Number: 22 Title: Project EDEN Type: Original fiction From the 'Dolls' universe created by Rick Spiff ---------- Synopsis: ---------- The man. The mecha. The adventure. Kori Kanalis, a puppet of extraordinary skills, has been living an eventful life for some time now. He is courageous and quite reasonable, but an exceptional fighter. He pilots the Slider mecha, made by the Master Mecha Maker almost thirty years ago. Only now is it beginning to be out-performed by the mass production military units, especially considering the damage it has taken over the years. Kori lands on a remote planet looking for the Master Mecha Maker (real name: Artur). Recently there's been some trouble with a genetically engineered space rat he accidentally killed during an operation, and the owner hired an entire fleet of starships to kill him. Besides, his mecha needs a tune-up. Kori would really rather just take a few weeks off and enjoy another vacation on V-323, but it doesn't look like that will happen. Artur, upon meeting Kori, tells him the Slider is pretty much worthless for upgrades and accepts the request to make a new one. By the time these two are talking, the fleet has tracked down Kori and wants to 'purge' the entire solar system (since Kori and Artur are the only sentients there...). Having no time to make a new mecha, not that they could survive any escape plan against a fleet of that size, Artur reveals Project Eden. Kori is offered a simple deal. The Eden mech is his, as long as he saves Artur and uses the Eden mech for its intended purpose as payment. Once he's done, it is his free and clear. ---------- Outline: ---------- Out of the Storm ---------- Kori in space, at the end of a long chase, he lands on the planet and starts looking for a door or something, when one suddenly appears in the distance. The surface is like the Sahara desert, an uninhabitable plane of sand with a slight but constant wind. He enters at is greeted by the CHOSE YOUR CHARACTER screen. He picks out his mecha and the enter area becomes a hanger which moves underground with the Slider. After a moment of quiet, the Man Himself appears. The pair meets within Artur's quarters and Kori explains his predicament. There's a girl (there's always a girl) he wants to see. He knows her fairly well, and she likes him, but there's a huge age difference. In any case, she's his for the taking, according to the rules of her society. However, Kori is a puppet, and as such, has made his fair share of enemies. The conversation here is convincing, and the two seem to know all about the classical tales. Skilled in their craft with extensive knowledge of all man's little dramas. A Telling Fate ---------- Flashback: Kori lays in bed, thinking about when he met this girl. He landed on V-323 and met a very strange person. Artur runs through the entire Slider design and compares it to the military models. Flashback: Kori is resting and recalls meeting the "government" of this primitive world and explaining who he was. Artur puts Kori through a series of simulations. After two days of this, alarms sound. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World ---------- "They've found me." - Kori is being hunted down for killing a genetically engineered rat. A large force of mercenaries and a full corporate battle fleet are converging on Artur's home planet. In a desperate moment, Artur gives Kori a run-down of the Eden mech, quickly giving the puppet any relevant information, and (potentially) offering the weapon up to him in exchange for his survival. Flashback: As Kori suits up, he recalls some time spent with this girl and finally leaving V-323. The Moment of Truth ---------- Combat. Kori kicking ass. The opposing forces questioning their sanity. Artur further amazed by the puppet's abilities. Kori offers Tazz a chance to give up. Tazz fights him anyway, and Kori merely disables the mecha. Then #4 shoots Tazz's Doll, killing him. After the battle is over, an exhausted Kori quickly tells Artur exactly why all of these people are out here. They had to counter-attack so rapidly Kori did not have time to explain beforehand. And lo, did I Wish This upon My Enemies ---------- Aftermath. Kori recovering; apologizing for his viciousness in combat. Artur tells Kori its time to save a foreign world. Kori finds that they are already on a ship headed for a warp gate into another galaxy.... ======================================================================== Drammatis Personnae Kori Kanalis: A puppet (pilot of mecha; by nature a mercenary), trained from a very young age to kill and destroy with a giant robot. Kori is wise in the ways of the world, but his childhood was greatly abbreviated. To date, he is still reliving bits of childhood, maturing in subtle ways even though he is older, intellectually, than his contemporaries. He and other puppets are rather odd this way, veterans of war, skilled in tactics and intelligent, but inept at things like love, or simply enjoying a sunset. Artur: His last name forgotten long ago, Artur was a natural engineer of Dolls (giant robots built for fighting), and truly pushed himself to be the greatest of the great. He was a test tube baby in a GE project, his particular abilities limited to a very solid memory and long life without mental deterioration. Artur's mecha designs are beyond the beyond. The Slider is something like thirty years old, Kori's personal Doll since he was eight, and only just recently has been out-classed by other Dolls. Artur is quick of wit, and experienced of mind. He is your classic informed elder who teaches to everyone else. Lyla: Kori's fiancee, a twelve-year-old colonist on a primitive planet filled with primitive people. Her kind are accepting, but have been banished from the modern world. Lyla is kind and wise beyond her years, living through one of the many territorial disputes throughout V-323, raised like a native but taught as much as Kori, if not not more. Before long, she'll be marrying age, and finds Kori rather attractive, psychometric hookups and all. Kant Va-al: Leader of Lyla's village, Kant sanctions Kori and Lyla's betrothal. He is every stressed-out, old, and wise public servant who's happy and a little melon collie to see two young people find each other. Kant is Kori's source of (scant) information about life on V-323. Dragon: A powerful and bolsterious fighter with a white-hot temperament and a hair trigger. As a puppet, Dragon is both your worst enemy and your worst partner. Many people have died working with him, only a handful of the most vicious surviving. He and his group are legendary both for their particularly excessive brand of violence, and their knack for just plain getting the job done. Dragon refers to his seconds by mere numbers. Colex Dueress: The head of Project Underground, which was assault by accident by Kori. Kori was supposed to destroy an apartment block, but ended up wiping out half of the orbital base he attacked, including the successful half of Project Underground as it was being readied for transportation. The company that owns Project Underground isn't going to keep their eggs in one basket, but all the crucial stuff just happened to there at the wrong time. Colex is a vain and driven man. Nothing will get in the way of bringing Project Underground to its successful conclusion. He wants samples from the Slider A.S.A.P. Oh yeah, he's also supposed to kill the puppet once he's found. Glenn McLees: A hard-assed military commander, retired and working for KET as a security consultant. He plays second fiddle to Colex and basically captains this loose and dangerous group of mercs hired to find and kill Kori. He especially despises Dragon and company, because he's fought against them before. But, people are people, and laws are laws, and nothing is more bizarre to watch than when the two meet. Tazz: Friend of Solomon-X, Tazz is one of the few puppets who values morals and honor. He's every guy's oldest and truest friend, a man who tells it to you straight and keeps his word, period. Tazz's only loose screw (and it seems every puppet has one), is that if he issues a challenge, or takes the money, he will fight. Period. Even for the wrong side. Still, he's a good guy all in all.