icmasticc

The Spirits Within: Oakridge Chronicles

Posted. It's been a terrible day damnit. I'm a bit sick and it's thanks to these allergy-having bastards at work. Or at least, they claim it's allergies as they cough in my face. Damn it all ><. Hope my post was alright though, I know it was short. Sorry about that.

The Spirits Within: Oakridge Chronicles

_{T H E F I E L D S -{}- Nicholas Vanceon -{}- H a m m e r O f T h e A r m y}

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Preparation is the foundation an organized and proper military force is built upon. It precedes nearly every action taken and it dictates the curriculum and flow of training to such a degree that one could almost say an army's sole reason for being rests in the laurels of efficient preparedness. The Oakridge Academy training exercises and routines certainly hammered this point home. Operation Downfall itself lent credence to the notion and further expanded upon it by blossoming into what the top brass surely hoped to be a flawless execution of all the time spent preparing for the worst scenarios. Even the existence of Guardians was largely due to the fact that some group of like-minded individuals came together and decided that bodies harboring large concentrations of spiritual entities needed to be militarized - in order to be properly prepared for what could, and did, happen. In the end, preparation is the foundation an organized force of any kind is built upon almost exclusively.

And even with the years of preparation Oakridge instilled in him, Niko was not ready for the impact.

He had heard the pilot shout something about an incoming plasma, but thoughts of the mission to come consumed his awareness and enveloped him completely in their embrace. When the giant hunk of metal was struck with a loud boom there had not been enough time for a proper reaction. Strapped into his seat and lost to his mentality, Niko had already failed the first basic lesson of being out in the field: always be aware of your surroundings. The violent rolling seemed to last a millennium. Metal smashed against earth and even though the young Guardian could feel the heat of his restless spirits rushing to his aid, he could also feel the restraining belts against his chest barely holding him in place. When everything finally settled and the pitch dark slowly gave way to equally slowly clearing vision, Niko took a moment to accept this reality before quickly pulling his short-sword from its waist-mounted sheath and cutting himself free from his seat. Somehow, the boy had remained strapped in though his chair was now suspended from wreckage and the resulting freedom he gave himself also forced him to suffer a slight fall to the ground below.

A few heaved breaths sucked in and pushed out before suddenly aware eyes darted back forth and ultimately landed on a nice-sized hole where the hatch should have been. Niko sheathed his blade and crawled along the interior of the overturned vehicle before grabbing Monika's outstretched hand - just for a moment - and pulling himself into the light of the day outside. The first thing he felt was a multitude of smaller, isolated throbs and stings of minor pains throughout his whole body, but he was also spared of having anything broken or seriously injured. The worst pain he felt was the indention across his torso from the restraining belt he had buckled across himself during the ride - so much for fucking seat belts. He breathed deeply a few more times in an effort to get back to a more steady pace before spotting the others who were also free - Graham and Monika namely.

"I'm guessing you two are okay considering you're standing and all, " Niko said as he made his way over to the duo. "Welcome to the Dark Zone, I guess." Even if they had been attacked immediately, it had not taken long for excitement to well up once more. This was still the infamous Dark Zone and also the first real mission he was part of and the ebony-haired boy scanned his companions a bit as his mind raced with all kinds of cautionary thoughts. The heft of the blunderbuss on his back and the blade at his waist suddenly became more apparent as he settled into the sentiment that this was actually happening. Graham seemed to be fine and in good spirits, but Monika looked a bit stern than before. It was to be expected of course, but Niko still got an odd feeling when he noticed.

"So... I guess we're walking?" Niko posed to the group. It came off sounding like a joke, but he was completely serious. Preparation may have been held in the utmost importance back at the academy, but he doubted anyone had been prepared to lose the only vehicle they had in the middle of the Dark Zone.

Summary

Niko takes the ride for granted and doesn't stay acutely aware at all times resulting in him not being ready for the vehicle crash. Luckily, he was wearing his seat belt though it proved to be the thing that gave him the most painful injury. He points out that it's probably time to hoof it after taking in the situation.

{Closed}

Well, thanks for letting us know. Even if it was with an 11 day old copypaste from The Reavers.

No hard feelings, and best wishes; to everyone for that matter.

@Culluket

It's only because it was the same exact situation in that I was deciding back and forth for a week and I had much the same message. Best wishes though, you were great!

[closed]

I'm sad to see this go, but I had a wonderful time while it did last. Thanks for the efforts @Rockette!

The Spirits Within: Oakridge Chronicles

I'm aiming to have a post up Sunday evening.

{Closed}

So I've been giving some serious thought to the current state of the roleplay. I've taken the last week and contemplated and considered and have come to a conclusion. Before that, I want to say that I'm taking full responsibility for this as I should. If there's any fault to be pointed out, it's my own. You guys have been a wonderful cast and great players and I greatly appreciate the participation of each person who joined me in this short little affair, even the ones who are no longer with us. I'm sad to say however that I cannot continue this RP.

I wish every single person who joined me in this luck in their future endeavors. Thanks for everything and I hope to see you guys in the future possibly. The View is, unfortunately, officially closed.

P.S. - If anyone would like to use some of these ideas in other roleplays, I have no problem with that. We're all here to be creative together and enhance each other's literary potential. Just wanted to put that out there. Thanks again, you guys are awesome!

The Spirits Within: Oakridge Chronicles

@icmasticc
Ah. That area is very similar to Yharnam, though. The Gothic spires and whatnot. I head the game runs on Bloodborne's 'engine', so it feels a lot like it. I've pretty much been preoccupied with Bloodborne since Christmas, so I was able to get into DS3 pretty fast now. The only thing that is funky is the equipment load and the slow rolls when you carry too much.

@Prisk

This is true, it does use the same engine which is why it looks so great. To be honest, I only even got it because of the fact that they sped up the movements and combat to the speed of Bloodborne. Even though I've played the others, I never liked the slow movement. I miss the sidestep dodge versus the rolls in DS3, but that's not a huge deal. I went mercenary so I'm able to play almost exactly how I played in Bloodborne except now I get to dual wield while forgoing the shield lol. The equipment load is also a gripe for me. I don't really care for it, but I understand why it has to be there.

The Spirits Within: Oakridge Chronicles

<Snipped quote by icmasticc>

Right?! Where are you at? I've gotten to the 'Undead Settlement', the area after that dog in armor-boss. I'm guessing it's still early in the game.

@Prisk

You're farther than me for sure. I only beat the very first, what I assume to be, tutorial boss. I'm on the Highwall of Lothric or High Lothric or whatever that first place is called. I beat Bloodborne a year ago so I'm just getting my ass kicked all over again while trying to regain the reflexes I had before lol. I was never great at Souls games, but I do persevere at least. It looks pretty amazing too, at least in my opinion, but I'm more of a fan of Bloodborne's aesthetics to be honest. I'll take dark fantasy/gothic style over medieval any day.

The Spirits Within: Oakridge Chronicles

Oh, yeah, another note, I picked up Dark Soul 3 yesterday! I might be a little preoccupied for a moment! But I'll read the new posts today.

@Prisk

I got Dark Souls 3 as well! And I'm absolutely hating getting wrecked lol. I played and loved and Bloodborne, but the beginning of these games is such a damn test of temperament. It really pisses me off, but then makes me feel great all at the same time haha.

The Spirits Within: Oakridge Chronicles

I've posted now too. Excited to get to the mission scenes, boy oh boy.