Dreadnought were over, the Rebel Alliance was not going to drop it. They were not ready to accept losing the Lucrehulk or the Dreadnought, at least not that easily. For a moment, listening to Commander Vitali again attempt to convince me it was better off with the Rebellion, I contemplated simply standing and leaving. Showing that I was willing to leave the table might be enough to take my...

Holiday Break!

Hello everyone! So I will be taking the 25th to the 31st of December off to visit family and enjoy the holidays. I meant to add this in as a note to random posts to make sure everyone saw it, but you can see how that went.

I hope everyone is enjoying their December and have a happy holidays!

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Sixty Eight

I don't know why I expected to be able to sleep well, not with what I now knew and had walked away from. Every time I closed my eyes, my mind couldn't help but flick over to a litany of imagined horrors and suffering. As a result, I spent the night tossing and turning, eventually giving up and spending the rest of the night working on magic.

It was at least something that could distract my mind and keep me from just staring at the ceiling, questioning myself over and over.

Now tha...

The Brink and Back - Chapter Forty Eight

Once we settled into work, the day turned into a blur. I was dead set on finishing the teleportation tech as soon as possible. As fantastic as the opportunity was, I had now been spending almost three days on it and I needed to get past it before it started to seriously cut into other fields. There was a lot of tech I wanted from Fallout that I wanted, and only a week and three days remaining to work with it. With biotech and medicine looking like it would be a big chunk of time...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Sixty Seven

It didn't take long for us to finish our meal since we were both hungry from a day of hard work and patrolling. Once we finished, I brought Crow back to the community so she could start doing her own investigations before finally teleporting back home. It wasn't absolutely necessary, but I wanted to let Kali know what was going on and grab Troy.

I was prepared to spend all night patrolling the city, letting Alya peek and search every nook and hidey-hole she could find in order to locate...

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 190

When our fleet landed around the mountain that made up Alpha Base, Ahsoka and I left the Starcaller, making our way to the Chariot while Luke went to head inside the base. 

"How is everyone doing?" I asked, stepping into my ship, where Tatnia was waiting for us. "Everyone ready for this?" 

"Julus, Nal, and Vaz are just getting their armor on," She responded, absentmindedly touching her own uniform. "Got a message from Corvak saying his men will be ready...

Rise of the Battlemage (Poll)

With Yoda now staying on Nirn for the rest of his days, he will spend some time settling in. Eventually, he still wishes to be useful. He will pass on his knowledge where he can, but he might also have specific things he can help with.

Keep in mind that some of these might happen anyway, it's just what he is going to focus on. Kinda like an auto critical success cause he is a hero character.

Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 189

Despite Amescoll's assertion that his home was unnecessarily large, it was by no means a mansion. It was a decent-sized home, and save for the rough exterior and differing materials, wouldn't have been too out of place in suburban US. The interior was on the simple side, with very little decoration, either because the home was so new or because, as a Jedil, Amescoll preferred a simpler aesthetic. Either way, there was enough room for all of us to pile into his dining room and sit around his t...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Sixty Six

Between my hanging threat and the approaching promise of violence from my golems, the majority of the Merchants surrendered almost immediately. A few tried to make a run for it, only for Crow to phase out of the shadows and take them down pretty quickly, smacking them around with her crowbar.

The gangers that didn't run or surrender immediately focused their ire on me, firing whatever guns they had. It was only after I stood there, bullets slapping against my overcoat's armor and deform...

The Brink and Back - Chapter Forty Seven

It didn't take long for the rest of the team to show up at the Shack. Everyone was wearing their game faces, armored and ready. Once we were all gathered, Kaytlyn, who had definitely been spearheading this revenge or justice effort to drive the Wraiths out of the Night City area, got everyone's attention. 

"Since our fearless leader has been busy making the space-time continuum cry, I took over the majority of the planning for this raid," She explained, most of us nodding while I f...

Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Sixty Five

Crow and I continued our patrol for another two hours before I finally had to go fulfill my other duties. We passed the patrol baton on to Manpower and Laserdream while Crow found a nice tall building from which to keep watch. From there, she could see and hear a lot of what was happening in the area, including keeping an eye on our teammates. Both Manpower and Laserdream were warned that we felt something was happening, most likely soon, and they both agreed to signal for help from Crow if t...