Trident Force Chronicles

by Paul Richardson

"I heard you patrol Hot Draconia and I'm glad I found you." said man in an extreme emotional state. "I'm a cameraman for Eyewitness News Channel Seven... And I took these pictures last night... Right before the explosion..."

  The printed pictures show an extreme close up of Westgate Sentinel and Neo-Pharaoh Zoltron ...shaking hands!

  "Has anyone else seen these?" asked Mantis Skin.

  "No, man." the photojournalist was now openly crying. "No one would believe me! People would think I created this in Photoshop or something!"

  "I believe you." said Mantis Skin looking at the images. "I believe you.

  Citizen Hunter One-Shot

  (2014/01/03)

  Mantis Skin watched the police raid in West Melbourne. He had been watching Blue Star take on the 88 Melbourne from the papers and thought maybe it might be a good idea to team up with her one day. However right now Mantis Skin was watching Westgate Sentinel through his binoculars. After talking with the police and the press, Westgate Sentinel took off into the sky and Mantis Skin watched him fly through the sky.

  Suddenly, Westgate Sentinel seem to lose control in mid-flight. From what Mantis Skin saw, the engines on Westgate Sentinel and everything about the city's guardian seem to fade out. Westgate Sentinel then fell and crash on a roof just five blocks away. Someone else must have noticed, but Mantis Skin was so close he might as well render aid himself.

  When Mantis Skin got to where Westgate Sentinel had crushed, the city's guardian laid face down and was unresponsive. Mantis Skin kneeled before the Westgate Sentinel and tapped twice on the armor.

  "Hey, is everything alright in there." Mantis Skin heard muffled angry yells coming from the head of the suit of armor. Good, the man (or woman?) was still alive inside. Mantis Skin leaned closer. "I am sure help is coming. Was this a suit malfunction or an external threat?!"

  "Why? An external threat of course." answered a male voice behind Mantis Skin. Startled, Mantis jumped up and faced the new voice sitting on top of the roof access doorway. The man was dressed in white and black body armor. His head and arms were white, but the rest was black. Also in white was a skull on his chest made up to look like ASCII Art, with enlarged "@" symbols making up the eyes. "Hey, that one time EMP cost a lot of money and you are standing between me and that suit of armor that is worth more than its weight in gold outside this book. So if will you just stand aside and let me disassemble this jerk's armor then..."

  Wait, outside this book? Oh no...

  "Oh yes, Author! I want to sell Westgate Sentinel's awesome armor outside this book and you can't stop me!" said the mysterious man pointing to the sky. "I don't know how I am getting out of this book yet, but I will!"

  "Author? What the hell are you talking about?!" asked Mantis Skin confused looking up at a blank sky.

  "Oh yeah. I guess introductions for expository purposes are in order. I'm Citizen Hunter, a bounty hunter and street fighter for hire." said Citizen Hunter jumping down from the roof access doorway and pulling out two katana swords. "You are Mantis Skin, blah-blah-blah. Let's give the reader what they paid $3.99 to download into their Kindle and have a super on super fight already!"

  Citizen Hunter wasted no time slicing the air with the katanas. Mantis Skin did a backward backflip to get out of the way, but Citizen Hunter was too fast and was able to slash Mantis Skin's ninja gi. Luckily, Mantis Skin's impenetrable skin saved him.

  "Oh, yeah, right. Impenetrable skin. Hey, time out." said Citizen Hunter putting his swords away. "You know, swords and guns are kinda my thing here. How am I going to beat you if I can't kill you?"

  "Well, I don't know-" Mantis Skin put his guard down as he thought about this for a second. Mantis Skin didn't have time to answer or finish his thought as a nightstick came out of nowhere and hit Mantis Skin on the neck right on the shoulder, sending the hero to the ground.

  "Yes! Hidden nightstick for the win!" yelled Citizen Hunter doing a victory dance. Citizen Hunter then stopped dancing and looked at his old police issue nightstick. "You know what, 'Hidden Nightstick' sounds like a cool band name. If anyone reading this and you already have a band named Hidden Nightstick, then by all means keep using it. If you want to use Hidden Nightstick as a band name, then please contact me through the Author at-"

  With a sudden flip, Mantis Skin put his legs around Citizen Hunter's neck and then toss the surprised bounty hunter across to the other side of the roof. Mantis Skin then got up and walked to where Citizen Hunter had fallen, discovering that Citizen Hunter had been impaled by a odd pipe on the roof now sticking through his right lung.

  "Oh my god! I am so sorry!" said Mantis Skin rushing to Citizen Hunter's side, not knowing what to do to save the man's life.

  "No- No, don't. *cough* Don't apologize. *cough* You were only trying to protect- *cough* -Westgate Sentinel. Good-by cruel world!" And with that, Citizen Hunter's body went limp. Mantis Skin sat beside Citizen Hunter for a minute.

  "You're not dead, I can still see you breathing." said Mantis Skin slightly disappointed that this guy was still alive. Citizen Hunter then hit Mantis Skin in the face a couple of times.

  "Fun Fact: I failed my drama class. Shame. However that was for throwing me onto this pipe asshole!" said Citizen Hunter as he got up. The hole in his body armor was still there, but the body of Citizen Hunter healed itself almost immediately. The alabaster skin of an albino can be clearly seen through the hole in the armor. "Oh man, I wish I had a healing factor for my armor too. Wouldn't that be cool Mantis Skin? You know, I would love to stay and chat more-"

  Cops bust through the roof's entrance door and made a bee-line to Westgate Sentinel, who was at this time getting up on his own power. Mantis Skin was a little taken aback, that EMP should have shut-down that suit of armor permanently. However Mantis Skin didn't dwell on this fact and mentally filed it away as one more odd fact about Westgate City's guardian.

  "-however this is where I make my exit. Don't look so glum, maybe we'll meet and team up in 'Trident Force Chronicles: The Search For More Money' when it comes out! Totes Fun!"

  With that, Citizen Hunter threw himself off the ledge of the building. When Mantis Skin went over the edge, all he saw was air and the street below.

  'What a strange guy.' Mantis Skin thought to himself. 'However Trident Force does sounds like a cool team name...'

  Chief Hiawatha #9

  (2015/11/25)

  The Gray Wolf form of Chief Hiawatha ran after the Black Bear at all possible speed. Catching up to Edward Lightfeather in Black Bear form was now Chief Hiawatha's all consuming drive. Very quickly, the forest floor gave way and there before Chief Hiawatha was a creek. No more than five yards across and not very deep at all, yet it was enough to cut off Chief Hiawatha's tracking of the Black Bear.

  "Damn!" swore Chief Hiawatha under his breath. Crossing the creek, Chief Hiawatha could not pick up the scent. The Black Bear must have hiked the creek to mask his scent. Chief Hiawatha in Gray Wolf form, looked up and down the creek. Not seeing anything, Chief Hiawatha had a choice to make. Chief Hiawatha could either go east or west, one was the right choice and the other was the wrong choice. If Chief Hiawatha choose wrong, the Black Bear could escape to do more harm. If he was were he thought he was, Chief Hiawatha figure that going east at this point would bring him to the center of the Ironwoon Forest.

  'This is as good idea as any!' thought Chief Hiawatha as he started out. Chief Hiawatha then shifted into his Red-Tailed Boa form to swim in the shallow water and to better sneak up on the Black Bear. Swimming in Red-Tailed Boa form was super fun and easy and the fact that Chief Hiawatha was swimming down creek made his trip super fast.

  Up ahead, he heard two voice and so Chief Hiawatha got out of the creek. Staying in his Red-Tailed Boa form, Chief Hiawatha then slowly made his way to the two voices. When he rounded the corner, Chief Hiawatha was right upon a cave mouth. There was Edward Lightfeather in his human form talking to one white guy. Another black guy was sitting at the mouth of the cave listening to the oth
er two fight. Both of other men had hard hats on and mining overalls.

  "I dislocated my right shoulder!" said Edward Lightfeather holding his arm.

  "Stop your bitching!" said the white guy. "Stand still so I can reattach it and get back to mining the iron!"

  So that was their plan. They did not come here for Ironwood, but for the iron ore!

  "I'm not bitching, but I do need help here!" said Edward Lightfeather.

  While the white guy and Edward Lightfeather argued, Chief Hiawatha snuck around as quietly and as quickly as he could around the black guy's neck. Once Chief Hiawatha was around the guy's neck, Chief Hiawatha put the choke hold until the guy went to sleep. When he was done, Chief Hiawatha looked up at the other two men and they were both looking at him.

  "What. The. FUCK!" yelled the white guy, pulling out a handgun. Chief Hiawatha could not really tell in the current light what kind of gun it was, but it was semiautomatic glock of some kind.

  "It’s him!" yelled Edward Lightfeather, who changed into his Black Bear form.

  Chief Hiawatha changed into his Gray Wolf form and ran after the guy with the gun first. The white guy took one shot, missed, then he dropped the gun and ran.

  The Black Bear, on his hind legs, dropped to all fours. However he wined in pain and then favored the left arm.

  "I see you are in much pain." said Chief Hiawatha.

  "I'm still more than a match for you, blood traitor!" growled Edward Lightfeather.

  "We will see about that!" said Chief Hiawatha as he leapt onto the Black Bear's right arm. The Black Bear roared and tried to shake off Chief Hiawatha, but could not. Chief Hiawatha had enough of a grip that he did not really need to sink his teeth into the Black Bear's skin.

  "No more! I give!" yelled the Black Bear in pain. Both Edward Lightfeather and Chief Hiawatha returned to their human forms together.

  Engelhard #9

  (2015/12/12)

  Hanging upside-down on her webs, Sandra Padgett was reading a book from the Bethesda House library. Edward Engelhard was there too, arranging some of the books.

  "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you a question." stated Sandra Padgett. "You guys said something that has me scratching my head."

  "Sure." said Edward Engelhard turning to look at Sandra Padgett. Although young himself, Edward Engelhard's blue eyes had the look of someone who has seen things no mortal should not have seen. "What do you want to know?"

  "Is God really giving human's powers?"

  "As you very well know, scientists have been unable to explained, right now, why someone has powers." Edward Engelhard sat down in a chair. "DNA tests show no unusual mutations, so right now everyone on Earth is at a loss. The Angels tell us Avatars that the powers come from The Beginning, with the blessing of The Word."

  "The Beginning? The Word?"

  "The Beginning is Heaven ...I hang around angels too much... and The Word is the Will Of God." continued Edward Engelhard. "The Angels and Avatars use The Word, not magic, to do what we do."

  Sandra Padgett suddenly scrunched her face in deep thought.

  "What is bothering you, Sandra?" asked Priscilla Engelhard walking in, smelling fresh from a shower. She was going to ask them out to a movie. Priscilla Engelhard had to work the soup kitchen tomorrow and wanted to get out tonight.

  "Oh, nothing." answered Sandra Padgett. "This is all just so much to take in. One minute, I'm an Atheist and the next I am thrown into the deep end of the supernatural. Does this make me a Christian now?"

  "No. Just because you know, doesn't make you-"

  Suddenly, a book flew off the bookshelf and landed on the floor. It open itself to some blank pages and started writing in them. To Sandra Padgett, the writing seem like squibble to her.

  "It's Imperial Aramaic." answered Priscilla Engelhard to Sandra Padgett's unasked question.

  "It would seem that a small battle has erupted in She'ol," said Edward Engelhard. He picked up the book and put it on a shelf. "And the Archangel Gabriel has summon us to identify the demon that unlocked your power."

  "Well, so much for movie night." sighed Sandra Padgett heavily.

  ***

  It was dusk as the three made their way near the nuclear power plant. All three dressed in their costumes.

  Green Silk looked on with sorrow at the construction site. The tree she had chained herself to was now long gone. With heavy eyes, Green Silk turned to Priscilla Engelhard.

  "Please, I know it was not human life, but it was life." pleaded Green Silk.

  "Pray with me." Priscilla Engelhard knew of the tree and turn to look at where it had been. She then folded her hands and started praying. Green Silk had never prayed before, but she repeated what Priscilla Engelhard did and prayed in her own way. "His Will be done."

  When the three open their eyes, the tree had been restored. Green Silk jumped for joy and then bear hugged Priscilla Engelhard.

  "That tree will now live its natural life cycle." said Priscilla Engelhard as Green Silk slowly disengaged from the hug.

  "Come." said Edward Engelhard drawing the sword Judgment from nothingness. Then Edward Engelhard stuck Judgment in the air about head high and started "cutting" downward. "Time to go to She'ol!"

  Hawkfox Delta #9

  (2015/11/10)

  Outside many in the media, this included Eyewitness News Channel Seven and Westgate Wire, Hawkfox Delta was the only one to show up at Amy Parker's wake. Amy Parker had been a foster child and did bounce from house to house, not giving her time to build a family. Amy Parker had already been cremated and was in a lovely stone urn paid for by Eyewitness News Channel Seven.

  Hawkfox Delta had taken the entire morning off to be here. For the wake, Hawkfox Delta was asked to speak since he knew her for some time. As he stepped up to the podium, Hawkfox Delta had already cried all the tears he could.

  "I am a free man." started Hawkfox Delta. "However sometimes I do not always feel free. I wish I can tell you my God given name. My parents mean everything to me, yet I can not tell you who they are. I know my parents are proud of me, yet they can not tell others and it sometimes breaks their hearts. Yet I am told I am free. Relationships with a Hawk person and another human can be complex. It can happen, but it is rare. Yet I am told I am free.

  "But I am free." continued Hawkfox Delta. "I was given a choice. I could have chosen to either be a military pilot, a military field medic, or a civilian paramedic. It might not mean much to you, but given a choice is enough to set anyone free. Yet I am told I am free.

  "I hate to keep talking about myself," continued Hawkfox Delta. "But I use myself as an example of choice. Amy Parker had a choice. She could have used the fact that she was a foster kid as an excuse to do all kinds of wicked things. However she chose instead to be a journalist in place of being any number of awful things. People call me a hero, but I am only following in the footsteps of other great men. I am forging no new path. Amy Parker broke the cycle she was in and thus forged her own path. People call me a hero, but Amy Parker is, and forever more, my hero. I am free, because of Amy Parker."

  The gathered crowd applauded Hawkfox Delta's speech for a good ten minutes. Everyone wanted to hug or shake Hawkfox Delta's hand after the service was over with. Everyone who wanted to have their say, did so with much praise for the past reporter. The Dean Of Journalism from Westgate L&J State University was on hand to posthumously give Amy Parker her Master's Degree. The station manager at Eyewitness News Channel Seven was sad that such a promising young reporter was cut down so early in life.

  After two hours and after everyone had had their say, Hawkfox Delta was the only one who stayed. The funeral parlor curator came in the viewing hall and was surprised to see that someone was still there.

  "Oh, you!" said the old curator. "Hawkfox Delta! I heard your speech. Very nice indeed."

  "I lied. I am not free." said Hawkfox Delta sadly. "I could not bring myself to have a relationship with her and be who I wanted to be. Now it is too late to tell her."<
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  The old curator then left and shortly returned. He went to Amy Parker's urn and scoped out a tiny portion of her ashes. He return with a silver pill urn pendant necklace with a cross on it.

  "Then you can tell her now." said the old curator holding out the silver pill urn pendant necklace to Hawkfox Delta. "My name is Benjamin Scott. You saved my aunt of late." Hawkfox Delta looked up at the old man who had a smile on his face. "Yes, you gave me a chance to visit my beloved aunt again. Do not think of this as a gift, but as a thank you."

  Hawkfox Delta smiled at the old man and could not refuse to keep Amy Parker close to his heart.

  Sooper Zoom #9

  (2015/11/09)

  Detective Dowd woke up in her shared hospital room with her partner, Detective Heddings, who was still asleep. Detective Dowd was still hooked up to the many wires and was a little groggy from all the drugs. Detective Dowd was given the bed nearest to the window, to her left. On the nightstand, also to her left, was all kinds of flowers and cards from her fiancé. To Detective Dowd's right was the privacy curtain, and beyond that was Detective Heddings. They had placed them in the same room for their protection. Both Detective Heddings and Detective Dowd were told that with enough physical therapy, they could be recertify for detective work in six months after being released from here.