Breaker
04-03-08, 08:24 PM
Continued from Washed Away. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=13520) PM/IM if you think you think you could fit well into the storyline. Otherwise, solo.
"Hopeless."
In one short week, Breaker's boundless determination had dissolved into that lonely word. Seven days of scouring the streets of Radasanth, and he had learned nothing. No matter where he looked, who he bribed, how he asked or what he threatened to do, it always led to a dead end.
Seven days since he had staggered, more dead than alive, away from the flooded warehouse district that nearly washed him away. Since then the streets had drained, but the soldier's mind remained drowned in a boiling vat of unanswered questions. Where was Intelligence America hiding their base of operations on Althanas? How much influence had they gained over the governments? What did they intend to take from this magical world? He couldn't focus long enough to work out a decent hypothesis. Not with Genny out there. The corporation had Genvieve Aneed in their clutches, and Josh's head would not stop spinning until he broke her free. But he had exhausted all his resources looking for the slightest sign of Genny or Intelligence America. He would have readily killed for a name, an address, a landmark. A dropped pen could have pointed him in the right direction. It was as though the flood waters had pulled all evidence of the evil corporation into the sewers with it.
Circumstance had given him nothing, and so Breaker buried his head and set to the task of making nothing work for him. What little he knew could have been printed on the front side of an index card, but it would have to be enough. No sense wasting time wishing for divine intervention. With a little sweat and blood he could make something from nothing any day.
"I know that they've brought a small army here through the portal. They can't be hiding the portal in the city though, it would be too dangerous. Still, they must have a few buildings in Radasanth at their disposal. Training centers, offices and the like. All I need to do is find one of those, and it will lead me to the rest. Eventually, that will lead me to Genny. I know they must be looking for me as hard as I'm looking for them. But no way in hell could they keep the same kind of low profile I do. You can't hide hundreds of men in back alleys and cheap hotels. That means they're looking through appropriate official channels, which means they're not looking properly. I guess I could walk around in broad daylight waving my arms, but the way they've got their heads crammed up their asses it would still take days. I've left Genny with them for a week already, and as far as I'm concerned every hour counts. So I'm going to have to make sure they can't miss me. I need to make a big impact, and fast."
Breaker sat in a shadowy back alley surrounded by piles of used grain sacks. The smell wasn't half bad, as far as back alleys went. Much better than sitting behind a bar in a puddle of someone else's bodily fluids. The back alley he chose that night had special significance. It connected with a large main street that, less than twenty yards from his sprawled out legs, became the city's north side square. A wealthy neighbourhood. Wealthy enough that patrols of the City Guard circulated on a regular basis. That was good. If Intelligence America had decided to conduct its business through official channels, they would be watching the law offices and prisons closely, preying on the off chance he got arrested. At least, he hoped they were. It would be stupid of them to think he'd get arrested by accident, but Intelligence America had done stupid things before.
Being a successful warrior at the Dajas Pagoda had made Josh something of a folk hero throughout Radasanth. As he inhaled the smell of grain sacks, he prepared to kiss that hero status goodbye. More and more, the idea appealed to him.
"This hero is about to get a black mark on his record."
Breaker's face resembled a skull as he grinned to himself in the pale moonlight. Petty crimes would not suffice; he had to do something every low life in Radasanth would hear about. Something Intelligence America would have to have their heads buried in the sand to miss. And something that the city guard couldn't fail to notice.
Radasanth would never forget the day Joshua Cronen decided to turn criminal.
"Hopeless."
In one short week, Breaker's boundless determination had dissolved into that lonely word. Seven days of scouring the streets of Radasanth, and he had learned nothing. No matter where he looked, who he bribed, how he asked or what he threatened to do, it always led to a dead end.
Seven days since he had staggered, more dead than alive, away from the flooded warehouse district that nearly washed him away. Since then the streets had drained, but the soldier's mind remained drowned in a boiling vat of unanswered questions. Where was Intelligence America hiding their base of operations on Althanas? How much influence had they gained over the governments? What did they intend to take from this magical world? He couldn't focus long enough to work out a decent hypothesis. Not with Genny out there. The corporation had Genvieve Aneed in their clutches, and Josh's head would not stop spinning until he broke her free. But he had exhausted all his resources looking for the slightest sign of Genny or Intelligence America. He would have readily killed for a name, an address, a landmark. A dropped pen could have pointed him in the right direction. It was as though the flood waters had pulled all evidence of the evil corporation into the sewers with it.
Circumstance had given him nothing, and so Breaker buried his head and set to the task of making nothing work for him. What little he knew could have been printed on the front side of an index card, but it would have to be enough. No sense wasting time wishing for divine intervention. With a little sweat and blood he could make something from nothing any day.
"I know that they've brought a small army here through the portal. They can't be hiding the portal in the city though, it would be too dangerous. Still, they must have a few buildings in Radasanth at their disposal. Training centers, offices and the like. All I need to do is find one of those, and it will lead me to the rest. Eventually, that will lead me to Genny. I know they must be looking for me as hard as I'm looking for them. But no way in hell could they keep the same kind of low profile I do. You can't hide hundreds of men in back alleys and cheap hotels. That means they're looking through appropriate official channels, which means they're not looking properly. I guess I could walk around in broad daylight waving my arms, but the way they've got their heads crammed up their asses it would still take days. I've left Genny with them for a week already, and as far as I'm concerned every hour counts. So I'm going to have to make sure they can't miss me. I need to make a big impact, and fast."
Breaker sat in a shadowy back alley surrounded by piles of used grain sacks. The smell wasn't half bad, as far as back alleys went. Much better than sitting behind a bar in a puddle of someone else's bodily fluids. The back alley he chose that night had special significance. It connected with a large main street that, less than twenty yards from his sprawled out legs, became the city's north side square. A wealthy neighbourhood. Wealthy enough that patrols of the City Guard circulated on a regular basis. That was good. If Intelligence America had decided to conduct its business through official channels, they would be watching the law offices and prisons closely, preying on the off chance he got arrested. At least, he hoped they were. It would be stupid of them to think he'd get arrested by accident, but Intelligence America had done stupid things before.
Being a successful warrior at the Dajas Pagoda had made Josh something of a folk hero throughout Radasanth. As he inhaled the smell of grain sacks, he prepared to kiss that hero status goodbye. More and more, the idea appealed to him.
"This hero is about to get a black mark on his record."
Breaker's face resembled a skull as he grinned to himself in the pale moonlight. Petty crimes would not suffice; he had to do something every low life in Radasanth would hear about. Something Intelligence America would have to have their heads buried in the sand to miss. And something that the city guard couldn't fail to notice.
Radasanth would never forget the day Joshua Cronen decided to turn criminal.