Alternia Comics

This is another character origin story played out between a game master and a player. It has been editted for content, entertainment value, and to protect the names of the innocent.

You should know before starting that the Mecha Knights are an order of warriors who wear power-armor (at various levels of sophistication) and hold true to ancient knightly values.

Game Master: You and your brother are squires to an
aging Mecha Knight named Sir Thomas. You live in a village in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, it what was called "california" long, long ago. It's a small town, but you make a living. The nearby river provides water for the small farm, and the walls made under Sir Thomas' direction have dissuaded bandits and roving raiders. You and your brother, Arcen, lost your parents long ago and wandered here as boys. Sir Thomas took you under his wing and
raised you, teaching you the ways of Chivalry and Combat. You have worked on making your armor, but the two of you have a mostly-joking rivalry about who will get Sir Thomas' armor when he retires. Your rivalry is not quite so joking when it
comes to the affections of the most beautiful girl in town - Emily.

One day, you are watering the horses while Arcen is cleaning the weapons, and your heart leaps into your chest as you
hear Emily's voice behind you. "What's THAT one's name?"

Player: "Bree. Her name is Bree."

GM: "Bree, huh? Is she friendly?"

P: "Yeah, she's really nice."

GM: She moves past you, and her wheat-colored hair brushes your shoulder as she pets Bree. "Could I ride her?" she asks.

P: "Umm. Sure. I'll saddle her up."

GM: "Go ahead. I'll wait." You go into the stable to get the saddle, and notice that Arcen has stopped cleaning the weapons. He's watching the two of you pretty intently.

P: I'll wink at him.

GM: So noted.

You get back with the saddle, give her a few pointers, and she has a great time riding Bree around a few times in
the little yard that's part of Sir Thomas' little compound. Then she asks if she can go faster, and, frankly, you know it wouldn't be safe - not if she tried to do it alone, anyways.

P: I say, "Yes, but I really should be up there with you." I get on the horse and let Bree gallop around for a bit, and when she's exhilirated and breathless, I'll make my move.

GM: There you are, up on the horse, kissing away in the cool morning breeze ... when you smell something burning. Looking around, you see smoke rising from somwhere beyond the wall.

P: To the smoke!

GM: You ride to the wall, and Sir Thomas is already up on the walkway. Arcen had to run, so he's not here, yet. "Get up here, boy," says Sir Thomas.

P: I'm up in a jiffy!

GM: and there you see the source of the smoke; someone has lit fire to one of your town's orchards - its apple orchard, in fact - and the culprits seem to be completely
unafraid of the consequences. They are gathered on the path leading down to it, whooping and yelling. You see lots of motorcycles and black leather.

"The Chaps," says Sir Thomas gravely. "I never thought they'd be big enough to get out here ...:"

A lone rider comes up on a huge motorcycle. Twisted metal has been bolted onto it to make it look more like a beast out of a nightmare than a motorcycle. He rides under a white banner.

"A strange choice - to come and parlay with me - when you've already burned one of my orchards!" Sir Thomas shouts.

"Think of it as a demonstration, old man!" says the rider, with a familiar tone that catches you off guard. "It's our bargaining chip. We both want one thing, Tommy, and I think
there's a way we can both get it!"

Sir Thomas bristles, but says, "Speak your piece, Preston."

"Firebrand to you, old man!"

"Then it's 'Sir Thomas' to you, boy!"

There's a long moment of silence. "Fine. Sir Thomas, I challenge you to a duel for the ownership of this shitty
little town. You win, we leave. I win, we take it and everything in it."

"What makes you think you can?" responds Sir Thomas.

"You know me better than that." Firebrand takes out a flare-gun and fires it into the air. The very ground rumbles as motorcycle engines are revved, not just on the path before you, but all around the town where you can't see from here. "You know I don't bluff."

Arcen makes it up beside you. "What's going on, Jude?"

P: I'll fill him in.

GM: As you do, the drama continues ...

"Very well, Firebrand. At dawn, you and I will settle this."

"Bring your armor, old man. I'll have a surprise for you." With that he rides away.

Sir Thomas doesn't even look at you as he brushes past you and heads down towards his compound. Emily looks worried. The gathered townsfolk pester Sir Thomas with questions, but he just ignores them all and keeps walking.

p: I'll chase after Sir Thomas and ask if there is anything I can do to help.

GM: "Just get the armor ready, Julien. That boy out there ... he can do what he says. Back when I knew him, he would keep his word, but now ... now I just don't know.

"I will be in my room. Tell me when the armor is ready."

P: I'll get the armor ready then...

GM: when you come and get him, Sir Thomas looks absolutely haggard. He nods and silently inspects the armor, piece by piece, as meticulous as ever, but seems distant. You and Arcen stand by.

The armor is a magnificent and ancient piece. The stories say that it bears some of the original parts from the Ranger Enhanced Armor, although Sir Thomas has never answered
straight about that. It stands him eight inches higher and more than quadruples his weight, but you've seen him fight in it like it's nothing.

What sort of man could a man like Sir Thomas fear, you wonder?

"More oil under the right arm," he says. "But not too much. And wipe that oil off of the left boot. This man likes his fire ..."

P: I'll make sure the armor doesn't have any vulnerable oil and everything, and then I ask him who the guy is?

GM: "Well, when I met him he was named Preston. He took the name Firebrand when he joined the Chaps. As to why he did such a thing ... well, we had a falling out. Let's
leave it at that." With that he starts upstairs to his rooma
and says, "Wake me an hour before dawn."

Arcen pats your shoulder and helps with the armor, then says, "Well, shit. The town's surrounded and it's all
on Sir Thomas ... good thing you finally kissed Emily, huh?"

P: "Well, we'll make it through this... you'll see."

GM: "I hope so, Jude. I'm going to bed. You wanna wake him?"

P: "Yeah... I'll wake him up."

GM: "Alright. Goodnight." He goes to bed ahead of you. You putter around for a fore more minutes and hear some soft knocking at the door.

P: I'll check it out.

GM: It's Emily. She's in tears. "Julien ..." she says, using your full name, just before she practically falls forward into your arms. "I'm scared, Julien."

P: "Everything will be okay. We'll make it through this..."

GM: "But if we don't? What if Sir Thomas kills him and they attack anyway? They were ALL AROUND us, Julien! I ... I just want to know that ... YOU know that I teased with Arcen and you, but ... it was always you I was in love with." She kisses you.

P: "Everything will be alright, I promise, okay?"

GM: she just holds you tightly.

The next morning, you go to knock on Sir Thomas' door. For many minutes, there's no answer. Arcen comes along with a worried look on his face. "Julien, did you already wake up Sir Thomas?"

P: "I've been trying to, there is no answer."

GM: "... well, maybe he's already out there, because the armor's gone."

P: I'll open his bedroom door.

GM: The room is empty.

P: I'll go looking for him

GM: He's nowhere to be found on the compound.

P: Up on the battlements?

GM: No. One of the horses is missing, too. Bree, in fact.

P: Oh, man ...

GM: Dawn's coming closer. A lot of people are gathered at the gate, wondering where Sir Thomas is.

P: Can I see him outside the wall?

GM: No. One of the townsfold asks you, "He's gone, isn't he? He ran away scared? Who's going to fight that bastard,
then?"

P: Aw, hell ...

GM: Firebrand is waiting by his motorcycle.

P: Is Arcen with me?

GM: Yes. Arcen shrugs. "Flip for it?"

P: "Arcen. I'll suit up and go out there. You need to get these people ready to move if I should fall. Okay?"

GM: "Okay, Brother. Good luck."

P: Time to suit up.

GM: He goes off to start getting people moving.

P: And I'll go find Emily.

AlarinAvaril (10:57:41 PM): You don't have full power-armor like Sir Thomas did. It's mostly just a suit of armor built from scratch, but the shell is almost done, and you were
working on the powered parts, the only working of which is the right arm. When you cock it right, it gives your next
movement a huge boost of power.

P: Looks like I'll have to really stick it to him. While I'm going home, I'll tell someone to find Emily for me.

GM: By the time you're suited up, she's waiting at the door in tears.

"Julien, why are you doing this? Why can't Arcen fight and YOU get us out of here?"

P: "Because if nobody does, then we don't have any chance, and Arcen knows the people better. He has a better chance of getting them out of here."

GM: "Dammit, Julien ... why do you have to be so damn brave?"

P: "It isn't about bravery, Emily. It is about doing what is right."

GM: She stiffens her lip and holds back some tears, then leaves.

P: I get the weapons ready - a fire axe, a shield, and some sort of rifle integrated into the arm.

GM: by dawn, you find yourself walking out of the gate. Firebrand isn't huge, but every inch is corded, hardened muscle. Dozens of scars show on his bare chest and
arms underneath tatoos of flames and demons. He's bald, but has a scraggly beard and mustache that look like they were dyed red and then singed.

"Where's the old man?" he asks, a little anrgy.

P: "I am taking is place. I am Julien, squire to Sir Thomas."

GM: "That's not the deal, Julien. I came to beat the crap out of your Knight, not his little armor-bitch."

P: "You don't have much of a choice, do you?" I'll take a battle stance. "If you win, the city is yours but my people go free."

GM: "Oh, that's not the deal, either. But I'll go ahead and beat the crap out of you, anyways."

P: "New contestant, new deal!"

GM: He starts putting on a harness of some kind.

P: I'm really just gonna try to buy some time.

GM: "No dice, kid. The old man walked away. You can take HIS deal, but you don't get to make a new one - especially since what I really came for has run away, anyways."

P: "Look. Then if it isn't the city you want, why not go after what you really want?"

GM: he turns around and flame shaped blades spring out of various parts of the harness.

"I might not care about this town, but it was the only way I could get his many Chaps to follow me. Frankly, I don't think they would have cared if old Tommy beat me."

P: "If I win, how do I know your word is good?"

GM: "That's the thing, kid. I can promise you all I want - but if I die, it's not really up to me. Kind of sucks when you're the only one believing in chivarly, huh?" He lunges.

P: I fire my rifle at him.

GM: This one's a miss. He comes down close, spinning like a madman. One hand licks out for your knee, scraping on the armor, and then he straightens and strikes for your face.

P: I keep my shield up and my axe down

GM: You parry his strikes, and he follows up with a boot to your gut. It knocks you back a bit, but you're armored
there.

P: With my shield still up, I line up another shot. Where is he the least armored?

GM: His miiddle torso. Lots of his armor is bladed, so it's mostly on the outside. The wierd thing is how the blades snap in and out with different positions. In fact, looking down at a new scratch on your chestplate, it looks like one snapped out for his foot when he kicked you.

P: How are his legs? I wanna take out his manueverability

GM: The insides of his legs are open, the outsides are armored.

P: Let's go with his right leg, at the knee from the inside.

GM: You line it up, but he's so fast ... he swings his leg back, letting his torso come forward and shoots a bladed hand under your armor into your shoulder, then swings the leg back for a hopping double-kick; one straight ahead, and the second as he moves around you to his left is more of a round-house to your lower back.

P: I bat the frontal one out of the way with the shield and sidestep away from him to avoid the one coming for my back.

GM: Good enough. You keep ahead of the kicks, but that blade stuck pretty hard in your shoulder. Let's just say it's a good thing you have that power arm.

"You're gonna need to be trickier than that. You think I don't know what my own weaknesses are?"

You are starting to realize you may be out of your league ...

He lunges again, swinging twice high with his hands.

P: I put on a burst of speed, drop down and shield slam him in the stomach

GM: Perfect, actually, because his next move was, in fact, to
duck down and go for your legs, so you end up shield bashing him in the face. You knock him onto his back.

P: Rah, rah, rah! I slash at him while he's down.

GM: He rolls backwards to avoid it, then springs off of his hands harder than is possible for a normal man, and basically does a kip-up OVER your head.

P: Jesus...

I fire my rifle at him as he goes over my head.

GM: You wing him, but when he hits the ground he crouches and sweeps, knocking you off your feet.

P: Alrighty...
Umm, crap ... power armor has gotta be hard to get up in. Am I on my front or back?

GM: Your front. He stabs you in the leg, almost casually, with a kick from his foot.

"You stupid kid."

P: I roll onto my right side with my hand under me and push up with my power arm.

GM: Very nice. Up you go.

"This would have gone a lot easier if you'd just ... WHOAH!"

P: I fire away with the rifle.

GM: He springs into the air, but you wing him again when he lands. He goes down on one knee.

P: "I may be a squire, but you may not find me easy prey!"

GM: "Myeh myeh myeh MYEH myeh myeh - Shut up!"

P: How far away is he?

GM: 20-30 feet
P: I keep my shield up to disguise a fake-out shot from the rifle, and then I'll fire a real one in the direction he dodges.

GM: A good move, but he pulls one more trick on you. Instead of dodging, he flexes strangely and sends a cloud of knives into the air.

P: Whoah! Cover the face!

GM: Your shield and armor block most, but two of them hit home - one in your gut and another in the same leg he stabbed. You go down on that knee.

P: I'll try and take a few more desperate shots.

GM: When you look up, you have just enough time to see him descending towards you, and then your head explodes with pain, and you're unconscious.

When you wake up, your face is being tapped, and none too gently. The hand grabs your chin and shakes your head, causing it to swim with agony. Finally, your hearing and sight come back, and you see Firebrand standing before you.

You look around and see you've been tied to the battlements, looking inside the wall. Your town is ... tattered. Men and women run about in black leather, pillaging, burning, beating men and grabbing up women right there in the streets.

"Look at what you couldn't stop, kid. Man. This is realy going to suck for you."

What happens next is a horror I should leave to quick exposition. One by one, surviving members of the town
are brought up before you by groups of the chaps, where they "deal" with that townsman however they see fit. Some are killed, others tortured, most of the women are raped ...

... even Emily ...

... and then it comes to your brother, who's been standing by for last. When Firebrand drags him forward he shouts "NO! NO oh god please NO!"

This has Firebrand laughing out loud. "Oh this is too rich. Two brothers, both the squires of the mighty Sir Thomas. One who is as STUPID as he was -" he point's at you, "- and another who is as cowardly.

"Tell me, boy? You've seen what my Chaps are capable of. What will you do to get out of it?"

Arcen is begging, now, as he says, "Anything, please!"

Firebrand sneers. "Anything. Kneel, Arcen."

Arcen slowly kneels.

P: "Let him go! Take me!"

GM: "Oh, I'm taking HIM, kid! I'm taking him for my very own!" Firebrand beckons to a nearby chap who
hands him a machete. "Swear your loyalty to me, Arcen."

"I ... I swear it ..."

P: "Stop it! For the love of God!"

GM: "And rise, SIR Arcen, knight of the Steel Horse." Arcen raises up shakily, and Firebrand hands him the machete. "Your first task, Arcen is to kill ... oh, that one." He points casually to an older man - the town baker.

P: "Don't do it, Arcen! Don't turn on your own people!"

GM: Arcen hesitates, then looks at you, and the pile of dead, mulitated bodies below you ...

"I ... I'm sorry Jude."

It's surreal - like a dream - watching your own brother slaughter a defenseless old baker.

As are the next few days. Or weeks. Or however long you are left up there as the Chaps make your home their bitch.

Then one night, you hear a scream. It's different from the others you have been unable to shut out - the full-throated scream of a big, healthy man. You learn from watching, the next day, that one of the Chaps has gone missing. The next night, the same thing happens. The night after THAT, Firebrand lays a trap - and you're in a pretty good position to watch.

They spring lights and jump out of the shadows on something ... big. Big and green and scaly. It kills six of them before dragging one of them off into the dark.

The next day, Firebrand has the whole town out, demanding to know what's going on. No one knows, of course, but he decides on a little test. He takes one of the corpses outside of town and leaves it there. Sure enough, the "dragon" as they've started calling it, comes and takes it and leaves everyone else alone. Soon after, though, Firebrand is out of corpses, so he leaves YOU out on the mountainside.

"Well, kid, it's been fun. But honestly, you're the most expendable piece of meat I have. Better luck next lifte."

And with that, you're left bound for the dragon.

But THEN, some time after they have left you, you hear a rustling in the bushes, and out steps none other than Sir Thomas himself, a look of horror and shame upon his face.

P: "..."

GM: "Julien ..."

P: "Why?"

GM: "I ..." he begins, but stops. "You've seen what he is now."

P: "Why did you leave us there to die?"

GM: "There was nothing I could have done there. I thought if I left he would follow me."

P: "Why didn't you tell us?"

GM: "Someone ... someone must have torn down the message I left for him ... on the door ..." You can tell he's floundering, and then he just breaks down.

"Oh, God, I can't do this. I was scared, Julien. Plain and simple, I ran because I was scared. And now I've tried to lie to you to make it better. But if I'm facing this, I'm going to face it. You won't forgive me. You shouldn't. But you shouldn't die here, either."

He cuts you free.

"Run. Get out of here. Bree's in the bushes. You can ..."

A dark shape suddenly outlines itself in the air behind him.

P: I'll tell him to get down.

GM: He ducks, and you do too, and a HUGE something, powerful and insanely fast, crashes into the ground on the other side of you, wheels around, and comes right in at you.

P: I Lunge to the side.

GM: You dodge, but Sir Thomas strides forward,
swinging his sword. He cuts the beast a mighty blow. It recoils, and he turns on his light, illuminating an
8-foot (not including tail) lizard-man-beast, crouching and snarling. It goes for him again, this time ducking the swing and knocking Sir Thomas over. Sir Thomas' sword goes flying.

P: I'll grab the sword and go for the nasty!

GM: he starts up his buzz-saw buckler and rips into the beast even as it tears his armor apart with its savage claws, and then you come up with the sword and slice its head clean off.

Sir Thomas lies there, dying in his broken armor.

"Julien .. *cough* ... I'm so sorry. Take ... what you can of my armor ... take ... the horse ... run ... live ... get away from this place and ... never come back ... let something I did last ..."

P: I'll drop to my knees and scream "Noooo!!!!"

Is he dead?

GM: He's dying. Is there anything else you wanted to say?

P: "I will make this all right... everything is going to be okay. I promise."

GM: "No, Julien ... you can't ... the Chaps will kill ..."

P: "I mean eventually... I will avenge this."

GM: "Just get ... away. Live ... please ..." and with that, he's gone.

P: I'll strip his armor and try to assemble what I can of it. How far away is the closest mechanic? I need to get everything patched up first before I can get back there and set things right.

GM: You also have a "dragon" here - some kind of mutant lizard - freshly killed, with lots of skin intact.

P: Hmm... I take that with me, too.

GM: You load it all up onto Bree, and then heade for what's left of San Francisco to find a mechanic.

P: Before I go, I'll also try and give Sir Thomas a proper burial.

GM: Done.

Remember, the point of being a Mecha Knight is holding to values already ancient before the Collapse. They are fading even faster in this new and savage world, so the fight to keep them becomes that much harder.

You wear this armor, you walk this course, and you do it alone.

Good luck, Knight.