Jump to content

JAG18

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,148

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    7

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by JAG18

  1. JAG18

    Samurai

    By JAG18,

    Samurai/don't die
    You're the only one/you're the only one
     
     
    After sixteen years of waiting it all ends tonight.
     
    THE ANTICIPATION!
  2. JAG18
    I wish I said this, I wish I said that
    But I kinda froze in my tracks
    I wish I said this, I wish I said that
    But I kinda had a panic attack
    I wish I could talk good
    I wish I could talk, I wish I could talk
    I wish I could talk good
     
    (Although honestly this is how I feel most days. :/ )
  3. JAG18
    So, I was reading my indie mixtape e-mail today and I saw them suggesting Grime's new demo "Pretty Dark". Of course, I didn't need them to tell me because I've had that song on repeat all week, but I also noticed them attaching a name to Grimes' new album that I hadn't seen before. Apparently it's called "Miss_Anthropocene".
     
    This necessitated a google search and I found that Grimes just did an interview with the Wall Street Journal, but since it's hidden behind a subscription wall I suggest everyone just do what I did, which is google it and go to news and read what everyone else is saying about it.
     
    Also, the new album is about climate change...which I guess means it's time to buy Marc Marano's new book.
     
    In the mean time, I think it's time to revisit "Oblivion"
     

  4. JAG18

    Movies I've Seen Recently

    By JAG18,

    In the last couple of months I've seen a few new movies both in theaters and on DVD; a couple of which are several decades old, so their only new to me, but whatever here are my thoughts on all of them along with some pointless number ratings.
     
    "Krampus" 8/10
    This is a movie I wanted to watch as soon as I saw Red Letter Media's review of it last December, and I finally did see it last month and I was not disappointed. It was a silly over-the-top horror comedy and it worked perfectly as that with a good cast, great dark humor, and stellar creature and monster effects. Of course, that last one shouldn’t surprise anyone because the same people who did all the wonderful effects for “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy also worked on “Krampus”, I’m talking, of course, about Richard Taylor and his crew at the Weta Workshop and I can’t stress how much they hit it out of the park on this movie.
    If there's one thing I regret doing is seeing this film when I did, because this movie got me in the mood for Christmas, oddly enough, and I'm one of those people who hates any mention of Christmas until mid-November-ish so that was a bit of a mistake on my part. I wouldn't be too surprised if this ends up like “It’s a Wonderful Life” as a movie I screen every Christmas; I now it would be really strange, but I don't care.
     
    "I'm Not Ashamed" 6/10
    From the studio who brought audiences “God’s Not Dead” and “God’s Not Dead 2" comes a film about one of the first victims of the tragic Columbine Shooting, a girl named Rachel Joy Scott whose inspiring life and writings have led to several books and talks made by her family in the decade-and-a-half since. I did enjoy this movie a lot more than I thought I would; it’s a fun, inspiring, teen Christian drama, and if you’re in either of this film’s target demographics, people of faith and teens (although preferably both) then I do recommend it. Of course, having done some research into Columbine before hand, just because, I knew going in that everything involving the Columbine shooters in this movie was going to be awful and wrong and it was. But, this isn’t a Columbine movie (or at least it shouldn’t be) it’s a story about Rachel Scott and I’d definitely say that this movie’s subject matter and lead Masey McLain (who needs to be in more things right now) allows it to rise above its genre to being pretty good.
    One last thing, I do hope that after this comes out on DVD that someone will make an edit of this movie without any mention of Columbine expect for the very last scene, but just like the “Mockingjay” one film edit that’s probably just a wild dream of mine.
     
    "The Thing (1982)" 10/10
    I’ve known about this movie for the longest time and I actually saw a good half of it on Sci-Fi a year-ish ago, but last week was the first time I sat down and watched the entire thing and I was absolutely amazed. I loved everything about from the overall tone and feeling of the movie, to the music, the through the roof practical effects (literally in one scene), the great performances all around (especially from Kurt Russell) everything was just incredible. Yeah, this might be one of my favorite horror movies of all time if not one of my all time favorite movies; if there’s one thing I don’t like it’s that I don’t understand why a group of scientists has flamethrowers at their base, but who cares because the movie's ten times better with flamethrowers.
     
    "The Thing (2011)" 4/10
    After watching the original, I was excited to see the prequel, which I never knew starred Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who btw was great in this year’s “10 Cloverfield Lane”) and it was alright, but obviously it wasn’t going to be anywhere near as good as John Carpenter’s film. I thought Winstead was good, although she wasn’t Kurt Russell and I liked some other minor things, but overall this movie was very middle of the road and forgettable for me. I could go on about all the ways this movie failed where the original, but I’d rather not; overall another forgettable late 2000’s prequel/remake/soft reboot.
     
    "Hacksaw Ridge" 6/10
    Mel Gibson’s first movie as a director in almost a decade is about Desmond Doss a World War 2 soldier who refused to carry a gun because of his religiously beliefs, but still won the Medal of Honor for his actions as a combat medic. Overall, I liked this movie, in the first half it’s mostly just alright, but then it almost shifts into another movie when the fighting begins. I know this sounds like an exaggeration, but I think the action in this movie comes the closer to toping the opening in “Saving Private Ryan” than any other film since. Putting some big questions aside like whether this is an anti or pro war movie I would recommend this as a good war movie with the caveat that if you have any problems with extreme violence than this might not be the film for you.
     
    "Breakfast at Tiffany's" 5/10
    I liked Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady”, and so when I heard that “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was what most people recognized her for, I was on board for seeing it even if I’ve never liked romantic comedies and can’t name one I’ve seen from beginning to end. So, what did I think of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”? Well, it was fine, yeah Hepburn’s good in it and so is George Peppard and I didn’t find anything I really hated in it except maybe the generally boring plot even if did have some nice moments and hints of more interesting plot points, but still the plot was fine, just like most of the movie. Again it’s not bad and having looked into the film a bit I can see why other people would like it, but at the end of the day it’s not my cup of tea. I'll admit the whole time I was watching it I felt like I’d rather be watching “The Thing” because I want to see grotesque things set on fire with flame throwers in my movies. Either way, I’ll still probably give “Roman Holiday” a chance though.
  5. JAG18

    Exo-Force Spin-Off Idea

    By JAG18,

    For whatever reason, watching "Star Trek: Beyond" as sent me into a Sci-Fi craze (note: I do mean "Sci-Fi" not "science fiction" because the only thing I've been reading/watching recently that has anything to do with actual science is "War of the Worlds") and this, somehow, has made me think of an old LEGO theme I've always liked: Exo-Force.
     
    Now, I really like Exo-Force to the point that it might be my second of third favorite LEGO theme overall after "Hero Factory" and, of course, "BIONICLE", but rather than talk about the actual theme I want to talk about something I've dreamed of doing if I was in a position to do it namely an Exo-Force movie. If you like Exo-Force or mecha in general I'm sure you can imagine how awesome a live-action (or pure CG because, let's be honest, it would probably work just as well if not better) Exo-Force would be and I for one have spent lots of time thinking up spectacular and exciting action pieces that a movie about human and robots battling it out could have.
     
    Although, thinking about it now the movie I'd really like to see would probably be "Starship Troopers" meets "Terminator" with some more Sci-Fi military action thrown in, but that wouldn't really be Exo-Force, which gave me the idea for a movie that distills the theme of Exo-Force to it's essence: humans making an Alamo last stand against overwhelming robotic forces.
     
     
    And now, some incoherent thoughts from the brainstorming I had last night:
    1) It's really, really hard to come up with a logical explanation as to why the robots don't just go around Sentai Mountain and I'm not talking about going around the mountain to strike the village, but why not just surround the humans and attack them from all sides?
    2) Thus, the "plot" of the movie would be a single battalion of division of a human military defending a mountain, or other easily defended nature position, against the robots as a kind of delaying tactic. The humans are preparing a massive counterattack that could turn the war in their favor, but they can't go through with their plan if the robots are allowed to take this mountain.
    3) Even though, it would be hinted that their is a large conflict going on, for the sake of focus the movie would center exclusively on this one front of that conflict; one human battalion defend one mountain against overwhelming numbers.
    4) The robots would be an utter ruthless and merciless enemy looking gritty and terrifying like the Terminators who want one thing and one thing only; to destroy all humans (or "Blast some meatbags" to quote a certain fictional killer robot). They have grunts they rush forward in suicide charge to set off land mines so their superior soldiers can advance, they field jetpack wielding paratroopers in the vein of the Fire Vulture and massive attack helicopters.
    5) I love the idea that the humans fight the robot paratroopers by just knocking them out of the sky with a massive jet; no really they just fly it right through a swarm of them and just watch them shatter on their wings.
    6) The humans are, of course, a small band of space marines who have a very modern military feel...you know if the military had advance Sci-Fi technology.
    7) The humans have craved out helicopter pads into the mountain and I have a great idea for a scene where the robots scale the mountain on grappling hooks and force their way onto one of these pads forcing engineers and pilots to fight robots in brutal hand-to-hand combat.
     
     
    Alright, that's enough rambling, my point is I came up with a lot of action shots and world-building gimmicks for this idea. Will anything actually came of this? Probably not. Other than maybe another story treatment/script draft that will end up stored somewhere deep in my computer or maybe a short story I would post in OTC, I don't know. Either way, it was a cool daydream.
  7. JAG18

    Top 10 EPs of 2016

    By JAG18,

    The Rules:
    EP needs to have been released between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2016
    EP must have at least 3, but no more than 9 songs to be considered for this list.
     
    Honorable Mention: "From the Grave" - Juliet Simms
     
     
    10. “Ultraviolet EP” – Dagny

     
    Favorite Tracks: "Fight Sleep", “Too Young”
     
    9. “Libelle” – Annabel Jones

     
    Favorite Tracks: “IOU”, “Money, Love, Success”
     
    8. “EMOTION SIDE B” – Carly Rae Jepsen

     
    Favorite Tracks: “Higher”, “Cry”
     
    7. “Ammunition” – Krewella

     
    Favorite Tracks: “Marching On”, “Ammunition”
     
    6. “Criminals + Dreamers” – Willa

     
    Favorite Tracks: “Criminal”, “Hey”, “Stare”
     
    5. “The Magic” – Lola Blanc

     
    Favorite Tracks: “Don’t Say You Do”, “The Magic”
     
    4. “Bubblebath” – That Poppy

     
    Favorite Tracks: “Lowlife”, “Money”
     
    3. “Bella Goldwin” - Bella Goldwin
    A "little" too big for BZP
     
    JAG's Thoughts: 2016's most promising new artist
    Favorite Tracks: “Higher than Life”, “Save Me From Myself”
     
    2. “Vroom Vroom EP” – Charli XCX

     
    Favorite Tracks: “Vroom Vroom”, “Paradise”
     
    1. “Olivia Lane EP” – Olivia Lane

     
    JAG's Thoughts: The artist and EP who's come closest to filling country music's Taylor Swift hole.
    Favorite Tracks: “Quarter Life Crisis”, “She Fits”, “My Heartache”
  8. JAG18
    So, this past Sunday night I got to see CHVRCHES, one of my favorite bands of all time, play and Karzahni yeah it was great! This was my first time seeing them in concert and also my second concert ever since really getting to music (my first was Haim around this time last year) so that made this a little extra special.
     
    The Build Up:
    My night, of course, started with a lot of waiting. I was in line a half-an-hour before the doors opened, although in hindsight that might have been a little unnecessary considering I had an assigned seat in the baloney and it was pretty empty up there for a while, but c'est la vie. At eight, the opener Cherry Glazerr came on. Now, I'll be honest and say that I didn't know who the opener was in advance although I had been seeing on Facebook the kinds of bands CHVRCHES has had opening for them this tour and they have been some really good ones (Pale Waves, Sasha Sloan, Let's Eat Grandma).
    I didn't know who Cherry Glazerr was at the time, but I will say I enjoyed their set well enough (I thought their drummer especially was real good). They played for about forty minutes, then there was another half-an-hour or so of more waiting and then...
     
    The Track List (I wasn't taking notes, but I think this is pretty close to what it was):
    Get Out
    Bury It
    We Sink
    Graffiti
    Under the Tide
    Graves
    Science/Visions
    Deliverance
    Forever
    Recover
    Leave a Trace
    Miracle
    Clearest Blue
    The Mother We Share
    Never Say Die
     
    Thoughts on the set:
    -Again, I'm a huge CHVRCHES fan and I love all their songs, but if you check out my
    on Youtube ranking of all their songs (and you totally should) you can tell that a lot of songs they played were more towards the bottom of the list. I mean, I knew they weren't going to play, "Playing Dead" or something like that, but it's just an observation. -The high point of the whole night, for me, was the middle part of their set when they played my two favorite songs off their last album ("Deliverance" and "Forever") back-to-back and then followed it up with 2 more really great songs.
    -They ended their initial set with my least favorite song off album two ("Clearest Blue") and while "The Mother We Share" is good enough to make the whole night they also finished with a more "meh" song off album three.
    -You know, when Martin came out from behind the synths I thought they he might start singing "High Enough To Carry You Over" (one of my favorite songs of theirs) and instead they played "Under The Tide" (one of my least favorites), but dang it if Martin still didn't give a great performance.
     
    Other Random Thoughts:
    -It's true what they say: CHVRCHES do put on a killing light show.
    -It was cool seeing Ian show off his guitar god skills many times through out the night.
    -The show banter mostly revolved around "Game of Thrones", how Lauren was surprised not only that people showed up, but also that Ian and Martin showed up (the two have a lottery going on how the show will end). Lauren herself admitted to not being a fan. The subject of cheese was also discussed. Considering what she talked about at the very last show they put on I'm kind of glad that nothing super serious was brought up.
    -I think I'm going to take to heart something Lauren said while putting in her earplugs before starting the encore ("Safety first.") Both because she said that and because of the aching in my left ear that I had for a few hours afterwards.
    -I just love how before playing, "Deliverance" Lauren said it's one of the songs that might upset people because I'm one of the people who should be upset by it, but instead it's my favorite song off their last album and one of my favorite songs of last year.
     
    And that's all I have to say. I had a great time, again it was awesome seeing one of my favorite bands live and I'll probably have their music on non-stop for the rest of the week.
  9. JAG18

    Music Games

    By JAG18,

    (Sorry I haven't updated this recently, but I joined Reddit recently and was reminded how much fun it is being on a active forum can be)
     
    I like music. I like board games (both playing and making them). But, trying to make a board game involving music has always been a challenge for me.
     
    -Music Questionnaires can be fun, except I only have three and they get old real fast, plus it's more a solitary activity than an actual game.
    -Music Top Trumps is a real thing and card games are the easiest to make at home and I'll admit I have a draft for a set written up on my computer, but the "War" card game with cool pictures is only so much fun.
    -Music Trivial Pursuit? Eh...
    -Something I tried recently with my sister is I guess "Shazam!" the game. One of us plays a song and the other person has 25 seconds to guess what it is. After each song write, down the time and after ten songs each the person who has the lowest time is the winner. I'm this isn't some revolutionary thing, but we had fun.
     
    That's all I got. Do any of those ideas sound interesting to you? Do you have any music games you play with your friends or game group?
  10. JAG18
    This has nothing to do with the movie I've been meaning to watch again for the millionth time. No, this is about the return of The Bionicle Caption Contest to G&T!
     
    Like most things I do, the decision to bring back this classic BZP game was completely spontaneous. I have fond memories of reading through the original topic as a guest and I've always felt that G&T was missing something without it; so since I'm trying to be more active around I thought it was time to bring it back the game this time with some of Gen 2's funniest images. Arguably, this would have been a much better idea to this a year or two ago when G&T was much more active...but oh well.
     
    Come in and play today!
  11. JAG18
    For the uninitiated, The Star Wars Epic Duels Game is a board game released in 2002 to promote "Attack of the Clones"; it did not sell well in it's initial run, but went on to gain a cult following. It also happens to be my favorite board game and is what got me into the hobby in the first place; I'm even a mod over at the Epic Duels Wiki (the number one place to discuss Epic Duels). Naturally, over the years I've thought about combining two of my great loves together, but actual decks never materialized.
     
    Until now...

    (Link)
    I've made six decks from the '06 story year (three for the Toa Inika and the three for the Piraka) and have play tested them to the point where I think they're all acceptable enough. Obviously, Bionicle could spawn dozens of decks, but I chose to focus on the '06 storyline for several reasons;
    1) The "Bionicle Heroes" and "Piraka Attack" games gave me plenty of material to mine when designing this deck (e.g. Matoro is a sniper, Jaller attacks rapidly)
    2) 2006 is when I got into the story (plus it's still my favorite year overall)
    3) Although I know no one will ever play this live (as opposed to in Vassal like I did above), the 2006 minifigures would be perfect for this game.
    4) VNOG and BH both gave me lots of great images to work with when making the decks.
     
    Thoughts on the Decks (Mediafire link):
     
    Hakann and Thok:
    This pairing and the theme of this deck (a fun, run-and-gun duo) came very easily, which is why it was the first one to get made. Aside from trying to get Hakann's offensive mix right this deck stayed almost the same from beginning to end. This deck is very typical bounty hunter deck and is probably my favorite of the Piraka even if it's basically just a collection of cards inspired by the Piraka's powers.
     
    Kongu and Hahli:
    He's got a energy/laser crossbow and she's got a mask that finds things so naturally I decided to base this on the Han and Chewie from the original game and it worked out really well (no doubt because it's such a great design to begin with). Honestly, all I needed to do while playtesting was tone this deck down a bit because for a while it seemed like it was too good! Maybe my favorite of the six.
     
    Zaktan and Avak:
    The first deck with a melee major I created; I recycled the theme of a "melee Emperor" that I used in my Dryden Vos deck for this deck with the added twist that Avak uses a card from Mike Maloney's Aayla Secura deck. Zaktan forces discards and Avak punishes players for it; Avak can sorted of hold his own by using his FORCE LIFT inspired card, but the two really need each other. Ultimately, the deck works just not super well.
     
    Jaller and Hewkii:
    This one required going back to the drawing board once or twice, but the idea of basing Jaller off of Darth Maul from the originally game was always there. This deck ended up as a "ranged Maul" flanked by a powerful ranged minor (who honestly stayed the same from start to finish). Probably the strongest of the set.
     
    Matoro and Nuparu:
    The deck that went through the most revisions. Basing the deck around Matoro's sniper persona in "Bionicle Heroes" was a no brainer, but getting it to work wasn't easy. I used DT's 4-Lom and Zuckuss deck as a kind of base, but ultimately this deck just turned out OK.
     
    Reidak and Vezok:
    The deck I had no idea what to do with. At first, I thought back to Roman's old Urgak and Grishnak deck since the theme of that deck ("These two guys really want to hurt each") fits Reidak and Vezok (or any two Piraka honestly) well enough. The end result was a strange amalgam of Grishnak mixed with cards based on the Piraka's powers (cards borrowed from Mike Maloney's Quinlan Vos deck and Starscream); the only deck I'm not entirely sure about.
     
     
    Obviously, there's plenty of room for expansion here; not just more characters from '06 (Toa Nuva, the titans, Matoran Resistance team, Nektann), but from the rest of the story. I doubt I'll make many more though; this was fun to do just to say that I've done it and so that Bionicle Epic Duels actually exists, but I'd rather put my Epic Duels deck making energy into making decks that will get some attention in the larger ED community. But hey, I hope the decks at least look cool and that some of you guys will get the references in the card names.
  12. JAG18

    Coming Soon

    By JAG18,


    Real Life
    Notes:
    By "coming soon" I'm speaking in relative terms.
    Yes, I know that's a Mass Effect skin by Todd McFarlane, but until "soon" gets closer I don't need to hire someone to make art for this yet.  In the meantime, I do need to say this out loud.  Or I guess write it out loud...you know what I mean.
    I'm pretty sure this site gave me my love of comic sans and some people I hang around now enable the habit so that's my reasoning behind the font choice. 
    Get ready. 
  13. JAG18

    Law Bringer Teaser #2

    By JAG18,


    Real Life
    I know it has only been a week since I posted a teaser here and a 1,500 word lore dump isn't the best way to drum up interest in a new Sci-Fi IP, but I felt compelled to write this yesterday and while I've shared pieces of the following on other sites I haven't done so here yet.  Like all my creative works, make of this what you will. 
     
    In the mid-40th century, humanity had achieved what many informed observers considered the highest level of civilization ever seen.  Hundreds of worlds in dozens of galaxies were colonized, new technologies were easing the hardships of existence, and for most people times were good.  Obviously, times were better for some like the industrialists of Wakile or the elite of Oyoheri Prime especially when compared to the rough living of the farmers of Mye-Othol or the inhabitants of war torn Iterlop.  Potential troubles and problems still abound from renegade asteroids threatening to wipe out all life on entire planets, to widespread crime in the faraway parts of the universe, to the plight of the explorers pushing the edges of the map and encountering terrors beyond civilized space.  Regardless of such inequalities and problems, overall the spirit of the age was optimistic.  And this prosperity was due in no small part to one group: The Order of The Law Bringers.
    Founded in 3,455 A.D. by the greatest heroes of that century brought together by the legendary vigilante hero Ionnes Acanthio, for centuries The Law Bringers maintained peace and carried out justice across the known universe serving as security for rich and poor alike and never turning their backs on those in need.
    Unfortunately by this time, prestige, power, and complacency transformed The Law Bringers into something else.  Agents prioritized helping people who would increase their fame and wealth over the needs of the average citizen and several officers abused their positions and acted as vile as the criminals they swore to oppose.  By the 3,940’s, the people of the universe had come to hate and despise their protectors, although The Law Bringer’s leaders chose to downplay and ignore this change.  The Order could have fallen on hard times even if it hadn’t been for the single-minded crusade of one man: Nicholas Caldwell. 
    A middle-aged business man whose insane wealth had sketchy origins, around this time Caldwell put his massive resources towards the destruction of The Law Bringers.  He funded media that attacked The Order at every turn and spewed a steady stream of anti-Law Bringer rhetoric to anyone listening.  True, much of it consisted of lies and blatant propaganda, but legitimate misbehavior on the part of agents such as Captain Gripus made it possible for the average person to believe the universe would be better off without The Law Bringers.  He also lobbied the governments of the universe to pass laws limiting or outright banning The Order from operating in their territories.  At the time, the officers of Law Bringer High Command laughed at the idea of a “petty demagogue” tearing down an organization that had stood for five centuries.  What they couldn’t so easily dismiss however were their so-called replacements.  Most planet leaders were unwilling to risk calling up their militias to remove The Order from their lands and thus as an alternative Caldwell built the largest private army in existence The Justice Brigade.  All he asked for was the approval of states and his army would disband The Law Bringers and take up their duties.  By whatever means necessary. 
    In 3,951, this finally happened when the president of Oyoheri (the greatest and most powerful of all human nations) signed The Official Security Act, effectively outlawing the Law Bringers and enshrining The Justice Brigade as the nation’s new primary policing organization.  The Order declared they would resist the act and their defiance gave Caldwell the opportunity for violence he wanted.  So it was that October 13 would be remembered as the darkest day in The Order’s history the day of The Sacking of Tobe.   
    On the planet of Tobe rested The Law Bringers’ largest academy from where the training of thousands of agents including future officers was overseen.  With the help of the disillusioned Law Bringer Brutus Eskarus, The Justice Brigade sacked the academy, killing thousands of agents and cadets and burning their magnificent buildings to the ground.  Caldwell hoped this would be the first of many massacres of Law Bringers, but he couldn’t have imagined the tenacity of journalist Suzi Vi who was present for and survived the sacking.  The official narrative pushed by Caldwell’s lackeys accused The Order of stockpiling weapons to stage a coup against the Oyoheri government, but Suzi’s footage destroyed this idea.  Her reporting and especially the images of supposedly noble Justice Brigadiers, slaughtering thousands of cadets ages fifteen-nineteen, as well as hundreds of unarmed agents after they surrendered, and desecrating the academy grounds turned the tide of public opinion against Caldwell.  Even though more massacres followed the sacking, it was clear to anyone watching that no one wanted The Justice Brigade to replace The Law Bringers.  In response, the government hastily passed a series of acts, which established an official Security Corps and The Justice Brigade would disband a few years later. 
    The Order had suffered a serious blow, but not one they couldn’t recover from, but Caldwell wanted to be sure they would not and he set in motion the next phase of his war on The Law Bringers.  Unable to use his private army to kill agents, Caldwell instead outsourced the task by placing huge bounties on the heads of any Law Bringer foolish enough to step foot on an Oyoheri planet.  Thousands of bounty hunters rose up to meet the demand including long time veterans (some of whom in the past worked alongside Law Bringers) as well as newer daring rookies hoping to buy their own planet by the age of twenty-five.  The resulting violence is remembered as The Shadow War and the results were brutal.  Order agents daring to operate in Oyoheri risked walking into deadly ambushes, although not doing so would mean abandoning their mission to protect the innocent.  Combined with the loss of much of their funding (most of The Law Bringer’s financiers abandoned The Order in the face of bans or died under mysterious circumstances) these agents operated with limited resources, poor leadership, and in the face of hostility from locals.  The Order organized teams to avenge their fallen brethren by tracking down their murderers and bringing them to justice, but soon enough, some Law Bringers acted more out of a desire for revenge than true justice.  The most extreme example being Major Bitucus Bassus who formed a squad of like-minded agents and even non-Law Bringers to take the fight to the hunters.  Eventually, it devolved into a band of marauders and The Order was forced to send a special task force to stop him. 
    By this point, the universe had had enough of the constant fighting between Law Bringers and bounty hunters, as it often led to bystanders being harmed or even killed.  This problem was exasperated by the fact certain hunters committing outrageous crimes and atrocities to draw Law Bringers out of hiding.  Thus, with his bloodlust finally sated, Caldwell lifted the bounties and ten years after The Sacking of Tobe, was content to believe his blow to The Order was fatal. 
    On some planets Law Bringers were allowed to continue their work, such as on Riqura, which was ruled by Queen Izebel Ezkira who as a young girl lost her family to anarchists and had it not been for the intervention of The Law Bringers she would have been killed as well and her country left in ruins.  Out of gratitude, she refused to comply with The Act and instead turned her planet into a safe haven for agents.  Other localities behaved similarly and despite Caldwell’s insistence, the government refused to crack down on local rule what with The Secession Crisis of ’44 being too recent a memory.  Despite these signs of hope the situation for The Order looked bleak.  Gendarmes, The Order’s battle-hardened elite force, swore to fight for was right to the end and many fought and died this way during this time, but most agents had families to support and a mass exodus occurred of lower ranking Law Bringers.  Some retired early while others joined The Security Corps, or migrated outside of Oyoheri to serve The Order on planets less hostile to them.  Their numbers dwindling, their image destroyed, and recruiting efforts stifled, the end of The Order in Oyoheri would certainly come sooner rather than later. 
    But the time for change is now and destiny is calling.  On the small planet of Aheju, in The Borderlands (the crossroads of the major nations of the universe) a young man has been given the chance to rekindle his lost dream and change history forever.  As a boy growing up in the shadow of a Law Bringer base, this young man idolized the heroes and wanted to be just like them, but events beyond his control prevented this and he remembers the day The Order left his town as the worst of his life.  Twenty years after The Sacking of Tobe, after spending years working for Law Bringer knock-offs created to fill the void left by the incompetent Security Corps, he has been given the opportunity to take up the mantle of Law Bringer and finally fulfill his dream by resurrecting The Law Bringers. 
     
    To be continued in Law Bringer: The Return. 
     
×
×
  • Create New...